In the last couple of months, I’ve heard more and more people say things along the lines of, “This is not what the ’86 Mets would be doing”, “This team needs to get more grit like the ’86 team” and “We need more guys from the ’86 team around.”, blah blah blah.
I completely understand why fans want what the ’86 team had. I can’t remember a team that had such an “Eff You” attitude, in my lifetime. They knew they were gonna beat you, and if it meant they had to punch you in the face to do it, they would.
When you look at that team, versus the 2010 team, there’s no doubt in my mind that the only 4 guys on the 2010 team that could cut it on the ’86 team are Santana, Blanco, Carter and Frenchy. I know Reyes got into it with Miguel Olivo back in ’07, but Jose just isn’t that type of player.
The ’86 team’s biggest SOB’s were their best players. Carter, Knight, Hernandez, and the beast in LF, Kevin Mitchell. Seriously, do you think if Hanley Ramirez came into 3rd base hard, that David Wright would throw a right hook and then Jason Bay would come sprinting in from LF to throw bodies across the diamond? I don’t think so.
The good old days of great pitching and timely hitting are just not in the cards for the 2010 Mets. One week the pitching is great, and then the offense goes into hibernation (as we are seeing right now). There won’t be any bench clearing brawls to spark this club. It’s a different era. Everyone is friends, and even the most heated rivalries don’t have the pure hatred like they once did.
Listen, before the season started, every Met fan would have signed up for an 84-87 win season. We knew if we got a break here or there, we could make the playoffs. Well here we are. 1 game over .500 and 6 back in the Wild Card standings with 63 games to go. There are no Ray Knights or Gary Carters out there. So Omar has his work (If he’s still employed by the time this is printed) cut out for him in the next 5 days.
Let’s go Mets!
