Opinion: General Jerry, Rally around Hatred
Last week, in a report for the Daily News, Bill Madden wrote about Phillies GM Pat Gillick, who discussed how his team and the rest of the NL East hate the Mets.
Yesterday, in a report for SI.com, Jon Heyman quotes Gillick as saying of the Mets:
“I think sometimes it’s good to be celebratory, but sometimes it reaches the point where they’re taunting the other the team. Everyone should have the opportunity to celebrate. But there’s a fine line, and sometimes they tend to go over the line and taunt the other team.”
According to Heyman, Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins agreed, when asked if teams in the NL East ‘detest the Mets, adding,’ “In spring training next year go to each clubhouse and you’ll get a number of answers.”
Last week I wrote, “So, does this mean the Mets can now only win if teams love them? What does that even mean? Seriously, who cares if teams hate the Mets? Hey, how about the Mets just play better baseball and win on their own effort, and not care about 
what other people think of them. How about that? How about, instead of backing down, the Mets fight back.”
This is going to be a story in spring training, mark my words. These reporters will not forget about this – at least, I hope they do not forget about it. Because, instead of the Mets running from this, and letting these teams get in to their heads, they should take it on as something to rally around.
Jerry Manuel should use this to his advantage. He should make this an us-against-them type of fight, more than it usually is. He should make his team aware of the apparent fact that his squad is on the outside, that they have not won anything in two years, yet that they’re hated and nobody likes them. He should try to put a chip on this team’s shoulder, get them in a foxhole, make them gangsta, whatever you want to call it, and challenge them to truly give this division something to hate them for, like winning, and winning hard.
