Thursday, October 08, 2009

BOBBY V.‘S LAST GAME IN JAPAN.

My friend Deanna, who’s forgotten more about Japanese baseball than most of us will ever know, was at Bobby V’s last game in Japan, and has a writeup and photos, which is where that photo above was taken. (Also photos of the ‘Goodbye Bobby’ merchandise being sold, and him being thrown in the air by the Marines players.)

Deanne describing the photo:

(It’s actually from a few weeks ago—I didn’t actually see Bobby on Tuesday. At the time, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone I’d been in Bobby’s office watching him sign a bazillion thank you cards that he was going to give to the fans, so I also didn’t post this photo then. And in case you were at the game over the weekend where he gave out thank-you cards to the fans, with a signature on it? That signature was real. It probably took him a month to sign them all. Next time someone says Bobby didn’t really care about the fans and was just putting on a show, I’m going to punch them.)

Seriously, how lucky am I? I think that’s the best thing about Bobby—he always made me laugh, except for this last time, when he made me cry.

We Mets fans can only hope.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AL CENTRAL CHAMPS.

(Before you get all bent out of shape, I traded it for a Johan Santana Mets shirt last year.)

For a few hours tonight, I was excited and happy about baseball again. I turned on the game as soon as I got out of the subway. I stood online at the Apple Store using their bandwidth to watch video from Minnesota. TBF and I stood at the bus stop on the way home sharing earbuds (which of course came out when I started jumping up and down). It was up. It was down. It was up. It was down. Paws was defiantly placed on top of the television. TBF dug out his Detroit hat and spent every between-inning break on the phone with his dad or his uncle: “Roar, buddy. Roar.”

And just when I least expected it, and was thinking “Well, at least the Twins fans had a great end to this season,” the improbable happened.

Now, please, BEAT THE YANKEES. Thank you.

P.S. For the Twins fan perspective:

• Unreal
• Holy Crap On A Cracker
• For Those Who Still Believed…
• So THIS Is What Magic Feels Like

Monday, October 05, 2009

ONE LAST THING TO SAY.

I thought I was done, and was moving towards arguing over AL Central loyalties and thinking about recapping the year in baseball, when I read on Twitter that Jeff Wilpon was going to be on WFAN at 5pm. I can’t stream at work (I don’t like hogging bandwidth) but I can listen on my iPhone. I thought I would casually listen while wrapping up my day. Maybe Jeff would take the high road. Maybe they would have something good to tell us.

Instead, what I heard was 60 minutes of the most condescending, ill-prepared, arrogant, ill-informed, unprepared, unprofessional blather I have heard in my life.

My greatest fear this season was that when it finally came to an end, we would be no better off than we were in the middle of it because the organization is incapable of real change. The radio interlude on Monday afternoon confirmed my worst fear:

The Mets do not know what they are doing. Period.

LETTER TO THE METS, 2009 SEASON FINALE.

Dear Mets Organization:

This isn’t going to cut it. Not by a long shot.

But you know that, right? You really don’t think that we’re so stupid that we’re going to view these as real, actionable changes and be willing to BELIEVE for 2010, right? Sure you do.

Right?

Love and kisses,

Me

Sunday, October 04, 2009

GOODBYE, BASEBALL.

It’s a stunning Sunday. There is part of me that wants to be at Citi Field today, there is part of me that is wistful that the year is ending, there is part of me that wants to be sitting in the ballpark on a beautiful day, that cool smell of fall in the air, and say goodbye to baseball.

And then there is the part of me that, like TBF, wants to enjoy it lying on the couch and listening to Howie & Wayne. He always listened to the last game of the year on the radio, and this year is no different.

This year has been so overwhelmingly sad for me because I don’t see how the team and the organization is going to climb out of it. Quick fixes will spell disaster. Maybe there will be some astounding announcement tomorrow and I’ll change my mind.

We still do not know what we are doing for 2009. We will cancel one ticket plan to make a point. If we could find a season ticket holder who would want to give us 25-30 games, something that approximated our Tuesday-Friday Shea plan (including the same playoff rights), we would probably do that instead. Stupidly (perhaps) we won’t cancel both plans because we like having a commitment and we really, really love our seats and don’t want to see them go to a scalper.

Anyway, for today, it’s WFAN and sun streaming in the windows and living vicariously through the AL Central race and our friends who are Red Sox fans.

Friday, October 02, 2009

THE LETTER THE WILPONS SHOULD HAVE SENT US.

I don’t usually do this, but I had planned to write something similar over the weekend, now that the information about the purported ticket price decreases has made the rounds. However, Greg Prince over at Faith and Fear has already said everything I could have said, and more. This is a must read for every Mets fan.

Faith and Fear in Flushing: The Letter They Should Have Sent

It’s people like Greg and Jason that make me proud to be a Mets fan. It’s people like the baseball fans I met on Twitter, from all over the country, Mets and non-Mets, that make me proud to be a baseball fan. It’s about time the Wilpons step up.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

THE SEASON STOPS HERE.

Our last Mets game of the season was for Friday night. The Astros. We were going. It was already a very busy weekend, we had people in town, but we were going. Suck or not, it was the last game of the year for us. The last set of tickets in the book. There would have been a ceremonial tearing-out-of-the tickets from the book, a small moment of silence, perhaps a tiny pause because baseball for the year was coming to an end.

And then Bruce Springsteen announced he’d be playing the album Darkness On The Edge of Town in full Friday night at Giants Stadium.

I know that you are probably sick and tired of hearing about Bruce Springsteen on a baseball blog, and I really try to keep the extra-curricular to a minimum, but you have to understand that this is my record above all other records. I should have been running to the computer to buy tickets the second I heard about it.

Instead, I wavered.

Friday, September 18, 2009

EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE. [9-18-09]

Believe it or not, it wasn’t so bad after all.

For one, the park wasn’t deserted. It was Friday, and people were still showing up for their first time at Citi Field, judging by the endless photos and mall walking and gawking. I made it from the train to the Taqueria and up to my seat before the anthem had started. It wasn’t raining or freezing, I didn’t need the wool socks and rain shoes I had put on early this morning. It was Friday. It was payday. The train wasn’t crowded. It was Batting Helmet Night. Really, I was going to be positive about all of this.

Last night, I was chatting with Kristen of the Nationals blog We’ve Got Heart, who was joking that this series should be “fun”. I told her it was a guaranteed win for her team. She asked me if I’d seen her team play lately. I asked her if she’d seen ours. She insisted we were going to have the advantage. “Oh no,” I assured her. “Got anyone close to a milestone, or needs some MLB first? They’ll get it this weekend.”

Josh Willingham didn’t break any records, but two homeruns was enough achievement for me for one game, thankyouverymuch.