NEWS

Lifelong Mets fan, 90, welcomes World Series

Hackettstown woman ready for rumble with the Royals

Michael Izzo
@MIzzoDR

HACKETTSTOWN - Gloria Siedenburg never misses her Mets, cheering the team on for every game in their more than 50-year history, and she’s thrilled she gets to watch her team in the World Series once more.

Gloria Siedenburg is a lifelong Mets fan.

“I’m enjoying it so much,” said Siedenburg, 90, of Hackettstown.

Siedenburg hasn’t seen her team reach the World Series since 2000, and she hasn’t seen them win a championship in nearly three decades, with the Mets winning their second in 1986.

Siedenburg grew up in Brooklyn and was a fan of the Dodgers until they fled New York City for Los Angeles in the mid-50s.

“I went to school near Ebbets Field, and they had ladies days,” Siedenburg said. “Me and my mother would meet at the ballpark for those games.”

Once the Dodgers left town, Siedenburg was without a team for a few years.

“I wasn’t going to be a Yankees fan,” she said. “I never liked them. Still don’t.”

The Mets were founded in the early 60s and Siedenburg’s been a fan ever since.

“My mother became a Mets fan too so it runs in the family,” Siedenburg said, adding the rest of her family are fans but not as fanatical as she is about the team. “Not as bad as me, just occasional fans.”

Siedenburg said the Mets regular season and playoff run has been unexpected but welcome.

“Let’s just say we hope,” she said. “And fortunately they’ve done really well.”

Siedenburg said it’s hard to pick a favorite player on such a likeable team.

“Everybody likes David Wright,” Siedenburg said. “And all those young pitchers coming up. Not only are they good, but they’re cute too.”

Siedenburg likes their chances in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals.

“Of course, how could I not think they’ll do well?” she said. “They say it’s our pitching against their hitting and I’ll take the pitching.”

Siedenburg has the same routine while watching games at in her living room at the Bentley Commons at Paragon Village in Hackettstown.

“I like to watch all the time. I don’t miss a game,’” she said. “I sit in my recliner and tell everyone, ‘don’t bother me.”

With start times past 8 p.m. for each game in the series, Siedenburg is hoping to see as much as she can stay awake for and get updated on the final innings the following morning.

“I hate the night games,” Siedenburg said. “Sometimes they end so late I can’t even read about in the next day’s paper.”

First pitch for game one of the World Series is Tuesday at 8:07 p.m. in Kansas City.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com