An MMO Fan Shot by Jim Firman
I am a happily married father of four kids and one grandchild. I love my family, my job and my life. I know baseball is just a game and there are many, many more important things in life. Yet, for some (mostly inexplicable) reasons, it really matters to me whether the Mets win or lose. My kids don’t understand why.
So I am writing this open letter to try to explain it to my family (and perhaps to myself) why I care so much about the Mets.
Growing up on Long Island, I was a Yankee fan in the golden era of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle (golly gee!). Yet, I remember the exact moment that I became a Mets fan. It was in April of 1963 and I was eleven years old. The Milwaukee Braves came to town and their manager Bobby Bragan told the press that the Mets weren’t good enough to be a major league team. The Mets response was a four-game sweep (I think Jim Hickman hit for a cycle in one of those games) and I was hooked. I love it when the underdog triumphs!
When I was a kid, there were still milkmen who delivered bottles to our house. On the top of each bottle was a circular piece of cardboard (called a “pod”). Once we collected 15 pods, we could redeem them for a free general admission ticket to Shea Stadium. Those pods led to several summers of Sunday afternoon double headers, Banner Day marches and the ever-elusive quest for autographs and batted balls. My mother never knew why my brother and I were each drinking a gallon of milk each day!
Growing up, the team didn’t win very often, but I still rooted for them passionately. If I couldn’t savor a team victory, I would look for smaller, individual victories (Ron Hunt went 2 for 4, Ed Kranepool hit a double! or Al Jackson lowered his ERA from 4.10 to 3.90!).
As a long-time Mets fan, I have experienced fifty (ultimately) disappointing years and two exhilarating ones (1969 and 1986). But the euphoria of those two world series victories lasts for a long time (at least until the following Spring), they create a joy that is shared by millions of fellow fans, and they make for memories that last a lifetime. Even during the disappointing years, there are enough great moments (Santana pitches a no-hitter! Ventura’s grand slam single! Another amazing catch by Lagares!) to keep me hooked as a fan.
Today, the Mets are 7-3 and I feel happy and full of hope. If the Mets were 3-7, I would be miserable. When the Mets win, I will read ten accounts of the same victory online. When they lose, I won’t read any of the articles, but still search the box score for the smaller, individual “wins” which still brighten up my day.
I’m not sure that this “explanation” will make any sense to my kids or will suffice to answer their question, but I suspect it will resonate for at least some others on Metsmerized. Readers, please help me out: does anyone have a better explanation of why we care so much about the Mets?
Thanks and Let’s Go Mets!
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This Fan Shot was contributed by MMO reader Jim Firman. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 25,000 Met fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to us at [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
