The first day of the Mets' seventh season at Citi Field seemed so different than nearly every day the park had seen before. The sun was shining, nearly every seat was filled and nearly every fan was filled with optimism.
Outside Citi Field, reminders of darker days still loomed large.
Mimicking the maneuver of the Jets fans who flew banners and put up billboards calling for the firing of former Jets general manager John Idzik, a group of Mets fans placed two billboards on Roosevelt Avenue outside the stadium, pleading with the team's owners to sell the franchise.
One read: "FRED, JEFF & SAUL, Ya gotta leave," playing off of Tug McGraw's famous "Ya gotta believe" catchphrase from 1973. The other read: "Sell the Team."
The billboards, scheduled to be removed on May 3, will garner plenty of attention over the next few weeks, placed alongside the No. 7 subway tracks and painted in the team's orange and blue colors, standing 10½ feet by 22 ¾ feet.
Mets fan Gary Palumbo, 39, raised $6,700 on Kickstarter to pay for the signs, drawing attention to the Mets' reluctance to maintain a payroll similar to other major-market teams.
"They asked us to be patient through the [Bernie] Madoff issue and to let them go through their rebuilding process, and then they said when the time was ready, they were going to reinvest back into the team and get it ready for competitiveness," Palumbo said. "That was supposed to be last year, but with the [Matt] Harvey injury, that kind of set everything back.
"And so once we went into this offseason and they signed [Michael] Cuddyer and then did nothing else, that was really the tipping point for me. That demonstrated that the Wilpons are still not financially capable of doing what needs to be done for the long-term best of the team."
Since Fred Wilpon became the sole controlling owner in 2002 — having become a co-owner in 1986 and minority owner six years earlier — the Mets have only made the playoffs once, entering this year with six straight losing seasons. Jeff Wilpon, Fred's son and the team's chief operating officer, declined to discuss the signs on Monday, with manager Terry Collins unable to understand the logic in putting up the billboards.
"I think it's a waste of time, but that's just my own opinion," Collins said. "You want to spend $6,000? Go feed the homeless."
Many members of the frustrated fan base grew even more agitated on Monday, as lengthy security lines caused countless fans — part of the stadium's largest-ever regular-season crowd — to miss the beginning of the home opener. Multiple fans reported waiting as long as half an hour to be let through the gates, due to enhanced security measures implemented by Major League Baseball.
A Mets official, aware of the situation, recommended fans show up earlier than they are accustomed to, given the new security measures will be in place all season.
— with AP
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