Hello! Welcome to our first offseason edition of Mets Laundry. There might not be any grass stains left to conquer, but we’ve got a hell of a job ahead of us if we want to wash the bad juju out of these uniforms.
Today we’ve got a very special Q&A with Mr. Metro, a New York Mets fan, collector, and archivist from the UK. Our mate has been bleeding blue and orange since seeing the Mets play the Phillies in the the 2024 London Series.
1) A common quip I’ve heard from folks in the UK is that baseball is just rounders. What the hell is rounders? Is it REALLY that similar to baseball?
Ahaha, from what I read, rounders evolved in the Tudor times and pre-dates baseball. So apparently baseball is a direct descendant of Rounders believe it or not. I think they are quite similar to a certain degree. I used to play a lot of rounders in secondary school (ages 11-16) during our sports lessons, I did enjoy it a lot. I think baseball is a lot more structured and athletic too. I have also found it’s almost suspenseful at times. You never know what’s going to happen next - I love that side of it.
2) The English Premier League has become massively successful in the United States. As someone who didn’t grow up playing or watching football, it has taken over my Saturday and Sunday mornings. Is it possible for baseball to gain even a small amount of that popularity in the UK? How do we spread the game over there?
Brilliant! The early 2000s Match of the Day programs every Sunday morning at 10:00 were unmatched. My weekday mornings are taken up by the highlights on the MLB app that I watch all season too!
I have a love-hate relationship with football (soccer). I’m a Manchester United fan at heart and have been all my life thanks to my Dad - I’m not complaining ahaha seeing them be as successful as they have been the past 20 years has been awesome!
My struggle with football is the fan behaviour - the fighting, racism, anti social behaviour. It gets pretty bad here, as a result I have not been able to relate to it in the same way anymore.
I’m glad it’s growing in the states. David Beckham has done an incredible job of contributing to the explosion of the sport over there - football is a brilliant sport.
From my personal opinion for baseball to grow here in the UK, I think education surrounding the game would massively help, learning the mechanics of it all (which I’m still learning every day through every set of highlights I watch). Also, In the nicest possible way, people’s attention span is cooked in this day and age, football is a fast paced sport. 90 mins can feel like 45 if the game is rapid. Baseball on the other hand can go on for 3 hours etc and nothing could happen for 2-3 innings then in the fourth, pandemonium. In short, to help it grow the UK needs more education surrounding it, more marketing, more London / city series events throughout the year. I think that will go a long way in growing the sport here. Basically market baseball in the UK how the NFL has marketed football!
3)There was no London Series in 2025 and 2026 Series was recently cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. How do you plan on filling the void?
Yeah I read about that…. Thank you West Ham FC. I’m surprised they did cancel it to be honest, we have plenty of stadiums across the UK which could have been used. I’m gutted it is cancelled.
I think I’m going to bite the bullet and get a full subscription on the MLB app, connect it to the tv and get a few mates round to watch a game or two. Maybe a Mets vs. Phillies game as my best mate is a Phillies fan…. Unfortunately.
4) What’s your favorite baseball movie?
Has to be Moneyball. “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” I found that film quite moving at times, was filmed brilliantly too and of course Billy Beane was a NY Mets player from ‘84-‘85! I learnt a lot about baseball watching that film. Defo top 5 films for sure.
5) Citi Field has been named the USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Award for Best Baseball Stadium Food for the third year in a row (2023, 2024, 2025). What’s your favorite ball park food?
To be honest we didn’t really eat much at Citi Field when we went this year. We had a huge lunch in the city before heading to the game on the subway which was awesome. We did have the popcorn though and that was the best popcorn we have eaten (my mrs and I) salt to popcorn ratio - 10/10. If I were to choose a meal it would be Pig Beach BBQ sandwich of some sort - I love bbq food!
6) What’s the holy grail you’re seeking for your collection?
There’s too many ahaha - An authentic World Series 2000 Mike Piazza jersey, I love Logo Athletic splash caps - someone find me a Mets one! I love bootleg stuff too. I recently did a Subway Series drop on my shop account (State Side Supply) and found this amazing bootleg. I wish it was my size as I would have kept it but it’s gone to a friend and a safe home so I’m happy about that.
My grail find would have to be a majestic grey road fleeced dugout jacket - it’s one of two pieces that’s missing from my jacket collection from the early 2000’s era. I have the black fleece and wind breaker with the patches currently. This grey one is special though. I love the colour, the text, the American flag patch remembering 9/11. It looks so clean. So if anyone can find one in a 2XL I would be eternally grateful.
6) I imagine it’s difficult to source vintage baseball pieces in the UK. Talk to me about your process of acquiring pieces. Any UK based spots you’d like to shout out (without revealing and of your secret spots lol)
It’s difficult, I’m not gonna lie. We don’t have vintage flea markets, vintage sports shops, or a big American sportswear culture here. Our vintage American sportswear collection in most shops is overpriced (for what the item is) in poor condition, generic or too recent.
The process usually starts by seeing something on Instagram, or seeing someone’s story, or a person wearing something in an image online or something and then the spark is ignited.
I’m spending more and more time looking for things now. I self taught myself about different brands, sizes, prints, eras, neck tags and tags in general etc. Luckily now I have a network of really cool guys who help me out if I have a question about an item or if I’m not 100% about a piece etc, shout out to you lot!
When I visited Mr. Throwback’s store 3 years ago, that was an eye opener to this world. I went on his YouTube and watched all his videos when he would attend markets and hunt for items etc. So I would watch those over and over again in case I missed anything, then applied that knowledge out in the field as such.
I spend a lot of time on eBay, again I don’t have that luxury of going to vintage stores or flea markets in East Village or Brooklyn for example. When I went to New York this year we had a little market near our hotel and 3 days in a row I found grail Mets pieces just on the rails - I was shocked! Back in the UK though my search criteria is always changing too, different key words, brands etc, so if anything big up EBay!
I have a few sites I do the rounds on outside of eBay too. But what I most enjoy is going through the rails in shops you never know what you may find.
Most of all big up the friends I have made too, they have helped me source stuff for my collection. @SoloVintageNY - a real one! He sorted me out a satin quilted starter jacket recently which is so clean! Also shout out to @Vntg_Mets who helped me source my first Mets starter SnapBack!
If you want to learn more about Mr. Metro’s collection or how he came to join the Flushing Faithful, you can check out the lookbook we recently published. Inside you’ll find tons of photos of his collection, including some pretty sweet vintage Mets Laundry.
