About This File
These files represent teams from the Specuial promtion called the "Turn ahead the clock"
which was originated by the Seattle Mariners in the 1998 season and then a few
other clubs for the 1999 season.All but 10 teams joined in the promotion which
were "Future Style"uniforms.Many media and fans criticized the unis and so most
of the unis were only used 1 to 2 times during the season.
ORIGIN
In 1998, Kevin Martinez, former Seattle Mariners marketing director, came up with
the idea to have futuristic jerseys from the 2027 season as an alternative to
"Turn Back the Clock" promotions.The marketing team transformed the Kingdome
to give it a futuristic atmosphere.According to Martinez, Ken Griffey, Jr. was
instrumental in the design of the jerseys and came up with the idea to change
the Mariners' colors from teal, blue and white to red, black, and silver.Majestic
Athletic worked with the Mariners' marketing team to create the uniform.Martinez
himself described the jerseys as "gaudy".The Mariners' opponent during the
promotion was the Kansas City Royals, who according to Martinez, were
"fantastic to work with".Originally, the Mariners played with the jerseys un-tucked
and turned their baseball caps backwards. Griffey, Jr. painted his teammates
baseball cleats with silver spray paint.Griffey, Jr. also convinced teammates to
cut off the sleeves of their uniforms.During the game, the umpires, who were
wearing silver shirts as a part of the promotion, ruled that the un-tucked shirts
gave batters an advantage because they could more easily be hit by a pitch so
the umpires ruled that the players had to tuck them in.The Mariners promotion
was considered successful, unlike the major league wide promotion in 1999.
1999 SEASON PROMOTION
Major League Baseball sold the promotion concept to Century 21 Real Estate.
The New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers,
Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers
did not participate in the promotion.The New York Mets changed their names to
the "Mercury Mets" while hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 27, 1999. In game
s, stadiums would use futuristic graphics on their scoreboards as a part of the
promotion.During a Padres and Giants game, fielding positions were renamed.
Shortstop was renamed "intermediate station" and left field was renamed
"left sector".
