In a wide-ranging conversation with Mets radiocaster Wayne Randazzo that lasted about 30 minutes, team owner Steve Cohen responded to 36 questions from the fans. Among the information he disclosed
— “I can say with absolute certainty that the black jerseys are coming back,” Cohen said of the Mets’ polarizing uniform iteration that has been out of circulation since 2014 (and not used as a road jersey since 2008). “They’ll come back for a few games this year at some point.”
The Mets players, Cohen said, will help pick out the black unis’ design.
— Like most teams, the Mets play most of their Saturday home games at night. Asked about changing the bulk of those to day games, Cohen said, “Why not? I don’t see why we can’t do that. It’s better for the kids, right? We want our next generation to enjoy being at the ballpark and enjoy their affiliation with the Mets, and so I think we should do that.”
— Old-Timers’ Day is “probably a ’22 event,” Cohen said, as clubs work their way back to normalcy from the pandemic. Cohen has spoken of his desire to bring this event back to the Mets’ world.
— The ceremonial first pitch for the Mets’ April 8 home opener will be thrown out by “the people who have been on the front lines” during the pandemic, Cohen said.
— Cohen reiterated his support for holding a “Bobby Bonilla Day” to publicly hand over the seven-figure check to Bonilla, the two-time former Met, that he receives each July 1 through 2035 as part of an agreement Bonilla made with the team’s previous owners: “Let’s not focus on the negatives. Let’s focus on the positives. It doesn’t bother me.”
— The addition of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to the team’s board of directors raised some eyebrows. Said Cohen: “He’s a diehard Mets fan — diehard — and he’s a close friend of mine. I can’t think of a more perfect guy to put on the board. For those who share different politics, this is not about politics. This is purely about baseball.”
