Mets Vic Black.jpg

Vic Black likes to play off the field, too.

(Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — It begins, sometimes, with a tweet. Vic Black will share his gamertag: UncleBlack38.

It is not often that a professional baseball player asks fans and followers to join in. Black, the Mets relief pitcher and an avid video game player, has asked often enough. This offseason he did it three times, openly surveying if anyone wanted to play Xbox One online with him.

Then come the invitations. A group of replies and queries: Does Black want to play?

The answer, for him, frequently enough, is yes.

Phillip Granickas, a Mets fan who follows Black on Twitter, took his opportunity last winter. With Black's gamertag in mind, he added him on the online circuit while playing the Madden game with his friends. He was just curious if Black would join, and he did.

Black disavows sports games and Granickas didn't have the game Black was playing, so they couldn't play together. Instead, he says, they just talked for two hours.

Granickas peppered him with questions about what it was like to play for the Mets and Black responded and with kindness. By the end of the conversation, the pitcher had became a favorite for Granickas and his friends.

"We were in awe because it's not everyday that you casually get to talk to a Met on Xbox," he said.

These experiences are not irregular.

Attention:::: XBOX One users. My gamertag is UncleBlack38. If you game let's GO!!! — Victor Black (@Vic_Black_2) February 10, 2015

Just Monday, Black played with another fan after he messaged Black and the pitcher accepted his overture. For approximately 90 minutes, they vied on "Destiny," a multi-player role playing game. Black had just started it several weeks ago and was not still sure of himself.

"It's a tough one to get going," he said. "He showed me all the ropes. It was pretty cool."

Black sticks to Xbox One as his chosen platforms. Fans and teammates have tried to get him to change to Playstation 4 but he won't relent.

He doesn't play sports games because he's not good at them, sticking instead to "Destiny," "Battlefield 4," and "Call of Duty."

And there is no fear that the online interactions can take a weird turn. Instead, it has allowed him a way to interact with fans on a different plane. When his work is done for the day, the pitcher now has another world in which to compete.

"I feel like I've got a pretty strong corps of online gamers I can hang out with on the regular," Black said.

Mike Vorkunov may be reached at mvorkunov@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mike_Vorkunov. Find NJ.com Mets on Facebook.