2009: An Anniversary To Remember?

By Jaap Stijl
Posted Tuesday, April 7, 2009

"Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event."

To some ways of thinking, this is the 50th anniversary of the Birth of the Mets.

Yes, we all know about 1962.

But it's worth considering that it was back in the dark days of 1959, July 27th to be precise, that the old Shea namesake, William Shea, first announced the formation of a third professional baseball league, primarily because MLB was being so obstinate about replacing the two New York teams that fled for California.

This in turn led to MLB granting a franchise to New York which in turn became the Mets and the Continental League was disbanded.

Ten years later, October 14, 1969 the Miracle Mets win their first World Championship. So we will be hitting the 40 year anniversary this season.

Ten years after that, 1979 for those of you keeping score, led by Joe Torre the Mets finished in last place with a 63-99 record. Ironically, until he went to the hated Braves, Torre's success as a manager was shall we say, rather stunted. The minute he left the Mets after finishes in 6th three years on the trot, 5th the following year and then two half seasons in 1981 when they finished 5th and 4th, he led the Braves to first place. Later of course, unfathomable success with the Yankees.

In 1989, 20 years after the intellectual birth of the Mets, managed by Davey Johnson, whose managerial record with the Mets was in essence the polar opposite of Torre's, the Mets finished in 2nd place with a, 87-75 record.

Another decade later, 1999, saw the Mets finish second yet again, this time despite a 97-66 record and, managed by the efficacious Bobby Valentine, lost that historic Game 6 of the NLCS when Kenny Rogers walked the winning run home. Seems hard to believe that was 10 years ago already. I still remember that nightmare like it happened last night.

So what about the Mets in 2009 with anniversaries of both their intellectual conception and a World Series Championship to be celebrated?

Well for one, the Dodgers will be celebrating their 50th anniversary of winning the World Series in 1959 against the White Sox. So if we would consider 1959 as the intellectual birth of the Mets, we'll be fighting for space in arguing that the milestone merits anniversarial distinction, at least where the National League is concerned.

Yes, the 40 year anniversarial distinction for winning the World Series still holds true but it is also the 40th anniversary of the birth of the San Diego Padres (who I think we can safely say are not in the running for a World Championship this season), the Montreal Expos who are of course now the Washington Nationals, (equally unlikely to reach the playoffs let alone the World Series), the Kansas City Royals (some peoples' dark horse for 2009 but arguably still not World Series material), and the long-forgotten Seattle Pilots, who are now the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that kept the Mets from the playoffs last season but lost their two best starting pitchers in the off season. So here, the Mets, on an anniversarial level anyway, are looking distinctive.

This blissfully ignores the fact that the Braves are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their World Series win over the Yankees, the Giants celebrating the 20th anniversary of their World Series win over the A's in the Quake Series, the Pirates' 30th anniversary beating down the favored Orioles in 1979, as well of the 100 year anniversary of them beating the Detroit Tigers.

In fact if you look over the World Series winners for every year ending in '09 you will see that the National League has produced the World Champion in 1909, 1919, 1929, 1939, 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999.

This won't keep the Mets injury free in 2009 or prevent another Jose Reyes September tailspin. It won't mean that Jerry Manuel will keep his job for 2010 or that Citi Field will be inaugurated with a World Championship. Only 162 games plus a post season will determine that.

What it does mean is that like every year at this time of year there is hope.

So rather than worry myself about whether or not the Mets will win the World Series this season, I'll just be grateful I've not been menaced by having to root for teams who even this early on, have no hope in 2009.