Meet The Mets

All three NY newspapers had articles about the Mets today. All three either flat out stated or hinted at the fact that the Mets are a better team than the Yankees and that they are on the verge of winning over the city. I've always thought that NY was a national league town. I remember when the Mets were the kings of the city back in the 80's, and the town was a sea of blue and orange.

Are the Mets better than the Yankees? Right now they have the biggest division lead in baseball and they have a better record than the Yankees. Just a week ago the Yankees were coming off of taking 2 of 3 from the Red Sox and actually had a better record than the Mets for the first time all season. Since then the Yankees have lost 4 in a row and the Mets have won 5 in row. Now all the talk is about Omar Minya and the Latin kings of Queens. Last week all the talk was about the "new" Yankees. The Mets are hot right now and Yankees are not. Does that make them a better team. Well I guess it come down to how you define "better". Sure, they're playing better right now. Will they be better over the next 100 games? That remains to be seen, but far be it for NY sportswriters to take any kind of long term view. Apparently what's happening today is all that matters (By the way, my favorite Yankee hater Mike Lupica is leading the charge to anoint the Mets as the Kings of NY. What a surprise).

The Mets have a good team. They have been relatively injury free to this point, which has been a blessing. Most teams suffer injuries at some point or go through rough stretches of play. The mark of a great team is being able to survive those periods and still keep their heads above water. The Mets have a great nucleus of young players and veterans. The key to their season is going to be how those veterans hold up over the summer. Pedro has to stay healthy, the same goes for Wagner and Glavine. If they can avoid a major injury to the pitching staff, they should be able to maintain their position in the standings.

Before the season started, I did pick the Mets to get to the World Series, so their current success is not a surprise. The Cardinals who looked like the best team in the NL are now being exposed since Albert Pujols went down with an injury. The NL is ripe for the picking and the Mets are in great position to take advantage of that. As far as taking over NY, it's going to take more than one season, or one great stretch of play to make that a reality. I do think it's more than possible however that if the Mets happen to win the World Series this year that NY will once again be a sea of orange and blue. Mets fans have been in hibernation for a long time and this may be their opportunity to rise again. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. The name of the game is winning and until the Mets win again, the Yankees are still at the top of the bill when it comes to baseball in this town.