LOS ANGELES, CA – My last shred of a MLB post-season Metsiness thread disintegrated when Wilmer Flores was called out on a clear check-swing. After 167 games of history-making baseball, the league’s two best teams were no more. It was just those damn Dodgers that were left standing. And I hate the Dodgers. It’s not a Yankees-level hatred, mind you, nor is at a Dallas Cowboys level… but it is hatred. Sports hatred, that is. Flores was the one guy I could root for, as he will always be a Met to me. Justin Turner doesn’t do it for me. He didn’t cry when he found out – falsely or not – that the Amazins didn’t want him any longer. He just went on to be an All-Star. But enough Met-fan rationale/psycho babble for now, let’s get to today’s topics: MLB Groundhog Day, Wilmer Flores, Crying In Sports.
MLB Groundhog Day
It’s getting to be a broken record in baseball. The Red Sox, Braves, Astros and Dodgers vying to be the champions of Major League Baseball. How much cooler would a Brewers vs Chisox showdown have been? Bernie The Brewer vs Bill Veeck’s spawn. Baseball’s Battle of Midway. Instead, we’ve got The Alex Cora Show in the ALCS and the Staring At The Sun series for the senior circuit. Zzzzzz. Give me the Rays and Giants – The Improbables – and I’ll tune in for more than 2 outs every few innings. So who should a tortured, cynical, jealous Mets fan root for from this group? The Red Sox. They are wicked feckin smaht choice because it will tick Yankees fans off the most.. and that’s all that matters. GO BOSTON!!! I’m waiving a bloody sock as I type.
Crying In Sports
Getting back to Wilmer Flores. He was a kid of 16 when the Mets drafted him. He could always hit. The Mets d1cked him around, as they do with young players – asking him to play different positions when he clearly wasn’t ready. Quick – who the Mets shortstop in the 2015 World Series?! Most of you wouldn’t guess Wilmer Alejandro Flores Garcia… nicknamed Catire. Anyway, as mentioned above, he *cried on the field when fans were showing news that Sandy Alderson traded him for Carlos Gomez. We all know that didn’t happen and Wilmer hit a walk-off homer the next night, in an Amazin turn of events. But speaking to our resident St. Louis fan, Cam James, about the Cards axing Michael Timothy Shildt, Cam pointed to an early season press conference in which Schildtsy cried. He said that was the beginning of the end for the team’s brass. That is showed weakness. I countered with the fact that he got the team to 17 games in a row in September with a starting battery of Wainwright and Molina who combine for a total of 80 years in age. That spurred a conversation re when it’s okay to cry in professional sports. You would think it was weird if Messier was crying while skating with the Stanley Cup. Right? You’d feel douche chills if Tom Brady had tears streaming down his face after winning yet another Super Bowl. But we’re all likey okay with Michael Jordan sobbing after he won it for the Bulls. Will Mookie Betts cry if he wins against Boston? Will Freddy Freeman drop to a knee, inconsolable, if the Bravos best Houston? I don’t think so. That wouldn’t fit. It should be Happy Time. If you have any doubt about that, just remember Tom Hanks.
And with that, we’ll end. Feel free to leave your tears or pearls of wisdom below and come back for Mr. Happy Time, Grinding Ax Walt, tomorrow.
*I loved that Flores cried, by the way. You gotta love a guy wanting to play for your team.
