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| photo by Mack Ade |
I first want to go back to an original statement I have written a number of times…
“The two players the Mets draft will never be equal to what Jose Reyes will do in the future for the Mets.”
Jose Reyes is no longer a New York Met. I never expected to write that because my prognosis doesn’t come close to his projected retirement date.
I am upset as an old fan, but not as a writer. I have learned through time to separate my fandom from my profession (sic).
I also am upset at the bailout program, Wall Street, and Fred Wilpon, because this never would have happened in the “good old days”. I can’t believe I just referred to the Omar era as the good old days.
I grew up in Ozone Park, NYC. I attended JHS 171 in Brooklyn and had to take the Atlantic Avenue bus each day to school. The toughest decision I had every day was, when school was out, which way I would take the 22 bus… back home or deeper into Brooklyn to Ebbets Field.
Gilliam, Reese, Snider, Hodges, Furillo, Campanella, Amoros, Neal…
That lineup is branded into my mind. Players didn’t change every year. There was the “reserve clause”. Everyone was under a one year deal and Walter O’Malley mailed you your new contract every off season. That’s when you found out what you were going to be paid.
Now, there’s no “I” in loyalty (in defense, there’s also no “I” in “reserve clause”).
Yes, I remember when the Mets traded Tom Seaver, but I also remember when the Brooklyn Dodgers traded Jackie Robinson to the dreaded New York Giants (Robinson refused to report and he quietly retired). This game has had factors of suckdom since the Shoeless Joe days.
Tootles, esse…
1 comment:
I hear you Mack........I miss the "old days" so to speak. As a kid, I loved the NBA (Dr J, Larry Bird, Magic) and couldn't get enough. Now, it makes me sick to even watch one quarter of one game. Fundamentals are out the window, team work is a rarity and there is zero team loyalty (it actually looks like an episode of Gangland).
Baseball has always been my first true "sports love". It is rooted in tradition and always seemed to be a vestige of the "good old days".
However, with the introduction of free agency in the 70's and the overall greed that has ensued, I am afraid that our beloved sport has been in slow decline ever since (not to NBA levels anyway).
It probably won't get better, so the only other option is to get used to the new way of doing things. It doesn't mean we have to like the changes, I guess.
I will always be a METS fan. Jose was a Met, so I was a fan of his. But, if he becomes a Marlin or an Angel, or whatever team he joins, he becomes the opposition and I am no longer a fan of his.
Sort of like when Darryl Strawberry left town. I had no trouble rooting against him as a Dodger.
Jose is like any other player, IMO.......he will do what is best for Jose ten times out of ten. In my mind, he is already gone and I am getting used to the idea of Rueben Tejada as our SS next year.
Mike
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