The Week That Was, the Week That Will Be
(Note: A post about the Mets' win yesterday and a day at the Rogers Centre, from first-time, long-time Cheddar Ben, follows below. Enjoy.)
This past week was one of the most special weeks in the franchise's recent history. It wasn't the 4-3 record. It wasn't our 6th straight victory in a road series. Believe it or not, it wasn't even Young Sip's return to NYC.
The truth is, it wasn't even David Wright. For months now D Wright has had his coming out party. He emerged from a great young player to a great player. He went from a potential All Star to a perrenial All Star. He went from a team leader to a league leader. We've known this for at least a little bit of time.
That is why D Wrigh't 4HR, 14 RBI and an AVG north of .400 is something that we can almost expect every once in a while. The Sox expect it out of Manny from time to time. We now do from this kid.
Over the last 3 years there were always two kids coming through Shea. There was Wright, and there was Jose Reyes.
Wright always seemed to be the top dog. He was more of a natural baseball player to Reyes' freakish athleticism. He was the handsome charasmatic uber-talented Met equivalent to Derek Jeter.
Reyes, though still highly regarded, never quite shared the spotlight of Wright. He was always that guy who could run like the wind but still needed to become more of a baseball player.
That time looks like it may be now.
Jose Reyes may have had the best week this past week that I have ever seen in my entire life as a sports fan. This guy dominated every single game he has played in putting up numbers that are basically unthinkable.
He went an insane 19-for-31 (.631 BA) with 2HR, 4SB and 10 Runs. He had three 4-hit games, 6 multi-hit games, and two leadoff homeruns. He hit for the cycle in a game that he should have singlehandedly won for a sluggish looking team. If not for Wagner's blown save, the Mets are 5-2 and this week may have gotten more documentation.
Still, this week to me is one of the bigger ones in my life as a fan.
It is really weird how I feel about this team right now. It's been three years with this kid and two with the other, and now they are both 23. The future of the Mets was always Wright and Reyes. Those were the Mets of the future.
The present Mets were Beltran's and Pedro's. They were the big name free agents that represented the New Mets.
But that feeling has changed. For the first time and long before the time I thought it would happen, I truly see this team belonging to David Wright and Jose Reyes.
Wright and Reyes are the face of the 1st place Mets. Not because of what they may become (though that could be truly frightening for the rest of the league) but for who they are now.
It is a really cool feeling. These are our kids. Our homegrown guys. And we have never seen anything like this. The 2006 Mets will go with our young guns and truth is, I am happy to go to war with them.
And guys. This week is WAR.
Last week our team truly defined itself. This week marks the biggest challenge of our young season. The Mets start a 6-game span Tuesday in Boston and then at the Bankees.
For the past 3-4 years these two teams have been baseball. They may have only won one World Series between them, the Yankees being cursed and all. Still, this rivalry has defined baseball.
During these same years, the Mets have been a joke. We stunk, we sucked, we were never close.
Which is why the shock that is this year excites me every day.
But this week is a humungous test. If we are the new class of baseball then we are going to have to go through the old throne. It's almost sad how bad the Braves are, that we don't seem to have to worry about them.
But if we are going to win a championship this year, there is a decent shot it will go through Boston or the Bronx. So Tuesday the Mets enter Fenway, with a fired up Sippy Momo in the bleachers ready to support them.
As great as we have been, this week could be very demoralizing. We can't go up against the best and get blown out of the water. We need to hold our ground on the road, where we have been so great all year.
Last week we grew up as a team. This week we emerge in the eyes of baseball.
VCD,
SM
This past week was one of the most special weeks in the franchise's recent history. It wasn't the 4-3 record. It wasn't our 6th straight victory in a road series. Believe it or not, it wasn't even Young Sip's return to NYC.
The truth is, it wasn't even David Wright. For months now D Wright has had his coming out party. He emerged from a great young player to a great player. He went from a potential All Star to a perrenial All Star. He went from a team leader to a league leader. We've known this for at least a little bit of time.
That is why D Wrigh't 4HR, 14 RBI and an AVG north of .400 is something that we can almost expect every once in a while. The Sox expect it out of Manny from time to time. We now do from this kid.
Over the last 3 years there were always two kids coming through Shea. There was Wright, and there was Jose Reyes.
Wright always seemed to be the top dog. He was more of a natural baseball player to Reyes' freakish athleticism. He was the handsome charasmatic uber-talented Met equivalent to Derek Jeter.
Reyes, though still highly regarded, never quite shared the spotlight of Wright. He was always that guy who could run like the wind but still needed to become more of a baseball player.
That time looks like it may be now.
Jose Reyes may have had the best week this past week that I have ever seen in my entire life as a sports fan. This guy dominated every single game he has played in putting up numbers that are basically unthinkable.
He went an insane 19-for-31 (.631 BA) with 2HR, 4SB and 10 Runs. He had three 4-hit games, 6 multi-hit games, and two leadoff homeruns. He hit for the cycle in a game that he should have singlehandedly won for a sluggish looking team. If not for Wagner's blown save, the Mets are 5-2 and this week may have gotten more documentation.
Still, this week to me is one of the bigger ones in my life as a fan.
It is really weird how I feel about this team right now. It's been three years with this kid and two with the other, and now they are both 23. The future of the Mets was always Wright and Reyes. Those were the Mets of the future.
The present Mets were Beltran's and Pedro's. They were the big name free agents that represented the New Mets.
But that feeling has changed. For the first time and long before the time I thought it would happen, I truly see this team belonging to David Wright and Jose Reyes.
Wright and Reyes are the face of the 1st place Mets. Not because of what they may become (though that could be truly frightening for the rest of the league) but for who they are now.
It is a really cool feeling. These are our kids. Our homegrown guys. And we have never seen anything like this. The 2006 Mets will go with our young guns and truth is, I am happy to go to war with them.
And guys. This week is WAR.
Last week our team truly defined itself. This week marks the biggest challenge of our young season. The Mets start a 6-game span Tuesday in Boston and then at the Bankees.
For the past 3-4 years these two teams have been baseball. They may have only won one World Series between them, the Yankees being cursed and all. Still, this rivalry has defined baseball.
During these same years, the Mets have been a joke. We stunk, we sucked, we were never close.
Which is why the shock that is this year excites me every day.
But this week is a humungous test. If we are the new class of baseball then we are going to have to go through the old throne. It's almost sad how bad the Braves are, that we don't seem to have to worry about them.
But if we are going to win a championship this year, there is a decent shot it will go through Boston or the Bronx. So Tuesday the Mets enter Fenway, with a fired up Sippy Momo in the bleachers ready to support them.
As great as we have been, this week could be very demoralizing. We can't go up against the best and get blown out of the water. We need to hold our ground on the road, where we have been so great all year.
Last week we grew up as a team. This week we emerge in the eyes of baseball.
VCD,
SM
posted by Sippy Momo at 2:12 PM
1 Comments:
The Mets and Reyes have been the lead story on baseball tonight and they usually fluctuate between #1 and #2 on ESPN power rankings so they're obviously pretty well-regarded in the nation.
More importantly though, why are you looking for a reason to be demoralized by the Mets? This week, while fun, doesn't actually mean that much. The Mets don't need to be playing with that much urgency right now--hence the .500 record lately. Also, the Tigers lead the wild card by 7.5 games, so in all seriousness, one of these two teams probably won't make the playoffs. Let's not be that upset if we go 2-4 on the road to these two teams, it's just not that big of a deal.
You, of all people, should realize it won't matter that much to the team, to the nation or most importantly to the standings. These are the New Mets.
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