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Do Mets Dislike Their Own Fans???
Has it come to this?
Have we all fallen so far as a society, and more specifically as Met fans, that our own players don’t even like us anymore?
Sadly enough I can’t say that I blame ‘em. Shea Stadium has become a super hostile environment of late and not for the opposing team so much as for the hometown Metropolitans.
We boo them, we call talk radio and trash them, and we tear ‘em to shreds in blogs.
We’ve already discussed the phenomenon of booing costing us home field advantage but now it’s all gotten so crazy that BMF gets the distinct feeling many Met players see us as the enemy. Not all of them of course, as I’d be willing to bet Nelson Figueroa, Endy Chavez, and Mike Pelfrey think the fans are great, but frighteningly enough they’re probably the exception.
This has obviously come into focus after the bizarre incident of Delgado declining to take a curtain call Sunday afternoon. Although BMF is on record as not caring what Delgado did, it was a strange decision to say the least for a veteran not to respond to fans clamoring for a curtain call. I respect if Delgado doesn’t generally take curtain calls but he’s savvy enough to realize the potential fallout of a perceived dis to the Shea Faithful. So while I can empathize with his motivation I do have to question his decision in the interest of keeping things running smoothly.
I honestly feel the fans in attendance wanted to congratulate the aging slugger for cranking 2 HRs amid a landslide of speculation that he was “Done-gado”. It was a very impressive performance and one that deserved recognition.
It sucks to get booed but Delgado has looked awful in the batter’s box, committed mental errors in the field, and has a well earned reputation of not being available to the media to account for the team’s ills over the last season plus. Sorry ‘LosD but when these three things converge - ya’ get booed.
But it goes deeper than Delgado, and while this is mere speculation BMF doesn’t think I’m going too far out on a limb to assume Willie Randolph, Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran are also definitely NOT fans of the Shea Faithful.
I might even lump David Wright into this category. Now don’t get me wrong, D-Wright is the face of this franchise and the kid does and sez everything perfectly but if cameras indeed caught him coaxing Delgado into not taking a curtain call I gotta believe there’s a part of Wright who’s also thinking, “Screw these fans”.
Sadly BMF can’t disagree with him.If you’re a member of a team you protect each other from any and all attacks be it from your opponent, the opposing fans, or even your own bloodthirsty supporters. Shockingly we’ve got 8 Mets who’ve heard boos this season - the aforementioned 6 plus Reyes and Sosa (and that doesn’t even include El Duque and Alou).The truth is we’ve got ourselves a real ugly situation issue here folks and BMF doesn’t have a solution.
Of course this season has been emotionally supercharged for a myriad of reasons starting with last season’s collapse. While there’s no need to rehash every one of those factors they’re all very relevant to the poor state of affairs in player/fan relations.
I don’t know if the Mets need to clean house and sweep out the Randolphs, Delgados, and Heilmans of the team or if the fans need to get a grip. It’s probably a combination of both but this is a real problem because for everyone involved cuz I can’t see any team winning a World Series without support at home.
Quick Hit:
• Despite my including video of Joe Smith heckling the Wrigley Field fans I am in no way implying Joe Smith is anti-Shea Faithful. Actually I think it’s hilarious that he was having fun with the Chicago fans and taunting them back with, “I’m in the big leagues you can’t mess wit me!”
It may not be the most professional thing a Met has ever done but it sure is funny and BMF believes this will actually endear him to Met fans more than ever. Rock on Joe Smith!
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Emma takes her Mets VERY seriously!
April 29th, 2008 at 8:02 am
This team gets booed for everything (Casanova strikes out in the 11th inning of the Nationals game with one guy on and gets booed) with the Santana situation being the most ridiculous. I can only attribute this to the collapse last season and the general feeling by the fans that nobody gave a s**t. But come on folks you gotta get over it. Also the print media doesn’t help by constantly fueling the fans ire over the end of last season and how the booing is somehow justified. That being said where does it all end and can a team win in a situation like this? Maybe some people should wake up a see if they had won 50 games at home last year (as opposed to 41) they would have won the division going away.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:17 am
It’s not just the print media, it’s the blog environment as well. People can, more or less, anonymously insult people on line and they carry that over to ballpark. It a general lack of respect for people. There clearly are times a player deserves some boos, for example when they don’t hustle or give their all, but no where near as often as fans have been booing lately. I wouldn’t blame Delgado if he didn’t come out to spite the fans (although I honestly don’t believe that’s why he did it.)
Fans need to show some respect and class.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:22 am
We all know that booing has been part of the NY sports scene for quite a long time. Just about every player has been booed, even Seaver. Hopefully, things will calm down a bit at Shea before the situation gets totally out of hand. I would hate to see players asking for trades out of NY but I wouldn’t blame them. The article on mlb.com regarding Red Sox nation was interesting. The Sox can’t wait to get home because of the enormous home field advantage the fans give them. Winning tends to help and hopefully a good stretch by the Mets will help turn things around.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:41 am
An embellished recycling job to follow.
The fans do not want to shell out their hard earned cash and see an unanimated cast of characters. When folks show up and see some guy who has single handedly cost the team a playoff berth and he acts all aloof while raking in 16 million dollars a year, it pisses people off. It certaily pisses me off.
If you take all of the times where a Carlos B. or D. COULD have just gotten one big hit last year, the Mets would have had a playoff berth. You live and die as a tema and you cna make the same argument for Mota or ScSc; but these 2 clowns had the most egg on their faces. They are NOT earning their money. Period. And the booers are the ones who make it possibl;e. You know if one of these guys’ daughters wants a new pony for her birthday, no sweat 100K? O.K. - whatever you want. The folks booing are scrimping to take THEIR kids to a gmae for THEIR birthday and this is how they get rewarded? There is a real disconnect between this carnation of the mets and Met teams of yesteryear. I feel that they disrespect us more. we don;t owe these guys sh-t. you play well, you get cheers. When you dog it and dog it and dog it, you hear about it. These guys are really lucky to be able to play here. Yes - they’re more talented than any of us; yet they are HARDLY the best players in the world - excepting Johan, Wags - Reyes’ NATURAL ability whoch does not always come through and Wright has the makings, too. The 2 Carloses? You guys are good - you ain;t great - you’re no Willie Mays - and Willie was good to the fans.
It’s funny. I remember being at a late season game last year and I was booing the sh-t out of LosD along with 10,000 others. AB 1 - boo boo boo. AB 2 - boo boo boo AB 3 - boo - AB 4 - he RIPS a 2B hit (I think) and I cheered like there was no tomorrow.
One of the things the company needs to realize is that no one is booing a player because they don’t care. There are no people on earth who want the player to connect more than the booers. The SECOND the dude delivers, forget it - the booers are on the players’ side - they’re fans. They’re no so much booing the guy personally as they are booing because they want the guy to get a hit.
Met fans are the best. Period. There are no grudges held here. It’s all love. Tough love it may be. That’s why this site is so important - the Brooklyn Met fan epitimizes and takes a microcosm of what it means to be a Met fan. Where else would a player rather play. Everybody knows WE ( the FANS) are the sh-t!
OHH, yeah.
You can’t take the heat? Get out of the kitchen.
There are many, many things wrong with the Mets. I hate to say it; but I just wnat a change of guard and let’s move on. Let’s woo theo e. down here.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Like I said, winning tends to cure a lot of problems. I remember the days when Bob Murphy used to say that NY fans were the most knowledgeable fans around. There was a time when a great performance by an opposing player would warrant a standing ovation. In today’s climate, can you imagine the fans reaction if Tom Glavine came to Shea and pitched a complete game shutout. This is not a giant video game where you can manipulate the players. If only it were that easy to get a hit in a crucial spot. I hope I am wrong and the cavernous nature of Shea makes it seem like there are more boobirds than there actually are. When the league was small, Ny was THE place to play. I am not sure it is that way anymore.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:58 am
We Met fans are becoming what we hate. Fair weather, arrogant, what have you done for me lately, fans that want to jump on the bandwagon when the team is winning, and jump on the team when anything negative happens. Sounds kinda Stankeeish to me, except we are becoming spoiled brat fans and have not even won anything. Those of you who do this are obviously not true Met fans that have suffered through some of the worst losing in sports history. I thank the stars that we have a team that competes every year. It was not always the case. Do any of you booers know what it feels like to watch your team everyday, knowing that they will only win 60-70 games at best? Knowing that they will finish at least 20 games out of first? This was not that long ago. How soon we all forget. We need to be cheering this team on and letting them know that we are behind them. St. Louis, though a little over the top with it is a good example of home field advantage. It is an embarassment to us as fans for the players to feel uncomfortable playing at Shea. It’s the OTHER team that should be uncomfortable at Shea, not ours. There is something to the Mets having the best road record. Are we going to christen Citi Field with this negative legacy? I hope not.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:16 am
On Mets.com, in Marty Noble’s mailbag he answered an email from a Met fan about boo-ing being heard more and more at Shea.
Marty answered the email correctly when he wrote, “Booing at Shea Stadium has become endemic and borderline shameful. Most folks who never have played the game at any level higher than Babe Ruth (and I certainly am one of them) have little sense of how difficult the game is to play. They appreciate success and demand it at all times. It’s as if they believe a 25-0 season or .480 batting average would happen if the players put more effort into their performances.”
I think he is right on the mark. Ballplayers today ARE trying as hard as they can to deliver, but with a fresh arm on the mound every other inning it is hard to always come through. This is a hard game to play and fans who were probably never good at baseball in the first place just don’t understand.
I am probably older than most of you on this blog, (Original62Fan is a description as well as a name) and I know there has always been booing in baseball. Watch one of the classic games from the 60’s or 70’s on SNY sometime. It just seemed that fans were a bit classier back then. There were boos, but the fans seemed to understand that it wasn’t how many hits you got each game, but rather when you got them.
Let’s give all Mets a break, especially Delgado. If Sunday’s performance was an indication of him coming out of his slump then I am sure the Mets will begin to roll and he will be cheered for the rest of the season.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hopefully, by this being such an open topic of conversation everywhere you turn, some positive may come out of all of this. fans have the right to boo but I just wish they could pick appropriate times to boo. To boo a kid like Reyes can’t be helping his confidence. He may be a gifted athlete but he is only a kid who went from poverty to NYC. One other thing, wouldn’t it be nice if fans spontaneously chanted “Let’s Go Mets” instead of being prompted by a canned recording. I guess I miss the old days.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I’m not saying they deserve to get booed at every turn but I don’t feel sorry for them. They lost a lot of fans from what they did last year and I think a lot of boos are because of their collapse. The fans spent the entire season with them last year only to have it all pissed away. I still feel anger about that so I understand the boos.
New players don’t deserve it though.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Maybe it’s time for Willie to pull a Lee Elia. For those who don’t remember old Lee he lit into the Cubs fans back in the early 80’s for not supporting the team. It’s one of the greatest profanity laced rants in sports history. I can see the headline now… “Willie Goes Beserk!” Maybe something ridiculous like this is needed to loosen everybody up (fans and players alike).
April 29th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Well there are a few things in my mind….
First of all I think the situation is partly on us as fans and also on the fact that this Mets team is a very un-animated group of guys and that does ring will with the average New Yorker. Face the facts, we’re a very emotional and demonstrative group of people and we can’t comprehend what we perceive to be “the lack of caring” on the part of some of our players. If Lo Duca wasn’t as emotional as he was then he woulda been booed outta town in a heartbeat.
Also alot of people forget that these people are humans (extremely rich) that just happen to place baseball. They have feelings and can be negatively affected by what we say.
As for what we can do about it…well if you go to games with frequency then change how you root..be louder FOR us. Drown out the idiots, if you sit quiet and let them run big Shea then you’re just as guilty as they are!
Just my 2 cents
April 29th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Todays blogs are on the money and very thought provoking-I am an ex-Brooklynite who lives in FL-I have been a Met fan since 1973 but have not been to a game in NY since 2000-my daughter is 12 and has never been to Shea-we catch the Mets when they are @ Shea south to play the Marlins-she wants to see the Mets @ Shea this year since Shea is going down this year.I am a little wary of bringing her there this year because of all the resentment,hostility and lack of family atmosphere-I think this is a sign of the times we live in-blue collar people pay 4.00 a gallon and high ticket prices to see underachieving multimillionaires-naturally because of frustration and jealousy,booing results-there is no perfect answer to all these questions except fans need to be more respectful and players need to do their jobs to the best of their ability and find a way to be a little more fan friendly!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Lip and others point out fans are booing in part because of last year’s collapse. Well, Santana wasn’t here last year and he got booed his first game at Shea!
The bottom line is people are becoming jerks that think they have a right to boo and insult people at will. Well, you don’t!
Show some class and respect for people. You’d be surprised what you get in return.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:28 am
LIPPER, U & I HAVE DISAGREED MANY TIMES BEFORE HOWEVER, THIS LATEST POST IS CERTAINLY YOUR MOST INANE. YOUR LOGIC IS U BOO FAILURE TO DELIVER & CHEER SUCCESS. WELL, MY FRIEND YOU JUST DECRIBED A PATTERN THAT WOULD BOO MOST HOFers 70% OF THE TIME. THAT’S REDICULOUS. U & UR ILK UPSET AT PRICES, TO WATCH AN UNDERPERFORMING TEAM? STAY HOME TEACH YOUR KIDS ETIQUETTE TO NOT BOO YOUR HOME TEAM, AND COMPASSION.
BMF, I’VE GOT YOUR SOLUTION NYM OWNERSHIP ANNOUNCES A SPECIAL FAN APPRECIATION EVENT FOR 9/29, VIOLATES STATE LAWS & IMPLODES SHEA STADIUM WITH EVERYONE IN IT.
AS SOMEONE WHO’S ROOTED FOR THIS TEAM SINCE DAY 1, 1962, I MUAST TELL U I’M HARD PRESSED TO REMEMBER ANY OCCURANCE WHEN SEAVER WAS SO RUDELY RESPONDED TO BY NYM FANS. THAT INCLUDES HIS FIRST APPEARANCE AS A RED WHEREBY HE REC’D A STANMDING O. THAT’S KNOWLEDGEABLE FANS WITH CLASS. FYI AN AUDIBLE SIGH AT FAILURE IS ENOUGH TO DISPLAY DISAPPOINTMENT; BUT YET ACKNOWLEDGES U WERE ROOTING FOR SUCCESS. A BOO IS DISDAINFUL & HAS NO PLACE IN RELATION TO HOME TEAM PLAYERS STRUGGLING TO SUCCEED.
EVERYONE KNOWS DELGADO IS STRUGGLING DUE TO LACK OF YOUTH & NOT LACK OF TRYING. DO YOU BOO A BLIND OR HANDICAPED PERSON FOR FAILURE? CLASSLESS, RIGHT!
April 29th, 2008 at 10:33 am
I was at the Saturday game last weekend against the Braves and you could tell that Shea Stadium is a very different place. There was a marked lack of emotion from Mets fans in general. Don’t get me wrong, people cheered at the right time, and booed at some of the right times, like when Pagan was throw out at the plate, but there was such a lack of emotion. Now I wasn’t in the upper deck like I usually am, where all the crazies sit, where I have found a lot of emotion in the past but still. There were barely any chants, or clapping, etc. Cowbell Man got one or two things started but they died out relatively quickly. In the past when (just for example) a Jose, Jose, Jose chant would break out (and I know people don’t like that chant anymore or whatever, but I still do) it would catch on and soon the whole stadium would be rocking and cheering and screaming. Blah Blah Blah collapse, etc. but we fans have lost our emotion just like the team. I am not sure which came first, but I think that if we can get Shea rocking again, the players will also come around.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Mr Met–
The problem is that they play so much crap over the PA like “Everybody Clap Your Hands” that fans don’t do anything spontaneously anymore. Everyone waits for Chris Rock to tell them to yell “Lets Go Mets”.
(Except for the horrible wave, people seem to love to do that rather than watch the game)
I like to be a “ringleader” at games. When I had Knicks season tickets, I used to start alot of chants in my corner of MSG. We used to get the place going.
At Mets games, I like to start “Lets Go Mets”, I have found it pretty hard to get a decent chant going the last 2 seasons.
The fanbase has been infiltrated by bandwagon slugs that used to be Yankees fans. I am convinced of this. There is no other way to explain the Yankee Roll Call style “Paul Lo-Du-ca” and “Car-los Bel-tran” chants that we’ve heard the last few years. Even worse is when they play the organ music to encourage these chants.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Congratulations, realizing that you as Met fans are the lowest form of life on Earth is the first step towards a recovery.
You’ll choke again, just wait.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Lowlifes who choke? That gives us somethjing in common, Brett. That’s exactly how your wife describes YOU.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Brett Myers is a Blumpkin (see urban dictionary).
Myers “wastes” his time “sucking” by typing anti-Mets rant on blogs. What a way to spend your day on Earth. It look’s like your choking at life.
Players can do what they want (other than cheating) as long as they are winning ball games.
Even if it means smacking Brett “Blumpkin” Myers in the face with a foul ball the next time he watches his team lose in a shutout because their ace has season ending surgery.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Expect more brilliant comments, this post is on Deadspin.
The Mets choked and then the Phillies got beat, like Mrs. Meyers.
I wouldn’t pound my chest over being handed a division and then being exposed as frauds. But thats just me.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Regarding Delgado not taking the curtain call, I don’t think it has anything to do with him being bitter about the boos. It’s just not in his make up to take curtain calls. I think he’s taken 2 in his entire 16 year career. His postgame comments indicate that he didn’t think it was appropriate to take the curtain call because the game was close and he didn’t want to show up the Braves. I see no reason not to believe him. I think he understands why folks are booing him and seems to realize that it comes with the territory.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Just brilliant!!!Well spoken my man.
Without me in the line-up my boys are Munsoned. You want to talk about a rough crowd? Try playing at my little playground. They start booing the ice cream man if they do not like the flavas! What nerve.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am
What can I say? YOUR TEAM AND YOUR FANS f**kING SUCK!!
GO MARLINS!!
Know what it feels like to win a World Series, you perennial CHOKERS??
April 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Mets record at home: 8-4.
Mets record away: 5-7.
Batting at home: .243/.343/.381
Batting away: .269/.338/.380
ERA Home: 2.95
ERA Away: 4.65
So much for an argument about the disappearance of home field advantage sustained by the facts.
Am I the only person who is absolutely fed up with all of the hand wringing over the booing? Enough. Some of you guys are just jumping at the chance to be self-righteous and to anoint yourselves as the “true fans.”
After last September, this team came out in March and Willie and a lot of players simply stated they’d moved past last year and put it behind them. Then they proceeded to have a mostly miserable April. What do they expect, undying support? No doubt some of the b.s. from the crowd like the Sanatana incident has been obscene, but enough with the psychoanalysis of the really pissed off segment of the fan base. I’m not one of them, but their loud presence after the way this season started was inevitable.
And CoreyNYC, there is no one more annoying and more deserving of being pelted with pretzels and beer at a game than the “ringleader” who wants to dictate to me when I have to get up and chant.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I think part of the booing of Delgado goes back to last year’s comment of “We know how good we are. Some times we get bored.” That sort of general malaise and perceived lack of effort goes into the fans’ feelings toward Delgado, Glavine, Beltran and Reyes. These guys sometimes give the impression they’re on auto-pilot.
The booing of Santana was ridiculous; he had one bad game against a decent Brewers team. But this team as a whole made their bed last year. The fans are still exceptionally bitter about last year’s collapse, and all the talk out of spring training was about how the team had turned the page, how they’d come out here with a fire they didn’t have last year, and instead we’re subject to much of the same behavior.
What Mets fans need to do is lay off the silly booing, and instead use it where warranted. If Delgado can’t take boos when he’s awful defensively and barely acceptable offensively, he’s simply not cut out for New York.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:43 am
You want to boo? Take it out on a guy who really deserves it.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:48 am
The Mets were lovble losers in the past. It was fine because we KNEW we would have a horrible year. What the team has done now is take an all or nothing approach. We win today and if not, we destroy the future. When the team does not win today, the result is not pretty. This is what happens when you bet the ranch. If it works - great. If it ends in a laughable, absurd and unprecedented collapse, be prepared for what follows.
I’m not on Delgado’s case about the curtain call - I don;t ahve a problem with him not taking it. I DO have a problem with his isolationist attitude. After going 4-47 and being asked if he’s upset - th eanswer is no. Glavine - no big deal it’s only a game. THIS is what happens when you bring in hired guns - ice men and don;t cultivate a team with comraderie from the ground up.
I can’t stress enough how strongly I have diasgreed with the way this team was assembled. If the Mets don;t win a WS after making all these big moves, it will be far worse (and last year was far worse) for the franchose than losing 120 games. The Mets are looked upon as a joke and the fans are upset. Whta else are they supposed to do? Oh, jolly gee, Carlos, that’s o.k., fella. We’ll ge t’em next time. 3 cheers for our Mets. It’s right - win and people will be happy. There is some low class booig - I acknowledge it. Booing Johan was not called for. However, he knew what he was gettign into when he took the money. He signed up to have the world on his shoulders.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Oh for the love of god. This board and the Flyers-induced panic attacks are driving me mad.
1.) CoreyNYC. The Phils won games. The Mets lost games. The division championship wasn’t handed to them. By your reasoning, the Phils hand everyone in the NL a lead every April.
2.) Every team has fans who boo. Perhaps it’s just becoming noticeable to y’all now. For some reason, and i blame it on journalists lack of creativity, it only gets talked about with fans in Philly. Snowballs from Giants fans caught in a photo, “show me your boob” chants from Jets fans, Mets fans cheering when rollins’ twisted his ankle. Fights at shea. Riots in Montreal when they win a series. This all gets a cursory glance when it happens elsewhere. There are jackasses everywhere.
I just believe that it’s time for people to understand that no fan base is moron-free.
3.) Ok, i forgot what point 3 was going to be.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
That was one of the points I was trying to make. Booing will never go away, nor should it. It’s just that it is not right to boo everything and everybody for the sake of booing. To me, obvious lack of hustle deserves to be booed. Maybe there just hasn’t been enough to cheer about lately. We need a few walk off homers. Remember those?
April 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Amen Dakko.
Not hustling is boo-worthy.
A Guide to Parenting by Britney’s Mother is boo-worthy.
BMF listening to the Backstreet Boys at a sports bar is boo-worthy.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
That;s right. A walkoff homer is supposed to come from the heart of your order. Your .223 hitting cleanup 5 tool 116 million dollar man. Or your veteran power hitting 1st baseman who’s maling 16 mil a yer and has a stellar .191 average.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Amen on all counts, BMF.
This is why I love you. (in a non gay way)
April 29th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I don’t pretend to be breaking any new ground with the following equation:
Epic collapse + huge salaries + outrageous ticket prices + mediocre start = excessive booing.
From what I‘ve seen the when basically the entire stadium has is booing the booing is deserved. Or at least is a reasonable reaction to events on the field. I know there is a “never boo anyone ever” contingent out there but I am not a member. Lack of effort, silly mental mistakes and consistently putrid play from a high priced regular are all legit reasons to boo in my mind.
On the other hand the booing that most of us consider ridiculous has been scattered (Santana, just about any reliever who isn’t perfect, just about any hitter that makes a 3rd out) although certainly audible. I believe that booing comes from two types of fans:
• The fan who can only afford to get to one or two games per year. They can’t believe how much they are paying for the seats, the parking, the food et al. For that investment they expect a proper return on their investment right then and there, the long haul be damned. And when they don’t get that return they react accordingly (and often stupidly) by doing things like booing Santana.
• The “neo Met fan” (a subset of the neo-baseball fan species) – the mostly younger crowd that has been raised in an era of rampant free agency, skyrocketing salaries (and ticket prices) and player loyalty that often appears to be only to their next paycheck, all of which has led to a much more hostile relationship with the players that sits right under the surface of their fandom. And in their instant gratification world the hostility, i.e. the booing, comes out early and often.
I think the second group of fans would be the ones described by someone as imported Yankee fans. I don’t think they were ever actually Yankee fans. What’s happening is that the more Mets ownership acts like Yankee ownership (as in trying to buy a championship with a huge payroll) the more the Met fans will act like the A-Rod/Rivera booing fans to the north.
Those fan-types are here to stay and in fact their numbers will only grow. The only solution is winning.
As to BMF’s original question – I think most Mets do dislike the fans right now. Although I believe that a winning streak that fixes fan behavior will turn around the players’ feelings just as quickly.
The other solution – have Willie and Omar come out right before each game and the fans can let their feelings be known then. Let’s face it most of the booing is directed at management but the players have to take the brunt since they’re the ones on the field.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
One other thing - who knew the Phanatic could write more than two sentences? Such a cogent and well thought out post! I miss the days of cryptic and fairly incomprehensible one liners about hot pockets.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Wait .. BMF really played the Backstreet Boys at Blondies last night?
I have to reconsider my favorite bar ..
April 29th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I have to say that in Friday’s game, the fans were surprisingly patient w/ Pelf, in regards to withholding the boos… with as many walks and hits as he gave up, people mostly stayed quiet (although i think we were all just in shock at how badly things were going)… he only got booed once or twice, in fact fans cheered whenever he threw a strike (perhaps out of sarcasm, though)… whereas on the other hand, they instantly booed delgado… at least the fans recognize the difference between the two guys’ situations, and react accordingly.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
schmifty - I guess that is good to hear but I still think it’s wrong to have booed Pelfrey at all. Again I am not a member of the “never boo anyone ever” club by any stretch and Mr. 4 for 49 fits in my booing parameters (putrid playing high priced regular), but what exactly do people expect from the Pelf? He’s a young kid, a 5th starter and trying to make the step to legit major league player.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
It’s about HEART, it’s about MONEY, it’s about ENTITLEMENT, and it’s about RESULTS.
Have you noticed a direct correlation between a player’s salary and the boos they incur? The fans shell out money, which supports the player’s well-advertised over-inflated salaries, and they feel entitled to see results, or at the very least, heart. Fail to see either, and we boo. In some cases (Beltran, Santana, and that other guy… A-Rod) the money is so obscene we want, no, DEMAND results no matter what.
Personally, I think that sense of entitlement is bulls**t, but it is a direct response to the crazy salaries that players earn in the age of free agency and Moneyball.
I wish Fans could show a little heart and support their team even when they’re down. Maybe even cheer a slumping player when he comes up in a big situation and try to encourage him a little. I wish Players would consistently play with heart, intensity, and class, and maybe show a little loyalty to the teams they came up with. While I’m at it, I might as well wish for world peace, a cure for cancer, and an end to global warming…
In the meantime, thank god for beer.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
PS - RE: Joe Smith… When I take that heckling video into account with the fact that Joe complained that I took pictures of him, with the fact that he would not take a picture with Coop and co. at Duffy’s, with the fact that he AS A ROOKIE complained about having to deal with autograph seekers at Shea (and advised running past them, no eye contact)… it’s not so cute anymore. I wanna love Joey, but I can’t.
I know he has his good moments, so I can’t say he is ‘bad’ to the fans; for now I will just say his fan sense is certainly ‘odd’. I mean, the fans LIKE the guy… it’s not like he’s under fire… so I don’t understand his attitude at all.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I hate to sound like a little league coach, but it’s time that everyone started having fun again. 2006 was a great ride not just because we won the division or made it to the nlcs, but because the mets had fun playing, and we had fun watching. The 1986 mets looked that way too, when they weren’t kicking the crap out of opposing teams, literally. Since last years all-star break, no one seems to be having fun anymore. Not the players and not the fans. Instead the team has looked like the team from the Bronx, high paid individuals on the field, as opposed to a team who enjoys playing together. Business as usual. We the fans, some of us excluded, have become the yankee fans many of us have complained about for the past decade. I don’t know which group fell first, but they both need eachother to get back on track. There have been some glimmers of hope, whether it be some dances, or delgado’s fist pump on a double play, but we need to see a fun team again. It’s good to see Delgado walking to the mound again, which was so frequent in 06, and forgotten in 07. If he can’t be productive on the field, at least he can help out the younger guys that we need to step up.
It’d be nice to see some emotion again and some feeling from the players. A loss is a lot easier to accept when the player is as upset as you. These carefully crafted pr answers are wearing thin, and are very reminiscent of the stoic a-rod postgame quotes.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Let he who is without sin cast a little boo on a mole the size of Uranus.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
My vote is for “Fans Need to Get a Grip.”
For a team that is 1.5 games back in April to the Marlins, things are not as bad as they seem. There are alot of improvements that can be made, but I don’t think that Omar and the team can be criticized for a lack of effort.
As for the booing, unless there’s a guy out there sucking up the payroll and not giving a damn (Bobby Bo comes to mind), you’d better be cheering every single player wearing the blue and orange or you’ve got no business calling yourself a fan.
If you are a Met fan and can’t help yourself from booing the home team, please do us all a favor and take your mouth to the Bronx where I’m sure there are plenty of folks who would be happy to join you in serenading thier “heros.”
April 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wang Chung tonight.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I have so many thoughts that I’d like to add, but I just don’t feel like it.
I guess I’m just bored of the topic…it’s the same BS crap we’ve been talking about for ever..
Whaw Whaw Whaaa…Beltran… Whaw Whaaa…Over Paided…Whaaa whaaw…i have the Right… Whaaa Whaaw…it don’t help players…Wha Whaaa…Ok to boo here, but not here…Whaaw Whaa Delgado…
Just Sub Beltran and Delgado with…Cedeño, Matsui, Burnitz, Zambrano, Mota, ScSc…Mientkiewicz, Zeile, Looper….Benitez…Vaughn…even Piazza and Strawberry have been booed…
it’s the same old crap over and over…I would love to see nobody boo…I’d love to see the Mets win 173 games every year…s**t just ain’t gonna happen….
Once the Mets start winning and stop have these sloppy Rookie ball type games…the booing will stop…
Although, back in 2006, I could feel the energy at Shea coming out of the TV…that feeling has been lost…
BTW…something else, why do we act like the Mets from the 80’s are our gods who did everything right?…don’t get me wrong, I loved them…they are the Mets I grew up with…but we always compare every team with the 80’s Mets…THOSE METS KNEW HOW TO WIN…THEY PLAYED THE GAME RIGHT…NOW LIKE THESE LOSERS….Lets be honest…the 80’s Mets where Drug using, cat killing, alcoholic jerks who you wouldn’t trust alone with your wife or with your car…It just so happened that these Jerks (Don’t forget I love these guys too, just proving a point) happened to be handed the WS by Buckner…then they chocked away the next 4 years and traded away all their stars… But these guys set the bar for every other Mets team…
April 29th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I hear all sides of these arguments and can understand where people are coming from. What I find humorous is people declaring themselves true fans and others not true fans based on how they react to the team’s play.
I think everybody needs to have a hotpocket and dream of Mets Divas and enjoy the team however they want, be it booing, cheering, going to games, watching on tv, or talking about baseball at The Hired Hand in Florida with a 15-year-old country singer.
LET’S GO METS!
HOTPOCKETS FOR EVERYBODY!
BOO OR CHEER, WE ALL DRINK BEER!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
A Hotpocket is God’s way of saying:
‘Here is a bit of love, in a tender flaky crust. Eat up my people, for food in your mouth makes booing a messy practice. and go Phils.’
April 29th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
That must be why they make those diet hotpockets.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
A Diet Hotpocket is like eating Matza on Thanksgiving. Stupid and uncomfortably binding.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
USMF - fans like you help perpetuate the myth that 1986 has been rewritten in history as a Red Sox mistake. BUCKNER HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!! THe game was already tied and chances are he would not beat out Mookie to the base. Secondly, there was a whole other game to play, that the Red Sox also blew and the Mets won pretty cleanly if I may remember correctly. Oh yeah, as a matter of fact I was THERE in attendance.
USMF - I heart you with an arrow and cupids and little hearts, bows and kittens, but please don’t say something like that on a Mets fan website ever ever again!!!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Booing will be banned inside Citi Field.
All literature and web sites will be destroyed, edited and sanitized until the only words left in the English language are:
Let’s Go Mets, that said, you know what I’m sayin, Let’s Go Mets, I mean Let’s Go Mets!
April 29th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
John McNamara cost the Red Sox that game 6. That just goes to show all those who say managers aren’t that important.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Anyone who says, writes or even thinks anything other than this just isn’t a real Met fan.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Coop, I’m sorry…and maybe I was being over dramatic with my point…I know that ,Yes, the Mets won the series and it wasn’t handed to them by Buckner despite the Mets Bumbling…I wasn’t trying top take anything away from them…
My point was basically, every Mets team is unfairly compared to the 80’s Mets and in truth, in the 80’s, the players struggled, had personality issues, got injured, the team didn’t live up to expectations/underachieved, the Manager was second guessed, and the GM made bad trades and dismantled the team and let our Stars walk away…but nobody remembers the negative, they just remember the good times and cry because the this generations Mets aren’t the heroes we had when we where kids…
April 29th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Ms Sunshine Pants: sometimes i like to think of unicorns, french toast and tiny dutch women who tend to giggle when they say the word, ‘Clevis.’
April 29th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Oh crud, I giggled. Does that mean I’m Dutch?
Well, if so, at least that means you pay half.
Matzah on T-Day: You mean only goys do it?
April 29th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
do these pants make my clevis look fat? hmm hmm hee hee ho hum ha ha.
i want to ride away on my unicorn named cleeeevis ho ho ha ha heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
chambermaid, might i have a trifle more clevis atop my french toast - hmm hee.
unicorns are supposed to make me think pure thoughts. instead i’m a depraved imp. i must visit with the clergy. whenever i see a unicorn or smell french toast wafting through the open air market, all i can think about is my - heh my, heh my CLEEEVIS!
you’ll all not laugh at me one day. my unicorn will fly me away from here.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
No, but seriously, is it okay to boo your own team when there are empty luxury boxes at the Garden?
April 29th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
As long as you wear a “Justified Booer” t-shirt, sure.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
What about a sligthly stretched “Frankie says Boo” t-shirt?
April 29th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
*Slightly*?
April 29th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I WAS BIG BONED DAMNIT!
April 29th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
The shirt should actually say “Frankie SAY boo”
That is actually more correct.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
All i know is that when the Mets come to my team’s home field it means we have to spend three days with some of the rudest, most loudmouthed a*****es in all of baseball fandom. Mets fans spend more time preening and flexing in front of opposing fans than actually giving a s**t about what their team is doing on the field. That’s the problem. It’s no wonder the Mets had such an epic collapse last season. Karma’s quite the bitch, isn’t she Mets fans?