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At The Journal News, Rick Carpiniello describes how the Opening Day ceremonies at Shea Stadium brought back memories…of anger.
Carpiniello writes…
“Yes, anger. It was in the building, and it was palpable. Part of it was because the despised Philadelphia Phillies were in the house. Part of it was because the Mets had lost two in a row coming into the home opener, and nobody waits for the other shoe to drop like a Mets fan. But part of it, a huge part of it, is the hangover from 2007, a nasty taste and odor that just won’t go away. You can scrub and rinse your mind, but you can’t wash that away.”
…just like regis, i was at the game yesterday and wanted to write about my last opening day at Shea experience and share my pictures…but i was too angry to do so…
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Whose going to Join me at Citizen’s Bank Park Next week? I will be there Friday and Sunday very prominently in mets attire
I hope you have health insurance, based on some Youtube videos I’ve seen.
I will be there on Sunday in Phillies gear. If you’re sitting near me, I’d be more than happy to talk baseball & drink beer with another fan.
Of course, it goes without saying that I hope you go home disappointed with the final score (and I’m fairly comfortable in assuming that you feel the same way).
Come by section 418. I will be the short guy in a beltran jersey sourounded by a bunch of my friends (about 15 of them) who are phillies fans. It should be an interesting night.
good…i have no problem with shea being an angry, hostile place. im sick of the family friendly atmosphere that goes on there. people who come in wearing a phils or braves hat should feel uncomfortable
I am angry…but I do have a problem with Shea becoming an angry and not a family friendly place…I grew up there…I learned baseball there…and I now have a child I want to bring there…now granted I learned somethings at Shea that makes me shudder thinking my kid will learn it…but I don’t want to be like Philly, where we fight and scream and curse and carry on..We are better than that..they are a loser city with a loser mentality…the Fighting is garbage..I am mad at the Mets..sure but I want to go to the game get into it and not fight and carry on and have that stuff go on around me..I pay to much money for it to turn into a hell hole..an angry place with excessive drunkenness and fighting..leave it to the trash down at the other end of the Turnpike.
hopefully the higher ticket prices and limited seating will keep the riff-raff out of citi field. let them fight in the parking lot.
I really hope that was sarcastic Mackey…
Thats EXACTLY the type of mentality that I hate about the Mets organization and their fancy, tiny, new ballpark…
Eventually the prices will be so high the thought of bringing your kids to a game for a family outing will be like saving up for a family vacation…and thats without the 8 dollar beers (.75 cent increase from last season)
PS: they were out of programs by the 3rd inning of yesterdays game…youd think they would have the forethought to make enough for the number of people that were able to win a lottery and buy seats….
PATHETIC
my comment wasn’t sarcastic at all. hopefully if the tickets are more expensive and there are less seats available, I won’t need to worry about sitting next to a bunch of dirt bags that are more interested in instigating fights than watching a baseball game.
I hope your seat is surrounding by glamorous, martini-sipping rich folks who are more interested in discussing their spring vacations in Prague than watching a baseball game.
I don’t understand your point. You like when children get harassed by drunks? and people get assaulted for wearing a hat? Any measures they can institute to prevent these bums from entering the stadium the better off we will be as a fanbase…
yesterday I saw two fights in the stands, and getting back to the train, everyone was hostile and tense. Anyone wearing phillies gear was at the least insulted, and one guy (an older guy who was minding his own business and just trying to get out of there) was threatened just for daring to wear the hat of his team. If that’s where we’re going with all this “angry fan” stuff, it sucks. I know there’s a certiain pride with being a tough town, but threatening old men? Nothing tough about that.
I agree. If only the players could feel our anger and get angry and fired up too. I’m sure Paulie would have said something to the ump yesterday when Utley kept leaning into the plate.
I went to the game yesterday and was pissed off after that Delgado play too. Most of the fights broke out after that play. I enjoyed the fights, I’m not gonna lie. They were a much needed distraction from the carnage on the field.
Honestly, Willie Randolph should be handed his pink slip. He has no business managing a Major League Baseball team.
uh…no. I do hope you are joking.
…about wanting Shea to be a hostile place I mean….
i meant it more that im just a bit fed up with all of the music, things that go on inbetween innings and overall cheesiness that seems to have taken over the stadium. obviously i do not want the place to be dangerous…just more of a competitve focus on baseball. sorry if it came out wrong, as you can see i have gas, and im a bit irritable
Change for change’s sake is not often a good thing, but I wonder if Omar should have made a few more particularly in the bullpen just for this reason.
Realizing there may not have been a lot he could do there. But it will be hard to look at that same cast of characters after every poor performance like yesterday (and there will be those games from any pen) and not get a whiff of that 07 “stench”. sad.
Totally agree. BPs are notoriously unpredictable. We’ve seen some really random BP pitchers come out for Atlanta and Florida and be fine.
It is just impossible for me to see how Schoeneweis can succeed here — at least as anything more than a LOOGYAGO (Away Games Only), which is a waste of a roster spot. If I were him I would be asking for a trade. How can you succeed when you are booed on opening day? Further, say you are David Wright. You hear he is coming in and hear the boos. Now you are feeling confident?
I certainly am not meaning to suggest that the fans should dictate this guy’s career. It just seems the ship has seriously sailed so what is the point of keeping him miserable?
With all the anger, doom and gloom and negativity flying around right now, Met fans will bring about a self fulfilling prophecy , so to speak, if it continues. It will just consume everyone, players and fans alike, How long before guys like Santana, Church, Schneider start wishing they never came here if this keeps up? How will guys like Reyes ever turn it around if the fans start turning on him (and I’m not saying they have….yet). Sure, we can boo players off the field and call for managers heads, but in the end will that really satisfy us? As hard as it might be, a little positive support might be in order instead of just fanning the flames. I don’t know, maybe I’m not a realist, but I’ll keep cheering and resist the urge to self implode for as long as possible.
I think one of the reasons Mets fans are especially angry is that no one has been held accountable for last season. We got Santana, which is great, but for the most part, the same team, manager, and GM that were a part of the choke last year are still in place.
Exactly. This is the exact same team that played lackluster baseball last year, and choked away a shot at the playoffs, save three players. What makes you think the result will be all that different?
Because all their talk about learning from their mistakes and seeking redemption seemed believable. So far is looks more like BS.
It’s all about denial.
Also, what was with not wearing the standard home uniform (Pinstripes with blue caps) for the final home opener at Shea. I love how the Mets just Sh-t on tradition. I can’t stand the horrible black and blue caps. Also, those caps are official the road caps, no other team in MLB wears their road cap as there home cap most often, especially when they have a far surperior home cap.
Is that really your beef, unis and caps? They could play naked as far as I’m concerned, just win the damn ball game.
Never did I think that it would come down to colors or caps.
I didn’t even notice what uniform they were wearing. Who cares?
mets fans are a big part of the problem with this team.
How? I’ve never been asked to take an at-bat. I’ve never come out of the pen?
This team had nothing but support last season from the vast majority of the fans and the players and coaches blew that lead away. Now their continued lackluster play is our fault?
2007 mets: home 41-40. away 47-34.
i blame the fans and media for reyes. great kid who slammed his body into the ground for years with a huge smile then the whiny mets fans wanted him benched for not running out a ball. hasn’t been good since.
fans didn’t show up down the stretch last year. they boo instead of being supportive. ny fans are over-rated and fickle.
I agree.
I really disagree on Reyes. In my opinion there are two people to blame for him. Willie and Jose. Willie screwed up by not communicating well with him, and Reyes screwed up by sulking and not stepping up.
The fans have embraced Reyes like few other players to ever put on a Mets uniform. I cannot see how it is their fault that the guy has slumped.
As for the home/away splits, that I can’t explain. I will point out that even in 2006, the best year this team has seen in decades, there were players who majorly struggled at Shea (Beltran off the top of my head). I think it is unfair to blame the fans on the team’s crappy play.
Zen … Willie benched Reyes because “whiny fans” told him to?
Come onnnnnnnnnnnn….
instead of booing and complaining about reyes the fans should have been on their feet cheering for mr. reyes. same is true for this year. fickle and pathetic. this kid played harder than any player in mlb.
I am against booing … I never boo anyone … but you stating that Willie benched him because fans whined and made him do it is ridiculous.
i didn’t mention willie. i mentioned what the fans wanted. he made a clearly foolish decision
“great kid who slammed his body into the ground for years with a huge smile then the whiny mets fans wanted him benched for not running out a ball. hasn’t been good since.”
Sorry, I guess I misunderstood that.
Some….not ALL Met fans.
you’re correct
You are a total clown. Mets fans should cheer for Reyes? Do you watch, let alone listen to games, or just read about them on the internet? What a joke.
reyes wasn’t booed in september. not at all. you must have already jumped of the bandwagon to follow the yanks.
better a clown than brainless
if you can read full sentences:
mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070930&content_id=2242370&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym
I can’t wait to go to CPB next week…
So who else is feeling good about tonights game?
yeah pelf dog is going. how could i not feel good?
Strangely, I am. The losing streak has to end sometime, and as wacky as it has been, it would only be fitting if it ended by the most unlikely of pitchers (ie Pelfrey).
I’d be less angry if I saw some more anger out of my team.
That said, the behavior in a big chunk of the stands was unacceptable and I am embarrassed of and sorry to the many of the Phillies fans for it.
Perhaps you should go to Philly for a game and see how those lunatics act. I just cannot fathom the degree of hostility over a game, it is an embarrassment to the game. Maybe they should stop serving alcohol???
“Maybe they should stop serving alcohol???”
And miss out on the money from beer sales (and advertising)? No chance.
The problem, from what I saw, is that the ushers let too much go. At the Phillies game last week (for dollar dog day), I saw a Mets fan getting pelted with hot dogs. The ushers saw some of the people doing it & just asked them to stop. When the other fans realized that they wouldn’t get ejected for doing it, it became open season on the guy.
I’m a fan of zero tolerance when it comes to stuff like that. If someone can’t behave at a game, throw them out.
When a fan of an opposing team comes to a game, their only concern should be about the result on the field, not their safety.
hopefully we can send the filthies back to toilettown with at least some type of beating by thursday night
Am I the only person who realizes that baseball is just a game? Oh wow they blew a lead last year. Yeah it sucks but it doesn’t effect my life and I can’t change it so why complain and get mad? You shouldn’t be worried about these games that much unless you either have a) money on the game or b) too much pride that losing a game makes you embarassed. Ease up, please.
Ctizenships, if you care that little then I don’t consider you much of a fan. Being a fan transcends pure logic and is an intensely emotional experience. It’s not a case of being embarrassed as you suggest; it’s something that simply hurts when this team we care about so much performs so poorly.
Ok then. The Mets didn’t make it to the playoffs! My life is ruined! Am I a fan yet?
I have maintained for over a year now that the pin holding everything together in the bullpen was Chad Bradford. I can not figure out for the life of me why Minaya let him go. Seemingly, everytime he came into a game he inherited runners on with zero or one out, AND he would get out of it with no runs scoring.
We let him go to get Schoenweis? We give Schoenweis a multi-year deal but not Bradford?
Anybody have any thoughts on that?
That my friend may be the question of the ages…..
I loved Bradford. He was $$, and I agree that we were foolish to not resign him. He was a staple of stability in that bully when he was here and for as much as we overpay for guys that are constantly on the DL (you know who I’m talking about) we surely could have shelled up the money for that guy.
We also should have traded Heilman 2 years ago when he was at peak value and wanted to start.
My 2 pennies.
At the time, Bradford was asking for a lot (more than the Mets wanted to give), and the Orioles jumped and gave it to him. Then, by the end of the offseason, Schoeneweis was the only reliever left on the market, and he was asking for Bradford money. At that point, Omar had no choice but to give it to him. He made a similar mistake with Castillo/Eckstein.
Which is exactly my point…they overpay and give guys multi-year deals who do not deserve it…if anybody deserved a long term deal and a pay raise it was Bradford…many of wagner’s saves in 2006 would not have occured if Bradford was not there…look at 2007 for further evidence…
I don’t think its quite time to circle the wagons and panic quite yet. Its a long season. That being said, they are playing some pretty uninspired baseball for a bunch of multi-millionaires.
They need to name D’Wright captain and shake up the clubhouse a bit by firing Willie. I love Willie, don’t get me wrong, but his attitude is completely contradictory to what is needed right now to light a fire under the team’s collective ass.
I’m starting to see everyone’s problem with Willie and I don’t want to agree but I might have to. I think he has no faith in our starting pitching and loves the bullpen, which is pretty shaky. I mean with Perez yesterday he only had men on the corners with 2 outs. He’s not a baby, let him pitch out of it.
Agree 100%…I think Willie needs to adopt a Phil Jackson mentality with these guys. How can they prove themselves in battle if you rip them from the front line when the fighting starts…Phil will let his guys try to withstand a 10-0 run without calling a timeout.
This allows the guys to develop thick skin and the confidence to pull out of a tail spin…
and then he gets killed for sticking with the same guys too long.
He freaking walked the pitcher, are you insane?
What is insane? The idea that Willie adopt some practices from a guy that has won 9 championships?
If he leaves him in, you might call it thick skin for a while but there are two dozen other people calling him crazy for not taking him out, especially if he coughs it up.
Guys don’t win championships. Teams do.
off topic, i saw maine and pelfrey walking down 6th ave Monday near 42nd street…
i don’t see many famous people
did they have bobby v costumes on?
and you only saw one Monday ;)
Captain Hernandez never could save lacksadaisical Darryl, I’ll kept behind a justified change, but right now everyone is suggesting window dressing out of anger and frustration
Yes, I attended my first ever opening day game. If not for the fact I brought my father to this game and spent quality time with him, I probably would’ve went apesh*t because I took off from work only to feel like yesterday’s game was an extended nightmare of September of 07. I don’t knock Willie because from what I saw it seemed like Ollie was all over the place and so he had to go to the bullpen especially after walking the 8 & 9 hitters. I saw our bullpen then implode because they couldn’t throw strikes. It took me and the rest of the upper deck out of the game and transformed us into an angry mob. Just after the bullpen melted down, I bore witness to the most unenthusiastic Take Me Out of The Ball Game… then after Heilman blew the doors open… I had to be tortured by Rick Astley!!!
It is one game, I don’t think Willie should be fired… I am just venting. Will the bullpen please get it together?
I’d rather see Willie leave the starting pitcher in the game longer rather than go to the bullpen. Unless the starter is getting rocked leave him in there. These starting pitchers (like Oliver Perez) need to learn to find their way out of jams.
An Oliver Perez struggling with his command is better than one of our relievers. Plus our bullpen will get worn out from being used as much as they do.
A starter will get 4 days off. Let them pitch longer!
i would rather see willie leave PERIOD….
I understand your point. If not for it being Opening Day AGAINST our ARCHRIVALS, I think Willie gives his pticher slack to get out of his first jam with a 2-0 lead. But he just walked the 8 & 9 hitters as was around 90+ pitches. I was watching the game from the upper deck and saw Schneider having to reach. Plus the bullpen had a day off. Joe Smith came in and got his job done. I know it’s only week 2 but I can’t be the only one feeling worried that Big Pelf is on the mound tonight.
I am….The guy has the goods but no fire. No aggressiveness or confidence behind his pitches. He looked good early spring and I hope he finds a groove tonight bcuz with Pete down and El Duke just a 73 mph fastball away, we’re gonna need Pelf to step up this year, though it isn’t time to hit the panic button. Let’s go Mets!!
This all really hurts.
It’s April, I know, but this needs to stop.
The bullpen can’t get anyone out, Reyes and Castillo don’t believe in getting on base, the team just seems very lackadaisical, and Willie isdoing his usual “I’m very calm routine.”
I don’t consider myself a Willie-hater but I really think this guy needs to stop the Torre-Act. Insisting on this maintaing this calm demeanor has really begun to come across as apathy.
I’m not calling for him to pull a Pinella every game, but I think me AND the team need to see their leader show that he cares and that every pitch, call, hit, run, game, matters.
I never thought I would commend Bobby Cox but at least when he gets tossed from a game, his team knows that their manager cares and that the game is important.
I really cannot recall Willie ever getting booted from a game.
Willie-Joe is a decent person who has my respect but I can only agree with the sentiments being expressed.
He has his formula’s (just like Joe) and overuses the bullpen (just like Joe).
Thank God the Yank Me’s are struggling too.
I respect Bill Buckner for showing up to face the Boston crowd, and then having the guts to call out the media for putting him through hell, but Quit Your Crying! You’re a man Bill. Suck it up.
P.S. Thanks for ‘86