Mets Get it Right with Old Timer’s Day
For many years the New York Mets have often been viewed as the comic relief in New York and New Jersey sports. Always second fiddle to the Yankees, the franchise with 27 World Series titles, and the franchise that seemingly always gets it right. Whether it be finding diamonds in football towns like Ann Arbor, Michigan in the form of Derek Jeter, or retiring numbers of past greats; honoring the memory of Thurman Munson, and staying true to its over 100 years of tremendous history.
The Yankees are the Yankees for a reason.
The Mets on the other hand have always been viewed as the franchise that always got it wrong.
Back in 2008 the franchise’s previous owner’s, Fred and Jeff Wilpon decided it was a brilliant idea to go ahead with the firing then manager Willie Randolph at 3:00 in the morning in Anaheim, California, hours after they flew him across the country following a victory at home over the Texas Rangers. Months later, in the eyes of their fans, they botched the final game at Shea Stadium by holding a ceremony AFTER the final game of the season when the Mets were eliminated from playoff contention by the Miami Marlins, the same Marlins team that ended the Mets season a year earlier in 2007.
One would have thought a ceremony with such gravitas and history such as honoring a stadium where the likes of Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Keith Hernandez, and Mike Piazza played would be worthy of a grand ceremony BEFORE the game in order to capture the emotion of the moment, because before the game the Mets were still alive for a playoff berth.
But no. The Mets closed down Shea Stadium that year in the shadow of darkness.
Why bring this up? Because on Saturday August 27, the Mets, under new stewardship of billionaire Steve Cohen, gave the fanbase, its players past and present the rightful ceremony a team with as significant a history as the New York Mets truly deserved: Old Timer’s Day.
Across town in the Bronx, Old Timer’s Day is an annual tradition. Fans who have been lucky enough to attend have seen the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle make return trips to the Cathedral of Baseball that is Yankee Stadium for perhaps one last time. In Queens, Mets fans could only dream of such a day.
On August 27, they had that day.
While the likes of Seaver and Tommie Agee have passed on, their presence still felt of course, the Mets welcomed back members all the decades of Mets baseball. From Ron Swaboda and Cleon Jones of the ’69 Miracle Mets to John Matlack of the 1973 “Ya Gotta Believe Mets; Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Kevin Mitchell, Mookie Wilson, Jesse Orosco, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling to name a few from the ’86 Mets. And from more recent times, Piazza, Benny Agbayani, Todd Zeile, Robin Ventura, Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, and Bartolo Colon. All of them came back.
It was surreal moment. A moment that sent shivers down the spins of Mets fans who got a chance to see their baseball heroes suit up and play in a scrimmage. When Mets saves leader John Franco toed the rubber with Jose Reyes in the batters box, it felt like a time warp.
And how does one top seeing all these stars of yesteryear back in the ballpark? Well, Steve Cohen hung true to his word of recognizing the past when he honored the wishes of the Joan Payson, the Mets first ever owner when she promised to retire the number of Willie Mays. Unbeknownst to those in attendance beforehand, the Mets did just that in a stirring finale to the player introductions.
The culture in Queens has certainly changed.
