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Have the 1973 Mets lost their prestige in Mets history?

Mike asks:

hey shannon..just a thought. why is there almost never any mention of the great 1973 season the mets had?? heck, they were one game away from beating big bad oakland..this was my era as i grew up in the late ’60s, early ’70s and basically lived at shea during this time. we had some great players on the team and of course the best pitching rotation in baseball. we beat the big red machine who were many times better then us (on paper).
i mean the mets honor nl east championship teams more then they do the 1973 mets. any thoughts from you would be great. thanks for listening.

Two words: wild cards.

I got into this team in the late 1970’s.  All we had was 1969 and 1973.  ’73 was almost on par with ’69.  It was almost as if the Mets won in 1973.   You often heard the names of Tug McGraw, Willie Mays and Yogi Berra.

Even after 1986 came along, ’73 stuck around.   As fans we celebrated our three great teams.  The details of the ’73 World Series loss got fuzzy and the focus became Tug.  I know I would be hard-pressed to press a quiz on that series.

Time went on.  1988 happened – the Mets were surely on their way to another World Series until Mike Scoiscia and the Dodgers ruined that.   The 1988 Mets have largely been forgotten, and after a half century of baseball they are just another division winner.

Another decade – and some wild cards.   The ’73 team sort of got folded into the ’69 team.  If you were going to honor Seaver, Koosman, or Harrelson – why not pick ’69.

If you’re over 45 you have ’69.  If you are 40ish like me you have ’86 and the youngsters have ’00 to be their ’73 and 2006 as a recent semi-success.

That’s my guess…73 is now a subset of 69, and ’00 has taken it’s place.

In the past this is where I would have gone on and on about the lack of Mets history, but the Mets have made great strides by adding the historical bricks, and opening the Hall of Fame museum (although there is no news on that which makes me wonder if it is ready yet.)

What does everyone else think about Mike’s question?

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McFadden’s news and Blue Cap Army update

I exchanged emails with the new Events Manager of McFadden’s Citi Field – I am hopeful that we’ll be officially marching on McFadden’s (in a peaceful way) on Opening Day.  Will keep you posted…and I have one eye on the weather.

If you are wondering about this Blue Cap Army thing, information is here and please sign up.  Signing up helps me answer the question “how many people ya got?”

The cool Mets blog On The Black visited McFadden’s yesterday and these photos make it seem there’s still lots of work to do.  Thanks to Kerel for sending the link over, and go check out On the Black for the pictures and a McFadden’s update.

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Guide to the Amazin’ Moments Bricks at Citi Field

CitiField Fanwalk Brick Locator Map

I got home last night and what do I find in the mail but a brick locator map from the Mets with the locations of all 12 Amazin Moments bricks along the Fanwalk. (My family did purchase a brick to honor our mother who was a life-long Mets fan)

The bricks run along the 3rd base and then 1st base lines outside the ballpark (the brick that was in error was the first along the 1st base side).

Click on the image to view a larger map.

CitiField Fanwalk Brick Locator Map

Photos of the new bricks can be found here.

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Things I think of at 3am

I woke up in the middle of the night and started thinking about the blog and how I’m so appreciative of  how popular the blog has become, and how I didn’t set out to do this.  Before I get to some jersey related thoughts, let me tell you how you and I come to meet today.

I had been thinking about trying out this blogging thing I had heard of, and a friend had recently started using the Blogger template, which is a Google product, so I logged in using my Shannon Shark account (Shark is the dog, and it was one of my “register for ticket lottery accounts”.   “I named the dog Indiana.”   I quickly realized using the alias had and has convenience of me not having to explain to the boss why I’m blogging all day, even if I pre-write most of what you read..and here two years later it’s become my pen name.)

Next I had to pick a name and a topic.  Well, I like the Mets and I like Sting’s band….Mets Police.  There was no plan to hunt out misinformation on fan bricks – just a guy who liked Sting and Lee Mazzilli.  The first post complained about the Mets not wearing names on the back of their uniforms on Robinson Night.  If there ever is a reason to have names, it is when all players are wearing the same number.

Then the wheels starting coming off Willie, the team collapsed again, Shea closed down, a new stadium was built, some plexiglass blocked my view, everyone got injured, people started sending in items, I got a little better at writing and choosing topics, some online friendships have been made, I learned there are others who like to wax philosophically about the 1970’s – and here we are, having an ever-evolving conversation about our favorite baseball team and being quoted in the New York Times. I spent most of the winter in negative mode, lately I’ve been more positive.  Some day I may even change my tune on black uniforms, though I doubt it.  which brings us to….

My mom bought Junior this sweatshirt.  I like it.  Yes the letters are in black, but it is nice looking.  Since I have been campaigning for blue jerseys to replace the hideous black jerseys, perhaps a design based upon this color scheme could please both me and the Mets marketing department.   This year’s batting practice jerseys are a step in the right direction – they would just need to eliminate all that underarm nonsense (which is MLB-wide and looks terrible on Yankees jerseys).   Similarly, the 2010 batting practice cap could be salvaged with less flourishes.   Perhaps at the Treaty of Flushing this can be discussed.

I contacted Mitchell & Ness about buying a 1978 road Lee Mazzilli jersey or even a blank one.  No dice.

I feeling Metsy today, I may buy a Saturday plan.