Meet Mr. Met: Greenwich’s Steve Cohen embracing fans on Twitter
It began, of course, with a tweet.
At 9:14 p.m. on Oct. 30, Alex Cohen offered a message to her Twitter followers: “Celebrating together tonight - thank you all for your notes, we are beyond excited. Love my new tee, thank you.”
The tweet, sent hours after Major League Baseball owners approved the sale of the New York Mets to her husband, Steve, accompanied a picture of the Greenwich couple. Steve, sitting in a red chair and wearing a Mets cap. Alex, leaning on the arm of the chair and wearing her new blue and orange T-shirt embroidered with the words “YA GOTTA BELIEVE IN UNCLE STEVE.”
Mets Twitter erupted. Two days later, a tweet from the unverified @StevenACohen2 offered more crumbs to the beleaguered fan base: “I anticipate closing the deal in the next 10 days and then it’s off and running.”
Another tweet, sent around 9 a.m. on that Sunday, asked fans for feedback. By Sunday afternoon, the account had accumulated over 20,000 followers.
Off and running, indeed. After proving to Mets fandom that the account was in fact Cohen — he would be verified a few weeks later — Uncle Steve has emerged as a social media sensation, at least to those who can rattle off Ed Kranepool’s career numbers.
Mets fans were expecting many things from Cohen, a Long Island native who amassed a fortune as a Wall Street investor and hedge fund manager. There was the promise of stability after years of Wilpon ownership. There was the joy of having the team fall under
the stewardship of a lifelong, passionate fan.
And there was the $14 billion, Cohen’s reported worth. He is the wealthiest owner in baseball.
Transparency? No one saw that coming from a man described by the business media as intensely private. He has sat for few interviews and has been viewed as something of a mystery as he built his fortune and his sprawling mansion in Greenwich.
Yet Cohen, who operates the Stamford-based hedge fund Point72, has thrown the doors open for Mets fans during his first month as owner.
“Being on Twitter is a hoot,” Cohen said during an interview on SNY. “It’s really fun.”
As teams were nontendering players and making them free agents Wednesday, Cohen went in his Twitter hive with a question at 9:09 p.m.: Who was the most interesting player non- tendered and why?
The thread that followed included many names, with some tweets explaining in detail why specific players fit the Mets’ roster. When one response suggested a Twitter poll that could help team president Sandy Alderson “resolve this roster stuff by morning,” Cohen replied a minute later.
“Crowdsourcing the answer,” Cohen wrote, which drew over 300 likes from fans of Uncle Steve.
And Cohen seems sincere. He has bantered about bringing back the old-timers’ game; there has been dialogue about starting games earlier and about bringing the black jersey back.
Fans have unfiltered access to the owner.
“They’re the customer, right?” Cohen told SNY. “I want to hear from them because they’re the ones that are paying the bills and they’re the ones that live this and breathe this, day to day.
“And I’m having a blast with them. They know what they’re talking about, they’re passionate.”
Cohen also said his Twitter friends are funny. Yet it’s Cohen getting laughs with the retweets and likes.
When the Mets signed pitcher Steven Matz to a new contract, Twitter user @FWDBaseball made a pitch: “A Steve from Long Island gave Steve from Long Island $5.1m. Hey @StevenACohen2, as a Steve from Long Island, can I have $5.1m?”
Cohen’s reply about 30 minutes later: “No-Sorry, I was looking for a Matz.”
When a Braves fans announced Monday night they were changing their allegiance to the Mets, Cohen tweeted, “Thanks for coming over from the dark side.”
After the Mets signed free agent Trevor May, @DaveMorelli wrote to Cohen: “Hell of a pick up! How are talks going with Springer? It’s okay you can tell”
One minute later, the owner responded: “Call my cell”
Cohen was asked whether there was any owner in sports he looks up to. “Yes, anybody taller than 5’8,” he said.
And when a fan suggested lavender air fresheners in the Citi Field bathrooms, Cohen wrote, “I was afraid someone would ask me bathroom questions.”
“It’s not a persona,” Alex Cohen said during her husband’s SNY interview.
“He’s actually that funny all the time. We’ve been together 30 years and he’s cracked me up for 30 years. I’m just glad he’s got a new audience.”
The Twitter exchanges have offered the public a window into Cohen’s life and interests. He likes mustard and sauerkraut on his hot dogs. He was a pitcher and shortstop in Little League, he graduated from Great Neck North High in
1974 and Tom Seaver is his all-time favorite Met.
Cohen reportedly has an art collection priced at more than $1 billion. He was asked on Twitter whether he would rip a Picasso in half for a World Series ring.
“Can it be an inexpensive one?” he replied.
Another fan posted a picture of the Alberto Giacometti sculpture “L’Homme au doigt” with a question for Cohen: “Can you try to explain to us peasants why you paid
150M for this thing?” Cohen’s answer: “I think you ask a question that I don’t have a sensible answer to.”
The most compelling part of Cohen’s back-andforth with fans is his willingness to share his private views of the team and his position. Nothing is off limits, including his interactions with his new employees.
Has he spoken to Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, Brandon Nimmo and Jacob deGrom?
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
He answers mundane questions — when did he know about the May signing? “Last week”
He’ll refute media reports — when a national baseball reporter tweeted that the Mets would be interviewing Cleveland general manager Mike Chernoff for the job of president of baseball operations, Cohen was quick to respond: “Not that I’m aware of, wrong again.”
When a fan asked him to purchase the hapless Jets, Cohen dismissed the idea: “Trust me , no shot.”
And when SNY’s Andy Martino reported that some potential candidate for the Mets’ front-office position viewed Cohen’s comment that he was seeking a title in three to five years “scary,” Uncle Steve jumped into the conversation.
“Who wants them if we aren’t setting high goals” he tweeted.
Cohen later clarified that he had no issue with Martino: “I’m not attacking Andy. He is just reporting on what he heard. I’m commenting on baseball people that don’t want to go for it.”
On and on, one tweet after another. The guy who joined Twitter in January 2017 and tweeted twice before purchasing the Mets has reinvented himself. Cohen is no longer the hedge fund billionaire known for his art collection and 14-acre Greenwich estate.
Now, he’s Mr. Met, with over 100,000 Twitter followers.
“I did not know I was going to do this, this wasn’t planned, it sort of just happened,” Cohen said on SNY. “Then I started doing it, and it just seemed to work. … Obviously there will be times when we lose five in a row, whatever the case may be (but) I’m still doing it. I just want to let you know right now.”