In our first edition of The Apple Showcase, reader Michael Portanova opines that now is the time for the Mets to break out the black jerseys once again.
Enjoy!
The day Shea was reduced to rubble was the day the black jerseys died.
I am too young to truly remember meaningful games from 1998 through 2001 but I would watch the Millenium Mets VHS ad nauseam.
The dim lights of Shea, with a raucous wave of blue and orange barely visible through the summer haze as Mike Piazza whipped one down the line to cap off a victory over the hated Braves. Wonderous days.
The next generation gave us the exhilarating thrill of Jose Reyes darting across the bases for a triple, David Wright fired up in the dugout, and Carlos Delgado launching baseballs deep into a July night and out of the stadium as Willie Randolph leaned on the top rail nodding solemnly.
For this brief moment in time, the black jerseys perfectly encapsulated the confidence and electricity that only a starved New York City fanbase could generate. The way to extinguish that fire? Sullying the nostalgic memories with the likes of:
Cory Sullivan. Jason Pridie. Jason Bay. Raul Valdes. Brad Emaus. Mike Hessman. I could go on….
The shedding of the Shea haze into the unfortunately bright lights that highlighted a new era of absolute sh*t-show baseball we call the early days of the Mets at Citi Field.
The squandering Mets started to fade into irrelevance and with them, the black jerseys went, ditching the garb in 2011 officially welcoming in a new era of Mets.
Only now, quickly, those days are gone too. A time trademarked in brilliant outings has now seen homegrown players such as Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler don new gear and new zip codes.
Luckily, there’s a new chapter of Mets to highlight and an opportune time to make a change.
The Mets are young, energetic, and vibrant. They have a new owner in Steve Cohen who cares about winning (and happens to have stacks upon stacks).
With Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Michael Conforto they have their best core since 2006.
They have the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom backed up by a walking hype machine in Marcus Stroman, soon to be followed by Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard, and Taijuan Walker.
They have a fanbase starving for relevance, not to mention, well-rested and soon returning to their seats. It’s time to usher in the new era.
It’s time to bring back the black.
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The Apple Showcase: It’s Time to Bring Back the Black
Great read. I too grew up with the Mets wearing the black jerseys (I was 9-12 from 1998-2001). I feel like most of us that grew up with the black jerseys are the ones in favor of them because that was our childhood. That was the norm for me.
My black jersey memories at Shea Stadium also includes chanting Laaaaaaarrrrrrryyy every time Chipper Jones came to bat and chanting "We Want Rocker!" before booing the daylights out of John Rocker entering the game. That Mets/Braves rivalry was something else.
One more favorite Met of mine to wear the black: Mr. Grand Slam Single, Robin Ventura (and for anyone wondering, my 04 number in my username is because of Ventura's #4).