The Mets Police

I went to the Yankee game last night. Tickets were $5, I got a cap, my buddy bought me a beer, we sat outside.

I can’t tell you how many times during the game we asked each other “who was that?” after a hit. A few times you knew who it was? Jeter. Normally that 2 on his back clues me in.

Somewhere on the Internet yesterday I read a piece that suggested the 42 is too gimmicky. Wouldn’t it be more powerful if one player on every team wore it?

Rather than the generic “everyone is wearing 42 tonight” story wouldn’t it be more powerful to read why David Wright asked if he could have the honor in 2011?

I heard some fans behind me asking why everyone was wearing 42. They decided that “it’s one of those memorial nights for some old player.”

My kid knows about Jackie now because of the Rotunda, and with the Metsification of Citi Field we can now enjoy Jackie’s legacy without being ticked off at Fred Wilpon. You really can admire Tom Seaver and Jackie Robinson.

My kid knows who was “the best player ever” without retiring #3 across baseball.

I think the 42 thing has become something that will diminish and lose its impact. I’ll probably get called a communist for this but I think about what has happened to God Bless America.

In 2001-2002 that was a very powerful moment at games. Now it’s often a thing you do crammed in with Take Me Out To The Ballgame and a t-shirt giveaway. No impact, no resonance.

Stars and stripes caps? That very quickly deteriorated into a marketing gimmick.

Don’t let Jackie Robinson day become a gimmick. Maybe I’m off base here. I agree with the “one player” idea. How about you?

Not to distract from the booing topic but….

I heard this as it happened:  Deadspin has captured the comments from Keith Hernandez last night…it appears Keith didn’t realize the commercials had ended…entertaining.  I’d like to see a picture of the nice lady. Check it out and come back.

Deadspin

Here’s another guest post, this one from Tom.  Since the booing epidemic has spread to the Bronx, it seemed like a good topic.

Shannon,

In regard to the growing problem of booing (viciously) at games, particularly the home team, I’d offer these varieties that I believe have surfaced in the past decade and a half, those which have not been around forever, as some of their ilk would try to claim:

1) Uneducated. Booing a player every time they make an out.

Sure, certain players have been booed in the past, but what happened recently to guys like Roger Cedeno and Kaz Matsui, and now happens to Luis Castillo, is simply stupid and shows that you have no grasp for the game.

Remember, 3 for 10, a .300 average, is considered great in baseball, so resigning yourself to booing someone every time they make an out is beyond being oblivious to what you are watching. Matsui, in particular, was – and still is – a good Major Leaguer, but he was not the superstar here that they thought he’d be. So what? He should never have left here, but the Mets had to let him go, for his own good.

2) Unenlightened and/or unoriginal. Booing someone simply because others in the crowd do, or because factions of the media are harsh on said player.

These people – the followers – are the worst, since they have no mind of their own.  These are the ones who also throw back a home run ball from a visiting player, the absolute most idiotic thing done by spectators at any sporting event. Cub fans in the bleachers at Wrigley started the nonsense of throwing back visitors home run balls decades ago, proving how bitter they had become at not having won since the Dead Ball Era. Those in all other parks who do this now are not only dumb, but unoriginal, as well. Any ball from a Major League game is a treasure for a real fan. Nobody who understands the special skills on display at any MLB park would throw a game used baseball back.

3) Disrespectful. booing great players, simply because they are on the other team.

I’ll gladly give you booing players on Division rivals, like Chipper Jones or Jimmy Rollins (although those guys do generally play better when you goad them). But, the nasty booing of Albert Pujols and Ken Griffey, Jr. particularly in recent years, is what I refer to. You don’t have to cheer the other team’s stars, but you should at least respect the game by quietly acknowledging the greats you are fortunate enough to see. No one at Shea in its first decades would ever have booed Mays, McCovey, Aaron, Clemente, etc. We respected the game.

4) Cowards – booing anyone who comes from Japan.

A personal one of mine, which obviously also includes Matsui. To those who boo a player from Japan, I challenge you to go to the other side of the world and perform a very difficult craft (which you probably don’t have anyway) in front of millions, in a land where you don’t speak the language or know the customs.

I understand booing someone you think is not hustling, but overall, booing is a self-serving activity, which when done to your own team, can only hurt the team. When Fernando Martinez was booed mercilessly for not running out a pop-up in his debut last year, it was way over the top. He made a mistake, a bad one, and he’d hear about it from teammates, coaches and the manager. But the booing that night was typical of the loud, nasty booing that has surfaced and festered in the past 15 years, from what is a much less intelligent crowd, overall.

Think I’m wrong? Consider this: At the beginning of every sporting event these days, the PA announcer says “Please rise and remove your cap for the singing of the National Anthem.” Why is that? Because they know how dumb a large portion of the fantasy/rotisserie crowd is now. You never had to announce “’remove your cap” in the past – that was a given. All-in-all, the mean-spirited and nasty booing that has become the norm in so many ballparks, especially both New York ones, shows an ignorance that is beyond anyone who knows or loves the game

Shannon’s take: so far I have been to three games.  I found the Opening Day crowd stupid when they booed Ollie, the game I went to with Media Goon in the 400s was the worst – he had to ask the Mets to change his seats.   When we sat in $136 seats everyone was well behaved – well except for the large gentlemen a little too obsessed with the beer man.  Sit down fellas.  One beer, cool.  Two beers, fine.  If your whole day is about the beer man….