NEW YORK — Decades ago, David Stearns used to sneak into Shea Stadium to root for the New York Mets.
Now, he holds their entire roster in his hands.
Stearns was formally appointed the first president of baseball operations in Mets history Monday, taking over the hometown team he cheered as a child.
"I appreciate that they're letting me in here without a ticket," he said.
"The good news about Shea in the late '90s is you had some ticket takers and ushers who were pretty sympathetic to a 13-year-old kid who just wanted to watch baseball," Stearns said with a smile.