Have the Mets Replaced the Yankees as New York's Favorite Team?

It's hard to imagine a much worse season for the New York Yankees. Their pitching staff has been in disarray since the beginning of the season. Their big bats are rather incredibly putting up exceptional numbers but very few wins. Their manager has been in the dog house for not rallying the troops . And even the grandstand play of bringing back Roger Clemens out of retirement for many, many dollars has not produced the desired results. The depression that has set in among Yankee fans is palpable. It's exactly the time for the Mets to siphon off Yankee fans and convert them to New York's National League entry. The Mets may have just what New York fans are looking for, a lot of wins and a trip to the post season

The Past Is the Past. If you take a quick look at the list of pitchers that the New York Yankees have at their disposal, you have to be impressed. Clemens, Pettitt, Mussina and Rivera at closer this is some serious pitching. Correction this WAS some serious pitching. The Yankees have spared no expense to put together a pitching staff that can go the distance and take the Bronx Bombers deep into the post season. But money, at least the money the Yankees have spent, doesn't seem to be the answer for the American League, New York franchise. Instead of sitting on top of the Eastern Division, their frequent habitat, the Yankees have bounced around the lower part of the standings allowing the Red Sox to establish and maintain a double digit game lead.

New York Mets pitching is far from being as solid as they might like. The absence of Pedro Martinez is keenly felt. Jorge Sosa at 7-3 will be missed as he takes some time on the DL . Still the Mets have managed to hold or hover around first place . Starter John Maine is among the top 5 winners in the National League and nicely playing the part of team ace. Tom Glavine brings lots of experience and a better than .500 won/ lost record to the divisional battle. The thing is, all that matters in the long run is not the number of big name, high salaried pitchers you assemble, but of course how many wins they deliver. Right now the Mets seem to have enough pitching to be the new marshals in town as the Yankees are left reading their press clippings.

Can the Yanks Hit Their Way to the Post Season. Again, on paper,it would seem that the Yankees should be able to use their bats to overcome whatever difficulties they are having with their pitching. There are power hitters, guys that hit for average, even a few folks that can run. Alex Rodriguez is having a banner year. Even with mediocre pitching the Yankees really should be able to hold their own in the division, but they haven't. The only bright light was a seven game win streak that seemed reminiscent of the Yankees of old. But something is missing, something is not quite right . The hits aren't showing up when they are needed. And the losses just keep piling up. The talent is indisputably there and its a long season but the longer things don't click offensively for the Yankees the more pressure they put on themselves and the more anxious and dissatisfied their fans become.

Meanwhile the Mets don't have anyone with Alex Rodriguez like statistics. But power hitters Delgado, Beltran and Wright are stepping up and sending the ball out of the park when it really counts. And of course there is Jose Reyes who is hitting .317 with more than 100 hits at the half year. There is offense here, not galactically dazzling, record setting, Cooperstown guaranteeing offense, but consistent, game winning, post season delivering offense. Fans like to see home runs and offensive stars but when its all said and done, fans really like to leave the park feeling up rather than down. That is the primary difference so far this season between watching the Mets or watching the Yankees.

We've Got Spirit How About You. In the basketball sports classic film "Hoosiers" high school fans are pictured chanting back and forth to the opposing fans: We've got spirit yes we do, We've got spirit how about you?" The question applies to the seasons being experienced by the Yankees and the Mets. Put pitching and hitting aside and there is still another key element to winning games, its spirit, winning spirit. Right now the Mets seem to have it and the Yankees seem to watching theirs disappear like air from a tire.

Nothing they say succeeds like success. For the Yankees the season has been a bust almost since day one. They can't seem to get any traction and every time they look at the score board they see the Red Sox putting more and more daylight between themselves and the Yankees. When there is no success, it is difficult to get that winning feeling back and loss begets loss.

For the Mets, who are winning , the spirit is there and growing. Each win is taking them closer to their goal of post season play. The Mets seem to come to the park ready to play hard and to dig it out because they believe that in the end they will win. They expect to win. They have spirit, yes they do!

The baseball season is a long and grinding one from April to October. Players play through long road trips, scorching heat, chilly rain and individual slumps. Along the way things happen that can alter a season for the good or the bad. There can be new acquisitions, players can come back off the DL rejuvenated and bring new life to a flagging team. Management can shake up the batting order. Pitchers can suddenly start find the strike zone with consistency. In short in baseball anything can happen.

The only way to know if the Mets will take over the spectator enthusiasm in the city is to the let the season play out. But before you jump ship just remember, the Yanks have had hard times before, but sometimes in the middle of the worst winless drought the team collectively remembers something - they are the New York Yankees. There is after all something to be said for tradition and in that department the Yankees win hands down.