Mets will bring back the black jerseys this season

The New York Mets are about to introduce the black jerseys after months of speculation regarding the matter. One of the most polarizing subjects among hardcore fans, the re-introduction of the equipment was announced by team owner Steve Cohen.

Cohen, who took over the team just a few months ago, said on Monday that the Mets’ players will use the black uniform in “a few games.”

“It is the most critical question that needed to be answered — more important than anything else we could even imagine,” Cohen said, laughing, on a YouTube Q&A with fans. While replying to a follow-up question, the owner called the black jerseys “another example of celebrating Mets history.”

The Mets wore the black jerseys regularly from 1998 to 2012. Some historic players have been outspoken in their support of the equipment, associated with the Mets’ 2000 World Series trip and the 2006 postseason run.

Mets’ slugger Pete Alonso loves the black uniforms

Even current members of the team have advocated for them to be back, including Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso.

“The reason why I love the black uniforms so much [is] when I think of the New York Mets, I think of Pedro [Martínez],” Pete Alonso said last year. “I think of Mike Piazza. I think of Edgardo Alfonzo. I think of Cliff Floyd. David Wright wore the blacks. Carlos Beltrán wore the blacks. I think of so many just electric players that wore the black.”

“I’m just picturing in my mind everybody in the stadium with a blackout jersey,” Alonso said recently. “I think it would be so intimidating, just a sea of black shirts out there in the outfield with music banging out of the speakers, lights going. It would bring a lot of swagger and a lot of moxie.”

The Mets will show a lot of that swagger with the black uniforms.