Time For Mets Manuel To Go Edgy Gangsta

On Monday’s I write a column for Flushing University . Here’s Monday’s column, written before the Atlanta game.

Time For Jerry Manuel To Go Edgy Gangsta

By Shannon Shark
Posted Monday, May 4, 2009

I was sad when Omar Minaya tried to backpedal his comments that the Mets lack edge, because he was right.

This team does lack edge. They lose, well there’s another day and they say they’ll do better next time. They lose the season by one game, well they’ll try harder next year.

This team lacks a Keith Hernandez who insists on winning. For all the talk of “the core” not being able to win, let me stop that talk right now. If you trade Wright or Reyes you might as well trade Seaver and Kingman, because the fans will react the same way (by not paying money to sit behind plexiglass). So that ain’t happening.

Delgado? He can’t move and will be a free agent, that ain’t happening.

Beltran? He would be the one to move, and you’d get value for him but he has this pesky no trade, so the only way he’s leaving is if the Mets are 30 games out and none of us want that.

That means Keith 2 isn’t coming. These are the players we have and these are the players we’re stuck with.

It’s up to Jerry.

Jerry impressed me during his first ever inning. Jose Reyes didn’t run hard, so Jerry went to first base and got in his face. We haven’t seen that yet.

Jerry, if you think Ollie needs to man up, say so. Challenge these guys. Go get thrown out of some games. If Dan Murphy kicks another ball, go Gil Hodges on his hiney and go get him.

If you insist on pitching Perez and he can’t throw a strike, torture him and lose 26-5 instead of 6-5. Make him stay out there forever.

Yeah I know I’m proposing psycho managing, but the hands off approach doesn’t work with these guys, so we can not make the playoffs and not make anyone upset, or we can take a shot.

If Jerry isn’t up to it, how about taking a look at Wally Backman. Yeah he had the mysterious whatever it was that cost him the Arizona job, and he’s a baseball pariah but so what. He’s an 86 Met which would do wonders for a fanbase stuck in Dodgertown. Let him be scary. Let him teach these guys how to get in a fight and get thrown out of games. It may be what the franchise needs.

Jerry you had that fire in you the first night, how about we see some of it in Atlanta?

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

May 4, 2009

Obstructed Views Citi Field Section 105

Thanks to Carlos for sending these in. He says these are from section 105 “last rows.”

I gotta tell you guys, I had an email exchange with someone in “the media” yesterday about the obstructed views, and some of these guys don’t get it. The advice was “don’t sit there.”

I think I should publish the Guide To Obstructed Views and sell it on 126th street. I might make some bucks.

Carlos, I think you’re being picky. Seeing home plate is very overrated. Go have some chicken fingers. After all, just because a seat isn’t occupied doesn’t mean someone isn’t there.

Send your obstructed views to [email protected]

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

May 3, 2009

Forbes Names New York Mets vs Atlanta Braves Baseball’s #9 Rivalry

Interesting…

While it was fun for a while, it surprises me that Forbes has Mets-Braves as the #9 rivalry. That tells me that most of baseball is boring.

One-two divisional finishes: four

Close season finishes (five games or less): two

Current ticket markup: zero

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

May 3, 2009

Most Popular On Mets Police (And Upcomings) May 2nd Edition

Every Sunday I recap those posts which captured the most attention, and the one’s I think deserved better.

Obstructed views tend to dominate, and I’ll have some obstructed views from Yankee Stadium later in the week – but let’s lead off with the absolutely unbelievable Worst Seat In Citi Field (Video)

I have this real job and all so I didn’t get to add to it this week, but folks enjoy the complete Pictures of Citi Field
and the Uncensored Guide To Citi Field.

I didn’t write it but I thought this black conservative’s take on Jackie Robinson Day was pretty interesting.

Also interesting was New Stadium Insider’s premise that there are 16,000 tickets to every Yankee game on the resale market. That premise seems supported by this.

I know everyone hates this team now but Mets fans, what is it you would do to fix it?

Did you see the Keith Hernandez video ? What about Strawberry?

Check out my back and forth with Remembering Shea as we discuss the issues with Citi Field.

Coming up (already written and scheduled):

Monday: Solutions for Citi Field’s Obstructed Views, with photos of how to do it.

Also Monday: Empty Seats and Skyboxes at Yankee Stadium.

Tuesday: How to “Mets Up” Citi Field, by borrowing ideas from Yankee Stadium (with photos).

Wednesday: Obstructed Views In Yankee Stadium Section 406.

Thursday: Obstructed Views In Yankee Stadium Section 308.

Friday: The Best Thing To Eat At Yankee Stadium Is….

What did we learn? If you run a blog and go to a game, bring a camera!

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

May 3, 2009

"Remembering Shea’s" Mets Citi Field Suggestions

As I frequently mention, I enjoy the back and forth between the various Mets blogs. The other day the guys over at Remembering Shea brought up some suggestions about how to fix some of the issues with Citi Field. I had a busy week and never got to properly respond.

The plexiglass has to go. Shea had railings in front of the first row of seats and boxes in each level. They were thin, and you could grab your hand around them. They were also painted the same color as the other hand-rails and seats in that level, so you hardly noticed them. They could have done the same thing here. I don’t see what type of extra safety the plexiglass provides. I’d love for a photo from the first row in the Upper Deck at Shea to compare to though.

I don’t think that will do the trick. The problem is more than the plexiglass, it is the design of the landings. You would still have some sort of railing/something there, and you’re still going to have people there.

I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about it, and the best (and not very good) suggestion I have it for the Mets to remove the first three aisles in every Promenade section and just have the landing attach to walkways, so that people can quickly get out of your way (think of the old Mezzanine at Shea) and tomorrow I’ll show you an example (from Yankee Stadium) how it might look.

2. The LED ribbon. At Shea, the LED ribbons were installed 40 years after the park was built. They went on a facade that was actually tall enough to have the ribbons block the face of the facade instead of any views. Citi Field was built with fairly small facades. And they knew there would be LED ribbons there from the start (how could they not?). It doesn’t look like an issue in this photo

I haven’t sat in any of these seats. I’m guessing that the issue is that you need to lean foreward to see over the LED. That’s a sloppy design, and while it will cost the Mets some bucks it seems fixable if they want to…and come back tomorrow to see how the Yankees handled it.

3. The out of town scoreboard. I actually found myself NOT looking towards it like it used to look at the one at Shea. That’s the problem with having everything separated now. I would align the bottom of the scoreboard with the “roof” that it hangs to, support it above, and then have the advertisements. As seen here.

I haven’t sat there either, and I don’t want to be disrespectful of those who sit up there, but I’m guessing it’s just like sitting in the old mezz, and sometimes you can’t see a fly ball. Meeting the Mets halfway, I think we can let this one slide. Maybe they could sell them at a discount.

Read their complete post here

Come back to Mets Police tomorrow for some pics of the way these things were handled at New Yankee Stadium, and some solutions for the Citi Field problems.