Just 59 days until the Phillies opener and already there is bad blood boiling between them and their division rival, the New York Mets.
Last year with just 17 games to go in the regular season, the Phillies were trailing the Mets in the NL East by seven games. The Mets squandered their hold on the NL East by ending their season 5-12.
At the beginning of the season, soon to be National League MVP, Jimmy Rollins announced to the press that, “We are the team to beat.”
Many criticized Rollins and his leadership skills, but little did anyone know the up and coming Phils were about to make an impact on the NL East.
This year, four time All-Star, Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets decided to put his team, and himself, out on a ledge. Two days ago Beltran took a shot at Rollins during a press conference.
He told the press, “This year tell Jimmy Rollins WE’RE the team to beat.”
The Mets were not the only ones having fun though. The Phillies decided to play a little prank on their third starter Kyle Kendrick. Charlie Manuel, Kyle’s agent Joe Urbon, Philadelphia Media, and Phillies players were all in on a prank in which they told Kendrick that he was being traded to the Yomiuri Giants of the Japanese Central League. They told him he was being traded for Kobayashi Iwamura.
Since the Met’s acquisition of star pitcher Johan Santana, the whole organization is running high. The Mets, and general manager Omar Minaya, are looking forward to what they believe is to become an incredible season.
The Mets were not the only National League East team that acquired some offseason talent. The Phillies signed out fielder Geoff Jenkins, traded for reliever Brad Lidge, and resigned key reliever J.C. Romero.
But the MVP beat Carlos Beltran to his remarks. Earlier in the offseason Rollins told reporters that the Phillies would win 100 games. Brett Myers responds to his teammate's remark, “I think he said it because he believed it. We all believe it in our minds but we’re not the outspoken types to come out and say it in the media. Jimmy is the type of guy who can do that.”
Myers is not the only Phillie that has been jawing this offseason. Reliever Tom Gordon said that he believed they were still the team to beat. But no one said it better than Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino.
“It’s gonna be fun,” said Victorino, “Put it that way, its going to be an interesting season, New York Mets 1, Philadelphia Phillies 1. Let’s get it on.”
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4 months ago
oh my god, there is no rivalry, our only rivals are the Braves. I'm pretty sure our record will duplicate than last year. Those phillies got lucky. Seriously I never like a Phily and NY rivalry it just plain sucks. Anybody but Philthy Philly. The Mets have a better rotation and lineup. I Seriously don't see the Philthies as a contender, they won the division by what, ONE game, WOW, they are really good (yeah right?) If we were able to hold the lead till the last day with the lineup and rotation we had, don't u people think that with Santana we will definitely win it by a landslide. Those Philthies will definitely not make the playoffs, Mets are the team to beat.
METS #1
from 4 months ago
hey thanks for the comment. but hey, you can say that you held ur lead until the last game. but who won. who played better down the stretch. you lost last year. get over it. and im was not saying in my piece that the phillies are gonna make it to the playoffs. u just made that blind predjudice that all phillies fans are arrogant and think their team is better than all the rest. but heres one thing i do believe.
PHILLIES #1
4 months ago
lets look at this way. the phillies got swept by the rockies in the first round. wow they should be proud. those philthies are garbage. better watch out for the braves.
BRAVES #1
4 months ago
What I don't get is why everyone seems to be so quick to count the Braves out of this race. Had the Braves been able to beat the Reds last year they'd been right there in the division race, as it was, they only finished 5 games back in the end. The Braves, as much as any team in the league, addressed what cost them last year, starting pitching. They've added three pitchers to this club, one a promising youngster, one a proven vet, and another a wildcard coming off of injury. If only ONE of them pans out, and the rest of our staff performs like it did a year ago, that would be enough to keep us in the race. If more than one pan out, I really like our chances. Starting pitching doomed us a year ago. Our starters didn't make it long in too many games, really taxing our pen, and in too many games dug us too big a hole early on. We did a fine job of addressing that. If you think it's all about the Mets and Phils, as for some reason a lot of people apparently do, you've got another thing coming.
4 months ago
hey ben. i konw where ur coming from when at the beginning of the year last year, everyone was quick to tell off the phillies after their 4-11 start. and matt, did we get swept in the first round? yes. Did you have the skill, talent, or guts to make a run out of third place in the NL East where you sat, quietly waiting almost the whhole year?? Not Quite.
4 months ago
Didn't have the guts? So the Braves didn't have the desire and will to win the division and that's why they failed to do so, right? Yeah, I'm going to buy that. What the Braves didn't have was enough starting pitching. That's changed this year, so yes, you better watch out for them. I also wouldn't say we sat quietly waiting the whole whole year either last year, we spent most of the year with our foot in the door in the race. We were there, and the Mets and Phils knew it, whether YOU want to admit it or not.
4 months ago
You cant tell a philadelphia phillies fan that you had no pitching!!!! We had Cole Hamels. the rest of our bullpen, and rotation was crap.
4 months ago
Now living in NY, but having grown up not far from Philly (up the river), & having been immersed in the area's continual & general anti-NY sentiment for years & years, this "rivalry" seems to me to have been foregone before it was even anything of which to speak.
It's difficult to judge this year by by last; both NY & P were good at different times (NY early, P late), and the split reflects into the eventual playoff pic.
Nevertheless, the Bravos have a scary rotation if everyone's healthy & on; should be a real donnybrook between the three teams, & should sell lots of tickets.
Here's to a three-team post-season playoff! (Won by the Mets, of course...)
4 months ago
i like the bad blood that's brewing. i'm an AL West follower my self but it sure does make me pay attention to the NL East some more!
4 months ago
Ben, I have bad news buddy, Santana locked the NL for the Mets. The Phillies stole their chance last year, they won't get it again. Mets versus Tigers in the World Series. Remember where you heard it first.
Nice article though.
4 months ago
I agree, it's going to be a three team race.
As for Santana making it a lock? Please. Nothing is a "lock" in sports. I mean seriously, how many more wins will Santana give them than Glavine did? Not enough that it becomes a "lock". It's going to be a three horse race. I think the Phillies have the best offense, the Mets the best rotation (though if the Braves are healthy they might have something to say about that) and the Braves perhaps the overall best combo of the two. It's going to be a three team race. Those that think otherwise are mistaken.
4 months ago
i agree with Ben^. there is no such thing as a lock in sports...anytime...no matter what. but there is no telling what will happen in the NL East this year. it should be the most exciting division in sports. but i think that my phils will be able to pull it out. thats not saying that it wont be close.
4 months ago
I agree with something Jayson Stark said today. The Phillies need a lot to go right. They must have Brad Lidge work out, and the guys they have in the rotation must pan out, because there's not a lot of room for error in their pitching staff (see the Braves of 07). That said, even if those things don't pan out, there's enough offense, and jsut enough quality arms to stay in the race all year. But to come out on top, I think the Phils, more than the Braves or Mets, must hope everything goes right for them. I guess it comes out this way. Potentialy, if all goes right for them, I think the Phils are possibly the best team in the division, have the most upside. However, they also, in my opinion, are on the thinest line so to speak with less margin for error. So while they have the most upside, they could also have the most downside of the three.
4 months ago
Man, I find it amusing how they say New York is a baseball town, yet I find that no one up there knows anything about baseball.
This just in, the Phillies won the NL East last year. It wasn't luck. We did it by beating the team that was ahead of us the last two months of the season. As far as Santana locking up the division, that maybe true but I will give you better odds that he tears his labrum in May then them winning the division. And explain to me how New York's rotation is so much better than the Phillies? While they probrably are better, they're sure as hell not that much better and with the exception of third base, there is not one player in their starting 8 that would start on our team and don't even bring up the bench.
Braves, man, ,if that rotation stays healthy, they will be scary good. Their lineup is as every bit as good as ours and so is the bench. Their bullpen is by far the best in baseball. And their manager could take a nap in the middle of the game and still out manage Manual.
4 months ago
The Phillies have put together, no dount, a great team going into the year. But the Mets splurged for Santana and while the Phillies biggest problem is who their closer will be, our biggest problem is hoping El Duque will do bad so Pelfrey can get starts. The Phillies were a nice little team playing way above their heads, riding high on hype and confidence. They ran out of gas and were brought down to earth by the Rockies. The Mets rank among AL Superpowers, and deserve the benefit of the doubt over the Phillies. I don't see the Phillies getting a playoff berth in '08.
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