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January 22, 1913: The Giants agree to share the Polo Grounds with the Highlanders. The American League club, which will become known as the Yankees, had been playing their home games at Hilltop Park, located 168th Street and Broadway, since 1903, when the franchise shifted from Baltimore to New York.
Realize what I'm about to say is in part faceious, but there is also decidedly genuine curiosity involved, too.
How bad would it be it we just got rid of the Mets?
They sort of remind me of a scene in "Will and Grace:"
GRACE: You need me to stay over for a couple of days? 'Cause I can do it. It'd be no problem at all.
WILL: Your apartment's a mess, isn't it?
GRACE: A total pigsty. At this point, it'd just be easier to move.
That last line...I feel like it MUST have been uttered about the Mets on more than one occasion.
In 1943, there was a temporary merger between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles, which was due to both teams losing so many players military service in WWII. They were known as the Eagles, with no city name, but the unofficial name? The Steagles. Clever.
In soccer, the teams finishing the lowest are relegated, or moved to a lower, less prestigious division.
I don't want to MERGE with the Amazins, to be sure, though they do got some good things going on there that could potentially be big if they didn't have a penchant for Mutt-ifying all their talent.
When you think about the activity that has punctuated the Mets franchise in recent years, it starts to bring you to discomfort levels that make this seem like a Sharper Image suped up massage chair.
It's actually overwhelming how hapless and sad the Mets have become. If their fans weren't so aggressively obnoxious, I would have a lot more love for our cross-town brothers. I mean, after all, we did go to bat on their behalf to avenge the constant humiliation the Phils had bestowed upon them all season. YOU'RE WELCOME, QUEENS.
In the awkward collage of Mets gems, the biggest and brightest pieces include:
- Braden Looper.
- The downright absurd number of games the Mets held sizable lead, only to ultimately lose. They truly brought new meaning to the phrase, "No lead is safe."
- The supremely dishonorable handling of Willie Randolph
- The 2007 season
- The 2008 season
- The 2009 season
- Beltran's whipsmart medical decisions
- Juan Castillo (my sister got my dad an autographed picture of Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner. I wonder if she could find the same for A-Rod and Castillo.) Castillo dropping popups, Castillo injuring himself in the dugout, etc etc.
- Not so hot players injuring themselves in annals of hilarity
Sorry, this could go on all day. Plus, a Mets fan has already covered it quite extensively here. It's remarkable really, just skimming through the Mets' accolades since 2006.
The reason I bring up the Mets, (reasons beyond sheer boredom), mainly stem from an epiphany I had last night while out with Laur, Strange, and Pablo last night:
There is a bar in NYC designated for almost any sports affiliation you can possibly have. Purdue. Bengals. Celtics. Alabama. Devils. Well, you get the point. Sports teams.
I don't know of any Mets bars.
In New York City.
Not a NY Baseball bar. But a bar specifically designated as Mets bar.
Untapped resource, future bar owners.
OR would it just make more sense to cull the list of NY Baseball teams down to 1? Or maybe move the Mets to another city. There is a decided lack of baseball enthusiasm down in the south. Maybe North Carolina would be interested in splitting their time between the Mets and college basketball. This way, the Mets and Braves could renew their rivalry and forget about the Phils and Yanks.Again, I say this mostly because it is quite possibly the slowest week in the offseason ever, and because I'm actually a bit intrigued by this concept. But I'm also not WHOLLY being serious. I do love the Subway Series. Maybe not as much as some people, ie Mets fans, who seem to think this is the most important set of games in the history of life every season.
There's no shame in abandoning your namesake, Mets. The Highlanders did it, and that worked out pretty ok. One team city that I DO wish would have kept its original moniker is this one, though. As I told my sister today, "I probably wouldnt have so much animosity towards them if they were still called that."
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The Mets are New Yorkers, born and bred. They aren't transplants from Baltimore who only know how to win by buying their pieces, such as Babe Ruth, all the way to C.C. Sabathia. At least when the Mets make the Championship series they sell out the games more than a couple of hours before hand. (I bought 2009 ALCS tickets 3 hours before game 1 at face value from yankees.com.)
Our outfield sucks? Actually, Swisher and Granderson are pretty darn good. Gardner's not a good hitter, but he's excellent defensively. If that's a sucky outfield, what's everyone else's? And Beltran? Why would we want a guy who's probably going to be out until July anyway? (All kidding aside, Beltran is excellent and I wish the Yankees had signed him in 2005 or whenever it was. Oh well.)
And sorry that we're actually spending money smartly so now, instead of making fun of the Yankees for getting Pavano and Igawa, everyone's whining about how the Yankees bought CC and Tex. I guess the Mets didn't spend a ton of money on K-Rod because they needed bullpen help... and they didn't offer tons of money to Bengie Molina and Joel Piniero, both who chose to go to other teams for less money. That's gotta sting, huh?
That said, I don't agree that the Mets should just disband. That's almost as silly as the analysts who, following the WS, were whining that they needed to just put a third baseball team in NY. The Mets have tons of resources and revenue, and players like Wright and Santana are pretty awesome. They just have a totally incompetent front office and management and their farm system is absolutely putrid.
And Ceetar, you are reallllly hung up on this buying ALCS tickets 3 hrs before the game. Isn't that the comment you left on an earlier post? Is that your whole argument? Really? Why did you buy ALCS tix anyways if you hate the yankees so much?
Just reinforces the image of the ignorant Yankees fan, that don't really care and just go along with wahtever. Couldn't be less excited about the idea of actually going to a playoff game.
(btw, your site has about 15 pages of blank spaces prior to the post in IE)
Bought them for someone. But if I did go it would've been to root for the Angels. IT _is_ still baseball.
I was very excited about playoff games, I dont know who you're referring to..but I'm guessing it's hard to get tickets since everyone in nyc is broke these days.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Yankees. I think the Mets are...you know...that cute little kid from The Little Giants (with out the wits). But now that I have moved out of the NYC area, I miss all things New York. And I would love to see another team in the city.
F the Mets.
Met fans hate the Yankees more than they like the Mets, Yankees fans really dont concern themselves with the happenings in Queens. Except to laugh at their ineptitude.
That 2000 World Series was a lose/lose for the Yanks, could you imagine if the Mets won that! Jees
we would never have heard the end of it.
Oh yeah comparing the DH with marketing heroin was gold, pure gold.
Yanks can't let it go apparently with Damon, looks like he has an low ball offer 5-6 mil. 1 year deal
on the table. Maybe Hairston was right