This Kindle Fire giveaway has been so exciting and also a big revelation to me. I never expected such a heartfelt outpouring of Amazin’ entries. Every single entry was a true telling of why that person loved the Mets. We heard from 109 different Mets fans, male and female, young and old, east coast and west coast. Honestly, I was overwhelmed and never thought we’d get a response like this. It’s true what I always say and that’s that Met fans are the best fans in baseball. But sadly, there can be only one winner. However, I do want to highlight our three Finalists and two Honorable Mentions. Please Enjoy…
Honorable Mention No. 2
By Daniel Brennan
My grandmother was an original New York Mets fan. She was a die hard Brooklyn Dodgers fan until they moved out West. Luckily, the Mets came into existence soon after and her life would never be the same. Neither would mine.
My grandmother has since passed, but from the time I was born until she died in 2006, she ingrained being a Mets fan in my blood. My parents are big Mets fans too (my mom was at more than half of the 1986 playoff games, including the Game 7 World Series clincher), but it was my close relationship with my grandmother that facilitated my eventual love for the Mets.
I would go to my grandmother’s house every Saturday. If it happened to be during the baseball season, we would watch the games together. She was remarkably sharp for an 80 year old women, and she helped teach me most of what I eventually learned about the Mets and baseball in general. She had a strong opinion on every player, and her opinions often shaped mine (even though she never saw him play, I KNOW she would have LOVED Daniel Murphy, as do I). Even when I was not at her house, I would call her after the conclusion of every game to talk about what had happened. There was rarely a phone conversation between my grandmother and I that did not include dialogue about the Mets.
When my grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005, it was not simply devastating because she was my grandmother. It was devastating because she was my best friend and the main person I could share my love for the Mets with. The thought of watching the Mets without her insight was saddening and terrifying.
During the playoffs in 2006, my grandmother had gotten significantly worse. Even though she had just led her bowling team to a championship earlier that summer, her body had slowly disintegrated to the point where she could not even stay awake during Mets game. This was the clearest indication that cancer was sucking the life out of my grandmother.
After the Mets lost to the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, I remember crying, sitting on the stairs that lead to my basement. I was crying not only because the Mets had just been eliminated, but also because I had thought it was the Mets’ destiny to win the World Series for my grandmother. Sadly, that did not happen and my grandmother died in December 2006.
My love for the Mets has only grown since my grandmother passed, even as the team has gotten considerably worse over that period. Considering that I was born in 1994, I have not been alive for much success. I did not begin following the Mets until the summer of 2001, with my first memories being of Brian Jordan destroying the Mets as an Atlanta Brave. Still, the love of the Mets my grandmother instilled in me has left me unaffected by the Mets downturn.
I watch the games whether it is April and the Mets are alive and full of hope, or it is September and the Mets’ season has long since died. I watch the games if they are up by 10 or down by 10. I even stay up for the games if they are on the West Coast and I should be in bed.
My grandmother made sure that I was a true Mets fan, someone who was not going to leave the team even in the darkest of times. My grandmother taught me to root for a team that depended on the aging Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar; I can certainly root for any Mets team now. Without my grandmother, I am sure I would not be writing this email right now.
Heading into the 2014 season, I can only hope that the Mets return to their winning ways, not only for me and all of the other die hard Mets fan who are sending in their responses right now, but also for my grandmother. 2006 was their year, but they are bound to have another (and hopefully many more after).
Let’s Go Mets and thank you for reading,
We’re all with you Daniel. Thanks for your poignant essay, and like you, we’re all waiting for the Mets to get back to their winning ways.
