It is a sad, sad day as a Mets fan.  I will miss Shea, it deserved a much better send off.  I have nothing else to say.  It is just a sad, sad day.

More about the game once I collect my thoughts.

I enjoy beer, however I am officially putting a personal ban on purchasing any Miller Light either at Shea today or any other time in the near future.  I strongly suggest you do the same.  This beer that is sold at Shea is brewed in Milwaukee.  Buying a Miller Light is like wearing a Brewers hat at Shea. 

Say no to Miller Light, Say no to the Brewers! 

Last game at Shea?  I hope not, and I am sure many other fans feel the same way.  Well, here we go again, one game left and a must win (if the Brewers win).  I could not help feeling a bit like last year, hoping a lefty can pull you through.  We have another chance, a second chance, one that does not happen so often.  The ability to officially forget about last year by beating the team that crushed Mets hearts.  Just win boys, just win.  Ollie, you will certainly earn a new contract today.  Come out and pitch a "Johanesque" game, and the city will love you and organization will reward it.  Come out and pitch like that fool Tom Glavine, and you may as well have pitched your last game in New York. 

So many emotions are hitting me as I think of Shea stadium.  As I wrote before opening day, I fell in love with baseball at this stadium.  I have fond memories of my father, watching superstars.  This is where I got my first autograph.  This is where I got my first Major League baseball.  This is where I saw my first home run and first complete game shutout.  This is where I felt a stadium bounce it was rocking so hard and it is also where I felt like someone ripped my heart out.  This stadium may not have the history or success that a crosstown stadium has, but, this is my stadium, it has my memories, it has my success.  I will absolutely miss Shea Stadium.  As I see the new CitiField looking over Shea, I hope Shea Stadium has a few more tricks, and games, up her sleeve. 

I will be sad to "Shea Goodbye", but hopefully we can save the emotion for another day. 

Let's Go Mets, Ya Gotta Believe!

Johan.  Wow.  Unreal.  Best pitching performance I have ever seen in person.  You can not underestimate what Johan did for this organization today.  He came out and carried the entire team and Mets fan base on his back today.  What a gutsy performance.  All the while, he had ZERO support from his offense.  Let's not look past this, the Mets offense did not show up today.  I liked the new look lineup with Beltran hitting second.  The crowd came out in huge numbers today to support the Mets.  It was a fantastic crowd that got behind Johan from the very first pitch.  On short rest he threw one of the most amazing games.  Good for him, I am excited to have an ace that wants the ball and will put a performance on like that.  Hell,  C.C. has been doing it for almost a month now for the Brewers.  There is plenty of time to rest in the offseason. 

Great game, amazing pitching performance, awesome crowd.  And just as the Mets recoreded the last out, the Shea scoreboard put up a 1-0 score from the Cubs/Brewers game.  By the time Jason and I got to LIRR it was a 4-0 game.  As I type now, the game is over and the Mets will have a chance with a win to at lease push a tie.  Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day at Shea, hopefully not the last one just yet!

Mets 2 Marlins 0, hell of a game Johan.

What?  Who were those guys out there tonight?  My friend Julie and I went to the game and got there a tad bit late.  We arrived to a 2-0 hole the Mets had been put in and they never, ever sniffed catching the Marlins.  How can the Mets have such an amazing comeback one night and the next night come out like a AA ballclub.  Unreal.  Also just as unreal, 1/2 the stadium was filled.  Pathetic.  How can you be in this pennant chase and have 1/2 a stadium full. 

Let's hope these two negatives (terrible baseball/terrible fan support) equate to a positive tomorrow, because as of now this team does not deserve to get to the postseason, and the fans do not deserve a postseason. 

Mets 6 Marlins 1.....

I still remain confident, a lot can happen over the next two games.  Mets just need to win.  They win, they put the pressure on the Brewers and Phillies. 

Or I do, Let's go Pirates!  Wow what a game tonight, I don't even know what to say.  Beltran, clutch.  R. Martinez, Cancel!  Just a great, gutsy, sick, comeback.  Kudos to the Mets reserves coming in and coming up with huge clutch hits.  I mean, wow, great win boys.  Let's get after it this weekend against the Marlins. 

I love what Keith said in the post game report, every Mets fan should be felling the same thing:

"I want the Mets to win to win the division, I don't want a wild card, take the division, you have three games left, if the Phillies open the door, go snatch it." 

Let's Go Mets!!!

Well, I had insane seats for this game, five rows back behind the Mets dugout.  Wow, so many emotions tonight.  The ups and downs of a pennant, unreal.  Delgado grandslam off Zambrano: UP.  Mets leaving man after man after man after man on base: DOWN.  I mean, Daniel Murphy, can you be any more solid right now.  Lead off triple in the 9th, huge clutch hit.  However, D Wright, what the F!  3-0 and you take a hack like you did!  Mets, you can't score a run to win the game during a pennant chase with no out and a man on third.  That is just ridiculous.  Ollie, you know what, maybe you should worry more about pitching in a big spot rather than sculpting your hair in a mohawk and hopping over the first base line coming off the field.  You gave the Mets nothing tonight.  Man, what a night.  It was a definite playoff atmosphere tonight.  Fans on their feet, holding onto every pitch, wiling this team to win.  Tonights loss is on the offense, Ayala can not be held accontable, he gave you one great inning.  I just still can not get over the Mets giving up a 4 run lead and then not being able to win this game after having as many men on base so many late innings in a row. 

Mets, you tore my heart out tonight.  But I am going to still believe in you.  This is a pennant chase and we have to still cheer and think you will rise to the top.  Terrbile situation hitting, but I am confident we will come back out tomorrow night and play hard. 

As I had said in a past entry, the Mets ripping your heart out and stomping on it: Priceless.

By the way, during the game I received countless text messags and emails from friends watching the game on ESPN who said they zoomed in on me looking concerned in the 7th inning.....hmmmm I wonder why I looked concerned.  I also have to say that this is was one of the top 5 Mets games I have ever been too.  Just insane, too bad they lost. 

My friend James moved back from London and we went to the game tonight.  I am still amazed by how small the Mets crowds have been recently.  Hey Mets fans, in case you didn't notice, we are in the middle of one of the better pennant races in baseball right now.  We are not dead, in fact we are leading the Wild Card.  In my opinion, a very small crowd tonight, and for the first part of the game i thought people were sitting on their hands.  There was absolutely no playoff atmosphere, which is surprising considering Johan was pitching.

To the game, Johan picked insane.  This guy has picked this team up for every start in the 2nd half, you can't do more than this guy has to help the team win.  Even more, a broken bat hit up the middle by Johan proved to be the turning point.  As the broken bat went up the middle, the ball hit it again around second base, helping Johan to reach base.  Mr. Wright later singles home two runs.  James and I both said this was maybe the break the Mets needed to push them past last years demons. 

The crowd really didn't get into this game until some fan rushed the field.  If there was rules for how not to rush the field, this guy encapsulated all of them.  Fat.  Slow.  No visual athletic ability.  I feel that if I ever rushed the field, I could last a good 3 min running around from those clown security guards, James didn't agree with me.  Anyway, this guy gets on the field, runs around shortstop a bit, surprisingly juked one of the security guard, then is finally taken down.  As he was being dragged off the field the Mets fans started to get into it, even got a little rowdy.  Funny, it takes some slob rushing the field to get the crowed to wake up.

So, Wright, big hit.  Reyes, huge hit, a triple brining in three runs for his 200th hit of the year.  He was pretty pumped when he got to third.  At this point of the game it was like two different games and fans.  Did a playoff atmosphere, pennant chase crowd finally wake up?  I think so.  This is how New York Mets fans carry their team. 

The entire crowd was scoreboard watching.  When they posted the Braves/Phils score the entire stadium started doing the tomahawk chop, classic.  On the train ride home, everyone was talking about the Pirates being up by 2 runs over the Brewers, and refreshing their phone every few minutes.  Nice, fans seem back into it again.

A fantastic win during a great pennant chase.  Keep believing, keep believing.....

I have trashed the Mets this year at certain points, from playing uninspired, emotionless baseball to the shenanigans of the front office and Oman Minaya.  As of right now all of this means exactly dick......

The Mets have 6 games left.  It is time for the fans to come out to Shea and support this team.  Yes, the bullpen is terrible.  Yes, we can't score late in games.  These are things are already know, but nothing can be changed about it.  We as fans need to go out and support this team.  Did you see images of the crazy fans in Philly last night?  Where were those type of fans in NY?  It is like a damn funeral at Shea, it is pathetic and makes me sick. Why isn't there a playoff atmosphere at Shea.  We should be picking this team up on our shoulders and getting behind them for the push to the post season.  Have all the fans really put this season behind them, put the Mets 2008 season on shelf dismissing their playoff chances?  Guys, we are leading the Wild Card!  The same Wild Card that we won last time we went to the World Series! 

It is simple, get your asses out to Shea and cheer for this team like it is game 7.  The Philly fans are doing it now. You know Yankee Stadium wold be rocking right now if they were in our position.  We have 6 games left, all home, and I finding it very hard to understand why Shea is as dead as ever.

"Ya Gotta Believe!".

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that from time-to-time I write about upcoming auctions with Mets and baseball memorabilia.  Well, are you ready for the mother load?  There is a list that has been circulating with hundreds of items coming up for auction by the New York Mets (total value, $2.7 million).  Everything from Ralph Kiner's door to the individual letters spelling out Shea Stadium.  Do you want the 1986 World Champions banner, you can have it.  How about Mike Piazza's locker, it is all yours.  Here is the catch, which I think is kinda sad, you will have to join the "Shea Premiere Club" in order to "register" for the auction.  To join this "Club" you would have to put a deposit down (in effect a down payment on a purchase) of $2,500 for Silver status, $5,000 for Gold status and $10,000 for Platinum status.

I work in the auction business and this seems to be a highly irregular way of registering people to bid at an auction.  Why are they taking money up front?  Why not just charge a buyers premium on top of the purchase prices?  I have read that the Mets have had a lot of interest in more than 2,000 of the items available.  At the end of the day, yes, this is all for a good cause and charities will benefit from the sale proceeds, but for maximizing the potential value of the items up for auction, the New York Mets did not do themselves justice.  Every Mets fan should have an opportunity to register to bid, not just the few who can afford a down payment.  Further, why was there no extra marketing?  The company organizing the auction, MeiGray Group, did a very poor job with PR, marketing and building a buzz. 

Speaking from experience of spending my entire career in the auction business, I give both the Mets and the group organizing the sale a F, for failure to create a more beneficial bidding platform for the common fans, allowing only the "elite" to participate through an idiotic deposit system and reducing competition for memorabilia which will smother the values realizing less for Mets charities.

The last thing that frustrates me about this is why are the Mets selling everything?  Are you telling me the Mets championship banners aren't worth keeping?  Are the Mets simply going to forget Shea even existed?  When you walk into CitiField and see a statue of Jackie Robinson, who wasn't even a Met, wouldn't you want to also see the old banners hanging from the rafters?  Why aren't the Mets planning on a small museum within the new stadium for the Mets history, including Willie Mays' old locker, Ralph Kiner's door to the press box, Tom Seaver's retired number and the 1969 and 1986 banners?  Doesn't it make you kinda sick that the Mets are just tossing these things aside, and in some cases having new replica's replace them?  Well, it makes me sick, but you know what, it is par for the course, the Mets have always been a Mickey Mouse franchise.  Let's see how the the crosstown club handles this.

Here is the price list.

I am happy to have my friend Julie back to provide this blog entry.  Julie is a true Mets fan who sends witty, insightful and well written commentary.  To follow her thoughts on the Ohio State Buckeyes, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Steelers, visit her new blog, NYSPORTSGIRL.  Enjoy:

Contract season? A new manager at the helm? Whatever the reason, there is no denying this: Carlos Delgado is on fire right now. The guy is an absolute stud right now and has been clutch for the Mets in the second half of the season. Given the Mets lackluster performance during the first half of the season, Delgado’s recent performance has given a much needed surge to the team. At 36 and after his first half  performance, I think that pretty much everyone thought that he was on the down swing of his career and that there was no way that Mets were going to pick up his option after this season. Well, what a difference two months makes. Delgado’s batting average was a paltry .230, the first half of the season and an astounding .342 in the second, a 67% increase. He is third on the NL RBI leading list and leads the majors in the second half in batting average and home runs. In the last seven days, he is hitting .421 with 4 HRs and 8 RBIs and had his second straight multi-homer game on Tuesday, only the fifth Met to achieve that feat. Not bad for an old guy, huh? I went from thinking ‘automatic out’ when Delgado stepped up to the plate to ‘odds are he’s getting a hit here’. As a Mets fan, that’s a good feeling to have for your No. five hitter going into the last 17 games of the season. I will admit that I was one of the many who hoped the Mets would pick up Teixeira back in July. I thought they needed a younger guy and a better bat. Fast forward two months and I am officially on the Delgado bandwagon. Although I think that Scott may be slightly more excited than me as far as Delgado goes. I don’t think anyone needs to hear his actual comment but let’s just say that the visual is still giving me nightmares. I’m just glad he’s still a Met. Let’s hope he can keep this power surge going through the stretch and help bring the pennant back to the Big Apple for the Metropolitans.

September 5, 2008 Mets come home and lose to the Phillies 3-0. 

September 7, 2008 Mets play game 1 of a double header and lose to the Phillies 6-2.

For both of these games I was AMAZED to see that the Mets didn't sell out Shea.  Maybe the biggest series left at Shea Stadium and the fans don't show up.  I have to be honest, I am kinda disappointed in Mets fans during these two games.  Seriously, how do you not pack the house?  The Yankees cross town are a terrible team but yet sell that stadium out every single game.  I just don't understand it.

The fans were not in the game at all on Friday night or Saturday.  Not sure if the crowd was playing off of the Mets or vice-versa.

Really, I have nothing to say about either of these games but, wow, not selling out for a huge weekend series with the Phillies.  Shame on you Mets fans.

I tell you what, being a Mets fan is expensive!  First, talk about a potential jinx, I got the email this week about buying my season seats for the post-season.  I know there is not an easy way to do this, but I hate reading this email, paying for the tickets and then receiving the actual ticket to the World Series.  Not only is it a jinx but it is an absolute tease.  These things are also damn expensive! 

I also received the seat location at Citi Field next year.  I could not be happier with where they put us.  Right on the railing above the third base bag,  promenade level.  I am going to miss the orange, blue, green and red seats....replaced by the sexier names like promenade level.  So, the seats are fantastic, right on the railing and the brothers and I could not be happier.  The Mets also want about $600 to hold the seats, which isn't so bad if you consider the PSL issues with the Giants and Jets.  The issue is that the seats climb to insane prices.  Damn, a bit shocking, but I guess not really, we all knew it was coming.

Securing new seats in a state of the art baseball stadium: $600

Paying for post-season tickets and jinxing the whole thing: $2600

Having two season tickets first row at Citi Field: $6000

Getting your heart ripped out and stomped on from being a Mets fan: Priceless

Wow, nice road trip.  Finishing 6-2 against the Phillies, Marlins and Brewers, I really like how that played out.  I don't want to put more emphasis on this series than needs to, but this upcoming weekend series with the Phillies is quite big.  With about three weeks left in the season any cushion the Mets can get is huge.  I will be there Friday and Saturday, looking forward to a playoff atmosphere and welcoming the boys home. 

So, get your asses out to Shea this weekend and cheer on the Mets.  This might be the last most important regular season series left at Shea.  If you need incentive, take a look at this YouTube video.

By the way, welcome back Ryan Church, huge grand slam today in the top of the first. 

I just returned from an amazing Labor Day weekend in Nantucket.  I have to say, it is one of the most amazing places I have ever been.  Nothing Mets related was seen on this trip as I was smack in the middle of Red Sox Nation.  Hats, t-shirts, flags, jerseys everywhere for the Sox.  Not one Yankees hat was seen.  I had to laugh to myself when reading about the Yankees getting smoked and playing terrible baseball in the middle of Red Sox Nation.  Jon Heyman from SI.com wrote a great article as to Why the Yankees Are Done.  This was all even sweeter when I read the Mets took 2 of 3 from the Marlins and continued to play solid baseball.  We are going to have to accept the fact that the bullpen is going to blow some games and they are going to hold/save some games.  Let's just hope that at the end of September the Mets will be ahead by a few games. 

I am ready for September baseball at Shea.  Let's go win the Pennant!