Alonso makes his black jerseys pitch: ‘Friday Night Blackouts’
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Pete Alonso might need a new title: first baseman/ marketer.
Perhapsthebiggestproponent of bringing back the Mets’ black jerseys, Alonso made his pitch again Friday when the topic came up during his first videoconference of spring training.
He doesn’t just want the players to wear them; he wants fans to do so too. He calls it “Friday Night Blackouts.”
“Wegottomakeitathing,” Alonsosaid.“It’d besointimidating: a sea of black shirts outthereintheoutfield, with music banging out of the speakers, lights going.
“It would bring a lot of swagger and a lot of moxie. Oh man, I just have this vision.”
ForAlonsoandmostofhis teammates, the black jerseys areapieceoftheirchildhood.
The2000teamthatplayed in the World Series, for example, or the 2006 squad that came within a win of doing so — those players wore black jerseys. Alonso rattled off names of some of theblackjerseywearersfrom yesteryear — Al Leiter, John Franco, Mike Piazza, David Wright, Jose Reyes.
“Youhadsomanyofthose great Mets that wore those black jerseys, and I feel like that’s so iconic,” Alonso said. “Bring that swagger back.”
Alonso isn’t the only one whofeels this way.
“I’m on board,” Michael
Conforto said this week. “We’ll see if they pop up.”
Carrasco comes to camp: RighthanderCarlosCarrasco wasincampforthefirsttime Friday. He missed the first week-plusfor whatmanager LuisRojassaidwasanon-injury-related reason.
Still missing are infielders BrandonDruryandWilfredo Tovar. Rojas expects them to be present this weekend.
Visit from the (other) boss: Alex Cohen, wife of Steve Cohen and a minority owner of the Mets, watched theteam’sworkout, stopping to chat with several players, including Alonso, Jacob deGromandJamesMcCann. Between rounds of batting practice, Francisco Lindor ran over to hugandsayhello.
She was wearing a Mets shirt, but instead of the team namewrittenacrossthelogo, it said “Jefa” — the feminine version of the Spanish word for “boss.”
The visit was part of the rebrand announcement of the organization’s charity, which Alex Cohen runs.