This is a Fan Shot by Brian Wertkin
On December 25th, 1987, the Knicks were trailing the Bulls with six seconds left. Trent Tucker missed a jumper, but Patrick Ewing flew in for the offensive rebound and hit a buzzer beater to win for the Knicks. That was one of 24 wins for the Knicks that season, tied with the Nets for the second fewest, more than only the Clippers. To me, it didn’t matter, I was 8 years old, I was hooked and Ewing was my guy.
Ewing never won a championship. He never won an MVP. He came into a league ruled by centers, following in the footsteps of Moses Malone and Kareem, sharing a prime with David Robinson and Hakeem, and leaving when Shaq was ascending. All of those players have the hardware and rings that Ewing doesn’t. It didn’t matter.
Ewing lost. A lot. He just wasn’t good enough to beat Bird and the Celtics. Then he just wasn’t good enough to beat Jordan and the Bulls. Then it was Hakeem and the Rockets, then Shaq and the Magic. Then Jordan again. And finally Duncan, Robinson and the Spurs. It didn’t matter and it still doesn’t. To me.
—————
Sports is a business. I get it and I’m not going to try and argue against that fact. I will argue, though, that the people running these teams fundamentally don’t understand what makes these businesses thrive. The ultimate goal of a team may be to win a championship, but having players who connect with fans on the road to that championship is what builds a loyal fanbase and keeps us coming back. It’s what makes the winning matter.
Pete Alonso will never win an MVP award. Like Ewing, he was never going to be good enough to be the best player on a championship-caliber team. But, as we saw clearly last night, that doesn’t matter.
Pete Alonso by Roberto Carlo
Pete set the rookie home run mark. Pete hit a big homer in the Mets only 2022 playoff victory. Nobody needs a reminder of what he did in 2024. Last year he set the franchise mark. He also hasn’t missed a game since June 17, 2023. He put the F in LGFM. He’s a goofy guy who likes to celebrate walk-off walks shirtless.
He also had a ton of smaller moments that may not have mattered as much in the large scale, but could’ve been someone else’s “Ewing on Christmas” moment. Maybe it was the game tying 2024 homer vs the Tigers that avoided an 0-6 start. Or the extra-inning bomb that flipped the script and walked off the Cardinals in 2022. Or when he nearly saved the season last year snapping an 8-game losing streak by making the Rangers pay for walking Soto.
He did a lot to make a connection with a lot of us over a long period of time.
It may be “crazy” to Sean Manaea that fans were cheering Alonso’s 300th last night that doubled as a game-tying blast, but it certainly wasn’t to me. I think if Manaea watched the video of Pete engaging with the fans who caught his home run ball, Sean’s perspective might change. He’d see the two guys getting their Alonso jerseys signed and watch their reactions when Pete handed them beers and I think he’d understand better.
As fans, we want to believe that these guys care as much as we do. Not just about winning, but winning here. As Mets fans, we know that not every season is going to end with a parade and we can accept that there are successful seasons that don’t. We will connect with the players who are here for losses and come back stronger from it much better than we will connect with mercenaries whose time with the team may be fleeting.
Why were we supposed to care about Freddy Paralta? What was the upside of rooting for him? Even if he went out and finished top 3 Cy Young, there’s no part of me that believes this regime would re-sign him on the wrong side of 30 to an extension. We knew he was likely a one-and-done. Who was going out to buy a Bo Bichette jersey when the ideal situation was an all-star year and a batting title followed by an opt out? What’s the timeline on Jorge Polanco-as-Met? C’est la vie, Luis Robert.
As Mets fans, we’ve seen players attain higher individual goals in orange and blue. Gary Sheffield hit his 500th homer and Tom Glavine won his 300th, both as Mets. And I couldn’t tell you which team it was against or even which season those accomplishments took place (OK, I lied, Sheffield’s was a pinch-hit homer in ‘09 and Glavine pitched 6 and 1/3 serviceable innings vs the Cubs before watching the bullpen secure the victory. But I’m guessing most of you didn’t remember those absurdly random facts). The milestone doesn’t matter without the climb. We got very lucky that Pete hit number 300 in Citi Field and it was even better that the home run mattered to the game and his team. It was a cause for celebration, and good on the fans at the stadium for understanding that and treating it as such. I really like Sean Manaea and I hope he can see that the fan reaction can be both crazy AND can make perfect sense.
This is the paradox of the sports-as-business model. There are people who run teams who are trying to apply an analytical logic to an enterprise that runs on emotion. They obviously haven’t watched the ending of The Matrix Reloaded enough to understand that human emotion is purposefully designed to “overwhelm logic and reason.” They act like the Architect and dismiss our hope as “the quintessential human delusion.” And, in turn, their hurting our experience while not actually doing anything to help themselves. The Padres (AKA a team that has never won a World Series) and the Angels (AKA the Angels) just sold for $3.9 billion and $4 billion respectively. These teams are horrible and yet their valuation has soared. Steve Cohen stands to make at least $2 billion from what he paid for the Mets whenever he sells, whether they win or not. So if teams values are skyrocketing, what’s the problem with indulging with fan service?
The problem with avoiding fan service is that the connections grow weaker and the emotional ties fray. If Pete can leave (without even an offer) because he’s a little old, then it sure seems like everyone’s stay is just temporary. That if Nolan McLean reaches 2,000 strike outs or Carson Benge gets to 2,000 hits they will do it wearing a different uniform. What the moves of the past year have told me is that I shouldn’t invest too much emotional weight in these guys, if only as a form of self-preservation. Honestly, I don’t know if making a playoff run in 2027 will totally assuage me of this fear. And if I start to feel that way, maybe that happens to others and maybe that is a bigger problem.
Luckily, I’m not there yet. I can enjoy last night in its own little box. My takeaway is that nearly everyone in the stadium was happy that Pete hit number 300 last night. But imagine how much happier and more universal we would’ve been if he’d done it for the home team.
This MMO Fan Shot was contributed by Brian Wertkin. Have something you want to say? Share your opinions with the best and most diverse Mets community on the web! Send your Fan Shot to [email protected].
