NY Mets: The embarrassment continues
Posted by keithosaunders on March 15, 2010
Driving on the L.I.E. on the way to my gig I nearly threw up in my mouth when I noticed a New York Mets billboard with the slogan “We believe in comebacks!” As a fan this was insulting on many levels. First of all it’s condescending. It is as if we, as fans, will not support a team coming off a poor season. Secondly it has the effect of reminding us not only of how bad they were last year, but of the monumental collapses that took place in 07 and 08.
The Mets have no feel for their fans. There is a glib corporatism to the way they present themselves, and they lack a connection to their fan base. It’s been this way for years. Even when they won the World Series 24 years ago they had a buttoned down approach to the celebration, upbraiding Ron Darling and a few of the other players for drinking champagne on the field. The players wanted to share their joy with the fans but management felt that drinking publicly was bad for the Met’s image.
When it comes right down to it this isn’t even an original slogan. It’s pilfered from the 1973 team. And guess what? That slogan was coined by a player — Tug McGraw — not by some corporate hack in the front office.
If the Mets really want to win back some fans I can solve their problem with a billboard of my own:
SEE THE METS @ CITI — TWO FOR ONE ON TUESDAYS!
The World According to Keitho 
Hank said
We needed a designer ballpark like we needed a hole in the head. The truth is one needs to float a loan to afford a ballgame. Dumpy old Shea was just fine.
William Miller said
Hi Keith, I just wanted to check out your blog, and I am definitely impressed. I will certainly be following you, as I love both Jazz and Baseball. I grew up a Mets fan, and I suppose sometimes I still am, but they’ve been a pretty discouraging team since, oh, the early ’90’s, with one or two exceptional years thrown in. Really nice blog, Bill (ondeckcircle.wordpress.com)
P.S. I’ll be adding you to my blog roll as soon as my three-year old leaves me alone long enough to be able think.
keithosaunders said
Thank you, William. I will be adding you to my blogroll as well. Thanks for stopping by.
Lou Garu said
Ha, I love rock and baseball! Not much into jazz beyond Vic Wooten and Omar Hakim, Stanley Clarke… I guess the fusion heavyweights. I didn’t know the Met brass was so uptight, sort of ironic when you consider most of them were coke addicts and Keith Hernandez smoked cigarettes in the dugout. Back then they didn’t even lift weights, they just strutted on the field and played, like the old days of hockey.
One thing I miss about the old Shea stadium, and I’ll admit to being a Yankee fan, but they had this giant picture of Jesse Orosco after he threw the last out… it never made it to Citi Field. Why? Then they were going to take Doc Gooden’s autograph off the wall, they called it “graffiti”, how out-of-touch can you be?
I really feel bad for Mets fans sometimes and I hope one day a real fan buys the team.