I've actually been threatening to write this update this for a few weeks, and with the Mets (at the time of this entry) in first place what's a better time than now? I've stated in a previous entry that the "Super Bowl Shuffle" by the Chicago Bears Shuffling Crew (aka the 1985 Chicago Bears) was the all time greatest in that greatly competitive genre of sports team songs. That is still true, but I'd like to focus the attention on the SECOND greatest sports team song of all time and that would be of course the legendary "Let's Go Mets!" theme song for the 1986 World Champion New York Mets. The similarities between the two teams, the 85 Bears and the 86 Mets are pretty striking: they both won their respective world championships, are always in the discussion of best single season teams ever, had their share of cocky, larger than life characters, and both unfortunately never repeated their success. This song obviously has a place close to my heart due to my lifelong Mets fandom and I think it says a lot about the "quality" of the "Super Bowl Shuffle" that I still place it above this (although I must say the "Let's Go Mets!" music video is superior).
So for a while I've wanted to, in the grand tradition of internet blogging, I give a detailed "live blog" of all four minutes of this classic masterpiece but unfortunately I've been unable to locate a decent enough copy on the internet; until my good friend and relatively recent Mets band wagoner Andrew found me a decent cut. So without further a do...Let's go Mets go!!!
0:00: What the hell kind of game are these kids playing anyway? It's like something kids would have played as a rainy day alternative to stickball in the 40s. I know the NES only got released a year ago, but isn't there something better this kids should be doing than flipping baseball cards IN THE MIDDLE OF SHEA STADIUM no less.
00:16: Every time I watch this I expect Doc Gooden to throw a big bag of cocaine at the kids instead of more baseball cards.
0:30: The Mets sure had a lot of diving catches that year.
0:35: Thus begins the first of the numerous scenes demonstrating how "wacky" those Mets were. This comprises about 85% of the video. I think the 80s were just an exceptionally wacky time to be alive, you know with the the Caddyshack movies and the Challenger Disaster and all.
1:00: Woah! Two Gary Carters!
1:15: Oh, Roger McDowell, baseball bats don't go there! What do you expect, relief pitchers don't get too many hitting opportunities. To his credit, according to baseball reference, despite his baseball dyslexia in 1986 he had 5 hits in his 18 at bats with 3 rbis and a respectable .278 batting average.
1:30: Does Lenny Dykstra even catch a fly ball in this "authentic" action shot? I'm thinking there might have been some post production work done. It looks like it was shot at a Fun Zone or something.
01:37: More hilarity ensues... Ed Hearn demonstrates he can juggle an apple and balls as well as the responsibilities of being a dependable backup catcher.
1:57: Great pitching and great hitting can only get you so far. It's slow motion diving catches and the occasional double play that brings home the World Series.
2:14: You know what this music video needs? A bizarre fluff piece about the Mets hosted by Joe Piscapo. Yes!
2:20: Three adjectives, four bobble heads. Something's not adding up.
2:33: Lee Mazzilli, no longer willing to tolerate Piscapo's horseplay, does what we've all been thinking and ends the madness.
2:53: They take things down a notch here at to bridge and have a montage to show a more serious side to the Mets (well, relatively serious). I'm pretty sure the fans on the street are the same people from the "Walk like an Egyptian" video with Mets gear on. I think there was just a period in the mid-80s where you couldn't walk down a street in New York without being filmed for a music video.
3:30: And Gene Shalit loses whatever remained of his journalistic integrity right....now. It's word bubbles but they look like thought bubbles. I'm confused.
3:37: Let the celebrity hit parade begin. Wow, Robert Klein!? Hal Linden!? Soupy Sales is alive!? Cameo?! I also suspect that Dr. Laura's love of the Mets is as dubious as her medical credentials.
4:02: And as exhilarating as those last four minutes were, it ends just as abruptly with a parting shot at the great 86 Mets in all their brief fantastic glory and manufactured goofiness. A true original of a team.
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