Shannon Shark @metspolice – Page 4128

March 31, 2009

The Hooligans Will Be Back – Beer Ban Lifted In Yankee Bleachers

Looks like they won’t be bringing everything over from the old stadium. According to the NY Post, the 9-year ban on beer sales in the Yankee Stadium bleachers will come to an end when the gates open on the new ballpark.

The bleachers at Yankee Stadium can be the most raucous place a sports fan will find in the US – and for the most part – especially during these last nine years – it has been a great place to go even if you aren’t a Yankee fan. I’ve sat out there with Mets gear on and taken some good natured abuse, but never felt threatened.

However, adding alcohol back into the mix could bring the sections back to how they were in the 80’s and 90’s, when even the mention of another team could cause a riot. Back in those days I witnessed many examples of people being verbally, and sometimes physically abused (hats ripped off people’s heads, beer poured on people, items thrown at people). My younger sister had a beer thrown at her during a game once.

I like beer (I was weaned on Guinness), but it has been shown time and time again that alcohol when abused is dangerous. Ultimately the issue isn’t really whether beer should or should not be served, but how much should be served, and will the Yankees have adequate and active security to ensure a safe and pleasurable experience for ALL fans.

I doubt it.

www.metspolice.com

March 31, 2009

Pedro Martinez Should Sign With The Long Island Ducks

Some free advice to Pedro Martinez: Sign with the Long Island Ducks.

Pedro, nobody gives you a harder time than I do, but I’m here to help.

You need to give Ducks manager Gary Carter a phone call.

You’ve priced youself out of getting a job. The Mets aren’t going to call. The Royals have passed. You don’t seem to be moving to Houston or Oakland.

It’s time to prove you can still pitch.

You’re 37 and you think your arm is healthy. Head out to the island and show the major league scouts than you can pitch more than four innings.

Long Island will be good to you. Hometown fans will cheer you, the Mets will easily be able to spy on you, and you can live whereever it is you lived the past few years.

Ducks season starts April 23rd. If you really have “stuff” left then you should be 5 and 0 with an ERA under 2.00 by around June 15th. You do that, I guarantee the Mets will call.

www.metspolice.com

March 31, 2009

Ollie, Murphy, Livan-y

I thought I’d write about actual baseball, instead of the business of, for a change.

Since you all read the same things I do so I’ll get right to it rather than act like I’m the newspaper.

1. Oliver Perez pitched well.

As I said last week, everyone remain calm. It’s the spring. All pitchers have good outings and bad outings. Last week was panic-time, now everyone will be singing this guy’s praises.
I think we know what we have in Ollie. He’s a guy that more often than not will give a good to very good outing, but we’ll never really be able to trust him. In a Game 7 he’s just as likely to give up 5 runs in 5 innings as he is to throw a shutout. Root for this guy but never trust.

2. Dan Murphy to bat second.

I think Murph represents everything that “fans like me” want. Scrappy, homegrown, came out of nowhere, unhyped and unheralded. Like that Dykstra kid that came out of nowhere once on Monday Night Baseball.
I hope he’s real and plays with 5 and 7 for ten years.
I’m a little concerned that they are throwing him in the deep end, but with any better option playing in LA, hey let’s go for it.

3. Livan Hernandez is the fifth starter.
If you watched spring training at all this is a no brainer. He has been at worst the third best, and maybe the second best all spring. This might be this year’s great pickup that continues the Legend of Omar Minaya. I suspect it will be.

Hernandez doesn’t need to win, he just needs to eat innings so that we don’t go to the bullpen in the fifth every 5 days.

4. Jerry closed the door on Pedro

I hope Pedro finds happiness in Oakland or Houston or the Long Island Ducks. Farewell Four Inning Pedro.

5. We all seem to think Pelfrey is good

It was just 11 months ago people were sick of him, then the light went on. I hope it stays on because there’s nothing like a homegrown young stud pitcher. Does he have 15 wins in him?

6. The how many games will K-Rod save discussion?

I saw metsblog polling the fans on how many saves K-Rod will get. For those of you picking 62 or more, if this guy sees north of 45 saves then Jerry isn’t managing right.

7. Zeus is messing with me

I don’t like Friday’s forecast

8. The solution to the Iron Triangle (ugly car repair shops) will be….

Seems like most of New York discovered that it looks like Baja California over past 126th. That’s not going to last long. I predict the solution will be the Islanders new arena. I’ll flesh that out when I have more time.
I also dig that 126th Street is an actual place and part of the lexicon after all these years.

9. Opening Night is still a night game.

This is still a mistake no matter how the Padres feel about it. I am adding the Padres to the list of teams I put hexes on.

10. Two new stadiums!

Did you ever think NYC would get not one but two new baseball stadiums? In the same year? If I had told you on 9-12-01 that in eight years we’d have two new parks you’d never have believed it. Amazin’

March 31, 2009

Hoping For New Karma In The New Building

I’ve lived long enough to see the Metsmove to their new ballpark. As I get excited to head out to CitiField (the brain almost typed â€œSheaâ€ for not the first and lasttime) on Friday night, the word that keeps popping into my head isâ€œkarma.â€

Here’s to hoping the new buildingbrings a new start for this franchise.

We’re all Mets fans, we all bleedorange and blue (and some of us unfortunately, black.) We love theMets, but if we’re being honest about our beloved Metsies, thisfranchise has boiled down to two types of teams:
Last place andsecond place.

Yes there have been 4 trips to theWorld Series, if you’ve read this far you don’t need me torecap….but for the most part, what is Mets history?

It starts with the worst, and then someof the worst teams of all-time. If you think finishing fifth stinks,try finishing twelfth.

Then Seaver shows up and works somemagic for five years.

Next, the franchise sells The Franchiseand everyone else, and Shea was miserable. Back to last place (orsecond last depending on how horrible the Cubs were).

Some young pitching showed up and wethought we had a dynasty on our hands. Some bad luck, some drugs,some injuries, some bad karmaand Davey’s boys spent more time in second place than they did intickertape parades. Does 1988 mean anything to you now? To me,it’s another underperforming team.

The1990’s made me miss the 1970’s. I’d rather lose 100 with LeeMazzilli than Bobby Bonilla.

ThenBobby Valentine showed up. Bobby has some mystique over Metsdom. His teams were always under-prepared, got off to horrible starts, andfinished second. Fortunately for Bobby (not so much for Davey) Seligchanged the rules so the Mets could pretend they were winners. Theyreally weren’t.

Thensome more losing, and now this horrible new culture of choking. (2006 has also become meaningless thanks to 2007 and 2008).

That’sthe franchise in a nutshell â€“ glimmers of hope surrounded bydreadfulness.

I’mhoping this new building changes things. I’d like to see a managerstay ten years. I’d like to see Wright, Reyes and maybe even DanMurphy all play 10+ years together. Wouldn’t it be nice if someonegood actually played their entire career in Flushing? We have yet tohave one of those. Our one Hall of Famer left us, the other’s anExpo, and the future one is really a Dodger.

I’d like to see â€œthe Metsâ€ meansomething. Unfortunately the building already has Dodger blood init and a tarnished name, original sin that a few championships canhide. Championships, not wild cards, not second place, not divisiontitles, not losing in Game 5 at home to the Yankees. Championships.

Here’s to a new beginning. I wishthem well. See ya in the Promenade (that sounds weird) Friday night.

(Originally published yesterday as my weekly column for Flushing University )
www.metspolice.com

March 31, 2009

Opening NIGHT – Still Trying To Get It Changed. Rain Friday?

Good morning!

Big love to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports for linking to the story from the other day about trying to get Mets fans united to be loud and whiny in an attempt to get Opening Night changed to a 1:05 (or I guess 1:10) start. Maybe even 4:05? Come on Padres, don’t be bastards. Just play the day game.

Hopefully today will be the day that the Post writes about the cause. We were interviewed for an article but I guess between NCAA’s and a new stadium it never made the cut. Help us Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope.

Anyway, I know we’ll never win, but the first game at Citi should be a day game don’t you think?

Meanwhile my man Zeus who let me down by not raining out the St. John’s game is now messing with me for Friday’s Bosox visit to not-Shea. The forecast is for rain. Come on Z, don’t rain Friday.

Ok everyone head on over to Big League Stew and return the love.