Steve Cohen Does Not Give A Shit About Mets History

When Citi Field was built in 2009, Mets fans were outraged and rightfully so. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda honored the Brooklyn Dodgers and the green seats and orange foul pole paid tribute to the New York Giants and the Polo Grounds. But the Mets…the actual home team playing games at Citi Field…weren’t given the same respect.

Fred Wilpon, the former Mets owner who grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan so he built the entire stadium to look like Ebbets Field. Fans were loud enough that the Mets built a Mets Hall of Fame the next season. It was right next to the large team store and while it wasn’t perfect, it was decent. Not only did it have the plaques for the Mets Hall of Famers but also had various displays and things they would change out from time to time. I always learned something new each time I went to the Mets Hall of Fame.

Cohen didn’t seem to feel the same way. This offseason, they expanded the team store to take over the Mets Hall of Fame. I was disappointed to hear it was being moved but I naively thought Uncle Stevie loves Mets history so I was really confident it would be in a great spot. Maybe even a bigger space.

Nope.

They literally tucked the Mets Museum into the smallest room possible and in the area with literally the least amount of foot traffic in the entire stadium.

What an absolute joke. I know it’s easy to make jokes about the Mets but this is a franchise that has been around for over 60 years. This would be an embarrassing size for a museum for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They even tucked it away where nobody walks behind everything around a corner and next to a fence deep as you can go in the center field concourse.

This is no way to treat two World Series trophies. The whole place feels like a shitty waiting room. How have they screwed this up? We literally have a fan for an owner. This is such an easy layup. Either build a new structure or find a better location to honor the history of the team you rooted on for decades. 

This reminds me of when I was given my own office at work about 15 years ago. I was so excited until I realized it was a windowless room that may have been a broom closet at one time. Actually, that place was better than this “museum”.

As far as the Hall of Fame, I have mixed emotions. They did move the plaques to a better location where they can be seen right when you walk in. I do love that but it all looks thrown together.

I know some of you think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. The Mets are 0-3 and look like total dogshit. But there is a lot you can’t control on a baseball diamond. You can control a simple thing like respecting history. I get Stevie wants to sell more shirts and caps. But if you are going to have a reset year where you aren’t going be very competitive, you need to treat the fans with extra care.

Mets fans are pissed. This isn’t just Frank The Tank screaming. Only 22,222 (seriously) tickets were sold for last Sunday’s game. I know it’s Easter but they also played on Easter last year too and the attendance was 33,697. The Mets are a lifeless team right now and they haven’t played a game in April yet. The biggest change on field to start the season has been a dance squad called The Queens Crew. That’s not a joke.

Uncle Stevie, you want these dancers? Fine. You want to sell more tee-shirts? I get it. But don’t fuck with the history. Honor the past. It’s important and pretty easy to do. You have so many great resources from Gary Cohen to Howie Rose to Jay Horwitz. Some teams have an individual building just for a Hall of Fame and museum. Why can’t we have a nice thing like that? If we’re going to go 71-91, give us something.