First off, I want to give a shoutout to Mets fans (especially Mets Twitter) for the amazing feedback and support on this artwork.

So why did I do it in the first place? I’ve been getting requests for a Mets word art for years. Even though Citi Field is the current home, I knew Shea had to be the image. A true cathedral of baseball, it was an iconic building that represented the franchise as a whole for most of its existence. To celebrate the entire history of the team, I wrote the names of every single Mets player in history from inception to 2008, 855 names in all. Ultimately, I wanted to provide an amazing gift for all generations of Mets fans, something that brings families together to find their favorite players and recount memories at the ballpark. 16″ x 20″ standard size prints are available on my site: www.artofwords.com. Metsmerized readers can get 10% off by using code METS at checkout.

As for time, the entire piece took over 100 hours to create over the course of 4 weeks. The most important part? Finding an image that can fully represent the ballpark. I made a sketch of the outside of the park and then wrote the names left to right in chronological order, all in pen & ink.

After the names were written, I added color and shading to the image, making it really pop.

Shea was actually the only stadium I created using the outside facade, every other ballpark features the field. Showing fans walk into the park really emphasized the nostalgia of a beloved stadium that is no longer with us. Plus, it also gave me an opportunity to prominently feature a few famous jerseys: Piazza, Seaver, Gooden and Carter! This entire style of art actually began 10 years ago as a way to impress my then girlfriend. We’re married now, and I’m onto my next goal of recreating every iconic World Series winner and major league stadium entirely out of words. Speaking of an iconic World Series…

 

Special thanks to the staff at Metsmerized for giving me the opportunity to share my work! We’ll also be set up at the Union Square Holiday Market in December. Please don’t hesitate to follow on social @realartofwords to see what’s coming next. Or you can catch us at the Union Square Holiday Market this December!

-Dan