By now, most of you should have received the email from the Mets, encouraging you to prove that you are “real” fans and to sign a pledge of support.
The letter, which was signed and sent by Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Cleon Jones, Ed Charles, Jerry Koosman, and Doc Gooden, read as follows:
To True New Yorkers –
The victory you earn is sweeter than the victory you’re given.
When we won in ’69 and ’86, we, the players, didn’t do it on our own.
We made history together — players and fans — through a gritty, even stubborn, belief in this club against all the odds.
When we’ve won, we’ve proved through the way we did it that true New Yorkers are Mets fans.
So today we’re issuing a call to all Mets fans: Show your New York Mets pride — stand up and say you’re a true New Yorker.
As players, we can tell you that what happens in the clubhouse and what happens in the stands — players and fans together, believing in each other — makes a tremendous difference with what happens on the field.
Your support matters; we wouldn’t have won without you. So we’re calling on you to give today’s club the same chance we had.
If you agree that the fans have a role to play in making amazing things happen, add your name to this letter:
One fan — maybe you — will present the signatures on this letter and the messages from fans to the team, before the Mets’ first Subway Series game at Citi Field. If you add your name, it could be you.
We’ll see you there. Let’s Go Mets!
The reaction from most of the fans on Twitter bordered on outrage, apathy, bewilderment and an overall feeling of, “I give up.”
The Mets marketing people just can’t seem to get out of their own way and their lame attempts at connecting with fans does more to disparage them than to reign them in.
Perhaps Mike Vaccaro wraps it up better than I can when he tweeted the following:
This #Mets email is beyond insulting to their fans, who already are more invested than ownership is. It's a loyalty oath, and disgraceful.
— Mike Vaccaro (@MikeVacc) April 29, 2014
After hanging with this team through thick and thin over the last five years of dreadful baseball, poor performance, and the myriad of public relations disasters, do they really doubt our loyalty? Really?
The truth is that over the last few years it is us the fans who deserve proof of the team’s commitment to the fans, and NOT the other way around.
We want proof of the ownership’s loyalty to this team. Our team. A team that feels like it’s been hijacked ever since Fred, Jeff and Saul became majority owners.
That’s the real problem right there.
The fans of this franchise should all get medals of honor for how incredible and steadfast their support still is despite all of this organization’s bumbling debacles.
How about you sign our petition that you stop blaming us for everything that is wrong with this franchise?
How about you sign our petition that you stop telling us you won’t invest another dime on this team unless we come to Citi Field and sell the place out forty times a a year?
How about you sign our petition that if the Mets dont win a championship in the next three years, you’ll sell the team and get the hell out of Dodge?
It’s been nearly 30 years since our last championship, and we’re all still here – rooting and waiting – and you have the gall to ask us to pledge our loyalty?
What do you call the last three decades of our lives?
