I’m sure most Mets fans are familiar with the Family Guy clip mocking the Mets.
Stewie and Brian are out trick-or-treating for Halloween, and Stewie says that Halloween is as bad as being a Mets’ fans.
The scene shifts to a baseball stadium where the announcer claims the season is over after the first pitch.
I’ll admit, I got a brief chuckle out of that clip. I enjoy watching Family Guy, though it hasn’t been the first time the show has mocked the Mets.
The Mets opened with mixed expectations this season. Baseball analysts hovered around a third or fourth place finish in the N.L. East, while die hard Mets fans hoped for something more.
On Opening Day Friday night, the first few innings gave Mets fans some hope. While they didn’t record a hit, starter Mike Pelfrey found a way to pitch out of some jams.
In the fourth inning, however, Marlins’ catcher John Buck connected on an opposite field grand slam to give the Marlins a 4-0 lead en route to their eventual 6-2 victory.
As soon as that pitch was thrown, most Mets fans that were familiar with the Family Guy clip immediately had images of Stewie flinging his hat away in disgust.
In the bottom of the ninth, Marlins’ closer Leo Nunez struck out Ike Davis to end the game. Just as Mets’ announcer Gary Cohen was saying his closing remarks, the audio of the Family Guy clip could be heard under Cohen’s voice.
Apparently, an SNY (Mets’ television network) employee played part of the clip as a joke. It was almost instantly cut off, and the punch line was never actually heard.
Still, it was a disgrace that the clip was even pulled up by the employee, let alone aired.
Many Mets fans, including myself, had big hopes for Opening Day, and the loss was tough enough to swallow. However, having to deal with a joke from an employee adds icing to the cake.
SNY officials are looking into the matter and are dealing with it internally.
Luckily, the Mets bounced back to win the next two games in Miami and now head to Philadelphia for three games with the rival Phillies.
As much of a Mets fan that I am, there’s a part of me that isn’t surprised that this incident happened.
In fact, the airing of this clip is minimal compared to some of the other problems this team has dealt with recently like the Madoff scandal, the K-Rod incident and a possible partial sale of the team.
There’s a time and place for everything, and airing that clip was obviously a poor time. Hopefully, that employee is sent packing, as the Mets attempt to reclaim their image in the public eye.