The Wilpon Era: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

You are not going to miss Jeff or Fred Wilpon. You probably feel the same about Saul Katz and a regime that will vacate Citi Field. You are itching for Steve Cohen to take control of the Mets in the next few days. 

And a majority of the Wilpon tenure will be remembered as a failure. They could not win over fans even when they opened the check book. Many of the pieces they acquired were a failure and some were not. 

In the end, though, the Wilpon era will always be remembered for the money, cost effective failures, and Mets fans waiting for the day they would sell. The sad part of this tenure are the few good years will not be a highlight.

You know the deal, because most of the years were not a highlight and that will always be synonymous with the Mets and Wilpon association since assuming sole ownership in 2002.

Wilpon and Bernard Madoff, sadly that will be remembered. Wilpon was one of the investors with a significant amount of money gone when the Ponzi scheme collapsed in December 2008. Reportedly, Wilpon lost about $700 million.

Then, there was all types of talk the loss would mean the Wilpons had to sell the Mets.  

But now, the end is near. Monday, as reported, Jeff Wilpon held an organization Zoom call. He rewarded employees that achieved milestones and thanked them. He wished them well.

Jeff Wilpon said goodbye. An employee, one of many furloughed due to circumstances of MLB and COVID said to MMO, “It was what you would expect from a ZOOM call. But I may be in the minority here. Jeff, Fred, they were always good to those who worked here at Citi and Shea Stadium.”

He said, “Fans did not see the good side of the Wlipons.” 

The good side, he said, was making a personal phone call when a family member was ill. When that beloved member of his family passed away after a long term illness, he said Jeff and Fred got him on the phone. They offered condolences. 

“They did not have to do that with all the responsibility of running a ballclub,” he said.

But putting a winning ballclub on the field does come with the territory of owning a team. In the end that’s what mattered more to Mets fans. So in the days and weeks to come, there will be recollections of the good and bad when it comes to the Wilpon ownership and the Mets. 

The accomplishments of Citi Field, as much as that was difficult to say “Shea Goodbye” the Wilpons went the modern route of a ballpark with all the amenities included. The bad is that Ebbets Field look and a rotunda of Jackie Robinson and not Mets history. 

There was Mike Piazza, Johan Santana,  Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran. The 1986 championship year, though a guy named Doubleday had half of the control. The 2000 Subway World Series, 2006 with a near miss to the World Series.

Remembered is 2015 and unexpected run to the World Series, a memorable moment and highlight for the Wilpons.

Or the good and bad of coveted free agent Yoenis Cespedes. Yes, Cespedes. Fred, Jeff, they listened to fans and delivered. A year later, 2016, a different story with Cespedes and an NL Wild Card game loss to the Giants.

You see, from this perspective not all bad.  But fans demanded more and that was expected. 

Rich Mancuso: Twiiter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso