October 16, 1969, 45 years ago today. I was watching. I was hooked.
How to build lifetime brand loyalty:
1) Find an impressionable six-year-old.
2) Put him in front of a television.
3) Show him the thing he recently discovered reaching its absolute peak.
4) Show him how happy everybody looks celebrating that ascension.
5) Hope the six-year-old is the type to remain stubbornly moored to that thing as he grows to be seven, seventeen, twenty-seven and so on into eternity…so stubbornly moored that even though repeat instances of that thing’s absolute peak ascension and corresponding celebration are exceedingly rare, he sticks with them forever probably because of what happened when he was six.
Complimentary consulting advice from a professional. Feel free to use it in Kansas City soon and Flushing again.
Thanks to @MetsPics for finding the above image. Thanks to the 1969 Mets for creating the scene.
similar story with me, but aged 8 1/2, and in 1986.
I was at that game. Great moment. I got hooked on the Mets in 1962. I was a lapsed Yankee fan living in the shadow of the Stadium. I attended my first Met game in May of that year, a doubleheader against the Braves. The Mets won the first game 3-2 on a walk-off 2 run HR by Hobie Landrith (the first Met chosen in the expansion draft) hit off Warren Spahn with 2 out. They won the second game 8-7 on a walk-off HR by Gil Hodges. Craig Anderson was the winning pitcher in both games. A great day at the Polo Grounds.!
Here’s something odd: if I had to choose between partying on the field or partying on the ramps, I’m not sure which I’d pick. I miss those ramps. The field certainly makes for better TV though, especially to a 6-year-old.
I remember around the time of Woodstock 1999, I had figured the anger and violence at the show was a product of the time and what advertising did to my generation when compared to Woodstock 94 (nevermind the original in 69). Later finding out that the crowd storming the Mets in 73 had an angry, ill-tempered feel to it compared to the love-fest seen above totally threw me for a loop.
Something else on the topic: has a fanbase stormed the field since 9/17/86?
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