Some people got sad at my question about whether or not the Mets fanbase would care about the 1969 celebrations.
That led to a discussion on twitter in which I proposed there are four generations of fans. As with any generalities there will be exceptions – I’ll come back to that at the end.
The Originals. They signed on board in 1962 and the baseball gods shockingly rewarded them in 1969. Then they got another amazin’ surprise in 1973. Will these folks come out for 1969 Celebrations? Yes, they will. Their patron saint? The Franchise.
The Magic Generation. These are the Gen Xers. This is the “Me” generation.
We missed Seaver by 5 minutes. We, for some reason, fell in love with a really terrible 1978-1983 team and then we too were rewarded for having faith. We worship Game 6. We like Lee Mazzilli. A lot. We were born into such horrific losing that we laugh when boycotters are upset the Mets only have deGrom, Syndergaard, Conforto, Nimmo, Ramos, Cano and whoever else you want to mention. Please. We respect 1969 but it’s not really “ours.”
Generation Piazza. They came to be after the Magic Generation’s “Dynasty” collapsed. They wear black Mets stuff, they like Bobby Valentine, David Wright and Jose Reyes. They got a World Series ruined by New York (AL). They “get” 1986 even if they missed it.
A lot of what I have been writing about this week is where the nostalgia point for the Mets should be heading forward, and I think it should be here. It will be one last go-around for the 1969 club (and we’re already post-Seaver). We just did a ton of 1986…that needs a rest, call me in 2036. 2000 plus twenty is 2020. So bring it on. Piazza, Alfonzo, black, all of it. I’m sorry if you don’t like this Originals and Magic Generation but guess what, you got old.
The Bridge Crowd. Much like in the real world Gen X doesn’t get the Milennials, the Originals and The Magic Generation don’t get the bridge people. They came into being in the new ballpark. They like to congregate on the bridge and watch games for 500 feet away. Or attend games and maybe not even watch. They will be jazzed to have the SRO pass. They’d rather have a Nohan t-shirt than a healthy ace. Their player is….I’m not even sure….whoever is trendy at the moment. Ike Davis, Neil Walker, Matt Harvey….have two good games and they’ll make giant cutouts of your face and bring them to games. I guess some day they will appreciate the 2015 run but they don’t seem to yet. Maybe 2019 will be theirs.
Now back to the crossovers – yes, I am generalizing. There are guys like Media Goon who is spiritually a Magic-ian, but behaviorally a Bridger. If I had to put Greg Prince in a box, I’d check the first three. Maybe you dear reader check two boxes. It’s fine. It’s just an article off a twitter discussion. There really aren’t rules.
