Good ol’ Ted Berg wrote up a piece for USA Today where he details 16 reasons that being a Met fan isn’t so bad… It’s a light-hearted read on a Friday that’ll put a smile on your face, so here are some excerpts.
1. They’ve got the best mascot in sports
Mr. Met is not just a member of the Mascot Hall of Fame — which is an actual thing — he’s also the first mascot in baseball history to exist in human form. Mr. Met has a baseball for a head and it’s incredible. People think the Reds’ mascot, Mr. Redlegs, came before Mr. Met just because the Reds are the oldest franchise in baseball and Mr. Redlegs has a mustache. But Mr. Redlegs is a total knockoff.
4. Plenty of good seats are still available
Citi Field holds nearly 42,000, but the Mets average just over 27,000 tickets sold per game. Upper deck tickets to the Mets’ Wednesday night matchup with the Phillies start at 10 bucks. That’s cheaper than seeing a movie in New York City.
12. Rides on the “Super Express” train
The New York City subway system has plenty of local trains and plenty of express trains. But Mets fans who hustle out of the ballpark after games have the opportunity to catch the very rare “Super Express” train. Much like Superman, the Super Express train gets to Manhattan faster than the regular train.
My favorite one, however, is number nine…
9. You never lose hope
Even if you’re too young to remember the Mookie Wilson ground ball that got by Bill Buckner to cap one of the most famous postseason comebacks in baseball history in 1986, every Mets fan knows the team’s history of success after all seemed lost. The Yankees are associated with “legacy” and “tradition” and “legends,” but the Mets are known for “miracles” and “magic” and “you gotta believe.”
You know, with all the hell we go through as Mets fans, sometimes it’s nice to go back and watch some video of the ’86 series and just smile. The Mets are known for miracles and magic, as Berg states, but most importantly — Tug Mcgraw’s “Ya Gotta Believe.” A phrase that not only helped me get started as a writer, but kept me optimistic in baseball even though things seemed bleak otherwise. It’s not always that bad being a Mets fan, and hopefully things will be looking up soon…
