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ABOUT US
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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Halfway Home, We'll Be There By April
by Greg Prince on 3 January 2006 3:55 am The final out of the 2005 season was made at approximately 3:56 PM, October 2.
The first pitch of the 2006 season is scheduled to be thrown at 1:10 PM, April 3.
Thus, the baseball equinox occurred at 2:33 AM, January 2.
At that exact moment, we were equidistant from Jose Offerman’s last swing and Pedro Martinez’s (toe pending) next pitch.
Barring weather, we are now closer to the Mets playing again than we are to them having played last.
I knew there was a point to January.
Some thoughts on the baseball media dynamic, particularly between the paper you just put down and the computer you’re now staring into, at Gotham Baseball.
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It's hard to believe pitchers and catchers report next month. It's usually this time of the year as football's winding down that I start yearning for baseball again.
And then once the Royals are mathematically eliminated in mid-April, I turn my sights towards football again….
How soon did the Raiders get you looking toward baseball this past 4-12 season?
Right after week 3 when they fell to 0-3. Regrettably, the Royals were still playing at that time so I was in a bit of a conundrum. At least hockey was about to start, so I at least had the Bruins to look forward to.
And, yes, I like the Royals, Raiders and Bruins. I learned to hate the local teams at a young age.
OK, I'll bite (some say I already do): Why do you hate the local teams? And what about the house team right here? You don't hate the Mets, do you?
Let me clarify. I was born in 1970 and grew up…and still live…outside of Trenton. Being halfway between two major cities, the fan base here comes out to about 60% Philly-biased and 40% NY-biased. And of the 40% NY crowd, there was always a heavy swing towards one team. I knew about a dozen obnoxious people who were fans of the Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Rangers.
There may have been one or two I've forgotten, but I honestly don't recall anyone who was a fan of the Mets, Jets, Nets or Islanders (Devils weren't in NJ yet). Of course, aside from the Islanders, the mid-70s to early-80s wasn't exactly a time to be loud about those teams either, so the fans may have been there…they just never told anyone.
Since I didn't get to experience any a-hole fans for these other teams, I never felt any malice towards them.
Obnoxious Yankees fans, late 1970s – early 1980s, Royals wre Yankees' rivals. I'll buy it.
But if you had become a Mets fan, instead of rooting for a team that hasn't won a World Series in 20 or so years, you'd be…
Never mind.
My 9-year-old loves the concept of the Baseball Equinox. It's great that the worst of the waiting is over.