And he's the main reason why the New York Mets baseball organization will never amount to anything while this Jeff Wilpon jerk is in charge.
Oh, sure, you can hear all the good stories from spring training. Matt Harvey, this. Matt Harvey, that. Frankly, it's Matt Harvey everything. The Mets who are really the Mutts are now the Matts. To the point where the ball club has jiggered their pitching staff to coincide with attendance expectations. Why throw Harvey on an Opening Day at home when there's an automatic sellout? Let's save him for the game of the opening series when we expect less bodies in the stands?
This is the kind of inane bullshit that Jeff Wilpon does. From all accounts, the internal stories about him are rampant. He meddles. He weedles his way into all baseball-related decisions. He would not hire a general manager that wouldn't allow him to interfere. He's also allegedly childish, tyrannical, and unethical.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet your New York Mets ownership.
Jeff is the son of senior owner Fred Wilpon, who, along with Nelson Doubleday, got the team to rebound in the mid-80s. Fred's still around, but he mainly dribbles in his cup and stares blankly at the wall photos of him and high school buddy Sandy Koufax. Oh, and when he's not doing that, he's allowing his wallet to be picked by the likes of Bernie Madoff. Yep, lots of Wilpon dough helped to contribute to court-ordered jail time. As a result, Fred Wilpon wound up without a cup to dribble in and nary a nickel for a decent shortstop.
Of course, the franchise's death watch really began as soon as the Wilpon family took full control of the team. And Daddy installed his know-nothing lummox of a son Jeff as its leader. When it comes to baseball, I wouldn't let Jeff coordinate a Strat-o-Matic team, let alone a real one worth millions of dollars in the number one market of America. But, Jeff got the job and the task of leading the Mets into the 21st Century and its transition from Shea Stadium to Citi Field next door. Yeah, none of that has worked out.
But, early on, I knew the weasel we were getting with Jeff Wilpon. He and I crossed paths.
Back in the late 90s, I still had my Saturday ticket plan at Shea. From Los Angeles, I would still make it back for five or six games a year. But, with the team descent at the time, it was not hard to sell off the rest.
One season, when my package arrived, I noticed that it included a Saturday pre-season contest against the Baltimore Orioles. In late March when usually you could still find small mounds of blackened snow residing in the Shea parking lot. How the hell was I going to sell off these?
Even worse, I realized that I was charged full price for this game. Huh? Not even a discounted fee for this absolutely nothing game. It was one of those moments in my life where I thought a letter was in order. And I decided to address to the head guy.
I suggested that this was a poor practice to expect longtime plan holders to choke down at full price a game that was meaningless. I presented an alternative. Make any Shea pre-season games optional to plan holders and at a reduced price.
I got a response from Jeff. Oh, sure, you can tell me that perhaps some underling drafted the letter back, but the swarmy and condescending tone pretty much confirmed it was done by Jeff himself.
The jackass told me that there was plenty of interest in this game. After all, it was the first meeting of the Mets and the Orioles at Shea since they played the 1969 World Series! How could I not be intrigued by such a hot ticket?
This shithead's letter was so offensive to me that I couldn't let it go.
I thanked Mr. Wilpon for his response. I still wasn't that interested in this game and neither were any of my 50 or Met fan friends. As a result, my seats would be empty that Saturday. So, I invited Jeff to use them for himself. And, oh, if he did, he should remember to bring his warmest coat and gloves to combat the 30 MPH March winds.
I don't know if he did. But that's just the kind of prick Jeff Wilpon is.
Indeed, over the years since, if there was a wrong decision to be made about this franchise, Jeff Wilpon managed to make it. He allegedly told manager Terry Collins that, under no circumstance, would Matt Harvey not be available to start the All-Star Game at Citi Field. Collins admitted as much in a candid interview on Dodger Talk in Los Angeles. Who cares about the pitcher's health? Let's just maximize the focus on the team.
Guess who ended up having Tommy John surgery the next season?
The Met team and the stadium operation is nickel and dime all the way in a market that demands top notch structure at all levels. The place is run like it's a team in the NY Penn League---minor league all the way. There is nothing even remotely classy about the Mets organization. It's as hollow as the papier mache head on Mr. Met.
And it's all thanks to Jeff Wilpon, the one-man-baseball-franchise-wrecking-crew.
He and I ultimately had another skirmish. Well, indirectly.
The partial plan holders from Shea Stadium, some of us with tenure as long as several decades, got kicked from pillar to post with the move to Citi Field. It became almost impossible for us to get any satisfaction with seat locations, etc.. We were treated like gum on David Wright's shoe. Of course, there was never any consistency in the ticket office. Our personal ticket representative changed every year because people were leaving their jobs regularly. Another sign of a poorly run organization and a fish that stinks from its head.
In the winter which ultimately became the one where I did not renew my Mets partial plan for the first time in ages, I took one last swipe at getting satisfaction with seat location. Things were going from bad to worse with the new ticket rep assigned to us. I decided to find out who was the new head of season tickets. I found out it was a gal, one Leigh Castergine. I got her address and sent an e-mail. I reminded her that the fans being treated like dirt had supported the team for years.
I actually got an immediate response. She said that she was sorry about her poor experience and would do everything in her power to make something happen. She would pass off our accounts to her best ticket representative. Leigh noted that she would handle this all personally but this was the very last day for prior to her maternity leave.
Well, that was something.
Of course, we tried hard with the assigned ticket rep but it didn't work. We could actually get better (and cheaper) seat locations on Stub Hub than through a partial plan.
I dealt with the sorrow of this divorce. And, then a while later, I heard about a pending lawsuit in the press.
A Leigh Castergine was suing the Mets and specifically Jeff Wilpon.
I'll let the New York Post fill in the blanks.
The first woman senior vice president in the team’s 52-year history claims in a federal lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Wednesday that Wilpon, the struggling team’s chief operating officer, canned her from her post heading ticket sales last month because he was “morally opposed” to her being pregnant and unmarried.
University of Pennsylvania grad Leigh Castergine, says in the suit, that Wilpon “frequently humiliated [her] in front of others by, among other things, pretending to see if she had an engagement ring on her finger.”
The suit claims Wilpon even stated “in a meeting of the team’s all-male senior executives that he is ‘morally opposed’ to Castergine ‘having this baby without being married.’”
“Wilpon told her that when she gets a ring she will make more money and get a bigger bonus,” the filing claims.
Well, none of that sounded surprising to me. I wondered if I could actually sit in on the court proceedings.
There was an out-of-court settlement ultimately, buried in the back pages of the local newspaper. I am sure Castergine made out well. Because, deep down, I knew all those allegations were likely true. It was just following the normal character traits of one Jeff Wilpon.
There are Met fans with hope in their hearts for this season. They are excited more than in many past seasons. But, I know that, at the end of the day and the baseball calendar, the Mets will screw it up. Because, somehow and in someway, Jeff Wilpon will be involved. Met fans deserve a lot better than this scumbag in an Armani suit.
The New York Mets have no real future while the Wilpons control the franchise. With this weasel in charge. The man who single-handedly broke the intimate relationship I've had with this team since I was ten years old. I'm no longer a Met fan because of Jeff Wilpon.
I'll be back. When this asshole is gone.
Dinner last night: Pepperoni pizza at the Dodger game.
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