We Believed In Home Field Advantage

In 2010, the Mets were entering their second season at Citi Field.  After a brutal 2009 campaign in which they lost 92 games, the team needed something to get fans excited about the team.  That excitement came in a three-month stretch during the first half of the 2010 season, when the Mets were practically unbeatable at home.

Although the Mets were having tremendous difficulty winning on the road, they were 28-12 at home by the fourth of July.  After every home victory, the song "Uprising" by Muse blasted on the Citi Field sound system ("We will be victorious...") and CitiVision flashed its "We Believe In Home Field Advantage" graphic for all the smiling fans in attendance to be proud of.

That was then.  A lot has changed over the past two-plus seasons, especially when it comes to the Mets' performance at home.

Can you guess which home loss this photo is from?  Neither can I.  Too many to choose from.

During the second half of the 2010 campaign, the Mets returned to earth at Citi Field, going 19-22 at home to close out the season.  They followed that up in 2011 with a disappointing 34-47 record in front of the Flushing faithful.  Now, with tonight's 6-2 loss to the Rockies, the Mets have fallen to 28-32 at Citi Field in 2012.

Since Independence Day two years ago, the Mets lost their ability to win at home, going a combined 81-101 at home for a .445 winning percentage.  Even the woeful Houston Astros, who are an abysmal 105 games under .500 in all games since the beginning of the 2010 season (171-276) have been better at home over the same time period (100-124, for a .446 winning percentage).

There was a time when the Mets were a good team.  They played their home games at Shea Stadium then.  But as recently as the spring of 2010, the Mets were still a good team, as long as they were playing their games at home.  Sadly, that is also no longer the case, as the Mets have now lost 17 of their last 22 home games and are 20 games under .500 at Citi Field since the summer of 2010.

We believed in home field advantage.  Now that we don't have it anymore, in what should we believe?