Fighting Words

I know that the Mets/Phillies rivalry is the one that gets all the ink, with the war of words and the mutual dislike and the fact that the fans seem to take more enjoyment in invading each other's ballparks than actually paying attention to the games. But I think that, if the Mets are going to throw down with a particular team, a team that especially deserves to take a few lumps, that would be the Florida Marlins.

It's been going on for a few years now, and nobody seems to talk about it much because the Marlins aren't considered to be much of a factor. But they dusted it up a little bit last season, and they dusted it up a lot in '07, and if you ask me, this team hates the Mets with a passion, and they take just a little too much enjoyment in beating them.

If you're a Mets fan, I don't blame you for focusing your hatred on the Marlins one bit. They deserve our ire just as much as Philly, or St. Louis, or any other team that's done something to piss us off over the years. But the Marlins are a special case. They're the ultimate in inferiority. They play in a ballpark that's completely mis-shapen and wrong for Baseball. Their two World Series Championships came without the benefit of a first-place finish and were immediately followed by a swift and immediate dismantlement of the team. Most of their roster is composed of those pesky, annoying-type players who always seem to play a style of baseball that rubs you the wrong way.

And the past two seasons, they've come into our house, kicked us in the nuts and stood over us and laughed.

I'm sick of it. I'm sick of them. Sick of losing games on walk-off hits in that stupid ballpark, sick of them jumping and yelling and whooping it up like they won a Division Title on April 10th, sick of them talking trash about us while they do the same damn thing.

This weekend series could have taken place at any moment over the last three seasons. Three games that seemed to play out as, basically, every matchup between these two teams in a nutshell. Marlins Walk-off win after a furious Mets comeback. Mets rebound victory despite a late Marlin Rally. Marlin pitcher outdueling Mets ace on a fluke error. One win in three games that the Mets could have easily won if they'd managed to play to the level we expect them to play. Why lay down against these guys? Why play at their level? They're not world-beaters. They're the Fucking Florida Marlins, and I've had enough. The Marlins are not to be taken lightly anymore.

Someone on that team needs to take a fastball in the puss. Forget about the Phillies. The Mets and Marlins are going to brawl this season.