New York Mets: Five easy ways to spot a Mets fan in a crowd

You ask someone, “who’s your second favorite MLB team?” and they reply, “whoever is playing the Yankees”

There is truly nothing like the Subway Series rivalry. Other cities have interleague rivalries between their two teams, such as White Sox/Cubs and Angels/Dodgers, but none quite have the luster of Mets/Yankees. Unlike New York area football, where there are some fans who root for both the Jets and Giants, there are virtually no avid baseball fans who support both the Mets and the Yankees.

Not only do Mets fans hate the Yankees, but they would rather see the Yankees lose than just about any other team, up to and including their own division rivals. This logic may not make a lot of sense in the context of the MLB season, but it reflects years of losing back pages to the Bronx Bombers, having Mets wins overshadowed by Yankee losses, and eye-rolling when Yankee fans campaign to fire their manager while the team is comfortably in first place.

You overhear someone mention polar bears, squirrels, goats, and buffalo in a single sentence, and they’re not talking about the local zoo

The 2019 and 2020 Mets teams have featured a lot of colorful characters on the roster, many of whom have animal-themed nicknames. Pete Alonso is “Polar Bear,” Jeff McNeil is “Squirrel,” Wilson Ramos is “Buffalo,” and Jacob deGrom is of course, “deGoat.” There are also a few other amusing nicknames that have surfaced on past “Players Weekend” jerseys, such as “Quarterrican” for Seth Lugo, “Toddfather” for Todd Frazier, and “Scooter” for Michael Conforto.

Throughout the team’s history, Mets fans have loved referring to many of their favorite players by their nicknames. Some famous former Mets’ nicknames include “Nails” for Lenny Dykstra, “Mex” for Keith Hernandez, “The Dark Knight” for Matt Harvey, and of course “Tom Terrific” and “The Franchise” for Tom Seaver.

Generally, endearing nicknames stick around longer when a team is good. This group of animals on the 2020 Mets roster is a fun bunch, so let’s hope that the team wins enough games over the next few years to match that fun clubhouse spirit with on-field success.

Thank you so much to my friend Barat for helping out with this article. Mets fans like us have dealt with a lot of strange, almost unfathomable news coming out of Queens. We have increased our knowledge of muscular terminology and rare diseases thanks to the Mets’ various IL stints. We now know, for sure, not to mess with wild boars.

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Somehow, all of the craziness that comes along with being a Mets fan makes us even more devoted to our favorite team, year in and year out.