The Mets Police

I figure lots of folks today are going to discover this song Bruce write about Giants Stadium....here's Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball.



I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago
Through the mud and the beer, and the blood and the cheers, I've seen champions come and go
So if you got the guts mister, yeah if you've got the balls
If you think it's your time, then step to the line, and bring on your wrecking ball

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

Now my home was here in the Meadowlands, where mosquitoes grow big as airplanes
Here where the blood is spilled, the arena's filled, and Giants play the game
So raise up your glasses and let me hear your voices call
Come on!
Because tonight all the dead are here, so bring on your wrecking ball

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

One, two, one two three four!

[trumpet solo]

Yeah we know that come tomorrow, none of this will be here
So hold tight on your anger
Hold tight on your anger
Hold tight to your anger, and don't fall to your fear

Now when all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust
And all our youth and beauty, it's been given to the dust
And your game has been decided, and you're burning the clock down
And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots
When your best hopes and desires, are scattered through the wind
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Yeah just to come again

Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball



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Well before we get to steroids...

The top post of the week was a complete off-topic indulgence - so off-topic it got Mets Police thrown off Bleacher Report!  Oh well - Springsteen talks about Springsteen-gate and Ticketmaster was the most popular.

Back on-topic:

People can't get enough pics of New Yankee Stadium or the Stadium That Replaced Shea.

Unfortunately, life in Flushing has been boring (or in light of A-Rod, maybe that's a good thing) so much of the attention has been up by the Deegan.   The Yankees warned 41 game ticket plan holders that they might not get seats.  I've heard tales of people who have seats in the uppers behind home plate for 11 years being moved to the boonies.

Speaking of money to be made on tickets, I have it on (cough) good authority that you can get $200 for an upper deck opening day ticket at Not Shea Field if you'd like to offset your season ticket expenses.   Don't feel bad, Stubhub is the official ticket scalping partner of Major League Baseball, you can even scalp directly from your Mets.com account.

Remember back before A-Rod and Torre that the big story this winter was the dopey patch?   Weeks later this post is still getting traffic!   http://www.metspolice.com/2009/01/making-fun-of-mets-patch-is-2-webpage.html

Fellow Mets Policeman Cyclones Fan hit two homers with MLB Censoring Jerseys and a prescient Selig Knew Bonds Was On Steroids written before the A-Rod stuff came out.

Then there's A-Rod.   He denied taking steroids (video).  I think Selig should look to Lincoln and give everyone amnesty and I'm glad that at least Buck Showalter hints that maybe everyone knew.

Been a crazy weekend, with both sports talk stations going 24/7 single topic, and that's before Boomer & Carton, Michael Kay, the guy that used to host with Mad Dog and even Mad Dog himself get to weigh in tomorrow.   I wonder what the story will be on the back page all week?

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Nothing to do with sports other than many Mets fans being Bruce fans, and my general love for a controversy.  (My blog, my rules).

So on Monday when Springsteen tickets went on sale there were lots of technical problems with Ticketmaster.  The curious part was that many fans were unable to buy tickets yet were referred to Tickets Now, the TM version of Stubhub.  Bruce will tell you more:


A Letter to Our Fans:


We know there was much confusion regarding Ticketmaster and TicketsNow during last Monday's on-sale dates. We were as confused as you were, as we were given no advance notice of the major changes in the Ticketmaster-TicketsNow world. (Bear in mind that we are not clients of any ticketing company, and that all those arrangements are between venues and ticketing companies.)
Last Monday, we were informed that Ticketmaster was redirecting your log-in requests for tickets at face value, to their secondary site TicketsNow, which specializes in up-selling tickets at above face value. They did this even when other seats remained available at face value. We condemn this practice.


We perceive this as a pure conflict of interest. Ticketmaster is there to ensure that we have a good, fair sale of our tickets at their face value plus normal ticketing charges. TicketsNow is supposed to be a secondary site where people who already have tickets may exchange, trade, and, unfortunately, speculate with them. We have asked this redirection from Ticketmaster to TicketsNow cease and desist immediately and Ticketmaster has agreed to do so in the future and has removed its unwanted material from their and our site.


We know the many cynical arguments some make in favor of the Ticketmaster system: There are rumors that some artists or managers participate in Ticketmaster charges--we do not. There are rumors that some artists or managers are receiving a percentage of the amount above face value at secondary outlets like TicketsNow--we do not. Some artists or managers may not perceive there to be a conflict between having the distributor of their tickets in effect "scalping" those same tickets through a secondary company like TicketsNow--we do.


While many of you have sent notes to us and your local promoters, you may also send accurate informational letters to Albert Lopez of Ticketmaster [Albert.Lopez@ticketmaster.com] and he will try to address your questions.


A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.


The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you. We will continue to do our utmost now and in the future to make sure that these practices are permanently curtailed on our tours.


Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team


But wait, there's more!

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said today her office would investigate Monday's sale of tickets to Bruce Springsteen concerts at the Izod Center in May after consumers complained about problems they encountered with the Ticketmaster website.

"Consumers are questioning what transpired and if they had an equal opportunity to purchase these concert tickets. We share these concerns and are investigating this matter," Milgram said today.


The state Division of Consumer Affairs has placed an icon labeled "Bruce Springsteen/Ticketmaster Complaints" on its main web page for consumers to reach an online complaint form. More than 250 complaints have been received.

Tuesday, Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-8th dist.) requested the federal government investigate allegations that Ticketmaster diverted tickets for the Springsteen concerts to its subsidiary, TicketsNow, an online secondary ticket marketplace. Pascrell asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department to investigate whether TicketsNow was given special treatment.

New Jersey fans hoping to buy tickets to the May 21 and 23 concerts reported they were not able to secure tickets through the Ticketmaster website but instead were directed to the TicketsNow site, where seats were being re-sold for three and four times their cover price.



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The Wall Street Journal reports that Citi is considering backing out of the Mets deal.   I love saying "told you so" so "told you so."   For the millionth time, all the Mets need to do is re-do the deal so the money is on the back end and everyone will look cooperative and respectful of taxpayers.   Jackie Robinson Stadium here we come (until they rename it after the Not So Great Depression ends).  Story here 

The Ledger quotes the LA Times as saying Manny rejected one year for $25M.   Hey Mets, you need media coverage on the Citi thing.  Good time to offer Manny two for $25M.  If he rejects it you shut up the fans.  If he accepts you win the pennant.

Finally, I will guess many Mets fans are Springsteen fans.  Did you have problems with Ticketmaster yesterday?  Some folks are making accusations.

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My blog, my rules.

Springsteen was great.

Freezeout, Born to Run, Working on a Dream and Glory Days - each in a shortened version dropping a verse.

It was great having the NFL players do the traditional E Street band opening.

As for football - I thought this one was over at 10-0 and Warner's 99 yard pick-six doesn't help.  Pitt should take 40 seconds between plays the rest of the way out.

Not a bad game, or maybe I just have a Springsteen high.  And Star Trek looks great except for Chris Pine as Kirk, which is kind of a problem when you miscast Kirk.

That ends our non-sports content.  Back to bitching about Manny Ramirez.

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Was at the Springsteen concert last night and hanging out with a guy in a Dykstra Mets jersey.

You wanna make friends, buy a Dykstra jersey.

You don't see many Dykstra jerseys now that you think about it.

Anyways, tons of people we walking up to this guy and telling him how cool it is.

It will not help you get chicks unfortunately.

Osh41 would take points off for it not being a jersey Lenny ever wore (black shading, no piping) - but it was not black and it had pinstripes.  If only the Mets could do this in real life.

...

I really have nothing to say about the trade deadline other than the obligatory "Mets didn't get anyone" post.

We will be seeing Joe Torre in October.   Good for Joe and his new best friend Manny.

Maine injury not good.

There are still seats available on my Jon Niese fan club bus.  Please hop on board now before it's trendy.

We're looking at big time "Four Inning Pedro" tonight.  The Mets have him capped at 80 pitches.  Somebody might want to start stretching out their arm now.

Bruce needs to come on before 9:30 but you can read about that here

We are still accepting nominations for The Dopiest Moment In Shea Stadium History.    So far nobody has nominated any Yankees or Jets or concert moments so I've added a few.

Here are the submissions through Tuesday night:

• Juan Samuel Trade For Lenny Dykstra & Roger McDowell
  
• Not Protecting Tom Seaver 1984
  
• "Swoosh jerseys" (the underlined ones)
• Dave Magadan rots on the bench so Garry Templeton can play.
• Fran Healey broadcasts games for over a decade.
• 'Mettle' the donkey that the Mets trotted out as a mascot in the 70's
• Driving away the 'Sign Man' - early 1980's
• MERCURY METS - one of the most embarassing things I and many Met fans have endured.
• 'Who let the Dogs out?' - I was at Shea when the Mets won the NL pennant in 2000. When they played that song I actually stopped cheering and started complaining. A genuine WTF moment.
• Anything involving Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Bret Saberhagen, Doug Sisk, Victor Zambrano and Mel Rojas. There was genuine hatred among fans at the sight of these guys. 
• Ignoring the Mets Hall of Fame for years... 
• How they used to call the last home game of the season "Closing Day" (what's the opposite of Opening Day) 
• dumping Ray Knight after he won the World Series' MVP in '86
• Signing Bobby Bonilla...twice!
• "Show Up At Shea," "Your Season Has Come" "The Magic Is Back"...they all qualify.
• That dopey Mets rap song thing they came out with two years ago. Notice how fast it came...and went. 
• Jeff Torborg reports on Mike and the Mad Dog. Brutal.
• Bobby Valentine coming back to the bench with a mustache after being ejected.
• Never happened but had Mookie's ball not gotten past Buckner--Doug Sisk was coming in to pitch the next inning of the World Series with the score tied.
• Bruce Springsteen allows Patti Scialfa to sing harmony (2003).
• Jets leave for NJ to have "better bathrooms."
• People pay good money to sort of see The Beatles for twenty minutes with a hideous sound system.
  

Or perhaps it will be one of yours!  Nominate now!

Back in the mid-80's an aging pitcher named Springsteen was bested by Nettles in the bottom of the 9th.   Last night Mr. Springsteen showed up at Giants Stadium and was awesome.  Click Bruce to hear how awesome that show was.



Since I stayed out until the wee hours I have nothing to say about the Mets.  Didn't see it.  Read the paper.  Hope Maine's OK.



Go see Springsteen if you can.   Thursday potentially could be the last time we see E Street in NJ.

Was watching the Yankee game in picture-in-picture while rocking out to Bruce's 1975 Hammersmith Odeon concert DVD which is just wonderful. That's "the Boss" part of this post for those of you not following along.

Meanwhile in the little box I saw something I haven't seen all year. The starting pitcher, future Hall of Famer Mike Mussina was losing, and yet he came out to pitch the 6th inning. Then the 7th. Then get this, the 8th inning!

Apparently the AL has two rules the NL doesn't. One is something called a DH. The other is that your starting pitcher doesn't have to come out before the sixth inning ends. I would have thought Willie Randolph would have been familiar with this technique from his time in the AL, but apparently not.

I was sad that Moose didn't get the win, but he should start the All Star Game, and he will wind up in the Hall of Fame. I personally don't think he should be in the HOF - I have created something I call the "Hall of Garvey" for those players that were pretty darn good, but just ain't Hall of Famers. Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly are also first ballot Hall of Garveyers.

Somewhere during Rosalita and a Yankee rally John Maine gave up two runs.