Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
At the beginning of June, the New York Mets really sucked. After giving up last year with much of the season still remaining, it looked like the most expensive team in Major League Baseball was on track to underperform at an extremely high cost yet again. But then came Grimace.
Do you remember this man? He is the gumdrop-shaped purple freak on the McDonald’s roster who has broken fast-food containment and become a pop-culture figure of his own. After a Grimace shake came out during Pride Month last June, lots of people decided he was a queer icon. Good for him. He also likes the Mets. On June 12, Grimace threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field. He didn’t necessarily do a great job, but look at his body — that thing is crazy. Somehow, Grimace’s lob over home plate blessed the Mets, who have been on a tear ever since. Because it is Pride Month, fans are calling them the “Gay Grimace Mets” — and the merch is pretty sweet.
With the Gay Grimace Mets dominating on the field with the best record in June in all of baseball, the fans are going nuts. During a rain delay last night — just before the team clinched a Subway Series sweep against the Yankees — the good people at Citi Field were raising hell.
The highlight of the 12-2 win over the Yankees came by the Shea Bridge, where a colossal and biblically accurate Grimace chugged a 24-ounce can of Miller Lite.
A baseball season is exceptionally long and full of heartbreak — the Mets are technically a .500 team — so you must give it up for the fans who have found some joy in this absurd purple mascot of an entirely unrelated corporation.
Now, the heat is on. Friday, June 28, is Pride Night at Citi Field, and the Mets take on the Astros. The first pitch will be thrown by drag king Murray Hill. There’ll be a Pride party outside the stadium starring the team’s actual mascots, the heterosexual couple known as Mr. and Mrs. Met. (Although, what do we know? Many have claimed the duo as trans Pride icons.) For the game against the Astros, the Mets are giving 15,000 fans a free Pride hat. Unfortunately, Grimace is not on it, but a bank sponsor is, and overall it’s about as hilariously homophobic as former Mets second-baseman Daniel Murphy.
