Los Nuevos Mets!

So we caught a cheap one yesterday. The Phillies fielded themselves out of it in the first couple of innings, and the game was essentially over by the 3rd inning.

Glavine pitched like vintage Glavine or its reincarnation, Tommy 2.0, our new friend since last All-Star Break.

It was a big win and it lacked drama which I was happy about -- my nerves took a beating this weekend against the Braves and then again on Tuesday so a night off was a relief. But I was much happier about what I saw out of this team.

The moment when Jose Reyes returned to the dugout after his 2-run HR was the capper. It was then that Mr. Glass unveiled his special handshake with D Wright. When complemeneted by his go to Anderson Hernandez, this guy is really creative.

Then there was Jose Lima walking up and down the dugout, smiling, newly dreaded and looking good.

There was the flash of Mr. Glass sitting in the dugout with Pedro standing in front of him, saying something that had the 22 year old bursting in laughter.



Then there was Ramon Castro. This generation's reincarnation of Roger McDowell, the team funny guy and resident jokester.

What we have here is something special.

We are the 2001 Oakland A's reincarnated.

Except instead of being tattooed meathead white dudes we have crazy, hilarious Hispanic dudes.

This team is having fun and they are a pleasure to watch.

I think of the Yankees dugout with Jeter boxing everyone out for face time and all the other high-priced players fighting for their respective egos and I almost feel bad for Yankees fans. They might be awesome baseball players, but they sure are boring.

Think Pedro vs. Randy Johnson. Thank god we have our guy.



The 2004 Red Sox had a similar flare. People who find baseball boring saw something in that group of "Idiots." It is hard for a baseball team to find an identity, but that team did.

As T Kid always put it, man they all look exactly a like. He was referring to Mueller, Varitek, Trot, Millar, Damon. They were those generic white guys that crushed beers and slayed chicks.

Then there was Pedro, Big Papi, and Manny. Not the typical mold of the rest of the team, being of Hispanic descent, but still very much liked.

D Wright is just that. He is the token white dude. And man is he white. But still he is right in the middle. He is the star who the fans love and is loved even more by his teammates.

Not too many Mets teams have had identity. Robin Ventura certainly tried to bring it to the Mets in the late 90's postseason runs. But there was something missing.

The '86 Mets had it though. Be it the baseball or the cocaine and booze, those guys were a team. They walked into the clubhouse every game and they liked each other.

Sure they had Gary Carter the herb, and I'm sure Steve Trachsel is an outcast too, but so be it.

We have personality. And that is really fun to watch.

VCD,

SM