Few people embody the spirit of the Mets like Jay Horwitz. The revered PR man identifies with the underdog, something that dates back to a bout with glaucoma in his youth. Horwitz has been with the Mets organization since 1980, serving as one of the few constants in a sport that is forever evolving.
The secrets to Horwitz’s longevity are revealed in his new book, Mr. Met: How a Sports-Mad Kid from Jersey Became Like Family to Generations of Big Leaguers. Though the book recaps critical events from the last four decades of Mets baseball, it also illustrates how running public relations for a major sports team — especially one in New York — requires a unique temperament and a healthy sense of humor.
Based on Horwitz’s text, these are the necessary skills for excelling as a PR director:
An Eye for Story
If Mr. Met proves anything, it’s that the key to public relations in baseball is identifying stories that will resonate with fans.
Jay Horwitz did not make a good first impression with the Mets — quite the opposite, in fact. He accidentally spilled orange juice on GM Frank Cashen in his interview for the job. But Horwitz ultimately earned the position, likely because he understood how to find and market quirky human-interest pieces.
In his previous role as the Sports Information Director for Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, Horwitz drummed up interest in athletes with peculiar backgrounds, including a 43-year-old freshman football player, a one-armed fencer, and a priest who played hockey. Thanks to Horwitz and his enthusiasm for these types of stories, some within the sports world referred to Fairleigh Dickinson as “Fairly Ridiculous University.”
Telling stories from unexpected angles and shining the spotlight on deserving athletes is a strength of Horwitz. He applied those talents to his lengthy tenure as PR director with the Mets, where he worked tirelessly to spread the word about up-and-coming stars like teenage phenom Dwight Gooden.
But the PR director’s work involved more than just providing stats to the press. Horwitz also grabbed the public’s attention with stories and images that became part of Mets lore. As he describes in Mr. Met, Horwitz was instrumental to the construction of the “Sidd Finch” narrative, which began as an April Fool’s joke in Sports Illustrated and grew into a more elaborate hoax.
Horwitz also arranged for Mike Tyson to meet Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry for a photo op at Shea Stadium in 1986, before Tyson had even become heavyweight champion of the world.
In both of these cases — the Sidd Finch story and the Tyson photo — Horwitz took a risk to get all of baseball buzzing about the Mets. The gambles paid off, which is impressive considering that he did not have tools like Twitter at his disposal.
Playing Peacemaker
“Any PR guy is only as good as his relationship with his players.”
-Jay Horwitz in Mr. Met
Mr. Met also demonstrates how building trust and forming deep interpersonal connections is a crucial part of being a PR director. As described in the book, Jay Horwitz views his co-workers as family and is deeply protective of the players who come through the Mets system.
Players, managers, and sportswriters alike know that Horwitz always has their best interest in mind, which has allowed Horwitz to navigate tricky situations. His ability to relate to the players on a personal level came in handy in 1989, when a confrontation broke out between Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry in Spring Training (click here to experience Keith’s best moments in front of the camera).
It was Photo Day at Mets camp, meaning that this particular fight happened in front of dozens of reporters, photographers, and cameramen. The altercation easily could have been a PR nightmare for the Mets. Fortunately, Horwitz mediated the conflict and made sure that no misinformation was spread.
In Mr. Met, this moment is recalled by none other than Gary Cohen, who remembers that it coincided with his first day on the job as a Mets radio broadcaster.
Over the years, Horwitz’s enduring loyalty to the players made him a confidante within the clubhouse. His connection to the roster was so strong that in 1986, when the club won the World Series, the players voted to give him a full $93,000 playoff share.
Because the players trusted Horwitz so deeply, he was able to help them through their most trying moments as professionals.
An Honest Approach
The third major idea that readers will take from Mr. Met is that a straight-forward, honest approach works wonders in baseball PR. Mets managers like Davey Johnson, Bobby Valentine, and Terry Collins are quoted in the book, and all share the same feelings about their former colleague.
According to these skippers, Horwitz helped them withstand the New York media scrutiny by offering simple but effective advice. Horwitz helped Collins learn each reporter’s name, and encouraged him to be sincere in his responses. He impressed upon Collins that being amiable with the writers would afford him some breathing room when the team was struggling.
The honesty that endeared Horwitz to players and managers served him well when he broke disappointing news to the press. After the Mets dropped the first two games of the 1986 World Series, the team had an off-day at Fenway Park. To give his club a breather, Davey Johnson cancelled the scheduled workout and accompanying press conference.
Horwitz did his best to honor the manager’s wishes, and had Game 3 and 4 starters Bob Ojeda and Dwight Gooden address the media with Johnson rather than conducting a full-team session. The media wasn’t enthused, for as Johnson recalls, “Even back then it was unheard of to not have a press day with the work out.”
To Horwitz, however, being the bearer of bad news was simply part of the job. Writes Horwitz, “To any media people who were unhappy, I just had to tell them this was one time when the team’s well-being had to take precedence over media responsibilities. Most understood. That was a time I had to show the players I was in their corner.”
The reporters may not have liked the news, but I have little doubt that they appreciated Horwitz’s candor. And, as always, the players knew exactly whose side he was on.
Searle’s Final Say
These days, Jay Horwitz brings former Mets to Citi Field as the club’s VP of Alumni Relations and Team Historian. Though he’s no longer PR director, it’s clear that he gained invaluable insight from four decades in the role. Readers of Mr. Met will undoubtedly crack up at the sillier stories involving Horwitz, and trust me, there are some real knee-slappers. But the book also works on a deeper level, informing readers of how Horwitz thrived in a position that required tremendous tenacity and rare resolve.
Want to learn more about recent Mets books? Check out this review of The New York Mets All-Time All-Stars and click here for my thoughts on Big Sexy by Bartolo Colón
