Sure, Mr. Met is the best mascot in all of Major League Baseball but, to the people charged with protecting the President of the United States, he’s just another threat. In a new memoir, A.J. Mass, who played the bobble-headed hero from 1994 to 1997, recalled a very stern warning he received when then–President Bill Clinton stopped by Shea Stadium during his tenure. “Now listen to me very carefully … We have snipers all around the stadium, just in case something were to happen,” a Secret Service agent told Mr. Met/Mass, who had hoped to get his photo taken with Clinton. “Like I said, do whatever it is you normally do. Nobody will bother you. But approach the president, and we go for the kill shot. Are we clear?” And, just in case it wasn’t clear, the agent repeated the bit about the “kill shot.” Mass attributed the agent’s suspicion on his earlier failure to get part of his costume through the field’s metal detector, but it’s possible the guy was just a really hardcore Yankees fan.
