Stephen A. Smith storms off ‘First Take’ set after fervent Mets rant

Stephen A. Smith is not a New York Mets fan, but he briefly played one on TV when he stormed off set after obliterating the “trash” franchise.

The Mets have already succumbed to the fact that they are one of the most underperforming teams in MLB history this season. But the most embarrassing moment of their season may have come this week, when Mets fans turned on their team to cheer and celebrate Pete Alonso, who returned to Citi Field for the first time since signing with the Baltimore Orioles. So embarrassing that even so-called New York Yankees fan Stephen A. Smith took time away from talking football on First Take to claim former New Jersey governor Chris Christie should abandon the team.

Stephen A. Smith thinks the Mets are “trash” because they’re not listening to Chris Christie enough. “I know the man knows his baseball” pic.twitter.com/268XDnwAKm

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 16, 2026

“Former Governor Chris Christie, who consults for the New York Mets, I really, really think you should strongly consider disassociating yourself with the New York Mets, cause they’re horrible!” Smith ranted. “I know the man knows his baseball. The Mets are trash! Probably because they ain’t listening to him. They need to listen to somebody. They stink!”

The Mets might need to make some changes before the 2027 season — if there is one — but announcing they’ll start listening to Christie probably won’t be the change that turns recent jeers into cheers.

“They stink! Period! Shut up,” Smith continued. “Play better baseball, and Steve Cohen, fire your director of baseball operations and pay attention to the hard-working New York Mets fanbase that spends their money patronizing your product. You have robbed them the last year and a half of a product. You stink! Period!”

And with that, Smith pulled the rare ‘send the show to break and storm off set after a passionate rant’ move. As if Cohen and the Mets weren’t already embarrassed enough.

Mets fans remain enamored with the homegrown first baseman who proved to be one of the most prolific power hitters in franchise history. Led by team president David Stearns, the Mets front office let Alonso walk to avoid giving him a long-term contract. And after one season, they have egg on their face. Alonso is having one of his best seasons with the Orioles, while the Mets failed to adequately replace his production at first base. Tuesday night, Alonso was back at Citi Field, where he just so happened to hit the 300th home run of his career, a game-tying ninth-inning blast that put the Orioles on track to ultimately beat the Mets in their home ballpark.

After hitting the homer, Alonso received a curtain call as a visiting player. Curtain calls for an opposing player aren’t totally without precedent; the Mets similarly cheered Mike Piazza when he hit two home runs in his return to Shea Stadium with the San Diego Padres two decades ago. The difference is, the cheers for Piazza were all for Piazza. Some of the cheers for Alonso in recent days have been doubled as a protest against Stearns and the front office, who fans remain livid with for letting a homegrown player in his prime walk out the door.

In defense of the Mets, they did offer Alonso a $158 million contract before the 2024 season, and before Stearns was at the helm. Alonso turned that contract down, which ultimately proved to be the right financial decision, with the first baseman set to make $205 million over the same period. But forget about all that, and forget about whether the fans are right or wrong to root for Alonso over their own team. The real issue here is that the Mets are so bad they caused Stephen A. Smith to walk off First Take…during football season.