2018 Mets: The Salt and Pepper Boys

by Tim Reilly March 30, 2018

Move aside, thumbs down guy! We’re shaking things up in Queens this season.

During the Mets’ Opening Day win yesterday several players unveiled the team’s new “salt and pepper” celebration after big hits.

WATCH: On Opening Day, the Mets broke out their new "Salt and Pepper Shakers" celebration! Here's to many more... pic.twitter.com/NIF3ISRLHC
— SportsNet New York (@SNYtv) March 30, 2018

“We wanted to come up with something, and this is it, spread it around, it’s a great way to get the team going,’’ Todd Frazier told the NY Post. “It was a good start, guys jumped on board.’’

As you’ll probably remember, Frazier is the man to blame for the Yankees adopting the thumbs down move last season. THANK GOODNESS Frazier didn’t bring that along with him to Queens.

Even though I absolutely hated seeing Yankee players do that, I could appreciate the camaraderie it created. There’s no Sabermetric to measure team chemistry. That’s just something you either have or you don’t, and it goes a long way when it exists. It’s only been one game but the Mets appear to be getting along quite well.

Fellow newcomer Adrian Gonzalez, who had a great debut after a treacherous spring, got in on the seasoning action yesterday.

All that brings energy, and it’s not just like, get to first base and it’s kind of quiet,’’ Gonzalez said. “You want to have some fun, keep it going, be excited for the other guy. It creates a good vibe. We threw it out there and the guys like it.’’

It’s so much more fun rooting for a team that clearly gets along. Winning definitely helps keep smiles on everyone’s faces but baseball is a grind; you have to do something to keep spirits high for 162 games. Little things like this celebration give the guys something to have fun with and it encourages everyone to get involved.

If the whole team is behind this, then so should the fans. “Grind it out” should be the team’s new slogan. Salt Bae had his 15 minutes of fame, now is the time for the pepper grinder to get some shine.

Keep those wrists loose it’s longggg season.