It’s been an incredibly eventful week in Mets land, from Francisco Lindor signing his 10-year megadeal to the team’s opening series with Washington being postponed in its entirety due to COVID-19 concerns.
But despite all of that, one of the most talked about Mets’ storylines this week is the return of the team’s black alternate jerseys, which owner Steve Cohen announced on Monday.
“I can say with absolute certainty that the black jerseys are coming back. They’ll come back for a few games this year at some point, and you’ll be able to buy those jerseys at some point,” Cohen said on his live stream with Wayne Randazzo.
One of the biggest proponents all along of the Mets bringing back the black threads has been Marcus Stroman, as he even brought them up shortly after being acquired by the team after the 2019 trade deadline.
So when Stroman joined Dom Smith, J.D. Davis and Steve Gelbs on The Cookie Club presented by Insomnia Cookies, he was asked about how pumped he is for the jerseys to make their return in 2021.
“I’m excited. I’ve been pushing for black jerseys ever since I came over to be a Met because, to be honest, I tell everybody that the first jersey that I ever bought myself was a black [Jose] Reyes jersey, a black 7 Reyes jersey that I still have,” Stroman said. “That’s my homie, obviously, Reyes now. And that’s what I remember growing up.
“When I thought about the Mets, I remembered the black jerseys solely. I don’t even honestly remember any other jerseys. Like when I think of Rey Ordonez and [Mike] Piazza, obviously, I just feel like that’s synonymous with being a Met, is that black jersey. So, it’s awesome to have it back.”
It’s often the day’s starting home pitcher who gets to decide what uniforms his team will be wearing, so you can bet that whenever Stroman is pitching at Citi Field in 2021, there’s a good chance you’ll know what the team will be wearing.
“Every single home start for sure,” Stroman said with a laugh.
While Stroman has been one of the most vocal Mets in his support for the black jerseys, he’s been joined by Pete Alonso, who recently said that he expects to wear them for all Friday night home games.
“I’m excited for the Friday night blacks, it’s gonna be a part on Friday night,” Alonso said earlier this week.
“It was awesome,” Alonso said when the clubhouse heard the news. “Everybody’s fired up and I hope the Mets fans are fired up too, because it’s going to be special. … Mark it in your calendars.”
Check out Stroman’s complete episode of The Cookie Club in the video above.