Mets Fans Are Obsessed With a Giant Purple McDonald's Mascot — The "Grimace Effect" Is Real
The Grimace Effect is in full swing after the Mets have gone 10-2 since he threw out the ceremonial pitch, and fans are obsessed.
Published June 28 2024, 4:00 a.m. ET
Any sports fan knows that if there’s a little bit of luck anywhere, we’ll gladly take it. The New York Mets had a nearly dismal MLB season that most fans were ready to tune out of until the Grimace threw the ceremonial first pitch on June 12, 2024. Now, the Mets and their fans have adopted Grimace as a new impromptu mascot, proving that superstition in sports is real.
When we reference Grimace, we’re obviously talking about the purple McDonald’s figure who is *technically* supposed to be a taste bud. But he’s so much more. The Guardian called the Grimace a “gay icon” because he’s purple and eats meat. This feeds into the Mets fans’ superstition that the “Gay Grimace Mets” could even take the World Series. But why the obsession?
Mets fans are obsessed with the Grimace because they’ve gone on a hot streak since he threw out the first pitch.
Baseball is a game of statistics. And the statistics show that the Grimace effect might actually be real. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch during a Tuesday night home game on June 12, 2024. The Mets went on to have their biggest win of the season against the Miami Marlins with a 10-4 win.
But the good times didn’t stop there — the Mets continued on to a six-game winning streak, their highest since 2022. Even with two losses since the Grimace entered the field, their record is 10-2 in the 12 games since Grimace entered Citi Field. But it’s not just luck — the Mets are playing better. Their collective ERA dropped to 2.33, a huge boost from the previous 4.08, and their hitting staff has been on fire.
Some fans may liken it to the return of Edwin Díaz, who pitched poorly before his time on the injured list and came back to pitch back-to-back scoreless innings. Others say that catcher Francisco Álvarez’s post-injury hitting boost has driven the Mets to success, in addition to big hits from Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, JD Martinez, and Mark Vientos, who weren’t performing up to their full potential earlier in the season.
Alternatively, the trade deadline is coming up on June 26, 2024, and the Mets are the most highly paid team in the MLB (for now). If the players aren’t performing up to the standards of their contracts, they could get traded to a different team, so perhaps they’re all buckling down in tandem with Grimace’s first appearance. Or, it could be that the fans’ increased attention and enthusiasm for the Mets is just what they needed to push through the rest of the season.
Mets fans are going wild with Grimace at the games and in their social media feeds.
Whether it’s the “gay Mets” or Grimace who’s leading the team to success, the fans (and perhaps players) have only believed more strongly in the power of the Grimace effect since it took hold. Several people have dressed up as Grimace at Mets games, chanting the purple mascot’s name, while the fans’ Grimace meme game may be even stronger than the Mets baseball games.
Some fans have suggested that the gay Mets are part of Grimace’s legacy because they played Pride-themed games against the San Diego Padres, but the Padres did not have their own Pride celebration. One fan, however, suggested that the Grimace effect actually goes back to 2023, when McDonald’s made headlines with their Grimace milkshake.
The Redditor wrote that whenever they and their friends exchanged Grimace memes in 2023, the Mets performed well and it “coincided with an Alvarez hot streak.” They noticed the pattern in the previous season, but without Grimace on the mound, it couldn’t spread to the entire fandom. Now that Grimace has proven himself, everyone is on board.
Even Brandon Nimmo, who has shown his Christian faith and belief in God through his gameplay, is a Grimace believer. “I don’t know about coincidences, but he definitely correlates with us going on this run, and if that’s what you want to attribute it to, then I’m all for it. Whatever it is, let’s keep it going,” Brandon told an SNY reporter.
The Mets have even changed their Twitter bio to reference our new mascot to say “The Grimace Effect,” with a purple circle emoji and the “Let’s Go Mets!” hashtag. And when the Mets won the Subway Series against the Yankees in a major upset (the Yankees have one of the best win rates in the entire league), the Empire State Building lit up purple in honor of our favorite gay Mets icon.
So whatever it may be, give us more Grimace if that’s what it takes to win the World Series!