Mr. Met's Middle Finger

About

Mr. Met's Middle Finger refers to an event in which Mr. Met, the mascot of Major League Baseball team The New York Mets, was caught giving a fan the middle finger on camera, leading to jokes and photoshops about the moment.

Origin

On May 31st, 2017, during a game in which the Mets lost 7-1 to the Milwaukee Brewers, Mr. Met was caught giving Twitter user @adelucia35 the middle finger. @adelucia35 filmed the moment and tweeted the video at the Mets, though his tweet has since been deleted (Sports Illustrated repost shown below).

Spread

Shortly after the event, The Mets tweeted an apology for Mr. Met's actions and that they would be handling the matter internally (shown below).^[1] News later leaked that the employee had not been fired, but would no longer be performing as Mr. Met.^[2]

The entire incident sparked a variety of jokes on Twitter. Mr. Met received a joking wave of support from fans, who appreciated Mr. Met's gesture. It was also noted by fans that Mr. Met could not possibly have given the middle finger, as he only has 4 fingers. @iamHectorDiaz^[3] made that point, receiving over 5,400 retweets and 13,000 likes (shown below, left). Twitter user @ReignofApril^[4] made a similar point using a Roll Safe GIF (shown below, right). The spread of jokes on Twitter was covered by New York Magazine,^[6] Daily Dot,^[7] and more.

Other Mets fans used the incident as an opportunity to joke about their team's struggles. Several jokes were made pairing the Mets' official statement with famous moments from recent Mets history of their ineptitude, such as 50 Cent's infamous first pitch and their history with Tim Tebow. These jokes were covered by USA Today.^[5]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References