Orange and Blue, me?

For someone like me that’s written so many articles for LostBhoys.com over the last few years I feel like a bit of an imposter turning my hand to a baseball blog. However that’s where I find myself and despite my lack of knowledge which I’ll prove to you if you read on I’d like to get some words down to describe my love of the game and of course the Amazin New York Mets.


Actually a bit about myself would maybe help because if your reading this and have never heard the MetsBhoys phone-in show then you’ll probably be asking yourself what’s so strange about some clueless fool writing about the Mets.


Hi, my names David Harper, I’m 38 years old, Scottish but live in Ireland and I’m completely addicted to the New York Mets...intrigued yet? probably not...how about if I add that I co-host a Mets fans live phone-in show with another Scotsman (Jason) and 2 born and bred New Yorkers (Frankie & Nicky) once a week!


Come on now surely that has you a little curious. I mean why would someone like me fall in love with a game and team that is completely alien to the vast majority of people this side of the pond. How is it that with the 5 hour time difference I’m to be found most nights glued to MLB.tv for the ten past midnight start taking me way past 3am to a finish. Why on earth would I be attracted to an organisation that seems to be built on hard luck stories and to those that know me and the football (soccer) club I fanatically follow in Scotland (Celtic) how could I ever utter the words ‘we believe in orange and blue’.


To be honest I sometimes find myself asking the same question but the fact of the matter is the Mets have gotten a hold of me and now that they have me, they have me for life.


But where did it all start for me? 


I relocated from Scotland to Ireland just over six years ago now and the biggest wrench of moving was leaving my first love behind in Glasgow; Celtic F.C. Families and friends come and go but I’m sure you’ll agree the teams you support are what the likes of me and you live for. Don’t tell me it’s ‘only a game’ whether it’s baseball, soccer, hockey or cricket (ok not cricket). Our lives revolve around the clubs we donate or sweat & tears to. As Mets fans the first thing we do in the morning when we arise from a troubled sleep thinking about Pelf and if the bullpen can prop him up is to check the latest Mets and baseball news. Especially if you’re far away from your love, it’s not easy to conduct long range relationships but with technology these days it’s much easier to get involved with some cyber loving.


Back in 2006 I found myself starting out on a new separation from Celtic and my season ticket. Now instead of lending my essential (in my mind) vocal backing every week in the stadiums I’d now have to be content with screaming as loudly as I could at the TV in the hope that somehow my expertise (in my mind) would be carried through the static and be magically heard by my heroes in some kind of telepathic nonsense that is yet to be invented. I’m pretty sure there is an app in the offing though. 


This is when I’m first introduced to baseball, yes at 32 years old. I’ve never seen the Sandlot or the Bad News Bears at this point and Charlie Sheen in Major League the movie is about all I have to go on. That and I was taken to see the Blue Jays when I was 8 years old but I have very little recollection of that day apart from everyone laughing at me when my reply to being asked if I wanted chips was ‘yes please, can I have salt, vinegar and brown sauce on them’...I never liked being laughed at when I was a kid, probably why the moment has stuck with me, it was also unfortunate having ginger hair. As I got older I thought the Johnny Cash song ‘A Boy Named Sue’ was actually about me. Sorry I’m rambling...back to 2006.


So yeah I now find myself with a Setanta TV subscription for watching Scottish football and as part of the package you got Setanta USA I think it was called, it might just have been ESPN USA I can’t remember exactly. The long and the short of it is though they showed live baseball every night and reruns of the game the following afternoon. As a shift worker I started killing afternoons watching whatever game was on. I didn’t have a team but I decided I would need one soon. I like to invest my heart and soul and to do that I need to go all in with a side, I need the rush of the win and the crushing sense of loss that comes with defeat.


So how do you go about choosing a side from scratch? I’d love to say I sat down with the history of every club in MLB weighing up the pro’s and cons. I didn’t there were only to be 3 teams in the hat. The Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays or New York Mets.


I knew lots of Celtic fans followed the Red Sox because of the Irish link but to me it was just too obvious a choice and I’d have felt like I was just following for the sake of it plus I’d never been to Boston and I still haven’t. That ruled them out and I’m glad as in all honesty I’d hate to be part of that AL East ‘elite’ club. Nah that’s not for me, it’s also why I don’t follow the self proclaimed best league in the world aka the EPL. It’s not by the way, none of them are as good as their followers think they are. It’s just hype, nothing more nothing less. 


The Blue Jays were only in the running because I has seen them in the flesh in Toronto once before being mocked over the chips debacle then shitting myself up the CN Tower. Thanks for the ‘memories’ but I passed on the Blue Jays also. Another AL East team too...


So why the New York Mets? Well I’ve had a love affair with New York and Las Vegas for a number of years now so it was only right to back a team I’d be more likely to see in person. Why not the Yankees you ask? see part of the BoSox reason and multiply it by ten. Even then with as little knowledge I had I could see that the Yankees were the bandwagon club, like Manchester United and Barcelona in football (soccer). Yeah they have great histories but just to jump onboard with success just seems false and empty to me. I’m not slating anyone else for their choices but to me following a team is the roller coaster ride of ups and downs, celebration and much more commiseration. It’s about lending a hand to a club that needs it, to become part of a support that appreciates your allegiance and to crawl through the sneers as they kick dust in your face at every opportunity. When the days of joy come around every now and again, it’s these rare moments you treasure for life.


Fast forward to 13th July 2008 and after 2 years sporadically following the Mets I was in New York for my honeymoon, the Rockies were visiting Shea taking second billing to my arrival and it was on this night that I was induced into the Mets hall of fandom. Pelf pitched 8 scoreless innings giving up just 6 hits, we won 7 to 0, Beltran and Delgado went yard, Reyes and Wright dazzled and I argued with the same guy at the concessions stand who insisted on seeing my i.d. for beer every time I went.


That was my one and only visit to Shea and I’ve still to get over to Citi Field but it’s coming soon. MLB.tv can only whet the appetite so much and doing the MetsBhoys show has only made me feel more of a part of the Mets family. It’s 7.25 pm on Tuesday April 10th 2012. The Mets are 4-0, the rest are making snide remarks looking down their nose at us because we dare to get excited about our team. But why wouldn’t we? We’re Mets fans and we all know you just gotta believe, you gotta believe in orange and blue.


LET’S GO METS