Meet the Mets, old and new

The New York Mets played their first home game of the 2022 season on Friday, April 15.  Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

By Jacob Kaye

A trip to the past and a look at the future.

New York Mets fans were wedged between the glory of the franchise’s history and the prospect of an exciting season to come Friday, as the organization honored its most beloved pitcher in a ceremony before the start of the first home game of the 2022 season.

Thousands of Mets fans showed up to Citi Field hours before the first pitch to witness the unveiling of a statue of Mets legend Tom “The Franchise” Seaver, the late pitcher who led the team to its first World Series victory and who racked up more wins, strikeouts and innings pitched than any Mets pitcher before or ever since.

Hoping to call back to Seaver’s glory days, the Mets came to Queens Friday having won five of their first seven games on the road. The club would give fans even more of a reason to believe later in the afternoon, easily beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-3 for their first home victory of the year.

The statue of Seaver, showcasing his signature pitching motion, his right knee kissing the ground as his arm prepares to snap off a 98 mile per hour fastball, will sit in front of the stadium greeting Mets fans for generations to come.

“When I was a kid and I thought of the Mets, I thought of Tom Seaver,” said Steve Cohen, the club’s new owner who grew up in neighboring Long Island. “Tom led us to our first championship, he transformed the Mets, transfixed New York and won the hearts of Mets fans.”

A statue of the late New York Mets player Tom Seaver is revealed outside Citi Field before a baseball game between the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Friday, April 15, 2022, in New York. AP photo by John Minchillo

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, a noted Mets fan who told the Eagle he predicts the Queens team will go 95-67 this season, was on hand for the ceremony. Richards credited Seaver with bringing a sense of pride to the borough, which was trying to establish itself as a baseball town when the pitcher led the Mets to the World Series in 1969.

“Though it’s been four decades since Tom last stepped on a major league mound, he still holds a special place deep in the hearts of everyone who calls Queens home,” Richards said. “That World Series win was and still is an incredible source of pride in Queens. No one ever thought those lovable losers would reach the top but Tom proved them wrong.”

“That World Series win put Queens on the map,” he added.

The unveiling was a family affair, with Seaver’s wife, Nancy Seaver, and two daughters, Sarah and Anne, thanking the organization and its fans for honoring their patriarch.

“Shortly after we arrived [in New York] we felt embraced by the fans and the public and that made us feel right at home, very quickly,” Nancy Seaver said.

Though she never donned the orange and blue uniform, chants of “Nancy Seaver,” broke out after her remarks.

But it wasn’t just the Seaver household rallying around the Mets Friday. Citi Field’s parking lot was awash with families – both chosen and unchosen – basking in one of Queens’ first true spring days of the year.

Sonya Gatti, her son John and her grandchildren Laura and John Jr., have been coming to Mets home openers together for decades.

Sonya Gatti’s first home opener came in 1964, the first year the Mets played in Queens. Her son has been present for every one since 1964 and the kids, at ages 32 and 31, have been at Citi Field’s first games since 1995.

“And we’re still talking to each other,” John Gatti said.

(From left to right) John Gatti, Jr., Sonya Gatti, John Gatti and Laura Gatti have been coming to Mets home openers for decades. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

Nearby, Rick Goldshleg, a chef by choice and carpenter by trade, toiled through clouds of smoke, grilling 60 pounds of chicken, brisket and pulled pork and six racks of ribs for about 100 of his Mets brethren. The group of Mets fans attended Commack High School in Long Island together from 1975 to 1979. They drove to Queens on a charter bus, which they’ve done six times before.

It was a bit of a reunion for the group, which didn’t gather last year or the year before because of the pandemic.

“It’s nice to get back with our friends – some of them we haven’t seen in two years,” Goldshleg said. “It’s good to get back into the routine we had before.”

Rick Goldshleg cooks 20 pounds of chicken for about 100 of his former high school buddies united by the New York Mets on April 15, 2022. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye

Fans were prevented from going to games in-person during the 2020 season, which was shortened to 60 games. And though Friday’s game was free of most COVID precautions, the virus wasn’t entirely absent from the festivities.

Mets outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha were placed on the COVID injured list prior to the game and as the Mets’ new manager Buck Showalter fist-bumped his staff and players minutes before the game began, he reminded each of them to wash their hands.

Seaver wasn’t the only baseball great celebrated Friday – throughout baseball, teams honored Jackie Robinson, the Brooklyn Dodger who became the first Black player to play in the Major Leagues in 1947. Robinson was, for a time, a Queens resident, living with his family in St. Albans during his playing years.

And so it was fitting that Mets second baseman Robinson Cano, who was named after the civil rights icon, lifted a home run to left field in the fourth inning, marking the first homer at Citi Field of the 2022 season.

The game was a homecoming for Cano, as well, who was suspended for the entirety of the 2021 season for using performance enhancing drugs.

A number of new Mets also introduced themselves to Queens Friday. Pitcher Chris Bassitt, who pitched for the Oakland Athletics last year, got the win, giving up one run and striking out six. Outfielder Starling Marte, who signed with the Mets during the offseason, hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning, his first as a Met.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor, who signed a 10-year, $341 million last year, smacked two balls out of the park, his second and third home runs of the season, endearing himself to the home crowd after an underwhelming performance in 2021. Last year, it took him until May 15 to hit his third round-tripper.

New York Mets' Francisco Lindor, center, celebrates with Pete Alonso, left, after hitting a solo home run off Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Caleb Smith in the eighth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 15, 2022, in New York. AP photo by John Minchillo

Around 43,820 Mets fans made it out to the ballpark for the home opener. It was the ninth largest crowd in Citi Field’s 13 year history.

Though Richards was inspired by the home opener, he feels the best is yet to come – both for the team and for its relationship with Queens, which has improved under new ownership.

“I fully believe the best day of the 2022 season is going to be the last one — when Jacob deGrom, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor hold that elusive World Series trophy over their heads,” Richards said in a statement to the Eagle.

“The Mets and Steve Cohen have been champions off the field as well, from opening up Citi Field as a life-saving mass COVID-19 vaccination site to contributing more than $17 million to the Queens Small Business Grant Program,” he added. “Queens couldn’t be prouder to call the Mets its hometown team.”