Throughout the 162 games of summer WFAN is the default setting on my car radio. The reception for the New York station isn't the greatest here in the Delaware Valley, and I have little occasion to tune it in during the long, dark winter that begins in late October and doesn't end until pitchers and catchers report in about six weeks.
I thus had not heard the sad news before reading it in The New York Times Magazine that Doris from Rego Park has passed away, finally succumbing to her long battle with lung cancer and other painful ailments.
Nicholas Dawidoff describes perfectly what it was like to hear from this most-dedicated of fans:
The host welcomes Doris from Rego Park. You hear stuttering, coughing. Finally, she recovers her voice and you are listening to somebody's great aunt holding forth on recent events in New York Mets history. This disquisition is well informed, persuasive and punctuated by much more coughing. It concludes with a frisson of decorum — ''Thank you for your time and courtesy'' — which makes you ashamed of yourself and exhilarated all at once.
Learning of her passing brings to mind Philip Roth's account in Paternity of watching the miracle of Game Six with his dying father. One wishes that Doris' final year of devotion had been rewarded by something better than the miserable performance her beloved Mets offered in 2003.
Wait 'til next year, Doris. With Matsui and Reyes and Cameron up the middle, they've got a defense worthy of pitchers like Leiter and Glavine. And the move to first should put some spark back in Piazza's bat. Wait 'til next year, Doris. You'll see.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In