‘Let’s Go Mets!’ Inside the Baseball Anthem That Won’t Die
Sheinman: The biggest challenge was getting our management on board and getting Davey Johnson, a traditionalist baseball guy, to accept why we would even step outside the baselines to do something so entertainment-driven. Once they understood the longterm objective, everyone was very supportive.
Palmer: We did a couple demos with different songs and lyrics and brought them in the next day. We met with a giant group of people involved with the Mets and the agency. One of the songs clearly resonated with everybody. Within a couple minutes we went to the studio and started putting together a serious version of it, then went down to some away game and played it for the guys. The team liked it, which was amazing! Gary Carter was dancing. Mookie [Wilson] liked it. Darryl [Strawberry] and Ron Darling thought it was cool. Later, when I walked out of an initial meeting to plan the actual video, one of the guys involved was like, “Shelly, you look really unhappy. What’s the matter?” I said, “I don’t know. I didn’t think those ideas for the music video were that great. Is there someone else you can get?” I was trying to be as politically correct as I possibly could. He asked if I could do better and I said, “Jeez, anybody who went to film school could do better.” He said, “I believe that too. You have the job.”
So I got everybody I went to film school with involved. I owned a video-production company, but we needed an army since we had no time to plan. The thing we were told loudest during our first meeting was, “No autographs, no sucking up to the players and don’t be a fan.” Well, you can say that all day long, but what do you do when you get on the field and Gary Carter hands you his game glove? That was the hardest thing, staying 100-percent into making the video when you’re hanging out with guys who are literally your heroes.
Sheinman: What made it so special and so effective was the authenticity of everybody having fun. Once the players got into it they really enjoyed themselves, and you can tell in the video. We never did anything that would sacrifice the integrity of the game, but we definitely pushed the envelope… in a positive way. Like when Joe Piscopo did the bit with the bobbleheads.
Joe Piscopo, comedian: I’m a diehard Yankee fan. Lifelong Yankee fan. But I’m a baseball fanatic, so when the Mets called, it was so exciting. They asked me to be a part of it since I knew some of the guys at the time. My son Joey was 6 years old, so I asked if I could bring him on the field for him to experience one of the most beautiful things on planet earth: the feel of the baseball grass. They were like, “Oh yeah, whatever you need.” So truth be told, I did it so I could get my kid on the baseball diamond. I went over to Shea and the team was great. We had a blast doing it. There I was, a Yankee fan, but I was happy to celebrate the greatness of that team. It’s all about the greatness of New York.
Sheinman: One shot had 50,000 people, so we used a sold-out crowd in between a doubleheader. Shelly, in his great style, led the crowd in a sing-along, which looking back was somewhat risky. But the response was outstanding. It just worked magically. Some of these things you can’t plan for.