No superhero is so specifically connected with their city quite like Spider-Man. Being a New Yorker is a defining aspect of Peter Parker, with the Queens-born hero often swinging through iconic locations throughout the city. He's even a deep fan of some serious city institutions, such as one of the local sports teams.
Nearly twenty years ago, Spider-Man was revealed to be a fan of the New York Mets -- and the reason why is heart-breaking.
MAYBE NEXT YEAR
The New York Mets are one of the teams from the MLB's National League. The team began in 1962, and had one of the worst opening seasons of any team in the history of the league, going 40-120. But the team has gone on to be the perennial underdogs of the sport -- even winning the World Series in 1969 and 1986 in major upsets. The team has even taken to mocking themselves lightly for their defeats, and jokes about the Mets are almost as common as jokes about the NFL's New York Jets and the NBA's Knicks -- with a silly self-awareness of the team's shoddy record. So, of course, it makes sense that Spider-Man would root for his local underdogs against the other primary New York baseball team, the more well-funded and aggressive Yankees.
The origins of this fandom were explored in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33 by Paul Jenkins, Mark Buckingham, & Wayne Faucher. On the anniversary of his Uncle Ben Parker's death, Peter continues a tradition he's held since -- going to a New York Mets game. While riding the train to the game, he notes that of course, Spider-Man would identify with the Mets and the identity they've developed as "a bunch of loveable losers who hit the occasional home run by accident." As the game starts, Peter remembers his past experiences coming to see the Mets with the man who introduced him to baseball: Ben Parker. Ben would bring Peter to see the Mets once a year and tried to pass on his love of baseball to his nephew. Despite the young Peter's general lack of athletic skills, he was still enamored by the sport.
Rooting for the Mets, who always found a way to blow the lead, the pair developed a mantra of "maybe next year." It's shown that baseball was one of the defining ways Ben and Peter connected, and Ben instilled in Peter the belief that even if you lose at something, you can't give up. This is often the core of what helps elevate Spider-Man and give him the strength to do the impossible, hinting at the sheer importance these aspects of Peter would become when he became Spider-Man. The story shifts through time periods, including Peter's first baseball game (where the Mets blew a massive lead in the last inning to lose the game) and visiting as a young teenager (when Peter was knocked out by a foul ball into the stands).
But it's the third memory that reveals the true reason he visits the team every year on the anniversary of Ben's death. It turns out that the last time Ben and Peter had gone to see one of the Mets games, it had been when Peter was a teenager, likely after he had developed his amazing abilities but hadn't yet become a hero. Acting out the entire way to the game, Peter sulks into his seat at the stadium next to a silent Ben. But this time, the Mets actually win the game. Peter celebrates as hard as every fan in the stands and shares a knowing look with Ben over the lessons he'd always taught him. Three days later, Ben was killed by a mugger Peter allowed to get past him, setting the stage for Peter to become Spider-Man in his memory.
To honor Ben and their time together, Peter continues to come to Mets games on the anniversary of his death and root for a team that almost never wins. It makes perfect sense that Peter would be a Mets fan just as a New Yorker, but having baseball be one of the things that still tie him to his Uncle Ben even years later is one of the most tender and tragic elements of the character. It shows the kind of simple humanity and good nature that Ben raised Peter with, and reinforces how that optimism and determination -- that mantra of "maybe next year" after any loss -- that helps elevate Spider-Man above the rest of the superheroes.