It's happening: Mets black jerseys on July 30

NEW YORK -- Hinted at, teased and anticipated for months, the Mets’ long-awaited black jerseys are about to make their return.

The Mets announced that they will don black jerseys for the first time in nine years during their game on Friday, July 30. After that, the jerseys will once again become a regular part of their rotation, being used in all home Friday games at Citi Field.

“I’m just picturing in my mind everybody in the stadium with a blackout jersey,” first baseman Pete Alonso said earlier this year. “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.”

Mets players have long advocated for the return of the black jerseys, which their predecessors wore as an official alternate from 1998-2012. The jerseys are most often associated with New York’s 1999-2000 and 2006 playoff teams; the Mets wore them during such memorable games as Robin Ventura’s “grand slam single” in 1999, and their NL East clincher in ’06.

Shortly after purchasing the Mets late last year, owner Steve Cohen began hinting at the return of the black jerseys. He officially announced his plans before the season to bring back the jerseys, but the Mets did not set a date for their return until now.

To celebrate the jerseys’ return, the Mets will give away a black Francisco Lindor T-shirt to the first 12,000 fans in attendance on July 30.