City Agency Hats NOW!!!! (split from Mets Uni Changes)

[seawolf17]

I got the same e-mail, verbatim, FWIW. I'm going to send him a longer response today with my phone number.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Don't let this issue die.

[Centerfield]

TO: DNewman@nymets.com

David,

This is really spinning out of control. It's all anyone is talking about. I think the Mets need to issue a statement on this and apologize for getting this wrong. Whoever may be at fault, the bottom line is that those hats needed to be on the field during the game, and lots of people are irate that they weren't. I think you should also state that your organization will be relentless in making sure that these hats are worn on the anniversary of 9/11 from here on out.

[Centerfield]

Edgy DC wrote: Don't let this issue die.

Agreed. Edgy, you're firing off emails too, right?

[Centerfield]

Even this guy gets it:

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yup. I also got an early question into Adam Rubin's chat today:

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/newyork/chat/_/id/40236

I'm trying to hold his feet to the fire to deliver this story with the depth it deserves instead of in dribs and drabs and bites and tweets. He clearly recognizes its significance.

[Ceetar]

Even this guy gets it:

He didn't wear the hat during the match. How is what he did different than the Mets wearing it pre-game?

[Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: Even this guy gets it:

And he ain't even a 'merican

[Centerfield]

David Newman gave me a call. To summarize:

1. The Mets are very proud of what they did. They executed their ceremony without a hitch. Officials at FDNY and NYPD all were thrilled, moved and called it perfect.

2. Hats are "immaterial". He quoted Terry Collins by saying "It's not what's on your head, it's what's in your heart."

3. They tried several times to get permission, they were denied, they complied. They are part of MLB and have to respect their rules.

4. They will not issue a press release. The topic is over.

5. They do lots of other great stuff, visiting hospitals, fire departments, some make press, some do not, and this is much more important than the hats.

I told him that I respectfully disagree. The hats are a very important symbolic gesture. It would be in the organization's best interest to understand that. Calling the hats immaterial really shows a disconnect between the fans and the organization. He should understand by the buzz around this issue how important this is to many people.

I wish he would read the quotes from Valentine and Zeile to see what this is about. A shame. I really came away with the feeling that he didn't get it.

[Centerfield]

Even this guy gets it: He didn't wear the hat during the match. How is what he did different than the Mets wearing it pre-game?

Because he's not the Mets. Yet he still saw the significance of the hat.

[Guest Edgy DC]

When you're a competitive team, the idea is for what's on your uniform to be a reflection of what's in your heart. And if it matters, I was less than impressed with the heart shown on the field by the team Sunday night, and more than impressed by the heart they showed the last few weeks of the 2001 season. Maybe that's crazy, but I don't think so.

It's silly for him to think the topic is over. He can't control the story, and he'll only look more foolish and detached trying to wish it away.

And no, you don't have to respect unjust rules. There's a higher calling than fealty to MLB.

Mets want to wear special caps next Sept. 11 HOWIE RUMBERG (AP) Published: September 12, 2011 NEW YORK (AP) � Mets player representative Josh Thole hopes to come to an agreement soon with Major League Baseball on a policy that would allow his team to wear emergency service-department caps during games on Sept. 11 every year. Thole called the players' association Monday, a day after the Mets were denied their request to wear caps honoring first responders on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. He said he wanted to discuss marketing and licensing possibilities but had not heard back. The Mets wanted to wear caps honoring police, firefighters and other first responders when they played the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night. They wore the hats for batting practice and the pregame ceremony, but MLB insisted they wear their regular caps during the game.

[metirish]

I wrote this and got the same automated response.

David,

I am writing to express my utter frustration and annoyance over this
debacle with the first responder hats on 9/11. A simple gesture to
show support for these men and women has been turned in to PR disaster
that could have and should have been avoided. Now today we have MLB
coming out and saying that nothing heavy handed was issued in regards
fines and whatnot , you can see where this is going right?, yes, the
Mets will once again look like fools that can't do anything correctly,
any order from MLB should have been dismissed from up above and the
players should have taken the field with whatever responders caps they
wished.

I would hope that the Mets don't take these MLB lies and issue their
own statement and furthermore state that in the future it will be
handled differently.

Conor - frustrated Mets fan.

[G-Fafif]

Humble suggestion proffered to make chicken salad out of chicken spit here:

In 2012, Major League Baseball will inaugurate Community Service Recognition Day, when each of our 30 teams will promote the organizations in their communities who are dedicated to helping others by having its players and coaches wear the caps of those groups on the field for one game. Major League Baseball thanks the New York Mets for setting an example we can all follow.

[Centerfield]

Brilliant. Thank you Greg.

[G-Fafif]

Centerfield wrote: Brilliant. Thank you Greg.

Thank you for a portion of the inspiration.

And Newman doesn't have a clue.

[Benjamin Grimm]

[HahnSolo]

I agree with #1--the pregame was handled beautifully--and I give credit to Newman for at least being a stand-up guy. I'm sure he's dealing with plenty more people who are not quite as eloquent as Centerfield, and that can't be easy. I can't imagine trying to be the mouthpiece to the public for this organization.

However, what about the people who couldn't watch the pregame? The first thought of a Met fan tuning in would have to be: "where are the hats"?

Also, didn't the Mets put in a press release recently that they would be wearing the caps for the game? What changed?

And if, as Newman says, the asked and asked, and MLB said no, then why is MLB saying that no such thing happened?

[Ceetar]

Mets players will pay tribute to New York City�s uniformed service men and women by wearing caps representing their organizations following the tradition started by the 2001 team.

from the press release. vague, but it certainly sounds like they meant during the game. Perhaps this is where MLB "Got wind" of what the Mets intended.

What happened from there however..

The Mets probably wouldn't have suddenly changed their minds on this without pressure from MLB, in whatever form it took. Maybe it wasn't a fine. Maybe it was something else. Maybe they threatened taking away the All-Star Game, etc. Maybe they simply waited until the last moment to remind the Mets "Hey no, you can't do this" giving them no time to formulate a good reply/compromise?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I suspect it's going to come down to the league applying modest pressure, but pressure that the Mets ownership --- in an existential crisis and utterly in debt to the league office, both financially and professionally --- felt they had no choice in caving to.

If that's the scenario, the heavy hand in the clubhouse was likely the management's. And Newman has to carry water for that management.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

No question. Given the choice between upsetting their creditors or whizzing all over their fans, the Mets make the predictable choice.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Terry on the game:

�I just think today we lost focus on some things,� Collins said. �The attention is away from the game right now, and that�s an issue with me, because you�ve got to focus on the game. What was the attention on today? You guys can answer that. What�s the attention been since we walked in the ballpark today? It�s not on who we�re playing. It�s not on who�s pitching. We all want to know which kind of hat we�re going to wear tonight. And that takes away from the game. That takes away from their preparation. �They�re all being asked questions. They�re afraid to make an answer. They�re afraid to say the wrong thing. We�ve got to start focusing on what the game is, because when it�s all said and done, in the end, that�s the only thing that matters.�

[metirish]

Well said I guess, thankfully the team is not in a pennant race - SC = 100

I can appreciate what Collins is saying and I would hope he has talked to management about it all.

Anyone heard from Alderson on this?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, while the manager may have to operate with the notion that the game is all that matters --- and get his team working off the same page --- I disagree that the game is all that matters, and I'm not surprised if the wind was taken out of their sails a little.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

If the Mets and MLB not hung them out to dry on the whole thing and for once considered the benefit of a little transparency on the things their fans are going to want to know anyway, they might have clear heads. Fuck the Mets and how they fuck up everything.

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Fuck the Mets and how they fuck up everything.

That's at least third prize should they revive Banner Day anytime soon.

[Willets Point]

Benjamin Grimm wrote:

Woah, there was a notorious troll on the old metsonline fan forum who used the same image of this creepy guy.

[Centerfield]

Now we know it was Ben.

[Guest Edgy DC]

From the Rubin chat:

In the Line of Fyhrie (District of Columbia) On one hand, I'm a fan of the Mets' team's initial response to the attack on New York in 2001. On the other, I dislike conformity in professional sports, coerced or otherwise. Anything that makes teams more different from one another makes the games more interesting and more meaningful. On both hands, I'm kind of really angry about the current Mets team being apparently prevented from wearing the hats of the service agencies this year (as well as to mark the anniversary in recent years, as they had initially done the first few years after the attack). I find further disappointment that the facts of this story aren't coming out in one aggressively pursued in-depth story, but in drips and drabs and bites and tweets, as so much journalism is delivered these days. That's just the way of things, I know, but we're left with a lot of information, some of it conflicting, and little satisfaction. As someone who is not prepared to let go of this, who should I be directing my disappointment at --- the current team? the management? MLB? the commissioner? Joe Torre? I'm committed to being proactive here. Adam Rubin (12:55 PM) I'm going to end with this answer. You can fault any number of people. (1) Major League Baseball should have just said go ahead and wear them, but they have contracts with hat companies, etc., and didn't do the right thing. (2) The ownership/front office of the Mets could have instructed the players to wear it anyway, but they're literally indebted to MLB and didn't feel emboldened to rock the boat too much. (3) The players could have worn it anyway. But there are a lot of factors there. The current players didn't know the history of what Todd Zeile did, not until late Sunday anyway. And the union rep, Josh Thole, was put in an awful position. He's 24 years old and really just was drafted to be player rep because no one else was interested. A veteran could have stood up in the clubhouse and told the team they're going ahead and doing this. But that leadership wasn't there.

Not liking that recent Zeile's statements are being taken to suggest that he was the instigator 10 years ago. I imagine that wasn't his intent.

[seawolf17]

Adam Rubin wrote: And the union rep, Josh Thole, was put in an awful position. He's 24 years old and really just was drafted to be player rep because no one else was interested. A veteran could have stood up in the clubhouse and told the team they're going ahead and doing this. But that leadership wasn't there.

Holy fuck, that's a scathing indictment of this team. Nobody on this team has the compunction to stand up and be the player rep? Forget Wright and Reyes for a minute -- a guy like Byrdak or Capuano or Bay who's been around the league for a while, a senior voice? You hand that to a 24-year-old kid? Frig.

I honestly don't know why I care about this team so much.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wright is the best candidate here --- 'Merican, son of a cop, goes back to the days when the tradition was in place and many of the players who were there when it started were still active. But he's too image conscious about being a good team citizen. Who else is there with the juice to take initiative, really? R.A. Dickey is the only one, I think.