It was fun to see everyone else wake up yesterday and realize that people aren’t going to Mets games. There was a LOT of discussion about in on social media.
Over at Van Hagar The Media Goon, the MG had a good rant:
…let’s into how they treated longtime season ticket holders that have had tickets since Shea Stadium. They used to get perks with the plan level purchase. Playoff strips, special events, special gifts, etc. And your tenure counted for as long as you had your tickets. Now your tenure level is tied into how much you spend plus the years you have had your seats. Basically I think the Mets hired one of the Cell Phone company VPs because they are treating their fans like phone customers. “Special deal for new customers. Get this shiny thing and money off your bill. Wait you are an existing customer and want the same thing? Hahaahhaahahahahah”
Anyway, read MG’s entire rant, well worth it and as always ON POINT. He reminds us that Dance Teams, Light Shows and Fancy Scoreboards do not make for creating baseball fans.
I think the issue is “The Third Wild Card.” That’s not baseball. What are we even doing. The idea of the additional playoff spots was (a) to make more TV money and (b) to keep fans interested. 24,392 showed up last night. The town hasn’t exactly caught Mets fever.
On Twitter, @Batbeat2 had a great point – maybe this is what happens when you let the Yankees own the town for 30 years. Maybe the Mets fans like me have gotten old, and there are just far fewer behind us to replace the now empty seats.
A lot of the discussion on social media seemed to center around how hard it is to get to Citi Field. What? Now while I understand it can be a pain in the neck from NJ, it’s not like this is a new thing. The Mets have been playing in that area since 1964. Was Shea Stadium easier to get to because it was 15 feet closer to Manhattan? Citi Field is actually closer to the subway and the LIRR if we want to be ridiculous about it.
I think the bill has come due on all of it. Steve and Co focused on gimmicks. They build around a guy who told the paying customers to screw off. Vulhar Pete. Jerking around the plan holders. ESPN switching game times. Ghost Runners. Three Wild Cards. The DH. Late playoff starts. Food prices. The hassle of entering the stadium.. You can’t bring a laptop in.
You can argue that none of those things are a big deal and just get over them – but you add them all up, and yeah, maybe it’s not worth going to Citi Field.
I think Steve and Co got this all wrong. The move isn’t flashing screens. The move is actually the other way. Get back to an old style ballpark feeling. People seem to like Wrigley and Fenway. Maybe some organ music and a manual scoreboard would do you better than idiots dancing on the dugout.
That said, even if you do all that – there are three Wild Cards, and MLB has taught us we can just dip in on October 1st since none of this matters.
