14
2011
For Phillies & Yankees, It’s World Series Or Bust
An article by 
Kevin Kernan of the NY Post had a sobering article for Mets fans today as he relays comments from Phillies closer Brad Lidge.
When closer Brad Lidge was asked by The Post yesterday about the Phillies’ aspirations now that Lee is No. 2 in their Phantastic Phour rotation, he said it’s win the World Series or bust.
“A lot of guys in here, we all feel like we need to win the World Series this year,” Lidge explained. “Anything short of that is not going to be what we wanted. We need to win this thing. This is a rare opportunity to have this kind of rotation in this game.
When it was mentioned to Lidge that is the Yankees’ thought process every spring, he laughed and said: “Yeah, it’s amazing how it’s changed a little bit, but I guess we have that same mentality right now. Our brass has given us every opportunity. Now we need to go out there and deliver.”
It’s ironic how the Mets must share a market with three of the perennial post season favorites in the Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies year after year.
All Mets fans can do is grin and bear it, while the Mets somehow try to rebuild a new identity and resurrect their prestige and standing under the most difficult of circumstances. It’s a daunting task.
Years of reckless spending on perhaps the wrong players is just a small part of what’s wrong with these Mets. Their problems are bone deep and borne out of decades of bad decisions and a lack of direction and focus.
The worst part has been all of the “non baseball” issues that have plagued this team year in and year out, with their latest tabloid drama being fueled by the owners themselves and played out daily on the front and back pages of all the local papers.
For decades, the Mets have always wanted to win the war for the back pages against their crosstown rivals, the Yankees. Now they have seemingly accomplished that feat, but for all the wrong reasons.
Does anyone remember the last time we went into Spring Training believing that the the GM had done everything humanly possible in the offseason, to stand up and say in all seriousness, “World Series or Bust”?
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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Did SI predict the Phillies as WS champs? Hope so because that’s usually the nail in the coffin.
Why is the Post even writing Phillies crap?? They suck! As for what you wrote I agree, lets hope that Alderson is the cure for all this angst. Also I thought it was world series or bust in 2008 after we traded for Johan. I expected us to win 105 games that season.
The Phillies, Yanks and Bosox will do anything to win. The Mets will do anything to cut costs. Alderson wrote the book on running a team on a shoestring budget, that’s why he’s here. If the Mets wanted to win a world series Bobby Valentine or Wally Backman would be managers, not some washed up hasbeen who quit on his team twice.
The NY Post is a rag. I think the consensus is the Phillies are can’t miss Series Champs. Hopefully that means they’ll fall apart by June.The Braves can’t be counted out here. I like that all of this attention isn’t on the Mets players. No verbal wars with Jimmy Rollins is a good thing. Hopefully the Mets can surprise some people.
the original here: For Phillies & Yankees, Its World Series Or Bust | Mets Merized
the phillies better be world series or bust (yankees always seem to be!). Oldest tream by far in the NL (and probably right up there with the yankees overall). And the rotation is on th eold side too.
COmbine that with blowing right through any previous payroll ceiling (and I read the local papers, and they admitted they basically scraped up every last dime from under the couch cusiohs to do it, and are depending on a deep playoff run to make it back!).
and you get a team that is the true definition of a “win now” team.
Everyone can form their own opinion of age vs. experience with a BB team but the Phils have exactly 1 guy in their starting rotation, back end of the pen, and starting position players that is not already in his 30s. Could be 2, depending on who wins the RF job, and that might be someone from the other extreme (a 21 YO that even the GM admits was not ready for the majors last year, and they would like to give him more seasoning).