Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

Shannon Shark is the founder of MetsPolice.com, tweets as @metspolice, is an avid fan of Lee Mazzilli and Daniel Murphy, hates black uniforms and is the author of "Send The Beer Guy" available at Amazon.com. #imwith28
Posted on

Strawberry: Nobody talked about the Yankees back then

Kids, there once was a baseball team that was run by an idiot owner who the fans couldn’t wait to run out of town.

This team would sign free agents that never worked out.

One time the owner got suspended from baseball and his own fans gave the announcement a standing ovation in their own stadium.

Yes kids, the Mets owned the town.  There are two million front-runners out there, and they will one day crowd the halls of Citi Field.

“Nobody talked about the Yankees back then,” said Strawberry, who eventually wound up in the Bronx when they again were the talk of the town.

Wilson, echoing Strawberry, said he believed the Mets could regain their standing and someday even turn New York back into a National League city if they could develop and stick to an organizational blueprint.

When his Mets were on top, “the Yankees were trying to buy pennants and it didn’t work,” he said. “I think they learned their lessons over the years: you have to build a strong foundation of core players. And then you can figure out what you need most, that piece or two, in order to win the World Series.”

via For Mets, Whispers to Build From Within – NYTimes.com.

Posted on

Mets Opening Day: it finally felt like home

It took four years but today Citi Field finally felt like home. I sat in “my” seats and I got to see Santana warm up to Smooth just like I imagined all summer.

It was beautiful out, the Mets dressed like a professional baseball team for the first time since my 20’s, the blue fence feels just right (congratulations to @readtheapple for encouraging the Mets on that one), and the Kid8 on the fence is a nice touch.

I thought the pre-game ceremony was perfect.  Howie passing to Kiner felt just right.  I haven’t loved all the ceremonies the Mets have had over the years but between this and 9/11/11 it seems as if they are finally getting the hang of things.

For a blog that started out as a complaining blog (“calling the Mets on the carpet for the stupid things they do”) today felt just right.  It felt like the home of the Mets.  I had a rhythm I haven’t had since the move to the old parking lot.

Mets win, Santana looks good, all is right in the world for one day.  Here’s a video of the day…lots more tomorrow.

Posted on

Did the Mets sellout and was this the biggest Citi Field crowd ever?

Various reports have today’s attendance at 42,080 and are using terms like “biggest Citi Field crowd ever” and even “sold out” which Mike Francesa made a big deal out of all afternoon.

While I did get the Mets pre-game notes I have not yet received any post-game notes…that’s not a complaint, I’m just saying I don’t know first-hand if the Mets are indeed claiming either biggest or sellout…so I can’t give any meaningful opinion on what claims were made or not.

I was at the game and in my personal opinion the stadium was pretty full.  Had I not heard the reports on both WFAN and WCBS I would have described it as “almost sold out.”

Here’s a photo I took with this intention of writing an “almost sold out” post.  Last year’s readers know that I almjost always post crowd shots.   This was taken oh say second inning or so.

mets opening day rf crowd shot

It’s possible all these people went for a shake at the same time, or perhaps they were all on the same party bus that got stuck in traffic and never made it, but in my personal experience I find full rows like this to be eyecatching.

Here’s the pre-game ceremony around anthem time. Again perhaps people were stuck in traffic or just not into the ceremony or were off getting Two Boots Pizza in groups of 10 or more.

If you click on the photo above and then click on it again it will open up nice, large and clear.

The boxscore from July 2, 2011 shows an attendance of 42,042.  That was a Mets-Yankees game which I was at.  I have it in my mind that they sold standing room tickets that day.

Was it a sellout?  I don’t know.  It was a good crowd for sure and I’ll let you guys decide whatever you want from the photos.

Lots more to come from Opening Day…