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Embrace The Bandwagon Fan

Photo by CeetarI’m angry, Mets fans, and for once, it’s not because of the team. I’m angry about fangirls, and gatekeepers. Recently I participated (poorly) in a twitter discussion about the term “fangirl,” and whether it’s ever okay to use it. It’s not, and that was the consensus of the discussion, with a few exceptions. That was my opinion before the conversation started, but it got me thinking.

 

The idea behind “fangirl” is the possibility a person might like a team or player for the wrong reasons.

 

Go back and read that sentence again. People are appointing themselves arbiters of what the right reasons are for rooting for the Mets. This doesn’t just apply to “fangirl,” of course. The idea a fan hasn’t been loyal enough through the bad years when a team is good, or isn’t knowledgeable about a team’s history, or the stats (or even names!) of current players, is small minded.

 

Wil Wheaton touched on this topic recently, more eloquently than I, where he writes he’s “a little baffled that we need to keep having this conversation” in regard to the need for people be a gatekeeper for things we love. In particular interest is this comment, where the commenter writes of her husband belittling her Red Sox fandom, but his stance has softened. She writes, “It’s a maturity issue. The immature guys who have this behavior, it makes them feel superior to be gatekeepers.” There are plenty of other good points in the comments, and I suggest, contrary to conventional wisdom, you read the comments.

 

Furthermore, we should be embracing these fans, for two reasons. Firstly, the finances. Do you think that other team regularly has $200M payrolls because the loyal fans are buying tickets? Or because only people who care about Jeter’s WAR bought his jersey? If people want to jump on the Mets’ bandwagon because they’re winning (or will be soon), or if people buy Harvey or Wright jerseys because Harvey and Wright are sexy, then good, it’s all the better for the Mets and their fans.

 

Secondly, new fans are great. My goddaughter, age 6, loves the Mets. She doesn’t remember Jesse Orosco on his knees, fists raised to the heavens like I do. But she also doesn’t remember Kenny Rogers walking in the winning run, Beltran caught looking, consecutive collapses, or any number of things that may have jaded me as a Mets fan. She doesn’t know the infield fly rule, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care. She may learn of some of these things in time. She may not. Part of me hopes she doesn’t, that she keeps her child-like love of the game.

 

What she does know is how much fun it can be to gather with a few thousand strangers and cheer for the same thing. And that’s the only way I judge whether you’re a Mets’ fan or not: are you cheering for the Mets?

 

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On Enjoying the Mets

Shannon at Mets Police writes up his feelings about why he loves getting to go out to Mets games and enjoying baseball.

 

It’s a nice enough warm summer night. Santana on the mound, friends, two beers (not eight), some food, 100 or so tweets, take some pics, maybe a blog post, a “free” t-shirt, #imwith28, a folk hero in Dickey, hanging with the tribe – all good things. All make me happy

 

Baseball is supposed to be fun.  Yes, the nature of sports mean some times are not as fun, but if you can enjoy the experience even bad losses have that silver lining. You still hung out with some friends, got some fresh air, and still got to see all the wonderful things about baseball from home runs to devastating curve balls and sparkling defensive plays.  Sometimes it’s the opposing team doing it.  Sometimes there is comedy in the errors.

 

Even if it ends badly that doesn’t erase the three hours you were having fun.

 

And that’s my main take away from baseball.  I’m going to note that the Mets are in the playoff picture even though it’s only June.  I’m going to note winning streaks and the division champion losing.  Because even if the Mets fall out of it on September first, I’ve had five months of happiness and enjoyment believing and rooting and hoping that the Mets will win tonight’s game.

 

Wouldn’t you rather look up in September and realize it’s been a fun ride and start really getting invested in whether they can take it home than keep looking for the trapdoors around every bend in the schedule?  Isn’t it more fun to be excited about a team even if it ultimately fails than to remain un-invested until the last moment?  Ike Davis may carry us over those trapdoors.  R.A. Dickey may steer us around them.

 

I respect that everyone has different criteria to really believe in a team, and that many people put up these huge walls between watching and truly believing because they’re afraid of getting hurt and being let down.  Some people race to the Internet after losing streaks or poor performances to proclaim that the Mets are what was expected of them in a way that seems like they’re almost chiding themselves for getting invested emotionally.

 

Getting invested emotionally is half the fun! This is the culture of being a sports fan.  This is what makes Jordany Valdespin‘s first career hit being a go-ahead 3-run home run against the hated Phillies so amazin’.  Or Dickey’s magical mystery tour.  Or Kirk Nieuwenhuis‘ emergence and Rookie of the Year campaign.   It’s the hopes and dreams that come along with these events.  The understanding that enough helpings of improbable wins, circus catches and league-leading 2-out RBI could make the Mets pretty damn good.  Deep down I think everyone knows this.  It’s probably part of the reason there is a ground-swell of support for Valdespin getting more playing time despite hitting .222 and playing mostly bad defense over Daniel Murphy hitting .271 while playing mostly bad defense.

 

The emotional thrill of some of Valdespin’s big hits coupled with his swagger seem to have resonated with Mets fans.

“I was thinking I’m the man,” Valdespin said with a slight smile after his home run of Jonathan Papelbon.

A little bit of confidence in the face of improbable predictions of making the playoffs in 2012 goes a long way towards making the season exciting.   It wasn’t just pure cockiness either, as Valdespin continued with a more humble appreciation of where he is.

“I’m just so happy,” he said, adding that his first phone call once he left Citizen’s Bank Park would be to San Pedro de Macoris, in the Dominican Republic, to his mother Maria.

“I want her to know this home run is for her. Because she’s the person who put me here to do this.”

Maybe Jordany’s mix of humble appreciation for being in the Major Leagues coupled with the cocky appreciation for the team’s big hits will be a nice story going forward.  Maybe Daniel Murphy shakes off his slump with a three home run week.  It’s not one against the other, as they’re on the same team.  I’m rooting for both of them.

 

I give the mainstream media a lot of grief for creating silly Mets-hating narratives, but creating narratives can be fun.   Don’t we love Dickey’s story?  Still, him climbing a mountain in the offseason does not actually make him a better pitcher or mean he’s destined to win 30 games this season.  That doesn’t change that it’s a fun story or that he’s a entertaining guy to root for.  The Mets being a ‘gritty’ team may not actually mean anything more than statistical randomness, but it’s still fun to get into it when the Mets are scratching out 9th inning wins against good pitchers, working counts to chase starters early, or executing bunt base-hits when the defensive situation calls for it.

 

No one knows where this Mets team is going.  Not me, not you, not sports radio hosts or national baseball writers.  Sandy Alderson does not know, nor does Terry Collins or even David Wright.  They believe though.  No one can predict the future, and no one has all the data required to give you odds.  The season so far is a huge example of that.  Everyone tried to tell you what would happen with Johan Santana, and pretty much everyone was wrong.

 

There are so many unpredictable things in baseball.  Things go right and things go wrong and some things are just awesome.  So instead of sleeping in the back of the train waiting for something to jolt you awake, enjoy the scenery and imagine the beautiful places the train may be taking you to.  You may not end up where you imagine, but I can guarantee you’ll see some amazin’ places along the way.   Believe it.

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Don’t Tell Me How to Feel, How to React

Coincidentially Dec 5th is the day the 21st amendment was ratified, re-legalizing the consumption of alcohol.

 

Don’t tell me the Seaver trade was worse.  We shouldn’t be arguing which Mets disappointment was worse instead of debating batting titles and MVPs.  I feel how I feel, and you feel how you feel.  This is the single worse day I’ve experienced as a Mets fan.

 

Don’t tell me about the contract, or that you know how it’s going to turn out.  No one knows that, and there aren’t probability charts for injuries.  Everyone is different.   Can you really go from hoping that ball finds the gap so Reyes gets a triple, to hoping he pulls a hamstring or isn’t worth it in a couple of years?  Would you really have been upset of the Mets ‘overpaid’, which is something that only happens in retrospect, to keep a player like Jose Reyes on the team?  Does anyone seriously root for a long-term fiscally responsible plan when they go to baseball games?  I don’t.  I just wanted to see Jose Reyes and my Mets.   Add in that Carlos Beltran is also gone, and Johan Santana may never be the same, and it’s hard to swallow.

 

Also, don’t tell me I’m “Less of a fan” for being less interested in the Mets without Reyes.  There is no rulebook to fandom.  The truth is most of you are also less interested in the Mets, just unwilling to admit it.  Less people will go to games, less people will buy jerseys.  The team being likely worse only further plays into that.  Jose Reyes was one small part of the big picture, but without his portion I find myself noticing the other pictures, other places to spend my money, in the building.  I’ll never not be a Mets fan, nor will I ever stop rooting for them, but that doesn’t mean I’ll devote the same level of energy and commitment that I have in the past.

 

To sum it up in a way that to me seems to represent baseball pretty well:  I’m less excited about the Mets and less confident they’ll be successful in the near future than I was following Beltran striking out against the Cardinals to end the ’06 season.

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Proud To Be A Mets Fan

Thrilling come-back win by the Mets. Just when you’re ready to eulogize and bury the team, when you expect them to spiral out of control and crash and burn when two of the best hitters in the league go down, the backups step up and stage an Amazin’ win.  The Mets basically erase themselves from playoff contention and the most exciting player in the game is on the shelf leading many to believe it’s time to tune out, and then they turn around and remind everyone that they’re stilling playing baseball.  They remind us that whether or not we believe in them, they believe in themselves.  It doesn’t matter if we think they’re worth watching, because they think it’s worth playing.

It’s all about depth sometimes.  One of the reasons the Mets have been able to stay afloat through all these injuries is that they have had suitable prospects and veterans that aren’t terrible to step in and contribute to winning baseball.  That none of the injuries, barring one, have been to the rotation has also helped since the Mets don’t really have as much depth there.

The Mets have sustained a massive amount of injuries, but they still have enough talent and depth to win ballgames as much as they lose them.  They will likely stick around .500 the rest of the way because right now they’re missing those players that would keep them winning consistently, although anything is certainly possible. What is pretty certain is that the Mets are creating a lot of options for Sandy Alderson in 2012.  The Mets have guys up and down their 40 man roster, and beyond, who have been proving they can be part of a winning baseball team.

So sure, one win is hardly cause for much celebration and doesn’t change anything in the bigger picture, but it still feels good.  It’s not just about winning sometimes and it doesn’t matter what’s going on outside of the stadium or in the owner’s box.  These 25 men on the field, and their coaches, are giving it their all and it’s been fun to watch.   They’re not likely to ride home in a parade, but in 2011 I’m proud to be a Mets fan.

edit: Looks like Faith and Fear in Flushing is proud to be a fan of this team as well.

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Appreciating the Fans, 1986, and Explosions at Citi Field

Pyrotechnics Night at Citi Field Friday was a bummer because the Mets lost, but everything else was pretty nice.

I’ll start with the 1986 stuff, because this is the 25th anniversary and while the Mets aren’t having a single day, they’ve been sprinkling in cool stuff all season long.  They’ve done this one before, but they did some trivia stuff between innings where they had the players come out to award the prize.  Of course, that made everything else pretty easy.  When Rusty Staub appeared in the list, even if you didn’t know the answer to the question you knew it had to be him since he was there at the park.

Continue reading “Appreciating the Fans, 1986, and Explosions at Citi Field”

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Biggest Week of Mets Baseball in Years

This next week or two may be the biggest games the Mets have played since the last week of 2008, and they also might be the biggest games they’ll play for years.  The Mets record, as well as the Phillies and Braves, will greatly determine the look of the team going forward this year, and maybe even next year too.

Sandy Alderson has said he would consider trading Carlos Beltran right now a white flag, but if the Mets play poorly over the next two weeks, that white flag is inevitable anyway.   It’s probably not just Carlos Beltran either; The Mets won’t get a ton for guys like Chris Capuano or Jason Isringhausen, but if the chances of contention plummet there will be little reason to keep them.   If they manage to climb closer in the race, the small return from trading those guys won’t be worth gutting the team.  In a way, the Mets could finish a handful of games above or below .500 based on how they do in these next bunch of games.

Either way this season will likely be viewed as a step in the right direction, but if the Mets fall out of it here and restructure the team with next year in mind, the record and excitement levels will fall.   That probably won’t be enough to prompt many to invest in this team, raising projected income and in turn, payroll.  As the memory of the last Mets game fades, we’ll be subjected to more financial news regarding the Picard lawsuit and the Madoff mess.  Their will be speculations about Einhorn’s control, about how much the payroll can possibly go up, and if the Mets will actually field a competitive team.   So the only real news will be mostly doom and gloom again, which won’t help sell tickets.  Just today someone called into WFAN in the brief 20 minutes I had it on proclaiming there is no way the Mets compete for five or six years.

If the Mets climb back into the race and get closer, Sandy Alderson will be more likely to keep players like Beltran, and may even look to add a reliever or someone, especially if the player can be helpful beyond this year too.   Whether or not they can or will win a playoff race is not the point here, the point is that if they stay close and prove that they can play with anyone it suggests that the Mets may not be years from competing.   They could go into the offseason with fans thinking they’re getting close and with the right moves, including resigning Jose Reyes, the Mets could be a very good team next year.  

There’s going to be a lot of stuff to watch with this team this year, and if they remain competitive and winning games they’ll bring in fans to watch versus fans switching gears to what could be a returning NFL season or something else.  Jose Reyes could have a record breaking season, as despite spotting the opposition 11 or more games, he’s still got a commanding lead in base hits.  David Wright will be returning, one of the Mets franchising players who they’ve sorely missed.  Johan Santana may return, and while that’s still up in the air, as is his effectiveness, it will be nice to see him on the mound again.  I would like to be at his first game back if I can at least.

It all starts tonight against the Phillies with your hero in attendence.   The Phillies aren’t taking the Mets seriously, opting to give  Halladay and Lee some extra rest coming off the break and pushing them back until after the weekend.  Facing Vance Worley, Cole Hamels who the Mets routinely beat, and Kyle Kendrick is not a daunting task.  Hopefully the Mets can get a hot start to the second half, while exposing the Phillies pitching depth, and start catching both them and the Braves who are playing the Nationals this weekend.

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How Do Outsiders View Mets Fans?

A lot of what we feel and think about the Mets is colored by being a fan.  Even when you step back and try to be analytical about it, chances are the amount you care tends to affect your judgement.  This goes the other way too.  The amount Phillies fans dislike the Mets plays into their partisan appraisal, and the amount beat reporters just flat out don’t care about the team has them analyzing it a different way.  Perspective colors all aspects of the game.  Chicago Cubs fans may not feel we have much to complain about.  Islanders and Nets fans may laugh when we talk about playing second fiddle to the Yankees. Football fans may be jealous that we get to watch our team more than 16 times, and NHL fans may wish they could set outside in the sun and watch their team.

How do non sports fans view us? (Yes, such a person does exist) To help illustrate I’ll share a picture from my wedding and a line delivered by the best man.  I think this image illustrates the tough-luck Mets fan, the supporting spouse, and how they’re viewed from outside the fandom.  (And yes, that’s Mr. Met (and likely a knock-off based on the number) on my wedding table)

This picture was taken just after the best man delivered this line: “And finally, Debbie, I want to give you my personal assurance – unlike the Mets, Mike will never break your heart.”

Unlike the Mets, Ceetar will never break your heart.

And thanks to Tracey Elizabeth Photography for capturing this great moment.

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Is It Time For a New Generation of Mets?

As I sit here wondering if the Mets will extend Reyes’ contract, and how I hope David Wright and Jose Reyes spend their long successful careers only with the Mets, I started thinking the bridge between different Mets generations.  In my eye, generations are roughly defined by the ‘core’ or the handful of top players on a team that stay together for a couple of years.  You had Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo and John Franco leading us into David Wright,Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran.  There was an overlap, or bridge, between these two generations as some of them played together.  One midseason story line was even when Wright would, or should, move ahead of Piazza in the batting order.  What if the bridge between generations was not so obvious?
We are Mets fans because we love the Mets.  We love the Mets because we are Mets fans.  It’s emotional, fanatical, and probably illogical, but it’s what we do.   We have an emotional connection to the team, and to the players.  We all know that you “root for the laundry” and that it doesn’t matter who is wearing the uniform because if it says “Mets” on it, we want them to succeed.

There is talk out there about breaki

ng up the Mets core: If the Mets haven’t won with Wright and Reyes, maybe they are part of the problem and not the solution.  How would the fanbase, the one that includes the millions of fans not on Twitter or in the blogosphere, react to the Mets rebuilding?  Would fans actually be excited for a team that had Tejada at shortstop, Zach Lutz at third, an outfield of Lucas Duda, Fernando Martinez and Kirk Nieuwenhuis with a rotation led by Niese, Gee and Meija? Especially if it took that group 2-3 years to really start to show any talent, if they do at all.  Perhaps Mets fans are too used to a group of players getting only one or two shots at the postseason and now mentally preparing for the next groups opportunity.  

Fans may enjoy a prospect or two, especially one that’s doing well, but watching a group of players lose consistently while going through the growing pains of trying to be a great major league baseball player is not what sells or excites fans.  Half of those guys probably won’t stick around long term in the big leagues, certainly not with the Mets, and they’ll make mistakes and boneheaded plays and go through slumps that will not enamor them to fans.  We love the team, but rooting for lovable losers is not what being a Mets fan is about.  For every fan that loved Ty Wigginton while he

was a Met there are a hundred or more that love Benny Agbayani because he was a part of a run of success.  Rustyjr of The Real Dirty Mets Blog asked for reader submissions of their top 50 Mets of all time, and has been counting down the tabulated results.  If you’re paying attention you’ll notice that the list hardly follows any statistical reasoning.  Ray Knight comes in at #37 for example despite his numbers across a mere 254 games with the Mets not being anything amazing.  Perhaps his baseball-reference sponsor has some insight:

“What a worthy ’86 Series MVP! He embodied those championship Mets. Who can forget his fire, his jubilation scoring the winning run on Buckner’s error?”

We cling the players that come through for us in big moments.  Endy Chavez made an unbelievable catch in a key moment of the biggest Mets game of the last decade.  For his Mets career he was at best a serviceable 4th outfielder and an amazing defensive replacement, which aren’t usually the guys that go down in history and get remembered.  Endy’s catch is immortalized in the left field gate at Citi Field and in the fan walk outside, and it’s one of the few parts of the building that has never been criticized by fans.  We form bonds and connections with these guys, and while winning makes them all look nicer, sometimes it’s just the emotion and effort of one player or series that makes us love them.  Endy’s catch was in a losing effort and Robin Ventura’s memorable Grand Slam Single was the last win the Mets would get in that series.


Would fans really pay to see a team of prospects?  My guess is no.  If the Mets fail to put a winning team on the field again in 2011, it won’t draw any more fans in August and September if they trade off every piece they can at the trading deadline.  While the removal of players that we have a negative association with may sound like a good idea, It doesn’t actually create more interest in watching that players replacement.  Sure there might be a boost in attendance if a fire-balling starter is doing well, or some rookie outfielder is smashing home runs all over the place, but those things will be passing novelties as most Mets fans find entertainment elsewhere that season.  Some cit the early 90s as some of the worse Mets seasons in history.  The ‘86ers retired, moved on, got into trouble and were no longer Mets. There were a couple of flashy prospects here and there that didn’t really pan out.  There was some brief excitement with Generation K, which shows us that a philosophy of “We might be pretty good in a couple of years!” is not a selling point.  There was no clear bridge to the next eneration and a lot of Mets fans in the 90s noticed that there _was_ still winning baseball in New York.  I wonder what the younger Mets fans that are in love with Wright and Reyes would do if they were no longer Mets in the next year or two?

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Optimism After Six Games

The Mets have played six games against the bottom of the division and lost the four games I didn’t attend.

There are still some good things to take from the season so far though, and you can read about them in detail in my post for The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

The fans at the park so far have been pretty pathetic, in terms of their booing Santana and failure to really get into any of the games and actually cheer like Mets fans used to.  Greg over at Faith and Fear in Flushing recaps this issue rather nicely.

Patrick Flood wrote a nice piece that really drives home how much we’ve missed Reyes.   This piece represents another reason why I think it was despicable of Jerry Manuel to bunt Reyes over on Saturday.

It seems even the beat writers are stirring about it being time to fire Jerry Manuel, something I’ve long felt was necessary.  For better or worse I don’t believe the Mets will do anything before May 3rd after the first series agains the Phillies.

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Winning Baseball?

What’s this? Winning Baseball?

Craig Carton mimicked the optimism I’m feeling on his show this morning. Livan against the free-swinging, slumping Marlins. Livan probably pitching for his job, if not his career. If the Mets and Livan can beat Nolasco, they go into Wednesday looking for a sweep, and to go above .500.

And Wednesday isn’t a normal Mets game. Wednesday is the day even regular Mets fans feel confident. Johan Santana is pitching. Even better, Johan’s pitching against Josh Johnson, the guy who ‘out-pitched’ him for a win the last time they matched up together. Despite Johan actually pitching better, you know he’s itching to put Johnson in his place.

The three games after that are against the Phillies, then to Atlanta for two, then home for two more against the Phillies. The Mets are all set for a turn around and to take May by storm. What better way to set us at ease then to steamroll the pathetic Phillies pitching, exorcise some demons in Turner Field, and then come home to make Citi Field rock by stomping the Phillies again?