In light of this weekend’s Subway Series I thought I would iron out the true differences between the Yankee fan and the Met fan. I have been a suffering Mets fan for the last 25 years, so if you sense a slight bias or any bitterness, your probably spot on. This is all in good fun and is certainly open for debate. Money welcomes your comments. Holla!
The Mets Fan
Being a Mets fan is a job, almost a chore actually. Most likely you were grandfathered into this mess and there is no turning back now. Nobody really chooses to be a Mets fan. You think about leaving your fandom over and over again but you rationalize your miserableness by saying something like, “It will be that much better when we finally win one.” A true statement, but who really wants to wait what a lifetime for the payoff? You’ve had some joyous moments, thought the tides were turning a few times, and believed that several years would be THE year…but they weren’t. Most of us thought that David and Jose would be our generation’s Doc and Daryl, Endy’s catch would equal National League Champs and that the Phillies were nothing to worry about…we were wrong. You have thought many times in your career, “What else could go wrong” and then promptly, you found out. You’ve watched can’t miss prospects like Alex Escobar, Butch Huskey and Alex Ochoa, well, simply miss. By a long shot. You’ve seen a slew of incompetent GM’s come and go, each leaving their own disastrous legacy. You’ve watched almost all of your live baseball in a pleasant dump called Shea and now in Cookie Cutter Stadium called Citi. I could go for days here people. But I’ll quit while I’m ahead.
With all of the hardship and pain there is to be endured as a Mets fan, we are a knowledgeable bunch. We know our team, our players, our organization, our farm system. We also tend to know what’s happening across the league. Because our team is usually dog shit, or at best, an adventure, we actually have to watch games. And when our team really shits the bed we just watch other teams play. We’re tough as fans and in life. We are survivors!
The Yankees Fan
The Yankees fan has various origins. Some were grandfathered in, but most aren’t. I feel as the majority (starting to put the bulls eye on my back and I could care less) joined in Yankee Nation because of the glitz and the glamour. The majority of Yankees fans don’t watch baseball nightly, don’t know who’s pitching when you go to the game with them and couldn’t tell you who leads the team in batting average or RBI’s. Most go to games to prove something or just to say they went. It’s a social thing not a baseball thing. The majority of Yankees fans can’t debate baseball, adequately assess their team’s talent, their short comings or anything else that requires true baseball knowledge. The majority of Yankees fans wear their team’s gear to Mets games even when it is not a Subway Series (I have even seen this in the playoffs, 2006, disgraceful). The majority of Yankees fans had no team affinity until the mid 90’s when they figured, “Hey why not?” everyone else is doing it. I have never once sat with a Yankee fan (and I have some friends that do not fit the above mentioned criteria) and debated pitch selection or baseball strategy. Why? because the majority don’t have a fucking clue (there, one curse word, had to do it). Most Yankee fans feel the need to post a Spring Training victory, a meaningless homerun or other exaggerated, out-of-whack statement about their team on Facebook. The majority of Yankees fans don’t win with class, they win with arrogance. We know you’re the best, you’ve been the best. You’ve gotten the credit, enjoy. Celebrate where applicable. The list goes on…
The Disclaimer and the Close
All this being said (and I think I just did a pretty good job breaking all of this down on both sides) there are many Yankees fans outside of the MAJORITY, who know the game, understand it and have a true passion for it. Am I being tough on Yankee nation, of course, but that’s because I can’t deal with half-ass fans of any kind. And the majority of Yankee fans personify this. Are there Mets fans like this you ask? Probably. But they’re probably girls, not men. Because again who really chooses to be a Mets fan. You have to yearn for the suffering, the embarrassment, the envy. You could root for the Yankees with your eyes closed. What’s the fun in that? You have to work at being a Mets fan.
That being said, good luck to all this weekend and enjoy. It’s always a doozy.
Oh,and in unrelated news why does A-Rod celebrate in such a homosexual fashion? I’m open to theories.
MLB, NY Mets, NY Yankees, baseball
daryl strawbery, David Wright, Doc Gooden, fans, jose reyes
