AJ Mass is a New York City native who became the first person to serve as the New York Mets鈥� mascot, Mr. Met, since the team retired the baseball-headed mascot in the 1960s. Mass served as Mr. Met through the 1997 season.
鈥淭he majority of prominent mascots in the world of professional sports come from the world of Major League Baseball. In fact, a 2012 Forbes report on a survey done to determine America鈥檚 favorite sports mascots based on 鈥榓wareness, likability, and breakthrough (how easily consumers recognize the mascots鈥� affiliation to their teams)鈥� had seven representatives from MLB in the top ten. I鈥檓 proud to say that Mr. Met led the pack at No. 1 overall.
鈥淭he results are not all that surprising. After all, baseball teams play practically every day over a six-month period and there鈥檚 a rotating pool of fans who buy tickets for one or two of a team鈥檚 eighty-one home games over the course of a season. Compare that to the NFL, where teams typically play a grand total of ten home games 鈥� if you include two preseason dates 鈥� and potentially less than that if one of their scheduled home dates is replaced with a trip to London, Mexico City, or Toronto in the league鈥檚 constant attempts to internationalize the sport.鈥�
