Remembering Mets History (2022) Mets Old Timers Day & Willie's #24 Retired
It was the first Mets Old Timers Day celebration in 28 years the last being at Shea Stadium in the 1994 season. In 2022, the Mets brought back 65 former players & their families celebrating sixty years of Mets baseball.
Also, on this historic day the organization surprised everyone by honoring Willie Mays & finally retiring Willie's #24. 
As a kid & ultimate diehard fan in the early seventies, the 1973 Mets Pennant team holds a special place in my heart. When Willie Mays came to the Mets, it didn't matter how old he was, his leadership presence help motivate the "You Gotta Believe" team to the World Series. His role to that team, that era & Mets history is of the utmost importance.
I have always been a strong advocate of the Mets' honoring Mays. The old ownership, who ruined the organization, never fully appreciated or respected past Mets history. The Wilpon's had completely ignored the importance of Willie Mays to the Mets.
Thanks to Steve Cohen who has put a winning product on the field as well as honoring Mets history with celebrations & retiring uniform numbers.
It should never have been forgotten & pushed aside especially for fifty years, as generations of Mets fans never knew what Willie was to their team's history.
Below is a video of the Old Timers Day ceremony & game.
This was a great success, I was a big Willie Mays fan as a grade schooler and was happy he was a Met then. I also felt this was a long overdue move and another Wilpon mistep in never recognizing Wille.
ReplyDeleteI hope Old-Timer's Day becomes an annual tradition with Themed events year to year, starting with the 50th Anniversary of the Ya Gotta Believe Mets of 1973 - my first full year of watching Mets Baseball! (little did I know :) Sad that only 4 of WIllie's 73 teammates were on hand for the ceremony. Please bring back as many of the 73 Mets that are still around, and give them a proper send off! Another overlooked team is the 2006 Mets, yes it is still recent, but the 20th anniversary of that NL East Championship is 4 years away. Guess 06 will always conflict with 86, but maybe give them the 25th anniversary to themselves. The 2015 teams 10 anniversary is also coming up in 3 years too.
Gary Cohn made a salient point in that the 69 and 86 Championship teams are rightly celebrated, but many other fan faves have fallen through the cracks, and sadly many are no longer with us. At my age, "my" Mets were the Joe Torre Mets of the late 70s. It was an awful team, but it wasn't the players fault. It was great seeing Steve Henderson, Skip Lockwood and of course John Stearns and Lee Mazzilli. Bring back Craig Swan, Joel Youngblood, Doug Flynn, Pat Zachary, Ron Hodges and Bruce Bosclair. They may not be the best Met players, but they were our guys too! Be nice to see them again.