1. Ike Davis made an ugly error last night. But you were surprised, weren’t you? When Daniel Murphy or Carlos Delgado made an error, you weren’t surprised at all. And Ike’s still learning.
2. Somewhere out there, some kid spent today staring at the back of his or her first Mets baseball card, soaking up information like a sponge and secretly delighted by how much there was to learn.
3. Pretty soon you’ll have one of those days where it’s beautiful weather, everything goes smoothly at work, and you leave a bit early because you’ve got tickets for Citi Field.
4. Pretty soon you’ll have one of those days when you saunter through the subway in your Mets gear waiting for someone to ask you who won today, because you’ve got a tale to tell.
5. We get Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and Howie Rose to tell us what’s going on down there on the field.
6. Baseball fandom is full of Ryan Thompsons and Lastings Milledges and Alex Escobars who go from prospect to suspect in the blink of an eye. But every so often an Angel Pagan figures it out while he’s wearing your uniform.
7. Mr. Met’s new ads — yes, the ones by Citi — are fricking awesome. As is Mr. Met.
8. The black cat really did cross Beckert’s path. Swoboda really did catch it. Agee really did catch both of them. They really did nail Zisk at the plate. The Mets really did beat Atlanta at 4 in the morning. Lenny really did go deep to end it at Shea. Gary really did finally get to Kerfeld. It really did get by Buckner. Jesse’s glove really didn’t ever come down. Darryl really did hit it off the clock. Pratt really did hit it over the fence. Dunston really did work the walk. Robin really did hit it back to Georgia. Piazza really did cap the comeback on Mulholland’s first pitch. Franco really did freeze Bonds for strike three. Mike really did beat the Braves on the first game after 9/11. Lo Duca really did tag out two runners on one play. Endy really did make the catch. Close your eyes and you can see all these things any time you like.
9. There will never be another ’69, but there will be another year that feels like ’86, or ’73 or ’99 or ’00 or ’06. Sooner than you think, you’ll be jumping up and down in the stands with your arms stuck kind of halfway up, waiting to throw them all the way into the air and scream like a happy idiot.
10. That moment when you get to scream like a happy idiot again? It just got a few seconds closer.
I needed this right about now. Thank you.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jason Fry and Mo Miller, bmfc1. bmfc1 said: RT @jasoncfry: Hey #Mets fans, here are 10 reasons to be happy. Faith and Fear in Flushing. http://bit.ly/b1qzZd [...]
Yep. That’s why I still watch and root. It’s been my opinion (and I’ve spoken to many non-Mets fans who agree) that no other team has had as many memorable (and often unbelievable) moments over the past 48 years as our Metsies. Thanks Jason and thanks Mets.
Great stuff!!
Love, love, love my Metsies! Thanks for a great read. Bring on the Phillies! Let’s go, Mets!
Thank you Jace!
Nice, Jason, and right. It’s time for a collective breath.
About point #9. It better happen pretty fast. I’m pushing 65 years old!
jASON
CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE SOME OF THAT MEDICAL MARIJUANA YOU MUST BE SMOKING?
Seriously you and Greg are simply the best
LGM
Hi,
Thanks for this posting Jason. I like Ike Davis too!
Phil
[...] they’ll be arranging tee times before the end of August. While there are still at least 10 reasons to be happy (according to Jason Fry), it is far from easy to accept that the 2010 season for the Mets is likely [...]
Lots of young talent will be coming up in a few years, can’t wait when it will be our year and the yanks play second fiddle!!!
Another year like 2006? I was at game 7 NLCS. Not something I want to happen again. The Mets are a Mess. At least when the New York Football Giants have a bad year, I can still be proud to root for such a great franchise with great owners. The Wilpons do everything wrong and make it embarrassing to root for the team. Being a Mets fan is the worst. And what exactly is this kid soaking up on the back of a Mets baseball card???
C’mon, nobody’s got a gun to your head. It may be frustrating at times, but it’s not the worst. Tell that to a Pittsburgh or Kansas City or Baltimore or Seattle or Houston or even a Cubs fan.
The Mets have had a unique, fun(ny), often exasperating, occasionally miraculous history. If you don’t like rollercoasters, then I don’t know why you’re a Mets fan. The Yanks are a much safer bet when it comes to the rings, baby, but their cold, stuffy, ersatz grandeur bores the hell out of me.
Awesome.
I think my neighbors are having a birthday party for their two-year-old. I can give you their address if you’d like another punchbowl in which to drop a turd.
All very good. Thanks. Looking forward to tonight’s game now!!!
Thanks for the chills dude, the recap of the greatest moments in Mets History hits home, especially the 2006 moments, 9/11, and Robin “hitting it back to Georgia” cuz I never saw that ball fall down with my 13 year old eyes in 1999.
this made my day! thank you!!!!
Are you kidding me????
Thanks, Jace.
[...] better or worse, I’m a Mets fan. Jason Fry has put together a list of ten reasons for us to be happy over at Faith & Fear in Flushing. And you know what? He’s [...]
Well written piece. Captures what it’s like being a Mets fan. The bad times are real bad, the good times are burned into our memories forever.
Good stuff, but man, only 6 years out of 40 + that are memorable. Damn, thats weak. And as much as I absolutely loved the play, thinking about Endy’s catch now only makes me depressed.
thanks man. i needed this.
How about screaming like a spoiled 4 year old? This is getting ridiculous.
[...] http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2010/08/05/ten-reasons-to-be-happy-despite-well-you-know/ [...]
Hi Jason,
Ten reasons to be happy, yes, but tonight was just another one out of how many to be sad?
What a bunch of crap. This is our problem in a nutshell. We’re so complacent. This is garbage. We’ve sat through 3 years of absolute shite. I don’t wanna talk to a KC fan or a Pitt fan or some other fan who pays $9 for their tickets to a game. Let me talk to another fan whose team has a payroll of over $100mil and pays $20 to watch crap. It would be different if Minaya would come out and say hey, we have to rebuild a little bit, we have a plan and we’re gonna stick to it. There’s nothing! They have nothing. No plan. Even individual games they have no plan. They’re lost. It’s a lost cause. This year and maybe even next year with Jackass Wilpon’s reassuring vote of confidence for Minaya. This team has constantly showed itself as a joke for the past 2-3 years. The final straw was actually letting Ollie come back up and onto the roster. And that, to me, is a lenient final straw. There were many other moves before that that were mind boggling. This team will be in limbo for a long time if something drastic doesn’t happen. Do not be complacent and say oh hey another sunny day out at the trillion dollar field where hot dogs are $7 a pop. It’s embarrassing to be a Mets fan right now. Chickens without heads. Some sort of revolution is in order, and if it means finding Wilpon’s front door and heading there I’ll lead the damn charge if I have a following. Enough is enough. Stop being happy with garbage.
I agree though those Mr. Met ads are pretty fantastic.
[...] it, I concluded: I’m an enabler. This blog is an enabler. Sweet, sincere posts enumerating reasons to feel good about being a Mets fan — a hansom cab ride designed to ferry us from losing disgustingly in Atlanta to losing [...]
Hi Jason. Up to now I’ve been too shy to write a reply. In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever replied to ANY blog or published commentary, simply because said reply would be read by others (and God forbid, commented on, as well). Well, I’m nervous but here goes nothing…… This last post (and I do read your blog religiously) was a much needed balm to what’s been a very frustrating season for us life-long-Mets-fans. I do not agree that you are somehow leading us down some self-delusional path or are white-washing reality in order to ignore it. Indeed, you’ve done a fine job of stating that reality, in all its horror, with humor and perspective. I do feel, however, that you’ve left out one more reason to be happy, though it’s a minor omission to be sure. Up until just a month ago or so, depending on your level of faith or fear (in Flushing), we were playing meaningful games and actually entertaining the idea of a playoff spot. Heck, if anyone had said last winter we’d be at or close to .500 this late in the season I’d have snorted some snarky retort in his/her general direction. You did mention the abundant young talent that the organization seems to have stumbled upon. So many of us seem to forget that this has been quite an improvement over the last two seasons. Yes, I know, not exactly pie-in-the-sky, and the Wilpons are definitely maddening, but the world is green and the nights are warm and there’s baseball to be taken in. And it NOT last season, and that’s enough for me.
Keep up the great work, buddy. I haven’t looked forward to installment writing like this since I was nine and had a subscription to Highlife Magazine! Or put another way, your blog is perfect therapy for devotion to a team that drives one crazy.
Thanks and I hope I haven’t gone on too long, Flip
Not too long in the slightest, Flip — thanks for the thoughtful response, and hope you’ll comment again. We’re all friends here!