So I’ll be going to the game tonight with a ticket that was bought when Mets fans still had silly playoff dreams roaming through our heads, in other words a long time ago. A Friday night vs. the Phillies seemed like a great idea. It’s pretty funny how people can’t give away their tickets anymore. Do you think the Mets front office would have cut prices on certain seats by 50% if they were in the middle of a playoff race? Doubt it.

Tonight may well be the last game I go to till next year. Odd to say in August, but most likely true. So in a final act of defiance and to turn my displeasure into action, I have vowed Not to buy anything at the game tonight. Now this may not seem like anything big, but this is coming from someone who easily spends $50 at the ballpark every time I go. I will either find a way to eat and drink before the game or smuggle what I need into the game.

Yes, the Mets have a high payroll. Yes, everyone’s going to get a pass this season with the big injuries. But in many ways this was a typical Mets year. I hate to compare the two, but look what the Yankees did in the offseason. Granted they spent a ton of money but it’s paying dividends now, when their ballpark is still selling out, oh and they’re in first place.

The Mets conversely decided to “spend” on K-Rod. A wise move, but an absolute no-brainer considering the market price tag of 3 years 36 million. We then proceeded to pass on Manny Ramirez, Raul Ibanez,  Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu. Minus Manny, all of the above mentioned names are having great seasons and would have fit in perfectly here. And it’s not like any of them got monster contracts. So you figure the Madoff scandal was worse than we originally thought. Seriously, the Mets have their own network and were opening a brand new ballpark. You know the money was going to be coming in. We also decided to hold off and not get reinforcements when they were so desperately needed. Ownership, it felt like dangled a life preserver from the cruise ship to the drowning team and fans and never tossed it over to us. We never go for that extra over the top push. Eh, maybe just as well this year with all the injuries, who knows.

So here we are. With seemingly nothing left to play for. The future looks bleak right now. Looks like we have to start thinking of what to do with the future and quick. I wonder if they’ll go out and spend next off season, in a weak free agent class. Like I’ve said before in troubled times like these, it’s not the players who suffer, or the front office or ownership. They are all getting paid very handsomely and half of them could probably care less about the season at this point. But’s it’s the fan like you and I, the fan who still watches every game from start to finish or listens to every pitch on the radio, fans like the one in section 530 aka the Dirty 530, who still show up to the games and who were heard on the telecast last night shouting “Show Your Tatis”. It’s fans like us who suffer.

Well I’ll be there once again tonight, with my Pessimets shirt on, not spending a dime on a team that wouldn’t spend that extra dollar for their fans this year.