Mets Stiff Mr. Met on Ridiculous NLCS Championship Rings

The until-recently hapless New York Mets, diamond-crusted mementos for an also0ran campaign, and a ridiculous mascot: this story has it all and I love it. After losing the World Series to the Kansas City Royals in five games last year, the Mets pulled a page out of the Indianapolis Colts playbook and gave (almost!) everyone in the organization NLCS rings. Seven hundred and fifty members of the organization were presented with these Good Job, Good Effort trinkets "made up of 110 diamonds and 42 sapphires that spell out the Mets 'NY' logo." Not included in those 750 employees? Mr. Met.

Now look, Championship Series rings are absurd. I am loathe to make rules about sports and won't here but come on, Mets, this is pretty lame. At least it's not as bad as the Colts, who have had a good run over the years; the Mets at least have had a brutal stretch and it all finally paid off in a truly exciting and fun season. But they still lost the World Series. Anyway, the rings are…whatever.

Stiffing Mr. Met, however, is beyond the pale. Look at that guy up there. The same dude had been in that costume for 15 years and he can't get one of your stupid We Almost Did It rings? The guy who played Mr. Met from 2000 to the end of last season is speaking up about it though, because he no longer plays Mr. Met: "He left the Mets in November to pursue a job in construction." His career is bookended by brushes with glory. He is like the slightly more fortunate Don Mattingly of Mets mascots. His first season was a World Series loss to the Yankees—no ring—and his last was a loss to the Royals—no ring. Sad, but get a load of this, from a team spokesman who said Mr. Met didn't meet the criteria for an NLCS ring (!!!)

I just love this from the Mets. Executives sitting around a table spitballing NLCS rings.

Now look, we can't be giving these things around all willy nilly. They have to mean something; we lost the World Series for God's sake. We have to limit how many and only give them to folks who earned them.

Bob in accounting?

Of course.

Gary the temp?

I say yes.

Zack Wheeler?

He's got a uniform, doesn't he?

Mr. Met?

Fuck that guy.

What's worse, the guy who replaced Mr. Met in November got a ring! According to Mr. Met, his replacement "got a full time job, only worked maybe a month of games, and received a ring." This is horseshit. Mr. Met called it a "slap in the face," and I wholeheartedly agree. #FreeMrMet.

[NYDN]