It was time to grab a couple of new caps at Modells and refresh my arsenal before this year’s season began. I live in PA now and all I ever see stocked on the shelves are Phillies and Yankees garbage, so being I was in NY, now was the time.
I walked into a local Modell’s and ask the lady behind the counter for my size in royal blue. In my opinion, the best Mets cap ever created. As she reached up and grabbed the cap off of the wall I noticed that this actual one foot by four foot area of the store hadn’t been touched for the past two years. (Side note: We’ve all been into a Modells and know the area behind the counter is large and fully stocked with baseball caps. That’s why I put up dimensions of the Mets cap area.)
As she handed me the cap she gave me one of those, “Why the hell would you want this cap?” kind of look. The amount of dust that was built up on this cap was pretty much horrendous. Let’s forget about the Mets for a second – why on earth would you have items in your store for sale that are full of dust? And why would you let that item be pricey wool caps? This is a sports store right? Do we not know how important official MLB caps are? Don’t you guys get paid to break out a dust brush every week or so and keep the inventory looking clean and desirable?
Anyway, I quickly began dusting off the cap and tried to reveal as much of the blue as possible. It took me a good couple of minutes to get it back into decent shape. The best part is the manager stood right next to the associate not thinking twice about maybe offering me a discount or apologizing for the condition the cap was in. Then again, what do you expect from someone who apparently doesn’t care about their job.
I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How could this happen to a Mets cap on Long Island?” Was it because there were so many Yankees hats surrounding the area that they just got lost in the crowd? Maybe royal blue just wasn’t a cool enough color? No wait – every Mets fan is so proud of wearing their cap that they’ve kept the same one since the beginning of their masochistic relationship with the team, so why would they need another?
I’m going with the Mets have not been one of the more popular teams on Long Island since 2008 and all hope is just about lost. Yep, that sounds about right – even though the Islanders are worse but that’s whole other story.
Now some of you may think I’m just about crazy and pathetic, but I gotta tell you, I felt like I had to save the cap. So I cleaned it up a much as possible and bought it. I also asked for the black one with the blue bill and saved that one from its dusty spot on the wall as well. It didn’t matter to me because that’s been my whole relationship with the Mets. We constantly fall or are forgotten, but we always dust ourselves off and try it again next year. Like I said, call me crazy, but it felt right and I had no problem paying.
This year I think we are going to surprise a lot of people. I think you’re going to see a fresh allotment of caps and jerseys making their way to stores across the Island. Come June, the stands are going to fill up a little more and faith will be restored.
But for now, Modell’s is fully stocked with the latest Yankees jersey and caps. Black and sharp waiting for the most fortunate of fans to come purchase them at an alarming rate because as we all know, being a Yankees fan is cool.
As for me, I’m proud to wear my dusty caps and let everyone know I’ll never stop being a Mets fan. I’m going to die with this team and wear this very cap six feet underground. Let’s Go Mets!
