I’ve about had enough of the Yankees and Yankee Stadium. After a while the tributes and adulation poured out to that team and edifice in the Bronx is getting a bit sickening. I understand it. I get it that the Yankees are the premier franchise in baseball with all their championships. I get it that with all the history in their building or should I say buildings since the one the All Star game was held in last night was about as original as another hamburger chain. But please now, can you make it stop.

As a Mets fan, it gets a little tiring after awhile. And it did not help that the Mets contingent contributed just a bloop single and a blown lead. There is a way all this can change however. Believe it or not, the city could become a Mets town again. For that to happen, it will take dedication from the players, the GM, and ownership.

If the Mets can continue the roll they started in Philadelphia and make it back to the playoffs, it would go a long way to making us forget the collapse of last season. Mets fans could start to really feel good again. That was happening last season when the Mets were so close to winning their second consecutive division title. Then they took two steps back and the Yankees who struggled all season made the playoffs again. Just when you thought the tide was changing, that orange and blue was washing over the city, the Mets threw it all back into the Yankees lap.

For much of this season, it did not look like anything would change. The Mets struggled all season long. But this time so did the Yankees. However, the Mets with new manager Jerry Manuel seem to have found their identity. They have won 9 consecutive games leading into the break. The Yankees on the other hand continue to struggle. And although both teams have nearly the same record (Mets are 1 game better), the Mets appear poised to charge and it is unclear if the Yankees will have what it takes to make a run. I would never count them out but right now the Bombers have serious pitching and injury concerns. The team with a chance to grab the future is the Mets. When you think about it, last night’s Yankee love fest was really about the past more so than the future.

The Mets players seem to have gotten their act together. They certainly are playing a great brand of ball and look to be having fun doing so. As Carlos Beltran said the other day, they are taking the field believing they can win every day. That’s an important feeling a winning team must have.

Omar Minaya and the rest of management must continue to improve the club but they must do so smartly. The Mets do not have a wealth of talent at the minor leagues to trade for another big name player. Omar said the other day he can no longer make 4 for 1 deals. Because the Mets do not have tons of blue chips in waiting does not mean there are not players who can help. Minaya feels strongly that Nick Evans will develop into a good player. Evans has shown that he can hit at the big league level. He’ll never be a super star but could be a valuable role player. Then there is 19 year old Fernando Martinez who may make it to Shea later this year.

Management while wanting to win this year must keep an eye on the future. To recapture New York or at least to maintain a balance with the Yankees, the Mets need to find a way to be competitive year in and year out. What’s interesting, and perhaps a good sign, is that while all the hoopla this season about young pitchers was over in the Bronx, it has been Mike Pelfrey of the Mets who has delivered. And so has another young pitcher on the Mets, Joe Smith. Smith in time could become a home grown closer for the Mets. Don’t forget, Joe is still very young and is developing into an excellent reliever.  

Ownership must do a better job at promoting the Mets. There is no reason the closing of Shea Stadium should pale in comparison to that of Yankee Stadium. Shea is full of history. There have been many great moments that have happened in the Queens ballpark. What Yankee Stadium moment has been played more than Mookie Wilson’s ground ball that got by Buckner. The Mets should have scheduled a Shea Stadium day bringing back as many great Mets and others as possible in tribute to a building that was the ultimate reason National League baseball returned to New York. Without that structure, there would be no Mets. I know the Mets have not won as many championships as the Yankees, who doesn’t? But that does not mean we cannot celebrate our 2 World Series titles, 4 pennants, 6 division titles and 2 wild card entries.

What kills me is the argument that Shea is an ugly facility with no character. How does a building provide character? It’s what happens inside the building that builds character. Is Shea any less run down than Ebbets Field or the Polo Grounds was before they were torn down. Let me put my Mets bias aside for a second. As an objective fan of ballparks Shea is as well kept as Yankee Stadium. I go to both places. Yankee Stadium’s concourses and bathroom facilities are no cleaner than Shea’s. In fact they are both very acceptable. To cast aside Shea as just a dump with no reason for celebration is very unfair and frankly extremely insulting to Mets fans. Believe it or not, there are thousands upon thousands of fans that would rather spend an evening at Shea than at Yankee Stadium. Many of us will miss Shea Stadium. That’s the yard where we became fans. I wish Mets management understood that.

The swing back for New York to be a Mets town is long overdue. For too many years now the Mets and their fans have been treated as second class citizens. Jerry Manuel got it right and it’s probably why I like him as manger. He pulls no punches. I’ll paraphrase a few comments he said recently. He said the Mets are number 2 in New York and he likely took some heat for saying so. He also said “It’s simple. You want to be number 1? Go out and win a few championships, it’s that simple.” You know something? When the man is right, he’s right.