IV
Well, I didn’t quite make it to work today. There’s a simple reason. My son did his best Linda Blair impersonation. I heard him say, “Uh oh” and then vomit all over. I mean all over. He even hit me. It was on my shirt, in my hair. Everywhere.
Worse yet, I was woefully unprepared for it. Like an idiot, I thought these days were done. When my son was a baby, we were always prepared for vomits and blowouts. Now that he’s a toddler? We’re mostly prepared for spilled milk and the like. Well today, I put the provisions back in place, which are:
- Liter of bottle of water
- Dawn paper towels
- Clorox wipes
- Garbage bag
- Paper towels
Seriously, I cannot stress enough the need for the Dawn paper towels. Once you get them wet, it permits you to scrub whatever surface of your car, or child’s clothing with soap and water (the liter that’s in your car). Keep in mind, you don’t need a lot. A little goes a long way. Most of the time, I’ve been able to clean whatever issue was present with the Dawn paper towels. More importantly, you’re going to reduce the smell in the car for when you’re finally going to get back on the road.
The Clorox wipes are to wipe down any toys and the like that are salvageable. I threw away two coloring books today, but I was able to wipe down some toy cars.
Before you depart, you don’t want to leave everything soapy. Use the remaining water and rinse the areas that had to be cleaned with the Clorox paper towels. You want to get rid of a the soap, and you want to make sure you got everything.
It should go without saying, all of the aforementioned steps come AFTER you’ve cleaned off your child.
Overall, I’ve found this kit helps really well. I only wish I had it with me today. I hope now you’ll have it with you.
Over at Brew and Orange, they are doing a giveaway for the person who has the best Mike Piazza story. Since the giveaway includes Rheingold beer accessories, which was once the beer of the Mets and my grandfather’s beer of choice, I’m interested. I suggest you go to his site and so your own submission. This is mine.
Back in 2013, my wife was pregnant with our son. At that time, I was already planning on how to make him a Mets fan. We ordered him a knit Mets cap. When I talked to him, I would read books, and of course, I would tell him about the Mets because, well, I have problems. No one believes me, except my wife who was obviously there for this, but I would say, “Lets Go Mets!” and he would kick back three times in the same rhythmic pattern. I digress.
In 2013, the Mets also hosted the All Star Game. For various reasons, my family only went to All Star Sunday, which is the Future’s Game and the All Star Legends and Celebrity All Star Game. My wife suggested we take one of the several Mets onesies we had to get it autographed for the baby. I thought it was a great idea because I would be seeing future Met All Stars like Noah Syndergaard as well as former Met greats like Mike Piazza.
Now, at the time I did work with a guy who used to play minor league ball. In fact, he had a cup of coffee in the majors. He refers to himself as the modern day Moonlight Graham because while he got to play one game, he never got an at bat. The strike happened, and his career was over. This guy told me he played on the same minor league team as Mike Piazza, and he knew him. When I told him my plan, he said he would reach out to him, and he would work to get me that autograph for my son. He eventually told me that I should go meet Piazza by the home dugout after the softball game was over to get my autograph.
With the Future’s Game and Softball Game, I tried to get the onesie signed with no luck. I was alright with that because Piazza was the prize, and I knew exactly when and where to meet him. After the game was over, I made my way down to the home dugout area.
Initially, there was no sight of Piazza. Then again, the area was flooded with people interviewing Kevin James, who was the MVP of the game. No one was really signing anything at the time except him. I just waited there for when Piazza was going to come out and give autographs. I was standing at the exact place and location I was told to stand. I waited and waited and stubbornly waited. Then it happened! Piazza emerged from the home dugout . . . and he immediately made a beeline to the visitor’s dugout area.
I thought this can’t be happening. Something must’ve been lost in translation. Mike Piazza was going to be there looking for me, and I wasn’t going to be there. I was going to miss out on getting an autograph for my son. I then did what every parent does when they are trying to get something for their child. They act quickly and somewhat irrationally. I started jumping the walls that separate each section to get over to Piazza as quickly as possible.
Keep in mind that as I’m doing this there is literally almost no one left at Citi Field. An usher half my size (I’m between 6’5″ – 6’7″ depending on the 7-11) grabs my arm and begins screaming at me. There was some nonsense about respecting Citi Field and how I’m acting like a hoodlum. I exchanged pleasantries as well, but I made sure not to respond physically.
The guy “ushered” me to the stop of the section and turned me over to police explaining the situation. Before I could get a word in edgewise, the police said they saw the whole thing. They mocked the usher and told him to stop bothering me. I explained to the police what I was trying to do, and I sought their help. They told me they couldn’t help and told me I should probably just head home. I was undeterred. I began running all the way to the other side of Citi Field.
By the way, I’m really slow. Almost embarrassingly so. While Piazza might’ve still be there during the hoopla with the usher, he most certainly was not there when I got over there. I went into one of the nearest suites to stand in the air conditioning for a second. Standing there was my brother who actually thought I was fleeing police and security . . . as if that was possible. While I was a free man, I didn’t have Piazza’s autograph.
I went to work the next day, and I apologized to the guy who set everything up. He then began laughing hysterically. He then explained that he did hang out with Piazza a few times in the minors, but he never reached out to him. He had no idea how. I was baffled. I asked him why did he concoct that whe scenario. His response was basically that he figured if Piazza was signing anything, he would do it there. He also figured if Piazza didn’t sign anything he would just say something came up like it does all the time.
Fortunately, I was able to get Mets to sign the onesie and other items for my son. I have a framed Darryl Strawberry jersey (that’s another story) for him. What I don’t have is a Mike Piazza autograph. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a chance again.
Overall, all of my chances were ushered out the door in July 2013.
There are a few things I pride myself on. One of them is that I’m always prepared. I’m that guy you hate because my Christmas shopping is done before Black Friday. I’ve found that to be more difficult with a son. When this snowstorm came, I was completely unprepared.
To put things is perspective, this was the second big snowstorm with my son. Last year, he hated it. HATED! Back then, he was still a little guy. At first, he was all excited to run in the snow, but then he got stuck. It went up to his belly. As such, when I heard about this year’s snowfall, the last thing I thought of was him playing in the snow.
The thing of it is a kids love playing in snow. It hit me almost too late. I had to run out Friday during lunch to get a sled. Toys R Us? Sold out. Target? Sold out. Models? Didn’t carry them. Home Depot? Nope. I basically had to go into Dicks and get the only one they had left. I envisioned the type of sled I wanted to get my son, but it wasn’t it. At this point in the game, beggers can’t be choosers.
How’d it go? Well, this year, my son loved the snow. He couldn’t wait to go out and play in it. He got angry with me when I went out to shovel last night because he thought I was playing in the snow without him. This morning I gave him the plastic shovel and let him push it around the driveway. Sure, he messed up a lot of what I already did, but he was so excited to be helping his daddy. It was worth it to have to re-shovel some areas
As for the sledding? He wasn’t as big a fan as I hoped he would be.
He wanted to shovel more. I seriously hope he stays this way forever. First, it would save me the time and effort. Second, it would give him more incentive to go out and earn a few bucks like I did as a kid. I digress. That’s how toddlers are. I’m sure if I started with the sledding, he not have wanted to stop that. It’ll probably be a different story next year.
In any event, when the snow comes, you need more than milk, bread, and eggs. You need to go out early and make sure you get your kid a sled before all the other parents do.
With Daniel Murphy signing with the Nationals, my son has to find a new favorite Met. Honestly, I didn’t steer him in the direction of Murphy. I wouldn’t because I knew he might be gone. Initially, his favorite player was Lucas Duda, but somewhere that changed.
Some of it might have been my personal feelings towards Murphy. I was always a huge fan of his. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Duda, but Murphy was my favorite Met.
Now, Matt Harvey is my favorite Met. He was the one that gave us all hope. I will always appreciate him for what he did in Game Five of the World Series. With that said, I don’t want him to become my son’s favorite player. The main reason is Harvey will be a free agent in 2019. That’s not that far away, and I would prefer for him to root for a player who will be around longer than that. With that said, I’ve narrowed it down to three choices:
I honestly picked these three guys because they broke into the majors last year, and as a natural extension, should be around the longest. Each have their own separate pull.
I like Matz because my son and I attended his first ever game. He’s a lifelong Mets fan who actually became a Met. He’s a left-handed pitcher, and any motivation I can use to get my son to throw left-handed is an added benefit.
Thor has the cool nickname, and he looks like the real deal. It’s easy to get a kid excited about a guy who throws 100 MPH and strikes a lot of guys out. I could also play this Pedro Martinez clip incessantly:
If you don’t think a two year old boy wouldn’t find it fun and hilarious to run around screaming, “THOR!” all day, you’re nuts.
The last option is Conforto. Conforto burst on the scene and played better than fans either reasonably or inreasonably expected. He hits left-handed as my son does now (Murphy left an impression). He’s an everyday player, which is a huge benefit. First, pitchers are more prone to have injuries that could leave them out for extended time or possibly be career threatening. Most importantly, when I bring my son to a game, it is more likely than Conforto will play. I don’t have to count every five days and hope there are no spot starts or skipped starts so he can see his favorite player.
With that said, I think I’m going to spend Spring Training trying to convert my son into a Conforto fan. If the past is any judge, he will select a player on his own. With that said, he may very well choose Conforto as his new favorite Met all on his own. That would be even better.
No matter what happens, I’m playing that Thor clip constantly because to me having him scream “THOR!” will be hilarious. I ask for my wife’s forgiveness in advance.
Needing to get out of the house and looking for something to do, my wife and O took our son to The Crayola Experience in Easton, PA.
Here are some basics to know. There is a parking deck across the street that accepts credit cards. It’s $19.99 per person over the age of 2. If you purchase ahead of time on the Internet, it’s $16.99. With each admission, you get two tokens to use inside the Crayola Experience (more on that in a minute). You are not allowed to bring food and beverages in, but there are lockers at your disposal. They will search your bags. It’s not as intense as Citi Field, but you do have to open it up and they’ll look in the bag. The no beverage thing is problematic because it’s really hot on each level. Each level has vending machines and vendors begging you to purchase a drink at each level.
The first level is fun. You start with creating your own crayon wrapper. There’s a blue, red, green, yellow, and purple crayon to create. The specific variations of the colors change. Each label has the name of the color and the date. You get to select an image and out your name in the crayon (or anything else you want to put on it):
If you make a mistake, it’s alright. You get around a hundred chances to edit before you hit print. After you’re done, you get a crayon and a label. You then get to put the label on yourself:
It’s easy as 1-2-3. The cost per crayon is one token. If you run out of tokens and want more crayons, you can purchase more tokens. They are 50 cents a piece. Don’t go crazy. You can only use it to purchase these crayons (there are only five colors) and Crayola’s version of Play Doh. That’s it. Don’t be like me and get an insane amount of tokens expecting its currency throughout each level.
After the crayon making area, there’s an area to color or play with the Play Doh you purchase. They’re in vending machines. Here’s the great thing about the Crayola Experience: there are crayons and coloring pages throughout the place. Once you leave this level, you have no use for tokens.
The third level has a really cool feature. You sit in a photo booth and it converts you to a coloring book page. There are a number of backgrounds you can select. You can take as many photos and print as many pages as you want for free. If you want to convert it to a t-shirt, canvas print, or puzzle, you can do so in the store (we didn’t).
In the next section of the third level was an interactive experience. There is an image protected against the wall. There are a series of tablets where you can use your fingers to color an image. Once you’re done, the image will project onto the screen:
Note, there was a section for water play, but we skipped it. We didn’t feel the need to have a toddler splashing around and needing a full clothing change. I should also mention the different levels had a playground. As there were overaggressive parents and kid there, we avoided them. It’s a bad combination to have this situation in a very hot room.
The top level has more creative crayon play. In one area, you can melt crayons and use sticks to color paper with the melted crayons. You can also melt crayons to make a dinosaur, ring, or a crayon (the mascot):
It takes four minutes per item, and they try to make you go back in line to get another item. We pushed our luck and got a dinosaur and a ring. There was another area with melted crayon spin-art. It looks promising. However, the line was long. At that point, we were done waiting in long lines. I know my son was. As such, we went to the other side of the fourth floor.
The other section was all about crayons and the dark. It was a dark, but not pitch black, room. There are chalkboard style boards across the room where you can color in neon paint. There’s also a section with crayons on a movie screen. For some reasons, these crayons constantly change color. That’s not what makes it interesting. What’s interesting is the crayons mimic your movements:
It’s not perfect for a toddler or a tall daddy. However, if you’re a kid from 5-10, it seemed to mimic the movements very well including jumping and sitting down.
After this room, we were dying of thirst, so we headed down to the first floor and the overpriced cafeteria. It’s basically hospital food you purchase. I think it cost around $75 for two small bags of chips, two bottles of soda, and a slushie (comes in a special take home cup). Actually, the bill was around $20. You get get a meal for your kid that comes in a take-home lunchbox. It costs $7.99. Note, you can get your hand stamped and re-enter if you want to eat. However, they will not let you bring it into the cafeteria area. Also note, there’s no real feasible place to stop without getting in your car and driving.
In this first floor area, there are other interesting things like the World’s Largest Crayon:
and some Crayola crayon facts. These facts include how the number of crayons double every 28 years and the name origins or reasons for name changes of the crayons:
After the cafeteria, we went to the gift shop. It seemed moderately priced. The big attraction was the tins. If you purchase a tin, you can fill it with crayons and markers from the store. The crayons and markers have no special marking denoting where you purchased them. The tins cost around $20 give or take a few bucks considering the size time you purchase.
Note, you cannot use tokens in the cafeteria or the gift shop. You also can’t exchange tokens back for your money. What they will do is exchange your tokens for limited items, which include one washable marker (random color), one pack of Play Doh, or a four pack of crayons.
If you’re like me, you have a choice, go back and get more crayons, get whatever they’re offering, or save them for a return trip. We saved them for a return trip.
The lines were aggravating, but overall, it was fun. With a toddler, you’ll need 3-4 hours depending on what they want to do. My son’s favorite parts were making the crayon labels, creating a coloring book page, and the crayons mimicking his movements. And oh yeah, the slushie.
I’m still debating the season pass for $34.99. It is unlimited admissions for one year. Essentially, if you go twice a year, it was worth it. Apparently, it also comes with emails with special offers. I’m more interested in the savings. I know I’ll go at least once more, but I don’t know how much more than that (if at all).
Overall, it’s a good day trip with your toddler. Just make sure you avoid falling for overpurchasing tokens and be ready to wait in lines. If you do that, it should be a fun, relatively inexpensive day.
If you’re signed up for Mets emails, the slew of requests for fans to purchase game plans and the like. My favorite is when the Mets inquire if you’d like to get single game suites.
It’s something I always wanted to do. If love to go to a hot July day game and sit in a nice air conditioned suite. It’ll be great to let my son run around the suite if he gets antsy. It’ll be great to not have to wait in line for concessions during the game. Hungry? Just get up and grab something. Have to use the bathroom? Well there’s no line. It’s your own bathroom.
The Mets don’t have the information online, so I had to do some digging. The going rate for 19 people seems to be in the $4,000 – $5,000 range. Assuming I could bring my son in for free (his growth spurts aren’t helping that), the cost would be between $210.53 – $263.16 per person. However, it appears that may be without the food, which is part of the charm. If you were to sit in the ballpark, that would be the equivalent of sitting in the Metropolitan Silver section.
I can’t sit in the Metropolitan Silver section now with a little kid, but I could sit in a suite. It’s a lot for a game, but it’s something I would love to do. I guess it’s time to get 18 of my friends together.
MLB is doing this new thing when a notable player joins a new team, they have them fill out a questionnaire so the fans get to know them better. For example, did you know Neil Walker‘s favorite baseball movie is Field of Dreams? Well, I’m sure he will now replace Daniel Murphy as a fan favorite.
I’m joking of course. I think it’s a good idea. For some people, getting to know a player makes you more emotionally invested. That’s a good thing. Speaking of Murphy and new teams, here’s his answers to the Nationals questionnaire:
He’s right, there is so much poop. Infants are popping machines. Luckily, when they’re infants it doesn’t smell so bad do you can keep it in your Diaper Dekor. For the uninitiated, the Diaper Dekor is a device designed to let you keep your child’s poop sitting in the house until either: (1) the bag fills up; or (2) it starts to smell. By the way, you’re exhausted when you have an infant. You will be willing to push those boundaries especially when the diaper changes are so frequent.
The worst poops are the first ones. The meconium poops. It’s this thick tar like bowel movement that gets on and sticks to everything. It doesn’t smell. It just gets onto everything just sticking to it and staining it. It lasts much shorter than you believe it does, but it does create havoc.
It reminds me of when I first gave my son a bath when we brought him home. By the way, the Blooming Bath is awesome. Anyway, I very carefully have my son a bath. I was more careful than a leper in a soup kitchen (his name is Stew by the way). I handled my son like he was nitroglycerine, and I was walking through a minefield on crutches. You get the picture. I was so proud of myself. When you’re a first time parent, everything is an accomplishment. Even your own ability to wake up in the morning and function like a member of society.
I turned around and started heading to the changer with my son, and then I got my reward. Meconium all over my favorite Gary Carter t-shirt. I tell you this younger generation doesn’t respect the greats in baseball history.
Anyway, I just remembered standing there with this poop dripping down my shirt. I was trying to hold my son, while supporting his neck and allowing him to continue to pool all over me. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was trying to angle his butt away from me so he didn’t continues to poop on me and so I wouldn’t have to redo the bath. When he was done, I knew I couldn’t go from tile to carpet. I was somewhat delirious from the lack of sleep, but I knew that much. So, I did then what every strong man does when he’s in a situation he can’t solve.
I called out to my wife, “Help! I don’t know what to do!” She came over and did what all supportive wives do. She laughed at me. She then cleaned up the mess. For the rest of the night, she mocked me for it. It was a story she told everyone when they came to see the baby. I was the butt of the joke. Get it?
In any event, I remembered using Dreft for only God knows how many cycles before finally getting the stain out. Trust me, at some point everything you own will be covered in poop. You can’t buy a new wardrobe. Stop judging me. In any event, that’s what came to mind when I saw Murphy’s answers to the questionnaire.
Just “so much poop.”
Editor’s Note: the products referenced were not paid advertisements. They were products we actually used.
My wife and I work really long hours. Before my son was born, dinner usually consisted of what do we have in the house that we can re-heat really quickly. With that in mind, we usually treated ourselves to a really nice place for dinner on Friday. It was a way of decompressing after a long week.
When my son was born that was no longer an option. It’s not fair to your child, and it’s not fair to the other diners. If you’re at a steakhouse or something looking for a romantic evening, do you really want a toddler screaming at the other table? Can you have a romantic evening with your toddler with you? The answer is no to both. As a result, my wife and I have changed our focus as to where we go. Instead of a nice steak dinner, it’s a burger and fries at a family friendly restaurant.
There’s a real problem with the family friendly restaurants. They’re very popular. They’re full of parents with their kids who want a night off from cooking. That means slower service. That means you’re asking a toddler to sit around and wait and wait. Even the best behaved toddlers will start acting up. They’re more likely to act up if they’re hungry too. Sometimes the crayons and mat don’t cut it. It ruins the experience. It makes you wish you were home eating leftovers. Chick-fil-A now has the perfect solution.
My mind was blown reading that. You can order your dinner in the drive-thru lane, and they’ll have it ready did you at a table when you enter the restaurant? I would seriously do this all the time, especially if they have a Coke Freestyle there (seriously, that’s my holy grail. I love soda). If you’ve ever went out to eat with a toddler, you know how much better it would be to have the food out when you get there than having to wait and wait.
Sadly, there are no Chick-fil-A’s near me. I can’t “eat mor chikin.” However, with that said, I don’t know why other restaurants can’t adapt this, especially those with Roadside Service.
I should be able to call my order in to a place like Applebees, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chilis, Ruby Tuesday, etc. and make my order. In turn, I can be told what time my table will be ready. To avoid issues, they could request pre-payment for my meal to ensure my arrival. It would create higher turnover of tables during the busy hours. It would also reduce screaming and crying children thereby making the dining experience better for everyone.
Imagine going to Olive Garden and having your meal on the table with the salad and breadsticks. It would be a quicker and much more relaxing dining experience for parents. By the way, this would also work out great for Olive Garden because people would go through less salad and breadsticks thereby helping the bottom line. Same goes for Red Lobster and those cheddar bay biscuits (for most people, not me. I’d still annihilate them).
This makes too much sense not to happen. Hopefully, these restaurants pick up on this and apply the practice to their business. If you do, my family thanks you in advance. Also, I wouldn’t object to a consultant’s fee either.
I remember going to the last ever game at Shea with mixed emotions. One the one hand, I had a tremendous sense of melancholy over the closing of a Stadium I had been going to since I was three years old. I was also excited because the Mets needed to win to either go play a play-in game or go to the postseason (let’s never talk about the game again).
I went to Shea Stadium with the intention of just soaking everything in. I wanted to keep my eyes pealed for anything I would want to have in the future. One thing I really wanted was The Last Game at Shea t-shirt. It was hard to get one for a few reasons. First, I’m a large man requiring an XXL shirt. If you recall, Shea Stadium would usually carry the XXL stuff at different locations, but not all concessions. Second, as this was the last game of the season and the final game at Shea Stadium, the Mets were selling everything at a pretty steep discount. The concessions were mobbed.
Keep in mind, I’m the type of guy who gets to Mets games as the gates open. On that day, so did everyone else. Each and every concession was a madhouse. My first two stops didn’t have them. I then went to the one that I knew was the best stocked. I fought my way to the front. Note, the old style concessions had no lines. You had to find your way up front, get the person’s attention, and get what you could before it was sold out. I got to the front. I got the salesperson’s attention. I overheard the other salesperson say, “I only got three XXL shirts left!”
I was relieved. I was going to get one of them. Then my Dad stepped in, and asked, “How many Bobbleheads do you have left?” The dutiful salesperson went back and counted. I don’t remember the number, but she told us how many were left. My Dad started to do the math in his head as to what it’ll cost and who would get one of those Bobbleheads. At that point, a large man stepped next to me talking about the shirts.
I yelled at the salesperson, “We’ll take them all as long as you can get me an XXL Final Game shirt!” I got the last XXL t-shirt . . . and about 15 Bobbleheads. Guess what my Dad got me as a good gift for Christmas? One of the 15 Bobbleheads (he took a few off my hands).
Here’s the funny thing. After that game, my most treasured souvenir from the Last Game at Shea wasn’t the t-shirt; it was the Bobblehead. That Bobblehead has come to symbolize not just that game, but all the games I attended at Shea with my Dad and brother. It’s also funny that there were enough left over that I could give one to my son when he was born.
So with that, I hope you have a Happy National Bobblehead Day.
With the 2016 Hall of Fame class being announced yesterday, it’s hard to believe the Mets will have two Hall of Famers. Understandably and rightfully so, 2016 will be the year for the Mets to honor Mike Piazza. However, it’s high time the Mets also honor Tom Seaver.
Depending on your age, you identify the Mets with a particular player. Some will pick Piazza. Younger fans will pick David Wright. Many will pick any one of the players from the 1986 Mets. Part of this is a recency bias. Another part of this is the failure of the Mets organization to forever hold out Tom Seaver, The Franchise, as the Mets singular franchise player.
Go to other big league stadiums, particularly the new ones. The Yankees have Monument Park. In Monument Park, the Yankees have paid special tribute to five Yankees including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The Giants have a statue of Willie Mays. The Phillies have one for Mike Schmidt. The list goes on and on. The Mets? They only have a special honor for Jackie Robinson.
Walk around Citi Field. There’s no special designation for Seaver. Yes, his number is retired. His retired number also hangs on the same wall as Jackie Robinson. There needs to be a Tom Seaver statue. The main reason is all Mets fans need to know who he was. For some reason, Seaver isn’t spoken about in the historical context as he should. Part of the reason could be the team he represents.
This isn’t an issue of the Mets finances. I’m not mocking the Mets here for not having enough money to purchase a statue. The Mets had the money to build Citi Field. It’s an issue or priorities. They never prioritized honoring Seaver. I still don’t understand why.
Every Mets fan needs to see Seaver on their way into Citi Field. Kids should be asking their parents and grandparents about Seaver. They should hear stories like I did from my father. Stories about how he was nicknamed The Franchise because he turned the Mets around. They need to hear about “The Imperfect Game.” They need to hear stories about the Miracle Mets. They should hear about how Seaver used his legs so much while he was pitching he got dirt on his knee.
There’s no better place to tell these stories than at the ballpark. It’s where my father told me about them. I hope one day he’ll get to tell my son those stories too. I’d love for my son to see the statute and ask, “Who’s Tom Seaver?” I’ll just then sit back as my Dad tells him the same stories he told me.
This is what we’re missing with the Seaver statue. We’re missing the history not only of the Mets, but also baseball. Sure, I look forward to my Dad telling my son about how he grew up a Brooklyn Dodger fan, and Jackie Robinson was his favorite player because he ran pigeon-toed just like my Dad did. It’ll be awesome, but it’s also a problem. My son will ask the Jackie Robinson but not the Tom Seaver question on his way into the ballpark.
The Mets have been around for 54 years and have developed their own rich history. It’s time to properly honor it with a Seaver statute. Then maybe one day we can have a Piazza statute when I can regale my son and hopefully grandson in the future with stories like the trade bringing him to the Mets, him being the greatest hitting catcher ever, and the post 9/11 homerun. Sure, I’ll relate those stories anyway because they’re great stories. However, I want my son to ask me about them. A statue honoring the Mets Hall of Famers would go a long way in that regard.
It’s time to honor Tom Seaver. It’s time to build him his statue. It’s not just for him, but for all Mets fans. The ones that saw him play and the ones not yet born. The a Mets need to honor their history now and set it in bronze.