Friday, August 20, 2010

Baseball Season in New York

Here it is in the middle of August and the New York Yankees are in the midst of a division race with the Tampa Bay Rays. The New York Mets... are not. But still, you'd have a hard time figuring out that it's baseball season in New York City.

Amidst the hipsters and tourists, there is rarely a Yankees hat to be seen. But even the "average" native New Yorker won't acknowledge baseball season. Most often, apparel is sported by small (and most likely dumb) children. Occasionally, a disproportionately die-hard Yankees fan will be seen, dressed to the nines in Yankees apparel, full with an unauthentic jersey that says "Jeter" on its back (despite the fact that the real Yankee uniforms never have names). But both of these sightings are still the exception to the rule.


In fact, it is more common to see a Phillies hat or t-shirt on the streets. Maybe it's just trendy to like the back-to-back NL Champs. More often though, a "style-cap" will be worn by people who don't even know that baseball is a sport. For instance, a Royals hat. Really? Did you dress yourself this morning? Why not just wear your shirt with "LOSER" stitched across the front? No offense to Royals fans, as I'm sure they exist somewhere. But really, baseball has nothing to do with liking a team's charming colors.

So I wonder when baseball season really begins in New York. I'm sure there will come a day in the not-so-distant future that the whole "energy" of the city will shift to the Yankees. And since this season appears to be one that will culminate with the playoffs, I'll have a front row seat to every casual resident that becomes an overnight baseball guru and opine about topics they heard on WFAN. I'm sure things will change a little, at least by the time October rolls around.

You always hear people talk about St. Louis and Boston and even Chicago as being great baseball towns. But never New York. And it is surprising to a certain extent, but now I see why. When you step back and look at the teams in New York, you get a sense of history. But the last of the charm that New York offered to baseball died last year when the Yankees moved to their new stadium. It's no wonder that they have struggled with attendance, when the average Yankees fan cannot afford to go see their overpaid team.

When I moved to the New York City area, I was excited to feel the baseball atmosphere propelled by two clubs and a couple of the fiercest rivalries in the sport. But it is not a team or a player or a milestone that makes baseball so special; it's the fans. It's sad to say, but if you're a true fan of baseball, then you'll be a lot more excited about the sport in a town other than New York.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

A Weekend Rivalry

Well it has been a while since I've had something to share about New York fans. But fresh off of a three game series between the Phillies and Mets this weekend, I've been left to ponder what proper ballpark etiquette entails in a weekend rivalry.

Certainly, between rivals such as the Phils and Mets, there will be understandably more opposing fans in town. I've seen the Phillies play in a variety of crowds. I can remember the mid-00s when the Mets fans would outnumber the home crowd at Citizens Bank Park. I've seen the Phils on the road in places like Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. And I can even remember a handful of semi-pathetic, cowbell ringing Rays fans in town for a soggy World Series Game Three. But what makes New York fans different than the fans of, say the Cardinals (who I understand are almost friendly to a fault)?


Well for one, I noticed how the general demeanor of Mets fans has gone from arrogant, to somewhat confident, to humiliated. Speaking to a number of fans on the subway, they are generally apathetic towards their team and baseball, especially in light of the Phillies' and Yankees' recent success. Some fans are sarcastically bitter towards the way their team is managed. The headlines the Mets have been making lately probably don't help. It's almost to the point that I pity their fans. But to be clear, I don't.

So on Friday night at Citi Field, the Phillies were shutout. And throughout the pitcher's duel, the primarily pro-Mets park was disinterested in the game. It's hard to imagine this, given the Johan Santana Koozies that fans got. But once the final out was recorded, then some half-hearted heckling was directed my way. It was actually a little disappointing, as I would have expected much sharper insults and retorts given the Phillies' single hit in the game was courtesy of Cole Hamels. No luck.

On Saturday, despite the results from the previous night, Mets fans were not trash talking but instead, dreading the game even before we got there. Why? Two words: Roy Halladay. The crowds were generally more Philly-inclined and much more into the game. Every 'Let's Go Mets' chant was easily turned into a 'Let's Go Phils' by my section of fans, despite the celebrity endorsements. But the real excitement came when a couple of hot-headed Mets fans, who were clearly too smart for their own good, started antagonizing our section. What ensued was quite possibly the most pathetic and anti-climatic fall over several rows of seats by the Mets fans.  It was at  best a weak attempt at a fight. Fortunately, they were arrested shortly thereafter.


But, for a baseball rivalry that everyone seems to want, the weekend disappointed. The Mets, just a few games away from irrelevance in the 2010 season, have inspired almost no fan support. During key points in the games, even the fake crowd noise meter on the jumbotron couldn't get revved up all the way. And so, in the end, New York Mets fans really did nothing to distinguish themselves in any way, positive or otherwise, this weekend. It almost takes the fun out of watching Philly beat New York.

Almost.