The Mets Police

January 6, 2010

Mets tickets Underpriced? Another ticket office story

Do/did the Mets think their tickets are underpriced?

As always I remind everyone that this ain’t 60 Minutes but so far even the Mets have agreed with us on the previous anecdotes. Scott wrote me the following, and I have no reason not to believe him. I have deleted the employee’s name and Scott’s seat location. Scott sent this before lunch yesterday (Bay day, so I held onto it).

I just got a call back from (employee) at the Mets ticket office after the deadline (I guess they didn’t sell my seats in 52x row XX yet). Though I appreciate her call and effort, when I told her that the tickets were extremely overpriced last year, she actually told me that management felt they were UNDER priced and could have been higher after doing their market research, which is why we didn’t see a truly significant drop this year. They dropped the seats they determined were overpriced. My response… well I know they’re going to have a hard time selling the tickets this year, so obviously they were overpriced, so I’m not about to debate that with you, but I do appreciate the call.

Scott added in a second email that the rep asked if there was anything to be done to keep his business, but no offers were made.

Interesting stuff.

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January 6, 2010

Share your shots: statue edition

Today’s share your shots come from Tom (with a major hookup, thanks!)

This first one proves that Jeff Wilpon is familiar with statue technology. Here’s Keyspan Park and a statue of two famous Brooklyn Dodgers, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. Perhaps this type of technology could be applied to a likeness of Tom Seaver.

Here’s statue technology being applied to Willie Mays in front of Formerly Pacbell Park. Does anyone else remember when there was a small movement to rechristen Shea as “Willie Mays Field?” Mays played for the Mets so there will be no statue of him in Queens.

More statue technology for the Giants. If Fred had grown up in upper Manhattan maybe we could be attending games at the New Polo Grounds and we’d have some of these.

Even the lowly Pirates have discovered statue technology…this one of Roberto Clemente. Will statue technology ever come to Flushing?

Share your shots: [email protected]

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January 6, 2010

Mets Police Decade In Review: Babe Ruth’s grandson wants a statue

Another great one from the archives…from April 2009, Babe Ruth’s grandson wonders why there’s no statue of the Babe at New Yankee Stadium.

Is there room for the Babe in the House That George Built? Brent Stevens, the great-grandson of Babe Ruth, and co-founder of Babe Ruth Central (http://www.baberuthcentral.com/) shares his thoughts on this exclusively for the Mets Police.

From a Ruth descendant – Thoughts on the Babe’s “presence” at the New Yankee Stadium and “Should there be a statue?”

As one of the great grandsons of Babe Ruth, the day I learned that “The House That Ruth Built” would be replaced with a new stadium, I certainly felt a sense of loss – not only of family heritage, but also a loss for the fans who won’t get the opportunity to see where he accomplished his legendary feats. Last year, my grandmother, Julia Ruth Stevens, was repeatedly asked how she felt about the House that Ruth built being replaced and she responded, “I guess all good things must come to an end. I hate to see ‘Daddy’s House’ go, but perhaps it’s time to move on.”

The Yankees invited The Ruth-Stevens family to a couple of games during the Yankees last season in 2008. Julia was given the ultimate privilege of throwing out the final ceremonial first pitch in old Yankee Stadium. That day, I was extremely proud of the Yankees, of my heritage, and of my grandmother (I might add it was a great throw for a 92 year old) and I’m very grateful to the Yankee organization for the honor bestowed upon the family. However, as a descendant of the Babe, I am concerned about his ongoing legacy within the new Stadium and the Yankee organization as a whole, which has emphasized that the new stadium will not be recognized as “The House That Ruth Built”. The Yankees, while acknowledging the past, are moving in a new direction with a significant focus on the future of the Yankees.

Of course as a major league franchise and a business, it’s important that the Yankees always look ahead to new opportunities, new championships and new heroes. And they’ll be doing just that, in their brand new stadium. I haven’t had the opportunity to visit it yet, so my comments are not first hand. But, based on feedback from friends, it sounds like Babe is given his due in Babe Ruth Plaza (outside the park on the first base side). Unfortunately, I have also heard that Monument Park is completely hidden from view behind an eight foot wall. In my opinion, Monument Park is hallowed Yankee ground and should be readily visible, to not only recognize the legends that made the Yankees what they are today, but also to arouse the curiousity of the younger generations and encourage them to learn about the Yankee players who set the benchmark for baseball greatness.

A statue would be most fitting. After all, Babe is not only a huge part of the Yankees’ legacy, but of baseball’s legacy as a whole. He has been singlehandedly credited with having saved baseball after the severe disappointment and sense of betrayal that came with the “Black Sox Scandal” of 1919. His ability to hit home runs like no other, before or since, forever changed how the game is played. As a fan of baseball and its history (and not just a Ruth relative), I think it’s important for today’s fans to know just how important the Babe was to baseball and how fortunate the Yankees were to have him as a founding member of their franchise. The Giants have a statue of Willie Mays, the Cardinals have statues of Roger Hornsby and Stan “The Man” Musial, and the Braves have “Hammerin’ Hank”. Can it seriously be said that the Babe is any less important? A statue of the Babe out in front of the New Yankee Stadium would be a perfect “passing of the torch” from the old “House That Ruth Built” to the new “House That George (Steinbrenner) Built”. The Yankees should do all they can to promote their heritage and legendary players. Hopefully, they will be open to new opportunities to do so. And what better way, than with a statue of the Babe, front and center of the new stadium. It’s the right thing to do.

Brent Stevens – great grandson of Babe Ruth and co-founder of BabeRuthCentral.com

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January 6, 2010

Meet the Mets…bloggers

Now that the Five Questions series has wrapped up…and being thankful for those who have helped my blog grow, I thought I’d take a stab at new series…Meet the Mets Bloggers.

If you have a Mets related blog, please answer the following. To make my life easier include the question in your response. Email [email protected]

1. Who are you and what’s the name of your blog?
2. What kind of things can we find on your site?
3. Expectations for 2010?

That’s it, nice and simple. Let’s jump right in shall we….

1. Who are you and what’s the name of your blog?
We are Greg Prince and Jason Fry and our blog is Faith and Fear in Flushing.

2. What kind of things can we find on your site?
Good things, we hope. More specifically, historically informed and
emotionally resonant essays on what it’s like to be a Mets fan, with
the occasional Omar Must Go rant woven in.

3. Expectations for 2010?
For the Mets, not that high. For us, we’ll do the best we can with our
writing and rooting.

January 6, 2010

Solving the Tug McGraw jersey mystery

I’ve been fascinated by this Tug McGraw jersey (several articles about it, I won’t rehash) and Jon from the super-awesome Mets By The Numbers has provided the answer. Take it away Jon!

Hi, I’d be happy to help. I get the same question at mbtn often and addressed it at least once before here: http://mbtn.net/real-mcgraw

1. I’m not sure but the numbers look okay to me.

2. Yes, in spring training but McGraw wore 45 once the season began. Often, materials published in the spring (such as yearbooks) would contain a published roster including numbers players did not wear, and/or photos from spring training.

3. I don’t know this for sure I suspect Mitchell & Ness relied on inaccurate information they found on the Internet but did not verify. A certain website covering mets uni numbers (cough) may have been the first to make this mistake. This was back when I was still separating numbers *listed* from the numbers that were actually worn. That would have been back before I re-did the site in 2003, not sure how old the jersey is. Maybe I should feel a little guilty for this but had someone asked me at the time I’d have strongly recommended they double check, especially if they were going to be creating a $275 jersey off it.

Anyway, hope this helps. Any other questions about Mets uni numbers please visit my site.

Awesome job by Jon, and there’s even more detail here. MBTN is a great site, a great resource, and I highly suggest you check it out.

Thanks for the assist.

Today will be a special day on Mets Police. My goal is to make it through the day without mentioning the color scheme. Let’s see how long I last.