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In his latest for SI.com, Jon Heyman talks about the recent ‘war of words’ between the Mets and Phillies.
Heyman writes…
“Beltran and other Mets types are understandably excited about the acquisition of ace pitcher Johan Santana. Yet the Mets should hold their tongues now for two very good reasons:
1) They had their chance last spring when Rollins spoke, but to a man, they were afraid to speak up, a reticence that was later reflected in the way they played — scared; and
2) Philly beat the Mets to a pulp down the stretch, winning the last seven head-to-head games.”
…if you’re interested in reading more about last year and heyman’s man love for rollins, then this is the article for you…the Phillies certainly did a number on the Mets head to head…there’s no denying that…and yet, it was still the Mets who flat out gave the division away, the Phillies didn’t exactly have to go on a tear to win it…anyway, enough already about last year...
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whatever, more media trying to generate hits. Nothing like hating on the greatest city in the world’s team to stir stuff up.
Man love isn’t the word….it looks like Rollins took him out for dinner last night and breakfast this morning
Sensitive much? Heyman is a New York guy and likes the Mets as much as the next mainstream journalist. This team should take its well-deserved lumps without the fans crying about it.
puh leeze, we took our lumps, and have hashed and rehashed those lumps non stop for the last five months. enough is enough.
It was clear from the video clip that Beltran was to a large degree joking around. I guess Heyman lacks a sense of humor. Or maybe he missed the video clip.
What Beltran did was genius. He got the media focusing on 2008 for the most part and talking less about the collapse. Yeah, the acquisition of Johan helped in that department too … but by Beltran saying that, joking or not, it got everyone focused on this year. Every once in a while guys like Heyman will bring up last year but the story now is the “rivalry”. Good job Beltran … now lets get it done on the field!
I credit the mole for Beltran’s marketing skills.
hahaha … that thing is big enough to have it’s own brain, you’ve got a point there.
Agreed. It was Beltran’s way of saying “lets move on.”
It was also significant because it signaled a new leadership approach from Beltran.
Definitely good signs from him. I’m liking it.
enough about the collapse. i really hope the mets explode out of the gate although people will still mention it ill at least feel a little better as a fan.
The only way we avoid the collapse being discussed all season is to clinch in August. So be it.
I got a good feeling about this season. Good enough that I don’t care how much people talk about last year, I’m looking forward.
htwz and am: HELL yes.
Excellent point.
PLEASE give up on the “Mets gave the division away” angle already. As a Mets fan, I think it is pathetic. The Phillies won the division in 2007. Deal.
Except that Phillies fans make it a point to emphasize the Mets choking away the division. So to them I ask, which is it? Did the Phillies win the division, or did the Mets choke it away?
How about you stop whining about how we describe last year? Think about it, do you ever hear anyone talk about how great the Phillies played down the stretch last year, or the Phillies great comeback? Nope.
Personally I think this rivalry’s going to be a little dry come June..Phillies just aren’t that good. They didn’t get better, and what’d they get? 89, 90 games? Mediocre at best.
Exactly. The “you can’t win, we can only lose attitude” is exactly what did this team in last year. I read/hear so many Met fans say they hope guys like Willie, Omar, Reyes, Beltran, Wagner, Delgado ect. learned from the collapse last year. We as fans could stand to do the same.
If the Mets went 6-4 over their last 10 games, they’d have won; if they went 5-5 it would’ve gone to a 1-game playoff.
Those games were against the Marlins and the Nationals, two sub-.500 teams.
How’s that not giving it away?
The Mets had 7 opportunities to win 1 game against the Phillies down the stretch. Credit the Phillies for beating us every time it counted.
Exactly … It’s not like the Mets weren’t trying to win those games. The fact is they got their backs put up against the wall and they crumbled.
And how many of those 7 games did we lose late due to fielding errors or bad BP pitching?
Even in the head-to-head games, we as much gave it away as they did win it. The Mets played badly against the Phillies.
Similar to the ‘06 LCS. This team has not inspired a lot of confidence in do or die circumstances.
They absolutely do deserve credit…They played very well down the strech, and turned it up when it mattered. That being said, The Mets also put the Phils in a position in which they could win the division.
The Mets did give it away, but it only happened because Philly put the pressure on.
Yeah the fielding errors were an indication of how they were responding to pressure. They couldn’t handle the pressure and they got beat. It was a good lesson that hopefully they grow from because the attitude that they had last year was the very attitude that put them in that position to get beat in the first place.
I guess what I’m saying is from now on they have to be the team putting the pressure on everyone. No laying back .. no downplaying. Go out there and punish everyone … every game.
they clearly “won” the division, for no reason other than they beat us in the last 7 games. if we win 1 of those games its a totally different story. thats a pretty big sample size, not like they beat us in 1 big game or 2 big games they beat us in 7 big games IN A ROW! apparently not enough of you read the SI article talking about the 5 stages of grief because youre all still in denial.
I’m so in denial that it’s like last year somehow doesn’t even matter anymore because now it’s this year! THank you for helping me see the light, SI!
Please. I’m going to get hated-on for this but we need to thicken our skins. Even if we “gave away” the division last year, the Phillies beat us in every big spot they could muster last year. Them Mets from top to bottom were outplayed, out managed, were poorly motivated, played scared and bottom line played poorly against the Phillies.
I’m as optimistic as you can get for 2008, but this refusal to give the Phillies any credit for what they did to the Mets on the field alone last year makes us look like a bunch of think-skinned sissies. Let’s admit we got our butts kicked and look to exact revenge in ‘08 now that we have more (and better) weapons are at disposal.
W ealso got out-umpired, but no, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. Just remembering that one AB with Reyes. . . .
Anyway, yes, they kicked our butts, but I like seeing the Mets rise up and express some confidence. If Rollins could talk in ‘07, the Mets can talk in ‘08. It’s a new year for the Phils, as well. They’ve had a winter to rest on the laurels of their epic four-and-out reign as Division Champs. They have to prove themselves again, too.
Oh, and a sportswriter questioning a team’s manhood and calling them afraid is a bit much. Heyman has “team manager” written all over him. I hope all of the quotes from Stark-like twerps calling the Mets “scared” or “afraid” are carved into the paint on every Met’s locker with an X-acto knife. They need to play with swagger.
And plunk Milledge the second he steps to the plate. No quarter.
I love the confidence. My beef is just with Mets fans that make excuses to belittle what happen last year. Personally, I’m a big fan of WANTING to win rather than expecting to.
No, I actually agree. (I’m hesitant to say they “played scared,” but they did look like they were playing with fine china instead of a baseball at times.) Making excuses seems a little pathetic. It’s very difficult to look at those two sweeps and see anything but an out and out arse-whooping. I just draw a distinction b/w the Heyman school — “if you were beaten, be submissive”, and the (ugh) Rollins’ school “if you were beaten, remain confident.”
What scares me, the fan, is that almost no one on the team expressed any indignation between sweeps — quickly building back a lead after the first sweep may have been worse in the long run than having to scrap for an entire month. It knocked them back into complacency, and the only Met to publicly express a desire for payback when the Phillies showed up at Shea in September isn’t here anymore — Lo Duca. We can hope that actually LOSING the division lead woke them up, and the war of words suggests that it has.
how on earth did winning baseball games make the mets worse in the long run?