Sound of silence a rare event at Citi Field, Yankee Stadium or any other MLB venue
Fans look on during the third inning of a game between the Mets and the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
If you were at Wednesday afternoon’s hastily rescheduled Mets game at Citi Field, you might have noticed a strange sound.
Silence.
Or relative silence.
Instead of the usual blaring, non-stop, piped-in noise that is now the norm at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium, the Mets on Wednesday treated fans mostly to the organ stylings of Ray Castoldi.
No incessant noise? Just baseball? Is that even allowed anymore?
Perhaps it was because the game wasn’t well-attended, which was expected once it was moved with 26 hours notice from 7:10 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. because of the threat of bad weather.
For some in the stands that afternoon, it was a refreshing change.
“It was old school,” said Reggie Wade, a Brooklyn native who lives on Staten Island. “I admit — I’m 38 now — I first went to a Mets game in ’92. That’s what you used to have: the organ music and traditional baseball.”
If what you’ve read so far makes you think this is going to be a plea for the teams to lower the volume, you are mistaken. Sorry. Ain’t happening.
Blame your fellow fans.
Here’s the thing: Going into Saturday, the Mets were averaging 37,357 in attendance. That’s fifth in MLB after the club — which drew 41,681 Saturday — finished 17th last season. The Yankees are second at 42,372 per game.
So people are buying tickets and going even though there are plenty of folks who say they won’t go anymore because of the noise or the cost or the parking or just the general hassle attending a ballgame can be.
It’s like one of my dad’s favorite Yogi Berra-isms: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
It’s not difficult to find fans who despise the noise that rocks your eardrums at most Mets and Yankees games. Those fans are loud themselves about how much they don’t enjoy the assault on the senses that seems to come free of charge with a ticket to either venue.
If that’s how you feel, you are not alone. Either you hate it and you go to games despite it, or you’ve stopped going to games because of it.
Even fans who don’t particularly enjoy the noise or aren’t there for the Mets’ mascot race or don’t need to see the Yankee Stadium grounds crew do “YMCA” understand why clubs are doing these things.
“This is, unfortunately, MLB trying to make it more attractive to a younger demographic,” Gail E. Lichtman of Yonkers said before Saturday’s Mets-Rockies game. “Us old-time people, we’re going to come. We don’t care about all the flashing lights and everything. They’re just trying to hold people’s interest. And some people are like, ‘We don’t want all that. Just play the game.’ It’s OK. For me, it’s a little bit too loud. But it’s fun.”
Before Saturday’s 8-2 win over the MLB-worst Rockies, the Mets had something for everyone. There was a “Block Party” outside the stadium. It was Day Two of a three-day “Hello Kitty” bobblehead giveaway (first 10,000 fans only, which is why fans decked out in “Hello Kitty” gear lined up hours before the gates opened).
There was music blaring when you entered the stadium. There was a DJ. There was the Francisco Lindor “My Girl” sing-along. There was dugout dancing from The Queens Crew. There was the 5 Borough Mascot Race (the giraffe from the Bronx lost again and is, suspiciously, 0-for-30.)
Oh, and there was a baseball game.
“It’s OK — I don’t mind it,” Caroline Nittolo of upstate Washingtonville said of all the extra stuff. “I like the new race that they have with the mascots. We were just talking about how the Bronx hasn’t won. I think they’re trying to make it more like a family involvement. I don’t mind it. It can be boring sometimes, the game. Especially between innings. Especially if the Mets are losing.”
That hasn’t happened a lot at Citi Field this season. The Mets are 23-7 at home.
So the Mets are bringing the noise and bringing the funk. And when you consider the crowds the team is drawing and the money that is pouring into Steve Cohen’s bank account, there’s no reason to expect the decibel levels to go down.
Even if opponents of excessive stadium noise yell at the top of their lungs. No one at Citi Field would be able to hear you anyway.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
