Mr. Wilpon, I think you owe me more than a "thanks for coming". I think you owe me an apology. You owe all fans an apology. You should step up to the microphone and say to the fans and media, "I'm sorry for the way things turned out. I'm sorry for all the injuries. I'm sorry for the bad play. I'm sorry for what happened with Adam Rubin and Tony Bernazard. I'm sorry for 2009. The buck stops here, and I accept full responsibility."
OK, that last line is a bit corny and dripping with a punchline.
Mr. Wilpon, even with that, I can't accept your apology. I'm not sure why, but I can't. But it's good that you said it. It was a start. But you owe us more. You owe me more.
What about (the absurdly high) ticket prices? What about (deceptive) ticket packages? Why so expensive to park your car at the ballpark? Where are the Mets colors? Where is the Mets Hall Of Fame? Why did we have to force you to put up the Mets (championship outfield wall) banners? Why did we have to force you to put up Mets photos and "imagery"? Why is it all black-and-white? Why are there no statues (like of Tom Seaver, "The Franchise")? Why were so many photos and banners sold (online and then at auction). Why haven't more numbers been retired? Why couldn't you have fixed/renovated Shea?
That's worked in other ballparks.
Why not (formally call it) the "Gil Hodges Bridge", and in front of it, "The (Mike) Piazza"? Why not "Casey Stengel Plaza" (behind the Promenade Club over the Rotunda)? Why not allow us to congregate at a bar called "The Happy Recap"? Why are the pieces of Shea (scoreboard skyline and home run apple) hidden (behind the big scoreboard and behind the bullpens respectively)? Why have so many restricted areas? Why focus on suites and corporate instead of the fans?
I think they'll learn the hard way what happens when the fans stop showing up.
Why didn't you have the banners out where everyone could see them? Why did you get away from the familiar names of "Loge", "Mezzanine", and "Upper Deck" and their familiar colors in favor of country club names and a generic color? Why didn't you see the (seating) obstructions?
Why didn't you stop and review medical practice and procedure when players started dropping like flies? Why were so many players trying to rest an injury only to end up on the DL? Why were we strung along to think there was real hope for all these guys? Why was there no depth in the farm system? Why were we made to believe that the core group was a winning group? Who is supposed to be accountable for the endings of the past 4 seasons? Why do we continue to build the team up only to see it fall down again after a few years?
Other bloggers have written their own letters or purging their ill will, and I'll go read them now. I purposely didn't want those opinions to get in the way of my own.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com.
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