Oct
4
2011

From Left Field: Who Are You Rooting For This Postseason?

An article by Jim Mancari

Well, as we all know, our beloved New York Mets have missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

I’m not sure about many of you, but even with the Mets done for the year, I still watch a ton of postseason baseball.

There have been some great games so far, and it’s looking like the postseason will be even more exciting in the championship round.

So basically, all this fluff leads me to the elephant in the room: How many of you are rooting for the Yankees to reach the World Series?

After a tough loss last night, the Yankees find themselves one game away from elimination with the erratic A.J. Burnett taking the hill tonight in Game 4.

Obviously, the Bronx Bombers are a New York team, so it’s likely that many Mets fans will cheer on the Yanks—not overly passionate of course—to advance as far as possible.

Another World Series title would be good for the city, even though it would be coming from the other side of town.

However, it’s also inevitable that many Mets fans are Yankee-haters.

For years, our team has played in the shadow of the “Evil Empire,” watching as the Yankees reap all the benefits.

They lure the best free agents, have the most fans, make the playoffs every season and seem to get all the breaks.

When A-Rod goes down with injury, not only does Eduardo Nunez fill in adequately, but Curtis Granderson also picks up the offensive slack in a huge a way.

On the flip side, if David Wright and Ike Davis get hurt, the Mets are scrounging for offense, and even when they get some, the pitching falters.

I’m on the fence as to whom I’m rooting for this postseason. As a Met fan, I thoroughly appreciate National League baseball so wouldn’t mind seeing the NL prevail, except the Phillies of course.

The Mets and Cardinals don’t have the rivalry that once existed in the 1980s, so seeing St. Louis win wouldn’t bother me either.

But still, New York is New York, even if the only other team is the Yankees. While some Yankee fans rub it in our faces concerning how much better the Yanks are than the Mets, most Yankee fans simply treat the Mets as an irrelevant entity.

Sadly, there’s not much argument against that point over the last few years, except if you include media coverage for off-the-field problems.

So I’m curious to see which way Met fans are leaning this postseason. Rather than pick a specific team, I’m rooting for exciting baseball with both clutch hitting and clutch pitching late in games.

Hopefully 2012 brings the Mets better fortune: They’ll likely need it.

About the Author: Jim Mancari

Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.

13 Comments + Add Comment

Florida Met Fan Rich October 4, 2011 at 11:32 am

The Rays and the Brewers!
Metstheory22 October 4, 2011 at 11:42 am

Whoever beats the Yankees and Phillies.
- Mr North Jersey October 4, 2011 at 11:55 am
  
  LoL, that works for me.
metsguppy October 4, 2011 at 11:58 am

I always root for the Yankees… to suck! I could never cheer for the Yankees to go to or win the World Series. I am sick of Yankee fans and their lording it over everyone else. They are bad fans who mostly don’t even know anything about their team, just that they have won the World Series 20,000 times. If they win again its just another ring on their finger, for any other team it means something special. I am rooting for the Rays in the AL, the little team that could. And the Cards in the NL. I just hope the Yankees go down in the first round and maybe there will be slightly less bandwagon Yankee fans next year.
- Metstheory22 October 4, 2011 at 12:14 pm
  
  They are going to crud all over A-Rod, while Texeria is 1-25 in his last postseason ABs and Nick Swisher is a remarkable 0 for 28 in the postseason with runners in scoring position.
Dan October 4, 2011 at 12:13 pm

As long as the Yankees and Phillies don’t make it but preferably the Rays and Brewers.
jessep October 4, 2011 at 11:34 am

Detroit/Tampa Mil/Stl
nathan October 4, 2011 at 3:23 pm

Tampa bay and the cards. Never liked the Yankees, even if they played in my back yard.
- nathan October 4, 2011 at 7:42 pm
  
  that didn’t last long. detroit and st. louis
Drew October 4, 2011 at 5:59 pm

In order of what I’m cheering for this postseason: (1) Phillies eliminated, (2) Yankees eliminated, (3) Cardinals eliminated. There’s a huge drop off between 2 and 3, of course, but I still don’t much care for St. Louis. I just really don’t want the Phillies to win, and really don’t want the Yankees to win unless (God forbid) they play Philly in the Series again.
- Randy October 5, 2011 at 4:03 pm
  
  Right on target with 1, 2 & 3.
Jim October 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

How can you root for the f-ing Cardinals after 2006?!?
Jim October 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

How can you root for the f-ing Cardinals after 2006?!? Brewers-Tigers!

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	27	18	.600	-
Nationals	23	23	.500	4.5
Phillies	22	24	.478	5.5
Mets	17	26	.395	9.0
Marlins	13	33	.283	14.5

Last updated: 05/22/2013

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