Opening Day - A New Season And A New TeamI've been a Mets fan for three decades, both during the too infrequent good times and the many down cycles.
Gregg Jefferies didn't break Pete Rose's record. Generation K -Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen and Paul Wilson - didn't give the Mets a trio of starters even better than Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. The Mets have two World Series championships in 46 seasons while the Yankees won four World Series between 1996 and 2000.
Like in life, things often didn't work out as planned, but amid the disappointments, the Mets represented hope, tradition, youth, and opportunity.
They don't anymore. Not with Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph. Things have changed.
Two seasons ago the Mets ridded themselves of Jeff Keppinger, because, Willie explained, "he just wasn't in the mix." Keppinger was traded for Ruben Gotay. Last week, the Mets ripped themselves of Gotay, because, Willie explained, "we decided as an organization that he wasn't in the mix for this year."
I've had enough of Willie and his mix. I've had enough of hearing for years about Lastings Milledge and then him being traded for mediocre players whom Omar remembers from their mediocre days in Montreal.
And for that matter, I've had enough of Mets fans chanting "Yankees suck" after a victory against the Pirates.
And while I've been having enough of all this, things have changed in The Bronx too. The Yankees don't trade Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps anymore. Maybe Joba, Hughes and Kennedy will all be busts. Maybe they will be the AL version of Generation K. But at least Yankees fans will have a chance to watch and find out.
The Mets and Yankees have changed. Life changes. We change jobs, change friends, change neighborhoods, change shuls.
For me, the time has come to change baseball teams. It'll feel strange at first, maybe a little awkward. But the truth is that for a while I've been admiring the Yankees from a distance and feeling increasingly fed up with the Mets. And if I'm going to make the change, the start of the new season is the time.
Opening night's just hours away. And, by the way, the Red Sox suck. And for those of you who will be watching the Mets tonight - you - and Pedro Martinez - know who's his Daddy.
posted on 4/01/2008
