Last week I wrote about how the Mets need to find ways to entice the fans to come out to the ballpark in 2011.  Last week I brought up the idea of retiring 17 in honor Keith Hernandez.  I thought it would give Mets fans something to look forward to during the long season that 2011 will be and I thought that when looking back on 2011 it would be a fun thing to remember.

The Mets have not had an old-timers days since 1994.  Back in 2009 WFAN’s Evan Roberts stirred up a bit of controversy when he relayed a quote from a Mets executive in regards to old-timers day.  Roberts said his source told him that it was too much work hosting old-timers day and that is why the Mets stopped doing it.  Dave Howard tried to do some damage control by saying:

It was particularly unpopular as a promotion. We didn’t see an increase in ticket sales or interest from sponsors or even from people who already had tickets. It died of its own unpopularity in the early ’90s.

I don’t know about you readers but one of the only times I ever watch the YES Network for baseball is on old-timers day.  I enjoy seeing the legendary players such as Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, etc…  Even Darryl Strawberry has donned the pinstripes over the years for the Yankees on old-timers day.  I watch it to see some of the legendary players and it looks like a lot of fun to be honest, seeing these older players who retired long ago having some fun playing the game.

I know a lot of Yankees fans who really look forward to old-timers day and go every year to see it.  They always tell me how much fun it is.  Now I can understand how in the 90’s they didn’t attract a lot of fans.  The early 90’s were not especially kind to the Mets and their fans.  However as the saying goes, “that was then, this is now.”

We learned in 2009 after the Citi Field opened how passionate Mets fans are about their history.  As nice and shiny Citi Field was there was not much of the Mets history on display and the fans let the Mets know how they felt about that proving that this fanbase wants to acknowledge their past.

Just thinking about an old-timers day while writing this piece has me excited.  I would love to see Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden pitch while Mike Piazza catches them in an old-timers game. I’m sure we all would like to see Darryl Strawberry hit in Citi Field.  I would love to see the Mets of yesteryear on the field, playing in a game.

I’m sure we all have our favorites whether they be Rusty Staub or John Franco or Bobby Valentine, Wally Backman, Keith Hernandez, Buddy Harrelson and many more favorite Mets on the field, playing in an old-timers day.

I know I would look forward to it as the season goes on and I’m sure if done right it will be a fun memory to have of the 2011 season.

In comments, let me know if you agree or disagree and for fun list some of the Mets you would love to see playing an old-timers day in the future.