Quote: The Fans were Pushing Us Tonight
Jerry Manuel, said the following, while speaking to reporters after last night’s dramatic, come-from-behind, walk-off win:
“I believe we’re ready to take off. I really believe that. I would be really surprised if we come out and not perform. I don’t think our fans will let us perform any other way. I mean, they really were pushing us tonight and that’s a good thing, that’s a good thing.”
I watched a lot of fans walk out of Shea Stadium, starting as early as the fifth inning. There was another exodus when the team dropped to three runs behind. However, the 20–or-so thousand fans who did stay, scattered through the stadium, did do an amazing job of cheering this team on.
By the way, the boos and jeers that the mainstream media loves to obsess over all seemed to stop once the crowd was whittled down, which suggests to me that the boo-birds all bailed on their team, which should not be much of a surprise 
if you read some of the hop-on, hop-off style comments that appear on this site every day.
Nevertheless, what I enjoyed most about the remaining crowd last night was how vocal and excited and positive we were without the prompting of the public address system. Lets Go Mets cheers spread from small pockets around the stadium, people were singing the Jose, Jose, Jose song, people were banging on the railings, side of the stadium and their seats, and there was a buzz before after nearly every pitch, while the public address system remained mostly quiet.
The camaraderie is so much more fun and natural when the speakers zip it and let the crowd lead the charge.
