How Mr. and Mrs. Met's many costumes come about: See who pulls all the strings behind the scenes

They do not make coiled crimson wigs for spherical heads that measure well over a foot in diameter.

This is simply the reality of the world we live in — a pedestrian world generally bereft of the accoutrements an anthropomorphic baseball may need to accomplish daily tasks with style and elan.

Lindsey “Z” Briggs rejects this world and substitutes it with her own.

First, she’ll need EVA foam — a lightweight, moldable material popular in the costuming and cosplay community. She’ll need a heat gun and a metal rod, too. She’ll need the indulgence of the Citi Field grounds crew.

They ask:

Will a metal rake work?

Yes, yes it will.

About five hours later, the foam has been transformed into a mass of gravity-defying red ringlets, and Mrs. Met — the beloved female baseball who this year was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame — has been transformed into Mary Jane “MJ” Watson, Spider-Man’s longtime paramour.

This is the universe Briggs has created — one where the Mets’ two mascots are regularly bedecked in a dazzling array of costumes and props, generally done in conjunction with the team's various theme nights.

Armed with an MFA in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut (yes, really), a 20-year career in puppetry, and the type of resourcefulness that makes MacGyver look like Homer Simpson, Briggs, the Mets’ manager of mascot operations, has spent over two seasons pushing at the limits of baseball-humanoid innovation.

“You can't just buy a baseball-shaped Mandalorian helmet,” she told Newsday.

It’s easy to take the various get-ups and props for granted, but there’s been a significant uptick in both the number and complexity of Mr. and Mrs. Met’s costumes over the last two seasons, starting off with the “Minecraft Movie Night” they held on April 18, 2025.

Mr. Met’s costume was straightforward: He played Steve, which basically amounts to dressing as a dude in a blue shirt (Briggs notes that Mr. Met and Mrs. Met wear human clothes when they can, in a size XL and M, respectively).

Mrs. Met, though? She was a creeper — a creature that may be best described as a sentient Lego with camouflage "skin" and ill intentions.

“I don't think anybody could really visualize what that could look like,” said Briggs, who is also a Sesame Street puppeteer. “I sourced giant boxes from our recycling area because we get a lot of really large boxes. I used a bunch of contact paper. I thought it would be really great if it [looked] like Mrs. Met dressing up as a creeper, and that you could still see her face under there and see her ponytail sticking out because that's how kids dress up.”

It blew up from there.

A 1-2 creative punch

Briggs works in tandem with Lauren O’Keefe, the Mets' manager of promotions and game day events, to find ways to partner the mascots with the team’s theme nights. So when it was KPop Demon Hunters Night, Mrs. Met got to be Rumi, replete with a custom purple braided wig. Spider-Man Night meant the red ringlets for MJ. Kodai Senga’s move to the bullpen — and his decision to enter games to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” — led to the creation of a single, giant, four-fingered bedazzled glove.

And then there was “Fourth Wing” Night — based on a fantasy-romance novel whose protagonists are leather-clad dragon riders, one of whom wears an unfortunately complex hairstyle. (That one was O’Keefe’s favorite).

So, Briggs starts the process: research, vision boarding, collages and a whole lot of improvisation.

With Fourth Wing, “I was going through different looks and showing them to some people who were very into the series, and they’d say, "No, no, no, it's really not medieval,’” she said. “I would keep going to medieval, and they would be like, "No, it is dragon leathers. You have to understand.’”

And then there was that dang crown braid — one the book describes often and in great detail, and worn by Violet, the series heroine.

“They were like, ‘If she doesn't have that hair, then you shouldn't do the costume,’ ” Briggs said. “I had to look at a lot of fan art because they haven't made a movie yet, right? . . . The fan response was really great. They said that Violet looked like Violet, which is what we want, and that her counterpart [dragon] rider also looked amazing and that Mr. Met also fit the part. We loved that, and the author [Rebecca Yarros] also seemed very pleased.”

It’s not the first time the Mr. Met universe has collided with real life. After Star Wars Night, actress Katee Sackhoff took to X to gush about Mrs. Met’s costume.

“This is AWESOME!” tweeted Sackhoff, who plays Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian series. “Bo-Katan Kryze. Defender of Mandalore. Occasional Mets mascot.”

O’Keefe, who serves as a liaison between the various brands and event nights, “loves to get [the mascots] involved in any way possible . . . 

“They’re such an iconic part of the fan experience, and everybody loves them,” she said. “In the beginning of the seasons, in my conversations with Z, I was like, please, any and all nights that Mister and Misses can be involved in, we want them to do it — you know, pending brand approvals and whatnot. Anything that we do.”

And that, again, involved figuring stuff out — often on the fly.

“If we don't have to buy it, or if it's not possible, if that just doesn't exist in this world, then I'll make it,” Briggs said. “Puppetry is a lot about world building and creating something that doesn't exist before you . . . Once I started studying it, you learn that it's not just the Muppets, but it's actually this amazing art form that has so many different facets to it, and so I learned how to be a builder and also a performer.”

Blue, orange and purple rain

And that gets you days like the one on Sept. 20.

By every measure, it was a miserable day at Citi Field, and the Mets’ last home game of the season. An expected tribute to retiring broadcaster Howie Rose had to be moved to next year due to the rain, and the pregame crowd numbered what looked to be in the low 100s.

But there was a bright spot: Mr. Met atop the home dugout in a ruffled shirt, electric guitar and long violet coat, rocking out to Prince’s “Purple Rain.” He even had a mic stand, though his mouth does not, in fact, move.

“We’d been sitting on [that costume] waiting for the right moment and then the right moment happened to be the last game of the season,” Briggs said. “Mr. Met knocked it out of the park. He was an amazing "Purple Rain" Prince performer. I look forward to rain delays now because that means that I get to see Mr. Met performing in that costume.”

Mr. and Mrs. had special costuming for 27 game days this past season, the Mets said. That doesn't include outside events — did you know that they are available for in-person appearances at weddings, birthday parties and more?

There will be more costumes to come next season, though Briggs and O’Keefe are understandably coy about their plans. One thing is certain, though — Briggs will be there with her spray paint and her tools, and sometimes a little extra patch of grass to work on her creations.

“At this point, [the grounds crew] know, ‘Oh, Z is making something for Mr. and Mrs.,” Briggs said.

And sure, sometimes that means she asks for a metal rod, and they shrug and ask if a rake will do.

“I’ve developed a really great relationship with the grounds crew.”