As Vince Lombardi didn’t say, winning isn’t everything, it’s actually kind of boring.
The Yankees with the Baby Bombers or whatever else you want to call the collection of castaways that Brian Cashman skillfully pickpocketed from unsuspecting teams’ farm systems like Luke Voit, Gio Urshela, or Domingo German have been incredibly impressive in overcoming injuries and vaulting into first place in the AL East. It’ll be very exciting to watch them in the playoffs in October, especially when all the Big Boy Bombers are back and maybe Madison Bumgarner (or dare we dream, Matt Scherzer) is on the mound. But right now, it’s getting a little boring. Thankfully, they lost on Sunday to the Royals to keep us awake.
The Mets on the other hand, they’ll get your blood flowing.
A week ago, Mickey Callaway almost became Mickey Went Away after the Mets were swept by the barely thriving Miami Marlins. In perhaps the most dispiriting weekend by a visiting sports team in Miami since the Colts lost Super Bowl III to the Jets, there were more mental and physical errors than runs for the Mets as the Marlins swept a team for the first time since September 2017 in taking the games 8-6, 2-0, and 3-0.
Yet, on the day he was expected to fired, Callaway was upstaged by a hole in the ground.
GM Brodie Van Wagenene announced a week ago that Yoenis Cespedes suffered a fractured right ankle in a “violent fall” in a non-baseball activity at his ranch on Saturday. The press was told he had injured himself by stepping into a hole and and they even asked if a horse was involved (no, according to Van Wagenen). Considering Van Wagenen was formerly Cespedes’ agent, if the Mets try to void any of his contract for this non-baseball activity, they could have a real Yoenis Mess-pedes situation on their hands.
But just when fans of the Amazins may have wanted to look away, they took four straight from the Nationals in dramatic fashion and just when they wanted to jump back on the bandwagon, the Mets scored eight runs with Noah Syndergaard on the mound against the lowly Tigers (winless in nine games) and somehow managed to lose 9-8. But two wins later, the Mets are back at .500 and flying high, well at least flying to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. Mickey Callaway’s job is safe for now unless they lose another three in a row, and then the Jim Riggelman or Joe Girardi or Wally Backman or Terry Collins watch will begin again.
The Yankees look to be a nice relaxing team to root for in 2019 but if you’re off caffeine and need a dose of angst, anxiety, or agita to rev up your fandom, there’s the team in Flushing.
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