Several years ago I wrote a column about how, as a Mets fan, I was envious when watching baseball games broadcast from other cities, where I'd see the stands filled with fans wearing team colors. Specifically, when watching games from either St Louis or Cincinnati, the color red jumped off the screen as I watched the enthusiastic followers of winners celebrate their team's successes… often at the expensive of my Metropolitans.
When the Mets would be back in town, I'd watch them play locally, and my fellow fans would show up in whatever was (hopefully) clean from the laundry pile. As a result, I was impressed by other teams' fans' esprit de corps, as well as our lack thereof.
White Sox fans can relate to this paragraph. As can followers of the Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Angels. In a market with two baseball teams, one is treated as the proverbial redheaded stepchild. Here in New York, that would be the Mets. You could not walk five feet without being bombarded by Yankees imagery. Even when traveling in London and Paris a couple of years ago, I lost count of the number of people I saw in Yankees apparel. Then a funny thing happened.
In 2015, the Mets went from being also-rans to being competitive. And then they became contenders. Next thing you knew, they won their division and then the first round of the playoffs. And then the next round of the playoffs… meaning that they were the champions of the National League and headed to the World Series!
All while the Yankees were being eliminated from the post-season rather quickly and unceremoniously. That's only somewhat relevant; I'm keeping it there to allow for a brief moment of gloating.
As a result of this, the greater New York area was suddenly awash in Mets' orange and blue. Suddenly everyone was a fan. Please… if I met one more "lifelong fan" who couldn't tell me who #41 was (it's okay… I'll wait while you look it up).
Watching the home games on TV, I saw what I used to view at those foreign stadiums in the Midwest… fans (legit or otherwise) decked out in team colors. Promotional products were alive and well in Flushing, NY. People seemed proud to be supporting the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club. All those imprinted hats, shirts and jackets were expanding the brand awareness!
As I walked around Manhattan while the World Series was being played, it seemed like every other person was wearing Mets' logoed apparel. When the Trophy Wife and I went to Newark Airport to pick up our returning honeymooners (had to work them in somehow), the baggage claim area was filled with "fans" in orange and blue.
Back in 1986 (yes, the last time the Mets actually won the bloody thing), the Trophy Wife and I were at Game 7 (the final, determining game for you non-fans whom I would have assumed I have lost paragraphs ago), after which I actually purchased – RETAIL – a championship sweatshirt (or "fleece" as you kids call it today). In the ensuing 29 years, that garment has become, shall I say, "worn out." Never expecting to get this far into the post-season, I'd actually had a fantasy of perhaps replacing that shirt with one commemorating this year's championship.
You may have heard something about this by now, that Mets' championship was not meant to be. I shan't dwell on the defeat now… enough time has passed since my team lost to the Royals. It's another year of therapy for me… what's one more?
It remains to be seen as to whether or not the fair-weather, bandwagon fans of my team stick with the Mets next year. The Yankees are not fond of abandoning the back page of the sports sections, so I would anticipate them attempting to better themselves this off-season. Will this mean Mets team apparel will end up back on the "sale" rack? I suppose time will tell.
In the meantime, I wouldn't mind a new championship sweatshirt next year.
Mike Schenker, MAS, is a promotional industry veteran and member of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) Hall of Fame. He can be reached at mike@mikeschenker.com.