Back in Black

By Mark Halpern

For those of you who don’t know, I am a die-hard NY Mets, Dallas Cowboys, NY Knicks, and yeah, a NY Rangers fan. Throughout the years, I have collected jerseys and hats from all of my favorite teams. I have had many jerseys over the years but, the style I loved the most was my black Mets Jerseys. In 1998 the Mets organization introduced a black alternate home jersey. It became the favorite of New York Mets fans around the country. I remember I bought Rey Ordonez and Edgardo Alfonzo right away. I added Mike Piazza to the collection as soon as I could find one. However, all good things never last, and they were retired (to the dismay of Mets fans) in 2011.

Since the black jerseys went away, we have seen many different jerseys, from old-style 1962 pinstripes to the current dark blue jerseys worn today. Image is everything when it comes to sports. What you wear conveys to not only the fans but the sponsors as well, and if you display an image that is not accepted, then the fan base and those sponsor dollars go away.Mets fans for years have lobbied to get the black jerseys back for quite a while now. Former owners of the Wilpons went more traditional and didn’t listen to the fan base. The Wilpons were hated by Mets fans on how they ran the organization from not going all out and getting the right players and not making the right moves via trades etc. Well, that changed this year when Billionaire Steve Cohen came in and bought the Mets. Everything changed from that first day as he has been listening to what the fans want. Today July 30th, 2021, when the Mets play the Cincinnati Reds, they will dawn the Black Jerseys.

To me, this is a game-changer not only for the fans but the players themselves. To wear Jersey that your fans want to see you in and hear the fans roar when you run out of the dugout, Citi Field is going to shake. I expect the fans to be dawning the new jerseys except our loyal seven-line army group in right-center, who will be in their traditional orange jerseys. The Mets are on some tear in the standings right now, winning series after series. I can’t wait to see the confidence boost they will get when they hear that stadium go crazy, and that is how the old man sees it.