Dream World Series: METS v TWINS?

(And now for something completely different.)

Growing up in Oelwein in the 60s I used to see cartoons on the front page of the Des Moines Register that were done by the editorial cartoonist of the time, Frank Miller. He was a NY Yankees fan. Occasionally he would do 1 in the Spring about the hopes for an Official World Series*. Then he would often have 1 at this time of year bemoaning the fact that there wasn't going to be an Official World Series*.

Unlike him I became a NY Mets & a MN Twins fan. Growing up in NE Iowa the Twins are readily explainable. But a Mets fan in an area that is big on the Cubs? It is simple. I feel in love with the team that was the worst expansion team of the 60s. Their winning the World Series in 1969 gave hope to a lot of us who felt that we were losers also.

I did adapt his Official World Series theme. But for me it was 1 with the Mets & Twins playing each other. When asked who I would cheer for I would say it didn't matter, my team would win. Over the years I saw what I called some Semi-Official World series, either the Mets or the Twins made it, but never both. It seemed that when 1 team was hot, the other would be lousy. & more often than not neither would make it to the play offs let alone the Series.

Well, this year started off looking good for the Mets. The Twins appeared to be OK but not likely to win enough to make the playoffs. Well not to long ago as I looked at the standings. I began to think that the Twins might actually get the wild card position. But it wasn't til a day or 2 ago I began to hope they might win the division. Well they did.

So now the question is, what will the playoffs bring? I know what both teams are saying on their websites.

The Mets news page has the article Mets eye baseball's biggest prize subtitled: Despite Pedro's absence, club confident of its chances. It talks about the challenges they have faced during the regular season & what lies ahead to get to the World Series. It paints an honest picture of their recent struggles & the various problems that they have to face in the playoffs. As the article says: "And it's not as though the Mets haven't experienced adversity at times -- if not in the standings and the race, then in the trainer's room. And they persevered through it."

As for what lies ahead: "Who knows? With Martinez now a non-participant, with no comfy lead and with all the normal levels of "Let's knock off the best team" and "Kill the team from New York," the Mets may have gone from favorites to unfavored.

Another challenge"

As for the Twins, their news page has the following article: Never-say-die Twins ready for playoffs. It is subtitled: Underdogs from the North have overcome many obstacles. It recounts their struggles & problems in the 1st half of the season. As the article says: "Still, the division and a spot in the playoffs seemed very far from reach, as the Twins picked up just a half-game on the Tigers by the All-Star break to dwindle their deficit to 11 games. Certainly, there didn't seem to be a feeling that the club would be spraying bottles of champagne in September to mark their return to the postseason.

But while there wasn't much hope, the Twins held on to the chemistry within the clubhouse that had been there since the start of Spring Training. Despite going through such a rough first two months, there was a looseness in the clubhouse that allowed the team to keep faith that something might happen to allow the wins to start coming."

As the article goes on to quote Torii Hunter: "To be down 12 games and come back to earn a spot in the playoffs -- that's hard to do. We proved a lot of people wrong."

As for what lies ahead:"(T)he club doesn't seem to be done proving people wrong just yet.

There are still plenty of questions about the ability of the Twins' young, inexperienced pitchers to carry them through a playoff run, and whether the club can compete with a team like the Yankees, which has seen its share of success in the postseason.

But for a team that has defied expectations all season long, it doesn't seem a surprise that the Twins aren't about to listen to the experts this time either.

'I think this team is just crazy enough to do it all,' Redmond said with a laugh. 'It's just crazy enough to win the World Series.' "

Well, what do I think? I don't know for sure. As it says on the official World Series website: "Playoffs more wide open than ever." That is pretty much how my friends see it, even the Cardinals fans. Although 1 of them, who does the sports for a local radio station, said he could see a subway series. To which I replied with hopes for better results for the Mets this time. Ironically, the Mets start the playoffs facing a former NY team, the Dodgers. & the Twins face another turnarround team, the A's. Both the Mets & Twins start off with home field advantage. So it should be interesting.

Both the Mets & Twins have another thing in common. They have new stadiums in the future. The Mets hope to have a new stadium built next to the original Shea & ready to go by 2009. It will be the end of an era. While Shea wasn't ready for the Mets 1st season (they played in 62 & 63 at the Polo Grounds, it has been their home since 1964 & seen some of their greatest triumphs as well as some games & seasons best forgotten. It was also the 1st home for the NY Jets, which explains their name. & although they go by the Mets their full name, is the NY Metropolitans. (As the old joke goes: "What's a metropolitan?" 1 of life's little mysteries for which we may never have the answer.) I wonder what the 1st owner Joan Payson would think if she could see where the team she named the Metropolitans in 61 is now?

As for the Twins this isn't their 1st move. Their 1st was from Washington DC to Minneapolis-St Paul between the 1960 & 1961 seasons. That move also saw a name change from the Senators to the Twins, a logical change as they were now the Twin Cities team. Interestingly, the 1st stadium they played in was the Metropolitan Stadium (actually in the suburb of Bloomington) which they shared with the Vikings. In 1982 they moved into the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. The only evidence of their original stadium is a plaque in the floor of Mall of America where home base was & Harmon Killebrew Drive (83rd ST originally). & in 2010 they hope to be in their new stadium in the warehouse district of Minneapolis. The new park will again be an open air stadium.

I could go on about the greats that have played in those stadiums, people like Gary Carter & Kirby Puckett (to name only a couple of the way too many to list here). Or such managers as Casey Stengel, Yogi Berra, Gil Hodges & Davey Johnson for the Mets & Tom Kelly & (yes) Billy Martin for the Twins.

So, if in a few weeks on 21 Oct I see a dream "Official" World Series do I dare start to hope that my other dream comes true, an "Official" Super Bowl (Jets v Vikings#)?

Websites:

METS

TWINS

Major League Baseball

World Series

* 1 with the NY Yankees in it. (He always had an asterick by Official World Series with a footnote somewhere in the drawing explaining what he ment.)

# Notice a theme here folks? (& no it doesn't carry over into basketball or any other sport for that matter.)