Mets announce death of superfan Seymour Weiner… who loved all the jokes about his name

By ALEX RASKIN

Seymour Weiner, the beloved New York Mets fan who embraced jokes about his name, has passed away, the team revealed.

‘We are saddened to learn of the passing of Seymour Weiner,’ the Mets wrote in a statement.

A World War II veteran who lived to 98, Weiner (pronounced: ‘weener’) told The Athletic last year that his name was never really an issue.

‘The Weiner part of it,’ he said, ‘was something that in my childhood I was teased about. But there was never the thing of ‘see more wiener.’

It wasn’t until the Mets honored his military service on Opening Day in 2024 that fans first saw his name spelled out on a scoreboard. Reactions ultimately poured in from Queens to Queensland.

‘Did you see they even picked this thing up in Australia,’ Weiner told The Athletic.

Seymour Weiner, the beloved Mets fan who embraced jokes about his name, has died

The Mets later ran a successful hot dog promotion featuring Seymour Weiner

‘To me, it’s been so enjoyable,’ Weiner said. ‘In no way does it annoy me. Just look at all the notoriety I got out of it!’

The Mets later ran a successful hot dog promotion featuring Weiner.

‘We had this idea of Dollar Dog Night,’ Mets chief marketing officer Andy Goldberg told The Athletic, ‘and we were, like, well, what would be better than Seymour Weiner?’

Like many Mets fans, Weiner’s love of baseball began with the Brooklyn Dodgers. And it was in 1947 that he witnessed Jackie Robinson’s first hit at Ebbets Field.

‘Only 12,000 people were at that game in Ebbets Field,’ Weiner said, ‘so I may be the only person who was there and saw it and who is still alive.’

‘He wasn’t the greatest ballplayer I ever saw,’ Weiner said, ‘but he was certainly the most exciting.’

And just who was the best? According to Weiner, it was the center fielder for the rival New York Giants, Willie Mays.

Mays finished his career with the Mets, who would inherit the abandoned Giants and Dodgers fans, like Weiner, after their inaugural season in 1962.

Fans mourned Weiner online, where more than a few continued to poke fun at his name.

‘Get the jersey patches printed,’ one fan wrote on X.

‘Rest in peace ween,’ another added.

Many others simply offered: ‘RIP to a legend.’

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Mets announce death of superfan Seymour Weiner… who loved all the jokes about his name

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