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Letters to the NL East, part 4

Letters to the NL East, Part 4 of 5

Dear Jimmy Rollins and the Philadelphia Phillies,

Cole Hamels! That’s your biggest pitcher, a pitcher whose stats matched up well with our third starter, John Maine. I’d be willing to put money on Maine having a better year than Hamels this year, and you just can’t win when another team in your division absolutely dominates you in pitching quality like that. I heard bartenders in Philadelphia did great business the day Johan Santana signed with the Mets, and I expect once the season starts they’ll be there to help your fans drown their sorrows again.

Your biggest hope is that Brett Myers can manage to pitch well in the rotation, and that Brad Lidge figures out how to close again. I wouldn’t hold my breath on either one, especially in that park. Even if both happen, all it means is that you’ll stick around a couple of weeks longer before the Mets put you away. And make no mistake, they will be looking for blood this year.

You’ve opened a can of worms Jimmy Rollins, and helped to start this little rivalry we have going recently. It has the possibility of being an awesome competition, one that could rival even the Red Sox and Yankees, if you can hold up your end of the bargain. I doubt you’re going to have as good a year as last year Jimmy so that means someone else is going to have to step up. This rivalry will quickly become a one night stand by July otherwise.

Your new rival,

Optimistic Mets Fan

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Letters to the NL East, part 0

Part 0 of the 5 park series, “Letters to the NL East”

Letter to Hank Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees.

Dear Yankees,

We get it, you’ve won a lot. Guess what? You haven’t won a lot recently. You’ve lost four consecutive playoff series, and the first in historic fashion. You haven’t made a significant acquisition during that stretch, and you didn’t this year either. You’re biggest claim in the offseason was retaining the guys you had, but the guys you had didn’t get you anywhere.

Joba and Ian and Phil are gods? Well, we’ll see. I’m sure you don’t need anyone to tell you about Generation K, or that less than 10% of top prospects succeed in the majors. Hughes and Chamberlain have already had some success, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be successful over a full season. Pettite’s only older and it’s unlikely Wang wins more than the 19 games he won last year.

Hank, you are a fiery guy who is always commenting on something. The new manager, Girardi, is also a fiery guy. I’m looking forward to the stories when you two bump heads during a tough patch down the road. Is this Steinbrenner v. Martin part two? Have you ever noticed how the biggest Yankee stories seem to be about non-baseball stuff? That’s not a good thing.

Enjoy being the second team in New York this year, the buzz is all here in Queens.

Your Anti-Fan,

Optimistic Mets Fan

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Eyes on the Prize

What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. So at this rate, the Mets should be superb by October. Going into last weekend you figured the Mets had only a week left of baseball, and then a week of coasting. It looks like they decided to do it the other way, taking off for a week, hopefully followed by a week of good solid baseball. They went from being probably the first or second team to clinch, to a team letting the competition have a shot at the prize.

If the Mets play doesn’t give you faith in a postseason berth, and why should it, you have but to look south, at Philadelphia. This team is truly abysmal. They can outhit just about anyone, but when it comes to the playoffs and October, hitting just doesn’t get it done; You need to be able to pitch. The inability for the Phillies, and the Braves, to play truly competitive baseball for any length of time has been a double-edged sword. Sure it makes winning the division a little easier, but It bestows an air of confidence on the Mets that they haven’t deserved. It’s about time for the Mets to grab the prize that’s been sitting their all season long for the taking, before they knock it into the Phillies lap.