New York Mets: Yeah, We Hate Them Too
By Jason Burke
New York, New York. It’s a hell of a town. Frank Sinatra should write a song about the city so nice they named it twice. The Mets play ball in Flushing, Queens. It’s almost too easy to make fun of them, but let’s do so anyway.
We’ve finished up our hate within the AL West, and moved on to a former New York team yesterday, but we never planned on stopping there. The New York Mets haven’t done much to deserve our hate in recent years, but we’ll find a way. We’re just spiteful like that.
For starters, the Mets are comprised of 24 former Athletics, and David Wright. The easiest former A to spot for many is Bartolo Colon, but the wannabe lifestyle doesn’t stop there. Dana Eveland, Brandon Allen and Anthony Recker also don the blue and orange, with Chris Young being given a shot last season, before the Mets realized they had signed Chris Young. Ok, so 24 former A’s was a stretch.
The Mets last World Series came in 1986, which involved the Bill Buckner between-the-wickets play in game six against Boston. Our last World Series victory was in 1989, and we had an earthquake. Score one for the good guys!
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The one nice thing that the New York Mets have done is to fleece the Giants out of prospect, now major leaguer, Zack Wheeler for two months of Carlos Beltran in 2011. In case you were wondering, the Giants still missed the playoffs that year.
The A’s and Mets actually have a lot in common, aside from the players that have been on both squads (we have Ike Davis now, too). The Yankees are the big brother in New York, and the Mets have a loyal fan base that will never switch to the dark side, no matter how much big brother picks on them. Remind you of anyone?
While the hatred is not in bloom as of yet, the A’s and Mets have a similar trajectory in terms of when they’ll likely be competitive. 2015 may not be the season for either team to cause a ruckus, but we should see the parts starting to come together for each club. The Mets are built around their young rotation, while the A’s pitching staff as a whole may get the nod.
The man affectionately known as Captain America, David Wright, didn’t lead the team in any offensive category in 2014. The Avengers have taken over the team!
Lucas Duda would be considered the Hulk on this team, and what does Hulk do? Hulk SMASH! 30 home runs to be exact. Juan Lagares is Iron Man, with the way he flies around center field, accumulating a 3.4 dWAR last season. The final Avenger would have to be Rookie of the Year, Jacob deGrom as Thor. First off, he’s a dead ringer with that hair. Since Thor has to throw his hammer, it only seemed fitting to give this prestigious honor to a pitcher, and deGrom was the best pitcher on the staff last season, with a 2.69 ERA in 22 starts.
Add in Matt Harvey, who should be returning from injury in 2015, and the Mets have the makings of quite the superhero team. It’s hard to hate the New York Mets, but when the time comes, we’ll be up to the task!