The New York Mets have always been known for their classic blue and orange colors and the pinstripes of New York. Nearly every uniform they have worn in their six decades of existence has been centered around those hues. But now, along with the rest of the MLB, the Mets have introduced their city connected jerseys, which include two new colors into their jersey rotation: dark gray for the concrete jungle of New York City and purple for the 7 Line subway that runs to Citi Field. Purple and dark gray are the colors that are featured on the newly released city connect jerseys for the Metropolitans that they released last Friday. The new jerseys will debut at Citi Field on Saturday, April 27 when the Mets face off against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“It’s all about connecting to New York,” said Andy Goldberg, the Mets’ chief marketing officer and a part of the team that worked with Nike on the City Connect jerseys. “A lot of detail, a lot of focus on this idea that yeah, it’s not orange and blue by design. It’s meant to connect to New York. It’s meant to not just be an alternate Mets uniform. It’s our City Connect. It is how Met fans can represent across the world.”
Along with the jerseys, the Mets released a new slogan that they tagged on a lot of the marketing posts of the City Connect jerseys; IYKNYYK – If you know New York, you know.
Every detail of this uniform has significance to the city of New York and the Mets broke everything down. The pinstripes on both the jersey and the parts are made up of circle diamonds which represent NYC’s local and express subway lines. The sleeve patch is designed to mimic a New York City subway token. The letters “NYC” across the front chest are meant to pay tribute to the city as a whole and not just Queens where the Mets play. As for the hat, the front of it features a cross-section of the steelwork on the Queensboro Bridge. Inside the cap is an artistic interpretation of the NYC subway map. On the back of the jerseys, player names are written in the font that the Mets typically only use on the fronts of their away jerseys. Lastly, near the bottom of the uniform top is a purple inscription that reads, “The World’s City.”
Goldberg also revealed that the design is a result of more than two years of planning. The group considered 25-30 variations before deciding on the final version of the jersey, which also received stamps of approval from Mets shortstop Fransico Lindor and outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
The City Connect program that was introduced in 2021 offered a way for teams to express creativity and freedom by linking a set of alternative uniforms to the areas around them. One example of this includes the Washington Nationals, who used a pink and ivory color palette that evoked the feeling of spring in Washington D.C. and is set against a dark anthracite background. The Cherry blossom petals and branches, and the city flag were displaced across the jerseys, which showed the pride that the Nationals have for their hometown. Another instance is the Red Sox; they used a blue and yellow color scheme to pay homage to the Boston Marathon finish line. Additionally, the San Francisco Giants paid tribute to the Golden Gate Bridge with an orange and white color palette. The New York Mets are among eight teams that will debut their City Connect uniforms this season. Only two clubs, the New York Yankees and the Oakland A’s do not have a City Connect uniform yet.
The new dark gray and purple will be added into the Met’s orange and blue jersey rotation. They have certain dates scheduled for the season where fans can catch the new jerseys live in action at Citi Field. Some of the future dates include May 11 vs. the Atlanta Braves, May 25 vs. the Giants and June 15 vs. the San Diego Padres. The strength and grit of the concrete jungle is the fabric of New York and the fabric that inspired these new jerseys. The Mets are repping the ‘greatest city in the world’ with this new look and are living by IYKNYYK.