A feisty letter from a Mets Police reader

This came in as a comment, but had some parts marked as “private” so I sat on it for a week, and I tried reaching out to the email address that was submitted but it bounced back…so here’s my best shot, an edited version and my reply.

Mr. Shark, I have issues with you that I would prefer to discuss directly. However since I cannot find an email link to you I must disclose this in a public forum. Regarding your stance that; 1.) the Wilpon/Katz ownership group will not sell 2.) the Mets will not trade or allow David Wright to leave via free agency; you are wrong.

Regarding the first point, the amount of debt that the Wilpon/Katz ownership group must service in the next several years cannot be done without either dipping into their personal funds or more destructively (for whatever shareholders that their companies have) their business funds.

I’m not smart enough to understand all the debt financing, but I think Jeff Wilpon will be the owner for a long long time.

Regarding the second point since the Mets (exempting a TARP equivalent bailout by MLB for the Wilpon/Katz group) are going to be sold within the next few years. What we as Mets fan will and must endure will be the stripping down of this team of its long term on field assets in terms of dollars. You talk about David Wright being the face of the franchise and having an immense intangible worth. That is wrong. For a team in New York there is no so thing as a face of the franchise. Since this team is in the largest market its value will always be strong because of its earnings potential (Did the Knicks lose any value because they were terrible for a decade? They did not.). The Mets frankly do not need a ‘face of the franchise’ because they are in the largest media market. You can always find another ‘face of the franchise’ you cannot find another metro area with 20 million people.

I’m not sure what I can say here that I haven’t said a lot for the last few weeks, especially on twitter.  There’s more to this than the baseball game.  There’s the tv network. There’s the guy who shows up at the holiday party.  The guy who smiles at clients at 4:30.  The guy who shows up to wear your new uniform.  The guy at the hospital.

I have also noticed that you have made remarks regarding a feeling that ‘you have your team back’. Which team is that Mr. Shark? A team with no money and terrible ownership? Or a team with under-achieving coke head wife beaters that should have won more championships than they did?

Now my preference for rooting for outlaws aside I have to ask you aside from some misplaced sense of nostalgia and aside from a lack of black on the uniform how is ‘having your team back’ a positive? I say this as a 22 year old member of as you like to say ‘Generation Piazza’. Do my memories as an 11 year old not matter?

Do: Piazza, Alfonzo, Leiter, Reed, Ventura, Olerud, etc etc do not count to you because they wore black? Because they did not appeal to you for some arbitrary reason? Same with the 2006 team? They didn’t belong to you? You explain away your lack of allegiance with two poorly sketched out maybe sentences: “They tried to appeal to new people”? Excuse me but what is that? Because they signed free agents like every other team? You criticize others for bailing on the Mets when times get tough, yet you do not get on board when the team goes to playoffs? So what does that make you? If you aren’t with us in the best of time what right do you have to judge in the worst? Frankly I think you’re at best a hypocrite.

I will not be attending any games this year and that will make three straight years that I have not attended a game. That does not mean that I have stopped rooting for or following this team. I was born into this mess and I will stick with them for my entire life. So instead of in person I will be checking out games on television. Sorry I’m not spending serious coin to sit in the upper deck (in a sense the tearing down of Shea marked a certain change in my stance regarding game attendance). So please go build memories with your son. I will be trying to make my way as a young professional in the greatest city in the world following the true New York baseball team, but please don’t mistake your willingness to purchase a jersey or 15 game plan as a pulpit to lecture people like me regarding fandom. I’ve been here my entire, albeit brief, life and I’ll always be here. What we need now in the fan base is unity not discord. You’re in a position of relative power unlike the Wilpons I hope that you do not abuse it.

Um wow, I’m not sure where to begin.

“My” team was a team of losing ballclubs that wore blue and orange.  The best guy was Lee Mazzilli.  The team wasn’t good but had some fun traditions like Banner Day and Mr. Met.  (Y’all forget that even Mr. Met disappeared for a few years!)

Then a guy named Hernandez showed up and had a new attitude of “Eff this we aren’t losing today.”    

Hernandez was then joined by the best pitcher you have ever seen, The Young Dwight Gooden.  It didn’t last long, but it was lights out, and Shea rocked when he pitched like it never rocked at any other time. I’m old, you have to have been there.

Then we get to the part where this blog is about ME.

My dad died in 1989.  I was 20.  That will affect a person.  College, girls, steady girlfriend, fiancee, I too was in my early 20’s once and figuring out a career so I know you get it.  

Cablevision jacked the cost of crappy Fran Healy broadcasts so I didn’t have Sportschannel/FSNY in the late 1990’s.  I listened to Murphy like I did in 1986 when there was no cable in Queens and yet the Mets put half the games on a channel that there was no way to acquire.

I was as into the 1999 team as I was into the 1993 team, and I was into both far less than the 1977 team or the 2011 team.  I was really into 1984, less into 2006.  I was really into 2008, less into 1989.  It’s about life.

By the time I was married and settled around of the turn of the century these Mets had a new look, a look I don’t like. Again this is the part where the blog is about me.

I’m not as attached to that turn of the century as you are.  You should be attached to that team.  They belong to you.  Never let anyone take that away from you.  Hell, start a blog and harass Dave to bring back the black and to retire #13. 

I’m just not as attached to that group.   If you want to make this about uniforms, well I don’t recall campaigning for the pullover racing stripe look to come back.

Here’s one for you: The Piazza Home Run Game in 2001.  People in the Mets organization will all tell you it’s their favorite moment.  I was still in post-9/11 mode.  Didn’t care and still don’t.

By 2008 I was in a position where I have enough disposable income to go to games, and my son is old enough to go.  Coincidentally, that was the year I started blogging when I couldn’t take one more stupid thing (which was NOT having names on the back on the one day when everyone wears 42.)  I had a whole 13,000 page views that summer.  These days we’re well over a million a year which I find stunning.

Then the part about “my team.”  The Mets are going to look like the team of MY childhood.  The traditions from MY childhood are coming back.  This blog is about ME. If people enjoy it, I really appreciate it.  

I’m also fine if people think it’s stupid.  I’m not trying to be a sportswriter.  I’m not trying to get a job with the Mets.  I WAS trying to get them to bring back Banner Day and the uniforms, so I can walk away right now and be happy that that happened.

I don’t think I have any power at all with the Mets.  I think it’s all coincidence, but it makes for good writing.  Yes, I have a slight bit of access that if I come up with an idea for bringing back Mettle the Mule I have an email address or two and someone will read it…from there, it’s not like I own the team.

I’m not sure exactly what I wrote that stressed you out but I do like that you have the passion and enough interest to write.  When you say “I was born into this mess and I will stick with them for my entire life” I say amen brother.  Amen.

I’m looking forward to 2012.  Ike is back.  Duda is going to pop 30.  I can’t wait to root for Santana again (he has a little bit of Keith in him, see 2008.)  I’m excited about Andres Torres who was beloved by Giants fans.  I love Murphy.  Who doesn’t like Dickey?  I hope Tejada has an awesome year so people can move on.  I hope Wright rings up some numbers.  They will dress nice. I will walk around with a sign.

I will write whatever comes to mind.  People will like it, hate it, or not care.  The Mets will invite me to cool events or they won’t.

I don’t want anything.  This is just about me.  Thanks for reading.

The best ways to reach me are [email protected] and @metspolice on twitter.