NEW YORK – The sounds of summer have begun to ring in New York City.
Children scream as they soak in the fountain of an open fire hydrant, Mister Softee trucks decorate neighborhood blocks with their looped music, and of course, at the end of line 7, you can hear the bat crackling at Citi Field.
Major League Baseball is, for many, a mainstay of the warmer months. None more so than Mr. and Mrs. Met, MLB’s hottest couple. Well, the only MLB mascot pairing, but the point is valid.
When I visited the couple for an afternoon game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in May, they were as much a part of the stadium experience as hot dogs and expensive beer.
With baseballs for heads and uniforms matching the players, the duo has no problem leaning into their goofy appeal. Unlike others, they are not animals or what Philly’s mascots are supposed to be. Instead, they represent a sort of humanoid, perhaps an ode to fandoms that attribute “head” to the end of their interest, like “sneakerheads” or “Deadheads.” They are baseball heads, literally.
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Online, Mr. and Mrs. Met cultivate an informed persona, capitalize on popular Internet trends, and enhance their romance. They also want you to know that they are real New Yorkers. In the fall, a mock photo of a Mrs. Met balloon for the Thanksgiving Day Parade appeared on her Twitter feed along with another photo of her silhouetted in a line of high-kicking Rockettes.
That the couple is easily memeable and doesn’t care matches the vibe of the team they represent.
The New York Metropolitans (Mets, colloquially) are a team rarely adopted by outsiders. Not to the bridge and tunnel crowd, they belong to the city and the fans who continue to support them even through the rough patches. “We stay loyal to the team even when they keep breaking hearts,” Adam Wattstein, 56, a lifelong fan, tells me. He met Mr. Met a few years ago at an event and was delighted to take a photo together.
While the Yankees, the other team in town, have what some might call “universal appeal,” others might malign it as stifling austerity. The Yankees, in particular, do not have a mascot. Much better for the Mets to have two, with enough personality to fill the stadium to the rafters.
Married in the mid-1970s, Mr. and Mrs. Met have existed as a duo for decades, but only began working full-time as a couple in 2013.
With a perky ponytail and thick eyelashes, she gives off a kind of “cool mom” energy, like she has that pack of Gushers snacks in the pantry. And she knows how to dance. For someone wearing clown-sized New Balances, her moves are enviable, and Mr. Met seems to know it.
Sometimes it seems like her star eclipses his. After all, she was nominated for the Mascot Hall of Fame this year all by herself, and some users expressed outrage last month when Ms. Met announced she was closing her individual Twitter account and that future updates would be found on her husband’s username @mrmet.
Throughout my time with the couple, Mr. Met’s adoration for his partner read clearly.
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Before the game begins, Mr. and Mrs. Met make their way through the crowd of fans with their handlers, taking selfies and stealing punches on the way to the field. Little children in oversized T-shirts run after them, eager to catch a glimpse. Some distracted fans don’t notice who’s passing until the size of the heads is recorded. They jazz hands, make a move, and wait for that fist bump when a drunk fan rushes in for an unwanted hug.
Once we get to the diamond, Mr. Met will surely hold the door open for Mrs. and blow her a kiss after she makes it through. Like most pets, they do not speak, opting for a form of individualized sign language.
When we are introduced, it is all hand gestures and emotion. Mrs. Met takes my hand and her husband drags me to take a photo.
After mingling with stadium staff and dazzling young fans through the fence, they return to their “offices,” no doubt to freshen up a bit before the first pitch.
When they return to dancing on top of the dugout as the players take the field, Mr. Met sneaks up behind me and does a classic feint, touching me on one shoulder but appearing behind the other. Just his hyperbolically large head scares me, which, I’m sure, was the point. He and Ms. Met seem as delighted by their interactions as the fans.
Perhaps that’s the couple’s magic: They revel in their ridiculousness and in doing so give tacit permission to fans to do the same.
“First of all, he’s a great baseball player. He’s a family man, he likes the American pastime,” Yoel Genao, 40, says of Met.
“He’s always in uniform, he’s always smart, there’s nothing that can beat him.
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