Thinking about the turnout. 200 to 400 people showed up to look at a destruction site (at least that's how some people would view it).
I look at it like this. There's a small herd of people that are passionate about something, and they show it. It may not quite seem normal to most, but it's what matters to us.
I saw it when the NHL returned from its season-long lockout in the summer of 2005, when the New Jersey Devils hosted a "Welcome Back Draft Party", inviting fans to come to the Meadowlands Arena on a Saturday afternoon to watch the NHL draft on the arena's video screen, meet a couple players and get autographs, and buy some hockey equipment. The Devils and arena staff were overwhelmed with the turnout and had to bring in more staff to man the concession stands (they had food for us, with a ticket to get a free hot dog and drink). It was just a lot of people (more than expected) who missed being around hockey for that year coming out to purge what I called the "repressed hockey". It wasn't something that appealed to most but it mattered to us.
Saturday was that at Shea Stadium. Nobody knew if we'd get enough to fill out a lineup card. And despite the very cold weather, and the long commute for some, there was quite a turnout just to come say goodbye to the big blue ballpark in Queens.
Thanks Chris Swann for deciding to organize the un-organized to come out and do this. Looking at everyone who came out today, and all those with their own Mets-themed blog, the Mets have quite a fan base.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Final thought | Recaps in the Media | Recaps in other Mets blogs | All together now
