The Annual Missive to the Mets

It seems like I do this every year, but, in reality, this is only the third time I've needed to approach the New York Mets about inadequacies with my partial season plan. As regular readers are well aware, I got totally screwed when the Mets moved to Citi Field. My longtime Saturday seats behind home plate in the Loge at Shea morphed into a low hanging cumulus cloud over Citi Field. Given the horrific year that the Mets had in 2009, we thought our options to move would be plentiful. But, initial contact with the Met ticket office resulted in some snarky conversations with some 24-year-old who majored in sports marketing at Pepperdine.

I decided to go straight to the top. Here's my letter to head Met honcho Fred Wilpon:

Dear Mr. Wilpon:

I am writing you as an ultimate last resort. As a longtime Met fan who still follows and supports the team from my homes in both Los Angeles and New York, I am trying to find a defensible reason to renew my "Saturday Plus" plan.

My family had a Saturday plan at Shea Stadium since I was a kid. Our first season was in 1968 and we kept the same Loge Section 7 seats until the closing of Shea Stadium. During the last offseason, we (as well as my friends in the adjacent seats for the past fifteen or so years) gave the Mets the benefit of the doubt. We thought that, while things would change for us, there would still be a good reason for us to stay attached ticket-wise to the Mets. We worked exclusively with a ticket representative (apparently no longer with the club) to ensure that our seats would remain adjacent to one another and "similar" to what we had at Shea.

We certainly knew that our new seats were in the upper deck or Promenade level. But, imagine our surprise that we found ourselves five rows from the top of the stadium with a view that doesn't even include the Met dugout! Moreover, now with my arthritic knee, a climb up thirteen steep steps makes going to a Met game a dreaded prospect. During our very first rain delay, we quickly discovered that the roof leaked directly onto our seats. Beyond the play on the field, the season for us was a disaster from one game to the next.

We acknowledge that the 2009 New York Mets were terrible. But, over my years at Shea, I kept a Saturday plan through many awful seasons. And rarely did I find it difficult to sell tickets to games I could not attend. No so in 2009. Once people saw my seat location, I couldn't give the tickets away. I swallowed hard on six pairs of unused tickets.

Both my friends and I entered this offseason committed to getting a new seat location for 2010. That was the requirement for our renewal. Yet, our efforts to discuss this with ticket representatives have been met with much less than cordiality. One young lady was downright abrasive and rude. "You have to send your money in by December 18 and then you'll go on a list to be moved." The threat was that we would lose our place in line.

After all these years???? How dare she???? How dare the Mets???? Would you buy a house you didn't want with only a faint promise that you could move someplace better? This is absolutely no way to treat fans, let alone such longtime supporters as us. Admittedly, we are not the much desired full season ticket holders you crave. We can't get into any of the exclusive dining areas you have erected in the ballpark. At the same time, we have been there year in and year out for a long, long time. Shame on you!!

Before handing over any money, I'd like to discuss this directly with someone in authority with the Mets. I do not want to end my multi-decade association with your team, but the nasty attitude from your organization may leave me no choice.

Mr. Wilpon, you have gone out of your way to emulate the Dodgers in your construction of Citi Field. But, one way that you should have copied your old favorite team (and didn't) is in the area of customer service. As a bi-coastal fan, I also have a seat plan in Los Angeles. The way the Dodger organization treats all its fans in a style that first started with the O'Malley family should be your model moving forward. We are treated here like gold nuggets. Any question or call is returned within 24 hours. I have one friend who actually received a call directly from owner Frank McCourt.

At Citi Field, we are nothing more than a French Fry order on line at the Shake Shack. You all have a lot to learn about being attentive to fans.

The Met organization has become an embarrassment. And it didn't have to happen.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about the Met response. And where I stand in 2010.

Dinner last night: Leftover grilled brats with pickled beets.