Jay Horwitz for GM?

[G-Fafif]

James Wagner of NYT reports via Twitter:

The Mets announce that P.R. mainstay Jay Horwitz, who has worked there for 39 years, will take on a new unspecified role with the team. They will hold a press conference with him, Jeff Wilpon, front office officials and former and current players tomorrow afternoon.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe he'll be putting on the Mister Met costume.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Times like this I really miss HVAC Guy at Shea.

[Valadius]

Chief Butt-Dialer?

[Edgy MD]

I'm guessing it'll be PR Dude Emeritus or the like. Forced marginalization thinly disguised as a promotion.

Former and current players? "Jay has been a Godsend to this team. But hey, don't ask me. Ask Elliot Maddox!!"

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Maybe he'll be putting on the Mister Met costume.

I don't think his head would fit in the costume.

[Valadius]

Apparently the job is in "Alumni Relations".

[Benjamin Grimm]

This is all about keeping closer tabs on Ed Kranepool's health.

[Centerfield]

I'm hearing words like "guru" and "legend" being used to describe Jay. I get that Horwitz is a pretty good guy. That feeling seems to be widely accepted. But can we take a look at all the Mets PR disasters and agree that this guy was not very good at his job?

[Guest cooby]

Loved Jay. And he had a tough crew to keep looking angelic

[G-Fafif]

Valadius wrote: Apparently the job is in "Alumni Relations".

So reports Bob Klapisch. A great move on paper.

[Frayed Knot]

The Mets are good at that, making great moves on paper.

[G-Fafif]

Give Jay's reputation as a world-class butt-dialer, paper may be his best bet.

[Guest 41Forever]

Centerfield wrote: I'm hearing words like "guru" and "legend" being used to describe Jay. I get that Horwitz is a pretty good guy. That feeling seems to be widely accepted. But can we take a look at all the Mets PR disasters and agree that this guy was not very good at his job?

The Mets struggle with communications?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Centerfield wrote: I get that Horwitz is a pretty good guy. That feeling seems to be widely accepted.

There was a post on this forum quite a while ago that might make us think otherwise. I don't remember the details too well, but it was a link to an article about someone who interned with the Mets, and Jay came across rather poorly in that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Found it:

METS INTERNSHIP: In February 1996, I went to Shea Stadium for an interview with Mets Public Relations Director, Jay Horwitz. I needed an internship for my communications major in The College of Staten Island, and interning for the Mets would be the perfect solution. I brought my resume, and a copy of the article that was written about me in Baseball Hobby News showing what an extreme Mets fan I was. Jay said, "Our interns come in seven days a week, twelve hours a day, eight months a year, and do not get any form of payment." I told Jay that my religion would not allow me to come in on Friday nights and Saturdays, and what my college professor in charge of internships for a long time said was the most classless act by an interviewer she's heard of, Jay got up, said goodbye and refused to talk to me anymore. I left his office and took a tour around the usually restricted areas of Shea. I first went to the "Old Timers' locker room," which was open. I then walked through the underground tunnel, into the visitor's bullpen. I then walked through the open fence onto the field, which was covered with snow.

Linked by Willets Point in 2011 from this page: Jay Horwitz

[Guest d'Kong76]

JSW? I think he called him Horrorwtz back in those days.

Hardest working man in baseball/cloven hooved monster? Probably
somewhere in between.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Just read the archive link, missed that earlier.

[seawolf17]

[seawolf17]

There's an interesting piece in that old thread, about Jay being excellent at *media relations* but not necessarily other stuff. I worked with a media relations person who was a nightmare to everyone, but did a great job at getting the right press coverage. So maybe that's a thing.

[Centerfield]

I know those guys. Nice only when they need to be.

[Ceetar]

seawolf17 wrote: There's an interesting piece in that old thread, about Jay being excellent at *media relations* but not necessarily other stuff. I worked with a media relations person who was a nightmare to everyone, but did a great job at getting the right press coverage. So maybe that's a thing.

yeah is job is to manage the relationship between the team and the media, provide access, releases, etc. Not really to interface with the public and spin stories.

So he's basically doing the same thing except instead of media it's guys that were previously on the other side of it with him.

[G-Fafif]

It was the most Met-studded gathering of team legends since Shea Goodbye for Jay Goodbye at Citi Field for the announcement, stretching back to Kranepool and Torre all the way to deGrom and Conforto. Horwitz's official title is Vice President, Alumni Public Relations and Team Historian. The former role certainly couldn't hurt and the latter is long overdue.

[Edgy MD]

I'm all in for an aggressive outreach to keeping alumni as close to the family as possible.

As far as team historian, I've long considered Marty Noble to be the unofficial holder of that title.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Or you know, Greg

[Centerfield]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Or you know, Greg

Yeah. Really. I can't imagine anyone knowing more about the Mets than Greg.

In fact, I can't imagine anyone knowing more about anything than Greg knows about the Mets.

[seawolf17]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Or you know, Greg

Yup.

I see Noble as an MFY guy, no?

[Edgy MD]

Jarring to see Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine next to each other in the family picture.

[Frayed Knot]

seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Or you know, Greg Yup. I see Noble as an MFY guy, no?

Noble claimed to have no rooting interest in the teams that he covered -- as he was pretty much required to be -- but he covered the Mets forever (not exclusively, but mostly) and his writing was often very
cognizant of their history. He lived for a time (and maybe still) in Port Washington which is where a good number of the '80s era players lived and is generally considered a NYM area, and was a friend of the
late rock DJ Pete Fornatale who was a unapologetic Mets fan and far too classy to socialize with Yanqui fans.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Noble is a Jersey guy now and definitely was a MFY fan growing up.

Certainly a very astute chronicler of the 1970s-1990s Mets. The other writers didn;t like him because he outhustled the "pack" and got a little more than they did. His perspective wasn't always mine, or yours probably, but he was a truth teller as he saw it.