New York Mets: Noah Syndergaard might be a puffed up, pompous popinjay

The Mets and Major League Baseball live in a world of easily hurt feelings and ready responses. So, before another season in Queens here is a primer on what professionalism and decorum demand in the face of fan aggression.

The New York Mets had not only to watch their season collapse in 2017 but also watch the collapse of Mr. Met.

The biggest surprise in baseball succumbed to his passions at the end of last May and gave the symbol for what half the conversations in Queens end with, as The Guardian’s Tom Lutz pointed out:

"The New York Mets’ season hasn’t lived up to its promise, with pitching struggles derailing a team tipped to compete for a place in the playoffs, and the pressure seems to have become too much for their mascot, Mr Met. On Wednesday night, as Mr Met made his way down the tunnel after his team’s 7-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, he gave fans the finger. (Although, technically, it wasn’t the middle finger, as he only has three fingers and a thumb.)"

This is not the first such incident in sports. And it won’t be the last. Actually, this is quite mild in today’s world.

Modern sports is a combustible arena, where intense, physically powerful millionaire athletes work until exhaustion in front of thousands of screaming fanatics. While the vast majority of these zealots go to watch the games, some go to be a part of the action.

And depending on how provocative they are, there will be action…and there will be blood.

Attend the Game, but Leave the Grass

But that depends on the interaction. Some folks go to sound their barbaric yawps. They feel that buying a ticket means they can say whatever they want. And, boy, do they say whatever they want. Here’s how one Mets “fan” turned a baseball into a bird:

"“I do know that the fans were cursing at Mr Met with the f-word and saying derogatory things about Mr Met’s mom … which led to the gesture because of a personal matter with his mom.”"

From an objective standpoint, those words would be hurtful to most people. But the Mets play in Queens; this cannot have been the first time either in or out of the stadium that the Mets’ mascot heard these taunts.

C’mon man: Word to your mother. [Editor’s note: No more Vanilla Ice references!]

This is not unique to the Mets or New York. Taunting has been around since the first pitcher threw the first pitch in Cincinnati over 150 years ago. And at least Mr. Met’s response was mild by many standards.