Beer vendor works both sides of KC-NY aisle

If there’s a Game 6 and you’re at the K, be kind to your beer man. He might be agonizing over who wins this World Series.

Bob Lee grew up near Shea Stadium and has been a beer vendor at least part time for the Mets for 41 of his 56 years. And Lee was a New York firefighter for 20-plus years, retiring in 2002 after making it through 9-11.

So he’s as New York as they come, and he was thrilled when his team won the National League pennant this year. He’ll be at Citi Field, selling during Games 3 and 4 — and 5 if necessary.

But Lee and his wife, Sue, moved to Oak Grove in 2003 when the company she worked for at the time opened a Kansas City office. Now he regularly works Chiefs games — and Royals games when a big crowd is expected. So he has been at Kauffman Stadium this week, too.

“When friends ask me who I’m for, I say I’m rooting for seven games,” Lee said Thursday morning from his home while getting ready to catch an afternoon flight to New York.

“I was in a tough spot last night. [Eric] Hosmer’s up and I’m thinking, ‘Do I really want them to get this guy out?’ And did I really want [Lorenzo] Cain to strike out? I’ve been rooting for these guys for 10 years!”

Though Lee’s Kansas City vending is more with the Chiefs these days, he said he worked two Royals seasons full time a few years back when their home schedule and the Mets’ were usually opposite. He remembers one particularly tough stretch.

“I worked a seven-game homestand for the Royals and then a seven-game homestand in New York,” he said. “And neither team won a game. I had a 14-game losing streak.”

But there are far more good memories than bad, including the Mets’ 1986 World Series championship — and the fateful Game 6, when the Red Sox’ Billy Buckner made a crucial error.

“I joined my wife in the stands — you have to quit selling after the 7th inning — and she was depressed. But then the Mets came back,” he said.

Lee said it was a culture shock a dozen years back when he moved from New York, but being able to return for 10 or 11 Mets homestands each season keeps him in contact with family and old friends.

“I’m the luckiest guy around,” he said. “I can be with 45 crazy New York fans and then hop a plane and be mowing my lawn and listening to the neighbors’ cows and chickens.”

And a lot has changed, Lee said, besides the Mets’ and Royals’ fortunes.

In the ’70s, selling beer at Shea “was the perfect summer job for a kid,” he said. “Lots of day games back then, and you could work day games” even at age 15 under the labor laws.

And how much was a Mets game beer 41 years back?

“Eight-five cents when I started, and $11.75 now,” Lee said. “Even back then they complained about the price!”

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Beer vendor works both sides of KC-NY aisle."