Photo: Coheed/Cambria Facebook
There are few things that are cooler than finding out that one of your favorite celebs are also diehard fans of your favorite team. If you are also a Coheed and Cambria fan, I’m sure one guy comes straight to your mind when you read that — Josh Eppard. Josh is an active participant on #MetsTwitter, sharing his thoughts on the team and also engaging with other Mets fans.
I had the chance to chat with him about his fandom. And I can vouch that even though he may be a celebrity, when it comes to baseball, he is a loyal Mets fan – including his dislike of the Yankees – just like the rest of us.
So, what makes you a Mets fan?
Gosh, what makes me a Mets fan? I’ve often pondered in my quiet moments why the hell I care SO much about baseball and specifically the Mets but… I chalk it up to the beauty of baseball. Being part of something that is undoubtedly bigger than you proves to be cathartic in some way. Even as I’m chewing my fingers off in anticipation for the next pitch or I’m pacing a worn out path in front of my living room TV, it’s an undeniable piece of my life.
Why the Mets? Idk… when I was 5-years old I liked orange? Lol. My father is a Yankees fan. Both me and my brother (Joey Eppard from the band 3), are die hard Mets fans. We followed in our Dad’s footsteps (he’s also a musician), except for his choice in baseball team. Perhaps we were unknowingly picking up on the late 80’s Mets energy. Or perhaps this was our way of rebelling against our father! “Screw you Dad! Sure we will follow your lead into the world of music but we draw the line at baseball! No way we root for the Yankees. Yankee my crankee!!!”- that’s what we used to say. Haha yankee my crankee. Yikes.
Are you able to get to many games?
I’m never able to get to as many as I would like. But going to Citi (and of course Shea RIP), is a huge deal for me and my family. My wife is a full on die-hard after 13 years with me and every year we try to make at least 4-5 games.
To be honest I prefer watching a game on TV though. I know, blasphemy. My upstate NY might be showing, ha. When I need to see every pitch. Can’t miss a beat – have to watch on TV. I suppose that’s the byproduct of not going to the ballpark a lot as a kid. Thanks a lot Dad! Did I mention he’s a Yankees fan!!! Wow, [laughs] to be clear I flipping love my Dad. This is all just jokes. He was too busy putting food on the table to take us to games but I’ve been lucky enough to see some pretty wild games as an adult.
Wild games?! Like which one?
Well, the Piazza HR/ first game back after 9-11 was awesome and as wild as it gets. I mean, that’s a piece of history and I was there!!! Other than that there all basically pretty forgettable. Saw the Metsies come back from two runs down in the 9th in 2015 and what was wild was the fact that I was hugging a stranger while we jumped up and down. Just further illustrating the power of baseball.
As a young man I saw Benny Agbayani, go 3-3 with a walk and had by all accounts a hell of a game. The fella next to me was screaming at him as he approached the dugout (we had awesome seats!!!), “Benny you fat pineapple!!!” and other eloquent adjectives were thrown in and we had to ask him “Dude, Benny is playing great today…. what do you say when he’s 0-for-4?” And the guy didn’t take kindly to our innocent questions. He got riled up and spilled his drink on this other guys wife and the guy basically told em “Either leave, or I’m going to make this a really bad day for you. Your choice.” and I’ll never forget thinking “Damn, I wish I was a bad-ass like that” – the game was pretty benign. Mets won I remember that. But still, pretty wild for me!
Which Mets team was your favorite team to watch? Why? What is your favorite Mets memory?
My favorite Mets memory…. God there’s so many. The ’99 post season, while ending in utter heartache (Rogggggers!!!!!!!), was still such a magical ride. Almost coming back against a formidable Atlanta squad. That team had something magical about it. It’s my favorite Mets team. I still have the newspaper clippings from my shitty town newspaper from when the Mets were above .500 in May or June in 97 or 98. To see my Mets actually reach the post season was a thrill I’d not yet experienced as a conscious baseball fan. I was five in 86. I’m not sure I quite understood the significance ya know… but ’99…. Tank, Olerud, Al, Piazza, Fonzie… loved that team. 2000 was cool too. Although, that Damn heartache again…
I’ll share another Mets memory. I was at the first game back after 9-11. The Piazza HR. The fear and anxiousness that was loud in my heart. I kind of place this memory in a different spot. It was more than just baseball. And I was there. A moment in history… a powerful moment. That was quite amazing. As I’m sure you can imagine.
That is amazin’! Now I have to ask… who is your favorite Mets player of all time?
Oh man!!!! I always get grief about this. My favorite players tend to be rather unsung in the collective memory of the Mets die hards. I love so many players. I mean, right now there is a plethora of awesome players to choose from but my all time favorite Mets player…. gosh this is tough. I could grab a name out of a hat with John Olerud, Jose Vizcaino, Lance Johnson, Todd Hundley, Gilkey, Alfonzo, Murphy, Ordonez, etc….
I tend to gravitate towards players who don’t necessarily become immortalized in the annals of Mets lore… although some of these guys have but… Honestly – Lance Johnson was the guy I tired to emulate when I was still playing ball. Because I too had a shitty arm and could only get base hits! Can I say shitty? How bout crappy. Somehow crappy seems worse. They can say shit on TV now. What are we taking about?
Ha! If you could hang out with any Mets player,which one would it be? If one from the past, which player from today’s team would you want to hang out with?
Hmmmm… I think I’d like to hang out with Pete Alonso honestly. It’s rare that a kid comes through that speaks his heart and even when he fumbles through something, ya know, like a human, his good Intentions are never not fully on display. I love this kid. I would definitely want to hang with Pete. Pretty obvious answer… sorry ha ha.
I will say, in my life I’ve been lucky enough to count a few ball players as friends and it always blows my mind. Randy Johnson (the big unit!), is a pretty good pal of mine. We play catch from time to time and the first time we did…. oh god, this is embarrassing: So, playing catch with a pro or a former pro is just… different. I’ve played baseball my whole life. Like most ball players that were minimally talented I’ve taken my game to the dusty beer soaked softball fields but still, I know how to catch a damn baseball. I still throw all summer! I swear!
So Randy tosses me the ball and if anyone else threw like this it’d have been like 10-15 miles per hour. He used NO effort. Zero. Yet the ball came at me like 60-70 mph. I’d never seen that kind of velocity with ZERO EFFORT. So, by the time I put my glove up, all nonchalant trying to be cool, the ball was 10 feet past me. I can hear Randy laughing as I chase the ball down an alley way. I regroup. Darting back to where we are playing, ball secured, I assure him this won’t happen again. Next throw. Same thing. Hahaha imagine my embarrassment as I’m chasing this ball down an alleyway… again.
HOFer Randy Johnson’s laughter echoing down the alley as I’m whisper yelling to myself “Damn it Josh, what is wrong with you! Why can’t you catch a damn ball!!!!”- I caught the next one. But stopped relatively soon after when Randy proclaimed “My arm hasn’t felt this good since my playing days” and was letting off seeds at my face. It was scary. He was throwing faster than I’ve ever seen. Terrifying. And awesome!
Who do you think was the best Mets manager of recent history? Why?
The best Mets manager to me is always going to be Bobby Valentine. I’m just always going to be partial to my 99 team and Bobby was cocky and brash but… he took those teams far and if you recall, he was mixing and matching players all the time. Bobby V was amazing. Now, granted I was young and maybe I’m romanticizing the past somewhat but… Bobby V all day.
Ya know, managers have it rough. Most of the time. In this day and age especially. They don’t call the shots like they once did yet their job is to meet the press and answer for the team and then on top of that they meet the ire of the base pretty consistently.
I liked Terry Collins. Long before the “Ass in the jackpot” video. I liked the guy even when he wouldn’t play Conforto more or when he’d wear out an arm in the pen. He was all fireworks and I appreciated that he had that passion. I want a manager who has some fire. I don’t always wanna hear “Well, we battled” but I do want to see that you give a damn and can get all fired up. So, yeah, I liked TC.
If you were Mets manager, what would be the first thing you did?
Well, if I was a manger for starters we are in trouble. My first order of business is to make all the walk up music awesome. Awesome to me. I’m the manger – deal with it. Then, I’d make sure all the players knew they were loved…. wait someone already did that.
Ok, moving on then – next I’d halt practice and have the team working on a modernized version of “Get Metsmerized” but this one would be way more gangster. I’d spend lots of time with the players coming up with an album cover and routing our tour to bring “Get Metsmerized 2” to the masses. I’d have the players start a fight club as well.
How is baseball “more than a game” to you?
Good question. My whole life revolves around baseball. When the season starts it’s like a holiday in my home. Which, try convincing your band that you need to fly home from the studio so you “Don’t miss Opening Day” and…. well, I’m sure it’s similar for lots of folks. Doesn’t go well.
Baseball has taught me so much about perseverance. Trying hard no matter what. Giving everything you can muster that day. I mean, not to get all deep but… my life slipped way off course. I quit my band. I was left with a raging drug addiction and such a sad existence. Broke. Alone. I swear I would literally hear the voices of Fran Healy and Ralph Kiner, Howie Rose, Gary (and Keith and Ron!), in my head telling me to keep fighting.
Again, not trying to get all overly deep here but there is a tangible story of how baseball changed my life and I’ll quickly abandon the general lightheartedness for a moment – 2006, alone in my apartment which had basically become a drug den. I’d just gotten high and was sitting on my couch flipping through the channels and I come across my Mets playing on TV. “The Mets were in the playoffs?” I thought to myself.
Never was it more clear just how far I’d traveled from the person I was. The real me. You’re talking about a kid who still had the newspaper clippings from 97-98 on his childhood bedroom wall and I didn’t even know the Mets were in the playoffs. Who was this person?
I can remember being deeply moved and…. angry. It was never more clear to me that everything I loved and cherished had been held hostage for stupid ass drugs. All 130 lbs of skin and bones sank into my couch as I watched Endy Chavez make the best catch of all time. I stood up. Cheered. “OMG what a catch. They’re going to do it” and honestly, I blame myself for the loss. The Endy catch was the tail end of the great Mets fans good will and once I injected my energy into the game… well, y’all know what happened.
All fans think they have some factor on the outcome and naturally this is no exception. But seriously, looking back, this was a powerful message and one that wasn’t lost on me. Even if I fumbled for a few more years- that night I knew for sure that there was no way to rationalize this. It changed my life. That night. And like a lot of my profound memories… baseball was its beating heart.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I bet when you asked this you didn’t expect me to already have a dang book for you to read here. We went on a wild ride. There were some laughs. Some tears. – Wait, there was none of that! I’m an idiot. Anything else I’d like to share? Hmmm…. I love Metsmerized. It’s long been my main source for Mets news and op-eds and I’m really pretty thrilled to have anything to do with it. I hope as we all sit inside and dream of baseball and opening day we can remember to try and let this unprecedented moment in history dredge up the very best of humanity. I can’t wait to get back to baseball. And regular life. I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. Truly. Please be kind. It matters. Peace!
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I’d just like to thank Josh for both giving us some light-hearted laughs and also opening up with us and sharing his story with us all. Thank you, Josh and Let’s Go Mets!
