The Mets Police

It was fun to see everyone else wake up yesterday and realize that people aren’t going to Mets games.  There was a LOT of discussion about in on social media.

Over at Van Hagar The Media Goon, the MG had a good rant:

…let’s into how they treated longtime season ticket holders that have had tickets since Shea Stadium. They used to get perks with the plan level purchase. Playoff strips, special events, special gifts, etc. And your tenure counted for as long as you had your tickets. Now your tenure level is tied into how much you spend plus the years you have had your seats. Basically I think the Mets hired one of the Cell Phone company VPs because they are treating their fans like phone customers. “Special deal for new customers. Get this shiny thing and money off your bill. Wait you are an existing customer and want the same thing? Hahaahhaahahahahah”

Anyway, read MG’s entire rant, well worth it and as always ON POINT.  He reminds us that Dance Teams, Light Shows and Fancy Scoreboards do not make for creating baseball fans.

I think the issue is “The Third Wild Card.”  That’s not baseball.  What are we even doing.  The idea of the additional playoff spots was (a) to make more TV money and (b) to keep fans interested.   24,392 showed up last night.  The town hasn’t exactly caught Mets fever.

On Twitter, @Batbeat2 had a great point – maybe this is what happens when you let the Yankees own the town for 30 years.  Maybe the Mets  fans like me have gotten old, and there are just far fewer behind us to replace the now empty seats.

A lot of the discussion on social media seemed to center around how hard it is to get to Citi Field.  What?   Now while I understand it can be a pain in the neck from NJ, it’s not like this is a new thing.  The Mets have been playing in that area since 1964.  Was Shea Stadium easier to get to because it was 15 feet closer to Manhattan?  Citi Field is actually closer to the subway and the LIRR if we want to be ridiculous about it.

I think the bill has come due on all of it.   Steve and Co focused on gimmicks.  They build around a guy who told the paying customers to screw off.  Vulhar Pete.  Jerking around the plan holders.   ESPN switching game times.  Ghost Runners.  Three Wild Cards.   The DH.   Late playoff starts.   Food prices.  The hassle of entering the stadium..  You can’t bring a laptop in.

You can argue that none of those things are a big deal and just get over them – but you add them all up, and yeah, maybe it’s not worth going to Citi Field.

I think Steve and Co got this all wrong.  The move isn’t flashing screens.  The move is actually the other way.  Get back to an old style ballpark feeling. People seem to like Wrigley and Fenway.  Maybe some organ music and a manual scoreboard would do you better than idiots dancing on the dugout.

That said, even if you do all that – there are three Wild Cards, and MLB has taught us we can just dip in on October 1st since none of this matters.

 

Steve, do you think maybe the marketing is all wrong?

Monday September 11, 2023 home vs. Arizona: 25, 230

OK maybe there was some sort of 9/11 component to that.

Tuesday September 12, 2023 home vs Arizona:  33,506

Monday September 12, 2022 for a team that would win 100 games; 28,081

Monday September 14, 2021,  the 70-72 Mets drew 19,057

Monday September 16, 2019, the 77-73 Mets drew 28,505.  Surely comparing a Monday September 16th to a Monday September 16th is fair.  And we can’t say the weather was poor last night.

Monday September 19, 2016 off a World Series appearance,  29,665 came to see the Mets host Atlanta.

Monday September 14 2015, vs Miami,  27,320 showed up.

And 10 years ago in 2014 on Monday September 15, 23,027 came to see the 72-79 Mets play the Marlins.

Steve, I don’t know what to tell you.  You’ve got a team in playoff contention.  Maybe nobody cares about a third wild card, I know I don’t.  Maybe there are more people turned off by Lindor than the media (who he talks to) realize.  Maybe Grimace is fun for a bored beat reporter and your Partnerships team, but it didn’t pack the place.

Steve, I warned you last year when The T-Shirt Army Section started being 2/3 full.  It was a major warning sign.  You blew me off publicly on twitter.

21,694 Steve.  Look at this photo.  Don’t look at his thumb.  Look at the eyes on “Mr. Smile”

21,694.

 

So the way to make this cool is to make it permanent.  Then it becomes a quirky part of Mets history like the mule and the apple.

If this is a one week thing it’s kinda lame.   So keep it.

Of note, note it’s the “SVP of Partnerships” commenting – so this is appears to be some sort of deal with McDonalds and not just an organic thing.   We’ll see how else this manifests itself.

Any idea how burger chain Shake Shack feels about this?

Also much thanks to the Mets media team for sending images.  Makes a difference.

 

NEW YORK METS CELEBRATE FAN APPRECIATION WEEKEND BY REVEALING COMMEMORATIVE PURPLE GRIMACE SEAT AT CITI FIELD

FLUSHING, N.Y., September 16, 2024 – As the New York Mets enter their final homestand of the 2024 regular season, punctuated with fan appreciation weekend from Sept. 20-22, the team today announced the installation of a commemorative purple seat to honor the beloved McDonald’s character Grimace and his special connection to Mets fans at Citi Field. Following Grimace’s iconic first pitch on June 12, the Mets went on a seven-game win streak and fans embraced Grimace from then on as a special symbol for this exciting season.

“It’s been great to see how our fanbase created the Grimace phenomenon following his first pitch in June and in the months since,” said Mets SVP of Partnerships Brenden Mallette. “As we explored how to further capture the magic of this moment and celebrate our new celebrity fan, installing a commemorative seat ahead of fan appreciation weekend felt like the perfect way to give something back to the fans in a fun and unique way. This enables our fans to be a part of the Grimace fun, while enjoying a game at Citi Field.”

The one-of-a-kind commemorative purple seat will be located in section 302, row 6, seat 12, and will be available for purchase for all remaining home games this season. Individual tickets for all home games at Citi Field are currently on sale and can be purchased online at Mets.com/Tickets or by calling 718-507-TIXX.

The Mets who are darned quick to send me a press release about a new ticket offering didn’t send me anything about Kranepool.   There appear to be two mailing lists, despite how many times Mets Insiders tell us there aren’t (I have discussed this with other bloggers) and it appears they used List A.

Anyway…I first became fascinated by Ed Kranepool when at some point in the late 70s the TV announcers told me he was an original Met.  WHOA that seemed insane – especially because I was younger than the Mets.  This guy must be GREAT!

Well, Ed was good but he wasn’t great.  He did however have a Mets World Series ring which not too many people can say.

I met Ed at least once, I think twice, at various Queens Baseball Conventions.

Ed. like all of the 69 Mets that I met, came across as a regular guy.  Those old school neighborhood guys that happened to play baseball, as opposed to the new-fangled player making millions and millions and has nothing in common with you.

It seems everyone somehow met Ed.  I’ve seen tons of tweets and articles about people sharing their anecdotes.  In my case, I asked him about a house.

Way back when. a realtor showed me a house with an indoor pool.  The house was straight out of the 70s with wood paneling and a San Diego Padres color scheme.  And did I mention an indoor pool.  Not just an indoor pool, a ig giant indoor pool in the middle of the house.  Where the living room should be.  If you walked from the bedroom to the bathroom or over to the kitchen, you’d walk past the pool.  Not a place to raise children.

The realtor told me it had been Ed Kranepool’s house.  I asked Ed about it.  He said no.  I imagine he would have remembered owning such a place.

So, we’ve lost another one of “my” Mets as this franchise increasingly becomes someone else’s Mets.

Can you imagine Ed, or Buddy, or Ed Charles, or Shamsky, or Grove  or Seaver (all Mets I met) going out of their way to give the Mets fans a thumbs down.  I sure can’t.