so as i ripped my beloved mets for 48 hours at the trade deadline, even i had to ask myself WHY ?
why did i simultaneously express anger at both proposed deals and the lack thereof ?
why so much venom and vinegar being spewed in the direction of my favorite franchise, where did all this distrust, anger and angst get its genesis ? I may have a partial explanation.
I was 12 years old in the summer of 1977.......my name was Thomas and I was a Mets fan.....the years preceding my 12th birthday had been extremely good to this young mets fan.....i saw my team knockoff the big Red Machine in the NLCS....i even went to game 4 of that series, we had a chance to clinch.....the excitement and nervous feeling still seem fresh today......we went on the play the Swinging A's and came within 1 win of our 2nd World Series triumph, and the MAN that ruled the Roost....the Best pitcher in baseball, my idol and namesake ( George really, shh) Thomas "Tom Terrific" Seaver was a Met for life.....and so as a naive 12 year old i thought.............i should have known better.......less than 2 years prior my beloved Rangers 'WAIVED" the franchise netminder in a space clearing, money saving , heartless move.....Eddie, Eddie, Eddie Giacoman has been let go....only to return 2 nights later in the hated Redwings Jersey and admitted to crying throughout the game under his mask ( it's okay Wilmer) as the Garden faithful chanted his name throughout....EDDIE.....EDDIE....EDDIE........i cried that night as a 10 year old listening to Marv Albert describe the scene and i vowed to hate the Rangers till death.....that passed.....
fast forward 2 years to the spring and summer of 1977.....i read the scumbag Dick Youngs column everyday as he whined on and on about Seavers contract and how ungrateful the franchise pitcher was......we should have realized then that Young was on the mets secret payroll and was smeering our hero to soften the unfathomable upcoming blow........it didnt work of course........and on June 15th, Bayrdige...Brooklyn....New York,....the Tri state area...and the world were knocked for a loop when M. Donald Grant traded George Thomas Seaver to the Cincinatti Reds (theres that color again) for a package of players that all sucked........the franchise would sink to the bottom of the national league and become the laughing stock of baseball for years to come....
as painful as it was to see him in a Reds uniform.....to throw a No Hitter for somebody else while we still await our first ( santanA doesnt count)....the worst was yet to come........after the 1982 season we got him back........we greeted him with soldout exhuberance on opening day 1983 and all was right with universe...he even struckout that douchebag Pete Rose on opening day........and then after the 83 season......instead of a career ending long term deal.....they left him UNPROTECTED..........and he was stolen by the White Sox.....forced to wear that silly softball team uniform and win his 300th game in Yankee Stadium........
in the years to come we would sit in the upper deck and watch management dismantle the 86 Mets for financial and political reason, they again painted our heros as demons.....left them on the sidelines while Shea closed and Citifield opened...as if 86 never happened......
so there is a lot resentment and hatred i feel towards this franchise......but only because i care....because I love the Mets so much.....like Wilmer......like Zack Wheeler........we dont have to win the series......but please Wilpon....for the love of God....leave us some dignity.......
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