Team to Beat
So every year, everybody decides that they’ll get all hot and bothered about someone saying that some team or other is the team to beat in the division. What, exactly, does it mean to be the team to beat?
In my book, the team to beat is the team that won it last year. When Jimmy Rollins said last year that the Phillies were the team to beat, he was wrong. The team to beat, obviously, was the team that had won it every year since there had been three divisions.
This year, the team to beat is the Phillies. They did an incredible job, with the best offense in the National League and a stirring finish. They had a lot of help from the Mets. But, when all is said and done, they won it. They are the team to beat.
Now you could say that the acquisition of Santana makes the Mets better than the Phillies. That would be wrong. The Mets were better than the Phillies last year, before they got Santana. They just didn’t win it.
So why did Carlos Beltran say the Mets are the team to beat? Maybe it’s because he thinks that it is time for him to start generating headlines, and not just scoring and driving in runs. This is the only explanation I can think of. Nobody else on the team rose to the bait.
Does any of this make any sense? No. It’s not even worth talking about. This is a case of something I complained about last year on this blog. You wait for months for pitchers and catchers and when pitchers and catchers comes nothing happens (what was supposed to happen besides pitchers and catchers reporting to camp?) So, with the fans salivating for any sign that the baseball season is starting, reporters and players throw them stuff. This is what we get. Quiet Carlos says we’re the team to beat. OOOhhhh. How are the Phillies going to respond? Stay tuned.
Anyway, since it’s worth repeating and I like the pictures, here’s my Pitchers and Catchers post from last year. It was called Big, Big Stories Out of Florida!!!!!!!!
A-Rod and Jeter don’t go out to DINNER as often as they used to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Willie Randolph has all of these rings from playing and coaching on some other team. Why is he wearing his 1977 ring? Why 1977? What does it mean?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lastings Milledge doesn’t show up in camp BEFORE he’s scheduled to do so? What can he possibly be thinking?
Fred Wilpon decides that the Mets should try to win the World Series this year!!! What could have led to this pronouncement???! Does this reflect a change in policy?! Will Willie agree?!! Stay tuned!!!
All of the prospects look really good!!! But some of them won’t start the season with the Mets!!! They need more time in the minors!!!
See this is why I find it hard to get into the pitchers and catchers thing. I look forward to it every year, but then when it comes, I eagerly grab the newspapers to read …. stories like these. Ehhhhhh.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:44 am
I love that monkey. He looks like what I look like when I realize that after pitchers and catchers report on February 15, its at least 2 weeks till there will actually be a game.
February 18th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Dana,
My first reaction when I read about Carlos Beltran’s comment? I can’t wait to see what Dana says about it.LOL! I loved your take on it. The pictures are worth 1000 words! I agree that a lot of sports reporting in the papers and online these days would fit very well in the pages of the tabloid papers like the Star, National Enquirer and the Globe. I hope that when spring training actually gets into full swing, the concentration will be on baseball, and not the personal lives of the players.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
The monkey’s face is what I look like when I realize that there’s actually six weeks before there’s a game that will count.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:58 am
Dana, that’s why I go to Spring Training every year. It makes the wait (and hence my monkey-face time) shorter.