Growing up as a Mets fan in the late 90’s and early 2000’s was brutal. Not only did my team suck but a subway ride away was the most historic franchise in all of baseball and probably all of sports. By the time I was 9 years old I had already seen the Yankees win 4 World Series, while my beloved Mets couldn’t even figure out how to win the division (thank a lot Larry "Chipper" Jones). Lets just say arguments on the playground in 2nd and 3rd grade didn’t go young AC’s way.
To top this stretch off, the Yankees defeated the Mets 4-1 in the 2000 Subway Series to win their 4th title in 5 years (If Timo Perez runs out Todd Zeile’s double it’s a different series) and I finally accepted that my team would forever be nothing more than the love-able losers of New York.
However, with that 2000-2001 off season came a ton of hope. Alex Rodriguez, the most gifted player in baseball, was about to become a free agent and the Mets were his top choice. Day after day my Dad would run to the corner store to grab the newspaper while I popped on Sports Center to see the latest A Rod news.
Early on things looked promising. The Mets were the talk of the league and landing A-Rod was about to make them serious contenders for years to come. But then the negotiations started. A-Rod and his agent Scott Boras (who we now like because of Pat Light but I strongly disliked at the time.) asked for some RIDICULOUS perks. The list included his own office and marketing staff, a luxury box, his own merchandise tent and a private jet. A GOD DAMN PRIVATE JET! Unfortunately, Steve Phillips, the Mets GM at the time, was having none of it and the negotiations fell through without the Mets even making an offer.
I was pissed at how this all transpired. I was a shortstop during my playing career and A-Rod was one of my favorites to watch. The thought of him being on my favorite team was about to make this young fan's dream come true and instead he went and ripped my heart out.
As most know, A-Rod went on to sign a 10-year, $252 MILLION contract with the Texas Rangers where he would use PEDs and pretty much ruin all that he had worked for his entire life. Also he would later move on to play for the Yankees and win a World Series which was also very tough to watch as a Mets fan.
BUT NOW, A-Rod is in position to make every Mets fan's dream come true. That dream is to remove the Wilpons from ownership, start spending money and win us a World Series. It’s a lot to ask for but it looks like that dream may come to fruition.
As History tends to repeat itself, I am not getting too high on this all happening because the Mets are and always will be the dumbest and most incompetent franchise of all time (unless ownership is removed) but one can dream, right?
I have now come to the realization that my little Mets fan-heart broke so that A-Rod could get a $252 Million contract which would in-turn lead him to buying the Mets so that my future kids would never have to suffer. And at the end of the day if I had to suffer for the first 28 years of my life to have the best 25 year run of a sports fan ever, I am all onboard.
This all being said, Alex, please make this happen. You owe us one. You know you made the wrong move in 2000. You can right all of your wrongs if you do this and you can go down as a Mets legend without ever putting a Mets uniform on. Do the right thing.
P.S. if the Wilpon’s somehow find a way to blow this, I will start watching Soccer.
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