Dan Reilly is a Mets fan who really knows how to use his head.
Reilly, 60, who grew up a diehard Brooklyn Dodgers fan in Richmond Hill, Queens, energized the Shea Stadium crowd during the 1960s as the original Mr. Met mascot.
Reilly, who put on the oversized papier-maché head from 1964 to 1967 after getting a job in the Mets ticket office, now delights the Amazin’s faithful for New York Waterway on its “Mets Express” line, a ferry service that takes fans from South Street Seaport to Shea Stadium.
“I mingle with passengers, tell them about the early Mets years and about my days as Mr. Met,” Reilly said. “It’s really a lot of fun when you have as many as 300 Mets fans on one boat. I love it and the people love it.”
Reilly said he’s also rooting for the Bronx Bombers to make it to the World Series – something he never envisioned doing.
“This is the closest we’ve ever gotten to a Subway Series since I was a kid and the Yankees and the Dodgers fought it out every fall,” he said. “I think it’s finally going to happen between the Yankees and Mets. This will finally prove who is the better team.
“Besides from a Subway Series, this matchup can also be the first ‘Ferry Series’ ever – and that’s never happened before in any city.”
Aside from the excitement generated by a potential Yankees-Mets Series clash, Reilly remembers with fondness his years with the Mets, recalling that his transformation into Mr. Met happened by accident.
“A few guys in the front office enjoyed my personality and thought I’d make a great mascot,” he said. “It was a challenge. I didn’t know what to do at first. Here I was walking around with huge papier-maché ball on my head.”
But asked if he would like the chance to be Mr. Met again during a Subway Series, Reilly said he would rather entertain fans on the ferry.
“I love being with the crowd,” he said. “I enjoy going to the games and talking to the fans on the boat. When I was Mr. Met all I could do was use my head.”