Cry For Help

[G-Fafif]

Mets attempt to sell tickets and True New Yorker t-shirts that are probably piling up given Curtis Granderson's .129 batting average by pulling on the ol' heartstrings. No better time to rally support than when you're several games above break-even.

To True New Yorkers - The victory you earn is sweeter than the victory you're given. When we won in '69 and '86, we, the players, didn't do it on our own. We made history together -- players and fans -- through a gritty, even stubborn, belief in this club against all the odds. When we've won, we've proved through the way we did it that true New Yorkers are Mets fans. So today we're issuing a call to all Mets fans: Show your New York Mets pride -- stand up and say you're a true New Yorker. As players, we can tell you that what happens in the clubhouse and what happens in the stands -- players and fans together, believing in each other -- makes a tremendous difference with what happens on the field. Your support matters; we wouldn't have won without you. So we're calling on you to give today's club the same chance we had. If you agree that the fans have a role to play in making amazing things happen, add your name to this letter: Mets.com/TrueNewYorker One fan -- maybe you -- will present the signatures on this letter and the messages from fans to the team, before the Mets' first Subway Series game at Citi Field. If you add your name, it could be you. We'll see you there. Let's Go Mets! -- Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Cleon Jones, Ed Charles, Jerry Koosman, and Doc Gooden

[batmagadanleadoff]

[Gwreck]

I saw the email come in and I was left wondering if there was something wrong or something that I had missed.

As if somebody did something to disgrace the name of the Mets (no Wilpon joke intended here) that I missed, and was this an attempt fix things by rallying support from good people.

I guess it's an effective campaign, as it got me to stop and read the email all the way through, the way a "come see the Mets on their next homestand" email wouldn't.

But now that I understand it, I'm left feeling more cynical than before. Relax, guys. I support the team just fine, and still well more than the average Joe.

If you want the people beyond me (and others similarly situated), you just need to keep winning.

[Guest themetfairy]

A loyalty oath?

[Guest d'Kong76]

They're unbelievable some days.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm also not sure it's too wise to have two current, and therefore supposedly unbiased, announcers acting as cheerleaders.
I mean, I think we all know that home team announcers are NOT akin to Cronkite & Brinkley, but the idea that they're being morphed into part announcer/part pr flack smacks as a bit dicey.

Having Cleon, Kooz, Ed Charles, etc., saying things to rally the troops if fine ... even if it all comes off as, at worst, somewhat desperate, and more than a bit silly at best.

[ashie62]

Does Mookie know his name is on this?

[Fman99]

What the fuck?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think maybe this is the work of that boy wonder revenue whiz they hired from the Pirates last season.

[Edgy MD]

Youse guys gots to quit putting songs in my head.

[youtube:23s29f8i]C2xel6q0yao[/youtube:23s29f8i]

[metirish]

.

[metirish]

I imagine this is something a low minor league team would do....got the email too......read it a few times to fathom it.

[Ceetar]

They send out emails all the time. They're just mixing it up a bit. That's fine.

[metsmarathon]

well... um...

at least they're trying...

... right?

[Centerfield]

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to (Manila, Philippines) for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.

We've been to the embassy they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the Idiot hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, will pay back once I get this over with.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Your New York Mets

[Ceetar]

Like it or hate it or whatever, it's going to get talked about. Attention and interest in the Mets is good. It's also probably an attempt to ramp up Subway Series talk (less than two weeks) and is a play off Granderson's comments. I like that, It paints Granderson, who is hopefully hitting better by then, as a Met rather than some sort of awkward reunion thing. He'll probably get booed worse than Cano, although it'll be hard to tell because there will actually be fans in attendance.

And the attendance is a thing. Both teams have struggled with it since the series became a mid-week thing. So increased attention on the Subway Series is valuable.

[Edgy MD]

Let's just say that I don't know much about marketing, but jus' because it don't work for me doesn't mean it doesn't work for the fourth grader that gets his dad to buy him tickets.

I mean, it seems a big part of social media marketing is to get folks to sign this or that, which I guess kinda pushes vulnerable minds into making a psychological commitment to the brand, and also harvests names and e-mail accounts for future marketing pusches --- moves them from the "Brand-Aware Prodigals" to the "Personally Connected Advocates" among the marketing segmentation groups, or from the "Personally Connected Advocates" to the "Cultural Disciples."

I mean, Texas State Senator Wendy Davis has some marketing firm put something in my FB feed EVERY DAY asking me to sign this letter or that petition demanding redress against the latest offensive comment to her womanhood. I'm neither a Democrat nor a Texan, and I'm certainly not naive enough to believe her complaint is about answering the offense in question, but rather advancing her campaign for governor, but clearly somebody who knows something more about marketing than me knows this is how you advance a brand.

[seawolf17]

Centerfield wrote: I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to (Manila, Philippines) for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We've been to the embassy they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the Idiot hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, will pay back once I get this over with. Hope to hear from you soon. Your New York Mets

/wires the Mets ten thousand dollars immediately
/#truenewyorker

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

seawolf17 wrote: Centerfield wrote: I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to (Manila, Philippines) for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We've been to the embassy they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the Idiot hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills,I'm freaked out at the moment.I need you to lend me some money to sort my self out of this predicament, will pay back once I get this over with. Hope to hear from you soon. Your New York Mets /wires the Mets ten thousand dollars immediately /#truenewyorker

That's great.

In the meantime we really do need to do something for Lucas Duda. You don't think Ike was messed up in this do ya?

[metsmarathon]

i love that he had a knockoff breitling watch.

[Edgy MD]

That really is SUCH a classic New York robbery report item. "They stole my knockoff high end watch!"

Johan should buy him an authentic one, but it just would never suit Duda.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Doodoo by the way cannot move without experiencing calamities. You may recall he broke his wrist moving furniture a couple years ago.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I love that he had a checkbook. If it wasn't for my rent, I would've written my last check in, like, 2k4. Wonder if he bought that shitty watch with a starter check from his new account?

[Ceetar]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I love that he had a checkbook. If it wasn't for my rent, I would've written my last check in, like, 2k4. Wonder if he bought that shitty watch with a starter check from his new account?

I imagine being on the move away from home so much (and unmarried with a wife to do that stuff) necessitates carrying around some of that stuff.

Thought I can't remember the last time I wrote a check for a non-gift type thing besides the um, scary 5 figure one I brought to the house closing.

[Frayed Knot]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Wonder if he bought that shitty watch with a starter check from his new account?

And because it went along so well with the free toaster.

[G-Fafif]

Rubin directly (as opposed to passive-aggressively) provides his take.

Mets marketers apparently are alarmed. With Citi Field mostly empty in April and a Facebook study suggesting Mets fans are even outnumbered in Queens, team personnel awkwardly sent out an email blast asking �True New Yorkers� to sign a letter supporting the team. Fans were asked to write a positive note that may be presented to the players. It was signed, presumably under duress, by members of the '69 and '86 Mets. Forget the minor league stuff. Want to build a fan base? Here are five simple steps: 5. Stop embarrassing yourselves. The letter might have yielded some new contacts for ticket salesmen, but it came off as amateurish. Which is how the Mets come off far too often. By insisting Matt Harvey was not a story, the Mets made Matt Harvey a story. Hopefully they�re not pushing Harvey toward the Bronx when he�s a free agent during the 2018-19 offseason, too. Feel secure and stop overreacting to little things. 4. Embrace your history. Mookie Wilson clearly opened a nerve within the organization when he described himself as a �hood ornament� in his newly released memoir. At first blush, Mookie�s criticism might seem ridiculous. After all, Tim Teufel is the third-base coach, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and Bobby Ojeda work for SNY, Wally Backman manages the Triple-A team, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden have at least casual presences, and Mookie himself twice served on the coaching staff. But it long has been a criticism of the '86 Mets that they�re held at arm�s length, even if their visibility has increased and that chatter mostly has receded. We all know the Mets had to be dragged kicking and screaming into adorning Citi Field with blue and orange and into adding a team museum after the first season in the new ballpark. The Mets recently wore seven different jerseys in seven games, including military fatigues. No one is saying don�t honor the military, but you wouldn't see the Yankees eschewing their tradition to wear camouflage. Many fans cynically viewed it as a money grab. 3. Spend money to make money. Want to energize your fan base? Spend some damn money. That doesn�t mean doling out six- and seven-year contracts. How much better would the current team be with the likes of even modest additions, such as Stephen Drew, Joel Hanrahan, LaTroy Hawkins and others who would only bring the payroll to a still-modest $110 million or $120 million rather than its current $86 million? 2. Play the kids. This is not a slam against 40-year-old Bobby Abreu. He may very well help the Mets win games. But there was a myth forever in these parts that you couldn't build from within. Play Juan Lagares. Bring up Jacob deGrom. Stop looking at arbitration clocks and give the fans what they want to see. 1. Win. If you're a kid growing up now, sure your parents may indoctrinate you into the family tradition of being a Mets fan. But for the independent thinkers, the Mets are losing a whole generation of followers because of their lack of success. The Mets entered 2014 with consecutive collapses, then five straight losing seasons. That is tied with the Houston Astros for the longest active streak of losing seasons. Want young fans? Win. Say it three more times: Want young fans? Win. Want young fans? Win. Want young fans? Win.

[Edgy MD]

Mets marketers apparently are alarmed.

So I did my job and called up a Mets marketer and spoke at length with him.

Wait, I didn't do that at all.

Instead, I published this screed which looks twice as amateurish as any Mets marketing campaign.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Mets marketers apparently are alarmed. So I did my job and called up a Mets marketer and spoke at length with him. Wait, I didn't do that at all. Instead, I published this screed which looks twice as amateurish as any Mets marketing campaign.

It's not a screed, it's a cover letter.

[Edgy MD]

Good luck with that, Rube.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He's obviously right about several of these things that we've been pointing out for years -- namely the internal paranoia and lack of courage in their convictions; their inauthenticity; and their willingness to undermine whatever message they're trying to get out if some crass revenue grab arises.

Some of this stuff, like fucking up Citi Field form the start, is the kind of thing fans like me might not ever get over.