Tom Brennan - Some Mets Fans (How Do I Say This Nicely?) Suck.

One Bad Player Performance and Many “Fans” Look Like This.

Darin Ruf stunk as a Met. 

One wonders, though, if he would have sucked as badly if a cohort of fans was more supportive and not vicious. 

Here is Ruf in a recent article, discussing the player-unfriendly atmosphere he found himself in:

In an interview with The Athletic, Ruf said while “fans are going to be tough on you” no matter where you struggle, “in New York, it’s magnified.” He maintains the media runs with fans’ perceptions, causing players to get “crushed by two entities.” Ruf says that’s true even if you stay off social media.

“I think a lot of people feel that athletes, if they do a certain thing well, they should be able to do it well anywhere at any time,” Ruf told The Athletic. “But throughout life, you’ll be in different stages of emotional stability and mental stability. 

When a lot of things get thrown your way at once, it’s hard to perform every single night on a stage like NY or really anywhere in MLB. “Baseball is a very tough game and you have to be in a very good spot mentally to have success. I’m hoping I can get back to that.”

Mets fans wanted a savior as the Atlanta freight train bore down on the Mets last summer. Ruf faltered. And some of the fans crucified him for it. Some fans would have found the Roman Coliseum more to their liking than Citifield.  Blood sport. Why?

Because some of Mets fans suck. You can see it on Facebook…vicious…mocking…ignorant.

Psalm 73:8 talks about them: 

“In their mockery they speak evil; from their arrogant position they speak oppression.”

Now, the small but overtly rabid crowd’s target is Francisco Alvarez.

Those few “fans” say he sucks, he should be traded, he should be sent down…blah blah blah.

“Call a Code Red!” “You want me to be on that wall.”  No…we don’t.

Alvarez Perspective:

1) He is here early because Narvaez had the nerve to get badly hurt about a mere 7 games into the season.

2) He did not call himself up. Eppler did. Alvarez, the employee, did as instructed.

3) Other Mets minor league catchers make Tomas Nido as a hitter look like Roy Campanella, so in house choices were Alvarez, Alvarez,and Alvarez.

4) They got rid of Nido-equivalent Patrick Mazeika. And Kevin Parada is not ready. How do I know? Well, he’s had 15 at bats this year. And Parada has allowed 16 stolen bases. That ratio doesn’t work.

5) The “fans” call for crucifixion after Alvarez, under the same home park glare the veteran Ruf Found himself in, did poorly his first two games. TWO. These same fans would have “traded that bum Willie Mays” when he got off to his jittery 1 for 26 start in his career in 1951.  Mickey Mantle hit .222 his first career month. Mike Schmidt hit .196 his first full year.  GET RID OF THEM!

- But those fans crucify Alvarez after 2 games.

6) The Mets keep signing old guys to bazillion dollar contracts. Then they get hurt or fail to hit.

One genius “fan” screamed for the front office to get us a real catcher. Mindful that Alvarez had caught all of 2 games, I asked who exactly he had in mind. He (having no clue) said he would leave that to the front office. But he wanted that acquisition NOW. DO IT! Billy’s magic wand and Steve’s wallet.

The team, I must say, is underperforming, in part because the owner loves to collect dinosaurs. I hear he is considering renaming Citifield as Jurassic Park. The Brooklyn Nets tried the old star thing when they got Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett past their prime - a Brooklyn disaster unfolded.

Aging Escobar thru Tuesday (spring and regular) is 8 for 70, 1 HR.  Koosman hit like that. And Kooz was no Tom Seaver at the plate. And he flailed again Wednesday. Escosaurus Rex, anyone?

TEN MILLION SMACKERS FOR BURNT TOAST.  

Carrasco too looks like Ol’ Man River.

“But he was good last year.”  

“But Eduardo had a great September.” 

When you are a player who gets old, you wake up one day and you’re 10 years older.  You were very good…suddenly it is gone.

In baseball it just happens.

Francisco needs to go on a long road trip, well away from those morons who consider themselves fans who have something to say.  Not realizing that when that happens, when their lips part, bile and ignorance flows out.

Leave the kid be. 

He’ll be fine…if the “fans” don’t crucify him first.

Maybe those fans should find something else to do. Drive in traffic and cut people off and scream at them, perhaps? The Apostle Paul, speaking in a different context, said this, which might also apply:

“As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” A little harsh, but catches one’s attention.

I’m rooting for Alvarez all the way. I want him to survive - and then thrive.

And I’m pushing back on that cadre of Facebook morons who’d probably be pleased to psychologically destroy the kid and say, “SEE! I told ya so. Now…who else can I destroy?”

The same gaggle of “Fans” are all over Daniel Vogelbach too. Their ability to differentiate is sub-optimal, to be charitable. They just have to pick on someone. Why not the fat guy who, I dunno, gets on base a lot?

I ask them the question, who has the highest OBP during their Mets tenure?  Nimmo? McNeil? Lindor? Alonso?  

Nope, it is Big Daniel. A smidge under .400.

But…but…but…he doesn’t hit with enough power (ans. He’s been to the plate less than 25 times in 2023, and Manny Machado’s been up 56 times with no HRs); he’s slow (well yeah, that’s obvious); he clogs the basepaths (well there are several other Mets who don’t pose that problem because they simply fail to get on base); he can’t hit lefties (the execs knew that); he swings funny (you look funny, so sometimes funny things balance out).

Everyone got such a thrill when the groundskeepers’ work kept two squibs fair for bleeder base hits for Luis and Nido. 

Which obscured the real issue of why fans shouldn’t pick on fat Daniel…even with the benefit of those 2 hits, Luis, Nido, and Escobar are a prolific 11 for 75, skewering the offense. Pham is 6 for 26, but remove his one good game and he is otherwise 3 for 22. OK, Pham had a fine game Wednesday, too. Maybe the new prescription is a new lease on baseball life for him. We’ll “see”.

That is a whole lot of non-hitting, so…let’s of course pick on fat Daniel. Because he’s fat and slow and we just wanna lash out.

No, Daniel is a valued member of this sputtering offensive team, and I am a big DV supporter. The bile-spewers should try it sometime. Support the struggler.  

Or at least support the .400 OBP guy who sports some extra corporal heft.

Or continue to do their best to grind everyone down, like they did with Darin Ruf.

I have been hard on the Escobar swoon…and was on the Ruf swoon…but it was a pique I had with the front office and their love affairs with signing the elderly. They decide who can be on this team. 

Those nastygram fans just bring the daggers. 

That subset of fans (how do I say it nicely) suck.

NOW - to keep it fair and balanced - I went to a very recent game, packed with kids.  It was a beautiful day and no boos to my ears were heard.  A VERY positive crowd, and despite Nido and Escobar going hitless again, to drop to a combined 7 for 63, no boos for them were heard, only cheers were heard when Escobar dropped down a sac bunt that the pitcher dropped for an error.  

Pete and Lindor (our Frank and Brooks Robinson tandem) each launched long homers, offsetting output of the dangerous Soto.  Megill (3-0) gave the thrill, and the pen was a fortress once again.  

A happy 5-2 win day, after trailing early 2-0. 

So the paying fans were there for a great, supportive time.

The braying. brooding Facebook "fans" are a different breed.