Any baseball fans knows that it is more than a game. It is not just America’s pastime for us. In some way, shape, or form, baseball has had an impact on our lives, making it better.
I have already written about what baseball means to me and what it meant for my brother. It gave us hope in a dark time. It gave us a distraction. It made us even closer.
Baseball fans everywhere have their own stories as to what baseball means to them and I want to bring that to you. I want to share these stories with you and allow you to share your stories as well.
Here is what the Mets mean to some of my fellow MMO writers.
Laney
As a child, my whole family was involved in baseball. My oldest brother played and my parents had loved the game since they were kids. Straight out of the womb, I chose my mother’s Mets over my father’s Yankees. To me, the Mets are a constant reminder of my mom and all of the memories and good times we have shared watching the game.
As I grew older, I realized that baseball meant much more to me than just a passing game that I watch during the summer. It was my passion and something that became my own dream. To me, baseball and the Mets are more than just a game and a team, it is my future career field, the reason I met my partner and the thing that keeps me going day to day. I am eternally grateful to baseball and the Mets for all of the memories and friends it has brought me.
Tim
Being a Mets fan has, in a way, shaped me as a person. I know never to get my hopes too high because of the New York Mets. I also know not to count myself or anyone else out until that final out’s been registered because of the Mets. Thanks to this team, Ya Gotta Believe is more than a catchy motto — it’s a personal mantra.
Violeta
Scene: A group of young (and not so young) men band together in order to accomplish their collective dream despite circumstances that will inevitably present challenges on their path(s) to success. Lack of money/adequate resources. An environment that applies the pressure: be great, or don’t bother. External forces that count them out before they even begin their journey.
Feature-length film, critically acclaimed and beloved by fans around the world for the joy and inspiration it stirs up within its audience?
Or the 162-game odyssey known as the Major League baseball season that never fails to capture the attention (and imagination) of fans around the world for six whole months out of a calendar year?
(Option C: Any given season belonging to the New York Mets since 1962.)
All three fit. That’s why I love baseball.
And the Mets, I guess.
Rob
I started playing baseball when I was four years old. I’m a lefty, but my mom bought me a right-handers mitt and took me to the park to play catch. I looked awful. It didn’t look like baseball was going to be in the cards until my dad came home from work, saw it was a right-handers mitt and promptly bought me one more suitable for lefties. The rest was history. I took the field, modeling my batting stances after all my favorite players: Gary Sheffield, Ken Griffey Jr. Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, and my pitching motions after Dontrelle Willis and Francisco Rodriguez. I lived and breathed the game. It was the first thing I watched on TV when I woke up and the last thing I watched when I went to sleep.
After all these years, the same holds true. My support for the Mets has never waivered, even during the darkest times. Baseball is a beautiful sport and one that has been there with me my whole life. People say it’s just a game, but to me it’s a lifestyle. And for that, I’m forever grateful. To be a Mets fan, or just play catch at the park. I love every second of it and always will.
Marshall
Yogi Berra once said, “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.” And for those of us who love baseball, we get the best of both worlds. Baseball is a sport that has transcended the American lexicon far past the ‘baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet ad that is etched in our memories. It is our constant spring, summer and for some, early fall companion that is there when you need it…which is often. Putting on a game on the radio or TV is still a joy, no matter what teams are playing.
If you have a rooting interest in a particular team, like the New York Mets, then the joy is often met with tension and a little angst. No team in baseball has fans as passionate as the Mets and the makes for fascinating discussion and a vibrancy not found with so many other teams. The Mets mean a lot to me, and I only have my father to thank for that as from our Ocean County, New Jersey home where I grew up, he decided to point the antenna north towards New York instead of west towards Philadelphia.
I put on channel nine one day, saw this team in orange and blue, and the rest is history. I was hooked. The Mets are part of my extended family. I care deeply for them on and off-season. They gave me my first sports joy as an 8 year-old when they won it all in 1969, and followed with a miracle win in 1986. I’ve had few heroes in my life, but Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza certainly qualify, while Jacob deGrom is well on his way. The Mets are part of my being. And baseball is more than just a sport. It’s my warm weather companion who I miss dearly in the cold. Let’s all hope for a quick winter as we all await opening day and of course, Lets Go Mets.
Mike
I grew up loving baseball thanks my dad and pop, they were both instrumental in teaching me everything they knew. At a young age, I remember seeing a picture of a baseball player in my pop’s barn and wondering who it was. He explained it was his favorite player that he watched as a kid, Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese. He told me stories of Ebbets Field and getting the opportunity to see the likes of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campenella, and Ralph Branca.
Despite living in Maine where we seemingly have winter-like conditions for eight months of the year, I carried a glove around where ever we went looking for an opportunity to play catch.
I was around seven years old when I went to Shea Stadium for the first time. I remember being mesmerized by the stadium, that’s what really hooked me into watching the game. I wanted more, and luckily Maine had Double-A baseball with the Portland Sea Dogs (got to see the Hanley Ramirez, Edgar Renteria, Josh Beckett, Mookie Betts) starting in 1994. Eastern League ball also gave me the opportunity to see the Mets’ Double-A team, the Binghamton Mets.
Getting to see guys play in the minors only enhanced my love for the Mets and baseball as a whole. I remember playing a slot of shortstop growing up and trying to perfect the slide and pop-up throw from the hole that Rey Ordonez did. Then later emulating, the best I could, the circle changeup from Pedro Martinez.
My shoulder no longer allows me to play, but I’ve had the opportunity to coach and now get the chance to write about the Mets on a daily basis. Baseball was my first love and I hope I can pass that onto my son.
So, what do the Mets mean to you?
