The New York Mets’ attempt to honor the American gold medalist team backfired for the baseball franchise. A lighthearted pregame moment eventually failed to escape the tone of the Mets’ disastrous season. A fun pregame ceremony gave their fans another reason to laugh at them.

The Mets invited the 2026 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic figure skating team to throw out the first pitch. The “Stars on Ice” group tried their best to showcase a combination of figure skating and baseball skills. Needless to say, their pitching was nowhere close to what we see in MLB. But because it happened at Citi Field, the fans couldn’t help comparing their chaotic performance with the Mets’ ongoing performance. 

“This is so Mets,” commented a fan on the clip of the ceremony.

The skaters tried their best, but it looked like a blooper reel. Pairs skater Ellie Kam was the first to pitch while balancing herself on partner Danny O’Shea’s shoulders. The ball missed pretend-catcher Christina Carreira, standing on the thigh of her ice dance partner Anthony Ponomarenko. World champion Ilia Malinin was a bit more accurate, but Andrew Torgashev couldn’t hold on to it. 

Amber Glenn did an acrobatic cartwheel-type jump before throwing the ball. It missed ice dance pair Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik. The only successful play came when Evan Bates managed to catch a normal pitch from Jason Brown.

One user tried to troll the US skating team for their hilarious misses, saying, “For people who thrive in synchronization, this is the least synchronized thing I’ve ever seen 😂😂😂.”

But that seemed unfair. Baseball isn’t the easiest game played on earth. And expecting ice skaters to imitate elite MLB pitchers perfectly is simply asking too much of them. 

Although the overall ceremony was visually entertaining, it was technically a disaster from a baseball fan’s point of view. And the whole thing said one thing about the Mets, which the fans were quick to point out on different social media platforms. 

Fans turn pregame chaos into a reflection of the Mets’ season

“This is pretty much a perfect representation of this season,” read one comment. The New York side sits 5th in the NL East with a 10-21 record. They have managed to win only three series so far. They went on to lose 12 straight games in early April, matching their record from 2002.

Frustration was apparent in a New York Mets fan when he said, “Might as well let them stay and play the game. Couldn’t be any worse.”

The Mets lost to Washington, 5-4. The margin was smaller than their previous defeat, 14-2. But it didn’t make any difference as they lost the series to the Nationals. 

“Better than Peterson and Manaea tbh,” a fan took a dig at the Mets pitchers. 

David Peterson pitched 3.2 innings on Thursday, allowing five hits and seven runs. The 30-year-old has a 6.53 ERA this season. Veteran Sean Manaea has a 6.55 ERA in 2026, and he allowed seven hits and six runs in just 2.2 innings on April 29. There can be debates over who was worse, but fans are convinced that the skaters would have been better. 

“Put them third in the rotation behind McLean and Holmes, and we’re instantly better,” another fan wrote. 

Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes are two of the very few examples from the Mets roster who have delivered better performances. McLean has a 6.55 ERA from 6 starts this season. He recorded 45 strikeouts, allowing only 12 runs. 

Holmes is even better with a 1.75 ERA and a 3-2 record. He has allowed only 7 runs, striking out 25 batters in 2026. However, starters Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers have also been quite good this season. But for the fans, they haven’t been good enough. 

“Can any of them at least bat better than .210? Mets could still use the help,” one user shot at the batters as well. 

There are five batters in the Mets roster who recorded a better batting average than .210 in 2026. Mark Vientos tops the list with .237, as Bo Bichette follows with a .230 this season. The Mets have a .227 batting average, and they are only ahead of the Reds and White Sox. 

The New York Mets last won the World Series in 1986. Their most recent performance was 83-79 in 2025, which failed to earn a playoff spot. With a 10-21 record this season, even getting a better position than 5th in the region seems too big a dream for the fans. 

The ceremony to honor the gold medalist didn’t create this narrative around the team. Yet it fit perfectly into the one that already exists. Fans aren’t trying to shame someone who hasn’t played baseball. They are just frustrated that their team has let them down repeatedly.