Mets fans are certainly excited about Steve Cohen for two reasons…first, because he has a lot of money and second, because he grew up a Mets fan so there is an extra excitement amount Mets fans that “one of us” now owns the team. Time will tell if Cohen’s love and passion for the Mets along with his bank account will equate the Mets winning World Series championships, but there hasn’t been a feeling like this throughout the fan base since even long before the 2015 World Series appearance.
It’s clear that the Mets are back in business and when fans are allowed to return to Citi Field, they will no doubt be flocking to the box office and through the turnstiles. But while Steve Cohen has received a ton of publicity for his acquisition of the Mets, he also recently received even more attention for an acquisition of an important piece of Mets history. During a recent interview with SNY, Cohen revealed that he had purchased the “Bill Buckner” ball and showed it off during the chat with SNY host Steve Gelbs.
Cohen said he is going to place the ball that went through Bill Buckner’s legs to give the Mets the win in game six of the 1986 World Series into Mets Hall of Fame and Museum at Citi Field. It also struck me during that interview with Cohen, who is also passionate about collecting art, is also a big fan of Mets memorabilia and paying $410,000 for the “Buckner Ball” is a perfect example of that (even though he said in the interview he thought the ball was going to go for $100,000 to $150,000).
How passionate is Cohen about memorabilia?
He recently teamed with D1 Capital Partners and sports card collector Nat Turner to take the collectibles grading company Collectors Universe Incorporated private for a price tag of approximately $700 million.
I think that Cohen’s passion for the Mets and memorabilia could certainly be great news for Mets fans who have fallen in love with “Uncle Steve” and have always jumped at the opportunity to collect Mets souvenirs, especially when the team has had bobblehead giveaways over the years. From the Noah Syndergaard “Thor” bobblehead to the Jacob de Grom “Cy Young” bobblehead to the Mr. Met “Star Wars” bobblehead, Mets fans have historically gobbled up those tickets to the games when the bobbleheads are given out.
“Bobbleheads are a statement piece in a fan’s memorabilia collection,” said Anthony Davino, Marketing Coordinator for FOCO, one of the leading companies who make bobbleheads. “Our bobbleheads tell a story and capture moments that we, as fans, relieve in our heads year after year. It’s difficult to unbox a bobblehead and not get excited about it.”
A New Bobblehead That Mets Owner Steve Cohen Will Love:
Cohen has said on several occasions that his favorite Mets player of all time is “The Franchise” Tom Seaver who died this past August 31st at the age of 75 as a result of complications from Lewy Body Dementia and COVID-19. A member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Seaver was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and won three National League Cy Young Awards. While there have been previous Seaver bobbleheads that have been released, Cohen and plenty of other Mets fans will be happy to know that FOCO has released their owner Seaver piece and it’s a beauty.
Cohen always admired the “dirt on the knee” when Seaver pitched and that feature is in the FOCO bobblehead.
“It’s not the first Tom Seaver bobble, but it is unique as it highlights his career achievements,” said Davino. “We expect this to be one of the more notable MLB bobbleheads we’ve done this year. Having one of these reach the hands of Steve Cohen would be a huge achievement for our team. Who knows, maybe one day Steve Cohen could end up with a bobblehead of his own. Mets fans would be eager to get their hands on one.”
I’m sure Mets fans would clamor for a Steve Cohen bobblehead as much as a Tom Seaver given all of the excitement that the sale of the team has created in recent weeks and months. I hope Cohen not only instructs his management team to continue the popular bobblehead giveaways at Citi Field but also to expand the program, not only for more dates, but also to give them out to more than just the first 15,000 or 20,000.
Steve Cohen has already checked a lot of boxes with Mets fans because of his plans for the team, asking for fan opinions on the black jerseys and old-timer’s day, and also for his passion of Mets memorabilia. Doesn’t it make sense that the Mets owner is in possession of the ball instead of Charlie Sheen?
You can line up a bunch of bobbleheads to nod in approval!
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