The Mets simply do not get it. After all the uproar in the media about how Citi Field seems more like a fitting tribute to the Brooklyn Dodgers as opposed to the New York Mets, the front office had an opportunity to alleviate some of those concerns and chose not to.
George Willis of the NY Post explains:
WHEN Dwight “Doc” Gooden attended the Mets’ Opening Day ceremonies at Citi Field last week, he stopped by the Ebbets Club along the first-base line and mingled with fans who cheered him during his Met career. He shook hands, took pictures and signed autographs.
Someone thought it would be a nice idea if one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history signed a blank gray wall next to the bar. Gooden obliged, taking a black Sharpie and writing in script “Doc Gooden 84 R.O.Y., 85 Cy Young, 86 W.S. Champs.”
The fans who were at the Ebbets Club were overjoyed and many of them jumped at the opportunity to take pictures with Doc standing next to his autograph. It was a great move by Gooden and it made for a wonderful fan experience for everyone there.
However, once the Mets got wind of this, the good feelings were quickly transformed to bewilderment and even outrage.
“It’s a brand-new building,” said Jay Horwitz, the Mets’ VP of media relations. “No one is supposed to write on the wall. It’s going to be erased.”
Erased??? Really???
Bad job by the Mets… Terrible…
Gooden may have been onto something, and it would have been cool if other former Mets stopped by and signed the wall too, thus creating a wonderful tribute to the franchise and it’s Amazin’ history.
It would have become a center of attraction and not the eye sore that the Wilpons’ envisioned it as. It would have made Citi Field a little bit more, dare I say it… Mets Merized!
