Abbey Mastracco: Mets giving fans a reason to show up in a bad season

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Aug 28, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — They say misery loves company, and in the midst of a miserable Mets season, the team found a creative way to bring fans together: A singles night at the ballpark. The event, put together by Hot and Single, an Instagram dating series created by Liv Schreiber, brought people from around the area looking for love, friendship or just their next ex-situationship to Citi Field earlier this week.

While it’s too early to know if Singles Night produced any lasting love connections, we do know the Mets are giving fans reasons to come to the ballpark this season. The product on the field hasn’t been what fans expected in 2026, but it hasn’t been what the team expected either. The team could have just had a few cheap beer nights and a dollar hot dog night and called it a year, but that’s not what the Mets did.

They offered the fans more than baseball. After all, this is supposed to be fun.

Last month, the club announced that tickets for all remaining home games would come with a $10 voucher that could be used for food, beverages or team merchandise. This applied to advance-purchased tickets as well. When you add it all up, the Mets are essentially giving away over $10 million to fans.

Sure, it’s tough to get a full meal for $10, but it’s a tremendous gesture that has enticed fans who may otherwise feel like it’s not worth the effort to watch a losing team.

Going to a baseball game is about more than the game on the field. Teams have increasingly invested in the “experience” of the game. The purists would disagree with this trend, but it might be working in the Mets’ favor this season.

The team has been out of contention practically since the season started. The team fired once-popular manager Carlos Mendoza in June. Numerous stars were injured, and the play on the field for much of the year has been anything but enjoyable to watch. Sloppy, listless, uninspired and fundamentally poor. A fan base that is quick to anoint the last guys on the bench as heroes, but just as quick to turn on them, had every reason to turn on the team.

But they didn’t turn on Citi Field.

The concession offerings regularly top the lists of best ballpark foods and the giveaways are quality. Personally, I think they’ve leaned too heavily into gimmicks with newer additions like the Queens Crew dance group and the Five Borough Mascot Race, but feedback has been positive. Seeing Mr. Met walking on his hands in the middle of dancers on top of the dugout while the team is losing big feels like a fever dream. However, the way I’ve seen kids light up when the mascots take off around the warning track tells me all I need to know.

An Irish band on the concourse for Irish Heritage Night, the wives and girlfriends of the players choosing songs for Women’s Appreciation Night — these are details that make games enjoyable and create bonds with the team, whether they’re winning or losing.

Ultimately, fans want to see the Mets win, maybe even more than they’d like to meet the love of their life at a game. The product on the field has been far more enjoyable as of late, giving fans even more of a reason to attend games and use those $10 vouchers. So the Mets have gone all in on this scrappy group of journeymen relievers and star smashers.

Love him or not, left-hander Jefry Yan has brought fans to Citi Field. There is tremendous intrigue around the 30-year-old reliever who celebrates strikeouts with wild jumps off the mound and throws 102 from the left side. He’s won over his teammates with his energy and enthusiasm.

The rookie outfield duo of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have attracted fans who want to see them scale walls to rob home runs. Rookie starter Nolan McLean is dominating hitters with his array of spinning pitches, and rising young starters Christian Scott and Zac Thornton have quickly captured the fan base’s heart.

When Kodai Senga changed his warm-up song to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” the team created a theatrical entrance for him that rivals Edwin Diaz’s trumpeted entrance. If he excels in a leverage relief role next season, they may be able to sell red “Ghost Fork” jackets in the team store.

The atmosphere at Citi Field has been noticeably more raucous. Interim manager Andy Green has mentioned it on a few occasions, as have members of the team. When you give fans something to cheer for, they’ll give it all they have.

The baseball operations group that puts the team together is small compared to the rest of the club’s staff. The groups dedicated to selling tickets and sponsorships, and the groups who are tasked with finding new ways to get people to attend baseball games, have excelled in the face of adversity this season.

Sometimes, love in a hopeless place is worth the price of admission.