Leaving the game early

[Centerfield]

When is it ok to leave the game early? I bring this up because I know a MFY fan who left early in both Byung Hyun Kim games in the 2001 World Series. After I heard that it was hard to consider him a real fan. I realize he bought the ticket with his money, so he can do what he wants, and I might be guilty of "real-fan" snobbery here, but I just wonder how beating traffic is worth missing World Series innings.

I guess my outlook might be different if I were a season ticket holder and I was there every night. But since my trips to Shea are infrequent, my general rule is that I should stick it out until the end unless:

1. the Mets are down 5+ runs
2. it's the 7th inning or later
3. it's a regular season game

You shouldn't leave blowout wins because the team deserves your attendance. Anyone leaving a post-season game early should immediately be banned from ever attending again.

(And by the way, leaving early because you brought your kid and he is too young to make it the whole game doesn't count as long as your heart is in the right place and you beg your wife to stay another inning after she first mentions he should be put to bed.)

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Centerfield wrote: (And by the way, leaving early because you brought your kid and he is too young to make it the whole game doesn't count as long as your heart is in the right place and you beg your wife to stay another inning after she first mentions he should be put to bed.)

Whew!

I left only one game early and it was the 2nd game of that cursed doubleheader against the Dbags that started the famous home losing streak of 2002.

[Centerfield]

Hard to find fault with leaving that game.

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=6523

The one game where I bailed:

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=6193

[Benjamin Grimm]

The only time I ever left a game early was when I was a kid on a Smithtown youth trip and the game went into extra innings and if I stayed I would have missed my bus back home.

This subject always reminds me of the people who started pouring out of the stadium when the Red Sox scored two runs in the top of the 10th on October 25, 1986. Losers! Because of their impatience, they missed, by relatively few minutes, the greatest baseball moment they'd ever have a chance to see.

[Willets Point]

I'm actually pretty strict about not leaving a game except for "emergency" reasons like the kids are tired, or someone in your party is sick, or you need to be somewhere else. The actual state of the game should have no bearing on when you leave

The only game I can remember leaving early is a Red Sox game when I was in grad school. Since I couldn't bring my backpack to the ballpark I left it in my locker at school, knowing that the academic building was open until midnight. But since this was a Red Sox game, it of course went later than midnight so I had to leave early. Keith Foulke actually blew a save of a brilliant Curt Schilling start, so I figured I wouldn't miss much anyhow. You can check out Baseball Reference to see exactly what I missed.

[Farmer Ted]

The wife got bored and made me leave after the 7th in this one. I almost divorced her. Really.

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=6321

[Benjamin Grimm]

I see that a Crane Pooler posted a memory of that game back in 2003.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I was at that game too.

[HahnSolo]

Willets Point wrote: I'm actually pretty strict about not leaving a game except for "emergency" reasons like the kids are tired, or someone in your party is sick, or you need to be somewhere else. The actual state of the game should have no bearing on when you leave The only game I can remember leaving early is a Red Sox game when I was in grad school. Since I couldn't bring my backpack to the ballpark I left it in my locker at school, knowing that the academic building was open until midnight. But since this was a Red Sox game, it of course went later than midnight so I had to leave early. Keith Foulke actually blew a save of a brilliant Curt Schilling start, so I figured I wouldn't miss much anyhow. You can check out Baseball Reference to see exactly what I missed.

Lots of once and future Mets (plus a handful of Lopezes) in that one for the Os.

I tend to leave early moreso now than in the past if I have my young kids with me, especially if it's a night game.

[Guest Mendoza Line]

Taking a kid home from a game early can affect him for life. When I was seven, my Yankee fan dad took my brother and me home from this game in the bottom of the fourth to miss traffic.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA197207190.shtml

My Met fan grandfather, on the other hand, took the 7 to Shea and never left early.

This goes a long way towards explaining why I grew up to be a Met fan*.




*that and the fact that it was a lot more fun to root for Tom Seaver, Rusty Staub, and Mr. Met than Fred Stanley, Horace Clarke, and the DH rule.

[HahnSolo]

Keep in mind I have an hour and a half drive home from Shea, and usually my kids are pretty good about staying.
The earliest I've left with my kids in the times I've taken them is the bottom of the 7th, and that was a particularly long game.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Never left early. I don't want to say it's inexcusable --- family is family --- but I'm quite certain Dickshot leaving that D-Bag game early caused the awful day to extend into an awful month.

I imagine I'd leave early if lured by a temptress --- but I'd suspect her to be in league with the Devil, claiming my soul or something, even if she wasn't, so I probably wouldn't go.

I ruin a lot of good things that way.

[Guest attgig]

I've left early from some orioles and nationals games down here. but when the mets play, I always stay till the end. i just don't get to see them enough. and i haven't been to shea in years years. =(

also, baseball tickets just cost too darn much now for me to leave early.

[Guest SI Metman]

I remember my parents taking me home early from a game when I wan 9. They had a somewhat good excuse though.

It was after the Mets failed to capitalize on a bases loaded opportunity in the bottom of the 12th. They eventually fell to the Buccos in the 16th, or sometime well past the midnight hour.

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=4947

and the funny thing is I've witnessed more than my fair share of blowouts but never left a single game early.

[nymr83]

]When is it ok to leave the game early?

When you need to because of kids. girls are never an excuse. if a girl wants to leave early i don't take out my keys, i take out my metrocard and point her to the subway.

[Centerfield]

Thanks Namor. I needed that laugh.

[Guest sharpie]

Don't think I've left a game early since I was a kid and a parent was driving or a bus was leaving except for one time when I was living in San Francisco and had to leave a Giants game early for a rehearsal.

During the time my kids were small I never left a game early. I hardly ever took them to night games however.

[smg58]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I left only one game early and it was the 2nd game of that cursed doubleheader against the Dbags that started the famous home losing streak of 2002.

I was at that one too. I remember it being hot as hell. I got into a discussion with another fan nearby who was sticking it out through the second game. It was John Thomson's first Mets start, if memory serves me. The other guy asked me what I thought of Thomson so far and I said "so far so good, he throws strikes and doesn't fool around." Then Thomson proceeds to walk the pitcher to start the next inning...

I remember going to a Mets-Braves game in 1999 where the Mets were behind 3-0 before I even got to my seat (only three batters into the game) and wound up losing 16-0. I got so disgusted that I left in like the fifth or sixth inning, and it was Fireworks Night.

The game I turned off the TV on that I'll never forgive myself for was a Braves game the following year where the Mets were down 8-1 and scored ten runs in the eighth. I think I learned my lesson after that one.

I'd have to wonder about somebody who'd leave a playoff game early, especially given how hard those tickets are to get.

[Guest holychicken]

I left a Red Sox game once where it was upper 90s and 90% humidity. It was absolutely miserable. There was almost no sound from the fans in the stands, the place was half empty and the players all looked asleep. We had good seats, but we were in SRO section because it was the only place we could get a breeze and even then it was absolutely unbearable.

Other than that, I have stuck out every game I have been too and am in total agreement that fans who leave playoff games early should be shot on the spot. Someone suggested that right?

[Guest SI Metman]

smg58 wrote: I was at that one too. I remember it being hot as hell. I got into a discussion with another fan nearby who was sticking it out through the second game. It was John Thomson's first Mets start, if memory serves me. The other guy asked me what I thought of Thomson so far and I said "so far so good, he throws strikes and doesn't fool around." Then Thomson proceeds to walk the pitcher to start the next inning...

I was almost going to go to that DH, especially since I never went to a major league doubleheader at the time. Unfortunately some family stuff came up and I never got to go. In hindsight I guess that was a good thing.

]I remember going to a Mets-Braves game in 1999 where the Mets were behind 3-0 before I even got to my seat (only three batters into the game) and wound up losing 16-0. I got so disgusted that I left in like the fifth or sixth inning, and it was Fireworks Night.

But you missed Matt Franco's major league pitching debut in that game! It was the only time in major league history that Franco relieved Franco after Johnny hurt himself and went on the DL for 3 months.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I thought Thomson was OK in that start too, but that he'd encountered some bad luck and before you knew it, we were down by 6. Hot, humid as hell, and everyone was so gut-punched from the first game. F'ing Mark Little! F'ing Scott Strickland!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

We left twice when I was a kid.

One time was during a rain delay, and it looked like a freaking monsoon out there and the adults were sure that the rest of the game was toast.

Alas, we were halfway home when the clouds parted -- and we watched the rest of the game on TV.


Obviously, the trauma continues.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

I used to be hard corps about never ever leaving. But in the last couple of years, if I'm done
I'm done and I can justify it by having sat through plenty until the bitter end.

Second thing I uttered in the last ten minutes that makes me feel old.

[metsmarathon]

Farmer Ted wrote: The wife got bored and made me leave after the 7th in this one. I almost divorced her. Really. http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=6321

avi me on that one.

i left that one early and came home to a pleasant surprise.

honestly, i'm almost to teh point where i feel as if i should leave games early, as the mets (or any home team, really) rarely win games i attend.

this seems to apply to any stadium, any team, and, i'm fairly sure, any sport. if i'm in the crowd, teh home team is going down. i figure that by leaving a blowout early, i'm actually helping things.

of course, i really need to go through whatever ticket stubs i have and see how my memory tracks with reality, but its pretty much a given that when i'm there, they lose. so, sorry.

[metsmarathon]

oh, and avi me on that 2002 doubleheader.

my attendance was responsible for the flaming, crashing demise of two consecutive seasons.

and i was there last night. and left after the 7th. it didnt work this time.

[seawolf17]

I've only left Shea early twice; once when we brought my wife's parents to a doubleheader in 1999, McGwire homered twice in the opener, but they couldn't hold out through game two, so we skipped out so they could get home.

The other time was a few weeks ago; I was still recovering from back surgery, getting up and walking around every twenty minutes. After seven innings, I was just in too much pain to deal with the seats any longer, and/or dealing with sitting through parking lot traffic.

We've left Ducks games early b/c of the little guy over the past two years, but I'd rather not go at all than leave early.

[Guest Iubitul]

I left Shea early once - my wife (gf at the time) was cold and shivering:

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=3686

I told her, never again ;-)

[Benjamin Grimm]

I was at that game, and it was freezing cold! When I think of cold games that I attended, that one, and Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS always come to mind.

Both featured famous home runs by catchers. Sadly, only one of the two ended with a happy recap.

[smg58]

SI Metman wrote: But you missed Matt Franco's major league pitching debut in that game! It was the only time in major league history that Franco relieved Franco after Johnny hurt himself and went on the DL for 3 months.

I heard about that afterwards. I forget what happened that day, but I remember rushing to get to the game and being cranky before I got there. Looking at the scoreboard and seeing we were already down three before I sat down didn't help. Nor did the rest of the game, really. I'm not sure I'd have appreciated the humor of watching Matt Franco pitch in that mood.

[G-Fafif]

It's been a while. Last time, to tend to my ailing spouse, was the Victor Diaz game before it became the Craig Brazell game. It was almost better that way because I was the guest of a longtime Cubs fan who was practically in tears as he saw his playoff dreams nearly shattered in the ninth. I was both enjoying the hell out of it and felt really bad for the guy. To have sat with him through the conclusion would have been almost cruel. Almost. Picking up the result coming off the train as I did somehow suited my needs just perfectly.

I left that second-game of the Diamondbacks DH, too, around the sixth. It was long, hot and 2002.

The only one I ever ducked out on plainly because I could not stand to watch any more was the 2000 division-clincher the Braves were about to celebrate on the Mets. It was a thrill I could do without.