Say It Ain't So, Monster... But Can We Really Complain?

So I quit my job as a litigation paralegal at Paul Weiss a few months ago. However, if there were a period for resigning paralegals, I can't imagine I would have been on the top of their short list.

I had lost my edge. I was a veteran who could no longer file with the best of them and appeared to have lost a step in regards to making it into work on time.

So I left. I wasn't forced out the door but truth be told I should have been. Paul Weiss allowed me to leave gracefully, on my own terms, and when the time came I knew it was time to retire.

Now imagine if I made my way back to New York and decided to reenter the paralegal game. Only Paul Weiss doesn't want me. I just felt the urge to put blue sheets of paper where staples are and carry boxes from records. But I can't go home. I can't return to the place where I became a superstar in the paralegal game.

So instead I chose to sign a 6 month contract at Skadden for 22k and the rights to their cafeteria. Hell, they were the only firm willing to give me a job.

Could I do it?

Could Nick the Voice, JD, and the crew ever look at me the same?

Could my thousands of fans accept my decision to keep paralegaling for the enemy?

I don't know the answer to this all.

And it is for these same reasons that I am not sure how to react to rumors that the Monster is considering signing with the hated Philadelphia Phillies to platoon at catcher with Mike Lieberthal.

I love the Monster. I really do. The guy was the face of our franchise for nearly a decade. And what a face it was...

OK, that picture is a little ridiculous, but we had to do it. It doesn't change the fact that the Monster iis basically the only superstar that we have ever brought in that played to expectations. Mets fans may remember booing the shit out of him when we first traded for him, but he stuck it out and became the centerpiece of the last great Mets teams, leading the club to the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time in our history.

For those two years especially, Piazza brought the Mets to the top of baseball providing me and my friends with hours of excitement, happiness, and, yes, even some heartbreak.

Now he is long past his prime.

His arm remains subpar and his bat is now a shadow of its former fearsome self. While he remains one of the game's better offensive catchers, his throwing ability made it too hard to bring the guy back as our full time catcher.

It made sense that the Monster would pack his bags for the American league and spend the twilight of his career as a DH /backup catcher for a team in need.

That is how it was supposed to work out.

This, unfortunately, does not appear to be the way it will work out. AL teams, in particular the Angels, have lost interest in the guy and for now, much later than he probably expected would be possible, the Monster is homeless.

So Philadelphia appears to be an option.

What are we supposed to think?

I don't think we can be mad at the guy. He's looking for an opportunity to play the game that he loves and the Phillies are maybe the only team who are willing to give him a squeeze.

For our part, we can't decide to cast the guy off and then get mad at him when he winds up signing with one of the few teams that actually wants him.

Still, the thought saddens me.

The Monster has been here for as long as I have truly understood the game of baseball. He is the Mets.

I guess the only solace we can take in his possible departure to Philadelphia is that we would get to see him at Shea 9 times a year. That would give us 9 times a year as fans to give the man the standing ovation that he saw for pretty much all of the 2005 season. And deservedly so.

Now look, it's not a given that Piazza's going to end up in Philly. According to a report in today's New York Daily News, Carlos Beltran spoke to Charlie Samuels who spoke to Piazza himself who said that he expected to sign with an American league club, although, thankfully, "it almost certainly won't be the Yankees", according to the News' Roger Rubin.

All that about how we couldn't blame the guy for signing with a team that wanted him? OK, that wouldn't be true if the Monster put on the pinstripes. That'd deprive him of those standing O's and be a blemish on his Mets legacy.

If he ends up with Philly, however, do the right thing and cheer on the guy who gave you so much to cheer for over the past 8 years. He's earned it.

Vaya,

SM