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.

Heckle and Jeckle

Some have done better, however. Just a few days ago, so-called fans in Milwaukee heckled the Warriors’ Klay Thompson:

And this is how Thompson responded, albeit after some choice words for the fan:

“Just a lot of words I probably can’t repeat on camera,” Thompson said when asked about it postgame, “I think he got his money’s worth, and that’s alright.”

I’m Feeling It

Then, of course, are those fans who really want to feel the action. They throw more than their voices and sometimes get a taste of their own medicine. Again, we’ll start with a measured response, but this time we will keep going.

For instance, just last May in Boston, Orioles OF Adam Jones was heckled with racist taunts and even had a bag of peanuts thrown at him. Jones alerted security and the media, as opposed to interacting with this idiot.

When they can throw things at you, but you cannot get at them, best to stay above the fray. And how did the Boston faithful react to Jones’ stoic and adult response?

One day after saying he was called a racial slur and had peanuts slung at him by fans in Boston, Orioles star Adam Jones was back at Fenway Park, where much of the crowd made sure to make him feel welcome. Jones received a standing ovation, if a slightly slow-moving one, from Red Sox fans when he came to the plate in the top of the first Tuesday night. He got an assist from Boston starter Chris Sale, who stepped off the mound to give the crowd more time.

Character is destiny.

Sadly, but somewhat understandably, there have been other choices.

And They Never Pull Their Punches

Here are just a few who chose a different path.

A West Virginia player was seen punching a Red Raiders fan rushing the court Saturday following Texas Tech’s 72-71 upset win over the Mountaineers.

Oakland outfielder Matt Joyce received a two-game suspension without pay Saturday for directing a gay slur toward a fan in Anaheim and he will take part in a public outreach initiative with PFLAG, a family and ally organization supporting LGBTQ community. Major League Baseball made the announcement, saying Joyce’s penalty was set to begin Saturday, when he also apologized through the team. Joyce said he is “beyond sorry,” and the Athletics also made a statement insisting his language was unacceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated. “A fan yelled vulgar and obscene words about me and my family and I let my frustrations and emotions get the better of me.”

That can happen. But this can never happen.

The images are just as striking almost a decade later. A cup splashes off Ron Artest in the closing moments of a blowout win against the Detroit Pistons. He leaps into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills and into sports infamy. Mayhem follows. Players fight fans, fans fight players, a chair is thrown, bottles are tossed — in seconds, the invisible wall that separates athletes and spectators is demolished; the social contract of arena behavior is left in shreds.

Whoa

No one who saw the Malice at the Palace will forget that scene.

Okay, we know what it is…now let’s talk about what should be. And again, this is not the first article to cover the topic. But incidents of interaction seem to be on the rise as our world gets more sensitive, and so another perspective is probably warranted.

Especially as we head for another Mets season.

I got Your Bad Behavior Right Here

First to the fans. Most leagues long ago established codes of conduct; we saw that in the Klay episode. And while I will not defend anyone’s boorish behavior, the fans are the customers and therefore live with different latitudes.

They have paid to be there, and that demands some respect. And so just like in most businesses, the rule is to report any bad behavior and let security remove the offenders.

But that is not always so easy.

These are jacked-up athletes in their primes, who also live as millionaires away from the field. Living a life of accommodation can make it more difficult to accept negativity.

However, even in a regular business with people making minimum wage, the expectation is that they will not return anger with anger, but will be professional and rise above. You can hang up the phone if you are offended, but you cannot return fire.

That has to make the standard for professional athletes even higher. In an equivocating world, there are still some unequivocal truths, and one of those is that each of us is responsible for her behavior at all times, even when it is difficult.

Even when some A-hole throws a beer can will look at you.

And that’s because we are each defined by our actions. What some idiot fan does makes him who he is; only your actions make you who you are. In other words, you will not win by letting some A-hole turn you into an A-hole.

That leaves no winners and no good guys, just a couple of empty holes.

Come on Out and Insult the Mets

So the players have to rise above. But that can be difficult as everyone has different triggers, as Mr. Met proved.

So I thought to present a few choice insults here, and now that might be hurled this season so Mets players can gauge their triggers and be ready for what comes at them.

Let’s start with the basics: You friggin’ jerkoff. Now, most of the players have probably heard this just walking into the stadium, so they should be okay here. But what about, “I got ya curve ball right he-ya”? Don’t fall for that one, Matt Harvey.

Alright, those are just warm-ups; time to get downright nasty: “You suck, yah mothah sucks, yah sistah wouldah sucked but I didn’t have a quatah.”

Hey now! Still, though, Adrian Gonzalez, you cannot rush the stands.

Okay, you are ready for all of that to come screaming from the seats. Now let’s see how you might do with the granddaddy of all insults, a phrase so powerfully insulting that it can wither empires. And here it is:

Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson has engaged in a battle of words with his predecessor over the visit of Donald Trump to the UK. He said: “The US is the biggest single investor in the UK – yet Khan & Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk. We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall.”

OMG!

Gentle readers, you should know that the editors and I discussed at length if we would even deign to print such a saying. But we felt it was in the best interest of the Mets, and do apologize for any who have been offended.

But this is about the Mets players. And I just want Noah Syndergaard to be calm if someone calls him a puffed up pompous popinjay in the middle of August. I know it will be difficult, but you should never give in, never surrender.