Decades ago, David Stearns used to sneak into Shea Stadium to root for the New York Mets. Now, he holds their entire roster in his hands.
Stearns was formally appointed the first president of baseball operations in Mets history Monday, taking over the hometown team he cheered as a child."The good news about Shea in the late '90s is you had some ticket takers and ushers who were pretty sympathetic to a 13-year-old kid who just wanted to watch baseball," Stearns said with a smile."Only happened a couple times. May have only happened with one specific usher. But most of the time I was a legal paying fan.
The 38-year-old executive was placed above general manager Billy Eppler and under Cohen in a working structure fairly common around baseball but new to the Mets. "Pete is a great player. He is also good in the clubhouse. He is also homegrown. All of that matters," Stearns said."Pete's an important member of this team, he's an important member of this organization and I think we're really fortunate to have him."
Stearns grew up a Mets fan in New York City and even interned for the team early in his career. He said he and Cohen spoke about a dozen times on the phone and met face-to-face four times for three-to-six hours each, including a pivotal dinner with their wives that convinced Stearns working for the Mets could be the right fit.
"I feel very fortunate and privileged to be here right now. I understand this doesn't happen, right? You don't grow up a rabid fan of a team and then one day get to stand here at a press conference talking about leading that team," he added."And so the fact that it has happened to me, I recognize how incredible that is."
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