Back in mid-nineties, the internets was still an inchoate medium and not yet the sophisticated series of tubes we all know and love today. The birth of MLBAM was still four years away, but computer savvy Mets fans were sucked in by a fledgling website called Mets Online. There, we were treated with daily news, rumors, editorials, and even a message board to talk/gripe/fisk about anything and everything Mets. In many ways, Mets Online was the precursor to and the inspiration for sites like MetsGeek, and for that we have its founder, Bryan Hoch, to thank. Bryan was kind enough to take the time to answer some of our questions about the rise and fall of Mets Online, as well as the things that keep him busy nowadays.

MetsGeek: I used to love MetsOnline.net, which was required reading for any Mets fan back in the day. How did you get started on that site and how old were you?

Bryan Hoch: I was 14 years old when the site launched on April 15, 1996. I remember it was a couple of weeks behind schedule because the target date was Opening Day. As for why it got started, I don’t have a great answer for that. The Mets’ official site was still years away and there really was no centralized place to go to get your daily dose of Mets info, other than the sites running the AP wire. I always loved writing and baseball, and it seemed like a natural fit. Looking back now, I’m still surprised and flattered by how well the fans took to it. The response over the years was staggering, and somewhere I’ve still got a backup disc with thousands of fan e-mails.

MG: Describe your experience running MetsOnline.net. Were you going to school while you were running it? How did you feel when they shut it down?

BH: Yes. I can remember carrying a computer — not a laptop, I didn’t get one until much later — up a flight of stairs at a hotel while on a family vacation just to make sure the site stayed updated during the season. I really felt like it was double duty sometimes, running home from school to a “second job”, yet it was a labor of love and I really did enjoy it. As for when it shut down in 2002, obviously no one would be pleased to receive a cease and desist letter. But as time passed I began to understand it and tried to look on the bright side. Nothing lasts forever and I’d already been working on the site for six years. I’m not sure how much longer it would or could have gone on, and things really did work out for the best. I think one day went by before I landed my first freelance gig, writing for FOXSports.com.

MG: MetsOnline.net was sort of a forerunner to current websites like MetsGeek and others. What are the differences between blogs and the site you ran? Why did MetsOnline.net have to be shut down yet current blogs appear safe from MLB’s army of lawyers?

BH: It’s funny. If blogs had existed in ‘96 or ‘97, that might have been the format we’d have taken – certainly, it’d be easier to update. I can’t tell you how many different pages comprised that site, all with pretty prehistoric HTML. It wasn’t easy to do a complete site re-design, which I remember doing at least twice. You’d have to go in and update hundreds and hundreds of pages to the new layout. Blogs also give a great opportunity for instant fan feedback, but we had a very popular message board community and even staged an event at Shea Stadium in August 2001. I’m not sure if that would have happened if Mets Online were a blog. As for the disbanding question, I’m not the person to ask. I think the fan websites are a great way for people to express something they’re passionate about. At the same time, the leagues have to protect their copyrights. It’s something I’ve come to understand over the years.

MG: How valuable do you think your experience there was in terms of advancing your career?

BH: One thousand percent. If I never started Mets Online, I wouldn’t be covering Major League Baseball right now. There would have been no internship with the Mets in 2000, no contacts developed, etc. I might have found journalism eventually in college, but I think it’s safe to say I wouldn’t have been standing in Bobby Valentine’s office as a high school senior. I don’t get the feeling anymore, but I remember that first time just hiding in the back of the room when Bobby did his postgame Q&A session with the reporters, feeling flushed and a little dizzy. It was like, “I’m not supposed to be here, but I am.” It was a pretty awesome rush. Getting to explore every nook and cranny of Shea Stadium over the years was great also. If I close my eyes, I can see every inch of that building.

MG: You sort of took a fan’s approach with Mets Online (I remember a really vehement article about Rey Ordonez), but I imagine most of your jobs since then have required a more objective approach. How do you balance being a fan with being a reporter?

BH:I don’t really recall the Ordonez article but it must have been scathing if you still remember it. I’ve learned a lot about journalism since then, and I have job experience and my college professors to thank. Mets Online was a true orange and blue fan site and it really pandered to the audience. Journalism requires that you be more straight down the middle. I liken it to being an umpire. Besides, the more you do this job, you don’t really act like a fan anymore. It’s difficult to root for laundry (as Jerry Seinfeld says) in this position. You do like to see good things happen to good people and there’s nothing wrong with that - you don’t want to lose the human aspect. But if a certain team wins or loses, I don’t get high or low. That’s for the fans. Our job is to tell them why and how it happened.

MG: You were a pretty big Mets fan back in the day, yet you’ve been working with the Yankees MLB.com site for two years now. What happened!? Did you defect? Was it simply a good job offer? Both?

BH: I like to think of it as that I always followed New York baseball closely. Before ‘Generation K’ – Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson – pulled me back to the game after the strike, I actually started out following the Yankees. There are a few Little League baseball cards of mine that list Dave Righetti or Don Mattingly as my favorite player; others, Howard Johnson and Dwight Gooden. It’s fun to be a fan and I feel like I experienced both sides of that. As for the job offer, I had been freelancing and backing up on the Mets beat for five years. If there was ever going to be an opportunity at MLB.com, I knew I’d be interested – I knew the company was a great one, and filled with people I would want to work for. It just so happened that it wound up being the Yankees beat, which was terrific because I didn’t have to relocate. But it just as easily could have been a team in the NL West or the AL Central. I’d have moved anywhere for that chance.

MG: What does the future hold for Bryan Hoch? Any long-term career goals that have yet to be met?

BH: Every day is a career goal for me. There’s always room for improvement. I love being on an MLB beat and getting to see new cities and meet new people. Waking up and going to the ballpark – and getting paid for it – there’s really nothing better than that. Hopefully I’ll continue to be able to live that dream and enjoy it.