Feeling Like A Fan Again
Somewhere around the top of the sixth inning Friday night, I missed the Mets.
I don't know if it was the excitement of the inning...the seemingly great atmosphere on a summer night at Citi Field...or the prospect of a Mets-Yankees series with the Mets entering playing some of their best baseball of the year.
But it was at about that time I came to an important conclusion.
It's time to turn back the clock a bit, forget for a while about the business side of baseball, and just sit back and enjoy being a baseball fan again.
In case you missed it, let me tell you about that sixth inning. The Yankees had men on first and third with one out when Eduardo Nunez lifted a pop up into shallow center field. Jose Reyes went back on the ball and looked like he made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch.
He didn't.
The ball dropped, but from the TV angle it looked like he caught it. It also looked that way from third base, as Robinson Cano retreated back to the bag, and the Yankees ended up with the bases loaded and one out instead of having a run in. Jonathan Niese then struck out Jorge Posada and got Nick Swisher to ground to third base to end the inning without allowing a run.
Even if the Mets don't go on to come back and win the game (I'm writing this in the bottom of the sixth inning), it was really exciting.
Couple that with my realization just about an inning before that that I really need to go to Citi Field this year, and I think it might be time to lift my boycott.
I don't know exactly under what grounds I'll rationalize the end of the boycott. Maybe because the Mets are playing such good ball with their homegrown talent producing dividends. (Did I hear today they've scored the 4th most runs in the league, even dealing with injuries as they have?) Maybe because if I buy a ticket I can argue the money is going to David Einhorn as much as the Wilpon family. Maybe, as I originally wrote about the boycott, I'm starting to "feel good about the team" I'll be contributing money to.
And if I go to a game, most likely in August considering my family situation, who knows if the Mets will still be playing good baseball. Who knows if the likes of Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran - even David Wright - will still be with the organization.
Whether they are or aren't...whether the Mets are buyers or sellers at the trade deadline...whether the Wilpons are forced to give up ownership or continue on...maybe it's time for me to stop worrying about all that.
It's July. The Mets are playing good baseball.
I think I'll just sit back and enjoy being a baseball - and Mets - fan.
