Being A Mets Fan is the Toughest Job in Sports
When the team suffers, my inbox gets flooded
The New York Metropolitans, man.
Over the weekend Major League Baseball threw their “Rivalry Weekend,” which included a fresh go at the Subway Series between the New York Mets and Yankees. The storyline this time was centered around superstar player Juan Soto. If you don’t know Soto’s story, it’s basically this:
Superstar (generational) talent had a one year agreement with the New York Yankees, one of the most storied franchises in baseball. He goes all the way to the World Series where the Yanks are embarrassed by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then a free agent, Soto spurns the Bronx faithful to play for the crosstown New York Mets. A Mets team that has historically underachieved, but has new life being run by the richest owner in sports, Steve Cohen
And if you don’t know Steve Cohen, let me say that he’s rich. Really rich. So rich, that they based the first season of the TV show “Billions” about him. “Uncle Steve” was Bobby Axelrod! So what happened? The games were decent, but with the Yankees taking the series, there was a lot of talk about the shiny new Mets not getting things done, AGAIN. But there was even more noise around Juan Soto:
Juan doesn’t like it here. Juan wishes he was a Yankee again. Juan made a mistake. Juan doesn’t want to hustle. Juan Juan Juan! My DMs and inbox were FILLED with clips like the one above asking for my “thoughts.” And while I’m conflicted about this, because Soto isn’t my favorite Met by a long shot, I’ve been here before. In fact, I’ve been here too many times to count.
People like it when the Mets fail.
And it’s weird, right? Because, it’s not like we’re the Yankees and all their championships. It makes sense to hate them because you always want to “punch up.” I get hating the Dodgers for making deferred contracts an artform. I’m personally over it, but I get hating the Houston Astros, as they cheated to win the 2017 World Series.
And because I’m of a certain age, here’s the relevant clip from the Nickelodeon show, “Doug”
But the hating the Mets is something I’ll never understand. The team has been a franchise for over sixty years and only won two World Championships, with the first one being called literally a miracle. And while every sports team have moments they want to forget, the missteps the Mets make are somehow woven into our identity.
And so, this Juan Soto “buyer’s remorse” pisses me off. Not because it involves a guy who still gets on base with a .375 OBP (over .350 is considered “good” for non-baseball people), it’s because people are grasping at straws to make fun of the team. Last year they were saying the attendance was terrible, but guess what? We came out in droves this year. It’s sad because I remember the days when we deserved the jokes. Do you remember:
Signing flop Bobby Bonilla to a contract where he gets $1.19million every July until the year 2035?
Or the former manager who is now banned from baseball due to inappropriate behavior?
The previous owners being strapped financially because they were part of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme?
Being featured in a throwaway joke in the first “Men in Black?”
Carlos Beltran striking out looking in the National League Championship Series in 2006:
That one still hurts.
But the whole world thinks Juan Soto “wants to return to the Yankees” because he’s jogging out of the box? Give me a break. But then again, the New York Yankee fanbase has been weird about the Juan Soto thing from the jump. They were the popular kid that realized nobody wanted to sit with them at lunch and so, you get wild takes like this:
Matter of fact, don’t even click that video. The title has the word “glum” in it. Like, what does that even mean in this context? Do people even say that word anymore? Where does glum even fit on the emotional spectrum? 7 Eleven didn’t have my favorite brand of energy drink, I guess I’m glum? And this guy is a BROADCASTER for the Yankees! Doesn’t he have anything better to do?! Glum. My God.
Anyway, I say bring it on. It’s a tough job to be a Mets fan but man, the haters aren’t even trying anymore.