This Mets fan is rooting for the Dodgers in the World Series because it is in my DNA. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers just beat my beloved Mets in the NLCS, but that is just a battle between cousins. The Yankees are to the Mets what the Hatfields were to the McCoys. I can never want the Yankees to win because the thought of them winning makes me physically and emotionally ill. How can this be? I can explain.
Loving the Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were family for the maternal side of my family. My mother, her sisters, and their cousins would go to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to see the games all the time. If they could not get in because of a sold-out crowd, they watched the game through the outfield fence. Their devotion to the team was palpable.
Now, they had disdain for their fellow National League rivals the New York Giants as well, but if it came down to the Giants verses the Yankees, they would be rooting for the Giants. The Yankees were seen as Goliath to the Dodgers-Giants’ David. But now and then, David’s slingshot took down the beast, like in 1955 when the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series.
The Unkindest Cut of All
Of course, there is always trouble within families. So, when on October 8, 1957, the announcement was made that their beloved Dodgers were moving to Los Angeles, my family was devastated. Would they root for the Giants now? They didn’t have a chance to think about it because the Giants announced their move to San Francisco. Now living in a town that once had two National League teams, they had none. Would they root for the Yankees now? No way! Not even when hell freezes over!
My grandfather didn’t like to talk about the years 1957-1961, but they were “dark times” as he and other family members struggled to do without the Bums that they still loved in their hearts.
The Birth of the Mets
In 1962 a miracle would happen – The New York Mets were born. And talk about DNA – they were sired with Dodger blue and Giant orange. This new National League team's colors would honor both former teams that had abandoned the city. To make matters even more in the family, nine former Brooklyn Dodger players would join the team that year. And in an ironic twist, former New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel would be their leader. Thus, forging an instant love affair between the fans and their new team, the Mets may have been losers, but they were lovable ones.
Seeing the Light
On the other side of my family, my father and grandfather were lifelong Yankees fans; however, they felt Casey Stengel had been mistreated by Yankees. As Casey joined the Mets as manager, they were both intrigued and started following the team. When Yogi Berra – their absolutely favorite player – joined his former boss as a coach for the Mets in 1965, they made the switch and became Mets fans and never looked back.
So, by the time I was old enough to watch the Mets games with my father, I had no interest in the Yankees. It didn’t matter that they had their winning pedigree or that Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto’s mother lived up the block from me, I had blue and orange colors flowing through my veins. I was a Mets fan and worshiped at the altar of Kiner, Murphy, Nelson – Mets' announcers Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, and Lindsay Nelson.
A Sometimes Rocky Road
To say being a Mets fan is not easy is an understatement. In a town where the people wearing Yankees hats seemed to be omnipresent, I proudly wore my blue Mets hat with the orange curved NY on it. Many of my friends in the neighborhood also were Mets fans, and we lived in Queens close enough to get to Shea to watch games. We didn’t care if our team lost because it went beyond winning and losing. We loved the team most of all because they weren’t the Yankees – boo, hiss!
The Greatest Reward
Our faithfulness was rewarded in the amazing 1969 season – when only the Mets' incredible win could eclipse Neil Armstrong’s walking on the moon. I cannot even describe the joy that victory brought into my friends and family’s lives, but it established a justification for our love of the team then and always.
Yes, we have had a rough ride since then. The hopes were aroused but vanquished in 1973 and again in 2000 and 2015, but there was the unbelievable 1986 World Series victory that in some ways topped the euphoria of 1969. Through all the ups and downs – and there were certainly a lot more downs – I remained faithful as so many Mets fans do. It’s a love of team over anything else.
The Inevitable Grief
So, at 11:24 pm EST on October 20, 2024, this year’s dream died. No more OMG and Grimace. No more Number 7 train faithful fans pouring into Citi Field. No more hopes of Pete Alonso or Francisco Lindor saving the day again. It was over!
However, these Mets embodied much of what made the 1969 and 1986 teams special. Their was a chemistry that was obvious, and a steady hand in manager Carlos Mendoza reminiscent of Davey Johnson and Gil Hodges. I can only hope that much of this team can come back next year – like the 1985 Mets who almost made it and came back in 1986 and succeeded. Oh, and Steve Cohen, please bring back Alonso!
Go Dodgers!
So, now I will be rooting for the Dodgers because they are family. Yeah, they’re the cousins that we don’t always see or hear from, but they are still our kin. They say blood is thicker than water – in this case my blue blood. The Yankees are strangers, not welcome and not wanted in my house. Go ahead, Dodgers, kick their asses!
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