Tom's Takes: Good Ole' Uncle Stevie

Headline: Mets to have new owner as billionaire Steve Cohen agrees to buy franchise from Wilpon family

Original link: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mets-to-have-new-owner-as-billionaire-steve-cohen-agrees-to-buy-franchise-from-wilpon-family/

By: Tom Greer - The Grindhouse Radio

The day was September 14th, 2020 at 5:19 pm, I was sitting down about to do an episode of Within Brims Skin of course with Brimstone and Zambo when I got what I would like to consider a late birthday present in the form of a text… If I could just take you back ONE more time everyone - December 4th 2019 in a world that almost seems light-years ago being pre-pandemic; the New York Sports world caught wind of what seemed like the most far-fetched and misguided information that ANY of us had ever heard! That being... the dream of every New York Mets fan - The Wilpon's finally selling the team. This brings us to the aforementioned date, as this was the day where Tiki Barber… yes Tiki Barber... retired star - Running Back of the New York Giants, shared a piece of information that would change Mets fans lives FOREVER: “I heard from a little birdie,” Barber said. “I heard that it was happening. I heard from somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody very important. I think it could be happening.”

This wasn’t a Mets beat writer, an MLB insider... not the Joel Sherman’s or John Heyman’s of the world - this was a former New York Giant. A retired football player just casually dropping some of the BIGGEST news in not just New York sports; but Baseball as a whole! To the delight of most; if not every single Mets fan - there was New York Baseball team on the market! Which left us with another question… Ok, so the Wilpons finally caved and the Mets are up for sale; but now who’s going to buy them? In steps a man, that is the personification of every Mets fan's dream. Someone to be 'filthy rich' enough to rid ourselves of the Wilpon curse! That man... that myth... that now LEGEND - is Steve Cohen. Cohen, a man with a net worth of $14.1 BILLION that is BILLION with the biggest B possible!!!

Now, not only is he just one of the few billionaires on the planet; but he's one who has the kind of money to throw cash at the 'Mayor of Flavor Town' Guy Fieri - just so he could be on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (yeah, that happened check the link)! Above all else, this man is a true 'blue and orange' bleeding METS FAN! A man with deep pockets, who loves the Mets, is looking to save the team (and its fans) from the dark abyss we have been left in for what seems like forever. Now not to bring the mood down; but with the roller coaster ride that this sale has been through including:

• The deal falling apart due to Jeff Wilpon's refusal to face his own failures and seeking to stay in control of the team for five years following a finalized sale.

• A bogus auction that had celebs including A-Rod and J-Lo rumored to be in the mix; however it turned out it was really just a formality, as NO ONE was going to pay what Steve Cohen was going to pay!

Cohen let the world know - it didn’t matter what the price of his beloved New York Mets would turn out to be... they'd be HIS, and not even the weasel - Jeff Wilpon himself, was going to stop him! All of this leads us back to our original date of September 14th, 2020 at 5:19 pm. That tweet from John Heyman wasn’t the only one in circulation on Twitter... the Mets had become the talk of the internet - not necessarily for what was on the field; but moreso whats coming to the front office. We heard from the Joel Sherman's, and the Ken Rosenthal's of the world… but there was one tweet that us as a Mets fan collective needed. It was the one tweet that would actually prove that there was light at the end of this dark...

dark tunnel. It convinced us that this was all real and NOT just something destined for heart break that we've grown accustomed to. As if that light at the end of the tunnel was something out of Looney Tunes cartoon, inevitably running into a brick wall as most Mets news has turned out to be. That is until that same date I mentioned at 5:39 PM EST….

Not a retired Giants Running Back. Not a Sports Talk Radio Host. Not a beat writer, nor even a Baseball writer at all. That was the news straight from the horse's mouth, at 5:39 PM EST - the Mets announced to the fans and the world, that the long wait was over! The month's steeped in anticipation were finally coming to a close. The Mets are officially being sold to the BILLIONARE hedge fund manager and longtime Mets fan STEVE COHEN.

Tom's Take: I know it took us a while to get here; but what is the fun of telling a story if we don’t have a little build up? You need some of the background to truly understand just how monumental it is. I barely scratched the surface of the sheer magnitude of this news! I’m sure you could simply tell by how this article was written, what my take is. Even if you follow me on social media (@itsmrgreer everywhere) you absolutely know, without a shadow of a doubt - how I feel about this! Uncle Stevie, (as us... the Mets collective have lovingly decided to name him) buying the Mets has basically brought me to an astounding level of happiness that I never thought I'd reach. I lived my entire life in the shadow of the Yankees, who have always been a contender as well as ensuring their money was being spent the proper way on personnel around the team and the players taking the field.

I had the Mets. Whom for the most part, outside of a few years... just had players living on the injured list and under-performing. Nonetheless when it came to adding players - they seemed to continuously be shopping in the bargain bin! It was a life of them telling us they wanted to compete; but not if it was really going to cost them anything. All we ever heard as fans is how the Mets operated like a small market team in one of the biggest markets in the sport. Now I will be fair, there have been a few post season runs, and a couple World Series appearances thrown into the mix; but all of which are few and far between. In between all of those were just years of under-performing; or straight up being an embarrassment to the sport. Now look, I get it - an owner is an owner. He is not one of the players out on the field. In reality, just because we have a new owner - it doesn’t necessarily mean things will get better. Albeit I've got to believe, that a man worth 14 Billion Dollars knows how to be successful. Knowing he has NO problem throwing money at a problem and fixing it; as well as knowing above all else... he’s a Mets fan. I'm seeing brighter days upon us!

Cohen has lived our pain and he shares the scars that the life sucking Wilpon trolls have bestowed upon us since they took the seat at the ownership table. I wholeheartedly believe that this man is going to do EVERYTHING in his power to take this franchise out of the darkness the Wilpon's have left us in, bringing us to a promised land of success and dare I say it... World Series wins and parades (if those can ever come back). So that’s my take. I have decided to look past this season in which I'm sure the Mets will miss the Playoffs again. I look to a brighter future of players like JT Realmuto and Trevor Bauer. Perhaps sprinkle in a Marcus Stroman reunion and an extension for Michale Conforto... all the things that for the most part, would be pipe dream... that is of course if Uncle Stevie wasn’t now at the helm. The long suffering looks to be over and the Mets are going to be the new “Evil Empire” in town. I for one am here for every G-d damn second of it!!! #LFGM