Love him or hate, George Steinbrenner had made a lot of mistakes in his ownership of the New York Yankees.   But the one thing he got right, and he got it really right, is that a good owner needs to let the fans know he is one of them.

If you met him, you couldn’t mistake Steinbrenner for a man that would sit in the bleachers.  But, at any important time in the team’s history, George voice was heard.  Nevermind he didn’t actually write personally many of the missives actually sent to WFAN.  The words came with his name attached.  You and I knew exactly what he thought about his team’s performance at any time, and almost always it was exactly what we thought.

When the team needed that extra player, he found the money.  I know, the Yankees have more money than other teams, but he could have pocketed it.  Instead, he knew that winning would bring more fans, and more fans could bring more winning.  He like to win just as much as the guy who buys the pinstripe jerseys, and he dedicated himself to making that happen- and every fan saw that.  That is the great lesson of George Steinbrenner.

Across town, in Flushing Queens, the cities second baseball team resides.  Its history is not so glorious as that of the bombers, and until recently, one might have thought the team actually was in a different business than the Yankees.   But the owners have worked very hard to build their own television network, just like the Yankees, and to build their own ballpark, just like the Yankees. Both have increased the revenue opportunities for the New York Mets.

But unlike the George Steinbrenner, the owners of the New York Mets, the Wilpons rarely express their point of view directly to the fans.  At times they may release a quote to the press, through a clearly defined media representative. That message also is always safe and conservative, meant to quell the opinion’s of fans, rather than to agree with it.

And while I didn’t think the Mets had to make a move at the trading deadline to show they cared about the fans, I do think the fans need to hear from the Wilpons- and I mean the Wilpons - about the state of the team.  If there is no money to go after a big guy- the Wilpons need to say that.  If it really is the fact that the deal just wasn’t there, that they too believe in Ike Davis, well the fans need to hear that.

If Bernie Madoff took enough money from the Wilpons that they really are relying on gate revenues to pay the bills- I think Mets fans could totally understand that.  And you know what- they would appreciate it.  It may be on a much bigger scale, but it would somehow make them seem just like us.  If they really didn’t lose that much, then come out and give us the reason why it seems like you don’t want to spend- is it that you don’t like paying luxury tax to owners in your division?  I’d buy that too.

But don’t let writers in tabloids speculate about your motivations.  Don’t let the fans wonder if you care.  And don’t work so hard to play the same game as the Yankees, if you aren’t going to follow the most valuable lesson that the great Boss of the Yankees had to teach- be a fan and let the fans hear what is in your heart.