29
2012
The Perfect Way For The Mets To Stick It To The Marlins
An article by 
If you’re a true Mets fan, then you know how much the Marlins have been a thorn in the team’s side since 2007. First, Tom Glavine was able to retire only one more batter than I did in the 2007 regular season finale, completing the Mets’ collapse. One year later, the Marlins wouldn’t get off the field after they once again eliminated the Mets (and Shea Stadium) in Game No. 162. Three years after that, they stuck it to the Mets again, this time by signing Jose Reyes to a six-year deal worth $106 million, or about $106 million more than Fred Wilpon has stored away in his souvenir Sandy Koufax piggy bank.
In fact, if you really want to get technical about it, the Marlins have been one-upping the Mets since 1997, when they replaced the Mets as the fastest expansion team to win a World Series. (The Marlins have since been knocked off that perch by the fourth-year Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.)
But other than the Mets celebrating their 2006 NL East title in front of their home fans while the Marlins watched in the road dugout, they haven’t really done anything that would be considered negative to the Marlins. Are they upset that the Mets took Mike Piazza and Carlos Delgado from them? Did Fred Wilpon insult Marlins’ owner Jeffrey Loria’s mother because he found out Loria grew up as a Yankee fan during the era in which the Brooklyn Dodgers kept losing to them in the World Series?
The time has come for the Mets to stand up to the Marlins once and for all. And I know just how they can do it.
Admit it. You've seen enough of this over the years.
Recently, it was reported that Bud Selig expects two extra wild-card teams to be in place for this season, rather than the 2013 campaign. Therefore, with five teams now qualifying for the playoffs in the National League instead of the usual four, the Marlins have reasonable expectations that they will be one of those five teams.
More than likely, the Phillies will win the NL East for the sixth consecutive season. But the Atlanta Braves are coming off an epic late-season collapse. The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers both lost their top power hitters (Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder) to free agency. With all those windows being opened in the National League, the Miami Marlins are poised to break through and crash the playoff party for the first time since Art Howe was supposedly managing the Mets.
Like many other teams competing for the wild card spots in recent years, the Marlins might not play a potential clinching game until the final series of the season. And who, pray tell, will the Marlins be playing on October 1, 2 and 3 in front of their dozens of fans at their brand spanking-new ballpark?
Wouldn’t it be something if the Marlins needed to win their final series of the season and the newly-signed (and former Met) Heath Bell blew a save or two to the Mets? Or how about if Jose Reyes, representing the tying run in the bottom of the ninth was caught stealing to end a game? What if the Marlins’ new ace, Mark Buehrle, only lasted a third of an inning in the regular season finale, as the Mets battered him for run after run in the opening frame? Would that be devastating to them?
It’s been too long since the Marlins have been a thorn in the Mets’ side. Ever since Steve Trachsel’s arm and Jose Valentin’s bat took them down in the 2006 division clincher, the artists formerly known as the Florida Marlins have been giving the Mets and their fans recurring nightmares.
Hey, we all know the Marlins are just one poor finish away from conducting their once-a-decade fire sale. Why not speed up the inevitable and give them a chance to do it this year? The Marlins have been sticking it to the Mets every chance they’ve gotten since 2007. It’s time for the Mets to stick it right back to them in 2012. Ya gotta believe.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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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 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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I only care if the win means the Mets get in instead.
Arent you one of those who also cares about payroll being too high?
I highly doubt there’s one Met fan out there who ‘only’ cares about the payroll being too high….
I went on vacation and glad to see when I returned that the same ‘ol garbage is still going on, what was I thinking that things would change?
I don’t actually give a crap about what the payroll is. Just the team on the field (and the players coming up through the system). And how well the team does.
recognizing that the team is broke and can’t afford a higher payroll (IOW, dealing with reality) is not the same as desiring it.
I wish I was confident that if the Mets were out of it they would embrace the spoiler role and play for pride but they never do. They always shrivel up if you go by the past. Those games you refer to, the Marlins came out and played like it was their World Series. It says more about the makeup of the leadership of the team than anything else. Sadly if the Marlins come down to an elimination game against the Mets, I think they would probably deal the Mets the worst spanking of the season.
Excellent points Maniac. They folded up under pressure in 07,08 and even when they had chances to play spoiler the 2 years after in 09 and 2010.They couldn’t get it done. No heart,no guts,no leadership. That’s pretty much why they should’ve busted up the core of the team a long time ago.
It sure would feel good to reciprocate the favor. However, I look forward to the day when the Mets run away with it and the only spoiling would come by me buying myself WS tickets at any price!
The joke’s on us.
While we’re saying what if Jason Bay rebounds, what if David Wright has a big season, what if Mike Pelfrey grows some balls, what if, what if……
Meanwhile, you’re looking at a decent team and thinking what if there are collapses or 1 or 2 mis-steps.
Nice.
While I understand the sentiment with this, how sad is it that this might be what our season comes down to?
Dang…if we’re sticking it to anyone, I’d rather it be we eliminated team X as we get in to post season.
No doubt!
LOL, and since this might be all we have to look forward to this year – outside of watching the kids develop – I vote someone does a post on ‘How we can stick it to the Phillies’.
I’m going with RA Dickey finishes what he attempted. No hits the Phillies in a game they need to stay alive. While Dickey goes 3 for 4 against Hamels on the mound with a walk. At Citifield.
Now that would be worth the price of admission.
If only we could face Cole Hamels more often, perhaps the Mets could compete with the Marlins for the wild card. We beat him the way Greg Maddux used to beat us!
Ha! I forgot Hamel’s record isn’t all that great against the Mets.
Don’t think Hamel’s day numbers are all that inspiring either.
Here’s hoping every series we face the Phils this year it includes a day game with Hamels on the mound……
In 17 games, Mets his .306/.357/.471 against Hamels. That’s the highest OPS against for any team with a minimum FOUR appearances. He’s also 3-10 against the Mets, the worst winning percentage he has against teams he’s faced at least four times. Pure ownership.
And you’re right about the day numbers, too. He’s 19-18 and opponents hit .261/.314/.419 against him in day games. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about.
In 17 games, Mets hit…..
You have to wonder at what point it passes coincidence to conclude ‘we’re in his head’.
Ever since Hamels called us choke artists,he’s been getting lit up against us.
Since that is probably what it has come down, it’s a really pathetic state of affairs that this is all we have to look forward to in 2012 and beyond. So personally, I’d like to see the Marlins clinch it while playing us for (though I don’t want to hurt anyone wearing the orange and blue by wishing for them to lose) it will at least be one other way to stick it to the Wilpons who deserve it more.
If MLB took over the team toward the end of the season then we can then indeed concentrate of sticking it to the Marlins instead and look forward to hopefully better times in the post-Wilpon era that lays ahead.
I’m more on the side of the Mets saying “FTW” and making the playoffs.
Wow us Mets fans can be whiny and fickle. I have never understold the thrill of spoiler.
Only works for me when it is a team I hate. Such as the Phils.
I hope Jose Reyes goes 5 for 5 with two triples in front of an empty Citi Field and the Marlins win. F the Wilpons.
Brian — So you hope that the 25 ballplayers on the Mets bench have a miserable day because you hate the Wilpons. Convoluted thinking in my opinion. I hope our guys win.
Give me a break. So, you’re saying the bright spot of the season could come Oct 1-3. Can’t wait!! Who are you kidding…this team will be double digit games back by Memorial Day (at the latest), the team will be dismantled by July 31…and the players, who haven’t already, will have quit by August 1.
I will put you down in the “glass half full” category.
Dreadful article. Too bad our team sux so badly that, instead of rooting for them to succeed, we are now supposed to root for them to spoil someone else’s chances. Instead of looking for pitfalls in the path of the Marlins, how about looking for some way for the Mets to succeed. If it came down to that, I’d root for Jose’ to have the big hit to lead the Marlins onward to a championship. You’re not going to get me worked up in a lather to see the Mets as a spoiler. Show me how we get the Mets to be a winner. Oh yeah, that’s right, with the Wilpons in charge, that’s only a wet dream.
Personally; and as a fan, no way will mu high poiny of ANY season be spoiling another teams chance at clinching…i would rather look forward to seeing Havens coming up and Niuwenhuis, Harvey, and Mejia and Familia, my highlights would be seeing those kids come up and secure a victory at any point in time…if the Mets can give me a glimpse of that future promise, that they are trying to sell us all, i’ll accept them throwing around nickels and pennies like they are manhole covers…
Lmao, omg, we already conceiding the season and wishing to play spoilers in october?? it shows what this team truly is, it shows the lack of commitment to winning does to the fans. by no means i am faulting ed for this article, he’s just a prisoner of the moments like most of us, it’s a pathetic way of thinking that the fans of this team are reduce to wish to play spoilers, knwoing the season is done already and pitchers and catchers have not even reported, and BTW, most likely the marlins will be the ones winning the division as well.. no worries about mets knocking them out, in fact, i think marlins will go 13-5 against the mets this season.. en route to a 69-93 record.. way to go sandy alderson…
I am still hard pressed to understand how anybody can blame Sandy Anderson for any of this. He is not there to improve the team but rather to keep it afloat.
He was not the Wilpons’ hire but rather Selig’s fixer. Think Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction.
Yes, there is no sense of blaming Sandy Alderson for what has happened. The Wilpon’s knew they were in a major crisis and needed help. I would rather think that they realized that they needed a guy who had the knowledge of how to go about saving this franchise for them.
Regardless of their debt, the franchise is still worth zillions. They are paying him big bucks, he is privy to all of their troubles, and he will rebuild the team based on the adage that pitching is supreme and you start by building a staff that can last the better part of a decade.
Whether Selig forced Sandy down the throats of Fred or not doesn’t really matter. Bottom line is that it will take a few years of mediocrity at best to straighten this crap out!
What don’t the Wilpons understand about SELLING THE TEAM if they can no longer afford it?
Exactly correct. The only race the Mets will be in this year will be the one to avoid beating the dismal losing record of the original ’62 Mets. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head: to execeed the losses of the ’62 Mets after 50 years of operation?