I was into the Mets because my Dad worked at IBM where he got free Mets tickets, so I was into the Mets... then I got to 'Saturday Night Live' where my boss has unbelievable N.Y. Yankees tickets, so he invites us to the games. I'm going to all the games, so I might as well root for the team I'm gonna go sit with.
I am a Yankees fan. I should say - have been to more Yankees games than Mets games.
I remember being, like, 5 years old, and my dad took me to a Yankees-Mets game. My dad had me on his shoulders and taught me one of the most important lessons about sports. He said, 'Jesse, just remember one thing, the Mets suck.'
I have a lot of regrets about what I've done. If I had to do it over again, I never would have left the Mets. I'm very thankful for all that Mr. (George) Steinbrenner did for me when I was with the Yankees, but I wish I had stayed in New York with the Mets.
You see, the Mets are losers, just like nearly everybody else in life. This is the team for the cab driver who gets held up and the guy who loses out on a promotion because he didn't maneuver himself to lunch with the boss enough. It is the team for every guy who has to get out of bed in the morning and go to work for short money on a job he does not like. The Yankees? Who does well enough to root for them, Laurence Rockefeller?
The Mets have shied away from that iconic club because they don't want the current one exposed to that hard-partying culture which, while well-documented, has also been somewhat exaggerated at times. The guys from that championship team are older and more mature now and can warn the current Mets about some of the pitfalls of fame.
The only thing worse than a Mets game is a Mets doubleheader.
I have a vivid memory of loving Keith Hernandez, the first baseman for the '86 Mets. I grew up in Queens, so when the Mets won the World Series that year, it was a big deal.
Tom Seaver was let loose twice by the Mets and pitched a no-hitter for the Reds and won his 300th game for the White Sox, but he wears a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame as homage to the 1969 championship.
I like the Mets. I'm interested in the Mets.
I said to myself I've got to go up there and do it because the New York Mets keep winning every day. The game was on the line and I wanted to go out there and come through for my team. That win tonight means a lot for us.
I won't be managing the Mets. I am closing the door on managing the Mets and probably everybody else.
Look, do I like the Mets and the Yankees? Absolutely.
In New York, the Mets are winning the World Series in 1969; that was pretty big, but I would say the moon landing was right up there with the Mets in the World Series. So it made a, a big impression on me as a little kid.
I couldn't be a White Sox fan because that was like being a Mets or a Yankees fan.
Career highlights? I had two - I got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax and I got out of a rundown against the Mets.