FITTIN’ RIGHT IN
In first press conference, May displays right stuff for Mets
It’s rare that anyone’s first day at a new job is a bummer, let alone one that adds many millions to their bank account. On Wednesday, however, Trevor May went out of his way in his debut press conference to match his new city’s energy, vibe for vibe.
Straddling the boundary between hyped and laid back, the newest Mets reliever joined the virtual press conference wearing a backward team cap and a silkscreen tee, introducing himself with a solid cosplay of the cabbies and deli guys expecting big things from him in orange and blue.
“My passion is thinking of creative ways to bring people into the game and to engage with fans,” said May, a former Minnesota Twins veteran who matured into a dependable late-inning arm.
“If that’s something that you’re interested in doing and you like to collaborate with people and do cool stuff and get people excited about your team. I mean, there’s just no place better place than New York.”
May lived that — developing an outsized following relative to the expected profile of a set-up man on a small-market team by being wherever the fans are, especially when they couldn’t be at the ballpark. During the early onset of the pandemic shutdown,
May worked closely with Major League Baseball on creating an eSports exhibition using Playstation’s latest “MLB The Show” release.
He podcasts weekly, streams his video game runs online on Twitch before uploading them to YouTube, and amasses more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. Minutes after his formal presser, May hopped on his Twitch to broadcast his own “Mets signing celebration stream,” where fans got to ask him anything, leading to varied digressions about everything from his desire to bring back the black alternate jerseys worn during their 2000 pennant run, and new cuisines he wanted to try in Queens.
“Be rest assured, I’m gonna try everything in the city,” May told his fans. “I’m gonna be vlogging pizza all day. I hear Flushing’s freakin’ dim sum is top-notch.”
May described the stream as “short” on Twitter, but it ran nearly an hour and twenty minutes, which was twice as long as his formal press conference. Anything for the fans.
Though May estimated about half of the league had pursued him, Steve Cohen’s shared enthusiasm for reaching the Citi Field faithful was a major factor in him signing so quickly.
“I couldn’t name another owner that is as big of a fan of the team,” May said of his new boss. “He has a measure of accessibility and a kind of wit to him. There was a connection immediately.”
Cohen just purchased and liberated, his favorite team from the Wilpon family and has expressed his open desire for a title in the next three to five years and to spend like a big-market team.
Though at 64 years old Cohen could be May’s father, he regularly chimes in on Twitter, using the same social media platform to stay in touch with Mets die-hards. May called his passion “unprecedented in Major League Baseball.
“You want to match your owner’s excitement,” May said. “And that is something that I just wanted to be a part of.”