Dubs
This just may be me, but for the life of me, I’ve never understood the obsession with the 1987 New York Mets road jerseys. It lasted one year, and it probably should’ve remained that way.
First of all, that 1987 season was as disappointing as any in Mets history. It started with the Dwight Gooden steroid suspension and didn’t get much better from there.
The defending World Series champions that we were hoping were on the precipice of a dynasty fell apart. Basically every starter was injured at some point, and every returning starter not named Darryl Strawberry had a down year.
It’s a matter of personal taste, but they also aren’t as aesthetically pleasing as the traditional Tiffany font road jerseys. Yet, there are some ardent fans of that jersey, and now, we see some form of a return to those jerseys.
Honestly, these are better with the blue than the gray. Still, it’s a little too monotone. Maybe if the New York was all orange, they’d be better, but maybe not.
The old blue alternates had the gray lettering with the orange outline, and those were very well received. Maybe that would’ve been better.
Then again, I’m a dad. I’m not who the Mets are targeting with these even if it’s a callback to my youth when I watched the Mets.
To that point, my kids LOVE them. They think they’re awesome. I’ve already received requests for a Juan Soto or Francisco Lindor one.
Who am I kidding? They want both just like they wanted one of every Met for the city connect jerseys. To that end, the jerseys are a MASSIVE success.
The Mets want to create jerseys people want to go out and buy. If my kids love them, then I’m probably going to buy them one eventually.
So, while I’m not a big fan, it doesn’t matter. I’m buying two. Maybe three when the kids want me to have one to match them.
For a brief moment when Jeff McNeil singled home Tyron Taylor, you let yourself dream one last time. Francisco Álvarez was suddenly hitting great, and then it’s Francisco Lindor. Mark Vientos would represent the tying run . . . .
Look, if there was any team that could do it, it was this New York Mets team. If anything, a six run rally with two outs would perfectly encapsulate what this team had been.
Sadly, Álvarez grounded out to end the series.
They’ll tell us the Los Angeles Dodgers were just the better team. The Mets were lucky to get this far. Us Mets fans know better.
There was so much fun with this team with Grimace and OMG. Jose Iglesias was this year’s José Valentíne. Sean Manae became an ace. Carlos Mendoza looks like he may well soon be the best manager in baseball.
Lindor was an MVP in every sense of the word. Vientos finally got his chance and would show the world he’s a star in the making. Pete Alonso reminded us why we loved him so.
This is a Mets team we will remember and cherish forever.
The reasons to adore this team are far too many to count, but in the end, this team was quintessentially a Mets team. In some ways, this run was reminiscent of the 1999 run that just fell short. Fortunately, with Steve Cohen and David Stearns, we know this is just the beginning of what can be a long, dominant stretch.
As for now, time just caught up with this team.
Brandon Nimmo was just too injured. There were just too many innings on the arms of Manae and Luis Severino. There wasn’t enough time for Kodai Senga to get where he needed to be. José Buttó and Phil Maton couldn’t carry that regular season success into the postseason.
In the moment, you’re wringing your hands saying if only the Mets got just one hit (other than Vientos’ grand slam) with the bases loaded it would be a completely different series. There are moves like J.D. Martinez in Games 3 and 4 where you’re left wondering what if . . . .
Sitting there on my couch with an upset 10 year old, all you can say is this one hurt. It’s hurts that they lost. It hurts because we all completely fell in love with this team and reminded you why you love the New York Mets with every fiber of your being.
This was the first real postseason run for my kids. For me, I was way too young in 1986, and 1988 was fleeting. But to this day, I’ll forever cherish the 1999 team.
I can tell you everything about that team, and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t say that wasn’t the greatest defensive infield of all time.
For my sons, Lindor is their Mike Piazza. Vientos is their Edgardo Alfonzo. Manea and Severino are their Al Leiter and Rick Reed. Fortunately, no one will be their Armando Benitez.
Ultimately, this is the team you point back to and say this is why I love baseball. I love the Mets.
When they’re raising their sons to be Mets fans, they will talk about Lindor against the Braves, Alonso against the Brewers, Vientos’ NLDS, and all this season entailed.
For now, it’s pain. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it’ll be fondly remembered.
For my dad, I don’t know how many more of these we have left. The 1999 and 2000 runs we special. It’s only cruel we had Adam Wainwright doing color in the this year’s NLDS. We left Game 3 of the 2015 World Series thinking they were going to win. We were holding onto hope after Game 5.
There’s always a certain magic when the Mets make these runs. Maybe it’s because it’s just their 11th postseason appearance, but in reality it’s more.
Because it’s always so special and magical, it hurts more. I wanted this for Lindor and what we have the fans, for Alonso in what may be his last year with the Mets, and Nimmo for staying.
Mostly, I wanted it for my family. I don’t want to be the 1994 New York Rangers fan or 2004 Boston Red Sox fan visiting a grave telling dad we finally did it. I want to be there with my boys, dad, and brother having that one moment.
Just one.
Maybe this is the springboard for 2025. Maybe that will be the year the Mets won. For now, it’s just appreciating what was while thinking about what could have been.
So, to that, thank you to the 2024 Mets for this magical season. Your team will be forever loved by Mets fans and will always have a special place in my heart.
Being a hockey dad means you’re traveling a lot and going/passing through places you may not normally travel. While you may be tired and want to go home after a tournament, sometimes it’s well worth making stops along the way.
Being the avid New York Mets fan I am, my family opted to stop in Binghamton. It made sense as a stop to stretch, eat, and of course, take in Mirabito Stadium.
One thing to know right off the bat is it’s pronounced MER-AH-BIT-TO. A local quickly corrected me when I mispronounced it.
More importantly, the ballpark is open everyday. I found that out when I mentioned to a security guard that I owned this site and was an editor at MMN and I was hoping to walk around the park. His response was, “Okay, well, everyone can walk around as long as they stay off the field.”
Right off the bat, the ballpark has that minor league feel we lose somewhat with the Brooklyn Cyclones. There’s not a bad seat in the house, and you’re right there for all of the action.
Rowdy the Rumble Pony on the outfield high top chairs was a nice touch. A nice touch describes much of the ballpark which embraces its own history as well as their affiliation with the Mets.
The bullpen carries the monitor “The Road to Queens Runs through Rumbletown.” That was certainly true for current Mets pitchers Grant Hartwig, David Peterson, and Drew Smith. It may also hold true for current Rumble Ponies like Christian Scott and Dominic Hamel.
In terms of the history, Binghamton has a “Binghamton Baseball Shrine” honoring all the Binghamton players of yesteryear. It’s there you are reminded Binghamton hasn’t always been a Mets affiliate.
As you can see, most of the players were before the Mets even existed. You see names like Whitey Ford and Thurmon Munson. You can see the Mets feel and acknowledgement with Jason Isringhausen on the far right.
For those wondering where David Wright is, don’t worry, he’s there. He just couldn’t make the main image and is instead off to the side on the door.
As odd as it was seeing him off to the side, it was even stranger seeing him with the number 44. For those that remember, Wright wanted to wear 4 (he didn’t ask for it) until Charlie Samuel decided Wright should wear 5 for Brooks Robinson and George Brett.
Shockingly, Samuel didn’t remember Robin Ventura of Grand Slam Single Fame. But, I digress.
Unfortunately, the Baseball Shrine is out of the main view, but it is en route to the gift shop. On the way, you will also see things like the lineups and league leaders (Eastern League and MLB).
The gift shop has what you’re really looking for with hats, jerseys, cards, and of course, stuffed animal mascots. You can get the jerseys personalized (but not t-shirts). It’s all reasonably priced with discounted winter items. I walked away with a cap.
The only downside of the trip to the ballpark was it was not a game day. That said, the staff was great, and my kids had a blast running through the park. Certainly, there will be a trip back to Binghamton to catch a game or two.
Every family has their holiday traditions. One of our family traditions has been going to Hallmark and pick out our Christmas ornament.
There are many reasons why this tradition came to bear. Mostly, it was trying to create a tradition and memories stemming from my mother being orphaned as a child.
In some ways, that made our Christmas tree an album or time capsule. Each ornament was a representation of what we liked each year of our lives. It reminded us of who we were.
It was a tradition I was eager and happy to start with my boys. The tree has Thomas and Lightning McQueen. In recent years, it’s given way to Harry Potter.
One of the fun things is my boys actively look for ornaments they think dad will like. This year, well, they did a great job even if the timing was less than impeccable.
Exactly one day after Jacob deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers, I received by deGrom ornament. Admittedly, it was just about the last thing I expected to see.
It honestly took me aback.
It wasn’t just deGrom leaving the Mets. For that, I will always have the memories of his greatness. Fortunately, I got to share some of that with my older son. Unfortunately, my younger son is not yet able to appreciate it.
The ability to share those moments is gone because deGrom is gone. There will certainly be other moments, but there may never be another deGrom.
And yet, there was still this moment. This moment meant more than any of the deGrom moments.
My boys picked out a deGrom ornament just for me. My youngest was thrilled because he knows just how much I love the Mets.
My oldest explained how important it was to have that ornament. To him, it mattered that deGrom was a great Met. He will always be a Met. We needed to remember that.
And with that, he understood the tradition better than anyone ever could.
At first, the ornament simultaneously represented how deGrom just left and how my sons picked out this great ornament for me. Now, it represents how much my sons understand why we have this tradition in the first place.
That tear in my eye wasn’t deGrom leaving. It was pride and love.
Now, every year after we’ll take out the ornament to hang on the tree. Certainly, it’ll remind me of deGrom leaving the day prior. It’ll remind me of all of deGrom’s great moments with the Mets.
Mostly, it’ll remind me of this special moment and just how lucky I am.
When our kid loves a sport like baseball, the question is how can I help my child improve? What is the gadget or new training tool?
There are infomercials and commercials. There are incessant ads across social media. We’re reminded of Fred McGriff from our youth.
It’s not always about being a crazy dad trying to have your child make it when you couldn’t. For the most part, it’s just about investing in your child and letting them be better at what they love.
There are a number of different devices which can actually help. Of course, it’s difficult to know which device can specifically help your child.
There is good news. There is something universal which can help your child improve in baseball. I
It’s you.
Look, life gets in the way all the time. There are countless things to do at work and home which always get in the way. We all know you’re not being selfish by handling those things or the myriad of other things which always get in the way.
And it’s not just you. There are practices, birthdays, and play dates. There’s homework and projects. There’s rain and snow.
Still, in any week, there’s always time to be found.
So long as you have a glove and ball, you can have a catch with your child. There is literally nothing more you can do to help foster your child’s love of the sport and help grow your relationship than that.
Grab a chair and Whiffle ball. Throw all those crazy pitches to your kid. It works on their hand eye coordination and ability to see the ball. Mostly, it’s just really fun.
There are other things you can do like grab a tee and net. You can watch videos and hit the batting cage. They’re all great tools, but it’s no substitute for you.
So, as you see all these Black Friday deals, and you question what you can do, you already have the answer. The answer is you and has always been you.
On January 6, 2022, high school sophomore Teddy Balkind suffered a fatal injury. During a collision, a skate sliced his neck causing him to bleed to death.
At this point, we don’t know if he was wearing a neck guard or not. What we do know is two things: (1) they’re designed to prevent tragedies like this one; and (2) they’re not mandated by USA Hockey.
The second point is a massive problem. When you don’t mandate it, you allow children (and sometimes parents) to get lax with pieces of safety equipment. Moreover, when you don’t introduce it and/or enforce it with young players, they become less inclined to wear it as they age.
It’s more than that. There needs to be appropriate minimum standards. If you’ve seen hockey necks guards, they run the gamut. There’s the it’s a neck guard to say you have a neck guard to actual Kevlar.
Governing bodies need to not only set standards, they need to lead studies. More than that, they need to inform.
Most parents are decades removed from playing the sport. That’s even if they played the sport. Parents are only guessing what’s the correct and most up to date equipment.
In addition to neck guards, there are hockey wrist guards too. In baseball, there are chest protector shirts, and former New York Mets LF Cliff Floyd introduced protective cap liners to the market.
There is equipment out there. However, most parents don’t know about it, and worse yet, it’s not mandated. All of this needs to change. Teddy shouldn’t have died, and we can’t sit around and wait for the next tragedy.
Mets fans are a truly blessed to be a great community. That includes regular fans like myself as well as people like Mets PA Announcer Colin Cosell.
Recorded a bunch of voiceovers today, including a couple of call-ups, and wow…I miss being behind the mic. Anybody else want a call-up for a quick, easy, and FREE Christmas gift? ? #CallMeUpColin
— Colin Cosell (@CosellPA) December 22, 2020
Cosell, for no reason other than he’s a great person, offered to prepare walk-up music and introductions for Mets fans for free. He stepped up and gave Mets fans a free Christmas gift they can cherish forever.
I reached out, and I requested one for each of my boys. They absolutely loved it. It wasn’t just them either. My entire family did as well, especially my father who probably got more of a kick out of it than anyone.
That’s what Cosell did. He gave a gift not just to my kids, but also my entire family. That is something truly special, and I cannot begin to thank him. Honestly, in addition to my private notes is to publicize how great a person he is for doing something like this.
So again, thank you for this truly wonderful gift. Words cannot express how wonderful it was.
If you give a Met a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of 2% milk,
When you give him the milk, he is getting ready to hit like Straw,
When the Met is done eating his cookie,
He’ll want another and another and another.
He will go outside to get an Insomnia Cookie.
When he is outside he will see the Home Run Apple,
Seeing the apple will make him want to crush baseballs.
The pitcher will have to pitch a ball,
The outfielders ready with their gloves.
To the pitcher, he’ll look strong like a Polar Bear with his bat.
The pitcher will throw a pitch,
He’ll hit a HOME RUN!
He’ll do a bat flip and dance like a Squirrel to celebrate.
When he starts to dance, the press will want to take his picture.
When he sees his smiling face, he’ll want to text the picture to all of his friends.
When they get the text, they’ll want to know the story.
So he’ll tell them the story of how he scooted around the bases.
He’ll get so excited telling the story, he’ll want to talk to his teammates.
When talking, they’ll talk about how to play the game the Wright way.
They’ll talk about scouting reports, camaraderie, and giving the extra 2% on the field.
Talking about the extra 2% will remind them they’re thirsty.
So, they’ll get a glass of milk.
And chances are . . .
If they gets themselves a glass of milk, they’re going to want a cookie to go with it.
Adapted from Laura Numeroff books, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” “If You Give a Moose a Muffin” “If You Give a Dog a Donut” “If You Give a Pig a Pancake“
In his Medium article, Ryan Holiday writes about how the eternal search for quality time leads to disappointment. In reality, it’s that search which not only builds up these moments to live up to impossible lofty expectations, but it also has you missing the everyday magic.
It is an article well worth the time. In it, he discusses Jerry Seinfeld’s love of the mundane and how Holiday has loved his time just waiting.
Reading it brought me back to different moments. There are those times I’m driving in my car, and my son innocently begins a conversation by saying, “Daddy?” in that one tone where I know he has something important he wants to say.
It’s those moments my youngest just randomly starts singing a song and gets all excited when you start singing with him.
Honestly, Holiday is right. With your family, the best things happen everyday, and the moments don’t need to be manufactured. They’re already there, and they’re coming when you least expect it.
For example, yesterday, I was making macaroni and cheese for lunch. Next thing I know, my oldest wants to help. So while the pasta is boiling, I have him measuring out the milk and butter.
As is usually the case, when my oldest is doing something, the youngest needs to do it too. Suddenly, after I drain the pasta, the two of them, not me, are stirring the ingredients together.
This was a completely organic moment which happened for no other reason than the family was spending time together. To me, this was Holiday’s point. From the seemingly mundane came the real magic.
For those people who have been places with children and have had someone in the family needing to use the bathoom, former Major Leaguer Preston Wilson said what finally needed to be said:
I don’t know who needs to hear this but if you aren’t traveling with children don’t use the family bathrooms in airports. It makes you a bad person.
— Preston Wilson (@PrestonWilson44) August 19, 2019
This reminded me of an “incident” I recently had at Citi Field. To be fair, to call it an incident is probably overstating the case, but as a parent, I did assert my rights to use the designated family restroom with a family.
To put things in perspective, I have over an hour drive to get to the ballpark. After that, there is the process of putting sunscreen on the kids and then waiting on lines to enter the ballpark. After going up the escalator, the first thing my five year old tells me is he has to go to the bathroom. Honestly, at that point, who doesn’t?
In addition to my son having to use the bathroom, I have to change a baby’s diaper. That’s now two people who have to use the bathroom and a toddler who needs his diaper changed. This is the EXACT scenario why family restrooms exist. Of course, based on my personal experience, I have yet to come across a vacant family restroom at Citi Field.
That was until a few weeks ago. In this particular moment, the heaven’s seemed to open, and someone departed the family restroom just as I was walking towards it. With the family in tow, I made my way in as a group of adults stopped to alert me there was a line.
Again, a group of adults. No children in sight. They wanted to stop a family from using the . . . wait for it . . . family restroom.
With myself standing in the door frame, I politely asked if they had children who needed to use the restroom or had a baby who needed a diaper change. When they predictably said they didn’t, I told them they could wait and closed the door.
What is beyond stupid was there needed to be this exchange. It’s one thing to use the family restroom when no one is present. However, for the life of me, I cannot fathom the level of self entitlement involved in telling a family they need to wait so an adult can use a bathroom not designated for them.
These bathroms exist so parents can use the bathroom while keeping their children in a confined space where they don’t have to worry about them. These bathrooms exist to provide families with the space and privacy needed. They exist because if a child has an accident, you can change your child without them having to stand stark naked in the middle of a men’s or women’s room. It allows you to take care of multiple children at the same time without commotion.
These bathrooms are not for adults who like to do number two in a less used bathroom. They’re not there for adults convenience. These bathrooms aren’t for the public at large. They’re for people who actually need them. This is why Preston Wilson is 100% right saying those who use them are bad people.