I was so stressed watching last night’s game, you’d have thought it was late September. I am tickled, however, that after all of Chipper Jones’ comments about how bad Citi is - and how much Wright hates it - and how you can’t hit HRs there… that not only did we beat the Phillies (and the Red Sox beat the Yankees) but we also shut Larry up in the process! Now, that’s what I call a night! :)

On the Phillies Phans:

I was at the game. It was a scene, to be sure.

I managed not to get directly tangled up, unlike in September of ‘07, during which I witnessed a gaggle of Phillies Phans harrasing a teen in Mets gear as the poor kid was just trying to use the bathroom; that came to a couple blows before I and some Mets fans surrounded the thugs and shoved them out of the area.

Last night however, there was a great deal of ‘2008’ flag-waving and screaming in the faces of stranded Mets fans in the upper rows of 532.  Poor guys had the bad luck to be stuck in a coordinated group of Phillies fans, and two were escorted out for fighting back before security finally managed to sniff out the instigators: all 20 of them, conspicuously dressed in red and white.  I guess it makes sense to attack the symptom and not the disease…

The wildest scene was coming down the left field ramps after the game; one of those 2008 banners was nabbed by a group of Mets fans, and the ringleader proceeded to SET THE BANNER ON FIRE.

No, I’m not kidding.

Chants of “burn that sh!t” went on for a good 30 seconds before cops could get up through the bottleneck. (And there’s bound to be a stampede down that switchback course during a major game.  I almost guarantee it.)

I cannot believe I haven’t read anything about the fire in the papers or on the blogs today.  I have a fairly shaky photo of it (artistically kind of neat but not useful for ID’ing culprits) if Madam Blogger should be interested.

I’m all for displays of passion on the field, and loud chanting, and arguments as long as they’re based on J-Roll batting sixth in the order or the Phillies having as many series rings as the Mets in twice the span of time, but I bore witness to assault and public endangerment and a possible intent to riot last night, and it made me glad I don’t have kids.

I’d warn families away from Citi during Phillies games at this point, and that’s a shame.

Send the photo along, Paul, I’d love to see it.

i heard about the mets fans stealing the 2008 flag and taking it to the men’s room in the pepsi porch and stuffing it in the urinal during the last series.

we are not making ourselves look very good.

I was there as well, in section 512, which was thankfully devoid of any significant cohort of Philly Phans.  But when Rollins hit that homer to put them up, all I could think was, no way I’m going to get on the subway with some of the arrogant wack jobs I observed on the way in and around me in other sections.  My plan was to spend a good hour post game hanging out in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda.

Tom (5Hfan)