Mets Employee Banned from Wearing Mr. Met Costume After Lewd Gesture to Fan

A New York Mets team employee will no longer be allowed to play the role of Mr. Met after flashing "the finger" at a fan during Wednesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

On Thursday, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported the person inside the costume raised their "middle" finger at a fan and it was caught on video. The organization released a statement about the situation involving its four-fingered mascot.

"We apologize for the inappropriate action of this employee," the Mets said. "We do not condone this type of behavior. We are dealing with this matter internally."

Bleacher Report passed along a look at the incident:

A source within the Mets organization told the AP the job of playing Mr. Met changes throughout the season, and the person handling the duty Wednesday has been removed from the rotation.

Jeremy White of WGR joked about the team's serious response to the weird situation:

Wednesday's loss to the Brewers ended a three-game winning streak for the Mets, who have failed to reach expectations so far this year.

They own a 23-28 record in large part due to a series of high-profile injuries to players like starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and third baseman David Wright. The sub-.500 mark leaves them 9.5 games behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East.

It's unclear whether the team employee received any supplemental discipline as a result of the incident besides losing the opportunity to play Mr. Met.