Top Five Mets Pop Culture Moments
By: JKurp
#5. Put Down the Mookie
On a show known for its guest stars, Sesame Street really outdid themselves with “Put Down the Duckie.” Hoots the Owl is trying to convince Ernie that in order to play the saxophone, he needs to let go of his rubber duckie. Also along to assist Ernie is John Candy, Paul Simon, Pete Seeger, Danny DeVito, and Jeremy Irons, among many others. Oh, and Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson. The skit first aired in 1986, when the Mets were on top of the world, and it’s pretty hilarious to see Mookie being overly ecstatic in the video, while Keith tries to keep his composure. They both sing the hell out of, “You gotta put down the duckie,” though.
#4. Men in Black Invade Flushing
(head to the 0:18 mark)
Bernard Gilkey was a decent player for the Mets, hitting .273 with 52 HRs over three seasons. But to most people, he’ll always be known as the Met from Men in Black. During the climax of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones’ alien comedy, it’s found out that the Observatory Towers in Queens’ Flushing Meadows Corona Park are actually spaceships that brought extraterrestrials to Earth. The towers were originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair and used as a cover-up; after all, to quote Jones, “Why else would they hold it in Queens?” Anyways, the spaceships eventually become dislodged from the Tower by the former-Private Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence, a.k.a. Vincent D’Onofrio, and as they’re hovering over Flushing, the Mets are playing the Braves at Shea Stadium. As a Chipper Jones-esque player hits a high fly-out to CF, Gilkey stands memorized at the spaceship, not paying attention to the baseball that bonks him in the head. And we thought Daniel Murphy was a crappy outfielder…
#3. Meet the Evil Mets
Normally when you think of the Mets, you think either underdogs or losers (rightfully so). But in Rookie of the Year, they’re actually the bad guys. In 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner’s first game with the Cubs (if you don’t know the plot: boy breaks arm, boy throws fast, gets signed by the Cubs), the little pitcher that could throw 100 MPH has to face Alejandro “Butch” Heddo and the Mets. Heddo is a pitcher’s worst nightmare: huge, mulleted, and cocky (think Kenny Powers), and he blasts a home run on the first pitch he sees, briefly shattering Henry’s confidence. Fast forward to the final game of the regular season, which once again pits the Cubs against the Mets in Wrigly Field. After Chet Steadman throws six gritty innings, Henry is brought in for the final three innings (those wild ’90s!). He coasts through the seventh and eighth, but while taking the field before the ninth, he “unbreaks” his arm and loses the ability to throw fast. What to do? Use wit. Henry walks the first two batters—and then gets them out thanks to the Hidden Ball Trick and a game of Chicken. Only one batter left: “Butch.” I won’t ruin the ending, but let’s just say El Duque would be proud.
#2. Second Spitter
You know it, I know it, let’s just go to the video:
Remember, kids: never help Keith Hernandez move.
#1. A Real American
After seeing a bear invade their streets, the residents of Springfield are scared and require that the government install a 24/7 Bear Patrol to calm their nerves. It works and everyone’s happy that there’s not a bear in sight, until the town realizes that the Bear Patrol will require their taxes to go up by $5:
Homer: Woo-hoo! A perfect day. Zero bears and one big, fat, hair paycheck. Hey! How come my pay is so low?…Bear patrol tax?!? This is an outrage. It’s the biggest tax increase in history.
Lisa: Actually, Dad, it’s the smallest tax increase in history.
Homer: Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax!
Lisa: That’s the home-owner’s tax.
Homer: Well, anyways, I’m still outraged.
The town storms back to City Hall, and in order to deflect blame from himself, Mayor Quimby says the reason taxes are so high is because of illegal immigrants, leading to Proposition 24, requiring all illegals to be deported back to their home country—including Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. But Apu is too happy with his life in America and as an employee of the Kwik-E-Mart, so he decides that to prove his patriotism and therefore needs to act like an American. That includes decking the Mart with flags, reading Entertainment Weekly, and asking Homer, “What do you say we take a relaxed attitude towards work and watch the baseball game? The Nye Mets are my favorite squadron.”
Apu doesn’t root for the Yankees to prove he’s an American; he chooses the Mets. And if The Simpsons say it, you know it must be true.
That picture of the Count, Mookie, and Keith is pretty much the best photograph ever taken in the history of the world.
Actually Apu said Lets watch the baseball match. not game.
You’re right, my bad. In order to redeem myself, here’s a properly quoted line:
Umpire: Okay, let’s go over the ground rules. You can’t leave first until you chug a beer. Any man scoring has to chug a beer. You have to chug a beer at the top of all odd-numbered innings. Oh, and the fourth inning is the beer inning.
Wiggum: Hey, we know how to play softball.
And another:
Scioscia: Hey, sorry. I thought you were a deer.
Smithers: Heh heh, that’s okay. Happens all the time.
Don’t worry, that’s the last time Scioscia will be mentioned on this site.
Good list but it needs more Futurama and less Rookie of the Year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Leela_of_Her_Own
That “Put Down the Duckie” rendition also includes members of the Super Bowl Champion Giants, IIRC. We had that Sesame Street tape for years when my kids were young.
Who could ever forget Darryl Strawberry getting serenaded with”Darryl! Darryl!” on the Simpsons, bringing a slow tear to his eye?
Actually apu says “howdy partner. whats your favorite baseball squadron? mine’s the nye mets.”
I can’t believe City Slickers is not even on this list. I would put that in waaay before City Slickers.
How about Ron Darling in Shallow Hal?
There is no way Seinfeld is not #1. It is not only one of the most known Mets pop culture moments, but one of the most well known baseball moments period. Not to mention the fact that Keith Hernandez isn’t doing Just for Men commercials if he is never on Seinfeld.
I think Darryl was on the Dodgers when he appeared on the Simpsons, but where’s the Doc, Straw, Iron Mike meeting?
Here it is: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jwd2acc8Q9Y/RlNXdRt1DSI/AAAAAAAAAE0/5ya7UWtbekc/s400/picoday_tyson_mets.jpg
Where the heck is the scene from the the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show where Michalengelo sees the tracks from the Technodrone for the first time?
“That dude’s drivin’ Shea Stadium around under the city!”
Seinfeld should not be on this list. It has nothing to do with the Mets. It has to do with Keith Hernandez who played for the Mets, that is all.
I believe you are thinking of the “I’m Keith Hernandez” episode in particular, which is The Boyfriend (part 2). In that case I can almost see your gripe, though it would still be at least tangentially related to the Mets. This is from The Boyfriend (part 1) which involves Kramer and Newman actually in attendance at Shea Stadium, Roger McDowell, and Keith. Most certainly has to do with the Mets.
Oh, thanks for the correction. My bad.
How can you forget Family Guy, the leafer episode…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko58rm3jMkA
The Seinfeld episode gets an added bonus in that it was supposed to be Hernandez and Gooden, but Gooden was too coked up to do it.
What about the 69 champs on Ed Sullivan singing You Gotta Have Heart? Priceless!
Hows this one: Bad Lietenant where in an alternate universe the 1992 New York Mets with Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Eddie Murray, etc. challenge the Dodgers in the NLCS.
ahhhh strawberry…..you f– n–, ahhhh
I am convinced that the Brave swinging in the Men In Black clip is Greg Maddux.
The movie ” The Odd Couple”. Felix calls Oscar on the press box phone to ask about dinner and the Mets pull off a triple play while Oscar is distracted. It was filmed before an official game with the actual players.
‘The Boyfriend” should absolutely be #1, it is a 2-part episode centering around Jerry meeting his Mets hero Keith Hernandez.
There were also many many Mets moments on the show “Bewitched,” Liz Montgomery was a die-hard Mets fan:
1. When Samantha (in a dream sequence) tells the whole world she is a witch, she gets a call from Yankee Mickey Mantle asking her to help him bat .600. She replies “I can’t, I’m a Mets fan!”
2. Darren had a spell on him to make every cliche he uttered come true. He says to a client “you play ball with us, we’ll play ball with you,” and they instantly change into Mets uniforms.
3. When Sam is pregnant, she is under a spell where she goes to whatever food she is craving. On the way to the hospital, she has a craving for hot dogs and is transported to Shea stadium.
Obviously the author of this post is younger than some of us are — Sesame Street is well after my time, but the Odd Couple and Bewitched are definitely “in” my time.
What about two big movie references- The entire Dennis Quaid movie Frequency uses the 69 Mets as the time travel proof for communication between a dead father and his son. Also, in the old film Oh God, George Burns says that God is a Mets fan based on the 69 Miracle Mets!
I can’t choose between Mookie and Keith “singing” and Kramer and Newman’s second spitter theory. Now I’ll be up for hours!
Poor Roger.
Between Oscar’s hat and the missed triple-play at Shea Stadium (R.I.P.), it was tough leaving off The Odd Couple. But like someone said, I am younger than most of you, so these are the moments that symbolize the Mets most to me (for better or worse).
But if I do “Ten More…,” you can bet The Odd Couple, Bewitched, Futurama, that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where everyone sings “Meet the Mets,” among many others, would be on the list.
The best “Futurama” Mets moment is when they drive by Shea Stadium in the year 3000 and the sign says “Home of the 1969 and 1986 World Champion Mets.”
RSS feed is not working in chrome, Kindly fix it.
I think the entire movie ‘Frequency’ is a good one, as is the Futurama episode where Leela plays for the ‘New-New’ York Mets, also the Power Company episode where Spider-Man saves the day at a Mets game (Spidey’s definately a Met fan- he’s from Queens and in an episode of the 90s cartoon he says, ‘Do the Mets need me or what?’ when batting away a Spider-Slayer robot with a steel pipe).
Also, there’s a nice moment in ‘Comining To America’ when Murphy and Hall show up in Queens and want to dress like Americans, they both come out covered in Mets and Jets regalia.