Quote of the Day

"What I will criticize about management is that they don’t take sufficiently seriously their obligation to serve as the custodians of the Mets’ identity and heritage. It is shameful for an executive of a team to dismiss the idea of an “Old-Timers’ Day” game because it is not sufficiently profitable. We all know that baseball is a business, but management has to know that fans don’t love baseball because it’s a business. We don’t give a flying f— how much money the owners make. The owners have been entrusted with our faith, our personal identities, and our family histories. This game is about our souls and our community, not their bucks. Owning a baseball team is a privilege, a public trust. So if your fans want an “Old Timers’ Day” game or a “Banner Day,” a Mets museum, a visible Mets Hall of Fame, Mets banners, Mets logos, Mets colors, in a stadium that feels like the home of the Mets, if your fans want to stand behind the dugouts and see the players up close in batting practice two hours before the game the way they used to in their old stadium, you give it to them! Do you hear me?! It DOESN’T MATTER whether or not any of these things increase profitability (they do in the long run, but American business doesn’t usually take the long run into account). None of this would cost you more than a backup shortstop. To make Citi Field a true home for the Mets fan is your moral responsibility. You owe us this. And we would appreciate enormously having some sign from you that you understand this obligation."

-Dana Brand