Dear Mr. Wilpon:
Let me start this letter off by stating
that my fellow Mets-fan-friends and myself will not be returning as ticket
holders, and the organization has just lost over $1000 in ticket sales. This may seem like pennies compared to people
who shell out more money for better seats for your bottom line, but I’m sorry,
we work hard for the little money we make and don’t want to waste it on
this. We were not satisfied customers
for the last two seasons and we’re tired of it.
Now that I’ve said that, I want to voice, as a die-hard, life-long Mets
fan, my displeasure, disgust, frustration and embarrassment
in this team and the organization. Yes
it’s true, no one could have predicted this kind of flop, but it’s
heartbreaking that you, your general manager and field manager have let this
happen.
The Mets have examples of great baseball
organizations in their own backyard, and in their own division to learn from:
The Yankees and the Braves.
Both organizations have the sharpest scouting staffs, and don’t make bad
trades. Plus, when it comes to the
Yankees, they do not tolerate losing!
It’s preached from top to bottom.
When a player puts on a Yankee uniform, that player is humbled and
honored to be wearing those storied pinstripes.
Do the Mets preach that? Do they
have any tradition? The Mets are
a part of New York National League baseball history with the Giants and
Dodgers. Those teams were always in the
playoffs and/or World Series. If those
teams hadn’t run into the Yankees so many times, those teams would equally be
considered dynasties. Look at the Braves
and what they’ve accomplished. Look at
the last two seasons where they started off horribly and then turned it
around. This season they turned it
around at the same time as last year and are the best team in baseball. They have confidence, talent and
fundamentals. I also think their manager
and pitching coach have something to do with it. What do we have????
You have to build a winner and keep
it!!!! You can’t snap your fingers and
expect an instant winner. You have the
money to get the players. You should
have the scouts signing great prospects!!
We have no depth in the minors or the majors. Stop looking back at ’69, ’73, ’86, and
’00. Look forward at how you can slowly,
and surely build a winner for many, many years.
How is it that you can buy a franchise in 1980, turn it around to a
winner (’84 to ’90), dismantle it (’91 to ’96), and not build another winner
the way you did it the first time!!!???
The ’97 ’98 teams didn’t have enough talent and the ’99 and ’00 teams
had the talent but not enough fire and passion. The ’01 and ’02 teams were complacent. There is no denying any of this!
This is New York New York Cooperstown
shops. After the Series, it was as if
Upstate NY realized there were two great teams in NY. Maybe the Mets should start winning all the
time so that the perception of the world shouldn’t be “there’s another team in New York
I am tired of losing. I am tired of being embarrassed. I am tired of playing second fiddle to the
Yankees, Braves and other teams. Look at
some of the trades the St. Louis Cardinals have made in recent years-McGwire,
Edmonds
Another example is the field manager. A good manager should be seen and only heard
arguing with an umpire, fighting for his team.
Bobby Valentine, for all the wonderful, charitable things he’s
done as a person, is not the right manager for the Mets. You need a manager who preaches fundamentals,
consistency and a fighting spirit. The winning attitude should
be a given. This
manager makes the most ridiculous substitutions, double-switches, pitching
changes and juggles the lineup card too much.
He doesn’t allow the players to feel comfortable in their spot in the
line up, or define what each player’s role is.
I know for me personally, I like to know what my role is at my job so I
can do the best job I can. He can’t even
pick the coaches he wants or else Steve Phillips will fire them!! How do you justify Charlie Hough, a knuckleballer
as the pitching coach over someone like Orel Hershiser? Look at how
Bobby talks with the press. He’s uptight
and flip. Look at how Joe Torre is
with the media. Congenial, answers tough
questions and uses common sense. With
Bobby, it looks as if he’s hiding something and trying to come off mysterious. When in reality he acts like a moron. I saw him in Spring Training 2001 and he was
like that with the fans.
In closing, some of the trades and
signings you’re GM has made have been wonderful. But some of them have been equally horrible. I won’t name examples, don’t want to play GM
or come off telling you how to do your job. I don’t want to be embarrassed anymore and it
kills me that I had to write this letter about my beloved team. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t have been
possessed to write. I may just be one
fan, and you will probably disregard my letter and not care what
we have to say, but at least I had the confidence to express the opinions and
frustrations that Mets fans all over are feeling. Let us know when the organization has decided
to grow up and be looked at as something great. Like the Yankees.
Sincerely yours,
[REDACTED]
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