POSTED BY Paul Moro ON 12:54 pm, October 30, 2008 - POSTED IN Diamond cuts
Forgive me if the answer to this question is completely obvious to you and makes me appear to be obtuse and uninformed for even asking this…
But why do so many people hate the Mets? It doesn’t appear to be just rival teams’ fans who feel this way and I’m curious as to why this is. Some examples:
- Following their victory over the Mets in the 2006 NLCS, the Cardinals celebrate in their locker room by chanting “Jose, Jose, Jose” - the same chant heard at Shea Stadium cheering on Jose Reyes.
- In late September while the Mets, Phillies and Brewers were battling it out for playoff berths, there were reports coming out of the Braves locker room that the Atlanta players were openly mocking and cheering against the Mets.
- Prior to what turned out to be the final series of the 2008 season for both the Mets and Marlins, Florida’s first baseman (and former Met) Mike Jacobs said regarding how the Marlins had effectively played spolier in 2007: “It was pretty amazing going from how loud that stadium could be to you could hear a pin drop after that game was over. I remember hearing some of the guys saying they saw fans who were crying.”
- Following the final game at Shea that saw the Marlins – for the second year in a row – eliminate the Mets from playoff contention, the Marlins celebrated on the field, lingering on the diamond for a much longer period of time than usual, prompting Mets fans to yell “Get off the field” for at least two minutes before they finally did.
- During game 2 of the NLDS, the Phillies’ Shane Victorino hit a grand slam. While rounding first, Victorino raised one finger in the air in celebration. Which is all well and good, except for the fact that back in July, Jose Reyes had done the same thing against the Phillies. And they were pissed. Phillies’ radio personality Larry Anderson went so far as to say “somebody oughta put one in his neck” on air. Prior to the start of Game 3, Victorino walked into the Phils clubhouse to find that his name above his locker had been changed to “J. Reyes” in commemoration of his celebration style the night before.
- Phillies GM Pat Gillick admits – NL East teams hate the Mets. “If you want to know the best thing we had going for us this year,” said Gillick, “it was the fact that all the other teams in our division hated the Mets’ guts. It started with Atlanta and all the hostility they had with the Mets through the years. Then Fredi Gonzalez left Bobby Cox to manage the Marlins and he didn’t forget everything that went on between the Braves and Mets. Look what Florida did for us the past two years (beating the Mets two out of the three in each of the last series of the season to prevent them from making the postseason)! Washington doesn’t like them very much either, and all those teams seemed to really get up for the Mets.”
- And last night, as the Phillies were celebrating their first championship since 1980, Phillies’ broadcaster Harry Kalas screamed “See ya, New York!“, which sounds to me like a really odd thing to say. I mean, the Mets weren’t playing and haven’t been for the past month. What exactly did he mean by this?
I suppose I can understand that Reyes’ dancing in the dugout can seem excessive. But I don’t find it offensive. It’s not like the guy does it in front of the opposing teams’ dugout. He never points at players on the opposite side, he never looks at the pitcher following a homerun, and he doesn’t have a slow trot around the bases.
And the rest of the Mets players are… well, kinda dull. The two Carloses (Delgado and Beltran) are consummate professionals, David Wright is the golden boy who wouldn’t dare tick anyone off, Johan Santana is all business, and John Maine has no discernible personality. So please explain this to me.
P.S. To all the Red Sox fans I may have angered by my post last year on why everyone hates Curt Schilling, now is your chance for revenge.
Paul Moro 
Lyndsay 
melissa 
Jon L 
Sarah Green 
Shook 
Jason 
I don’t think it’s any of the Mets’ players in particular. I just think the Mets are the Phillies rivals. The Mets are to the Phillies what the Yankees are to the Red Sox. The Mets have more fans, more money and get more attention. And we hate you for it. Plus, you’re a natural rival, being only two hours away by car.