Early Parallels to '86
So if you're a Mets fan our age, or a Yankee fan who switched sides in your mid to early teens, or even if you're just a New Yorker, you have seen 1986: A Year To Remember.
The 40-some minutes of film covering the Mets' last title run is up there in my top 5 greatest films of all time. Me and AFOMG have started a nice little tradition of late, rewatching it, well, whenever we can.
At the beginning of the film, there is an important scene that helps to explain where the '86 Mets were. To the sounds of soft music we catch a glimpse of the Arch in St. Louis.
The most recognizable landmark in St. Louis, the Arch symbolized a place and a team that dominated and frustrated the Mets in '85. No matter how good the Mets looked on paper, going in to 1986, the NL East was St. Louis' to lose.
The Mets went into St. Louis in an early series in April, the hot young team off to a solid start and full of confidence. The fans, the city, pretty much everything around this team was total optimism.
This was the kind of series that could set the tone for an entire season. Buckle and the Cards had all the momentum. The Mets would still be second class in the East.
But excel and you had something.
Excel is an understatement. The Mets went into St. Louis and swept the Cardinals. To paraphrase the video, "The Mets went into St. Louis and shut them out, all but eliminating them from the East."
That series propelled the Mets. It was the one that they needed early on and they got it. As Mookie used to say, Thou shalt not pass. The Mets brought their A-game to that early series in St. Louis, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So here comes this week's series with the Braves. Take St. Louis and multiply it by 14. This team has owned us since before most of us, The Real Momo excluded, hit puberty. The one year we went to the World Series, we saw no part of the Braves.
In short, this team has owned us for the past 14 years. Head to head they've always outperformed us, playing us even at Shea and dominating us at Turner Field.
So here we go, three at home with Atlanta, with our ace on the mound leading things off tonight. This series is by far the biggest of our young season.
Take 2 of 3 and we have something. Sweep them, putting us up 7 games, even in April and the energy will not go away.
But if we lose this series, it would be as devastating a series loss as you could possibly have. Despite missing Chipper Jones, having a week bullpen and a struggling rotation, the Braves would do what they have done for more than a decade: own the Mets.
So Monday we have Pedro on the hill. In my opinion, this is far and away the biggest start of his Mets career. He is going up against a struggling Jorge Sosa in a true Statement Game.
The Mets pitching has been great and yet Pedro has been our third best pitcher. We need one out of him like we never have before.
Torre Gone Dumb:
In a new feature on Y2K, a personal favorite I may add, I am keeping a somewhat lax tally of how many times Joe Torre misuses his bullpen, which as I have speculated in the past, has resulted in their postseason struggles.
This past weekend, Joe shanked twice, bringing his total to three on the young season.
On Thursday, up 12-5 against the lowly Royals, Torre brought in his main setup guy, Kyle Farnsworth, to pitch the 9th. The game was won and yet he brought in his main setup guy. This is the second time in as many weeks where Torre has brought in Farnsworth at an unneccesary time.
Say what you will, that the season is young. But at this pace Toree will waste 30 some odd appearances by his main setup guy. We all saw what happened to Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill the last couple years.
The second took place in Saturday's game against the Twins. In the 8th inning of a 1-run game, Torre pulled Farnsworth w/ 1 out and one on to pitch Rivera. The result, Rivera blows a save in the 9th.
In making this move, Torre showed zero confidence is his big offseason acquisition. If the 8th inning isn't Farnsworth's then what's the point of paying him $6 mil per season? At the same time, Rivera isn't getting any younger. These 5-6 out saves aren't going to keep him fresh when it matters.
So Joe, again, you are a moron.
VCD,
SM
The 40-some minutes of film covering the Mets' last title run is up there in my top 5 greatest films of all time. Me and AFOMG have started a nice little tradition of late, rewatching it, well, whenever we can.
At the beginning of the film, there is an important scene that helps to explain where the '86 Mets were. To the sounds of soft music we catch a glimpse of the Arch in St. Louis.
The most recognizable landmark in St. Louis, the Arch symbolized a place and a team that dominated and frustrated the Mets in '85. No matter how good the Mets looked on paper, going in to 1986, the NL East was St. Louis' to lose.
The Mets went into St. Louis in an early series in April, the hot young team off to a solid start and full of confidence. The fans, the city, pretty much everything around this team was total optimism.
This was the kind of series that could set the tone for an entire season. Buckle and the Cards had all the momentum. The Mets would still be second class in the East.
But excel and you had something.
Excel is an understatement. The Mets went into St. Louis and swept the Cardinals. To paraphrase the video, "The Mets went into St. Louis and shut them out, all but eliminating them from the East."
That series propelled the Mets. It was the one that they needed early on and they got it. As Mookie used to say, Thou shalt not pass. The Mets brought their A-game to that early series in St. Louis, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So here comes this week's series with the Braves. Take St. Louis and multiply it by 14. This team has owned us since before most of us, The Real Momo excluded, hit puberty. The one year we went to the World Series, we saw no part of the Braves.
In short, this team has owned us for the past 14 years. Head to head they've always outperformed us, playing us even at Shea and dominating us at Turner Field.
So here we go, three at home with Atlanta, with our ace on the mound leading things off tonight. This series is by far the biggest of our young season.
Take 2 of 3 and we have something. Sweep them, putting us up 7 games, even in April and the energy will not go away.
But if we lose this series, it would be as devastating a series loss as you could possibly have. Despite missing Chipper Jones, having a week bullpen and a struggling rotation, the Braves would do what they have done for more than a decade: own the Mets.
So Monday we have Pedro on the hill. In my opinion, this is far and away the biggest start of his Mets career. He is going up against a struggling Jorge Sosa in a true Statement Game.
The Mets pitching has been great and yet Pedro has been our third best pitcher. We need one out of him like we never have before.
Torre Gone Dumb:
In a new feature on Y2K, a personal favorite I may add, I am keeping a somewhat lax tally of how many times Joe Torre misuses his bullpen, which as I have speculated in the past, has resulted in their postseason struggles.
This past weekend, Joe shanked twice, bringing his total to three on the young season.
On Thursday, up 12-5 against the lowly Royals, Torre brought in his main setup guy, Kyle Farnsworth, to pitch the 9th. The game was won and yet he brought in his main setup guy. This is the second time in as many weeks where Torre has brought in Farnsworth at an unneccesary time.
Say what you will, that the season is young. But at this pace Toree will waste 30 some odd appearances by his main setup guy. We all saw what happened to Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill the last couple years.
The second took place in Saturday's game against the Twins. In the 8th inning of a 1-run game, Torre pulled Farnsworth w/ 1 out and one on to pitch Rivera. The result, Rivera blows a save in the 9th.
In making this move, Torre showed zero confidence is his big offseason acquisition. If the 8th inning isn't Farnsworth's then what's the point of paying him $6 mil per season? At the same time, Rivera isn't getting any younger. These 5-6 out saves aren't going to keep him fresh when it matters.
So Joe, again, you are a moron.
VCD,
SM
posted by Sippy Momo at 12:26 AM
2 Comments:
I'm all for the import of this series, but I think one of the main psychological problems with the Mets and their fanbase has been the constant overreaction to everything. As we've seen in the first 11 games, the Mets are a great team. As we've seen in a season and 2 starts, Pedro is still a great, great pitcher even though he no longer throws 98 mph.
So while I want, and expect, the Mets to take 2 of 3 and Pedro to pitch well tonight, if the Mets lose 2 of 3 and Pedro gives up 6 runs in 5 innings, I think we would all be well-served to calm down a bit about this series.
The Mets will be there in September and the Braves aren't going to panic or go away if they don't win 2 of 3, so I think we would be best served by emulating the franchise here and not acting like the World Series starts tonight.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Mets fans are the new Red Sox fans. All the parallels are there, from the over-reacting and over-hating/doubting of their own team to their collective fear of a singular opponent.
And if baseball has learned anything over the last few years, it's that Red Sox fans are the most annoying people ever--worse, even, than yankees fans.
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