Every Week Should Be Wilbur Huckle Week
Thank you for subscribing to the Replay Booth newsletter, where I’ll be sending updates on a podcast series that—according to the Guardian, in our first published review—has “the same sense of cheerful inquiry” as “the great One Year podcast.” Ta!
The inquiry at the center of our first episode, “Wilbur Huckle for President,” began with a couple of mysterious New York Mets–related buttons and led me into conversations with sloganeers, experts in political ephemera, and the legendary Wil Huckle himself.
Now, cheerfully, I’m going to share some choice responses to the episode as well as a bit of bonus material that didn’t make it into the story.
I’ll also reveal the winners of our Huckle button contest/lottery/raffle, and I’ll explain how you can get your own Replay Booth merch (a snazzy button, naturally).
“Extremism” Knows No Bounds
The episode started with an exploration of “Extremism in Defense of the Mets Is No Vice,” the Goldwater-referencing slogan that won the grand prize in the New York Mets’ Banner Day contest in 1964. One of the Long Island high schoolers who carried that sign was Arthur Engoron, who many decades later became a judge who fined Donald Trump $355 million.
Engoron is also, somewhat less famously, the proprietor of the Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter, the latest edition of which includes an item written by Engoron (and inspired by Replay Booth) about that magical 1964 Banner Day and its aftermath.
After the episode got published, I also got an email from Engoron’s classmate and fellow Banner Day winner Dan Silver. In that message, Silver wrote that I got one detail wrong: Contrary to what a third Wheatley High classmate, Mitch Stephens, told me, the “extremism” banner was not painted in the Stephens family driveway. “There can be no dispute whatsoever,” Silver wrote, that the sign came into existence in “the Silver family backyard, on Locust Lane.” Stephens’ reply: “I have a memory of painting in my parents’ driveway what I think was the winning banner. But it could have been another. Dunno.”
A Night in the Huckle Rabbit Hole
Twelve years ago, writer and Mets fan Jason Fry published a blog post headlined “The Wilbur Huckle Appreciation Society.” That piece, for Jason’s great site Faith and Fear in Flushing, identified Huckle as “a vessel of hope and possibilities” for Mets fans of yore, and noted the existence of the Huckle buttons.
After episode 1 of Replay Booth got released, Jason published another blog post, “A Night in the Huckle Rabbit Hole,” that celebrated our episode as “a fascinating tour through American pop culture, political theater, and of course Mets history.” (Thank you, Jason. And thank you for inspiring the headline of this newsletter.) That post also included an image of Jason holding a Wilbur Huckle baseball card that he’d designed and commissioned himself. The front of that customized, unofficial card features “an old Topps photo unearthed and shared by Keith Olbermann.” And here’s a picture of the back, which Jason wrote, and which I’m sharing with you as a Replay Booth exclusive.
This is perfection. And keep on reading for another tidbit about a customized, unofficial Wilbur Huckle baseball card!
Mr. Met in a Deerstalker
If you liked the audio edition of “Wilbur Huckle for President,” I also did a print version for Defector. It includes an amazing illustration of Mr. Met as Sherlock Holmes by Mattie Lubchansky that I’m planning to get framed. The piece also includes a couple of wonderful photos.
First, courtesy of Ronald Einziger, here’s the sign that won the four-man category at the New York Mets’ 1964 Banner Day contest. Ronald is the young lad on the far right.
And second, courtesy of Wil Huckle, here’s the man himself wearing a “Metropolitan Party | Wilbur Huckle for President” button in 2025.
Bonus Huckle
In the episode, I made brief mention of Wil’s high school yearbook photo. Here it is, fourth from the right in the top row, with a poignant quote beneath it.
I wasn’t able to include any mention of this New York Mets questionnaire that Wil filled out in his own hand in 1966. I found these documents, strangely enough, on Ancestry.com. (Research tip: Look everywhere!)
And finally, in audio form, here’s another tidbit I couldn’t figure out how to include in the episode: Huckle’s minor-league teammate Ron Swoboda talking about an odd piece of fan mail.
I’d suggest hitting play so you can hear Swoboda’s giggle, but here’s a transcript: “I remember one time, though—this was funny. Wil got some fan mail while he was in Williamsport and a guy from New York had sent him a letter and said, Dear Wil, if you ever make it to the big leagues would you consider changing your name?”
Swoboda went on to say that “in that New York person’s mind, Wilbur Huckle didn’t go with the big leagues.” I couldn’t disagree more.
Huckle Speaks (Again)
When I checked in with Wil, aka Mr. Huckle, by phone earlier this week, he told me that he was in the middle of rebuilding a 75-year-old greenhouse. He also said, laughing heartily, that he’d never heard anything about that piece of fan mail Ron Swoboda remembered, wherein a Mets fan encouraged him to change his name. “Goodness, gracious, boy—my mother wouldn’t have liked that at all,” he said.
I also wanted to ask him about this photo he’d sent me:
Among the autographed baseballs (note the Solly Hemus signature on the left and his old roommate Tom Seaver among others on the right), the vintage Huckle photo, and the Louisville Slugger bat, you’ll notice a Wilbur Huckle / Cleon Jones baseball card. While that card looks like it came from the 1964 Topps set, it is not an actual 1964 Topps baseball card. The Trading Card Database doesn’t have any Wilbur Huckle cards listed at all, and there were no Cleon Jones cards issued before 1965.
So, there it is: another customized, unofficial Wilbur Huckle baseball card! When I asked Wil who’d made it and how he acquired it, he said, “All I know is I’ve got it in my possession. Where it came from I don’t know.”
And that is a mystery I don’t think I’ll be solving in another podcast episode.
Button Winners
In the closing credits of the episode, I said that anyone who signed up for this newsletter would be entered into a drawing to get one of these beautiful vintage Wilbur Huckle buttons.
The winners, selected via random number generator, are Craig “CB” Brown and an anonymous Replay Booth fan.
But in another way, you’re all winners, because I’m excited to report that I hired Busy Beaver Button Co.—owned by Replay Booth button expert Christen Carter—to produce some custom merch. Behold! (And note that the dashed lines will not appear on the actual button.)
If you want me to mail you one of these beautiful items, all you have to do is refer five people to this newsletter. To make a referral, just click the button below and follow the instructions.
That’s all for now. And a reminder: If you want to send feedback or ideas or just say hello, you can email me at replayboothpodcast@gmail.com.