Folks, I don’t live in New York anymore, and haven’t since 1992.  Sure, I can get all my Mets news online and I can watch and listen to games online or on cable.  But nothing beats living there–the talk, the camaraderie, the print newspapers that you can read with two hands and two eyes (unless you’re Muno from Yo Gabba Gabba).

So sometimes I feel disconnected and rely on friends or my dad to fill me in on things.  I also noticed that anyone outside of New York thinks of the Yankees first and the Mets as an after-thought.  I realize it’s been this way for decades, but I don’t think I realized it as much until I left New York.

Lately, too, it’s been worse than ever.  Since the Mets’ two collapses in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and since the injury plague of 2009, it’s almost like the Mets have become a joke to everyone else’s fans.

I remember going to my gym here in Nashville last year, and my trainer introducing me to another member and former Cincinnati Reds pitcher.  At that point it was like May and the Mets were not looking good (before all the injuries hit).  So I asked this guy if he could tell me what was wrong with the Mets.  Instead of offering an answer, he just kind of chuckled.  I don’t know if that’s because he didn’t know the answer, or because, well, the Mets have become the Phillies’ and Yankees’ punching bag.

This week I was e-mailing with a fellow colleague in the music business, and we were talking about the NL East.  I’m a Mets fan, he’s a Braves fan.  But the first thing he says when I tell him I’m a Mets fan is this…”Ha, Jeff Francouer.”  That’s right, “ha.” Of course, I can counter with “Ha, Ryan Church.”

On the other hand, another music writer I know who is an avid baseball fan said he thinks the Mets have a “scary” lineup, and he meant that in a positive way.

Still, the Mets seem to get no love in the national press, and with the Yankees winning it all and the Phillies winning it all the year before, we continue to wallow in red-headed-step-child-edness.  Or something.  Boy, do we ever need to start winning again and reverse this trend.  I hope it’s before my two year old boy starts rooting for the team with me.