New York Mets Eat 103 Cheesesteaks in 1 Day, Shatter Record Books in Philadephia

Say what you want about their postseason prospects, the New York Mets will eat any team in Major League Baseball under the table.

According to Mike Vorkunov of The Star-Ledger, the Mets have destroyed the record at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for cheesesteaks eaten in a single day.

The feat occurred on April 30, when rain delays pushed back and ultimately ended in the rescheduling of their matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead of lounging around, twiddling their thumbs, the Mets got busy eating—destroying 103 Philly cheesesteaks as they waited for the rain to pass.

Here’s what a single cheesesteak looks like, so you have context of the feat:

The record wasn’t broken by accident, mind you. Vorkunov reports that the Mets took aim at the standing record with purpose and teamwork. 

“Though baseball may be a sequence of individualized events, this was the work of a collective,” Vorkunov writes. “It was planned two cheesesteaks per person, or more for those that were willing to help out where other teammates could not eat their share.”

The greasy orgy of beef, chicken and cheese took place in the away clubhouse over the course of 10 hours, with the Mets breaking and then ripping asunder the previous record, which stood in the 80s.

“It’s torture,” said Mets bullpen catcher Eric Langill, who set an individual record in 2013 by eating 17 cheesesteaks over the course of a three-game series. “It’s not fun. But at least you’re on [the wall of records].”

There are rules to cheesesteak eating for those visiting the Phillies. All away teams are encouraged to eat their fill of free cheesesteaks courtesy of Citizens Bank Park’s fine vendors, but the chowing is relegated to certain windows.

Players can eat before batting practice, after batting practice and before the game. There is no eating during the game, and a one-hour period is allowed for scarfing after the game’s end. In other words, Matt Harvey can’t sit in the clubhouse during the game and chow down on Philly’s finest, sloppiest eats. Rain delays, obviously, don’t count as “game time.”

Congratulations, New York Mets. You may be the little brother of New York baseball, but you’re the hulking, redheaded cousin of cheesesteak destruction.

So if the Mets are looking a little slow when they play the floundering Phillies Monday night (or puffy from sodium intake), know that it’s for a semi-honorable reason. They made their mark, and that mark is scrawled in cheese and beef grease.

On the Twitters.

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