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…yesterday, my buddy harold and i did something a bit impulsive, but well worth it…we left new york at 7 am for chicago to see the mets play at wrigley field, caught the game, then flew back to new york…
…we got into town and met up with a group of mets fans at Murphy’s Bleachers, including Chicago Mets Fan, and the seiger family who were going to their first wrigley game…i was pretty tired from getting up at 5 am, but i powered through… thanks red bull…
…this was my third time at wrigley, and i can’t imagine a better baseball experience than going to a game there…if you have been to a game with me, you know i can be quite vocal in the good times and the bad, but my taunts were reciprocated in a harmless way which is the opposite of what happens when i go to yankee stadium for example…the fans don’t boo their players, in fact, fans in the left field bleachers boo the right field bleachers and vice versa all in good fun…no fights broke out which made it an event you can actually bring kids to, and not once was there a line for the restroom…all of which have become unheard of at shea i hate to say…however, the song that fans sing after the cubs win is very lame, and they cheer for kosuke fukudome the whole entire game for no apparent reason…
…all in all, besides the mets playing like high schoolers yesterday, it was a great time and always worth the trip, even if you have to get up at 5 am…here is a quick slideshow i put together of the experience…and to set the record straight for those who have asked, my last name is pronounced court-monch, not munch…
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Great job with the photos.
Looks like you had a great time. Hopefully I’ll get there one day!
Great job, too. I’d love to be able to just play hookie like that.
Anyway, nice work. Hard to say the same for the Mets.
yea that stadium looks great in any picture i see of it. The pictures you took came out really good and i to one day would like to visit. I hear nothing but good things from people who go.
A New Pirates Generation is the best team song that is not from the Mets. search it on youtube. it is addicting!
Wrigley is one of those family-esque venues. It’s a place a person can visit without preference. It also has history. Chicago has always had a love not so hate relationship with their Cubbie. I guess you can say they are a feel good team-no matter if they lose.
Regis – great post, and I agree with everything you say. My friends and I went to Wrigley the past two summers to see the Mets, but with the April mid-week series this year, we just couldn’t get it together. The best place on earth to watch a ballgame, and everyone is really so friendly and welcoming. Plus, the bar scene around the park absolutely rocks. Can’t wait to go back.
Same here….the schedule doesn’t work in favor for my Cub buddies to come to Shea either (weekday series). Love it all; the town, the fans, the stadium, the fans.
I must say though, on all my visits to Wrigley (and they’ve all been on weekends), the bathroom lines were maybe the LONGEST lines I’ve ever seen. For maybe the first time in my life, the men’s wait was longer then the women’s wait. Is Regis secretly a woman? :)
tsk tsk, and as for reilly171’s comment below, you’re probably right, but I call it as I see it
Great photos!
Wrigley is one sweet park.
One of these days I’ll make it to Fenway.
I can only imagine the cheers kosuke fukudome would get in NY.
He would get booed at shea
imagine the cheers he’ll get in Philly….
…if he gets knocked unconscious that it
Nice pics, hope to get there someday. oh and I got a pregame constest for that girl…
What kind of contest? Wait! Let me guess … hot dog eating? Three legged race?
Great comments, and I agree completely. I will say that Miller Park is also a great place to see a game, especially when the Cubbies come to town. There is a lot of fun bantering and heckling back and forth between the fans.
i’ve lived out here in chicago for 2yrs, and we have season tix up at wrigley…i’m a diehard baseball fan, so i can pretty much sit thru any match up, but never will you find me cheering for the cubs.
i’ve been to 6 games already, and i can’t agree w/ you more about the Fukudome comment. actually made me laugh. cubs fans have short term memories. cedeno was boo’d out of the ballpark over the past 2 seasons by the way.
Must be something about the name “Cedeno” that inspires booing.
Photos were great. Thanks
Since there is no booing at Wrigley what excuse will the Mets offer for their poor play in Chicago?
Do they blare reggaeton every half inning at Wrigley too?
Awesome pics, BTW.
Interesting that you can drink openly on the streets right outside of Wrigley, but in the Shea parking lot you’ve got to hide beers like they are weapons of mass destruction.
I got a ticket for drinking a beer in the shea parking lot on opening day. The best part is, they cops wrote the ticket out while my friends and I were drinking our beers. When they were done, they drove off and we were still drinking our beers.
Those were some expensive beers!
Mets fan living in Chicago. I would say these 2 games were tame as far as the crowd goes but the past few years I have seen fights at Wrigley with Mets Fans.
I think the Cubs winning helped keep a lot of their fans happy.
It certainly isn’t on par with the venom at Philly or Yankees Stadium but there are times it can get more than uncomfortable at Wrigley. As far as no booing – wasn’t it just 2 years ago the Cubs fans threw stuff on the field during a Mets game. I think it also helped that Monday was a 6PM local start time and yesterday was a Tuesday afternoon at 1:20PM so less time for people to booze.
I love Wrigley Field but I think the crowd was more tame than the past few years. Obviously, the Cubs winning helped that here(and any city really.)
couldn’t agree more…def less razzing than usual. def had to do w/ the earlier starts, and the scoreboard.
hands down most pathetic mets series i’ve witnessed in person. if delgado’s not hitting, he has to AT LEAST show up to play defense. for a Vet, this is truly pathetic/sad. mets brass is in denial. put him on the 15-day DL, bring up Carp
That “Go Cubs Go” song is by far the most annoying thing about Cubs fans and Wrigley field. And there are numerous things to be annoyed about.
The funniest thing is, the fans don’t even know the words. They just yell out whatever they want until the chorus.
“Who let the dogs out” was bad. But that was appropriately put to sleep.
“Go Cubs Go” is going no where.
Hi Danny. How was watching Fukudome in person?
BTW, I wasn’t suggesting I wanted Fukudome over Church the other day. I would have loved an outfield of Fukudome, Beltran and Church this year. That would have been my preference.
You know what the name Kosuke Fokudome translates into English?
David Eckstein.
Serously, the guy is pesky as it gets. Mets just could not get the guy out.
I would love to compare him to Church this past weekend…but it’s just so happens that we didn’t get to see much of Church in the lineup this series. And certianly not in the 2 spot like he should be.
Danny, Fukudome is an OBP guy. That was his rep in Japan and he’s that way now too. I suggested the Mets go after him before Omar got Church and picked up the option for Alou. I am extremely happy with Church. I just wish they had Fukudome to go along with Beltran and Church (or even Milledge).
If they got Fukudome, it wouldn’t necessarily preclude F-Mart for the future either. He’s young and could have been the primary OF backup as soon as 2009. If F-Mart hit then they could always trade whoever was in RF (Church or Milledge) at the time.
let me ask you this….If you just signed a 2nd baseman in the offseason to a 4 year deal and expected him to bat 2nd and get on base like he had his entire 10 year career, would you see the need to sign an OFer who has practically the same make-up and style of play to a position that otherwise requires more power (like what Church brings)?
I’m not saying I agree, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this were the Mets reasoning.
Everyone is getting upset over Castillo’s lack of production. Rightfully so. But I just think the anger is better directed at the opportunity cost suffered with now having this worthless asset on the books for 4 years.
if i just signed the particular second baseman i think you’re referring to and expected that much out of him, i would have made a very stupid decision.
well…we are seeing that stupid decision everyday.
wait….i take that back. He actually needs 2 days off after every 4 days playing. my bad.
Danny:
1) They didn’t sign Castillo until middle of November. I had been advocating Fukudome since last summer, during the season. If they had signed Fukudome, I don’t think they should have signed Castillo, especially for 4 years. But Fukudome would have been instead of Alou.
2) Fukudome isn’t anything like Castillo. He has a career .543 SLG PCT over in Japan. Sure, it’s different here. But even if you account for the differences his SLG PCT would probably still come out way ahead of Castillo who has a career .357 SLG PCT.
3) There is the age difference. On paper it’s only 2 years. But Castillo appears to be an OLD 32. So the age difference appears greater to me.
OBP if it’s consistent is not a bad substitute for power. The problem with the Mets now is that Beltran and Delgado are providing neither power or a high OBP. And Castillo is not providing a high OBP either.
Sorry, I wasn’t timing how long VCarver’s Fukudome lap dance has lasted. :)
I would rather have Alou for one year over Fokudome for an extended period. Comparing Japaneese stats to MLB is like comparing Arena Football passing stats to NFL. Fact is, Fokudome is an unknown and a risk. He is having a great time in Chicago, but it is also April. The book on him is practically a pamphlet at this point in time. I liked him, but his style that I saw is VERY much like Castillo. He protects the plate and goes opposite field. He’s a sound fundamental ball player, but I would rather have more power in the corner OF positions.
And the problem with the Mets go a bit more beyond just Delgado and Beltran.
IMO, it’s less risky signing a top Japanese league position player who’s still in his prime than a 41-year old player with an extensive injury-health history.
You also have to take into account defense. Fukudome is worlds better in the outfield than Alou who is going to end up costing the Mets games when he plays.
It’s really not too difficult to translate offensive stats from Japan over to the U.S. Just take off roughly 100 points from the OPS and you can get a pretty good idea of what you’ll get. As long as the player is still young and performing well prior to coming over.
I know it’s April, but I bet Fukudome ends up with a similar OPS at the end of the year. He’s got a good eye and is patient at the plate. He’s always had a higher OBP than Castillo too.
And I know the team’s problems are more extensive than Beltran and Delgado. But in terms of offense, they along with Castillo, are the weakest links and a problem now.
the song is pretty annoying, but I like the guy who wrote/sang it: he was a huge Cubs fan who died of Leukemia at the age of 36 back in 1984, never having seen the Cubs play a postseason game (they played their first one since World War II 11 days after he died). He wrote a few other songs about the Cubs (A Dying Cubs Fans Last Request is the best), and was scheduled to do the national anthem before Game 1 of the ‘84 NLCS before he died. The Cubs sprinkled his ashes across Wrigley Field just prior to the game. I can’t blame them for playing the song. Better than a lot of the crap they’ve played at Shea.
I would rather listen to Rick Astley with the SAP button pressed than hear that stupid song again. Regardless of who wrote it…it’s a stupid song.
That was Steve Goodman, a great talent who is best known for writing City of New Orleans. A great song.
Yeah, because the laid back, white collar crowd that populated Shea during the 2000 World Series really “incented” the team to success.
Oops . . . replied to the wrong comment.
Wow, imagine that … They cheer for a player for no apparent reason (how about to incent him?) as opposed to booing for no apparent reason like they do at Shea!
The NY fans are too vicious, impetuous and annoying. I hope the seats at Citi Field are so scarce and expensive that only the staid corporate types will be able to go. There should be less knee-jerk booing with more staid and passive crowds.
Not a horrible thought…
Ha, yeah, I’ll be a staid corporate type. Hell, I’ll even wear a suit if it means people aren’t booing Santana during the first month of the season.
As a white-collar professional, I can’t exactly complain.
If Wrigley Field fans (i refuse to call them Cubs fans) are the watermark for fan behavior….than your theory just lost 99% of it’s weight.
These people ALWAYS cheer in April. They quiet down in June. And resort to booing/crying in July/August. It’s a Chicago tradition. like clockwork. In fact…when it comes to booing, negativity, and vile statements against there own team…MEts fans would actually learn a few original things from Wrigley Field fans. Give it a few months, my friend.
Mets fans kill these losers. B/C Mets fans HATE losing. Wrigley Field Fans can care less, b/c it’s in their blood. They will pack the house and won’t even watch the game, as long as they get drunk and act like the low baseball IQ morons that they are.
I’m sorry man….I’ve lived here 10 years….and that is just a HORRIBLE comparison.
Are you calling Santana a “loser” in April in his first Mets start? Or Heilman a loser on opening day?
Sorry, but those Mets fans who booed that day are horrible.
I’d rather have fans like those at the Cubs games. It would be more conducive to the Mets winning.
I think the biggest reason the Mets don’t have a big home field advantage is because of the hostile home crowds..
by losers…I meant Wrigley Field fans. Mets fans, in comparison, are by far better than these fans. Any fan that is OK with losing and doesn’t really know the game that well is just not worth the time IMO. For instance, a Wrigley Field Fan fan was talking to me yesterday during the game, and I was oblidging. When asked me who our SS and Closer were, I decided had to ignore him the rest of the game. He didn’t know half the Cubs either. But don’t get me wrong…he had the Wood Jersey going along with the Fokudome headband and his 5 Old Style Drafts.
There’s your model fan, Carver. I will take an educated fan over a loyal and ignorant one anyday.
Any fan that boos anyone not named Bonds in April is a complete idiot. I know I show my frustration way too much on this blog…but honestly I’ve booed 3 Mets at a ballgame in the last 5-10 years. Kaz Matsui, Roberto Alomar, and Burnitz. And I have comfort in knowing that I don’t need to justify why I booed those guys to anyone here.
But to boo Johan Santana the other day was the worst display of Mets fan behavior in years. Embarassing.
We will have to agree to disagree on this then. I will take any fan — no matter how casual or clueless — over the negative counter-productive fans that booed Santana any day.
The fans who booed Santana and Heilman on opening day at Shea are the worst. Absolute worst.
Yeah, because the laid back, white collar crowd that populated Shea during the 2000 World Series really “incented” the team to success.
Do you really think a different crowd could have overcome Benitez and the roids-fueled Yankee pitching staff that year?
A more raucous crowd — even a supportive one — would probably have made Benitiez melt down even more.
So now supportive crowds won’t help either?
Not getting booed didn’t seem to help the Mets in Wrigley now did it?
And you’re right, nothing would have helped Benitez.
Don’t you think the crowds were supportive of Benitez when he first came to Shea? Did that help?
And assuming a more raucous crowd in the 2000 postseason, they would then have booed Benitez even harder. Right? We all know how that works out for him.
So I think a rowdy crowd would likely have rattled Benitez more than it helped. Which is my point. I know a supportive crowd can help many players (though not all). But the negative reaction is just so much more harmful. The harm outweighs the good IMO.
Oh, and as for what happened tat Wrigley?
1) The Cubs, as do most teams except for the Mets, do have a home field advantage
2) Zambrano
3) A struggling Delgado and bullpen
In truth, the people of Chicago are extremely nice. I went to Wrigley alone while in town for business and the Cub fans I was sitting next to were so nice (even after learning I was a Mets fan). They even bought me a brat, because as they saw it, it was impossible to truly experience Wrigley without one.
The place makes Philadelphia look like Beirut.
Beirut makes Philadelphia look like Beirut
that’s very funny…
Hillarious how far ahead of Lilly’s pitch Carlos is. What a joker. Also, looks like a curveball.
mmmm crunch & munch
My daughter started going to school in the Chicago area last year which gave my wife and I a few opportunities to visit Wrigley. What a great experience; one I hope to repeat a few more times before she graduates.
Oh I hope I get there next year! Lucky you, good impulse.
I was at the games and didn’t mind the Cubs fans too much..although their obsession with Fukudome is ridiculous considering they also supported the racist t-shirts selling outside Wrigley
All in all still a good time though Wrigley is always a fun place for a game, especially during the day