Updated Post – March 24, 11:50 PM

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was at Citi Field on Thursday morning to announce that he has signed an expanded exemption for private employees that would allow athletes and performers in the City.

Today we’re taking another step, putting New York-based athletes of a level playing field, ” Adams said. “We were treating our performers differently because they lived and played for home teams? It’s not acceptable.”

Before the expanded exemption, unvaccinated players for the Yankees and Mets would not have been able to play at home games.

Original Post – March 23, 18:55 PM

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is expected to lift the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for athletes and performers ahead of Major League Baseball’s opening day in April.

Politico reports that Mayor Adams is expected to announce a “major policy change” on Thursday that includes allowing players like the Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving and other athletes to play at home in New York.

Mayor Adams replaced former Mayor Bill de Blasio in office in January and made a commitment to New Yorkers to begin returning the city to normalcy. He is expected to announce a reversal of the private-sector vaccine mandate that will now allow athletes and performers in the Barclays Center, Citi Field, and Yankee Stadium, to play regardless of vaccine status.

The announcement of no more vaccine mandate comes just weeks before the start of the 2022 MLB regular season. The Mets open their 2022 home slate on April 15 against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Yankees host the Red Sox on April 7. Just days ago teams were preparing for worst-case scenarios and figuring out playing without key players. But now those concerns are relieved and teams can proceed as they normally would.

The Brooklyn Nets led the lobbying group that was trying to lift the mandate in order to get Irving to play. But it’s important to note that Mets owner Steve Cohen donated $1.5 million to a political action committee that backed Adams in the Democratic primary last year. It is believed the Mets would have numerous players affected by the vaccine mandate.

The vaccine mandate only applied to players of hometown teams. It was reportedly de Blasio’s decision to not include out-of-state athletes.

“This is about leveling the playing field and making sure the rules apply equally to everyone who is a performer, no matter where you’re from,” said the person, who requested anonymity to speak freely about a proposal before it is announced told Politico. “The last administration created special carveouts that specifically hurt New York businesses and independent venues.”

The shift in the mandate is drastic from Adams who last week said there wouldn’t be any special treatment for athletes.

“Everyone is focused on the sports area. They’re focusing on one person. I’m focusing on 9 million people,” Adams said on March 16. “I’m not looking at one person. I’m looking at my city not closing down again.”

The New York Mets failed to reach the 85% vaccination status that would have relaxed Covid protocols last season. After an offseason of front office and on-field turnover, it is currently unknown where the organization stands.

The post NYC Mayor Eric Adams Lifts Vaccination Mandate for Athletes appeared first on Metsmerized.

Why are you a Mets fan? I know for me, personally, I’m a Mets fan because my parents probably would have kicked me out of the house if I wasn’t. Growing up in Queens, just ten minutes away from the ballpark, being a Mets fan came easy to them. That was instilled in my brother and I too, also being raised just ten minutes away from the ballpark. Our father would’ve raised us in Shea Stadium if he could’ve — in all honesty, he practically did just that. I am lucky in that sense, I know.

I was literally born a Mets fan, so it’s extremely interesting to me to hear from Mets fans who not only don’t live in New York, but live outside of the states altogether. They love this team just as much as the rest of us — well duh they do, they are Mets fans, too.

But, how did they come around to being Mets fans?

Tracey, Sheffield, England
I’ve been a Mets fan since 2006. My then boyfriend (we’re now married) and I were planning a trip to NYC, so decided that we would learn a bit about baseball so that if we were able to catch a game, we would know a bit about it. So, that season we watched a few games and kind of understood bits. At that point we didn’t really have a team, we would just watch whatever was on, and decided we would pick a New York team, as we had fallen in love with the city on vacation the year previously.

When we arrived in NYC, we (thankfully!) couldn’t get Yankees tickets, so ended up getting some for the Mets and fell in love with Shea, the team, the fans, the atmosphere….everything! As soon as we left, we booked for tickets for the following day.

My love affair with the Mets hasn’t dwindled, and we’re fortunate to be in a position where we can afford to go a couple of times a year, and we’ve been doing that for the last 4 years. We try and see as many games as we can on each trip, and have seen a few games on the road.

We’ve seen some amazing games – the first game we saw Nick Johnson (then of the Nationals) broke his thigh bone in the outfield and the reaction from the Mets fans was amazin’, they all got up and gave him a round of applause (not something you would see in sports over here!). We were there when Eric Young Jr. broke the ankle of Tim Hudson making a play at first (another amazin’ reaction from the Mets fans). We were also at Citi for the Wilmer No Crying In Baseball game, and were close to the dugout so heard the interaction between Wilmer and the fans (I admit to shedding a tear for him – he looked absolutely heartbroken!)

I’ve made some fantastic friendships, both in the UK and the US, through my love of the Mets, and I wouldn’t change a thing (except for maybe a few more wins Grinning face).

David, London, England
I stumbled on live late night baseball on terrestrial TV whilst up with a cough. All I remember about that game was that I ended up cheering on the team called the Mets. To this day I can’t tell you who pitched or even if they won. I remember searching for baseball again a short while later once I had recovered but it had already disappeared from terrestrial TV. Then in 2012, I switched from Sky TV to Virgin and there was baseball again on the BTESPN channel. I was hooked immediately. I remembered the team I cheered on a few years back and started following them seriously.

As you can probably see from my Twitter profile and feed I’m pretty much all in on baseball and out of Soccer. Finding a new sport to dive into in your 50’s is pretty cool. I get the chance to visit my first ballgame at Citi Field like a kid does. I had my first trip booked this June but have just had to cancel it due to the Coronavirus, so hopefully next year a (by then) 59-year-old will get to feel like a kid again.

I tried to spread the love about British Baseball by talking my daughter Emily into making a short on Baseball. It’s only 4 minutes long so if you have a chance, check it out.

Tracey and David are members of the group UKMets. David shared this great photo with me of some of the members last year at the London game — repping the Mets, of course!

Alex, United Kingdom
Hi there, my name is Alex, and I am a 17-year-old Mets fan from the United Kingdom. If I were to keep it simple, the story of how I became a Mets fan was through my dad. But I’ll tell you how he became a Mets fan, which ultimately resulted in me following the sport I love dearly.

At the ripe age of 18 my dad visited New York for the first time as he had some friends that lived in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. While in New York, my dad and his friends watched baseball on TV, and at this time, the Mets were having another rough season, and the Yankees were winning every game. My dad describes it as “everyone I met was a Yankee fan, so I thought that the Mets needed me more.” My dad got into the Mets via the help of the internet. My dad used to follow game day until he bought the MLB.tv subscription package, not expecting it to work in the UK. However, it did, and the rest is history.

So now, here’s how I became a Mets fan: On April 6 2015, I was out, playing football (no not American Football, soccer) with some friends from the neighborhood. I had heard my dad and brother talking all day about how excited they were for the upcoming baseball season. Before that day, I had always turned down the opportunity to watch baseball, simply because I wasn’t interested, and there was always something “better” for me to do like play XBOX 360 with friends or watch YouTube. On this specific day, however, my dad had bought some classic New York cheesecake and made his homemade chili. My love for cheesecake and chili was too strong, so I thought I would sit down and eat quickly, so I wouldn’t have to sit through the baseball game, and so I could meet my friends on XBOX for the 47th consecutive night.

Fortunately for me, I didn’t eat quick enough, meaning I had to watch the first inning of the Mets vs Nationals, Bartolo Colon on the mound against Max Scherzer. Trust me. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else but Bartolo Colon to introduce me to the Mets. As the game progressed my dad and brother began introducing me to the fundamentals of the game, they introduced me to all the divisions, the American and National League, and put up with silly questions I had such as “why do they run to first base when they hit the ball in play, why can’t they run to third?” As Buddy Carlyle locked down the save for the Mets, I turned to my dad and said, “what time is the game tomorrow?” From this point forward, I began following the Mets religiously, watching every early game until I had to go to bed for school the next day and checking the box score every morning when I woke up.

So, I guess you could say I have my dad to thank for being a Mets fan, if it were not for him choosing the Mets over the Yankees when he visited New York I could have turned out as just another Yankee fan. I am forever grateful that my dad bought cheesecake and made chili on April 6 2015, because if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have been introduced to this fantastic sport.

Killian, Almere, the Neatherlands
I’m Killian Melis, 26 years old and I’m living in Almere, the Netherlands. I’m a huge Mets fan, but how did I became one?

It all started when I began to play the game of baseball at the age of eight. I played for the club almere’90, in the “Flevoleague “. In this league the teams are named after big league team’s and of course mine was named “The Almere Mets” (and by the way, we won the competition that year).

When I was around the age of 12, I began to follow the MLB on the internet. Because my team was named “the Almere Mets”, I knew of the New York Mets. As I started to watch the MLB, my irritation of the Yankees began to grow. The reason is that baseball is not a big sport in the Netherlands. Every time I told people I played baseball, plus being a Mets fan, people thought they knew the game because they knew the Yankees. That’s why my love for the New York Mets grew.

Nowadays, I follow the Mets every day. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is give my wife a kiss, the second thing is getting my phone as quickly as possible and going to the At-Bat app to watch what my Metsies did during the night. This is also my ritual in the off season or nowadays with the COVID-19 delay. It shows my dedication.

The last thing I want to tell is that I met another Mets fan in the Netherlands, and he is the reason I can tell you this story. He is also the reason I started to collect game used memorabilia as bats, caps, jerseys and a base, plus one tattoo of the Mets.

Going to a game at Citi Field is the number 1 thing on my bucket list, but the only thing is I’m afraid to fly. One day I will overcome that and I will enjoy the best sport of the world, at the best stadium in the world, together with the best fans of the world, watching the best team: our Mets! So LETS GO METS!!

Corné, the Netherlands
I have to thank my uncle that I became a Mets fan around 14 years ago. As a 15 year old, I visited my uncle in Stamford, CT with my family. Coming from a sports-oriented family, we had to visit a US sport game, and it was the Mets at Shea Stadium. I immediately loved the atmosphere and the more I started to learn, the more I loved the game. The Mets lost the game in 2006, but gained a die-hard lifetime fan.

I have been lucky enough to visit the Mets numerous times. I went to five games in 2010, attending back-to-back complete game shutouts by Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey (Dickey’s was a one-hitter). In 2015, I went back for six more. I saw a Mets 10-run inning, Noah Syndergaard‘s first win and Matt Harvey going eight scoreless innings. In 2016, I went to a road game for the first time, attending three games in Miami. The Mets won 2 of 3 and I went to a St. Lucie Mets game too. In 2018, I went back for seven games at Citi and in 2019, I attended three. Best game I attended was the J.D. Davis walk off game. Overall my record is now: 14-11, not to shabby right?

Trying to go to games as much as possible is a small part of showing my fandom. I own a solid collection of Mets memorabilia, including a Jon Niese NLDS & NLCS game used jersey and a Wilmer Flores home run bat, among many other items. Over a season, I watch about 140 games live or later without knowing the final score. Sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes when I wake up. You can read about it in “Diary of a Dutch Mets Fan“, that I wrote during the 2019 season. It shows the daily life of a Dutch fan and shows how much our beloved team can be viewed across the ocean. I’m a Mets nut like a lot others, just happen to be in another location! LGM

The post International Baseball Fans: How Did They Become Mets Fans? appeared first on Metsmerized.

The New York Mets announced that they have called up Logan Verrett from Triple-A Las Vegas and activated him to the 25 man roster. Verrett was scratched from his start for Las Vegas last night and took an overnight flight to NYC.

Verrett, 26, was 3-4 with the Mets with a 4.02 ERA and 1.438 WHIP in 19 appearances including four starts. He made one start for Las Vegas, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings.

To make room for Verrett the Mets optioned Ty Kelly to Las Vegas, and the team will play with a four-man bench.

Kelly, 27, batted .148 with a .466 OPS for the Mets in 29 plate appearances.

The post Mets Activate Logan Verrett, Option Ty Kelly To AAA appeared first on Metsmerized.

Hey Mets Fans!

How would you like to go to the hottest Mets event of the year celebrating the 1986 World Champion New York Mets!

Here’s your opportunity to Win A Free VIP Ticket to the Kings of Queens Reunion with Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, and the 1986 Mets. Here are the details followed by how you can win a FREE TICKET to the event.

What: Kings of Queens 1986 Mets Reunion – Open Bar, Hors d’oeuvres, Photo Opportunities

Where: The 40/40 Club, 6 West 25th St (at Broadway), NYC

When: May 26th, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

It’s been 30 years since the 1986 Mets won 108 games and the World Series capturing the hearts of New York and fans everywhere.

Led by an unforgettable cast of characters including Doc, Straw, Mookie and Orosco, the Mets left a trail of wreckage in their wake winning 108 games on their way to defeating the Boston Red Sox in an unforgettable seven game World Series.

They curtain called their way to the team’s only championship since 1969 and into the hearts of Mets fans forever.

Steiner Sports the leader in authentic hand signed collectibles and sports experiences is putting together an “Amazin” evening with 4 of the biggest names from that Mets ’86 championship team, “Dr. K” Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson and Jesse Orosco on May 26th at the 40/40 Club!

Tickets start at $250 and can be purchased by calling 914-307-1065 or going to www.steinersports.com today.

WIN A PAIR OF VIP TICKETS WORTH $500!

Metsmerized Online has been authorized to giveaway a FREE PAIR OF VIP TICKETS to this exciting and exclusive event. To enter our special random drawing all you need to do is TWO THINGS:

1. SHARE THIS ARTICLE VIA YOUR TWITTER OR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!

2. EMAIL US AT CONTEST@METSMERIZEDONLINE.COM WITH YOUR FULL NAME, TWITTER, CONTACT EMAIL AND “I WANT THOSE VIP TICKETS!” IN SUBJECT LINE.

One winner will be randomly selected and will win VIP Access for him/her plus a guest.

Deadline to enter is May 19.

Winner will be announced on this site and on Twitter on May 20.

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This is a whole new generation. When I was growing up, we had candy cigarettes (gone) and Big League Chew (still around). While playing baseball, we used to have the candy cigarettes so we could smoke like Keith Hernandez, or we would shove a ton of Big League Chew in our mouths to look like Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra was such a legendary chewer that he was said to have stained the AstroTurf at the old Vet. Juan Uribe has chewed his entire career.

As kids, we used this stuff because we thought it was cool to act like ballplayers. Did we also try the real stuff?  Well, not as kids. It’s s good thing too because it would’ve been like that scene in The Sandlot:

https://youtu.be/v0VARef7k_U

Personally, I never really had any interest. Part of the reason was my parents. Another part was I was a catcher. I’ve seen catchers who have used chewing tobacco, but to me that was a pain. I tried seeds, which is similar in principle, but it annoyed me. So I went without any of it for most of my baseball life.

Then I got older, got big, and was moved out from behind the plate. Part of “rookie” hazing was getting them to throw in a dip and watch the hilarity ensue. It wasn’t pleasant.

In any event, I found myself playing that dreaded DH position more and more, which means you spend a lot of time on the bench. Many of those guys throw one in, so you usually do as well. You practice that finger motion with your index finger so you can pack it better and tighter. One day, it all becomes second nature.

When I was in college, it was great. There were a couple of nights, it helped me get through the all-nighters. Also, there were some bars in the area where if you didn’t throw one in, you were out of place. Honestly, I wasn’t so much addicted to it as I loved doing it.

A good friend of mine and me used to love dipping while watching baseball games. We would not only watch the games, but we would also keep an eye out for who was dipping. You would see the finger going in the dugout. The circle shape in the player’s uniform pants. That ever so slight bump in the bottom lip. If you ever saw it in the top lip, you knew that guy was having real problems. Looking at the Mets now, I can tell you who does and who doesn’t dip. I can do that for any team if I watch them long enough.

Eventually, I quit. It really is a nasty habit. More importantly, it’s dangerous. We saw Tony Gwynn die too young because of it. We saw Curt Schilling battle cancer. As much as I enjoyed it, it really wasn’t worth it.

The strange part is I never would’ve started had it not been part of baseball’s culture. No sport is as associated with smokeless tobacco than baseball. I thought about all of this when I saw Tim Rohan’s New York Times article about New York City looking to ban smokeless tobacco from being used in places like Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.

There’s a lively debate to be had here about whether this law is a good idea or not. It’s a debate that should occur. However, at the end of the day, I’m more concerned for that two-year old of mine that loves baseball. I realize that NYC can put every law in place they want, but it won’t matter unless baseball players take it seriously.

Heck, the MLB Players Association itself kills any talk of banning tobacco whenever they negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. The owners and commissioner has wanted to ban it for decades.

New York City already bans smoking, but we hear about Yoenis Cespedes smoking between innings. We see players using smokeless tobacco all over the field. Baseball players will find a work-around. You should hear how they work around smokeless tobacco bans and stigmas in other sports. Overall, players will always find a way to do it.

If that’s the case, it’ll always be associated with baseball, and that’s not a good thing. Baseball needs to help find a reasonable solution to this because what they have done so far isn’t working. They need to figure it out because one day that Big League Chew becomes Skoal or Red Man. That needs to stop before another generation of players starts using it. I don’t want to see another Tony Gwynn.

The post NYC Ban On Smokeless Tobacco Won’t Help Without Culture Change appeared first on Metsmerized.

Thank You New York, by Vic Black

As some of you may have gathered my time with the New York Mets is at its end. I didn’t play for 10 years nor was I an All-star or contributor to last seasons amazing run BUT I’ll never forget my time playing for the greatest fans/city in baseball.

From walking the streets of Manhattan, to riding the 7 Line daily to Citi Field I was given moments I’ll remember for my lifetime. See I get why a lot of people picture New York as giant skyscrapers, crazy taxis and busy, busy people BUT what gets the bad rap are exactly what make this city the greatest: it’s the PEOPLE of New York.

They are what make it “New York”. I remember a moment during the All-star break in 2014. I had stayed in NYC for the break to just enjoy the city. I decided one night to go see a movie at the AMC Empire 25 theatre off 42nd. What’s funny is I couldn’t tell you what movie or if I had even enjoyed it but what happened next is why I get a bit teary eyed still to this day.

You see I was walking out around 11 pm or so and had come to W42nd & 8th Ave and was waiting for the light to change so I could head home. Upon crossing the street there was an older gentleman in a ball cap walking the opposite direction as we passed each other I heard him say “Nice first half Vic! We are happy you are with us. Best of luck in the second half.”

I didn’t love this because I was recognized rather because it was at its most intimate and simplistic level a perfect example of how the people of New York are. You were kind in welcoming me to YOUR family and I’ll always have blue and orange running in my blood. New York captured my heart and nothing can ever take that away. You gave me a gift, experiences and moments I’ll cherish forever. I’m counting the days till my next visit in whatever capacity it may be.

I love you New York!

Vic Black

Two Words…. Class Fu*king Act…

Here’s an interview Tommy Rothman did with Vic Black a couple of years ago for MMO.

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With the New York Mets just clinching their first postseason berth in almost a decade, excitement is high all over NYC. To celebrate the team’s return to the playoffs, Delta Air Lines, the Official Airline of the New York Mets, today dedicated a Mets-branded Boeing 757 at JFK Airport.

NY Mets COO Jeff Wilpon, Mets great Keith Hernandez and Mr. and Mrs. Met joined Gail Grimmett, Delta Air Lines’ SVP-New York, for the unveil of an oversized “Let’s Go Mets” graphic on the aircraft’s fuselage to officially kick off the team’s playoff run.

Delta’s new Mets-branded aircraft follows the airline’s recent announcement that it will renew its team sponsorship agreement, extending Delta’s designation as the Official Airline and Official Private Jet Carrier of the New York Mets through 2023.

I love it, that is so freaking awesome! (Well, except for that one thing…)

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In 2012, then Mayor Bloomberg announced that New York City had reached a deal with Sterling Equities, a real estate company owned by Fred Wilpon and Saul B. Katz, to transform Willets Point into modern low to mid income housing mecca complete with a shopping mall.

However, about a year into the project and after NYC poured $400 million dollars into the project, community and church groups who had originally supported the project because of the need for housing in the area soured on the whole thing when they learned that the development had now become centered on a exclusive hotel, office space, luxury apartments and a state of the art shopping center.

Additionally, the plan for affordable housing was put off until at least the middle of the next decade. Maybe.

According to a new report in the New York Times, the entire Willets Point Development project was potentially dealt a fatal blow when Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to appeal the developer’s attempt to overturn a lower court ruling which ruled that New York City could not use a parking lot next to the stadium for the planned one-million-square-foot mall.

“The project suffered another setback on Wednesday, as negotiations broke down between the city and the developers that had been selected by the Bloomberg administration to build the project.”

“Ultimately, the disagreement could spell the end of the project as it is currently conceived, despite the city’s having already spent $400 million buying land and making improvements in the Willets Point district for the development.”

In other news, Mets owners Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz have refinanced $700 million worth of debt tied to the team and SNY according to a report by Josh Kosman of the New York Post.

“It is not known if Sterling was able to take any cash out of its investment, but the refinancing came as the Mets increased payroll by acquiring several players to help the team in its playoff run.”

“Sterling had most recently refinanced Mets debt in early 2014, months before the principal on its loans were due. It had refinanced the SNY debt a year earlier.”

Looks like Wednesday wasn’t all bad news for the team’s beloved owners.

The post NYC Declines To Appeal Court Ruling, Willets Point Project Now In Jeopardy appeared first on Metsmerized.

Now living upstate I read the local paper to see what streets have sinkholes the size of in-ground swimming pools.

I still keep up with the NY papers using their online sites. But in my humble opinion, nothing beats a foldable paper in hand. Here are some headlines I’ve made up, most of which I’d love to see, but know we won’t. The newspaper mastheads are courtesy of Newseum and headlines are my own of course.

1. We’ll start with one fans of Wally Backman would love, even though I just can’t see Alderson tabbing him as the next Mets manager. 

2. Here’s one every baseball fan would be thrilled to read. And how about a pill to make hamstring pulls abate?

3. Of all the headlines this would be the one that would please me most.

4. Let’s face it, the Dude has had a fine year but still can’t do squat against a left handed pitcher.

5. I really wonder about this next guy’s future.

6. And as if we could ever afford this guy….

7. I wonder if Juan could make a catch like Willie Mays made on Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series.

8. This is how Murph rolls…

9. Wishful thinking here.  Kevin will be missed.

10. I’ll admit that Wilmer has been better than I thought he’d be at short but…

The post Di-JEST: My Top 10 Fake Mets Headlines appeared first on Metsmerized.

The Mets announced that pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has been placed on the DL with inflammation in his right elbow.

Terry Collins said he will not throw for 7-10 days to let the inflammation subside. There has been no talk about surgery or any structural damage, for now, but he will be examined again after inflammation diminishes.

“I’m sure it’s just from all the innings,” Collins said. “Like we know, you count up all those innings and throw all those pitches, there’s going to be damage. Can’t help it. I’m sure that’s how it is and I hope it’s not that severe where the rest and rehab will be fine.”

The Mets recalled reliever Buddy Carlyle to replace Dice-K in the bullpen.

July 25

Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka is in New York having his elbow examined according to manager Terry Collins. Dice-K felt pain in his elbow and will have an MRI.

Matsuzaka looked like he was in pain after pitching in the sixth inning of last night’s loss to the Brewers. His velocity was off and he was quickly tagged for three runs on a pair of homers off the bats of Khris Davis and Ryan Braun.

Dice-K could be seen shaking his arm and grabbing his elbow in the dugout afterward and looked to be in some sort of obvious distress.

However, when Terry Collins was asked about his pitcher after the game, he told reporters he wasn’t aware of any injury even though many in the dugout could be seen attending to Dice-K and trying to console him.

Matsuzaka, 33, has a 3.87 ERA in 28 appearances this season, which includes nine starts.

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