Move over, Juan Soto -- there's a new main event heading to Citi Field.
On Tuesday, the Mets revealed that all home games will feature a New York City-themed “Five Borough” mascot race. A different mascot will represent each borough, with the characters corresponding to one of the borough's hallmarks.
The five racers include the pizza slice (Brooklyn), the skyscraper (Manhattan), the ferry (Staten Island), the giraffe (Bronx) and the subway (Queens). And these racers look like well-oiled machines: There’s even a pigeon sporting a Mets cap perched atop the subway car, while the giraffe looks notably fierce.
Mascot races are an endearing event throughout baseball. The Presidents Race has been a fixture at Nationals games since 2006 -- enough time to span multiple winless seasons from Teddy Roosevelt. The Brewers’ Sausage Race and the Pirates’ Great Pierogi Race are decades-long staples, too. It’s unclear if the “Five Borough” mascots will travel to race their National League foes, like others have done in the past.
The boroughs will begin their season-long fight for bragging rights at the Mets’ home opener on Friday, April 4, against the Blue Jays.