Who are you, Andrew?

by Darren Meenan November 01, 2016 0 Comments

There's a face behind every cheer. While the sea of orange and blue unites as one until the last pitch, everyone has lives outside of the ballpark confines. T7LA has brought together thousands of like minded fans since 2012, but baseball isn't our only purpose in life. Obviously, everyone needs a way to fund their fandom. We do have some retirees in the crew, but at least 9 out of every 10 fans has a day job. What is it? What do you do? How did you become a Mets fan? What are you hobbies? Who are you? 

Here’s our chance to get to know each other a little better. We want to showcase the variety of people who cheer with us—accountants, artists, teachers, nurses, lawyers, court officers, students, entrepreneurs, soldiers. Kind of amazing in itself.  We can’t wait to learn more about your Mets experiences and your life outside the game. 

To submit your story, read THIS. Each week until April we'll pick a different fan to highlight. 

Next up is Andrew from Brooklyn. The ONLY fan that has never missed a T7LA outing. From game one to 63, he's been to them all. You may already know Andrew... he is in fact known as "The General". If not, here's a little bit about one of our groups most visible, loyal, passionate and friendly members. A genuinely nice guy who we couldn't be prouder to have a part of this group since the start. Join him with a HEEEE STRUCK HIM OUT chant in 2017.

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NAME: Andrew Indart @CFSLawnDART

RESIDE: Brooklyn, NY

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? I’m a DSNY Supervisor as well as an umpire for Little League Travel Baseball.

ANY INTERESTING HOBBIES? Honestly, with the way the last few years have gone, it seems like being a Mets fan is the only hobby I have at this point. With all the traveling I’ve done with T7LA the last 4 years, I like to collect magnets for my fridge for each city I’ve gone to. Doesn’t have to be baseball related, just something that has the name of the city we’ve visited. Taking a picture in front of each field we’ve been to is also a must for me. I also make sure to keep my ticket stubs for games I’ve been to so I can keep track of my own personal record at Mets games. I save them all in a ticket album. I write down the score and a little something that happened at the game so one day I can look back on it and remember. My all time record currently is 109-87-1 (The tie is from Spring Training)

HOW DID YOU BECOME A METS FAN? WHAT YEAR? I became a Mets fan like most. I was born into it. My Grandfather was a big Dodgers fan from their Brooklyn days, and when they jumped ship for LA, he adopted the Mets as his team. He raised his son and daughters that way, who in turn raised myself and my cousin Dave as Mets fans. When my mother was pregnant with me, she went to Gary Carter’s book signing. He was talking to her, being very polite asking her if she knew if she was having a boy or a girl. When she told him she wasn’t finding out, he asked what she was going to name the baby. She said she’d name me Andrew if I was a boy or Jessica if I was a girl. So he signed the book, “To Andrew? or Jessica? All the very best. God Bless. Gary Carter”. So I guess you could say I was a Mets fan before I was even born!

HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT T7LA? My friend Danny Finley, who is also a member of T7LA, told me about a guy selling cool Mets (and at the time Jets) shirts on a website. I checked it out and bought the “Win or Lose, We still Booze” shirt. That was when it was just T7L. Then in 2012 when Darren started the Army, I was there for the very first outing with my cousin and his then girlfriend. Haven't missed one since.

WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST TIME CHEERING WITH T7LA? Down since day 1 and beyond.

HOW MANY OUTINGS HAVE YOU HIT IN TOTAL? I’ve been to every single outing T7LA has ever had, home and road alike. It's an addiction that I don’t want curing from. 63 so far.

WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK? Honestly, it's the sense of family that’s been created within T7LA. The fun times, the experiences, the traveling to different cities. All with people who share that same passion for the game of baseball. Mets baseball. I don’t want to miss a single thing and I want to create a lifetime worth of memories with this crazy group of fans. The friendships I’ve created within T7LA are lifelong and true. Hell, I met my girlfriend by going to the games. A girl who I know is the one for me by doing all this. That’s how I know I’m not doing something wrong by satiating this passion with a perfect attendance at T7LA outings. That and obviously FOMO.  

ANY AWAY GAMES YET WITH T7LA? WHERE? Been to all of em. Every. Last. One. Chicago, Philly, San Fran, Miami, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Baltimore, Colorado, San Diego, Washington (both times), Milwaukee, all the Bronx Invasion games, and the Spring Training outing. 

FAVORITE OUTING MEMORY?  There are so many. Obviously anyone that went to San Diego last year is going to recall that epic, completely spontaneous march from Mcfaddens over to Petco Park. We poured out of that bar and then just stopped traffic basically the whole way to the ballpark. It was legit an unsanctioned parade. There were people hanging outside on their balconies videoing us, there was a bus that turned down the street that had to wait till we passed both sides of it leaving it completely immobile. Just a sea of orange, running through the streets of San Diego. The baseball gods must have smiled down on our passion and enthusiasm because once we got into the ballpark we saw one of the most incredible feats that none of us thought we’d ever witness live. Bartolo Colon hitting a HR in a notorious pitchers ballpark off of James Shields. I thought we were going to tear that mother down. All 1,400 of us traveling diehards completely lost our minds. Our beloved Bartolo doing the impossible. The guy with the goofy at bats takes a 4 bag trip that will forever be etched in all our hearts. 

Another memory that sticks out is when Milwaukee came to us in May of 2015. Forecast was rain, but that didn’t stop baseball from being played. We ended up throttling the Brewers 14-1 all whilst going crazy in the pouring rain. Flores hit a grand slam. Grandy and Plawecki also helped out with bombs of their own. Felt like a battle out there. The chants were on point and the Mets walked tall that night. 

I could go on and on because there are countless memories, but theres one last one I can’t help but forget, and that was our trip to Atlanta. Started off with a huge tailgate party, our first (and only) tailgate on the road. Was special to see it happen, because most of us who handle the tailgate at home at Citi, didn’t have our normal tailgate supplies. But without ever disappointing, our local T7LA members in ATL didn’t let us down. They came prepared with the booze, the food, the games and the good times. It's a special thing to be able to travel hundreds of miles away from home and have people who you’ve never met personally welcome you in and make you feel at home. We marched over to Turner Field in force like usual, found our seats and the madness began. Braves fans weren’t exactly too welcoming to us, and who could blame them. We had our trademark Thunder Sticks with us, but once security got wind of that they came over and asked us to get rid of them because they were against “policy”. Now I don’t know if it was because of the overhang above us, but I cannot remember a time where we as a whole unit were as loud. Maybe it’s because we were challenged by them taking our Thunder Sticks that people felt like the gauntlet had been thrown. An “oh yeah? watch this now” moment occurred where everyone just chanted and hollered the whole game. Loudest game I can remember for sure. Chants of “WE DONT NEED THEM!” & “YOU CANT STOP US!” bellowed onto the field from our corner in LF. Truly a moment to never forget. 

Each outing is a unique experience that brings forth countless memories that I’ll treasure till my last days on this earth.

FAVORITE ALL TIME MET PLAYER? Hard to choose. David Wright is an obvious choice. I remember when he debuted in Montreal, watching him from home and seeing the potential of what could be there. Met him last spring and he was truly the standup guy we all see on TV. Excellent with the fans. Probably gonna get some heat for this, but I’ve always rooted for Daniel Murphy harder than most. I don’t know what it is about him, but ever since he came up at the end of 2008 I’ve always thought he was going to find success as a hitter in MLB. My cousin Dave can vouch for that. He always abused me about being a Murphy guy even when he was just a bench player. One story I heard about him was when he got to college, the coach asked him what position he played and he said “I’m the number 3 hitter”. Seems like thats a pretty good testament to the player he is. Watching him do what he did last postseason was incredibly special because I always believed he could be that player. Was very sad when the team decided to part ways with him. 

SHEA OR CITI? Tough one. I think I’d have to lean towards Citi Field. I feel like I have more baseball memories in Citi than I do in Shea. However, I’ll never forget 2006 for Game 1 of the NLDS. Seeing Delgado have his post season coming out party and watching Loduca tag two guys out in the same play at home. That was definitely special. Even with that though, still have to say Citi. 

HAVE A BASEBALL BUCKET LIST? WHAT'S ON TOP OF IT? Well, before T7LA, I had always said that when I retired, I wanted to rent an RV and just spend the summer traveling across the country. Seeing all the ballparks, watching some baseball, and seeing what else our great country had to offer. Seems like I’ll cross that off my list before I retire though! I wasn’t there for Johan’s No-No, so I’d like to see a perfect game and a no-hitter live and in person. I can only imagine what the atmosphere would be like. I also want to see The Mets travel down the Canyon of Heroes hoisting the World Series trophy. I refuse to attend any other championship parade till The Mets do it.

LIKE ANY SPORTS BESIDES BASEBALL? WHAT TEAMS? The only other sport besides baseball I follow is football, and unfortunately I’m a Jets fan. It’s been a tough life sports-wise with all these letdowns. I’ve tried to get into hockey, I just can’t do it. I support the Rangers though. My girlfriend Amanda is a big hockey fan, so I go to a few games a year. 

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANNA ADD? Nothing that I haven’t said prior. T7LA is like a family. It’s something my cousin and I always wanted growing up cheering at games. We’d always get loud, but half the time people around you think you’re nuts. Now all those nuts are in sec 140,141 and 142 losing their minds together. It’s something special, and I know that everyone involved knows it too. 

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Previously:

Rebecca G.

Carmelo F.

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