John Sterling is closing in on his 5000th Yankee broadcast. Are you excited?

It's official. John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will be back in the Yankees' broadcast booth this year and the next, something that was talked about a few weeks ago. WFAN recently announced the news with some hyperbolic comments that made my eyes roll so much, they're still at the back of my head! Let me go through what the statiion said, and give my own hyperbolic comments!

“Yankees baseball on the radio provides a soundtrack for the summer, and it would be unimaginable to listen to the Bronx Bombers without these two iconic broadcasters,” said CBS Radio New York senior VP and market manager Marc Rayfield. 

Unimaginable? Really? I can imagine it. I can imagine listening to broadcasters that -- shocker -- help me understand what's going on in the game, instead of devolving into schtick and cliches and incorrect calls. Because while the Yankees' TV broadcasters are no great shakes (and I've never been a fan of Paul O'Neill the broadcaster, as opposed to Paul O'Neill the player, even before he endorsed Donald Trump) at least I can, you know, follow the game from the visuals. When it's a radio broadcast, I'm at the mercy of John and Suzyn. And that's not a fun place to be!

Heaven forbid we have professional broadcasters like the Mets' Howie Rose and Josh Lewin (no relation to Squawker Jon!) who actually paint the picture of what's happening in the game. Not to mention the way every facet of the broadcast has a sponsor. I'm still waiting for "John takes a bathroom break, sponsored by Charmin" or "Suzyn's lipstick is brought to you by Revlon."

And 2016 is also an anniversary year of sorts. Rayfield sez:

“This is a special year, particularly as John closes in on his 5000th consecutive broadcast, an ironman feat almost as remarkable as Cal Ripken, Jr and Lou Gehrig’s legendary streaks.” 

Is there anyone who considers themselves the luckiest man on the face of the Earth for getting to listen to 5,000 broadcasts with John Sterling? Just wondering.

And Mark Chernoff, CBS Radio VP of sports programming and WFAN program director, makes his own hyperbolic comparisons:

“We’re thrilled Yankees fans will continue to hear this legendary broadcast team that has been together for more than a decade. John and Suzyn are as much a part of Yankee tradition as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter and Yogi Berra.” 

Good lord. What a ridiculous comparison. Sterling and Waldman are more like the Cotton-Eyed Joe or YMCA of Yankee tradition: things that were entertaining once, but are well past their prime. Yet they keep on going and going and going, like the Energizer Bunny.

You know, I wonder if WFAN, which paid a gazillion dollars to get the rights to the Yankees' broadcast, and dumped the Mets, ever wonder if they made the right decision when it comes to teams. They sure didn't make the right decision when it comes to broadcasters.

Yankees' COO Lonn Trost to the 99%: Drop dead

Yankees Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost has an elitist excuse for why secondary ticket sales are bad, and why the team is trying to stop any other parties from doing them but themselves. Neil Best of Newsday recounted his explanation, as told to WFAN's Boomer and Carton (emphasis added):

"The problem below market at a certain point is that if you buy a ticket in a very premium location and pay a substantial amount of money. It’s not that we don’t want that fan to sell it, but that fan is sitting there having paid a substantial amount of money for a ticket and [another] fan picks it up for a buck-and-a-half and sits there, and it’s frustrating to the purchaser of the full amount."

Trost then added a comment that raised eyebrows on social media because of its seemingly elitist undertones. "And quite frankly," he said, "the fan may be someone who has never sat in a premium location. So that’s a frustration to our existing fan base."

So basically, only the 1% deserve to get to sit in the good seats in Yankee Stadium. And the 99% better know their place, because they don't belong in the premium location. And their very presence might upset those who paid full price for such seats.

Left unsaid was how these people would know that these interlopers paid less. Unless, you know, they weren't the "right" race or social class to be there. Not to mention that the idea that somebody could pay $1.50 for premium seats is ludicrous.

Whose idea in Yankeeland, exactly, was it to get Trost to defend this policy? He is about the worst spokesman for the team imaginable. He's the guy who blamed Hurricane Sandy for slow ticket sales. Who defended charging $2600 for the top seats at the new Yankee Stadium, saying "Some people can afford to fly first class and others can't." Who justified keeping kids from getting in front of the moat to see batting practice. Who called the obstructed seats in the current stadium's outfield merely "architecturally shadowed."  Who decided it was a good idea in 2013 to pick a fight with StubHub, claiming that they were "greedy," accused them, with no evidence, of counterfeit tickets and banned them from doing e-ticket sales. Then who had to back off on that plan when Yankee ticket sales plummeted.

It looks like he apparently was incensed by reports in the newspapers, and by bloggers about how the Yankees' new ticket policy would keep fans from buying last-minute tickets on StubHub. "Unfortunately, the papers, the bloggers have it wrong," he claimed, and said he presented the New York Post and the New York Daily News with the "facts." (An aside: Speaking of facts, I know for a fact, through somebody in the know, that I am one of the very bloggers he was unhappy about. I can't tell you how much that warms my heart!)

Trost also said fans could still use StubHub's "last minute pickup center that's right up from Yankee Stadium" to pick up hard copy tickets. Funny how Trost described that ticket center's location that way. Because when he first picked a fight with them, the team sued to make StubHub close their truly convenient location at 68 East 161st Street, saying it was too close to the ballpark. And StubHub had to move to a less convenient location for fans at the Bronx Terminal Market, Level 1, at 651 River Ave and 151st Street. which is almost 1/2 mile away from the stadium. All to prevent the team's own fans from using them.

He also blatantly played fast and loose with the truth about StubHub when it came to them being able to do mobile tickets."We know that StubHub can transfer tickets on mobile. If they choose not to, that's not our business." 

That is untrue. I reached out to Cameron Papp, StubHub's Communications Manager, to get clarification. Papp told me that they would not be able to do so without the Yankees' agreeing to this:

"As of now, due to this new policy, StubHub will only be able to offer the listings of hard tickets for Yankees games. If there’s enough time before the game, the seller will send their hard tickets through UPS directly to the buyer. If there’s not enough time before the game, the seller can send or drop off their tickets at our ticket office outside of the stadium ahead of time for the buyer to pick them up on game day."

Papp also gave me this official statement from StubHub:

"StubHub believes that the best customer experience is one on a free and open marketplace where fans can buy and sell tickets whenever and wherever they want. Yankees fans will still be able to purchase tickets on StubHub up until game time" if they go to the StubHub ticket office."

But the electronic method is out. Glenn Lehrmann of StubHub explained this to Neil Best:

"The only way we can transfer tickets is if the Yankees and Ticketmaster provide us with an API [application programming interface] feed that would allow us to do that,” he said. “It’s protected, and they have not granted us access, nor have they granted anyone access. If they wanted to grant us access, this is a different conversation."

* In addition, Trost claimed that people were printing out "multiple copies" of print-at-home tickets on "copy machines" and that "multiple people" were getting in. "And we don't even know how many," he said. Which is BS. Print-at-home tickets have a scannable barcode. And you can print one hundred copies of that ticket, but only the first person who had the ticket would get in. If the Stadium was somehow letting people in without correctly scanning their ticket, that's their incompetence, isn't it, not StubHub's or anybody else's.

* He also talked about Eric Schneiderman, New York's Attorney General, partially blaming him for the move to mobile. But he never mentioned that Schneiderman was looking into the team's policy of having a price floor in the Yankees Ticket Exchange; it may be ruled as anti-competitive. Gee, I wonder why.

Anyhow, it's really gut-wrenching to see such a twit represent the team I love. And to show such blatant contempt for fans like me. At a time when the Yankees face increased competition for ticket sales from the Mets, they ought to be doing their best to put fannies in the seats, not get those fannies to decide to sit at home on the couch and watch the games on TV instead. Good grief.

Of all the dramatic things: John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman are staying in the Yankees radio broadcast booth

Ma and Pa Pinstripe

Oh my goodness gracious! The New York Daily News' Bob Raissman recently reported that John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will be back in the Yankees' radio broadcast booth for their 12th and 13th seasons together. Raissman says that they have agreed in principle to new two-year deals with WFAN. "Sources said Yankees brass was committed to bringing Ma and Pa [Pinstripe] back," the radio/TV sportswriter reports.

Raissman also reported that while negotiations with Waldman went smoothly, things with Sterling were described as "somewhat acrimonious." Shocker!

You know, I've said it over and over again: Why does an organization that is allegedly committed to class and excellence keep John and Suzyn in the broadcast booth? Their crosstown rivals Howie Rose and Josh Lewin do a much better job with Mets radio coverage. What's more, you can actually understand what's happening in the game with them.

With John and Suzyn, the game sometimes seems incidental to the usual shenanigans and schtick. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the car listening to them, and trying to figure out what is going on with the game, because it's hard to tell from their broadcasts. I shouldn't have to have Squawker Jon use his smartphone to delineate what is going on!

Of all the great radio talent out there, and all of the connections to Yankeeland that talent has, you would think they could find somebody out there to do a better job than them. Sterling's home run calls still amuse me, but there is more to doing the broadcasts than such hokiness. And Suzyn isn't exactly the second coming of Vin Scully -- or even Bill White -- behind the mike. At least when Charlie Steiner was on the broadcasts, he did half of the play by play, making at least his part palatable. (And his Aaron Boone call in 2003 was awesome!)

Back in the day, when Phil Rizzuto was in his 70s, he did his birthday greetings and schtick, but he wasn't anchoring the broadcasts. He was seasoning for them -- not the full dish.

This is not scientific, of course, but most Yankee fans I know are ready for a change behind the radio mike. Not that Hal Steinbrenner would be aware of that. What an out-of-touch owner we have!

Not to mention all the incessant advertisements and sponsorships on the radio broadcasts, with everything from the broadcast booth to the fifteenth out having an ad connected. Between that, and all the commercials between innings, it's one big shillfest.

Look, I get that WFAN has to pay the bills somehow. And the rights for Yankee broadcasts cost them between $15 and $20 million each year on a 10-year deal. But geez, at some point, shouldn't the quality of the broadcasts count for something? Maybe if the Yankees had taken a little less money, WFAN wouldn't have had to monetize every last bit of the broadcast.

If the Yankees aren't going to put on a great product on the field for the next few years, they could at least upgrade the radio broadcast. Also, that is not going to happen. Bummer.

Lonn Trost and Yankees cry uncle on StubHub; will allow electronic tickets

Remember the whole to-do this winter about how the Yankees came up with their own ticket exchange system with Ticketmaster, snubbing StubHub? And how the only way Yankee fans were going to be able to print out electronic tickets on the secondary market was with the Yankees Ticket Exchange? And that because of this, StubHub was going to have to open up a location by Yankee Stadium for fans to get their tickets before the game (a move the Yankees fought in court)?

Well, guess what? The Yankees have cried uncle on StubHub, folding like a cheap suit on the electronic tickets issue. They will now allow fans to print electronic tickets from StubHub and other secondary market sites from a window of 48 hours to three hours before the game. Oh, and that three-hour window before the game also applies for the Yankees' own ticket exchange, so it's not like you can get the tickets any later from them. This is a huge, huge concession on the Yankees' part, and it takes away the need for StubHub to have that location by the Stadium. After all, if fans can print out tickets at home in that time frame, they won't need to go to a StubHub office to do so.

If a Yankee tree falls in the forest...

Only thing is, nobody in the mainstream media seems to have noticed that the Yankees have made such a big concession. But blogger Bob of BobsBlitz.com did. He wrote about how Yankee bigwig Lonn Trost, who talked last month on Mike Francesa's WFAN radio show about how fans would no longer would be able to get e-tickets from StubHub, has changed his tune.

Yet Trost won't admit that the Yankees have changed their tune and reversed policy. He tried to act like this was the deal all along, and denied that this was a change in policy, even though Francesa kept on asking him about this. (Click here to see the video.) Granted, fans cannot download and print out the tickets before that 48-hour time frame unless they use the Yankees' official ticket exchange, but that really isn't a big deal for most people.

So why did Trost and the Yankees change their mind? Bob's Blitz sums it up on what has happened since Trost's February pronouncement:

A little over a month later fans have been bombarded with Yankee ads for season and single tickets. Banners, radio, TV. 24/7 -- why? Because they can't sell anywhere near the amount of tickets they forecasted internally. And the one way to, they hope, increase the worst sales they've seen in over a decade? Allow StubHub users to print tickets during a window of 48-3 hours before game time.

You know, sorta like a partnership.

Oh, and then lie about the 02/12/13 conversation to Mike Francesa to cover up the change of course due to the poor sales.

Yep. I've noticed the Yankee internet banner ads everywhere. I have also noticed that there are plenty of tickets available, even for opponents like the Red Sox and Mets, on Yankees.com, and that discount sites like Goldstar.com are offering half-priced tickets for the Yankees.

And don't forget that if tickets are not sold on secondary markets, or if would-be season ticket holders won't buy tickets because they are afraid they won't be able to resell them in those markets, that this means those seats will be empty. This not only looks bad on TV, but it means fewer sales at the concession and souvenir stands. So after all the smearing we heard from the Yankeeland front office this winter, insinuating that StubHub was the reason for everything bad facing the Yankees, now the team has caved on letting them sell those tickets.

I have to wonder when anybody in Yankeeland will ever face any accountability for making such bad decisions. Picking a fight with StubHub, who is an official partner of MLB, never seemed to make any sense. Yet the front office has spent more time on that this winter than with coming up with a coherent plan for this team's future. And the NYC sports media doesn't seem to notice -- or care. Shocking.

Brian Cashman sez Derek Jeter is the center fielder of the future

Brian Cashman participated in WFAN's "Breakfast With a Champion" series this morning. Mike Francesa interviewed him on a slew of topics, and social media maven -- and espnW blogger -- Amanda Rykoff tweeted the event. Because Cashman was pretty candid, some of his words are already causing a whole to-do, like his idea of one day putting Derek Jeter in center field.

Cash said, "I'd be surprised if he plays SS for all 4 years. I see him moving to OF." He later explained, "I like corner outfielders and corner infielders who have power, so for me, if he's ever gonna move, it's probably gonna be a Robin Yount situation. But we don't have to deal with it at this point. We'll deal with it when we have to."


I can't see Jeter ever being a center fielder. Yount moved off shortstop when he was 29; Jeter is already 36. And if he can't hit for average any more, there really isn't a spot for him in the Yankee lineup. Of course, Cashman can't say that, so he brought up center field, which also happens to be a glamour position in Yankeeland. What else is he going to say? After all, even though the captain did say last month he was in the "middle" of his career, he really isn't.

I really don't have a problem with what Cash said about Jeter at the breakfast. What does irk me a little is the way he tried to backtrack from his comments, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports:

Cashman said that he answered the fan's question in that fashion because it was not in a formal setting.


"This was not a press conference where we are talking about something that may never happen," Cashman said.

Please. He's speaking in public, at an event where hundreds of fans paid to attend, and where the top radio figure in New York hosted. How could Cashman not think what he said would not get out? And what difference does it make what the setting was? If you're the GM of the biggest team in baseball, you pretty much have to assume that everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. Heck, I'm careful with what I say on Facebook and Twitter for that reason, and I'm nobody!

I also thought it was interesting that when Cashman asked who the best Yankee he's ever seen, he said it was Mariano Rivera, and not Jeter. (That's my answer, too, so I don't exactly disagree with that assessment -- I just think it's interesting that he didn't say Jeter.)

There were apparently a few other candid Cashman comments:

* He finally acknowledged that Joba Chamberlain hasn't been the same pitcher since he was injured in Texas in 2008 when he was a starter. (Which begs the question, why was there the whole "competition" between Hughes and Chamberlain last spring training for the starting spot?)

* When asked who was better, right now, Yankees or Red Sox, he said the Red Sox, but that the Yankees had a better bullpen. No thanks to him, though!

* Cashman said this about A.J. Burnett: "He knows he has a problem and he's doing all he can to fix it." That's a very strange way to describe the Burnett situation, unless he's getting at something else!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Mike Francesa doesn't have Mad Dog, but he does bring dopey hot stove talk ideas

I put on the Mike Francesa Show this afternoon on WFAN, hoping against hope that he would invite his old partner Chris (Mad Dog) Russo on the air to discuss the San Francisco Giants making it to the World Series. I didn't hear him do that, but I did hear two of the most ridiculous hot stove ideas I've heard this year.

First was his wondering if the Yanks should get rid of Nick Swisher, because he wasn't good two years in a row in the postseason. Never mind that he had the best season of his career in 2010: a .288/.355/.511 line with 29 homers and 89 RBI and making the All-Star Team. Never mind that he was paid just $6.5 million for 2010. Never mind that he had an injured right knee towards the end of the year. Never mind that he fits in terrifically in New York, something that's hard for many to do. According to Francesa, the Yanks ought to cut ties with Swisher and go after somebody like Jayson Werth. Good grief.

The second was Francesa's obsession with the Yankees getting younger on the left side of the infield, as if that's what cost them the pennant. So his idea is that the Yanks get a new, young shortstop in 2011, should move Derek Jeter to third base, and A-Rod to DH. Hey, maybe the Yankees also should trade for that kid Elvis Andrus while they're at it! Francesa also thinks the Yanks should pay Jeter at least $20 million a year in the new contract.

There are many flaws with Francesa's idea:

1) Jeter's defense at shortstop is not the biggest issue with him right now -- the fact he's batting at the top of the lineup with the second lowest OBP on the team, and showed a huge decline at bat this season, is more of a concern,

2) Jeter's numbers, while excellent for a shortstop even in an off year, aren't what you want from your third baseman. That spot is a power position, not for somebody who hit 10 homers last year,

3) Where does Jorge Posada go, if he can't DH? If there's any Yankee that needs to be a DH in 2011, it's him, given that he's still signed for next year and can't really catch anymore,

4) Why should A-Rod have to switch positions again for Jeter? And why would he? It's not like anybody ever gave him credit for switching over to third at the first place!

5) How do we know Jeter will be any good at third base? Or at left field, Francesa's other suggestion?

6) How do we know Jeter would ever move from shortstop? Has he shown any inclination to do? The answer is no so far.

This is why I miss the Mad Dog. Chris Russo would actually challenge Francesa on this over-the-top idea!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Hardball Talk: Baseball blogger gets grilled by WFAN's Craig Carton for telling the truth about Yankee fans

I don't understand why NBC Sports' Hardball Talk blogger Craig Calcaterra is getting so much grief for writing that the Yankee fans who booed Javier Vazquez were "classless" and "ignorant." It's the truth. But that apparently wasn't good enough for Craig Carton of WFAN's Boomer and Carton Show, who ranted about Calcaterra on Thursday's program. Carton got so enraged about Calcaterra, he called him a "jackass" and insinuated that anybody who didn't agree with Carton's point of view was a Nazi sympathizer.

"I don't like it when people write columns attacking the integrity of the fan base," Carton complained, saying it was "open season on us Yankee fans," and promised to "defend New York fans to my death." Oh, please. This Yankee fan wasn't the least bit offended by what Calcaterra wrote. He didn't attack the integrity of the entire fan base; he attacked the integrity of classless and ignorant fans who booed their team's starter 14 pitches into the game. To which I would add, if you boo your own player in that situation, you're a front-running fool.

"How dare anybody tell Yankee fans" not to boo Vazquez, Carton griped, saying "Vazquez sucks, I'm gonna boo him." Only thing is, Carton could not manage to pronounce Vazquez's last name correctly. Over and over, he mispronounced his name. What's the word that's on the tip of my tongue right now? Oh, yeah, it's the word "ignorant"!

Carton said it was the fans' "God-given right to boo." Gee, I guess I missed that part of the Bible in my Catholic school classes.


The "best" part of the rant? When Boomer totally didn't agree with him, Carton compared him to somebody "sitting in France in 1942," saying  "eh, they make a good point." So yes, Carton went there and suggested that if you didn't agree with his opinion on Calcaterra 100%, you were a Nazi sympathizer. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's kind of, um, classless to make such a tasteless comparison. Good grief.

Anyhow, Calcaterra got wind that Boomer and Carton were talking about him, so he called in to the show Friday. Listen to the segment here. "You're a fraud with no journalistic integrity whatsoever," Carton said to Calcaterra, shortly before Carton hung up on him. Gee, that insult must have hurt, coming from a guy who can't pronounce Javier Vazquez's last name, and who compares disagreeing with the radio host to being a Quisling.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Yankee fans and Met fans will duke it out on WFAN and SNY

Here's something of interest to our readers: This Friday, Mets flagship radio station WFAN (660 AM) is joining up with Mets flagship TV station SNY for a Subway Series fanfest.

WFAN is having a competition pitting Mets fans against Yankee fans to win Subway Series tickets. This contest, at the SNY Studio Plaza (6th Ave. at 51st St.) in Manhattan from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, will feature an obstacle course competition.

Can you see Squawker Jon and me doing the obstracle course? I totally could! It would be like the Battle of the Network Stars or something.

In addition, WFAN morning duo Boomer and Carton will have their shows simulcast on SNY, while midday team's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts show will have a streaming video simulcast of their show at WFAN.com.

Anyhow, you can listen to WFAN for your chance to pre-qualify for this competition. I'm thinking that the Met fans will look good down the stretch in the obstacle course, only to get bogged down just before the finish line!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

On Cole, Cashman, choke artists and crummy uniforms

Squawker Jon, I just listened to WFAN's broadcast of Cole Hamels calling the Mets "choke artists." And I am disappointed that you weren't more "worked up," as you put it, over it. I expected you to destroy a water cooler, or overturn a buffet table or something. Instead, you were all "meh" about what the Phillie said. What's up with that?

Hamel's comments reminded me of the way Red Sox players Curt Schilling, Trot Nixon, et al spent the first few days of spring training after the 2004 World Series bashing A-Rod. And you know how annoyed I was over that! I expected more of the same peckishness from you. But it does say something about the rivalries - in both cases, you'd expect the winning players to be above it all, but they still took potshots at the losers.

Then again, Red Sox fan site Surviving Grady tweaked the Yanks this week, and instead of being outraged, I kind of nodded my head in agreement.

The site featured the latest edition of the "Cashman-Headwarmer Dialogues," called "Haven't We Been Here Before?" where Brian Cashman and his infamous Adidas headband talk it out about each year of the Yanks' free agent signings. Here's a snippet:

2002:

Cashman: Well, it's done.

Headwarmer: Excellent. If I had hands, I'd be rubbing them together, doing a sort of menacing laugh.

Cashman: Indeed. Now that we've signed Jason Giambi, who can stop us?

Oh, and not that I get a vote on these things, but the new Red Sox primary road jerseys are hideous (click here to see what I'm talking about). Newsflash - when your team is called the Red Sox, you might want to have some, well, RED on the uniform!

Come to think of fit, the uniform looks like a poor imitation of the Yankees' road jersey. I guess the Yankees really are in the Sox's heads. Maybe now's the time where I should rub my hands together in glee and do a menacing laugh!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Cole in Mets' stockings

I'm having trouble getting worked up over Cole Hamels calling the Mets "choke artists." (Click here to go to WFAN and hear the broadcast.) It doesn't matter what players say in the offseason - it matters what they do during the season. People got excited last year when the normally reserved Carlos Beltran pronounced the Mets the team to beat in 2008. And at the end of the year, it didn't matter.

Last offseason, the talk was that the Phillies had the Mets' number, since the Phillies beat the Mets seven times in a row down the stretch in 2007. In 2008, the Mets beat the Phillies, 11-7, in the season series. And that didn't matter, either.

What really mattered was that the Mets' bullpen threw away the season. ESPN's Jayson Stark offers several startling statistics to make this point, including:

If all games had ended after seven innings, the Mets would have finished six games ahead of the Phillies.

Stark goes on to say:

The Phillies lost no games they led after eight innings. The Mets lost seven of them -- and lost 13 games they led after seven innings.

Thanks to Omar Minaya's moves, the Mets are extremely unlikely to blow 29 saves again. And Brad Lidge is just as unlikely to go the whole season without blowing a save, as he did last year.

On paper at least, the Mets have closed the gap with the Phillies, and maybe that's why Hamels seems to be worrying about the Mets rather than enjoying his own team's success.

The Phillies dominated the postseason, winning 11 games and losing only 3. They won both the World Series and the NLCS by a three-game margin, 4-1. Over the 162-game regular season, they only beat the Mets by that same three-game margin. suggesting that the Mets were the Phillies' toughest opponent of the year.

Shouldn't Hamels believe that the Phillies won because they were the best team, not because the Mets choked? Ultimately, calling the Mets choke artists only demeans the Phillies.

But the only way for the Mets to remove that stigma is to do it on the field.