Phils/Mets Turning Into REAL Rivalry

In this day in age, where the media is all around us 24/7, people are always over-hyping players, games, teams and rivalries in an effort to out-scoop the competition and make their stories sound more important and interesting than they really are. As fans, it has become tough to differentiate between the stories where the hype is justified and stories where the hype is more or less imaginary.

There is always an “up and coming rivalry” that sportswriters are trying to push on us, most of which have no chance for longevity. See examples here and here. 99% of the time these rivalries never make their way to the upper echelon of Sox/Yanks, Duke/UNC, Michigan/OSU, Dodgers/Giants and so on. These are games where the rivalry is so strong and the teams so consistently good, that it becomes a national event, not just something talked about within certain cities. The Phillies and Mets are nowhere near that point, but they have a chance, and I think it would be great for baseball. Here’s what makes their rivalry legit:

1. The Players Care – This is not always the case in the big rivalries. For instance, Red Sox v. Yankees is a HUGE game for the fans of each team, but for many of the players, they don’t see it that way. Case and Point – poster boy for the 2004 champs Johnny Damon leaving town for more money with the Yankees. With the Phils and Mets, we’ve had players on either team calling each other out the last two years. Last year, Rollins declared the Phils “the team to beat” in a division that was clearly the Mets to lose. This year, soft-spoken Carlos Beltran fired back, saying “this year, tell Jimmy Rollins WE’RE the team to beat,” to which Shane Victorino responded “Let’s get it on.”

2. The Fans Care, and hate each other – This isn’t terribly shocking – but the level of hatred and intensity for the fans has risen dramatically the last year or so. If you ask any Phillies fan who their least favorite team is, I’d bet 90% say the Mets. I know I would – I worked for the Phillies for 2 years, and far and away, the Mets fans were the most obnoxious – much, much worse than Red Sox or Yankees fans. From the Mets side, after their collapse, the Phillies surge, and the Phils beating them 8 straight times at the end of the year, I would say that after the Yankees, the Phillies are probably the team they hate the most as well. In today’s home opener, they weren’t just booing Jimmy Rollins, but every decent Phillies player who stepped to the plate.

3. Both Teams Have Young, Charismatic Talent – Rivalries die pretty quickly when one team becomes plain awful. But the nucleus’ (nuclei?) of these two teams are full of young and/or exciting players. The Mets have David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana and the Phillies boast Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels. Right there you have arguably the best 1B, 2B, SS, CF and SP in the NL. All of these players are locked in the for next several years and it is likely they will be in contention for the NL East title for the next 3-4 years, if not longer.

4. National Attention – One writer making some random assessment of an up and coming rivalry is one thing, but the Mets and Phillies have gotten a lot of national press, and are finding their way to the front of the online sports sites. See here and here. Not to mention the ramp-up in attention when the inevitable brawl takes place. I feel like people are finally tiring of the droning Sox/Yanks coverage that has smothered us this decade – and the media outlets might be looking to move to another New York related rivalry. Furthermore, as I mentioned above, there is a PLENTY of star power to make this an exciting match-up to watch for a casual baseball fan.

5. They play 19 times a year, and are 100 miles apart – Nearly every great rivalry has a geographical aspect to it. Auburn/Alabama, Pitt/West Virginia, USC/UCLA, Pick-A-State U v. Pick-A-State Tech. Phillies fans flock to Shea and visa versa. Not to mention these are fans that are already trained to hate each other with the Eagles/Giants and Flyers/Rangers meetings.

Whether this becomes a big national rivalry or not – I guarantee you both of these teams and fans know exactly when they face each other next and are thankful there are 19 meetings so there will be no season series tie.

Any other reasons you guys think this could be the next great rivalry? Or reasons why you think it won’t?

April 8, 2008