Side piping and new stripe patterns on ML uniforms

[Rich]

Head over to http://uniwatchblog.com -- here's a summary:

Yesterday afternoon I was kinda half-working, half-watching the Mets/Cards spring training game on my computer. At one point a Mets hitter checked his swing and the catcher asked the plate ump to get help from the third base ump regarding the swing. The third base ump gave the safe sign to indicate no swing, and that’s when I saw it.
Ugh. Had they really added white side piping to the umps’ polo shirts? I checked some recent spring training photos and quickly learned that this has been going on for a few weeks but I hadn’t noticed until now. Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that they’ve also made some adjustments to the trim on the sleeve cuffs and collars.
But it’s the side piping that really rankles. Seriously, what is this obsession with adding side panels to officials? It always looks like ****e. And in this case, the combination of the side stripes and the oddly incomplete sleeve cuff stripes makes it look like the ump is covered in loose white threads (or maybe wearing tzitzis). I mean really, who thought those incomplete cuff stripes were a good idea? What a joke.
This same template also appears to have been applied to the umps’ blue shirt. I haven’t had time to check all the other umpiring gear, but I know lots of people at Majestic are reading this, so maybe one of them will be kind enough to fill us in, hmmm?