It's been a miserable week. The Mets have lost four in a row with only six runs scored. Carlos Delgado undergoes surgery and is out at least two months. Jose Reyes is hurt and who knows when he will be 100%. Alex Cora fills in ably for Reyes, only to tear ligaments in his thumb. The Mets commit five errors in one game and conjure up memories of 1962. And one of the team's few bright spots, Carlos Beltran, is maligned on national TV by a buffoon.
Now this bad week is about to get even worse. This weekend, I will find myself rooting for the Yankees and against the Red Sox. I generally root for the Red Sox in the American League, though it seems that many Red Sox fans lump the Mets in with things from New York that they do not like. And they probably wouldn't enjoy SNY's celebration of all things 1986.
But Red Sox fans have celebrated two titles since the Mets last won. And when I think of Mets-Red Sox, I think of the massacre of 2006 and the downfall of Pedro Martinez, who returned triumphantly to Fenway with a 7-4 record and a 3.01 ERA, only to give up eight runs (six earned) in three innings. We didn't know it at the time, but after only a year and a half with the Mets, it was the beginning of the end for Pedro.
The Yankee series figures to be a nightmare either way. If the Phillies win, the Mets fall further behind. (I'm conceding the series at Fenway - I just hope the Mets don't get swept as in '06. Go Johan!)
If the Yankees win, we'll probably hear Jimmy Rollins, who, in the June issue of Playboy, predicted a Phillies-Yankees World Series, praise the Yankees as the only good thing to come out of New York, while Cole Hamel calls them the New York team that can make it to the Fall Classic without choking.
If the Yankees celebrate after the game with a pie in the face of the player who gets the game-winning hit, Shane Victorino will probably praise the celebration as tasteful and ask for the recipe for the pie.
Met fans, will you root for the Yankees against the Phillies? Yankee fans, will you root for the Mets against the Red Sox?
Let's Go Mets!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is possible for a man to hold his nose with one hand and type with the other. I want the Red Sox to lose, and in order for that to happen, the Mets have to win.
However, Daisuke Matsuzaka comes off the Disabled List today and starts against Johan Santana. I think we all know how this will turn out. After eight innings, which include Jose Reyes tripping and falling rounding third base and being tagged out at the plate, Kevin Youkilis will hit a home run off Francisco Rodriguez, Jonathan Papelbon will act like, well, himself, and the final score will be Red Sox 1, Mets 0, with neither starter getting the decision.
Seriously, the Interleague Play experiment needs to come to an end. The reason to have it at all was to produce Yankees vs. Mets games that counted. And since we've now had a Yankees vs. Mets World Series, and the Mets will not draw over 42,000 for their home games against the Yankees (the new park won't hold that many), and the Yankees will not draw over 46,000 for their home games against the Mets (even hatred of The Other Team won't make people pay $1,250 for those seats), what's the point of it all? Interleague Play has hurt attendance with too many Astros-Royals games (winner gets Oklahoma?), so let's drop it and go back to the way it was: "Interleague Play" means the World Series.
No brainer for sure: Go Mets!
ReplyDeleteIf the Mets win the series and we win ours against the Philies, we may end up in first place if the Jays continue to lose!
I couldn't agree more.
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