What Would Casey Say?

I was having a relaxing day, enjoying the beginning of winter break from campus when the bulletin on my phone delivered what I was dreading—reports of the Mets trading Polar Bear Pete Alonso. “Source: Mets’ Pete Alonso to Join the Baltimore Orioles” screamed the Newsday headline. And that was a day after Edwin Diaz moved over to the Dodgers.

I wasn’t that upset about Diaz; I would always wince when they brought him in to “save” the game. Yeah, OK, will that be after he walks his second guy?

So here they go, shuffling the baseball cards again. Whatever happened to those good ol’ days when I didn’t have to learn about a roster of new players every season until someone retired? Heck, year in and year out, your team was back in the spring ready to kick butt. Now? Who are these guys anyway?

It’s all about money, isn’t it?

In 1874, “Fergie” Fergus Malone was making $2,800 a year playing for the Chicago White Stockings; in 1965 Willie Mays was one of the top paid players at $105,00 and in ’66 Sandy Koufax was pulling in $130,000. The Babe was doing OK at $70,000 in 1927. Last year? Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers had an annual salary of $70 million. That’s a weekly salary of about $1.3 million. And Juan Soto of the Mets? About $50 million a year. In 15 years, he’s in line to pull in close to $1 billion. Now that’s a true Powerball.

I can take or leave football, so during the off season, I pretty much hibernate, waiting for the Mets to take the field in spring training. Lately, however, I don’t know what to expect.

Which brings me to my rant about “where the heck can I watch the game today?” Even sportscaster Gary Cohen finds it difficult to keep track.

It’s been getting harder to follow the Mets on TV. It’s a treat just to get a string of PIX or SNY games. Other times I go through the thousand or so channels on cable or fire up the streaming stick to see if Apple TV is hosting. Or if ESPN is, is it on ESPN 1, 2, 3, 4,000 or what? And if you check the listings, none of them are very clear about it. It’s over here, but only if you know someone, but you can also watch it here but you need that special streaming app; or wait, here’s another option: buy an MLB subscription. And still another: forget it, buddy.

OK, so what about catching it on the phone? As of last year, SNY no longer featured games on their app. It’s now on an MLB app and you can’t watch half of the games anyway because of blackouts. You then need to watch that silly simulation play by play which can contribute to an early death from boredom.

So, OK, if I’m such a fan why am I not a regular at Citi Field? Traffic. Late trains. $7 hot dogs. Surly fans, especially if they’re playing the Braves. Sure, I go occasionally, but a regular trip from Sayville to Citi Field can put a dent in my stride for days.

Gone are the days when my brother (who turned on me and became a Yankee fan) and I would walk to Shea from our house in Jackson Heights, Queens. We caught double-headers all the time, even sneaking to the front row seats because no one was in them those days.

I’ve been a Mets fan since I saw them play with Casey at the Polo Grounds. If things don’t get easier for me to follow them I may just pop that Ron Darling bottle of wine I bought from him at a Fort Salonga liquor store. At least I know where that is.