New York fans love glitz and glamour. Unfortunately for the Mets, they don’t have much of either.
Amid dwindling attendance, the Mets are facing a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves this weekend that could make or break their season.
Back in May, when the Mets played a series against the Yankees, the organization tried to entice fans to Citi Field by offering free seats to some season-ticket holders. At that time, according to the Biz of Baseball, the Mets had the worst attendance drop in the National League and were third-worst in all of baseball behind the Blue Jays and Indians.
Nearly two months later, the Mets are still struggling for revenue and tried the ticket giveaway again for Tuesday night’s game against the Reds, according to Newsday.
In Wednesday’s game against the Reds, the New York Post reported the crowd to be a little more than 30,000, with empty seats visible in both expensive and affordable seats. People just don’t seem to care.
And it’s not because they’re too distracted by the LeBron James "Will he or won’t he?" soap opera with the Knicks. The Yankees still managed to draw their usual 46,000 fans over the weekend. But the Yankees have cache, and they generate buzz. The Mets simply don’t.
While the crowds haven’t gotten any bigger, the team sure is playing better.
Before this week, the Mets hadn’t lost a series in their last seven at home since May 10-12 against the Nationals. The Mets can’t afford to backslide, though. Without a good series against Atlanta, New York could be in trouble.
The last time the Mets played the Braves, they split the two-game series, and both teams were situated at the bottom of the division.
Since that series, the Mets have gone 28-17, now nine games over .500 with a 47-38 record.
"It's gonna be a big series," Mets manager Jerry Manuel told ESPN.com after his team lost to the Reds 3-1 on Wednesday night. "It's right before the [All-Star] break. There should be some excitement. I feel we're ready to play. We're playing pretty good baseball."
Can they keep it up, or will they collapse and dig themselves a hole against the Braves?
"They're playing fundamentally sound ball," said Jeff Francoeur, who was traded from the Braves to the Mets last July. "With that kind of team, with that kind of pitching I saw all of those years [in Atlanta], all you gotta do is score a couple runs, and they feel confident they're gonna win. So it's just gonna be important for our guys to throw well, and for us to maybe put some runs out early and put some pressure on the pitchers."
The series has the potential to be entertaining, and a solid performance by the Mets could be just what the franchise needs — in numbers and dollars.
All three games feature a matchup between winning pitchers. R.A. Dickey (6-1, 2.62 ERA) will face Tommy Hanson (8-5, 4.19) on Friday. On Saturday, Mike Pelfrey (10-3, 3.39) goes against Tim Hudson (8-4, 2.44). And Johan Santana (6-5, 3.15) takes the mound opposite Derek Lowe (9-7, 4.40) on Sunday.
After the All-Star break, the Mets embark on a rough road trip, playing 11 games in 11 days on the West Coast against San Francisco, Arizona and Los Angeles.
A Mets sweep would lead them into the All-Star break with momentum, tied for first place in the division. A bad series means going into the break deflated and having to win on the road — a lot — upon their return.
If they have any hope of attracting an audience, it’s by winning crucial games like those against the Braves.
It’s not easy being in a big-media market, playing in a tough division and competing with the Yankees for attention in New York City. But the best the Mets can do is step up, play well and give their fans something good to watch.
