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ABOUT US

Greg Prince and Jason Fry
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.

Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.

Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.

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Game of Chants

As befits a game won in the eighth and

then again in the ninth, the portion of the sold-out crowd that was ambling happily down the

ramps leading to Gate D was giddy as all get out Saturday. Given that

it was the sixth consecutive win for its team, there was bound to be

more than just an extra bounce to its step.

First, there was a generally joyful noise that contained no discernible words. Then several hearty rounds of “LET'S GO METS!” Then a brief digression into “YANKEES SUCK!” Then more “LET'S GO METS!”

I'd been caught up in post-win chants before. They rule. As I left a game in July '84 after Keith Hernandez beat Neil Allen in the tenth and increased the Mets' lead on the second-place Cubs, there was no containing the mass glee. “WE'RE NUMBER ONE!” alternated with “STEINBRENNER SUCKS!” back

then. I had just returned to New York from a summer semester in

college, desperately following the Mets' rise through box scores and

Sports Phone calls. If anything told me that what I'd imagined from

afar was happening for real, it was the chanting that continued that

night long after the winning run was scored.

So Saturday's refusal to stop cheering just because the game was over

and we were no longer looking at a field wasn't unprecedented. But this

was: As we streamed out of Gate D, a 7 train rolled by, heading west.

Unprompted but all at once, the mass of fans that emerged into the

sunshine shrieked and waved every pair of arms it had toward the

elevated tracks.

For anybody who figured they'd beat the crowd and jump on that first 7 out of Dodge, we had a message:

HEY TRAIN!

WE WON AGAIN!

WE BEAT THE MARLINS!

WHAT A GAME!

WE CAME FROM BEHIND!

WE DIDN'T LOSE TO LEITER!

AL PITCHED GREAT!

BUT PEDRO PITCHED AWESOME!

WE WERE LOSING ALL DAY!

BUT WE DIDN'T LOSE!

WOODY PLAYED LEFT!

HE'S AN INFIELDER!

HE MADE A LEAPING, LUNGING CATCH!

ROBBING CASTILLO!

THEN HE DOUBLED PIERRE OFF FIRST!

IN THE EIGHTH!

WE CAME BACK!

IN THE BOTTOM OF THE INNING!

BELTRAN TIED IT ON HIS THIRD HIT!

MIKE SMOKED A GROUND-RULE DOUBLE!

THAT PUT US AHEAD!

BRADEN NEARLY BLEW IT!

BUT WE WERE SAVED BY A CALL AT HOME!

WE NEVER GET A CALL ANYWHERE!

BUT TODAY WE DID!

VICTOR DIAZ CAME UP IN THE NINTH!

AND VICTOR DOUBLED!

VICTOR ALWAYS DOES SOMETHING!

RAMON CASTRO WAS UP NEXT!

WILLIE HAD DOUBLE-SWITCHED HIM IN!

WILLIE'S A GENIUS!

RAMON SINGLED VICTOR HOME!

WITH THE RUNNING RUN!

AGAINST GUILLERMO MOTA!

TAKE THAT MOTA!

TAKE THAT MARLINS!

WE WON!

SIXTH IN A ROW!

WE'RE OVER .500!

NEXT STOP, FIRST PLACE!

AND 111TH STREET!

The train, thus informed, rumbled onward and we all went our separate

ways to spread the word in relatively quieter, somewhat less

gesticulative fashion.

1 comment to Game of Chants

  • Anonymous

    That's a mighty exciting brand of ball your boys are playing lately.
    Cabera was safe, as I'm sure you know.
    But when you're consistently manufacturing your own breaks, you get those kind of breaks too.
    Keep it up.