Here’s my story in today’s Journal about Joe Petruccio, the official artist of Graceland and Muhammad Ali’s estate who uses the Mets, Knicks and Jets as his ancillary muse. Includes references to Superman, Julia Child, R.A. Dickey, etc. Enjoy! Also! Just for you, two more things about this portrait of the artist as, um, a Mets fan. Petruccio became an art director on his advertising firm’s Mets account after making a Peggyesque move from the sketch artists’ studio, and in 1982, he caught another break when the Mets solicited ideas for new uniforms. This was a fateful fit. In high school, Petruccio had been bothered by the way the Mets looked plump in their threads, so he mailed the team drawings for fresh unis almost every week. The idea that they bought, all those years later? The Mets’ iconic 1980s racing-stripe uniform—complete with slimming vertical lines. These days, Petruccio’s office, on the 35th floor of a Midtown East building, is covered with prints: Elvis illustrations, everywhere; the original poster for “Rocky,” which he had pinned to his childhood bedroom’s wall; and, right across from Stallone’s silhouette, a framed concert advertisement for Bruce Springsteen’s you-had-to-be-there 1975 stint at the Bottom Line. Petruccio still didn’t know much about Springsteen when he saw him for the first time, at the second Bottom Line show. He got there early, sardining himself with everyone else, because a friend had begged him. “I saw a guy last night,” he had said, “who has an aura about him when he’s on the stage. This guy could be bigger than Elvis. I’m telling you: If you see this guy, it’s like you’ve found religion.”

Here’s my story in today’s Journal about Joe Petruccio, the official artist of Graceland and Muhammad Ali’s estate who uses the Mets, Knicks and Jets as his ancillary muse. Includes references to Superman, Julia Child, R.A. Dickey, etc. Enjoy!

Also! Just for you, two more things about this portrait of the artist as, um, a Mets fan. Petruccio became an art director on his advertising firm’s Mets account after making a Peggyesque move from the sketch artists’ studio, and in 1982, he caught another break when the Mets solicited ideas for new uniforms. This was a fateful fit. In high school, Petruccio had been bothered by the way the Mets looked plump in their threads, so he mailed the team drawings for fresh unis almost every week. The idea that they bought, all those years later? The Mets’ iconic 1980s racing-stripe uniform—complete with slimming vertical lines.

These days, Petruccio’s office, on the 35th floor of a Midtown East building, is covered with prints: Elvis illustrations, everywhere; the original poster for “Rocky,” which he had pinned to his childhood bedroom’s wall; and, right across from Stallone’s silhouette, a framed concert advertisement for Bruce Springsteen’s you-had-to-be-there 1975 stint at the Bottom Line. Petruccio still didn’t know much about Springsteen when he saw him for the first time, at the second Bottom Line show. He got there early, sardining himself with everyone else, because a friend had begged him. “I saw a guy last night,” he had said, “who has an aura about him when he’s on the stage. This guy could be bigger than Elvis. I’m telling you: If you see this guy, it’s like you’ve found religion.”