14
2011
An Open Letter To Brooklyn Dodger Lover Fred Wilpon
An article by 
Dear Mr. Wilpon,
I was recently at the Mets Team Store on the Field Level at Citi Field looking for some Mets T-shirts. After being pleasantly surprised to finally see R.A. Dickey and Angel Pagan number shirts for sale, my jaw dropped when I saw yet another piece of Brooklyn Dodgers merchandise.
This wasn’t yet another tribute to Jackie Robinson or Ebbets Field. This was something else entirely. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you photo documentation of the latest shirt for sale at the Mets Team Store.
A Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers shirt? Really? Let’s look up a few things about Mr. Koufax to share with our readers.
Sandy Koufax had a great career in the major leagues. He finished his career with a .655 winning percentage (165 wins, 87 losses), pitched four no-hitters (a record at the time), struck out 382 batters in a single season (also a record at the time), won three Cy Young Awards and was the National League MVP in 1963. He also was a member of four pennant winners and three World Series champions. As a result of his outstanding career, Koufax was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility.
That’s a lot of accomplishments for a pitcher whose career was cut short because of arthritis. But that’s not what stands out most for me on his Hall of Fame plaque. Let’s focus on Sandy himself, or rather, let’s focus on the cap he’s wearing in the plaque. What’s that on his cap? Oh, yeah…
It’s a LOS ANGELES DODGERS cap!
Now why is he wearing an LA on his cap rather than a “B” for Brooklyn? That’s because Koufax did very little in Brooklyn as a Dodger.
From 1955-1957, the last three seasons the Dodgers played at Ebbets Field, Sandy Koufax’s record was 9-10, or the same record compiled by Jonathon Niese in 2010. He was also very wild, walking 108 batters in 204.2 innings and posted a 4.00 ERA. Once the Dodgers packed their bags and left Brooklyn for LA, Koufax blossomed into one of the all-time greats in baseball.
So why on Earth is Citi Field selling Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers shirts when he did practically nothing as one of Dem Bums? It surely can’t be because the Mets appreciate pitchers who go 9-10 while pitching in one of the outer boroughs. If that were the case, then the store would also have a full stock of Jonathon Niese T-shirts (which they don’t; what’s up with that?).
No, Mr. Wilpon. You know the reason as well as I do. Sandy Koufax was a childhood friend of yours. The two of you went to Lafayette High School in Brooklyn together. Sandy comes to spring training as a favor to you to talk to your pitchers.
We get it. You’re BFFs. Fine.
But please. Sandy Koufax wasn’t a Met. He was barely a Brooklyn Dodger. Stop trying to make it seem like he was. The Mets don’t play at Ebbets Field. They don’t have a “B” on their hats. Therefore, if you could, we’d like you to stop trying to shove the Brooklyn Dodgers down our throats. We know this is probably hard for you to do, so perhaps we can reach a compromise.
Do you remember which two players led the major leagues in home runs and RBI during the 1950s? Maybe the photos below will help.
The man in the photo on the left is Duke Snider, who played in Brooklyn for 11 seasons (1947-1957). The man on the right is Gil Hodges, who came up to the Brooklyn Dodgers for good in 1947 after playing in one game for the team in 1943.
Both men played the majority of their major league careers as Brooklyn Dodgers, winning six pennants and one World Series in Brooklyn. They also have one other thing in common. Let’s roll out the photo album one more time to assist you.
Your eyes are not deceiving you, Mr. Wilpon. They were indeed both members of your New York Mets.
Duke Snider played one season for the Mets, making the All-Star team in 1963. Gil Hodges played parts of two seasons for the Mets (1962-63), hitting the first home run in franchise history on April 11, 1962. He also did something on a grander scale seven years later. It may or may not have involved winning a championship. I’ll have to look that up.
Do you see what I’m getting at, Mr. Wilpon? Why are you selling Sandy Koufax merchandise when you can sell Duke Snider or Gil Hodges gear? They were both Brooklyn Dodgers far longer than Koufax was and contributed to more success in Brooklyn than your boyhood buddy did. Plus, they have the added appeal to Mets fans because they both donned the orange and blue at some point.
As of right now, there is nothing for Duke Snider at Citi Field and only a first base entrance named after Gil Hodges. I know I’m not the only fan who’s appalled that you’re trying to sell Sandy Koufax as a Brooklyn Dodger to Mets fans. In fact, my wife (you may know her as “The Coop”) also has an opinion on the lovefest between you and the Brooklyn Dodgers, which she will share with you now:
Speaking of both teams for whom to pay homage, you also discredit the origins of the “orange” from the term “orange and blue” in your child-like fascination with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and that’s the New York Giants.
While the Dodgers were quick to embrace their new identity on the west coast with winning a championship in two years, the now-San Francisco Giants had to do nothing BUT embrace their New York roots. And why was that? Because prior to 2010, they had not won a championship in their 50 year old home and a lot of their rich history was based in New York. Even when the team won, they visited the old site of the Polo Grounds (where both the New York Giants and…oh some other team…oh yes, the New York Mets once upon a time played) with the Commissioner’s Trophy to pay homage to where their history originated. I don’t believe that the Dodgers visited the old site of Ebbets Field after winning a championship so quickly after switching coasts. The Giants embrace New York and the Mets need to embrace the Giants history as well.
It’s not so much the Koufax jersey or this blatant “to the victor go the spoils” attitude at Citi Field that is troublesome — there is also no mention of New York Giants history. You’d like to be fair, then how about this? In addition to selling Brooklyn memorabilia, why not include the Giants as well in a nostalgia store? Not to mention, one of the most storied baseball players in history, Willie Mays, played for both New York and San Francisco Giants AND ended his career with the Mets. Wouldn’t it be great to not only acknowledge those teams but to also have an actual connection to the Mets? There’s no limitation to having Giants or Dodgers jerseys either in the nostalgia store – you can sell old Mets jerseys as well and even other items such as collectible yearbooks and souvenir cups.
My wife and I are just two people, Mr. Wilpon. But we’re not the only ones who feel that you have overdone it with your homage to the Brooklyn Dodgers at Citi Field.
You’re the owner of the New York Mets. You also love the Brooklyn Dodgers. If you absolutely must share that Dodger love with the fans who pay their way into your homage to Ebbets Field to see the Mets play, at least share it with players who have ties to both teams. Is that so hard to do, Mr. Wilpon?
Peace, love, Mets, y’all,
Ed Leyro and Taryn Cooper
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 22 | 18 | .550 | - |
| Nationals | 22 | 19 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 19 | 22 | .463 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 15 | 23 | .395 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 30 | .268 | 11.5 |
Last updated: 05/17/2013
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That is unbelievable. I know the majority of Brooklyn Dodger fans comprised the original Mets fan base, so can understand the Campanella, Robinson, Snider jerseys, but Koufax? Honestly, I’ve never seen a Koufax Brooklyn Dodger jersey until this post. Is that entire rack just full of his jersey?
Yes, the entire rack belongs to Koufax. Too bad they have nothing devoted to Gil Hodges, who deserves it far more than Koufax does
I don’t mind so much having the Brooklyn Dodger connection but that SHOULD be balanced with the NY Giant connection and the Rotunda should have been devoted to 1969 and 1986 and Joan Payson who has all but been forgotten about here.
She was the original owner, a former NY Giant season ticket holder and the one who allocated the funds to sign all the great young talented players we had our greatest success with in 1969 before there was a draft, and then after it was instituted.
When you think of leadership and commitment to winning Mrs. Payson was WAY AHEAD of any owner we have had since she passed away.
She hired the best scouts who went out and signed Koosman, Ryan, McGraw, McAndrew, Harrelson, Gentry, Kranepool, Jones, Matlack and GM’s like Weiss, Murphy and Bing Devine who made trades for guys like Koonce, Cardwell, Agee, Milan, Grote, and Clendenon.
It was under her leadership that we were one of only three teams that entered a special drawing for Tom Seaver when his original contract was declared invalid by the Commisioner. Does anyone believe we would have been in that drawing if Fred and Jeff were running the team? No way would we have been springing for another signing bonus to a prospect.
Joan Payson also hired THE BEST GM’s, field managers, scouts and development staff possible. Weiss from the NYY, Stengel, Johhny Murphy, Bing Devine from the Cardinals, Gil, Rube Walker, Joe Pignatanno, Yogi, Whitey Herzog, the list of great baseball people just never ended under her leadership.
While she was here this team had a winning vision that translated into a World Championship in just EIGHT YEARS (before free agency) an almost unheard of achievement and almost another one four years after that.
Yeah she might have endulged herself in bringing back her favorite player but she didn’t name the most visable part of the Stadium after him and who can really complain about having seen Willie Mays in a Met uniform.
Jackie Robinson was a truly spectacular man, a great player and a big part of NY and Major League baseball history and is well deserving of the rotunda that bears his name but the question of who is more deserving of that honor in the Stadium in which the NY Mets play is very clear to me. I would have chosen to honor our two World Champions and errected a statue outside of Jackie, Gil AND Mrs. Payson.
It’s really a shame that the only place you see her name is in the Met HOF and nowhere else.
So by that logic, there shouldn’t be a Nolan Ryan Mets shirt either. What was his record with the Mets? I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.
Actually, you’re missing the point. Koufax NEVER played for the Mets. Former Brooklyn Dodgers such as Snider and Hodges actually DID pay for the Mets. This would be akin if they did actually carry a Nolan Ryan jersey, it would be for the California Angels, and not for the ’69 Mets. Actually, I’d be thrilled if they carried a circa 1969 Ryan 30 jersey.
Coop and Ed raise what should be a troubling question for the Mets. If the Mets are to honor only those players who performed for them, why did Fred Wilpon insist on a Jackie Robinson Rotunda? Jackie’s main contribution was as a racial barrier breaker. For that and his competitive play on the field, MLB at large honors Jackie in many ways, so why did the Wilpons make a special Mets shrine?
Tomorrow, Friday, April 15, baseball celebrates Jackie’s historic debut on that day in 1947.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110414&content_id=17767716&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
FTR, I don’t have a problem with honoring Jackie Robinson. But the whole love fest for the Brooklyn DOdgers has got to stop!
Honoring Jackie was part of it. Why not the Latino and Giants’ players too?
The rationale for honoring the past has been missing and Fred Wilpon has never explained it. Was it a matter of the Big Apple heritage of the Mets, as shown for example in the color scheme on the uniforms, in which both the Dodgers and Giants are honored? Was it a tribute to the contributions of the various ethnic strains of the players? Why then are the Latino’s missing? What was Fred’s reason? Maybe it’s just Fred’s worship of Jackie and Sandy K. That is the least creditable reason in my view.
Of course I know Koufax never played for the Mets. He played for a predecessor NL team in the same city.
Let’s say Montreal gets a new team. Are they not allowed to honor or cheer their previous Expos players? You certainly don’t expect Washington Nationals fans to honor Expos players, do you?
Maybe the name change (Expos/Nats) makes it seem different, but it isn’t.
I get how you feel, it just doesn’t bother me.
Sandy Koufax played with the Brooklyn Dodgers during the years 1955-1957, their last three years on the East Coast. His overall W-L record during those years was 2-2, 2-4, 5-4, respectively. At Ebbets Field, he won two games in 1955, zero games is 1956, and three games in 1957. This means Sandy won a total of five games at Ebbets Field.
Those were glory years in Brooklyn but Sandy was a minor player at that time.
During the same years, the last three years in Brooklyn, 1955-1957, Don Newcombe posted a combined 58-24 W-L record.
Where at Citi do I get Don’s jersey?
Excellent piece and people should voice their complaints when they go to that shop. And somebody brought up the idea of a Retro Nolan Ryan Mets jersey? I think that’s an outstanding idea! You can even have Berra retro jersey’s, etc.
But no, they sell Sandy Koufax jerseys. ?????
BMF I heard they actually sell Berra shirts now somewhere…
A piece of trivia for those who are interested, which I was reminded of after reading this line: “Even when the team won, they visited the old site of the Polo Grounds (where both the New York Giants and…oh some other team…oh yes, the New York Mets once upon a time played)”
Does anyone know the first baseball team to call the Polo Grounds home? Hint: It was not the New York Giants.
It was the 1880 New York Metropolitans of the American Association. The New York Giants did not begin play at the Polo Grounds until 1883, after the Troy team went defunct and the owner of the Metropolitans created a new team called the New York Gothams and used the better players from the Metropolitans and the defunct Troy team. The Gothams became the Giants and the Metrpolitans, having been raided of their best players, soon went bankrupt.
There is no relationship or legacy between those original Metropolitans and the current Metropolitans except for the fact that’s who Mrs. Payson named this team after.
Joan Whitney Payson wanted to name the team the Meadowlarks (the Meadowlarks? really?) and the other choice was Skyliners. Hmm.
“A piece of trivia for those who are interested, which I was reminded of after reading this line: “Even when the team won, they visited the old site of the Polo Grounds (where both the New York Giants and…oh some other team…oh yes, the New York Mets once upon a time played)””
Well a slight correction…Dodgers didn’t play in the Polo Grounds the Giants did.
Dodgers played in Ebbets Field which is now an apartment complex.
But we must remember that the Mets were always meant as the replacement to both the Giants and the Dodgers.
Our colors are Blue and Orange for precisely that reason!
The design of the NY on the Cap is based off the Giants logo on Blue hat based off what the Dodgers wore.
Most met fans over the age of 55 are former dodger and giant fans who could never bring themselves to root for the hated Yankees who was the chief rival of those two teams when they weren’t beating each other over the head!
Ad for why Koufax would have his own rack? Well for one Wilpon is very good friends with Koufax and lets be honest here, Koufax has attended every spring training since Doubleday and Wilpon bought the team and has worked with our Pitchers to help them get better!
And I am certain that he gets a cut of any Jersey sold with his name on it!
I sure don’t mind considering how good he has been to our team.
Since it is easy to get a Met jersey with any number and put whatever name you want on it all anyone has to do is ask for a jersey with Hodges name and number on it.
Here is the link folks….Buy Away!
http://shop.mlb.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=717432
Metsie, not sure why you block quoted the trivia piece – he was referring to the point I had made with my husband (Ed) about when the SF Giants won the WS, they visited the old Polo Grounds site where their predecessor the NY Giants and the NY Mets once upon a time played.
That’s all fine and well that we can special order these shirts but having the Koufax BROOKLYN jerseys (when he made his legacy in LA) is targeting the impulse purchase of the fans. Not having Hodges or Snider available when they both played for both Dodgers and Mets is insulting. You and a few others have brought that up, but it misses the point about WHAT’S AVAILABLE already at the obvious shrine that was built with the Dodgers in mind and not the Mets.
Oh and save the fact the Koufax never played for the Mets.
No but you could say he coached for them in every ST since Wilpons got involved with the team.
So again I ask – what does a BROOKLYN DODGERS jersey (a team Koufax isn’t really synonymous with) with KOUFAX’s name on it have ANYTHING to do with Mets history. I don’t care if he coached the Mets in ST every year with the Wilpons. He’s Fred’s BFF. His HOF career has nothing to do with the Mets. Let the LA Dodgers sell his stuff in their stores.
NO self respecting NYer would BUY a LA Dodger Jersey so they made it a Brooklyn Jersey.
You do understand the concept of marketing don’t you?
Has nothing to do with History it has to do with SALES!
Those are for SALE not historical purposes!
I disagree. Forget what I said about Mets history. What does it have to do with the METS? Besides the fact that Brooklyn and NY left over 50 years ago, the Mets are the team we are going to see NOW and it’s absolutely criminal that in the Mets on-site shops (forget about online, I know you can get them there, that’s not the point) you cannot find a young fan favorite in Niese, but you can find a guy whose name is synonymous with LA Dodgers, a team that exists. Do YOU understand marketing? Clearly, it’s stuff like this that pisses off Mets fans and leaving the ownership to wonder why there is this disconnect between pleasing us and understanding them. We’ll just have to agree to disagree.
What does selling Marlins Jerseys (Also available in CitiField Souvenir stores) have to do with it as well?
It’s a souvenir shop. It sells items that people might buy and not just MET gear!
And considering how many fans around here talk about the mets it would not surprise me that those items sell more than Met items do since everyone seems to be so embarassed by the team!
Well my point was that Most people over 55 were Didger fans not Giant fans…and that would INCLUDE Wilpon who is much more of a Dodger person than a Giant!
And it really doesn’t matter where you think Koufax made his bones.
He’s wearing a LA cap because that was the team he retired with!
Nolan Ryan has a Rangers cap on not a Houston cap where he did most of his record breaking.
Reggie Jacksom won 3 WS in Oakland yet dons a Yankee emblem on his cap.
Winfield played with the Yankees longer yet has a Padres logo.
Even Carlton Fisk who was way past his prime when he was with the Red Sox and made all his bones in Chicago picked the Red Sox logo for his plaque.
The cap on the plaque is really about who you retired with unless the player himself requests something different. I’m sure which cap was depicted and where he made his greatest contribution didn’t really concern him when it came time to making the plaque.
I still don’t see what the problem is. He was a great player who has done a lot for the Mets in regards to tutoring and mentoring our pitching staff from as far back as 1980′s and I certainly don’t have any issue with them selling his jersey in an attempt to make some money for a guy in the hall of fame who probably made less than the average secretary makes these days when he was playing.
He has been good to us and I see no reason why we should not be good back to him!
I also disagree on the Dodgers vs Giants fans. I know several former NY Giants who just rip Sterling Mets on their fascination with everything Bkln Dodger. Including my dad’s BFF who would rather go naked than wear anything associated with the Brooklyn team (of course, I know he would have to purchase it, but you get the idea). I don’t know why you brought up the whole HOF plaque, besides the fact that my husband brought it up. The Mets stores at Citifield selling his likeness with Brooklyn emblazed on it is akin to the, I don’t know, Texas Rangers selling a New York Mets HODGES jersey because he was once the manager of the Washington Senators, who were their predecessor. That IMO would be BEYOND ridiculous. But of course I know you’ll go for your ace in the hole with “But he’s coached the Mets.” Ok, fine. Why sell Pee Wee Reese Brooklyn jerseys (which they did in 2009)??
And BTW I doubt that Koufax is making ANY money off those sales. Actually, that’s a question in and of itself. Aramark supplies the stores, the Brooklyn Dodgers logo is owned by MLB I think…but the Brooklyn Dodgers no longer exist…
We get so much mail from the readers, and most of it rarely has anything to do with a particular post on the site. It’s mostly questions about the team, but I get so many other emails just to chat about the good old days or fans that just wanted to share a special Mets moment of theirs with me. Occasionally I even get emails from fans wondering how to find certain Mets items or memorabilia.
I’ve been reading your back and forth with Metsie and I was reminded about a reader who emailed me last April a year ago.
He had gone to a couple of games during the home opening week and was sad that he was not able to buy a Josh Thole jersey at the Mets shop. Naturally, I directed him to the link at Mets.com shop and thought I did my good deed for the day.
The next morning I saw he replied and thought I’d find a thank you, but instead it was more disappointment because they didn’t have a Josh Thole jersey online either.
I suggested he could order a custom jersey and simply add the N0. 30 and Thole and he would be done and satisfied. Little did I know that the custom jersey lettering was a far cry from the actual player jerseys. Now he was not only upset, but out about a hundred bucks. I felt terrible.
I guess my point is, that if a LA Dodgers fan wanted a Brooklyn Koufax jersey, he would have a far easier go at it at Citi Field, than a Met fan wanting a Josh Thole jersey.
I just don’t see how having these for sale is hurting the you, the mets or the Dodger fans in any way shape or form.
It is bitching about NOTHING!
I can only imagine what you do when your husband leaves the seat up in the toilet!
Cause that can at least lead to injury!
It’s not hurting us you’re right it’s just INSULTING, not to mention it goes with the whole disconnect of WHAT the fans would LIKE to see (as Joe D mentioned above, with the absence of Thole shirts/jerseys in the stores and not online either) and buy. I mean, this is a team that is in financial dire straits and a place they could easily make a couple bucks is just tossed aside. I would suggest that if you think we are simply bitching and it’s pointless, then refrain from arguing with me! And besides, my husband is well-trained. He doesn’t leave the seat up. He’s a good melon
But Coop how is it insulting?
is it insulting to you that SOMEONE you know is a yankee fan too?
I mean it says Koufax not Coop is a (insert Insult here)
What the fans would LIKE to see is the Mets in first place and you can’t buy that at Citifield either.
Is that an insult as well?
Considering how many EMPTY seats I saw this series I really think they should scrap all the Met gear entirely and at least make some money selling to the Opposition fans who show up to see their team because there are so many tickets available for them to buy game day because we Met fans did not!
So far a week into the season we have already had numerous proposals for boycotts one even going so far to say just go see them on the road which means the money they spend will go to helping OPPOSING teams to build winners off our fans money instead of going to Citi where at least the money could be used to retain Reyes at the end of the year.
THATS insulting!
They don’t care if they see the Mets lose just as long as the Mets don’t profit from it!
I’m just saying that there are much bigger fish in this world to get worked up over.
People getting bombed in Libya, japanese getting irradiated in their homes and can’t eat the food that is being grown.
The Mets loosing a series or two or three 10 games into the season or the fact that a Koufax Jersey is hanging on a rack for sale at Citi is hardly a thing to worry, complain, fret or be insulted by!
If your life is really so fragile that something like that bothers you just think about those Japanese and Libyans and put it in perspective!
Or better yet watch Jersey Shore which is show whose only purpose for being aired is to make people who think their lives are crap feel better about themselves because by watching they realize hey it could be worse I could be THEM!
And I will bet as well trained as Hubby is if he forgets even ONE SINGLE time you will yell at him like he does it all the time! LOL
OK Metsie. Who’s being irrational now?
I’m not being irrational just tired of watching Americans looking for any excuse to call themselves a VICTIM!
Your insulted by someone selling a jersey with Koufax’s name on it!
I mean we are supposed to be NYers who can take and deal with anything and all I am seeing of late is a lot of whiners all looking for a reason to complain and be unhappy!
You know not going around in life looking for things to be unhappy about is the first step to being content!
All this whining about the team not being the Yankees and crap about Who is a bigger fan or more dedicated that someone else to the point of trying to find piddling little things like a Jersey being sold in a store makes me think many of us have not really gotten past Kindergarten in the Maturity stage!
Its a game…
It’s a store…
It’s an Item!
Not everything in this world goes according to what we desire! It’s called LIFE and many here had better learn to deal with these little annoyances because if they don’t they are going to be homeless and jobless and basically SOL!
You say you are not being irrational, yet you go on to make this a quasi-political argument about Americans and entitlement and other things NOT related to the Mets. This is a METS FAN site with opinions expressed by METS FANS. My husband Ed and I cowrote this blog, and it’s gotten a lot of positive response, except for you who is making this into a “terrorists have won” manifesto. I even wrote above that we can agree to disagree but you keep rehashing this. Seriously dude? Seriously? This is a Mets fan site, not Huffington Post or Lunatic-Fringe-R-US website. When you want to go on a political rant, I suggest you visit one of those sites dude!
I’m no more irrational than you are for complaining about a souvenir being sold in a souvenir store!
Trying no less to blame their product selection on the Wilpons no less!
Get a grip coop!
Yes I went on a politcial tirade!
Because you got upset about something not even as important as SPILT MILK!
Yeah because they are Giant Fans and Wilpon was a Dodger fan.
I still don’t see your point.
You seem to be pissed that a souvenir shop has something other than Met gear.
I think you need to get over it!
The idea is to SELL ITEMS and there are plenty of places to get Met gear in the stadium!
Next thing you know is you’ll see a Perez Jersey hanging somplace and have a stroke!
I did out somebody for actually purchasing a OLLIE 46 custom made jersey and actually still wears it. No seriously.
Coop if there were no idiots in this world there would be no way to identify smart people!
In fact there would be NO smart people at all if not for the idiots!
“Carlton Fisk was way past his prime when he was with the Red Sox and made all his bones in Chicago.” Huh?
Check out his numbers…
He was an old guy by the time he got to Boston. Yes he hit a very big HR that everyone remembers him for but the majority of what put him in the hall was done in Chicago!
Metsie you continue to mystify me with some of your “facts.”
Everyone knows Carlton Fisk played for the Red Sox first and then went to the White Sox. He was not “an old guy by the time he got to Boston,” unless you consider 23 to be old.
Nice collaboration you guys! I don’t think Fred Wilpon will ever get it when it comes to these matters. It’s just so clear his loyalties are still with the Dodgers. I’m sure he loves the Mets too, but it’s more like how we’d love our beautiful 60 inch flat screen high-def TV if we had one. The Mets are just a prized possession to Fred, but the Brooklyn Dodgers still course through his veins. I bet that entire rack of Koufax jerseys ends up in the 9.99 clearance bin by August.
Thanks Joe D – keep in mind, that I believe at the Mets Clubhouse store in midtown, I can still find Kaz Matsui shirts (on the discount rack of course) but cannot find any Jon Niese shirts. But hey – Koufax is available at the stadium!
No Niese shirts? Wow. I just have never been happy with the Mets job with their merchandising. I used to look for caps and find all these great designs of baseball caps for other teams especially the Yankees and would see if Mets had similar designs and was always disappointed.
Until a few weeks ago, I could not find Dickey or Pagan shirts in the Clubhouse store either MNJ…they are found in the on site stores now, thank goodness.
I wonder if in the Dodgers team shop there is a Darryl Strawberry Mets jersey for sale? Wouldn’t that be a nice piece of irony… or a Mike Piazza Mets Jersey? Quite frankly if I saw a Darryl Strawberry (Yankee or Dodger) Jersey in a Mets Clubhouse (in the ball park), I would probably “accidently” tip over the jersey rack and walk all over them “not realizing they were on the floor”, then when nobody was looking, I would spit on them.
As far as my memory serves me, Darryl retired a NY Met and only played for the Mets! Piazza was drafted by the Mets and brought up through the farm system and played his entire career for the Mets, eventually retiring from them. Anybody who says anything different is clearly either incorrect or a liar!
I do hope your being Sarcastic here…
“As far as my memory serves me, Darryl retired a NY Met and only played for the Mets! Piazza was drafted by the Mets and brought up through the farm system and played his entire career for the Mets, eventually retiring from them. Anybody who says anything different is clearly either incorrect or a liar!”
Living in Pittsburgh, I have not had the oppurtunity to go to Citi Field yet, but from eveything I read and hear about, it seems awful that the Mets seem to honor the Dodgers more than they celebrate their own history. Those koufax shirts are neat, but they absolutely should be sold in L.A.
It is a joke that you can’t walk in and get a Neise shirt, or even a Hodges shirt. Selling that Koufax shirt in Citi is equal to the Brewers selling Eddie Mathews or Warren Spahn jersies. The Braves are still the Braves, and the Dodgers are still the Dodgers.
One of the first things that really got me hooked on baseball after watching it and playing little league was the history of the game. I’m sure alot of you are the same as me in that regard. I don’t have kids, but if I did, I would be ashamed that taking a new baseball fan to Citi would be teaching them more Dodger than Met tradition and history. I think that’s my biggest gripe about it.
Coop and Ed, I agree that maybe the Mets should honor their NY Giants roots too, but I think it should be left to LA and SF to sell their gear since the teams still exist.
In all fairness Matt74, the Mets really put on the dog last year and gave the fans a HOF and Museum to be proud of. Consdering the old one was just a display case in the old Diamond Club at Shea, they did us right! The fact was, in 2009, the Brooklyn Dodger stuff was overwhelming because there was very little Mets in there. Except for the team of course, ha ha. But then once the museum came in, it was ok. But then it’s stuff like this that just makes you scratch your head!
I agree, it is a head scratcher. Like I said, I haven’t had the chance to get there yet,(but I do get to see the Mets in person a couple times a year) and that makes me happy to hear about the HOF and museum, because I hadn’t really heard any real mention of it.
I would like to point at though, if you go to PNC park, the worthless Nuttings truly put together a ballpark rich in Pirate history (they’ve actually become my adopted team for 153-154 games a year). Even though the team has truly stunk for 18+ straight years, while you’re in PNC you actually forget about that. Now I do know they have a much longer history than the Mets, but I think you can understand my point. The main Pirates team store has 2 levels, 1st floor for current goods and the 2nd floor for the oldtime stuff from Wagner to Stargell. If the Wilpons haven’t done something like that already, they may want to look into it.
Either way, I think I’ve blabbed on enough
Well said.
Coop, to me it was the troika of the Ebbets facade, Rotunda and the Ebbets club seats (since renamed “Champions Club”) as you arrived. The HOF is great but the whole stadium does lack a lot of our history. As I mentioned Joan Paysons name is nowhere to be seen once you exit the museum and while I can certainly understand holding the line on retiring players numbers there were lots of things that could be done.
How about naming a section after certain players? How about around 1B for instance having one section with a portrait of Hernandez Jersey painted over the seats or his name and number? Another one for Donn Clendenon with 1969 World Series MVP emblazoned across the plastic seats. Who wouldn’t love to tell people their tickets were in the Zona de Felix Milan? or in Grote’s Glove behind home plate? The Strawberry patch in RF right in front of Rusty’s Ribs, Cleon’s corner in LF? Agee’s Ave. behind CF? Knights Alley near 3rd? Alfonzo’s Asientos? Mookies’ Way? It would be a real fun way to honor some of our greats and juice up the crowd a little. The Mets could even give season ticket holders a commerative shirt with their sections players name and number.
I hear you about Koufax and the lessening of ties between the two franchises (what’s next Lopes?, Cey?, Garvey? Gibson? Hatcher? Mattingly? but I can live with Sandy Koufax, he is a presence every spring that I enjoy but I think the answer is more MET ties INSIDE the Stadium. That and getting rid of that ghastly SF Giants color scheme on the outfield wall.