Fauxpening Day got me thinking about how long the Mets have been defending their 1986 championship. It is starting to be a long time. I have lived far more days since the ring than I did before.
The Mets were, in retrospect, one of those lucky teams. A championship in year 7. Another World Series a few years later. Then, what seemed to be a really long drought, but it was 17 years between 69 and 86, so the Mets should have won in 2003.
Mathematically, with 30 teams, the Mets are due in 2016, and Sandy’s slow planning might have them lined up for that. The downside to such math is I wonder if I will make it to the 2076 parade. Even Bobby Bonilla will be off the payroll by then.
The Cubs sure are one of those teams. 104 years. It’s so bad that they’d be better off never winning. What would be the fun of being a Cubs fan complaining that they haven’t won in three years? Might as well play at the Cubs Dome then,
The White Sox went from 1917-2005, yet somehow did that invisibly. I never felt like they were inept. I never felt anything about them ever except the occasional “what the hell are they wearing?” or peering over the fence to see how Seaver was doing. That too stopped in 1986.
The Red Sox sure were on of those teams. They aren’t any longer, and have managed to stay interesting, but in 1986 they were not just one of those teams, they were THAT team.
The Phillies went from birth until 1980 but since I was raised in the 1970’s and the Phillies were always good I never thought of them as being slackers.
The Indians are one of those teams. 1948 and counting. And the movie Major League.
The Browns Orioles went 63 years. I think of the Browns as a joke and the Orioles as a good franchise until recently.
In terms of current droughts,
We talked about the Cubs and Indians, but what about the Senators II Rangers? 51 years and counting, no rings. However, even if Texas wins this year I struggle to imagine the heart-felt stories of the long suffering fans of Arlington.
Our cousins the Astros. Never won. Their best shot was in 1986 when they ran into the Mets. I think they are one of those teams.
Expos Nationals, Padres, Brewers. I don’t feel bad for these teams yet.
Mariners. 35 years. I almost feel bad.
Pirates. I will never feel bad for the Pirates.
Tigers, Royals, and the Orioles again have gone a long time. Nope.
So I guess the Mets have a ways to go. I think we need another 25 years of crazy stories before we get to be one of those teams. I guess I will be blogging for the rest of my days o this earth. At least I will eventually be able to just recycle old content when I do “2010’s week.”
I’ll add this to the discussion, just to play devils advocate. I almost feel like the Mets are borderline in the “that team” status for a few reasons…
1) Being in the Yankees spotlight. The Mets ran the city in the 80’s. the Yankees took hold of it in the 90’s and never looked back. They’ve had 5 parades to our 0
2) 2 high profile collapses.
3) The Madoff Mess
4) The injuries.
5) Family guy making Mets jokes.
I know nothing Mets fans have endured comes anything close to a century without winning a World Series, curses of billy goats and Bartman. But I think the Cubs have been appreciated and even embarrassed as lovable losers, and the Mets have mastered the art of embarrassing themselves and not handling it the right way (ie: The Willy Randolph Firing, Tony Bernezard, misreporting finances and injuries). I know a lot of it had just been sheer bad luck. But being in New York makes you a high profile team, whether you play second fiddle to the Yankees or not. So the spotlight is on us more than teams like Houston, Milwaukee and Seattle.
When the Marlins are outbidding you for your stars, you’re close to rock bottom, however I think for the first time in a while, they are doing everything right.
Like I said, just playing devils advocate. Not trying to say you’re wrong or start an argument. In fact this is one of the best posts I have read on this site recently. Well done.
Sometimes I do think there’s a black cloud over the franchise. The Mets have had years where they put out the same kind of payroll as the Yankees did, but would run into unbelievable injuries. Even the 1969 team, which was actually a pretty good ballclub, is considered something of a fluke because the Orioles were so good.
The feeling in the City in 1969 was hyper electric regarding the Mets….the post WS buzz with books, TV appearances Los Vegas , commercials was also huge. For those who remember and also the magic of 1973 it is hard to think of the Mets exactly in the terms you ponder in article. The Mets of the recent generation make huge off field blunders and ill fated attempts and often sign wrong player subject to injuries with zero back up plan and poor handling of the injury…thus they put themselves in an enormous hole and mismange just about everything. Until mid 1990s NY was an NL town and can somsday hopefully recapture past glory if the correct owner/management team is in place which is not the current case.
I think that, barring trades of exceptional prospects and everyone staying healthy, we’ll be ready in 2014. The Phillies will no longer be a threat(everyone’s getting old down there), the Nationals and Braves being our toughest competition. My biggest concern is having Sandy Alderson at the helm (see R.A. Dickey trade — we should’ve gotten someone major-league-ready for a 20-game, Cy Young-award winner — plus those 200+ innings have to be made up somewhere), pulling the trigger to trade guys that need to be developed without giving them a chance to do it in the Mets organization. To effectively compete against “the big guys” we need a reliable set-up man, closer and a decent outfield. Lucas Duda’s propensity for striking out has to be addressed, even if we trade him (to no team in our division as these things have a tendency to come back and haunt us). Harvey and Wheeler should be ready by next year and Jonathan Niese and Dillon Gee should be better-than-decent starting pitchers by then. My only regret is Johan Santana will be gone by then as I love his heart, determination and leadership. Hopefully, Terry Collins will get the contract extension he deserves to lead us to The Promise Land. See you all at the parade!