WasWatching.com

Off topic for this post:

Here is tonight's Lineup courtesy of Pete Abraham:

Damon DH
Abreu RF
Jeter SS
Roddriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Mientkiewicz 1B
Nieves C

Why the hell is Abreu now batting 2nd?

Torre being Torre.

Here's my two cents:

I have met quite a few people who are Mets fans simply because they hate the Yankees. I have met even more Mets fans that are more passionate about disliking the Yankees than they are about being a fan of the Mets.

I actually like the top of the lineup. Jeter is a great #3 hitter. Long live Torre....bring him back next year. Let's keep pissing off the masses.

Back to the topic though, I think Yankee fans can be spoiled. I never would have booed Nelson. Some Yankee fans believe all that nonsense about "home of champions", "the babe's ghost", etc. These are human beings and there are some exciting things that happen throughout the course of the year and there are some very bad things that happen. The players aren't machines.

To some extent, I think Met fans understand that more than Yankee fans - that these are human beings. I remember a few years ago, Cliff Floyd was about to have surgery, they were out of it in August (nothing new there) and he was playing his last game in left. I think Cliff has been tearing the cover off the ball and it was his last game before the surgery, all the fans got up and gave the guy the biggest cheer. Remember this is the same Floyd who had a long history of injuries and the Met fans knew this, I thought it was pretty cool.

I don't see Yankee fans doing something like that......to say, ugh....Carl Pavano. Both players had injury histories before they came over here, but one fan-base will lambaste and another will applaud.

Who is right? I don't know, I guess it depends on who you ask. But I do know one thing, Torre is my favorite Yankee manager.

Long live Torre!!!!
Long live Torre!!!!
Long live Torre!!!!

I grew up in Queens. Couldn't see Shea from my folks house, but I could see the glow of the lights at night. I've thought about the depth of my ties to the Yankees over time. Some of my earliest recollections are of baseball ~ 1964-65, when I was ~ 5-6. Of Little League (almost in the shadow of Shea); of Mickey Mantle being a god (even though I never saw him play like one); of Phil Rizzuto speaking at one of my award dinners and stressing the need for "all good ball players to be good bunters"; of Mickey Mantle bat day (15K kids, me included, waving that bat as Mick limped to the plate) and of the tears when I broke that bat on a foul ball pop up after a string of hits; of the cathedral like setting the first time I walked into Yankee stadium for a night game (organ blaring, lights too bright to look at, the smell of the popcorn). Later, as Mick drifted away, Thurman arrived. At ~ 10 years old I got to watch a guy push himself beyond his in-born physical skills because that was all he'd be satisfied with. Thurman, along with, (wimper) Pete Rose lit a fire for baseball, and really life, under me that still burns. A win by out-working the competition approach. Make them quit because they don’t want it as much. Why the Yankees and not the Mets? I've distilled it down to this...The Yankees, even though they stunk during most of my formative years, had a legacy that translated into a sense of unmatched self-imposed expectations. They stunk, but they hated it and they knew it had to change. The story you relate is one of many that confirms to me that other Yankee fans are similarly hooked on this drive to succeed. Yankee baseball just gives us another way to express it. The Mets stunk and they laughed about it and took it in stride. I've lived in Houston for 25 years now. The Astro fans follow the team closely, cheer for them, go to the ball park, etc..., but there are times of the year, in any given month, week, or day, when baseball disappears from their minds, when the level of attachment is not like what I know it to be for Yankee fans. Saw the same thing with Met fans growing up. The Yankees are always kind of hanging around my mind. Kind of like a song you can’t get out of head for 40 or 50 years. The 3 million vs. 4 million thing is a drop in the bucket. I travel around the world and see Yankee gear everywhere I go. You won't find Met fans in large numbers south of Virginia and west of Pennsylvania. Are Yankee fans more intense than met fan? You bet your ass they are.

I've mainly been a Yankee fan from afar, leaving NY at eight. I made a few trips to the stadium before moving back this year and getting a partial plan.

Honestly, I think the booing goes overboard and shows more of a lack of respect for the players and a lack of understanding of the game. I'm not against booing, just not every time someone, besides Jeter, has a bad game.

I think it has less to do with passion than an acceptance of less than ideal behavior - the mob mentality. Swapping a rainout for the first game of the last Red Sox series I was mortified at the crass, ignorant behavior that sent families of Red Sox fans scurrying for the exits (kids in tears) to the chants of "hit him (player) in the head" and "push him (fan) off the upper deck."

However, while living in on the West coast and Europe there were always Yanks fans to be found. Guys who kept up with the box scores and would be the first to spring for MLB radio or MLB TV. I just think there's a difference between passion for the team and some of the behavior at the stadium.

While Yankee fans are far more likely to boo someone who is not playing well (i.e. A-Rod, Colter Bean, Pavano, etc.), they are also more likely to REALLY show their appreciation. I grew up going to games at the Stadium and at Shea, and I've never seen Shea Stadium erupt the day that Yankee Stadium does.

I also don't doubt the booing by Mets fans anymore anyway. At least this year, I've seen at least 2 players booed. When Oliver Perez was taken out during the 3rd inning or so after he walked in 3 runs, and David Wright, their little golden boy, while he was in a slump. So they do their share of booing--but I've never seen them cheer a pitcher for a good job when they put in a reliever for him.

I just think everything done by Yankee fans is a little more intense. Most conversations I've heard between Yankee fans and Met fans involve the Yankee fan pointing out stats and the Met fan ending the discussion with "the Yankees suck." Good argument.

The day Yankee fans are as obnoxious as Red Sox fans is the day something needs to be changed in Yankeeland.

A lot of it is the fans you know, I think. There's a lot of knowledgeable Mets and Yankees fans who are passionate -- however, the ballpark may be filled with either the loudest or least-knowing. Forced to make a comparision, I'd say Mets fans in general are passionate but slightly less so than the big-time Yanks fan, but it balances out because there's a lot more bandwagon or casual Yankee fans. Just my thoughts.

It may be the fans I know, but it's also people I hear who, for some reason, come to the games. I don't understand why a Met fan would come to a Yankee game during which they are not playing the Mets, but that's not the point. But they, those that I happen to hear, seem to end their conversations. Maybe Met fans are just more impatient and want to end the conversation, so they go with "the Yankees suck."

I think you got the right idea though--generally less passionate. The Mets have their fair share of bandwagoners these days too.