Last night while watching the Mets-Nationals game-yes I’m still watching the Mets – I opened up my Twitter app and saw one of the Mets beat writers asking why #MetsTwitter was so quiet? If you are not hip to #MetsTwitter, it’s a number of Mets fans who comment while games are in progress. The tweets are as entertaining and as witty as the repartee that goes on in the Mets TV and radio booth. So why was the Mets chatter on Twitter so sparse?
You could say that the first day of school played a part as those of use with kids know that the first day means covering books, sharpening pencils and signing forms, lots of forms. Add in a Monday Night Football game of major interest to us Giants fans, with the Eagles-Redskins locking up and those of us who missed the season premiere of Boardwalk Empire and further episodes of Ray Donovan (I told my wife if we ever hit Powerball, I’m hiring a Ray Donovan type to handle all my problems, like someone parking in my driveway or noisy neighbors or anyone who writes a negative comment on this sight) and The Newsroom. Lots of stuff happening on the peripheral of Mets baseball but I still watched the game but really didn’t have the energy to make comments on Twitter.
Really at this point what is there to comment on? This team is playing without its best everyday player, its Ace starting pitcher and it’s finally very effective closer. First base has become a collection of mismatched socks. The young shortstop slacker who should be playing shortstop is getting a mega dose of tough love from the ex-Marine GM who has shown this season to be an intelligent soft spoken gentleman who makes moves without any emotional attachment to the players in his organization, a major plus in my book. We have a manager who is or isn’t coming back and pitching coach who shouldn’t come back (there and some fans who have this ridiculous notion that Dan Warthen is responsible for the success of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Bobby Parnell when the real credit for the young supple arms should go to Frank Viola, Glenn Abbott, Randy St. Claire and Jason Issringhausen, the Mets minor league pitching coaches who have gotten these and the other young arms in the org ready) That plus the unknown of whether the owners will spend money over the winter or not AS PROMISED!!!! has worn down this fan base considerably. Just because we’re not ranting on Twitter doesn’t mean we’re not watching, we’ve just run out of material that’s all.
You know the Mets are playing out the string when Gary Cohen and RonDarling spend an inning discussing the coaching career of Joe Pignatano. It’s too bad the Call the Booth segment wasn’t used last night as I could have chimed in with my own “Piggy” story.
My wife and I were on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn about 19 years ago. We had just moved to Staten Island but we still went shopping in Bensonhurst because that’s where the best Italian salumeria’s, pork stores and bakeries are, the three important staples of my existence. Anyway, we pass an Apple Bank on 67th street and I see a sign that was promoting an appearance by none of than “Former Dodger and NY Mets coach, Joe Pignatano” shopping for provisions would have to wait , I want to say hi to Piggy. I remember most of the conversation, how he missed his buddy “Gilly” (Gil Hodges) how Tom Seaver was the greatest pitcher who ever lived and believe it or not the problem with kids not throwing enough to strengthen their arms, Piggy was as Old Testament baseball as anyone. At this point my wife had enough and left to finish shopping and I was about to leave as well until I asked the question that got the biggest rise of all from the old coach “So Joe, where on Staten Island do you live”
I had read that Pignatano and his wife had left Bay Ridge for Staten Island. At the time of our meeting we had just made the move from Brooklyn to Staten Island as well and were still in the culture shock of being transplant. The answer to my question was not what I was expecting. “Oh hell, I don’t live there anymore, we moved back to Brooklyn” WOW! When I asked how come? Pignatano answered with a question, “why are you here today”? I told him to do food shopping; he laughed and said “See? You can’t find this food on Staten Island and if you do they’re getting the stuff from Brooklyn”. He also ranted on how it was too quiet and no one is out during the day so there are no neighbors to talk to and any time he needed to go to the store he have to drive . After a year on the Island he convinced his wife to move back to Bay Ridge or back to “civilization” as Pignatnao said.
We talked for so long that my wife finished shopping and stood outside the front of the bank. I shook hands with Pignatano and told him what a pleasure it was to meet him but I have to get back to Staten Island. “Better you than me” he said with a big laugh.
