NEW YORK — The Mets may lead the league in viral moments. It started on Opening Day with the club’s veteran of the game, a World War II veteran memorably named Seymour Weiner . The Mets’ early summer turnaround coincided — or was catalyzed by — a first pitch thrown out by the McDonald’s character Grimace.
As the Mets hit their offensive stride, they found their song of the summer: “OMG” by the veteran infielder José Iglesias. (The song is popular enough with New York to earn ridicule from the other dugout earlier this week.) Advertisement The Mets already brought Weiner back for a hot dog promotion.
On Saturday, they’ll hand out “OMG” T-shirts to the first 15,000 fans. On Tuesday, a special ticket comes with an “OMG” foam finger. How does a major-league franchise decide how to capitalize on internet fame? How does it decide what resonates with its fan base and how to tastefully take advantage — to be fun without being annoying? As the Mets’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Andy Goldberg is the man tasked with making those kinds of decisions.
Last week, I chatted with Goldberg, who’s in his third season in the role and helped spearhead the design of the Mets’ city connect jerseys unveiled this season, about what an “exceptional” season this has been for the club and what distinguishes one viral moment from another. This interview was conducted last Thursday. The Athletic reached back out to the club this Thursday to .