Accountability from the Mets

The Mets, as has been widely covered by now, completed what was on many counts the worst all-time September meltdown in baseball history, and one of the great all-time disappointments among all US professional sports. There are ample statistics showing how this isn’t just some kneejerk emotional heartbreak but a categorically unprecedented failure.

Yesterday, the Mets sent an email to fans on its mailing list. As hard as it is being a Mets fan right now, I appreciated the tone of accountability, something that’s rare from any brand when they fall short of expectations. The text is included below in full, and the screenshot’s included as well.

Dear Mets Fan:

All of us at the Mets are bitterly disappointed in failing to achieve our
collective goal of building upon last year’s success. We did not meet our
organization’s expectations — or yours. Everyone at Shea feels the same range
of emotions as you — our loyal fans — and we know we have let you down. We
wanted to thank you for your record-breaking support of our team this year.

Equally important, Ownership will continue its commitment in providing the
resources necessary to field a championship team. Omar will be meeting with
Ownership shortly to present his plan on addressing our shortcomings so that we
can achieve our goal of winning championships in 2008 and beyond.

You deserve better results.

Many thanks again for your record-breaking support.

We’ll see what the management actually does about this, and how much they’ll share about their plan, but in this letter, I felt like a shareholder in the organization, and this struck the right tone, mostly. I didn’t need two reminders for the "record-breaking support," as it just makes me feel like a sucker for buying a lemon.