Can we stop with saying the Mets are the most hated team in baseball because they like to dance after home runs? It's complete nonsense.I've covered the sport for the past 12 years and I've never seen a team joke, laugh and chit-chat with opposing players more than these Mets. During batting practice, whether it's at Shea or on the road, guys like Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Moises Alou and Carlos Beltran are always talking with other players -- and many of them are close friends.
So now we're supposed to believe that the Mets lost the division because Jose Reyes and Lastings Milledge danced outside the dugout on Saturday. Sure, there was a bench-clearing incident that afternoon, but if I remember correctly, didn't the Marlins' Miguel Olivo leave the pitchers mound to attack Reyes -- while he was standing at third base? Olivo is generally known as one of the most unstable players in the game, and yet him taking a swing at Reyes, supposedly a friend, is because Milledge circled first base with his finger in the air? Gimme a break.
And if firing up the Marlins is the reason why the Mets lost on Sunday, then why did Florida win on Friday? Did Willie Randolph leave a nasty message on Fredi Gonzalez's cell-phone? Was Milledge thumbing his nose at the Marlins' bench? Did Paul Lo Duca dance the Macarena after drawing a walk? What other non-game related garbage can we come up with to explain what was really about playing bad baseball at a terrible time?
If the Mets had won two more games -- that's right, two -- we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Sure the Cardinals mocked the Jose-Jose-Jose chants after they won Game 7 of the NLCS last October. But the Mets don't sing during games. The fans do. Reyes doesn't hold up a cue card with lyrics as he's standing on first base.
Kudos to Willie Randolph for trying to stop the insanity over this whole celebration thing when he was asked about it on Tuesday.
"That’s overrated," Randolph said. "That has nothing to do with us winning ballgames. We have rules and discipline on the team, and we’ve for the most part stayed true to that. Every once in a while players get excited. They get wrapped up in the moment and that happens sometimes. This is a solid group. My coaching staff and I do a great job of keeping a finger on the pulse of our players.
"This other stuff is mostly just fodder. We don’t have to get back to anything. The kids that react to stuff like what you’re talking about – Jose or Milledge I guess is who you’re talking about – that’s just stuff that young players go through every once in a while. They’re enthusiastic. They get caught up. They’re probably not as mature as some of the older guys. So they make mistakes like that. Sometimes they may make it over again. You still don’t get away from what you need to do."
Were the Mets hated last year when they won the NL East and came within a base hit of the World Series? No. Were they hated when they led the division by seven games with 17 left? No. But as soon as they miss the playoffs, because of Tom Glavine's worst game in a Mets uniform, Reyes and Milledge are suddenly MLB's version of Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson.
The 1986 Mets were despised because they not only beat teams, they fought most of them, throwing as many punches as pitches. The 2007 Mets ultimately were failures, and nobody hates a loser. What's the point.
Comments (34)
you have it all wrong man.
this issue boils down to one thing... you don't do this dancing crap when you're in mid-collapse and when you've been stinking it up for two months.
it's about focus.. and unfortunately it seems.. jose's has severely lapsed at the wrong time. and that's troubling.
Hmmm. Losers? 2nd place by one game and they are losers? What if they won those 2 games you spoke of? Are they winners then? They didn't knock a girl up and leave her. Noe did they rob someone of their ipod or punch an old lady. Those are losers. Save your venom for the real losers of the world like A-Rod the wife cheater, Brett Myers the wife beater or Barry Bond the Cheater.
Well put Chris!!!!
The other teams should not hate the Mets for the reasons described in the aritcle - they should love them. They are the very reasons the Mets played like garbage for 4 months. I've seen more intensity on the field during beer league softball.
No way!
He nailed it on the head they are losers. We should have been watching kids and the bench the last 2 weeks of the season instead we watched the biggest collapse in MLB history. Don't try fooling yourselves otherwise!
I guess living in Denver and watching all the games on the MLB package gives a unique look at this. I listen to all of these other announcers and not one of them mention that the Mets are disliked at all. As far as Lastings goes, anyone who hits 2 homeruns in the most important game of the season can pump his fists and dance all he wants. As for Jose, he failed. He is only 24 and has more talent then anyone playing the game right now. Lets let everyone calm down from this lose and regroup for next season. We should keep Wright, Reyes and Milledge on this team till they retire...
I would not call this the biggest collapse in MLB history. That is reserved for the 2004 Yankees. The Mets were under .500 since June 1st. If the Phils and Braves were not as pathetic during that span as well, the Mets would have been out if long before this collapse.
Jim, now you just sound like a bitter, jealous Mets fan. How could you say that the Yankees in 2004 had the biggest collapse. It is clearly these Mets or the 1964 Phillies without question.
They are kids yes and they act like it!
Time to grow up boys! The dances and fancy handshakes mean SQUAT! Put up a W then dance for us all!
The maturity level around this team stinks. And has alot to do with where this team finishes.
Funny that nobody complained last year when we were one single away from the world series. I didnt here anyone upset about this when we had an 8 game lead in June. The maturity level was fine. The problem with this team was the maturity of Tom Glavine, that loser Mota and Billy Wagner. If Reyes wants to celebrate then let him. He is the most important player on the team. He needs to hear cheers not boos (though he deserved them) and you should be careful what you wish for because if Minaya thinks that the fans hate Reyes, he may be inclined to trade him for Johan Santana when we can just sign him next offseason.
Just a handle full of times in the entire season there may have been a small amount of overdose pleasure.
But other teams also do it at times.
But the real answer is “so what”
That funny, that was my first comment in a long time.
Sounds like there is a glitch in the machine.
Wow scott.
Mota they should have canned him when he tested positive last year.
Wagner and Glavine? let me guess Glavine blew it? If you believe that one...then i quit
Reyes is more immature then Milledge. Did you know in Denver that Reyes and Randolph had it out in the locker room in Houston when Reyes got benched. Did you realize he was never the same? If that is our most important player then maybe he should be headed to Minnesota!
Oh yea and Minaya don't care about the fans. Sh!t he don't care about what Willie thinks you think he cares what we say?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
In case you dont realize, the collapse occurred when Reyes slumped. Dont you realize that when he is going so are the Mets. When he is off, so are the Mets. By the way Ricky Henderson had his problems too. Once again, Mota had about a 6 era, Schoenwies about a 5, Wagner sucked down the stretch, Hernandez like usual was hurt when we needed him and Glavine choked like he was back with the Braves (where I hope he will be next year). We need pitching. With all of our problems on offense, Delgado was the biggest by a mile.
Glad you brought up T.O. and Ocho Cinco, beacuse with all the trash-talking and showboating that goes on in the NFL, the rare displays of emotion in baseball pale in comparison. Don't get me wrong, I believe you should never show up your opponent, but baseball players (especially young ones) are not emotionless robots. So people should just chill out a bit. Standing and watching a home run or flipping a bat is unacceptable, but I haven't seen any of that nonsense on this team.
You know what? Some of you just make me laugh and also at the same time want to smack you. Cut the bs out about the dancing and handshakes. I consider myself and " old school " sports fan but this tightass reaction about celebrating after hr's is rediculous and i have a real good idea at the kind of people who dont like these celebration. Im 34 and i can care less about ANY celebrating. Ive seen plenty of other teams doing it perfect case last week Melky Cabrera and Cano did there little handshake and laughing all in the camera so tell me whats the difference? There is none and guess what ? It didnt bother me at all. So take off the tight Dockers and the Polo shirts with the casual shoes. THIS IS BASEBALL !!!!! They wear uniforms and in some ways it is a battlefield to get dirty and destroy the opponent hands down me Reyes Milledge Gomez can care less if the opposing team is bothered by a stupid damn handshake. You dont like the handshake do something about it but my boy Reyes doesnt have to stop anything GET OVER IT and quit being so damn soft people this is NEW YORK not some soft ass town from Oklahoma or Wyoming and its not the 1950's either i want my guys with some attitude. I wear jeans nike's tshirts and hats this is not Lacross or water polo this is baseball! If want to have a tightass about celebration because your scared the opposing team my put it on your favorite team go root for a softass Padres team or some punkass Cardinals.... Take a hike but here in Met nation we get our hands dirtY its NEW YORK !
You are correct, Jose Reyes does not hold up a cue card for the fans to sing his name while standing on 1st base, however the Mets scoreboard operator does that.
I have to agree with Jim P above. The Mets rarely played with any emotion at all in 2007. A little showboating might have been a welcome change, in fact. From July on, they looked like extras in a zombie flick, wandering around aimlessly.
It's not the celebrating, it's the "dance." And the fact is not ALL other teams do that. It's one thing to give it one of those silly, showboating handshakes on the field that everyone seems to have. It's quite another to stand on the the field (not in the dugout)and do an entire dance routine in the face of the opposition. I agree with Mushnick, the Marlins were primed for Sunday. In fact, the Marlins players said that they felt the Mets rubbed their noses in it Saturday.
So you can write what you "think" all you want to, the Marlins players own words said they were offended by the Mets actions.
This is baseball folks. Even though the game is turning into more of a circus than it used to be, it still ain't the NFL and NBA with its over abundance of hotdogs.
Oh for the day of Bob Gibson. If Millege did one of those dances after a homer, Millege would have a permanent baseball ear ring the next time he came to the plate.
One more thought.... if the Mets spent as much time working on fundamentals as they do working on their dance routine, they might be playing the Rockies instead of sitting home watching.
Or possibly if they don't start Chan Ho Park in that game earlier in the season.
Great Article. Its time to stop listening to the theories of Mike and the Mad Dogg because they think they are smarter then everyone else.
That theory of teams hating the Mets for celebrating is as bad an idea as being a sales person in Antarctica selling air conditioning.
Scott B - you forgot to mention Wagner was hurt when he started sucking.
Plain and simple they are losers b/c they underachieved. Only about 1 regular player had better then average year in Wright. You can't count Gotay, Millidge, Maine because they don't have the years to even compare. The rest of the playes were hurt and/or just weren't good.
And one note about the celebrations and such. What about players like Howard, Rollins, and so forth who flip their bat when they hit a homer. Are they jerks (well yeah b/c they are Philly) It is called being excited. If Reyes, Milledge, Gotay do handshakes, etc fine. It is better then being robots.
For all you fans complaining about the Mets celebrations, would you rather we go back the Art Howe days of dead, emotionless baseball? Let's face it, when Reyes and Wright came up, everyone was excited to finally see some emotion on this team. So stop the garbage already. As far as Mike and the Mad Dog, they are the two biggest fools on the radio. How they get paid so much money for making so many mistakes is beyond me. Only in America!
We make no sense. We are pathetic jackasses.
Anyone ever notice that Mike And The Mad Dog look like the 2 guys I was stranded on the desert island with?
Maybe if the Mets played better during the season it wouldn't have come down to a horrible game by Glavine. I wonder how they feel right now? They are probably so bored from being so good, right?
I have to agree with Mike P. with the Mets struggling in June, both the Braves and Phillies had a chance to take over the NL East. They did not, so the blown 7 game lead with 17 to play really started 3 months earlier. If we lost the lead then Perhapes, but we will never know maybe Omar would have made the right changes, but since we we`re still in first place we had a false sense of security. The issue still remains though if Wilpon wants a championship he has to open the check book for that one pitcher who will put the Mets over the top. We are almost there but close is not good enough. Now not only we have to revamp the ballpen, but we also have to get the starting pitching younger as well and thet will put us another step behind in winning it all. Big mistakes were made not only by Omar but by the Wilpon`s as well. Do you think as much as I dislike Steinbrenner, that if he was stingy with the buck, would his Yankees be where they are today or the last 20 years? As one of the best teams in Baseball. Think about it Mr. Wilpon.
There has never been any mention of this until Ron and Keith discussed it on Sunday's telecast. So they seem the logical people to ask. I remember once Reyes supposedly was thrown at after dancing off third base. I am old school and do think that stuff is showing up the other team. Being old school I thought that the non retaliation after Met hitters were thrown at was an early sign that this team did not have a champions competitiveness.
Hmm... Why'd it take you nine paragraphs to dismiss the notion that the Mets are the most hated team in Baseball?
They are hated because they are so freaking good.
Granted, they missed the playoffs by ONE game this year. But every year, they get closer to becoming a winning machine. The league sees that and can't stand it.
Even Yankee fans see their team aging and heading down while the basically young Mets team is steadily rising, building for the long haul.
What's not to hate??
They better improve the pitching. I would recommend considering trading either Beltran or Reyes for Johan Santana. A staff of Santana, Pedro, Perez, and Maine would be very tough to beat. They desperately need bullpen help. the two steroid boys signed to multi-year contracts stink (Mota, Schowie). Maybe Duaner Snachez comes back and helps. They need pitching!!
I love the Mets!
Are people kidding me??? Why on earth would we trade Beltran or Reyes for Santana. HE IS A FREE AGENT AT THE END OF NEXT SEASON!!! Lets wait till the trade deadline and see what they are asking. If we wait till then, we can just pay for him and not lose people for him. Also, you are talking about trading either our leadoff hitter who is a gold glove caliber player who lead our team in hits, runs scored and stolen bases. Or, our gold glove centerfielder who let the team in HR's and RBI's and he missed a month of the season. We are all upset that they lost. Lets get our heads together and not make the biggest mistake ever like trading Reyes or Beltran. Remember when we traded Dykstra and Mcdowell for Juan Samuel? That turned out really well...
yeah. sure um what did your young and up coming mets do last year oh yeah that's right choke away the NL east well no actullay a way better phillies team just came and took what was theirs considering the mets are just an overrated,poorer, nastier, uglier version of the bengals. grow up dude in know your place when it comes to the yankees - second. you are a bunch of losers mets fans because your mets are a bunch of losers. poor johan he doesn't know what he has gotten himself into but he will find out just like pedro had to find out and glavine too. but why am i wasting my time talking to a low rent team fan base whose team isn't going to sniff the yankees batting pactice stats and yankees success this year. iam better off debating with the delusional red sox nation. at least they have a better chance of battling with the yanks than your sorry excuse for a team, and they won't even come that close,so your team is in TROUBLE.