Love and Baseball: Mets Fans' Lifelong Connections

0:00You're listening to New York Metz News today. Subscribe now for fast daily updates on your team. Two couples in the Passion and Metz fan group known as the Seven Line Army found love through their shared obsession with the team. Andrew and Amanda Endart, along with Richard and Tara Rinkon, met during group events like calendar parties and away game bus trips. Both pairs are now married with young kids and plan to cheer from the stands at City Field on March 26 for the season opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andrew first noticed Amanda back in 2014 when she made the group's fan calendar. They connected more during a bus ride to Washington for opening day the next year, where she jumped at the chance to ride on his shoulders into the stadium. Six years later, they tied the knot with mostly seven line friends at the wedding, including the group's founder. Richard and Tara cross paths at the start of the 2015 season, which took the Metz to the World Series. She handed him her beer at a pregame spot near Yankee Stadium and never returned, leaving him holding it.

1:03They laughed it off later at the game and bonded further while the group commiserated after the playoff loss. These days, the Endarts have a two-year-old son named Hunter who yells, go met at any game on TV thanks to all the prenatal stadium visits. The Rinkons have an eight-year-old son Maximus and a six-year-old daughter Linux. Both die-hard fans naming players like Lindor and Soto as favorites. As the Metz kick off the new season, these families show how fandom can spark lifelong connections with the next generation already hooked on the Orange and Blue.