After All These Years, The Mets Finally Are Listening To The Fans

By Shannon Shark
Posted Monday, May 18, 2009

Something amazing happened Friday night. You probably missed it unless you are one of the chosen few. We'll get to that in a second.

First let me be honest. I'm writing this about an hour before first pitch on Sunday night. I hate 8pm starts, I don't care for ESPN's shockingly unenjoyable coverage (you would think they would be a good place to watch sports..they are not), and I like my beauty sleep. So as you read this you are either mad about the blown save, frightened by the shocking injury, or psyched about the sweep. I'm in "good road trip so far mode." It has been a nice run for this team.

So what happened Friday night?

The Mets finally asked us what we think! Around 4pm on Friday they tapped into some of the longer-term season ticket holders and Flushing Flash subscribers and asked a bunch of questions.

Most of the survey is about uniforms, and most of the uniform questions are about the black ones. Point blank, "Do you think the Mets should keep the black jersey?" Wow, they actually care what we think.

They also ask what, if anything, the bridge in the outfield should be called. Most of the suggestions were awful and smelled of someone in marketing who isn't really a Mets fan, but they did include a blank space for suggestions.

Why I find this interesting is that none of this is stuff that the newspapers or sports radio talk about. These are all questions for the die-hards. These are topics discussed on blogs like this one, and over at my site Mets Police (where you can find the survey.)

Oh my goodness they actually care what we think! This has been a long time coming, and as a good sign. I think that with George Steinbrenner gone and the Yankees in seemingly inept marketing hands in Lonn Trost, the Mets would be wise to do two things: win and be fan friendly.

The ballplayers have been providing the winning, and with the exception of those pesky obstructed views in the Promenade) the Mets are doing much better at the second one.

Now all they need to do is put out another fan survey asking what Mets memorabilia they should hang up at N'ebbetts Field and the place will really start to feel like home.