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The Mets need a few things to go right if they want to secure a Wild Card spot by the time the regular season wraps up, and the team is going out of its way to honor the good luck charm it hopes might be able to work its magic yet again: Grimace.
On June 12, 2024, the New York Mets were sitting at 28-37 and firmly out of the playoff picture in the midst of what was shaping up to be another disappointing campaign that would end with them missing the postseason for the second year in a row.
However, they were able to walk away with a 10-4 victory over the Marlins that night and subsequently rattled off a seven-game winning streak—a run that fans credited to the power of Grimace, the McDonald’s mascot that had been tapped to throw the ceremonial opening pitch ahead of their showdown with Miami.
Baseball has long been associated with plenty of strange traditions, so it was only natural that members of the Mets faithful found themselves rallying around a furry purple creature that’s been canonically described as an “anthropomorphic taste bud” after it sparked a fairly drastic turnaround.
The Mets since Grimace threw out the first pitch (June 12):
Record: 53-29 (1st)
Runs: 421 (2nd)
Home runs: 119 (3rd)
wRC+: 118 (3rd)
OPS: .769 (4th)
Starter ERA: 3.54 (4th)
Strikeouts: 739 (3rd)
Average against: .224 (3rd)They’re good!
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) September 14, 2024
As things currently stand, the Mets are tied with the Braves in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the National League with 13 games remaining on their schedule (including a three-game series with Atlanta next week), and they’ll need all the help they can get if they want to punch their ticket to the postseason.
According to Mike Mazzeo of Sports Business Journal, the Mets tapped Grimace to do its thing yet again by inviting the mascot back to Citi Field to throw out the opening pitch ahead of their game against the Nationals on Monday night.
McDonald's
The team is also paying tribute to Grimace’s initial appearance back in June by installing a purple seat in Section 302, as the sixth one in Row 12 (a nod to the date when things turned around) will boast the mascot’s signature color.
McDonald's
It’s unclear if the Mets plan to make that addition permanent, but if Grimace can spark another rally with less than two weeks to go in the regular season, they probably shouldn’t mess with the shrine to their new savior.