For Mets, an Old-Timers’ Day Is Old Hat

Perhaps Mets ownership is opposed to an Old Timers Day promotion because the squad of Old Timers will be healthier and in much better physical condition than the current Mets roster.
Mr. Wilpon does not support the fans, just his bottom line.
A ‘69 Celebration?
A lovely commemoration,
But t’will not distract
Or e’en counteract,
A Season of Abomination!
— Jeff S 2. July 18, 2009 10:51 pm
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As a die-hard Mets fan, I would love a revival of some kind of Mets old timers game–we have not honored Rusty Staub enough, in my opinion, as well as many others! The 69 team reunion is great, but they should do something every year…a ‘game’ is not needed,Stussy x Marvel Series Two T-Shirts – Special Edition Artist Series, but some way to rekindle our connection to some of the great and near greats…Cleon, Swannie,Cheap Philadelphia Phillies Hat, Matlack, Rusty, and recognize our team’s history and former players is overdue!
But if they organize an Old-Timer’s game I’m sure their insurance rates will jump through the roof – think about all the on-field injuries that are going on now with the Mets. I can’t begin to fathom all the injuries the Old Timers squad will face with the streak of bad luck we’re experiencing.
— Larry Eisenberg 5. July 19, 2009 8:23 pm
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I would be thrilled to have a Mets Old Timers Day every year – this team does have a history of excellent players even though the Wilpons don’t want to recognize it.
According to the Mets, Old Timers Day isn’t “dignified”.
— Eric A. Kopp 12. July 20, 2009 3:16 pm
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— Great Scott 9. July 20,Feidi Sunglasses Sale, 2009 10:11 am
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Indeed maybe several of the Old Timers will be signed to one-year contracts and rocket the Mets into the playoffs this October. Maybe George “The Stork” Theodore can improve on his career .219 average with 2 home runs total and turn into a powerhouse of offensive production.
But with the annual fan-favorite festivities scheduled for Sunday in the Bronx, it is a good time to ask: What ever happened to the Mets’ Old-Timers’ Day?
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The Mets’ blogosphere recently lit up when Evan Roberts, a co-host for WFAN-AM sports-talk radio, reported that he had been told by a team official that Old-Timers’ Day was “too much work.”
— Carl La Fong 11. July 20, 2009 2:25 pm
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— Annie Savoy Add your comments...
Has anybody heard from Dave Kingman lately?
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The mets are wrong the fans atleast this one would love to all the living old mets back every year. if though we have struggled for years in the 60s and 70s with bad teams those guys are still our heros bring back the likes of bud harrelson,don hahn rusty staub willie montenz and so forth. love to see these guys every year.
The Wilpons, the Mets’ owners, have received much criticism for not displaying enough team history at Citi Field, instead giving the place a decisively Dodgers feel. Howard said fans would notice changes in the second half of the season.
Who needs an Old-Timers Day when the everyday team plays like a bunch of tired old men?
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“We feel that’s far more effective, far more dignified,” he said. “A lot of our alumni have no interest in getting back in uniform. We feel it’s a better way to honor them. It’s more celebratory, and we get a better response from our fans.”
Everyone in the organization deserves blame for what has happened. From the Wilpons, Omar , Jerry , the players , the training staff and everyone else in the organization who did not treat the fans honestly in a season so brutal, at least we deserved that.
Old Timers Day is great and helps connect the generations. My son, now 22, first attended Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium with me in 1990. It’s a bond that will last forever and hopefully, he’ll pass it on to his children.
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Anything to take people’s minds off the plethora of team injuries and sub-.500 record.
— Javier from Brooklyn 4. July 19, 2009 1:54 pm
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For a while, there was a sponsor for the various Old Timers’ days in the major leagues.
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Nothing, Mr. Howard, could be more dignified that remembering the past and those that have come before us.
— Utica, NY BoSox Fan 8. July 20, 2009 1:47 am
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The ownership of the New York Mets is not fan friendly. Mr. Wilpon purchased the team for Mr Doubleday the team has been run with a very business like approach. Multiple home and away uniforms, different warmup shirts each year.
The most glaring difference is in the seating capacity of Citifield. The new field is 15,000 seats smaller then then Shea Stadium. The reason is that Mr. Wilpon wants to sell 42,000 tickets in April as well as July and August instead of 27,000 tickets in April and 57,000 in July and August.
Although it will not be an official Old-Timers’ Day, Howard said, the team plans to bring back every living member of the 1969 World Series championship team on Aug. 22 to celebrate its 40th anniversary, just as it did to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1986 team in 2006. And 45 former Mets attended last year’s farewell to Shea Stadium.
The Mets have never been great at educating the next generation about their past. The Yankees and Knicks make sure to let you know who paved the way – but ask any kid today who Steve Henderson, John Stearns, Craig Swan, Pat Zachry, Ellis Valentine, Doug Flynn, Dave Kingman, Tug McGraw or Jon Matlack are and they will look at you like you are crazy. While young Yankee fans know who Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth or Joe Dimaggio are. I would love to see the old guys come out – even if its a every other year celebration. Once again the Mets drop the ball a la Luis Castillo. Sports is a great way to reflect through history – not only do you think of the stars of yesteryear – but you think back to things that were going on during those times. Bring back the old mets more often – we would love to see Nolan Ryan face Gary Carter in a old timers battle.
Hey, ya never know. Especially with the 2009 Mets!
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Cone Honored on Anniversary of Perfect Game 13 Comments 1. July 18, 2009 6:50 pm
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I always enjoyed reading the blogs and the fans who posted but as this season goes on I believe it may be time to stop.
Even when management says something reasonable, in this case as to why no more old timers day, people cynically trash them.
BTW, it was Upper Deck’s Heroes of Baesball promotion, I think, that the last poster is recalling.
I happen to agree with the Mets on this one. Incidentally, Citi Field looks nothing like Ebbets Field. I don’t know where this myth started except for the rotunda.
And finally for all those people in the organization leaking anonymous bits of information to make others you work with look bad and think this will help you in the future.
Shame on you it never really works that way in the long run.
“That’s silly, and that’s not the reason,” said Dave Howard, the Mets’ executive vice president for baseball operations. “It was particularly unpopular as a promotion. We didn’t see an increase in ticket sales or interest from sponsors or even from people who already had tickets. It died of its own unpopularity in the early ’90s.

It is apparent to even the most fervent fan this season is lost. Now it has turned into bloodsport to see someone pay for the travesty that is 2009.
— not you 6. July 19, 2009 8:45 pm
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— Josh 10. July 20, 2009 11:11 am
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Given the response to The New York Times’s virtual Banner Day, perhaps the reason the Mets have done away with their version of the promotion was the preponderance of cynical humor by their fans. Like every business, the team wants to control the message. And certainly, a down year is not the time to invite the consumers to vent publicly.
— Chip 7. July 19, 2009 11:41 pm
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— sal mattaliano 13. July 20, 2009 5:23 pm
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Many years ago, Bill Beeck wrote a book called Veeck as in Wreck. In the book, he was very critical of the Old Timers day promotion. He felt fans don’t necessarily relate to fat old men in uniform and that in some respects Old Timers day wasto a degree morbid.
— Howard 3. July 19, 2009 7:14 am
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“We felt we were better served by bringing our alumni back over several days instead of one day.”