The New York Mets are to give away 500 Mets jerseys emblazoned with “Taiwan” and “No. 1” during their 16th annual Taiwan Day on Aug. 29, a representative of the Major League Baseball (MLB) team said.
Mets Asian Development & Services account executive Wayne Wang (王偉成) said the August promotion would be the first time an MLB team has given away Taiwan-themed jerseys and the first time since 2014 the Mets would have giveaways for fans on Taiwan Day.
Only the first 500 people who buy tickets for the home game against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field through the team’s Web site would receive the jerseys, he said.
Screen grab from the New York Mets’ Web site
The jersey is a replica of one worn by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a video shown on the centerfield display on the Mets’ Taiwan Day last year, he said.
The team decided to create the jersey giveaway for this year’s event after many people called to ask where they could buy a jersey like the one that Tsai wore, Wang said.
“We hope more fans can take this rare opportunity to come to the game, wearing the special jersey, and proudly tell everyone that ‘we are from Taiwan,’” said Wang, a Taiwanese-American.
The right sleeve of the special jersey will feature a “Hello Taiwan” logo, a reference to a slogan launched in 2010 by members of the New York Taiwanese-American community in the hope of forging a connection between younger Taiwanese-Americans with Taiwan.
The Mets have worked with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York on the annual Taiwan Heritage Days since 2005.
Other MLB teams have held similar Taiwan-focused days, but the Mets have the longest-running event.
Taiwanese-American television personality Janet Hsieh (謝怡芬) is to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the August event.
Taiwanese YouTuber Tsai A-ga (蔡阿嘎) threw the first pitch last year, joining a list that includes director Ang Lee (李安), golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) and former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), a Nobel Prize laureate.
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