The words seem coldly ironic now, almost 40 years later. But early on the Friday afternoon of Jan. 25, 1980, they had the desired effect. Until this moment, Fred Wilpon had been an anonymous millionaire. Now, he had a stake, and a say, in the New York Mets, the dregs of all of baseball.
Given a chance to clear his throat, he did.
“I’ll do whatever is necessary to bring the fans a winner,” the 43-year-old Wilpon said into every camera lens at the old Diamond Club, up on Shea Stadium’s press level. “We will spend whatever is necessary to see a World Series flag flying over Shea Stadium in the ’80s.