Buyer, Florida – Want to see fanatics?
Are you looking for the best offer ever for unconditional love?
Come to the unflatteringly named Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, where the future of Major League Baseball is currently being discussed and decided upon. As about 15 members of the media stand outside the gates of the stadium – we are also confined – and we find ourselves joined by about 20 people here who are not out of profession, but out of passion.
“Ah yes. I love baseball,” said Richie Nestro, 75, a retired Yonkers firefighter spending the winter here while still owning a home in Westchester. “I have been a Yankees fan ever since. [Mickey] Mantle, but it was easier back then because you only had 16 teams.”
It was easier at the time for audiences, of course, who didn’t need to worry about collective bargaining agreements, competitive credit taxes or the percentage of the two- to three-year service time class that would be eligible for arbitration. However, this small sidewalk sample sided more with the players, who sought their autographs as they entered and exited the building. New Met Max Scherzer rewarded a few more on Tuesday, as did Players Association CEO (and longtime number one baseman in the big league) Tony Clark.
“I blame the owners,” said Justin Picorillo, 22, a Mets fan of Westport, Connecticut, a senior at the University of Central Florida. “They’ve had enough.”
“I was a union delegate for the fire department, so I’m pro-union,” said Nestro.
“[Rob] Manfred. “I blame him for everything,” said Hayden Weintraub, a 13-year-old Mets fan who lives in Flushing. “He’s just the easiest person to comment on everything.”
“I mean, he’s almost as bad as Putin,” added his father, Evan Weintraub of Manfred.
“Yes,” concluded Jill Weintraub, Evan’s mother and Hayden’s grandmother, “but no one will die from this.”
However, there is an effect. “It’s obnoxious,” said Picorillo, who not only drove an extra two hours from school here, but stopped in Port St. Lucie on his way to buy a baseball game for potential autographs. “Especially in Florida, my grandparents live in West Palm. It’s the kind of thing we have to go to for spring training.”
“It saddens me,” said Gail Weintraub. “It only makes me sad that they couldn’t come to an agreement when there were so many millions of people who really depended on baseball to lift their spirits. Especially with COVID. … You would think they would learn from the COVID season what life is without baseball. And I hope Not to be too stubborn.”
Jill Weintraub said that despite her frustration, she has already secured tickets for the 2022 season for a season, if the mess is resolved. Pecoriello – who created the Twitter account Tweet embedcombines his joy in a very entertaining way – he admitted that he will continue to follow the sport with enthusiasm, “but I think the casual fan might put them away.”
“I’m upset on both sides, because I know they both have their pros and cons. I just want to watch it,” said Grayson Eleftherio, 23, an aspiring professional golfer.
Eleftherio, who grew up as a Dodgers fan in Southern California and then moved here in 2014, has his own “hardcore” category. Unlike other fans who camp near the parking lots of lost players looking for personal interaction with superstars like Scherzer, Gerrett Cole and Francisco Lindor, Eleftherio (he’s Greek) mostly hangs out with the media as we watch the comings and goings of MLB lawyers and owners so we can document The period during which the two parties meet, congregate, and then meet again. He clicks on links in the morning and then joins us in the early afternoon to start conversations.
“I want to be here when that happens, if it ever happens,” he said, “it’s a done deal.” “I will read everyone’s articles, anyway, all day long. I might see it happen live.”
The players and owners greeted these fans and won’t say goodbye, no matter how stupid things seem. It sure would be great to see the fans really get their way and be allowed onto the pitch to watch the big league games.
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