It’s not easy being a Mets fan these days.
Ok, that’s probably the understatement of the year, as anyone who has donned a blue baseball cap with an orange interlocking “NY” on it can vouch for the validity of that statement.
Think about it for a moment. Since the Mets were one game away from the World Series in 2006, Mets fans have suffered through two consecutive late season collapses, a 90-plus loss season, embarrassing moments from management, terribly misdiagnosed injuries, uninspired and often mistake-prone baseball, a World Series crown for the division-rival Phillies, and now a World Series that will result in either a 27th crown for the cross-town rival Yankees or a second consecutive title for Philadelphia. In other words, the only true loser in this World Series will be Mets fans.
I feel for all of my fellow Mets fans, but there is a bright side.
You guys could all be me, a Mets fan living in northeatern Pennsylvania.
I originally grew up in the New York City metro area part of New Jersey. Growing up during the 1980′s, and being within a stone’s throw of “Big Apple” contributed to my Mets fandom, even despite the fact that the rest of my family members were Yankee fans. After getting married and having kids, it wasn’t financially possible to stay in the area of my youth, so I picked up and moved to a small town in the Lehigh Valley called Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Big mistake.
Don’t get me wrong, Nazareth is a terrific town. It’s got plenty of modern ammenities, while still keeping it’s small-town charm. The school system is excellent, the taxes are low, and our street is the definition of the American dream. It really is a great place to live, unless your a Mets fan.
Situated only nine miles past the Delaware river, Nazareth is relatively close to both New York City and Philadelphia, about a 90 minute and 50 minute drive, respectively. We get both New York and Philadelphia local channels, and the area has it’s fair share of transplanted New Yorkers, so I have never really felt out of the loop.
So what’s the problem?
The area is completely filled with Yankee and Phillies fans, so much so that both teams’ games are played on the local sports radio stations. Sure there is also the occasional Pittsburgh or Red Sox fan, but after living here for slightly more than six years, I have met three Mets fan. Three.
I am totally convinced that this is the worst place on the planet for any Mets fan to be. Sure my fellow Flushing Faithful in New York City has to deal with elitist, pompous Yankee fans on a regular basis, and anyone openly rooting for the Amazin’s in the “City of Brotherly Love” probably has a death wish, but living in Nazareth lately has made me feel like I’ve died and gone to Mets fan hell.
I still wear my Mets cap with pride around town, hearing snickering and laughing from both sets of fans. My Mets jacket has been known to completely stop baseball debates between the two fan bases as the one thing they both agree on is that they thank God they’re not Mets fans. There is simply no where to hide.
Like I said, It’s not easy to be a Mets fan, especially here in Nazareth, PA.
The Plight Of A Pennsylvanian Mets fan
– October 30, 2009Posted in: 2009 Season
Hey Lou, wearing a Mets hat anywhere hasn’t been easy lately…
Hey Lou, good to see you writing on here.
The fact of the matter is, the Mets have and will always be a smaller team with a smaller following than the Yankees. The Yankees are much older, more storied, and all in all are the most successful and lucrative franchise in sports. This is going to cause a greater following. And Philly only has one team, so if you’re in that area, you latch right onto that one team.
Point is, for someone to fall in love with a team, they have to be “hooked.” I didn’t really become a diehard until the Mets signed Pedro in ’04. I liked the Mets, but I liked the Yanks a bit as well; I was just a young, baseball-in-general fan. There have been a lot more times in history that the Yankees have been able to “hook” fans-in the late ’50s, ’70s, and ’90s, winning multiple series in each of those periods. That’s three generations of Americans right there.
On the other hand, most Met fans were either hooked by a) the novelty of a new team; b) the run in ’69, or c) the teams of the mid-’80s. That’s much less opportunity to get fans.
True enough, the past 10 years have been a horrible period for Mets fans. It’s unfortunate that the stigma of “poor Mets fans” has been associated with the team-that fans are constantly sh*t on by their team.
It’s probably not always going to be this way. Sometimes it sticks, like the lovable loser Cubs, but they haven’t won in over 100 years. The Mets are at a 23 year drought.
This is probably one of the lowest points in Mets history, if not the worst-a team with World Series potential was absolutely decimated. And it so happens that Philly and Yankee fans are the fans who most love to dish the hate on other teams. It’s a bad spot to be in. There’s only one way to change it, and that’s for the team to play well. Otherwise, we can just try to have pride and support the boys in Blue and Orange.