Saturday, June 28, 2008

BRUTAL. [6-27-08]

Mets v. Yankees

This was probably the most unpleasant evening I have yet to experience at Shea. I realize that’s not saying a lot, but it is what it is.

Tonight was absolutely brutal. Truly, truly brutal. We would have been able to deal with the pathetic on-field performance were it not for the arrival of Yankee fan friends of the folks in Row F, who proceeded to fulfill every stereotype of the preening, obnoxious, ignorant, classless Yankee fan....emphasis on ignorant. As TBF finally said to one of them, “Don’t let facts get in the way of your argument there, buddy,” and then dropped it.

(This was the same guy trying to snidely make fun of TBF keeping score… although part of me really thinks that he just didn’t understand what TBF was doing, so he figured he’d just make fun of it.)

“I’m being a fan, just like you are” is an argument that doesn’t cut it. Their behavior wasn’t “being a fan.” That was being an obxnoxious, overbearing asshole… in someone else’s house. Shea didn’t feel like home tonight. There was a tinge of violence hanging over the ballpark. There were fights EVERYWHERE, constantly. There was no good natured gamesmanship, it was harsh and jagged and there was no feeling of goodwill or fun or enjoyment. It was fierce, and unpleasant. 

I will admit that I am not quiet, and am not afraid to be outspoken. But I am not violent. However, the sisters next to me were seriously concerned the female in the crowd behind us that arrived in the 5th inning was going to hit me, and we exchanged maybe a dozen words. Even after we went back to ignoring her, she could not let it go, and did everything she could to re-engage us. I realized the threat, but was not worried: I was bigger than she was, and she would have hurt herself. I am not quite sure why she felt she could waltz into our section and have her bullshit not be challenged, but let’s go back to the definition in the first paragraph.

I know this sounds dramatic but it was like that at Shea tonight. A little bit unhinged, a little potential for things to get out of hand quickly. This was one night that I was glad to see the NYPD command post out in the parking lot and didn’t think, “Overkill.”

I know… not all Yankees fans are like this. The folks we sat next to up in the Bronx in May were not like that, but they were real baseball people, people who had stood by their team when they were terrible. There wasn’t the sense of vicious entitlement that these people had. Unfortunately, they’re a minority.

As TBF said when we were leaving, “Even at our worst, our very very worst, the most obnoxious Mets fan doesn’t even come close.” I might not know… but he would.

Thank god we already sold our tickets for tomorrow’s game.

I’m so disgusted I can’t even be bothered to edit my photos from tonight. Tomorrow is another day, but I’m taking the rest of the weekend off from baseball, or at least watching baseball. These games don’t matter and I need some breathing room already.  There’s a horrid, bad taste in my mouth from tonight. It’s behavior I cannot even begin to pretend to understand, nor do I want to even remotely ever be a part of it.

Friday, June 27, 2008

HOLY SCHNICKEYS.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

CALLING ALL METS GIRLS.

So the Mets sent out a survey about next year, and while I didn’t get it, TBF did. However, there’s nothing to prevent anyone from clicking on the link and taking the survey. Let’s make sure the male demographic is not over-represented.

Take the survey here.

WOMEN IN BASEBALL 2.

Compare these two stories:

• Another awesome and inspirational Women In Baseball feature from We’ve Got Heart, profiling Amber Theoharis, the Orioles’ sideline reporter, and
• REDACTED:A story about childish behavior by Our Brooklyn Cyclones. I don’t know what’s worse, the behavior (if true) or the “she deserved it” type comments that follow it. This type of behavior, if true, would make me consider a Cyclones boycott for the season. Mark Healey gets to the bottom of the story, which turns out to be not true.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

THEY DON’T EAT. DON’T SLEEP.

Ed Vedder dedicated “Rats” at MSG last night to Shea (well, partially, while talking about Seattle history and oh, I was out at Shea Stadium the other night and they have big rats there. It gave me an excuse to yell LET’S GO METS).

And to the guy wearing the VEDDER 10 custom Mets t-shirt at the back of the floor… um, well, the jury is still out whether that is cool or not, just like it’s out on the guy with the custom Mariners jersey that said PEARL JAM 10. And of course, anything is better than someone with a Yankees jersey reading AMENT 10.

(We vaguely discussed approaching every person at MSG last night wearing Cubs gear and asking them to tell us who the backup catcher for the Cubs was… but then thought better of it. We’re mean, we know it.)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

(U) R.A. DICKEY.

I wasn’t going to post anything tonight. But the 7 year old in me started giggling earlier in the game, when discussing the unfortunate surnames of two of the Mariners pitching staff, Mr. Putz and Mr. Dickey. You know what? There wasn’t a lot to be happy about tonight, at all, so yeah, we were going for humor in anything we could find - including the renaming of Mr. Dickey (whose name, unfortunately, is not Richard) around the third inning. I felt that was deserving of its own post, so, here it is.

Monday, June 23, 2008

OFF HE GOES.

A POST IN TEXT MESSAGING:

Shirley in Seattle, 6:03pm: Soooo, you know that Vedder is at Shea? He apparently took BP with the M’s.
MG:NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
He apparently didn’t do very well… but better than most of our guys.
AUGHGHGH
[I start dialing TBF and thinking, how quickly can we get to Shea? and Why the hell do I not have my camera with me?]
is that a good AUGH or a bad one
Bad
That’s what pregame radio girl said - the source of all this
WE WERE GOING TO GO TONIGHT...but we have Mets tomorrow and PJ on Wed and Mets-Yankees Fri

Me: “We didn’t even think about it.”
TBF: “Why would he be there?”
Me: “Because he is a Baseball Guy and it’s the last year of Shea.”
TBF: “No, because he knows someone in the Mariners. If the Mariners were at Yankee Stadium and Ed was in town, he’d be there.”
Me: “He wouldn’t do that. He’s not like Springsteen.”
TBF: “I would have thought about it if the Cubs were in town.”
Me: “The cat would have thought about it if the Cubs were in town.”
TBF: “I didn’t know Ed was a baseball bigamist.”
Me: “I’m going to use that.”
TBF: “Feel free.”

I’m going to blame Vedder for Felix’s Grand Slam, because it is easier than blaming Johan.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

MAINE-TALLICA.

I’ve been talking about making this shirt all season.

Now I just have to figure out how to get one to Mr. J. Maine.

Friday, June 20, 2008

WKND INFO TROLL: ADVICE ON ST. LOUIS AND KC

Thanks to one Mr. B. Springsteen, TBF and I are now headed to the Show Me State in August to see the last E Street Band shows of the tour. In desperate need of a vacation, we are going to bookend it with visits to friends, barbeque, Sonic Drive-In, photography, and BASEBALL.

It’s too bad the Mets aren’t in town but we’ll make the best of it. The Braves are playing the Cardinals and the Tigers and the Rangers are playing in KC. There’s a ballpark tour in St. Louis, and we know about the First Pitch Seats already. In KC, well, prices are cheap. We’re straight on geography and hotels.

But… we’ve never been to the parks and would love tips and advice, and especially local tips and advice. Food? Drink? Barbeque advice? Dos and don’ts? Music advice (besides Blueberry Hill)? Throw ‘em out.

IT’S CALLED THE LOGE, NOT THE LODGE.

For the benefit of everyone doing Google Searches about Is The Lodge At Shea Good? or Lodge Seats Shea Stadium:

loge [lohzh]
–noun
1. (in a theater) the front section of the lowest balcony, separated from the back section by an aisle or railing or both.
2. a box in a theater or opera house.
3. any small enclosure; booth.

lodge [loj] noun, verb, lodged, lodg·ing.
–noun
1. a small, makeshift or crude shelter or habitation, as of boughs, poles, skins, earth, or rough boards; cabin or hut.
2. a house used as a temporary residence, as in the hunting season.
3. a summer cottage.
4. a house or cottage, as in a park or on an estate, occupied by a gatekeeper, caretaker, gardener, or other employee.
5. a resort hotel, motel, or inn.
6. the main building of a camp, resort hotel, or the like.
7. the meeting place of a branch of certain fraternal organizations.

Isn’t it nice that we had a night off? We enjoyed it, and we needed it. Let’s see if the Mets did.