How About Those Mets!

Within a week, the city may engulf itself in a war of boroughs, with Queens one of the two major battle zones. The war, or Subway Series as we have come to know it, has been fought in New York thirteen times in the past, but it has been over forty years since the last and Queens has yet to take a bite out of the Big Apple.
New York City, which has been deemed by many as the melting pot of the world has learned to accept a myriad of cultures, religions, and ethnicities. However, there would be no mending a battle between the Yankees and the hometown Metropolitans.
"The two teams have a real love-hate relationship and if they face each other, the city is going to be a pretty wild place," said Doug Dougherty, a 30-year old Long Island resident. "If the Mets can get by Atlanta pitching, the Yanks or whatever team they face shouldn’t be a problem. People are tired of the Yankees. It’s the Mets chance to win this year. The people have spoken."
Die-hard baseball fans like Dougherty are simply giddy over the mere idea of a Subway Series, but the possibility of both New York teams capturing their respective pennants and journeying to the final Fall Classic of the millennium has the entire city buzzing.
"Everyone is so excited," said Bob Ricacco, co-owner of First Edition bar and grill in Bayside. "We have seventy televisions, seven of them big screens, so we usually draw a pretty good crowd for most sporting events. But for the playoff games it has been unreal. There are hundreds of fans and the crew from NBC is coming by tonight. I can’t imagine what kind of crowd a Subway Series would draw."
When the Mets’ payroll topped out at nearly 70 million at the season’s start, they were expected to contend for a playoff spot. A September collapse however brought seven consecutive losses and the team was left for dead with little hope of seeing any October action. But after sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates and defeating Cincinatti 5-0 in a one-game playoff, faith was once again restored. Being alive to play a five-game playoff series against the Arizona Diamondbacks was just gravy, or so they would have led you to believe.
When Randy Johnson, the supposed X-factor in the National League Division Series was defeated in Game 1 on October 5 in Arizona, it was apparent that the Mets stood a fighting chance. Although they lost their second game and then star catcher Mike Piazza to a thumb injury, the magic and perhaps a sprinkle of destiny kept them going… and winning.
The pinnacle of the series arrived on Saturday with the Diamondbacks leading 3-2 in the eighth. The Mets responded with a run in the wild bottom half of the inning that included the ejection and the ultimate five-game suspension of third base coach Cookie Rojas for pushing umpire Charlie Williams after a controversial call. It was the tenth inning however that had the Mets cheering and jumping on each other in front of 56,000 fans on their home field turf.
Replacement catcher Todd Pratt was the unlikely hero as he blasted a 1-0 pitch centimeters above Steve Finley’s glove straight onto heaven for the game-winning home run, giving New York’s own John Franco the victory.
Franco along with Frank Viola was the ace of St. John’s Big East Championship team from 1979 to 1981, and posted a remarkable 13-5 record and 2.42 ERA along the way. When the hometown hero was drafted by the Cincinatti Reds in 1981, he became a full-time closer. The 39-year old has captured 416 saves in his major-league career, the most ever by a left-hander. That alone might be enough to grant him a pass to Cooperstown, but a trip to the playoffs for the first time ever might be the lock and seal.
"I’ve always liked John Franco and I’m glad he helped guide them to this series tonight," Bayside resident Steve Cutsumbis said before Tuesday night’s opening game against Atlanta. "Overall the team had a great season and if they keep up the way they’ve been hitting lately, they might just get (to the World Series.) But I don’t think it will be a violent or angry thing that the city would experience if they both get in." He continued, "First things first though. They have to reverse the season trend against Atlanta tonight."
Once upon a time a National League Championship against the Atlanta Braves might have instilled fear into the Mets. The Queens team lost nine of their twelve regular season games against the Braves including a record-breaking and humiliating 16-0 shutout. But now, after what they thought was a hopeless season, the Amazins are running on pure adrenaline.
Anthony Valentine, nephew of the Met’s coach and owner of Bobby Valentine’s Sports Gallery Cafe in downtown Stamford is ecstatic at how far the Mets have gone and what the games are doing for his business.
"We never gave up hope here," Valentine said. "We knew that they were in bad shape at one point, but everybody here believed that they would catch a break from one of the other teams and finish off like we knew they could. They’ve gotten universal support here. We’ve been packed every night."
Shea Stadium was packed on Tuesday morning with thousands of fans seeking tickets for the first NLCS home games since 1988. Despite the fact that a random wrist bracelet system was in effect, thus insuring an equal chance for the first and last person on line to get a ticket, fans showed up as early as Sunday camping out in sleeping bags and tents to be a part of the Met’s catching fever.
Sgt. Herb Zaks who was on the scene since Monday said that despite the huge and excited crowd, the ticket sales went off without a problem and everybody who came got a ticket, even if they had to wait five hours. In fact, as of Tuesday night, tickets were still available. The three home games will take place from October 15-17.
Two epic playoff series still have to be played before a Subway Series can be declared. The Yankees will battle the Boston Red Sox and the Mets the arch-rival Braves. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have already dubbed the Yankees 2:1 favorites to win it all, but Met fans know what their team has done to defy the odds already. Expectations mean little to them this season.
As the Fall Classic grows near, the teams are preparing their arsenals and the fans their undevoted allegiance. There can only be one winner in this New York war and Queens is standing by their Amazin’ Mets. They believe.