Mets' emotional support eyeblack trend has energized the dugout
Jose Quintana #62 (L) and Luis Severino #40 of the New York Mets wear 59 on their faces in support of starting pitcher Sean Manaea #59 during the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in game three of the National League Division Series at Citi Field on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Before the second inning of the Mets' NLDS Game 3 victory over the Phillies at Citi Field Tuesday, Jose Quintana looked over to Luis Severino, saw the 5-9 written in eyeblack on his face, and thought his own face could use a little postseason razzle-dazzle too.
And so, he dutifully rubbed the plain black lines off his cheeks with a nearby towel, turned to taxi-squad utilityman Pablo Reyes, and asked him to get to drawing. Quintana would be wearing starter Sean Manaea’s No. 59, too.
"At the end of the day, we're all just big kids," Manaea said after his masterful performance in the 7-2 win - one run, three hits, two walks and six strikeouts over seven-plus innings. "When you can have fun and support each other and be boys, it's really cool and special things can happen."
But this isn’t the first time this has happened. See, it was in the hours before Severino took the mound against the Phillies in Game 2 that Jesse Winker went up to Manaea with a burst of inspiration.
Deep, coal black, inspiration.
“It just happened . . . There was no rhyme or reason for it,” Winker said before the game Tuesday. “I put on the four-zero . . . I usually put a little diagonal thing but that day, and I don’t know — that day was Sevy day [and that’s his number], and all of our pitchers have been so great, and on top of being really good baseball players, they’re incredible dudes to be around.”
But, though the 4-0 eyeblack made the social media rounds — “Get yourself a teammate like Sean Manaea,” tweeted the Mets X account with an accompanying photo — you might’ve noticed that recently, eyeblack features pretty heavily among the idle members of the rotation, and not just for its more practical purposes.
That’s right: Along with their own celebratory dance and personal OMG sign, they have emotional support eyeblack.
One of the iconic photos from Game 3 of the Wild Card Series — the one Pete Alonso clinched with one of the most dramatic homers in franchise history — is (who else?) Manaea, wearing a rally cap, eyeblack smeared all over his cheeks. When Alonso hits his homer, Manaea and David Peterson are clutching each other in gape-mouthed awe — rotation members never far apart, and always doing something at least a little funny.
Manaea credits Winker with starting the trend, and given the Mets have featured Grimaces and pop songs and Rally Pumpkins in this improbable run, it’s no surprise that this took off, too.
“It just started last week in Atlanta,” Manaea said Monday. “The last week has been crazy so we’ve just been sticking with it. [It’s] all just kind of feeding off each other. I think we all have the same goal in mind: Make it to the postseason. And just on a selfish level, too, just want to be great. I think that just feeds off each other. Sevey does well, I want to do well, [Peterson] wants to do well, and it’s just kind of like that team mentality where you just want to go there and do it for the boys.”
Even guys who generally don’t don the eyeblack, like Kodai Senga, have been seen anointed by the stuff on their off days. Heck, even Senga’s interpreter, Hiro Fujiwara, has worn it. It’s also indicative of the unit’s strong bond — one Peterson, who’s been on this team since 2020, feels is special.
“It’s just another thing for us to have fun and stay loose,” Peterson said Tuesday. “What’s special about this group is each guy genuinely wants the other guy — whoever is throwing that day — to go out and have their best outing . . . It’s the genuine pride that we take as a starting rotation and the joy that we have watching each other succeed . . . There’s a healthy competition in terms of staying on top of each other and giving each other grief. It’s been awesome.”
Manaea was a little more mystical: “Just another good luck charm, I guess,” he said.
Winker verbally shrugged when he heard that, but then paused. “If Manaea believes that, I believe it, too,” he said.
Winker was clean-faced and about to take batting practice when he said that. By the time Manaea threw his first pitch Tuesday, Winker’s cheeks were, as always, smudged in black.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
