The most hotly anticipated Opening Day in recent New York Mets history (heck, maybe all of Mets history?) didn't exactly go as planned. New starting pitcher Clay Holmes struggled with his command all afternoon and the Juan Soto-led offense didn't exactly pick up the slack, with a ninth-inning rally eventually falling short in a 3-1 loss.
That loss was met with much rejoicing elsewhere in New York, as Yankees fans pivoted from watching their team hang on for a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers to celebrating a loss by their long-time rivals and newfound nemesis. Which seemed to catch Mets fans by surprise, or at least seem to rub them the wrong way: Why not just worry about your own team? Wasn't it a bit pathetic to donate so much brain space to somebody else?
And hey, maybe it is. But it's also entirely predictable — not just because Soto stiffed the Yankees in arguably the most high-profile free agency in the history of the sport, but because Mets fans made very clear that said free agency was about much more than just signing a baseball player.
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Mets fans shouldn't wonder why Yankees fans are relishing in Opening Day loss
It was, instead, a paradigm shift: No longer were the Mets consigned to being New York's little brother, watching the biggest stars and best players head to the Bronx. They were now the bully on the block, backed by the richest owner (and one of the smartest executives) in the sport, and no amount of ring-counting could undo what had been done.
All of which is well and good! This is the stuff that rivalries are made of, after all. But to paraphrase another famous resident of Queens, with great power comes great responsibility. If you're going to spend all offseason talking about how New York is now orange and blue, you can't be surprised when that gets your rival's attention — and when they become even more invested in hoping you'll fail.
Of course, this is just one loss, and both the Mets and Soto will almost certainly bounce back and be very, very good this season. There's a reason why the outfielder's departure stung so badly. But for all the things you can say about Yankees fans, it's inarguably true that they're comfortable with their place as baseball's heel; you'll never catch them wanting less attention from other fan bases around the league. The Mets aren't quite used to that bullseye yet, but they will be in time, at least if David Stearns and Steve Cohen keep this up. Until then, they should try to remember that this sort of thing comes with the territory.
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