Fueled by Dollar Dogs, Met Fans Root for The Little Things

In one of the most brazen acts of marketing under Steve Cohen, the Mets hosted their first official Dollar Dog Night. An announced attendance of 22,880 gladly came and watched their team handily take care of the Chicago Cubs, 4-2. As someone who admittedly goes to more games than I even care to recall, I would be first to say that Citi Field has been different for the last few years. The Lite Brite out-of-town scoreboard is gone, the video board has the size and reliability of a Pontiac and the fans have become very quick to boo when things go wrong. But that all seems excusable. Just like Citi Field, the world has also changed. But this promotional attempt to turn back the clock worked in more ways than intended. For one night, Citi Field felt exactly like it did ten years ago, before the failed pennant win, the elite pitching rotation and the spending spree that led to nothing. The toxicity in the fanbase was gone (or at the Knicks playoff game) and we were all just there to appreciate the little things about our team. And eat cheap hot dogs. For every glizzy I ingested, I took note to appreciate something about the Mets. 

 

1) Jeff McNiel changed his walkup music back

Since he came up in 2018, Jeff McNeil has been known to be a player that sets the table. His game is getting on base and producing offense behind him. Stepping up to the plate to “Rock Of Ages” by Def Leppard played well into this idea. It gets your head nodding and lets you know that you’re about to have a good time, courtesy of Jeff McNeil. However, this season, he changed it to “Welcome To New York” by Taylor Swift. Which lyrically makes no sense because he’s been in New York and Flushing isn’t a tourist destination. The vibes were clearly off and in effect, he went 1 for 17 in the first homestand. On the road, without Taylor Swift, he has batted .349. On Saturday, he brought back “Rock Of Ages” and has only gone hitless once since.  As long as Taylor stays away, his .175 home batting average will surely climb back up to normal. 

 

2) Francisco Lindor has found his groove

In speaking of slow starts, Francisco Lindor’s at-bats are no longer automatic popups. While some of us harbor fond memories of Gator Golf, popping balls in the air isn’t a good thing to do in baseball. It took 13 games to get his batting average above .100, but it’s been slowly climbing from there. He terrorized California by ripping 3 homers last week. He lasered a dramatic 11th inning walkoff double on Thursday. His defense is still as good as advertised. While he’s still hugging the dreaded Mendoza Line, he doesn’t look nearly as lost at the plate. Much like a lot of the big names on the team, he’s just getting started. 

 

3) They’re winning games against winning teams

Of their 10 opponents this season, only 3 of them carry a losing record. That’s basically the opposite of any team that plays in the west. The wins they’re getting aren’t coming from bottom feeders because they’ve yet to face a single one so far. While we don’t fully expect the Tigers and Reds to finish the season in the upper echelon of MLB, the current records don’t lie. 

 

4) The fanbase is having fun

The season isn’t even a month old and there’s already a dance team, a rally pimp and a veteran of the game named Seymour Weiner, who became the unofficial mascot of Dollar Dog Night. At any point of Tuesday’s game, the stadium would randomly erupt in a “Seymour Weiner” chant. A fan was removed from the game for having hot dogs willingly thrown at him. These aren’t the same doom and gloom sayers that infected the stands when the Yankees regressed. This fanbase has seen what having a big-budget team is like and they’d frankly rather have fun instead. The team has clearly noticed this and has been acting accordingly. They play a lot looser, less constrained without the big microscope over them. It’s the way that baseball should be, but we get too swept up in statistics and contracts.

 

5) Reed Garrett has 5 wins

He’s currently tied for first in the league. That might not seem like a huge deal, but it is. Because Reed Garrett is not a starting pitcher. When this team wins, they win late and they can’t do it without guys like Reed Garrett. Their lockdown bullpen, which I will hopefully be gushing about all season, has been instrumental in their early success. The relief squad at large holds a 12-6 record, while the starters are at 4-10. This is unlike any Mets team in recent memory and honestly, the change is welcome. 

 

6) JD Martinez is finally on the team

The biggest off-season acquisition had a late spring training and then was hampered with back issues. But the slugging journeyman is finally on the big league roster and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s garnered at least a hit in every game that he’s started, which is really helpful to have in the middle of the batting order. While he still hasn’t gone yard yet, nobody is being impatient about it. Mainly because…

 

7) The lesser-known players aren’t afraid of the spotlight

On Sunday against the Cardinals, Mark Vientos came off the bench and hit a walkoff 2-run bomb in the 11th inning. Tuesday night against the Cubs, with all of section 102 chanting his name, DJ Stewart hit a go-ahead 3 run blast into the Coke Corner. On Thursday, Omar Narváez perfectly fielded a long throw to get the runner out at home and keep the game tied. The younger guys are getting it done when it matters most and that’s not something you can produce with a checkbook. 

 

8) The team is 16-15, which isn’t a bad place to be

Yes, I ate 8 hot dogs. No, I don’t regret it. My stomach is still full of bunly goodness, but I digress. The first month of the MLB season has been a weird one. There are really no standout teams, nor are there many already in the cellar. The Mets are in the middle of the pack and literally anything can happen from here. Considering the terrible starts for all of the big name players and the strength of the schedule, being above .500 is phenomenal. Almost as phenomenal as saving $52 on hot dogs.

 

The Mets will travel to St Petersburg this weekend for a series against the Rays. Despite their slow start, they will have the advantage of sporting their new City Connect jerseys complete with a skateboarding mascot, which definitely gives them an intangible advantage. If you thought Mets fans were having fun, just wait until they have to play against DJ Kitty in full neon gear.

The Yankees and Brewers bullpens kept the game tied going into the 10th inning. Jose Trevino scored on a Giancarlo Stanton double putting the Yankees ahead but the Brewers responded quickly with William Contreras scoring on a Willy Adames single. The Yankees couldn’t get anything going in the 11th inning and the Brewers pulled out the win with a run scoring single by Joey Ortiz. 

 

Carlos Rodon and the Yankees starting lineup had a strong outing in Game two. The Yankees won 15-3. Rodon faced off against Joe Ross on the mound. Rodon pitched 6 innings, striking out 8, and only giving up two hits and one run. Rodon’s only run was a HR by Rhys Hoskins in the first inning. Alex Verdugo hit a three run HR in the first inning. The Yankees had the bases loaded in the third inning with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton walking and an infield single by Anthony Rizzo. Gleyber Torres doubled to center and drove in all three putting the Yankees ahead 6-1. The Yankees scored an additional run in the 7th inning on a single by Oswaldo Cabrera. In the 6th inning Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo, both had two run homeruns putting the Yankees ahead 11-1. The Yankees finished the game scoring an additional four runs in the top of the 9th by a sacrifice fly by Alex Verdugo and a three run HR by Giancarlo Stanton. The Yankees, confident in their lead, brought in Jose Trevino to pitch the 9th inning.  He gave up two hits and two earned runs. 

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The Yankees stayed hot in Game three with a matchup of Marcus Stroman vs. Tobias Myers on the mound. The Yankees bats were strong with Aaron Judge starting the game off with a 441 ft. solo HR in the 1st inning. They scored 3 more runs in the 5th inning on a three run HR by Anthony Volpe. The Brewers tied the game (4-4) in the bottom of the 5th with a run scoring on a Willy Adames double and a three run HR by Jake Bauers. The Yankees scored seven runs in the 6th inning with two outs, off of singles by Gleyber Torres, Jose Trevino, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge and a wild pitch. This put the Yankees ahead 11-4. The Brewers were only able to get one more run in the bottom of the 6th inning. The Yankees finished strong scoring two more runs in the 7th inning off a single and a sacrifice fly and two more runs in the 8th inning on a two run HR by Anthony Rizzo. 

 

This weekend’s milestones: Anthony Rizzo hit his 300th career homerun and the Yankees had back-to-back 15 run games for the first time since 2007. 

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The Yankees now have a one game lead in the AL East over the Baltimore Orioles who they will have a four game series against starting April 29th.