Going Dark and Seeing the Light

When me and Little Miss Citi got to the ballpark last night, I'll be the first to admit that my energy level was low. Actually, saying I was low energy is charitable... I'd officially gone dark.

As anyone who read yesterday's post probably knows, I had started to go really negative on the Mets after the last two games.

Judging by attendance at last night's game, I wasn't the only one. I don't know how many fans were there exactly. They didn't play the "guess tonight's attendance" game, which was probably for the best. Looking at the box score, it seems the official count was 28,055, but I'm almost certain that's not true. 

How empty was it? See for yourself... Exhibit A (clicking the pictures enlarges them, which will really give you the full depth of the emptiness last night):

Exhibit B (more damning):

For many of the Mets "faithful", it seems the thrill is gone.

Heading into last night's tilt, I was among the legion skeptical fans. After all, they'd looked like complete and utter shit the past two games, and the storyline of ineptitude on days when Not Johan is pitching has gone viral.

And if that's how I felt, imagine the casual fan. Between those factors, the morning rain, and the evening chill (honestly, I almost asked the other guys at the urinals whether they'd ever considered pissing on their own hands for warmth), it's hardly any surprise attendance was so low.

But it's a shame because the Mets had a bit of a breakout game, the kind of win they needed where they hit balls hard, even managing to push four of them over the wall (a new record for the Mets at Citi Field... unsurprisingly).

In his first start of the season, Mike Not Johan actually looked pretty decent, albeit against the Nationals. He held the opposition to 2 runs over 6 innings, and we'll take that any day. From there, the bullpen did its part, with Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Nieve, and Jenrry Mejia combining for three innings of scoreless relief.

It all served as an exciting prelude to the highly anticipated return of your friend and mine, Jose Reyes, the Glass Man himself, this afternoon.

There will be time to appreciate Reyes later on today; I really hope he gets a huge ovation from the crowd, which hopefully will be a tick larger than it was last night.

But how about this as the greatest testament to how good the team looked yesterday -- as I left the ballpark last night, there was no thought of Reyes' return. It was all about the balls Smilin' Jeff and Rod Barajas hit over the wall in left field, the deliciousness that is Shake Shack, and the sweet, soulful sounds of Citi Jimi, back where he belongs.

The negative energy is passed, the optimism is returned. Now let's make it two in a row out there today.

- A.F.O.M.G.