Oddly, the same man once prohibited from pitching at Shea now understands. A couple of years ago, while watching a Seattle Mariners game on TV, Sisk found himself irked by the performance of J.J. Putz, at the time a reliever with the club. Putz was scuffling to get through the inning, and Sisk thought his body language conveyed surrender.

“Then the weirdest thing happened,” he says. “I was all alone, but I started booing at my television. That’s when I realized what those fans felt with me.

– Jeff Pearlman, Wall Street Journal.

Good read about former Mets reliever Doug Sisk, perhaps the most hated man in Mets history.

Sisk actually posted a 117 ERA+ in his five year career with the Mets, but he allowed a ton of baserunners, many on free passes. He also holds the distinction — and I suppose this isn’t surprising — of being the first player I ever booed.

I’m pretty sure it was during introductions for Opening Day of 1987, the first game I ever attended. I was with my brother, uncle and grandfather, and when Sisk’s name was called everyone started booing. I don’t remember the exact details of the conversation, but I asked why we were booing, and either my brother or uncle said something along the lines of, “Because it’s f@#$ing Sisk!”

And so began a life of booing crappy Mets relievers.