Even if general manager Brodie Van Wagenen doesn’t want to admit it, the Mets season is over.
With 72 games remaining, chances at a division title look lost already. The Atlanta Braves are hitting their stride while the Mets are sitting in fourth place sitting 13.5 games back.
Remember when Van Wagenen claimed the Mets were the class of the division before the start of the season?
You can’t help but think about that Family Guy quote: “Opening Day and here’s the first pitch… and the season’s over.”
Okay, the drop wasn’t that severe. The Mets waited until their seemingly-usual June swoon to fall out of contention this year.
However, Van Wagenen has yet to label the team as sellers just yet during his disastrous first season. Second-year manager Mickey Callaway added to the tone-deaf sentiment, claiming his team is “not out of anything yet.”
A series loss to the last-place Marlins when they get back from the All-Star break, however, should change that thinking.
It looks like the owning Wilpon family and the marketing department aren’t as optimistic.
Shortly following Pete Alonso’s victory at the Home Run Derby on Monday night — providing Mets fans with some semblance of joy this season — the organization posted an advertisement on Twitter account introducing a promotion to save 80-percent off tickets to all remaining home games starting Jul. 23.
They’re veiling it as the “Pete Alonso Home Run Derby Special.”
I’ll call it “The Wilpons Need To Put Butts In The Seats Because They Refuse To Spend Money On A Winner Special.”
Mets fans are starting to get the hint and not blindly throwing their money to line the Wilpons’ pockets. Their total attendance this year of 1.2 million fans ranks 15th in the majors and is by far the worst of any major-market team playing in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and St. Louis.
Now, fans can go see a Saturday night game against the Pittsburgh Pirates for just $7.60 a ticket.
This isn’t the organization being philanthropic and making tickets available and affordable for all their fans. This is the team telling its supporters that the season is over and meaningful baseball at Citi Field will be at a premium for the remainder of 2019.
If the Mets thought they could get back in it, a promotion such as this would be scoffed at. Instead, they’ll just continue to be the laughing stock of Major League Baseball.
