Steve Keane, whose wit is usually as sharp as his name suggests, got my attention with a vitriolic tirade against Met fans who are seriously pissed off by the Yankees' latest acquisition.
Please if your the type of so-called Mets fan that is stamping your feet over A-Rod going to the Evil Empire and your rehashing the Rodriguez to the Mets and your getting your boxers in a bunch and crying "I'm not going any games at Shea WAHHHH!!!!, WAHHHHH! WAHHHHH!, then go buy a little Highlanders cap and a pennant and NEVER COME TO THIS SITE AGAIN!Avkash Patel got his back, here.
They seem to be saying that Met fans should be happy with the direction the team is going in, and shouldn't waste time comparing our team with the Yankees because our front office is smartly no longer working to compete with them, among other reasons.
They're right, and every Met fan who cycles daily through the diverse and talented pool of bloggers online will find many reasons to believe that this offseason has been a success or at least a step in the right direction. However, Vinny from YMATR (proncounced "why matter?" by existential blog enthusiasts in the know) does a fine job of showing exactly why the "average" Met fan is steamed over the trade. Look at the newspapers and the local news and the Mike and the Mad Dog show, and you'll see a host of people who just can't wait to bash the Mets by comparing them unfavorably to the Yankees. Here's an example, straight from the Mike and the Mad Dog radio program (which I did not listen to):
Mike: What a wonderful trade for the Yankees. Wonderful! I was giving Bill Parcells a rubdown the other day, and I said, "Billy, use your genius for me." I said, "Billy, how can the Yankees possibly get any better?" He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled and said, "Michael, you are my good close friend, in case any of your listeners are wondering. What I would do is, I would trade for Alex Rodriguez." And he was right! And here I am talking about it!
Mad Dog: I couldn’t agree more, Mike. Could not agree more. I agree more.
Mike: And let's take a look at the flipside of this thing. This is without doubt a huge blow to the Mets organization.
Mad Dog: I agree, it really sticks it to 'em.
Mike: They had their shot. You can't dispute that. They had their shot to land A-rod. Just the other day when I was golfing, Steve Phillips was carrying my clubs, and I said to him, I said, "Steve-oh, buddy, what was with all that '24+1' nonsense back in 2000?" And he looks at me, and he gives me that winsome smile of his, and he says, "24 + 1, Mike? Why, that's just the IQ of the average Met fan." He said that to me, and here I am talking about it!
Mad Dog: I am now going to laugh like an asthmatic goose giving birth. Done. Well, it’s obvious. Met fans should be pissed. Steinbrenner made your team second class citizens in this city once again. If you’re not pissed, it’s time to get pissed, because we need callers. Get angry! Call in!
It’s a story angle, that’s all. Newspaper guys are running with it. Radio shows are running with it. About the only people who are being sane about it are the individual fans whose writing I read online. Now, who do you think the “average” Met fan gets his information from? He’s not reading this blog. He’s not reading your blog (although since you probably get more than two hits a day, I can’t be certain). More than likely he reads the News, or the Post, watches Warner Wolf or Len Berman, and is convinced that Derek Jeter is a pretty good defensive shortstop, pissed that Guerrero didn’t sign, and still pissed that we couldn’t grab A-Rod a handful of years ago.
I'm not saying that the "average" Met fan can't come up with his own opinions, just that the quantity of information available to him isn't the same as the vast pool of writing and metrics that we obsessed fans regularly dip into. Another thing to keep in mind is that these news sources are going to interview, publish, and report on the opinions of Met fans that coincide with their angles. You're not going to see something like:
Met's Fandom Reacts to A-Rod TradeIn other words, if there are more moderate Met fans out there, you're probably not going to hear from them unless you know them personally.
by Jim Hack
I put my ear to the pavement in Queens today to gauge the response of Met fans. But all I heard was that the Yankees aren't in the NL East so they shouldn't be worried, and most people just shrugged their shoulders. That's not very interesting, is it? And then this guy Avkash threatened to "break me" if I kept trying to get him to say something bad about the Mets. So, as far as I can tell, no one cares. But Avkash breaking me is a pretty good angle, so I might go bother him some more for tomorrow's column.
So ease up on the fans who are pissed about this. Just about every one I've spoken to in person hates it and is soured on the Mets a little more because of it. I don't like the trade much, either, mostly because I'm viewing it within the unavoidable context of the Mets failing to snag him in 2000. It's all well and good to try to divorce history from the present and say that we shouldn't pay any more attention to what goes down in the Bronx because we're no longer trying to compete with their big spending model of team construction. That's a nice intellectual stance, but it doesn't hold up very well when I'm on the phone with my Yanks fan friends, when I'd rather talk shit than shovel it -- and I know they can tell the difference.
Even if they are, when it comes down to it, average fans.
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