Black Friday: Mets announce return of beloved black threads
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Before being ejected from the game and returning to the dugout in a disguise, former Mets Manager Bobby Valentine wore a black Mets jersey, which the team announced would return this summer. Screenshot via MLB/YouTube
By Jacob Kaye
What do Bobby Valentine’s dugout disguise, Mike Piazza’s 300th home run and David Wright’s very first home run all have in common? They all featured the Mets’ beloved but fleeting black jersey, which the team announced would return this summer after a near decade-long trip to the cleaners.
The New York Mets will sport the black jersey and cap at every Friday home game for the remainder of the season beginning July 30, the team announced Thursday.
Fans stitched together a campaign to bring the black jersey back after new owner Steve Cohen purchased the team last year.
Last month, Cohen hinted that the fans’ persistence might have paid off when he tweeted, “all I know is we are one day closer to the black jerseys.”
The alternate jersey was first introduced in 1998 and was worn both at home and on the road through 2009, when the black road jersey was taken out of commission. Three years later, the black home jersey made one final trip around the bases before retiring.
Pete “Polar Bear” Alonso, the Mets’ young star, has advocated for the return of the threads alongside the fans this year and celebrated the announcement on social media by posting a doctored photo of himself wearing the new duds.
The first 12,000 fans to arrive at Citi Field – which is open at full capacity – on July 30 will get a black Francisco Lindor Mets t-shirt.
Fans can also purchase black t-shirts and hats at the Mets Team Store at Citi Field starting July 30. Though the team is still ironing out the details, it expects the jerseys to be on sale around the holidays.
