In lieu of huge breaking story

[Guest Edgy DC]

I've got a really small breaking story.

Starstruck Mets Fan Fined for Impersonating Reporter

By COREY KILGANNON

Published: January 24, 2007

The twin passions in the life of Ryan Leli intersected last August when the San Diego Padres came to Shea Stadium to play the New York Mets.

Mr. Leli, 18, had worshiped the Mets since age 3 and was a huge fan of Mike Piazza, even after the catcher left the Mets a year ago for San Diego.

His other passion was celebrity-chasing. A drama student, he relied on sharp clothes, acting skills and general charm to infiltrate movie sets and film premieres, meeting the likes of Tom Cruise and Sean Combs. He would post photographs of himself with the stars on his personal page on MySpace.com.

So that August afternoon, Mr. Leli did what any overenthusiastic Piazza fan might fantasize about: He created a fake press pass that fooled Shea officials and gained access to the visiting team�s clubhouse, where Mr. Piazza was being interviewed by a scrum of reporters. Mr. Leli�s line of questioning � especially the request that Mr. Piazza pose for a photo with him � annoyed a Padres official, who had him ejected.

Mr. Leli tried the same trick a week later, when the Mets played the Colorado Rockies. This time, he was stopped by detectives at the press entrance and arrested.

His journalistic foray took a detour to an arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, where Mr. Leli was hit with a slew of charges including criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal impersonation and criminal trespassing. The charges carried total penalties of up to seven years in jail.

But Mr. Leli pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser charge, second-degree criminal impersonation, and was released � on condition that he stay away for three years from Mets home games and from KeySpan Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league team owned by the owners of the Mets, as well as the team�s spring training camp at Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was also fined $1,000.

In court, Mr. Leli examined a reporter�s press pass and wrinkled his nose. �Not bad,� he said, �but mine was better.�

His bore the name �NBC Universal.� The day he interviewed Mr. Piazza, Mr. Leli continued to question him after other reporters stopped, and, according to prosecutors, became �pushy and obnoxious.� At an official�s request, Mr. Leli was escorted out of the clubhouse. When Mets officials called NBC, no one at the network had heard of this young reporter.

Yesterday, Jay Horwitz, a spokesman for the Mets, called the punishment appropriate.

�This is a message to anyone who thinks they can impersonate a press person and sneak in,� he said. �We take this seriously and if anybody else tries it, they�ll get the same result.�

Mr. Leli, dressed in a suit and tie, walked out of the courtroom yesterday and said he still loves the Mets � and Mr. Piazza.

�He�s always been my hero, and I just wanted to meet him,� Mr. Leli said.

His mother, Denise, interjected, �He had no idea he was doing anything that wrong and he just wanted to hang out with Piazza and the Mets.� Noting that her son had been going to Mets baseball camp since age 5, Mrs. Leli added, �We financed his obsession with the Mets, so maybe it�s all our fault.�

Mr. Leli�s lawyer, Joseph Mure, noted that his client had never been arrested before and had bought legitimate tickets for the games in question.

�The kid�s still a Met fan and they can never take that away from him,� Mr. Mure said.

Mr. Leli, for his part, complained that the video camera he had used to film Mr. Piazza had been seized as evidence and not returned.

�I want that camera back,� he said. �My prom pictures are in there.�

[Guest cooby]

I can kinda picture our Steve doing this. That'd be cute.

[A Boy Named Seo]

"He had no idea he was doing anything that wrong..."

C'mon, mom.

[metirish]

]But Mr. Leli pleaded guilty yesterday to a lesser charge, second-degree criminal impersonation, and was released � on condition that he stay away for three years from Mets home games and from KeySpan Park in Coney Island, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league team owned by the owners of the Mets, as well as the team�s spring training camp at Port St. Lucie, Fla. He was also fined $1,000.

Back in time for the new stadium...

[nymr83]

]�This is a message to anyone who thinks they can impersonate a press person and sneak in,� he said. �We take this seriously and if anybody else tries it, they�ll get the same result.�

They'll get let go with nothing but a promise to stay away from Shea? I'm scared.

[MFS62]

Seems to me that there are currently a lot of sportswriters employed by some of the local papers who are impersonating sports writers.

Later

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

="A Boy Named Seo"]"He had no idea he was doing anything that wrong..." C'mon, mom.

Bingo. If a kid can fool gatekeepers at the press entrance, then good for him. What he ought to be punished for was being an asshole after having done that.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, his take-a-picture-of-me act ruined it for the next dishonest-but-cucumber-cool fan. Missed that angle.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

For some reason, I'm a little bit surprised that he had a prom date.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yup.

[metsmarathon]

you assume he had a date...

[Guest iramets]

I just love the word "lieu." I always hear Woody Allen in "Broadway Danny Rose" (a beautiful film, btw) begging someone named "Lew" to have sympathy for his pathetic client and repeatedly pronouncing that name a la francaise: "But Lieu, I'm tellin' ya, this is all a yooge misunderstanding, Lieu, if I may interject at this moment the wisdom of my uncle Hershel, who was a brilliant man, Lieu, though he unfortunately resembled a Maatjes herring..."

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I think of Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles handing out those little paddles with a ball and string attached "in lieu of pay."

[Guest iramets]

Also it's pretentious as hell (which is why I use it sometimes) since it just means "place" in French, and it's almost always used in constructions where "place" makes just as much sense: "In place of [or better 'instead of'] huge breaking story."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, you've got me.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Are golf shirts with the collar turned up happening again?

[Guest iramets]

I think you need a fresher source of fashion tips.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

="Johnny Dickshot"] ="A Boy Named Seo"]"He had no idea he was doing anything that wrong..." C'mon, mom. Bingo. If a kid can fool gatekeepers at the press entrance, then good for him. What he ought to be punished for was being an asshole after having done that.

The strange part is that you don't just show up at the press gate, flash your ID and get it.

You have to call in advance and request credentials, and your name has to be on the list. The only way he'd be flashing anf walking in is if he forged an ID of one and the basic guys who is there every day and hoped the guy at the door didn't recognize him.

BTW, most of the press boxes I've been in are nasty places. A lot of unplesant people. A couple times I've decided it was better to just sit in the stands.