Empathy for the Mets
Twitter is an amazing invention.
As an unhealthily obsessed fan, I end up watching or listening to pretty near 162 games a year. I can't even phrase that as, "I try to..." because believe me, there are many days when I think, "Too busy, can't watch the game today." If I'm home, inevitably, my will crumbles and I turn Howie Rose on in the background or (when I get the chance) tune my tv to PIX11 or ESPN. If I'm out, my phone sends me updates and I steal glances at bar tvs as often as I can. It's a sickness and, sometimes, a curse.
Twitter feeds this addiction in a dangerous way. Not only can I keep updated on the game, but I'm interacting with fellow fans. If you live in a baseball-unfriendly household or are surrounded by the enemy (Phillies fans everywhere!), the opportunity to sink yourself in this ready-in-an-instant, internet-based Mets fandom is dreamy. I love it.
When the same comment rolls up on my screen twelve times ("YES! Castillo!" "Castillo with a hit!" "Castillo pulls through!" "Go Slappy!" etc. etc.), it reminds me of full sports bars with a cheering crowd and flowing liquor.
But Twitter has also revealed some uglier aspects of the fandom to me. Installed in my happy, optimistic, lovey-dovey bubble... I try not to be too harsh on the Mets. The extent of my frustration is yelling at the screen -- "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, OLLIE, GET IT TOGETHER!" But in baseball, as in life, I apply my core belief -- live and let live. I try not to let the little things get under my skin.
David Wright is going through a slump. But, as the stats tell us, he's actually doing a little bit better than he was last year. It's just the situational hitting that's really been suffering. He's our star. He's our guy. I'm not going to boo him, and it hurts when the fans do. I know I run the risk of sounding completely clueless, but... I still believe a fan's most powerful recourse is to cheer on and encourage her team. Why let the demons get further in their heads? Psychology tells us that we, as humans, respond to positive reinforcement worlds better than to negative reinforcement. Tell me: how does it make sense to further discourage and dishearten a player who is going through a mental slump? It seems totally counterproductive to me, and I can't understand it. The one and only time I have ever booed at Shea Stadium is when Willie Randolph walked out of the dugout to pull Aaron Heilman, who just needed two pitches to give away our lead. I booed Willie Randolph then, and even with the frustration coursing through me, it didn't feel right. I'm never doing it again. I wish people wouldn't boo. It honestly hurts.
Because I'm so plugged in to the Mets internet community/media this year, I'm getting a closer look at things I never gave a second thought. For example... uniforms. Uniforms? I want my team to look presentable. I appreciate tradition. I prefer the older uniforms. Well, I've never been a fan of the gray uniform... I just hate gray in general. And I'd heard grumblings about the black uniforms before, but on the internet--not just Twitter, but everywhere--I've encountered such deep-running, passionate hate for the black unis that it really surprised me. I like the black. No, it's not our team color, but I guess I just never really thought about it with that much scrutiny before. I prefer black myself; it's chic and always looks good. I think the guys look nice in them. The blue and orange really pop. And again, I get the argument about tradition and history... but then again, I think it strays dangerously close to the whole Yankee-fan mentality that I can't stand. Why get so hung up on history and tradition? This is what they're wearing now, and I think it looks okay.
And the mixed hats with the blue bill. Why is there so much attention paid to this? Is it really worth all this huff and bother? Of course, not everyone is seething with anger. Most of the conversation I've seen has been reasonable. I think there's just always that one troll who lurks in the background and pounces with his inflammatory words, that gets everyone else all whipped into a frenzy of disproportionate anger.
Then I remember to take a step back. The internet tends to magnify the tiniest things. Where, in normal face-to-face conversation, a dislike or a particular preference is the most ordinary thing to talk about, on the internet, it suddenly becomes a major topic of discussion as more and more people add their opinions. The original thought, backed with not much more emotion than is usual for this sort of thing, suddenly becomes the backbone of a "movement." It's almost like the mob mentality, but transferred to the internet.
That might make an interesting study. Mob mentality via Internet.
Anyway, this is my appeal for reason. It's like road rage: It's so easy to become an anonymous person in a car, an anonymous person in a crowd, an anonymous poster on a forum, just another voice in a sea of boos. But I sincerely think it'd make for a better world if we stripped some of that anonymity away, and people were held accountable for what they did and said again. At least, to a certain degree. It might cool down the bitterness and the anger with which a disheartening number of Mets fans seem to regard their team. And even if we can't strip it away, I think it's important to remember that the team is composed of individuals (who get paid a crapload of money, I know) with psyches and issues, who are fallible, and, being human, would probably respond better to positive reinforcement than negative.
[/steps off soapbox]
As an unhealthily obsessed fan, I end up watching or listening to pretty near 162 games a year. I can't even phrase that as, "I try to..." because believe me, there are many days when I think, "Too busy, can't watch the game today." If I'm home, inevitably, my will crumbles and I turn Howie Rose on in the background or (when I get the chance) tune my tv to PIX11 or ESPN. If I'm out, my phone sends me updates and I steal glances at bar tvs as often as I can. It's a sickness and, sometimes, a curse.
Twitter feeds this addiction in a dangerous way. Not only can I keep updated on the game, but I'm interacting with fellow fans. If you live in a baseball-unfriendly household or are surrounded by the enemy (Phillies fans everywhere!), the opportunity to sink yourself in this ready-in-an-instant, internet-based Mets fandom is dreamy. I love it.
When the same comment rolls up on my screen twelve times ("YES! Castillo!" "Castillo with a hit!" "Castillo pulls through!" "Go Slappy!" etc. etc.), it reminds me of full sports bars with a cheering crowd and flowing liquor.
But Twitter has also revealed some uglier aspects of the fandom to me. Installed in my happy, optimistic, lovey-dovey bubble... I try not to be too harsh on the Mets. The extent of my frustration is yelling at the screen -- "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, OLLIE, GET IT TOGETHER!" But in baseball, as in life, I apply my core belief -- live and let live. I try not to let the little things get under my skin.
David Wright is going through a slump. But, as the stats tell us, he's actually doing a little bit better than he was last year. It's just the situational hitting that's really been suffering. He's our star. He's our guy. I'm not going to boo him, and it hurts when the fans do. I know I run the risk of sounding completely clueless, but... I still believe a fan's most powerful recourse is to cheer on and encourage her team. Why let the demons get further in their heads? Psychology tells us that we, as humans, respond to positive reinforcement worlds better than to negative reinforcement. Tell me: how does it make sense to further discourage and dishearten a player who is going through a mental slump? It seems totally counterproductive to me, and I can't understand it. The one and only time I have ever booed at Shea Stadium is when Willie Randolph walked out of the dugout to pull Aaron Heilman, who just needed two pitches to give away our lead. I booed Willie Randolph then, and even with the frustration coursing through me, it didn't feel right. I'm never doing it again. I wish people wouldn't boo. It honestly hurts.
Because I'm so plugged in to the Mets internet community/media this year, I'm getting a closer look at things I never gave a second thought. For example... uniforms. Uniforms? I want my team to look presentable. I appreciate tradition. I prefer the older uniforms. Well, I've never been a fan of the gray uniform... I just hate gray in general. And I'd heard grumblings about the black uniforms before, but on the internet--not just Twitter, but everywhere--I've encountered such deep-running, passionate hate for the black unis that it really surprised me. I like the black. No, it's not our team color, but I guess I just never really thought about it with that much scrutiny before. I prefer black myself; it's chic and always looks good. I think the guys look nice in them. The blue and orange really pop. And again, I get the argument about tradition and history... but then again, I think it strays dangerously close to the whole Yankee-fan mentality that I can't stand. Why get so hung up on history and tradition? This is what they're wearing now, and I think it looks okay.
And the mixed hats with the blue bill. Why is there so much attention paid to this? Is it really worth all this huff and bother? Of course, not everyone is seething with anger. Most of the conversation I've seen has been reasonable. I think there's just always that one troll who lurks in the background and pounces with his inflammatory words, that gets everyone else all whipped into a frenzy of disproportionate anger.
Then I remember to take a step back. The internet tends to magnify the tiniest things. Where, in normal face-to-face conversation, a dislike or a particular preference is the most ordinary thing to talk about, on the internet, it suddenly becomes a major topic of discussion as more and more people add their opinions. The original thought, backed with not much more emotion than is usual for this sort of thing, suddenly becomes the backbone of a "movement." It's almost like the mob mentality, but transferred to the internet.
That might make an interesting study. Mob mentality via Internet.
Anyway, this is my appeal for reason. It's like road rage: It's so easy to become an anonymous person in a car, an anonymous person in a crowd, an anonymous poster on a forum, just another voice in a sea of boos. But I sincerely think it'd make for a better world if we stripped some of that anonymity away, and people were held accountable for what they did and said again. At least, to a certain degree. It might cool down the bitterness and the anger with which a disheartening number of Mets fans seem to regard their team. And even if we can't strip it away, I think it's important to remember that the team is composed of individuals (who get paid a crapload of money, I know) with psyches and issues, who are fallible, and, being human, would probably respond better to positive reinforcement than negative.
[/steps off soapbox]
I agree 100%. I was just at the game on sunday and had almost this exact conversation with my father in regards to Wright getting booed and the general animosity toward the new stadium.
As a general optimist when it comes to the Mets (depsite getting beaten down time and again) I almost always feel like I'm putting out fires in internet discussions and that the only way to make the nay sayers go away is by shouting them down.
I think the booing is out of control at this point though, and I feel like it's only really gotten bad since the end of 2006 (though I booed Zambrano hard in 2005). You don't boo Wright, just like fans of any team wouldn't boo their star. This isn't Philadelphia, we're better than that.
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Thanks for your comment. I'm glad I'm not alone. Maybe the silent majority (it's starting to seem like a majority) could become a bit more vocal and shame the boo-birds back into their cages.
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