A Midwest Rivalry

Considering the fact this website is titled Midwestropolitan, I would be remiss if I didn’t share this article about the nasty little feud that has developed between St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Baseball Culture Clash Makes NLCS Fun

Especially an article that asks,

“What kind of freaky Midwestern culture war is this, anyway?”

Author’s Note:  After reading the article, does anyone else think Tony LaRussa has more than just a man crush on Albert Puljols?

I for one can certainly get into this series.  For the record, I’m pulling for the Brew Crew.  It’s quite simple, the Cardinals are my third least favorite team in the National League .  Behind the Phillies and Braves…duh.  During my formative Met years in the 80’s they were a bitter rival.  Combine this with 2006, and well, there you go.

Back to the rivalry that has formed between these two teams.  Can you imagine the pub this series would have if this was the Yankees and Red Sox?  Picture Jacoby Ellsbury talking shit via Twitter about “Alexa Rodriguez”.  ESPN would be ramming it down our throats every chance they got.

Thankfully, this isn’t happening because the Red Sox suffered an epic collapse, and the Yankees were bounced in the Divisional Series.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

*tear*

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

*gasp for air*

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

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Who Sucks More? Florida Does!

Losing ain’t fun.  The weekend series vs. the Angels certainly did nothing to cheer us up. So, I’m going to ease the pain with a Midwestropolitan favorite, Making Fun Of Other Teams To Distract Us From Thinking About the Mets Problems.

Tonight’s victim is the Florida Marlins, as if they need one more blogger on the bitchin’ internet reminding them about their 1-18 June record. Did I mention that Florida is 1-18 in June?  I think that passed futile roughly a week ago. Now it’s just damn impressive.

As a result, Marlins (former) manager Edwin Rodriguez said screw it, and quit before having finished half a season on the job. Nothing against Edwin because I’m sure he’s a great guy who just couldn’t piece it together. But when your manager quits before the All-Star break in his first season (interim doesn’t count), it’s pretty shocking.

But why continue to pick on the Marlins? Because they piss off just about every Mets fan I know. That’s why. More specifically…

1. Teal. Nice color, not intimidating or classy. As my colleague said to me earlier tonight, “the teal really pisses me off.” Naturally I asked “why?” to which he replied, “Nothing says we’re named after a lame-ass fish better than the color teal.”
2. Their own city knows how lame they are. If that were not the case maybe more than 10k would show up on a Friday night in a city that has fantastic weather.
3. The Football stadium. Who does that anymore? I know the Marlins are moving to a new ballpark and all, but only Oakland can get away with having played for such a long time in a football stadium. They’re effing Oakland – it’s an image, baby.
4. Nothing sucks more than being a die-hard fan and suffering through a division rival winning two world series as an expansion franchise. The insult is that remarkably, still nobody cares.

On to the future.

I was speaking with Jason about the Marlins vacant managerial position and he mentioned Jack McKeon as a likely candidate. I thought he was messing with me. So I did some extensive research (google) and low and behold, he wasn’t.

For those of you who don’t know, trader Jack won the 2003 World Series with the Marlins. Even more impressively, he won the 2009 World Series of Bridge. No one wants to give up the glory of Bridge master so I can understand any hesitation the old man may have.

But seriously, it’s not Trader Jack (a young man by local standards). It’s just the franchise itself. A place like Oklahoma City for instance would support a baseball team better than Miami ever could. So can we please stop giving Florida teams that no one cares about?

The Mets Don’t Suck. The Astros Do.

After watching this series I think it is fair to say we have learned one simple, irrefutable fact.  The Mets don’t suck.

I’m sure that many are clambering to disagree right now.  Before you send me e-mails filled with personal insults and threats of physical violence, let me make a  few points that are chock full of logic.

The Mets are two games below .500 which means they are two games below being an average team.  Two games below average does not equal sucking.

A team that sucks does not win three straight series (two of which on the road).  Nor does it go 7-3 in its last ten games finding itself 4.5 games back in the Wild Card standings.

The Astros, on the other hand, suck.  At least they did in this series.  They played absolutely horrible defense and at times seemed like they had much better things to do (see the Mets theft of home Little League style in the fifth inning today).

I know average isn’t exactly something to write home about, and I’m not saying I find it to be an acceptable stopping point.  It is however, not a horrible  spot to be in considering the financial and roster challenges the Mets organization currently faces.

When you stop and think about it, 19-21 is actually amazing in a way.  After all,

• Johan Santana has not pitched a single inning this season.
• David Wright and Jason Bay are hitting .226 and .216 respectively.
• Angel Pagan has been non-existent (literally).
• R.A. Dickey still has yet to find his knuckle ball.
• Willie Harris and Scott Hairston, two players that were signed to create a solid bench,  have been absolutely dreadful
• Chris Young is out for the season after only pitching 24 innings.
• Along with Pagan, Pedro Beato, Ike Davis, and Bobby Parnell are all currently on the DL.

Frankly, I  believe we should be happy with where the Mets stand with regard to their record.  It says something about the moxie of this team to be able to win of late.

Don’t mistake this as settling.  As long as I feel the Mets are working towards becoming a franchise that will be perennial contenders, I am going to be content.  Eventually, continued improvement will result in the Mets obtaining that goal.

So for those fans that fill up comment sections about how bad the Mets suck every time they lose, grow up.  Realize that in the real world, building a succesful organization from top to bottom takes more than two weeks.

In the meantime, try to enjoy the 2011 Mets as much as possible.  They could have mailed it in a long time ago.  Hell, imagine what could happen if the Mets hang around and they get some guys back, or Wright and Bay start hitting.

At Least We Don’t Have Ian Stewart At Third

David Wright is slumping and apparently dinged up…

Ezal:   “Aw, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. God. Oh, I’m hurt. Oh, my neck, my back, my neck and my back. Oh, I want $150,000, but we can settle out of court right now for twenty bucks.”

Janitor:   “Man, get your punk ass up. It ain’t even wet over here. Damn. “

–Friday

Despite the apparent pain Wright is playing through, there are plenty of fans that don’t want to hear it.  They aren’t thrilled about his .241 average and his lack of run production.

There is always a bright side.  You can always make lemonade out of lemons.  There are plenty of fish in the sea.  Wait, that one doesn’t work.

At least Ian Stewart isn’t manning the hot corner for the Mets.  Dude has a .068 batting average.  .068!!!  That’s putrid.  He also has only driven in one run this season.

Regardless of the reasons for his poor play, Wright is bound to heat up.  His career .302 average in over eight seasons cannot be ignored.  Even by the biggest Wright detractors.

So the next time Wright whiffs or doesn’t hit a home run and you are tempted to throw something at your television.  Think about Ian Stewart.  Maybe you’ll keep the remote in your hand.

Aren’t People From SF Supposed To Be Laid Back Hippies?

SF Giants fan’s comment from MLB preview of tonight’s game:

“You’re really ignorant, you have no clue what you’re talking about. The Mets suck, if we don’t sweep them I’ll be ashamed of the Giants.”  –Rembrant

No, the spelling of this character’s name is not a typo.  That is how he/she spells their name.

Thanks For Forcing The Issue Fredi

How different will things be for the Braves this year under Fredi Gonzalez?

Time will tell.  I will say one thing though.  No way Bobby Cox tries a squeeze bunt in the bottom of the second with two strikes on his pitcher with the bases loaded and one out.

Bobby was a mastermind at letting the Mets implode all by themselves.  He never tried to force the issue like that.  After twenty one years of watching the Braves seemingly never make a mistake, it was quite refreshing to watch that circus show of a call in the second inning.

Thanks for diffusing a potentially disastrous inning for us Fredi.