If you were in the company of a Giants fan Friday night, as I was, I suspect the soundtrack in your living room went similarly to the one in mine.
“#*#%##*^!!”
“*!*%#%*#!!”
“#*%##%*%%!!”
(And yes, I admit: while we are allowed now to wander closer and closer than ever before to the actual cuss words these days, I still prefer the ones from the comic books and the cartoons. Call me old-fashioned.)
Saquon Barkley did that.
And here’s the thing: it’s OK to both pine over Barkley’s being gone and to acknowledge it was still the wisest thing to do for the Giants in the big picture. One reaction is visceral. The other one is detached. As a sports fan, the entire act of caring about this stuff is entirely reasonable. But the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
Mets fans have already spent a few months pondering the same scenario with Pete Alonso in the event there’s a parting of ways to come. On the one hand are all the things a genuine fan holds dear: homegrown player, you’ve seen him blossom into an all-star entirely as a Met, the desire for such players to play their entire career with one team. All strong. All of that is right. All of that is fair. All of that is the purview and the privilege of a fan.
For the team, it’s always a bit colder than that.
We saw on “Hard Knocks” just how emotionally wrenching it was for John Mara at the moment he realized Barkley wasn’t going to be a Giant For Life. It was quite understandable. Of all of our owners around here, none is more unabashedly a fan of the team they own than Mara is. The conflict in his face was the conflict of millions.
It’s also possible that Steve Cohen qualifies as the second-most ardent fan of his own team since his affinity for the Mets goes back to 1963 and the Polo Grounds. Whatever he may think is most prudent in a business sense, or whatever other organizational voices may try to sway his opinion, there will be the 13-year-old voice in his head when decision day arrives for Alonso. And if he is playing elsewhere, a similar reaction.
Mets fans feel all of this more deeply than a lot of other fans around here because of two names: Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver. The Mets grew tired of waiting for Ryan to figure out a blister problem and as a result he won 295 of his 324 career games for teams other than the Mets, while the Mets got a year and a half out of Jim Fregosi in exchange. And Seaver, of course, was exiled in 1977 because a miserly boss named M. Donald Grant didn’t care for him, so Mets fans watched Seaver pitch the back end of his prime in Cincinnati.
But it happens to all teams sooner or later. Yankees fans saw Dave Winfield get a World Series-winning hit for the Blue Jays a few years after George Steinbrenner finally succeeded in ridding the team of him, and watched both Dick Howser and Lou Piniella win championships as managers during their own title drought of 1978-96. Islanders fans had to watch Bryan Trottier win his fifth and sixth Stanley Cup rings with the Penguins. It killed Knicks fans to watch Mr. Bill Cartwright win three titles with the Bulls. Jets fans watched Jonathan Vilma win a championship as a key member of the Saints.
And Dr. J as a Sixer?
That still makes 10-year-old me very sad.
There are others. There are many others.
And while we know that’s a part of life in sports, and it’s not just contained to New York — Cardinals fans weren’t exactly thrilled for Keith Hernandez in 1986, for instance, and it’s unlikely Red Sox fans were over the moon when Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens reached the summit with the Yankees — it doesn’t make it any easier.
Didn’t make it any easier to watch what Barkley could do behind a competent offensive line Friday night, scoring three times, looking every bit as sharp as at any time as a Giant. Won’t make it any easier next year to watch Alonso hit bombs in the uniform of the Cubs/Giants/Astros, if that’s how it all shakes out. It never did get easier watching Seaver as a Red, after all — or even Daniel Murphy as a National.
But, then, nobody promised you that any of this would be easy, did they?
Vac’s Whacks
No Jets/Giants win/loss predictions from me this year, just a common wish: that both Daniel Jones and Aaron Rodgers stay upright for 17 games and 18 weeks. It’s a tall task, I know, but that’s the least we can hope for, no?
I’ll let the folks from Strat-O-Matic do the predicting: They did a full simulation of the NFL season and the Jets finished 11-6, AFC East champions and No. 2 playoffs seed, while the Giants went 6-11, third place in the NFC East. In the sim, the Jets bow out to No. 7 Kansas City (9-8), 24-17, in the wild-card game. Dallas (12-5) won the simulated Super Bowl LIX, 27-16, over the Chiefs.
He pitched only one-third of an inning, but his brief appearance in the first game back after 9/11 against the Braves was something ex-Met John Franco said he’ll always treasure. “9/11 was personal for me,” he says. “I lost some friends. I knew I was part of history.”
I don’t say this lightly. The MLB Network documentary “Greg Maddux: One of a Kind” is as enjoyable a sports doc as I’ve ever watched. Do yourself a favor and savor it.
Whack Back at Vac
Matt Deakin: This is who the Yankees are. Except for Judge and Soto, they are a low-energy team with a low-energy manager. Teams like this don’t win championships. I wish it was different.
Vac: I’m still stubborn enough to believe that once you get to October all bets are off and anything can happen.
Gary Siegel: What a great man your father must have been. I also hate the excessive celebrations. I’m glad you learned the lesson many years ago and shared the wisdom of your father.
Vac: I mean, Mark Vientos hit a walk-off Friday, had a wonderful and excited reaction, and somehow didn’t make a fool of himself. Is that really such a terrible standard?
@jlgnyc11: This Mets stretch has a 2002 Oakland Athletics feeling … although I hope with a different ending.
@MikeVacc: If 2002 Barry Zito could transport himself to Citi Field, that might also be helpful.
Richard LePetri: Even though Reed Garrett has been better lately, I think I would still feel more comfortable seeing Wayne Garrett jogging in from the bullpen.
Vac: As ever, the song remains the same: Being a Mets fan means forever awaiting the other shoe to drop.
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