Wait Till Next Year (Again)

[sdelmonte]

I wasn't going to listen to any of today's Mets game. I was pretty sure how it would end, and that it would be too painful. But I turned on the radio and heard the final outs anyway. Yes, I'm not happy they couldn't make the playoffs again. There are some serious questions about a club that blows leads two years running. But at the same time, as the Times' William Rhoden reminds me, this club was nowhere four months ago, and there are signs of hope, especially since Johann Santana really is that good. And in the end, win or lose, they're my team. They're my Mets, and I had to be there for the last out in Shea.

And now onto the playoffs, where in the NL, I can't root for the Phils or the Brewers since both beat out the Mets, and don't really think much of the Cubs. So it seems I am going to root for Joe Torre and the Dodgers. In the AL, I would love to see the Rays keep their amazing season going, but I also want to see the Twins surprise everyone (assuming they win the division).

And for the Mets, I only know two things: I'll be back for more next season, when they move into their new park (officially Citi Field but likely to be called the new Shea by many), and I hope the Mets make Jerry Manuel the manager again, since he really did a good job with the world's worst bullpen and with everyone else on the team.

Comments

[sir-gareth.livejournal.com]

Sorry man. That's gotta be frustrating. (And yet not quite as frustrating as a hundred years of woe?)

Out of interest, what do you have against my Cubbies? I think you're the first non-White Sox fan that I've come across who doesn't have a little place in their heart for America's lovable losers.

Admittedly, they were kind of integral in the wild card race between the Mets and Brewers. But it's not like they laid down and let either team run all over them in an effort to rest players for post-season. Not too much anyway, and they fielded the same sort of line-ups in both series with the exception of yesterday's pitching. Honestly, I thought Johnny Bullpen did pretty well instead of a regular starter in the finale.

[sdelmonte]

It's not so much that I have anything against them as that I just haven't really warmed to them. Blame the Red Sox, perhaps, for making Not Winning the World Series (followed by Winning It Twice) into something that I came to find overplayed. Which in turn just makes me shy away from all sorts of Lovable Loser stories. (And for all the sorry years at Shea, the Mets have won just often enough that I don't think of them as lovable at all. Or losers. Merely maddeningly inconsistent.)

Or maybe it's some throwback to the old intradivisional rivalry between the Mets and Cubs from '69 and '84. Of course, by that logic, I should never, ever root for the Dodgers since they beat the Mets in '88 and since New Yorkers still haven't forgiven the Dodgers for leaving.

Or maybe I'm just being a contrarian.