NY Mets fans say 'Ya Gotta Believe!'
Watching batting practice with his son Luigi, Caldwell resident Lou Leone is confident that his Mets will win the World Series come November.
"They're going to win," Leone said. "You have to be an optimist to be a Mets fan."
Indeed, you have to be an optimist to be a Mets fan. Watching the first game of the wild-card series Friday night left fans saying "unbelievable" — a twist on 1973 Mets pitcher Tug Mc Graw's motto "ya gotta believe." The high-priced Mets pitcher Max Scherzer took a pounding, allowing four home runs in a 7-1 loss to the Padres.
The sold-out crowd of 41,621 at Citi Field booed Scherzer as he exited the game in the fifth inning. It's a lot for Mets fans to take after the beating the team took last weekend in Atlanta as the Braves swept the Mets to take the National League East division title.
Garden State fans, hardy and scrappy like the team they follow, battled traffic snarls on a busy Friday night to get to Queens.
Leone, 45, said he became a Mets fan as a kid because he watched it for free on WWOR-TV. The family didn't have cable, which was required for many of the Yankees games.
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He recalled the great Mets of 1985 and 1986 of Daryl Strawberry and Ron Darling, when the team was hot. Now he's passing his love of the sport and team to his son Luigi, 10.
Fort Lee resident Eltee Sanders, 26, grew up in Harlem in the shadow of Yankees Stadium. But he was always a Mets fan, bucking the trend.
"It's just too easy to be a Yankees fan," Sanders said. "Ya gotta believe. They're going to come back and win the World Series."
Hoboken resident Baret Kechian attended the Friday wild-card game with his wife Jessica and four of his friends. An immigrant from Turkey, he grew up on Mets baseball because it was on a free, over-the-air channel WWOR-TV.
"You have to have a short memory when it comes to the Mets," Kechian said, noting fans have to stay positive.
His friend Lee Batcha, 44, of Fair Haven agrees. Like a resilient New Jerseyan, the Mets are resilient.
"We're going to go get that title," Batcha said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets fans say 'Ya Gotta Believe!' against Padres
