I don't know if this was discussed in a different thread, but a few thousand "fans" left before the bottom of the 9th inning. As soon as Wagner gave up a run, some people headed for the exits, and more and more with each run that scored.

Real fans were baffled. It was shocking. THEY LEFT A PLAYOFF GAME! A CLOSE PLAYOFF GAME!

I was embarrassed that these people are Mets fans. The place was absolutely dead from the second Billy gave up a run until the game ended. It was pitiful.

Those people should be banned from future playoff games.

I went to sleep with the Mets up 5-4.

Stuff happens.

I saw that -- they showed it on TV.

The way this team has come back all year, encouraged to do so by the fans, shows you that way too many of these playoff tickets still fall into the hands of the casual fan.

The New York playoff crowd is always a different dynamic than the regular season crowd. Go back to 1986 when Games 1 & 2 of the World Series were played at Shea Stadium. The players all talked about how dead the crowds were those first two nights.

You can even hear it in the "Jose" chant -- not as many people participating. There have been nights where they chant has completely rocked the house -- but now you can tell that some of these casual fans are clueless.

This is not just a "Met thing", it's a New York thing. I recall clearly, Game 7 of the ALCS in 2004 -- thousands and thousands of empty seats at Yankee Stadium after the Red Sox pounded their way to an early lead. The fans began their exit very early that night --- and that was an elimination game!

Playoff time in New York is an "event", and New York is an "event town" -- the well-to-do get tickets, while the hardcore fans (like many of us here at NYFS who were shut out in every round through the lottery system) wind up staying home.

its a product of "swing" fans not having anything to watch in the bronx.

The stadium also seemed very very quite last night. I don't understand, what happened to the great Shea home field advantage... why does it seem like there isn't much energy? Can anyone who went to the game tell me if it just seems this way on tv or if thats actually the case at the game?

Having gone to both, I will say Game 2 of the NLDS seemed louder. I have sat in the bleachers, however, and we are really loud out there that it's hard to know what's going on in the rest of the stadium.

45 degrees.

I was shocked, as well. I couldn't believe my eyes. Although it was disheartening, I couldn't imagine walking out no matter what the odds. Just think if you'd left before the end of Game 6 of the '86 WS.
Look at the bright side, it could be worse...we could be (gasp) Atlanta "fans". Then, there wouldn't have been anyone in the seats to leave anyway.

Talk about getting your money's worth.

I agree 100% with this thread and was saying the same thing at the game last night

I can tell you one thing... I would kill to go to these games. Seriously, I would do almost anything to be able to be a part of this, but I can't.

And then there are these people that leave early.

This I agree with you 100%. I would never, ever leave early. Baseball is the one sport where something magical can happen any night that no one has seen before. Why would you want to risk missing it? Blows my mind.