The Bottomless Pit in My Stomach is Back

As a Mets fan, I have experienced lots of pain. In my 18 years of being a Met fan, I have had my heart broken more times than I can even remember. Hell, it's come to the point where I almost expect it. It's part of being a Mets fan. The Mets failure over the past three seasons only makes me feel worse around playoff (especially World Series time). I couldn't watch the 2006 World Series because of my Wainwright related nightmares, and watching the Red Sox win was worse than sitting through a address by President Bush about the economy. Awkward, painful, and anger all rolled into one. Not a good combo.

As I think about the possibility of the Phillies win the World Series, all of the pain that the Mets caused me this season returns. I dunno why, but it does. To a certain degree, it's probably because the Phillies were our hated rival in the NL East. The rival transition from the Braves to the Phillies was a relatively quick one because of the demise of the Braves, the resurgence of the Mets and Phillies, and Jimmy Rollins. (Note: To this day, I believe that Rollins announcement that the Phillies were better than the Mets was the turning point in the rivalry. That statement showed that Rollins had some large cahunas and the MVP award simply cemented his place in ballzy hall of fame)

So basically for the last three years, I have hated the Phillies. Especially the last two. Maybe it's the stubborn New Yorker in me, but I always thought of them as number 2. Even this season, when the Mets were decimated by injury and massively struggling, I still thought that the Mets were the better team. That's probably another reason why this hurts so bad. The Phillies were a flawed team that lacked consistency and had limited starting pitching; not too mention that they play in a ballpark built for a little league team. I have beaten this topic to death already, but it's impossible to sit back happily as the team you despise is one win away from winning a World Series (Yankee fans can attest to this). But like the 1996 Yankees, this Phillies team has heart, and no talent evaluator can fully judge the degree to which that helps.

As Joe Blanton rounded third after belting a homerun, I quickly turned off the TV and punched my bed. Another baseball season, more frustration. And again, I am forced to sit back and watch teams I despise (Yanks, Red Sox, Phillies) win World Series.
Yup, the baseball Gods are definitely not Mets fans.

Go Rays.