Last year Jimmy Rollins mouthed off in Spring Training with a declaration that his Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East.
Met fans and the NY Media rode him hard all year, until his prophecy was fulfilled by divine intervention and a colossal Met collapse.
Rollins was vindicated further when he captured the NL MVP award, officially anointing him as the division's best shortstop—a distinction thought to be held by Mets All-Star Jose Reyes.
This year, Rollins has said nothing. His 2007 performance stands as proof of his and the Phillies' current status as the reigning NL East champs.
Carlos Beltran, the Mets' All-Star center fielder, seeing how well Rollins' boast lifted his team to the playoffs last season, has broken his notorious ban on public speaking and pulled a page out of Rollins' book.
"To Jimmy Rollins," Beltran announced to a group of reporters in Port St. Lucie on Saturday, "we are the team to beat."
The astounded press corps, who have come to expect very little copy from the reserved Beltran, scrambled to get their pens, notebooks, and recording devices out of their bags.
"Let me tell you this," Beltran said. "Without Santana, we felt, as a team, that we had a chance to win in our division. With him now, I have no doubt that we're going to win in our division. I have no doubt in that. We've got what it takes."
Does this mean that the Beltran that we have come to know and love for being devoid of passion, enthusiasm, and leadership is going to pull an Eli Manning?
Perhaps it was becoming a father for the first time this off season that sparked this sudden attitude adjustment in Beltran.
We can only hope.
When told that the Philadelphia fans would take umbrage to his remarks, Beltran simply shrugged it off—like most leaders do.
"I don't care," Beltran said. "They boo me in Houston. One more city won't make a difference."
All right! We have found our Luca Brasi.
10 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Aaron Yorke about 1 year ago
Wow. I can't believe Beltran would go off like this.
It's funny, though. I was just talking to my brother this morning about how I don't think the division race will be that close this year. If someone can challenge the Mets, it's the Braves and not the Phillies.
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Dan Kane about 1 year ago
Some leader. Beltran is weak in the clubhouse and weaker on the field. One of the most overrated players in the MLB. Great way to talk to the polar opposite of Beltran-AN OVERACHIEVER!
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Danno M about 1 year ago
The Mets have the better pitching, but the Phillies have a terrorizing lineup that got better when they signed Feliz to play 3B. This is the year we'll see if great pitching can beat great hitting. The Braves....I'm just not seeing it with Andruw Jones gone and a shaky bullpen outside of Soriano.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Beltran is the man, those Philthies never stand a chance against the Mets, most of those games we lost against them were very close and we had injuries. I'm tired of these people saying the Mets and Phillies are rivals, their is no rivalry, our only rivals are the Braves. The Philthies got lucky, cause they won by what ONE game, WOW, they are really good (yeah right?), and got blown out in the playoffs. The Mets are the team to beat period. Enjoy you Philthy people watching the Mets in the playoffs while your Philthies are at home sucking their dicks.
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Sean Crowe about 1 year ago
I like the Mets, but they're not a great team by any means. They're probably the best team in the NL. Probably. The collapse at the end of last season was epic. It's the type of thing that's going to be in the back of their minds come September, especially if they hit a bump in the road.
They have a great shot to get swept by the AL champion in October, whoever that may be.
Hopefully Pedro comes back strong and the animal lovers stay off his back...
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Rusi Patel about 1 year ago
This is going to be a great year for the NL East. I think this is the year the division places itself as the division with the best top 3 in baseball.
I would not be surprised in the least if the third place team in this division has a better record than the other two division winners in the NL, especially the NL Central.
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Justin Wells about 1 year ago
Some leader. Beltran is weak in the clubhouse and weaker on the field. One of the most overrated players in the MLB. Great way to talk to the polar opposite of Beltran-AN OVERACHIEVER!
Yeah, 2 consecutive seasons of 30 Plus HRs, 110 plus RBI and gold glove caliber defense doesn't make you one of the best players in the game.
Carlos Beltran is a monster. He's one of the best CFs in the game. Maybe the best (Curtis Granderson might have a say in there).
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Patrick Gallen about 1 year ago
As a Phillies fan it pains me to say that the Mets are the team to beat. How can you not be with Wright, Reyes and now Santana. But it's a close fight in the NL East. They will bash each other all year on and off the field and it's setting up for a great season. Think about all of the injuries last year both teams had. I think the Phils went through 30 different pitchers or something close to that. Can't wait for the season to start.
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John Fennelly about 1 year ago
it should be fun in the East and the West
...and then there's the Central aka The Bandbox Belt
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Patrick are you kidding? Giving into the Mets and their fans? Phillies will run away with this thing by July..
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