I'd like to thank the good lord for making me a Yankee fan.

Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets in their home opener Thursday. He appeared as I expected, looking like Bozo the Clown, a guy with long hair wearing a baseball cap. It's impossible for a guy to not look ridiculous wearing a baseball cap over long hair. The guy looks like Bozo.

See what I mean. In recent years multiple Met pitchers have taken that appearance, led by starting pitcher Jacob DeGrom.

Today I turned on the Met game and DeGrom was pitching and he looked like a baseball player. deGrom had cut his hair and looked normal. Eventually he was replaced by a ridiculous looking guy with long hair under his cap, deGrom's former look.

I thought it's symbolic of how pathetic it is to be a Met fan. In the previous post I had the list of players who have hit two home runs in an inning; five times by Yankees (four since 1962). Also new Yankee manager Aaron Boone. No Met has done it. The Mets started in 1962 and there are very few distinctive achievements by Met players. No Met has hit four homers in a game. The season record for homers is only 41. Yankees with at least 41 home runs since 1962:

Rk	Player	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Alex Rodriguez	54	2007	31	NYY	AL	158	708	583	143	183	31	0	156	95	11	120	21	0	9	15	24	4	.314	.422	.645	1.067	*5/D
2	Aaron Judge	52	2017	25	NYY	AL	155	678	542	128	154	24	3	114	127	11	208	5	0	4	15	9	4	.284	.422	.627	1.049	*9D/H
3	Alex Rodriguez	48	2005	29	NYY	AL	162	715	605	124	194	29	1	130	91	8	139	16	0	3	8	21	6	.321	.421	.610	1.031	*5/6D
4	Tino Martinez	44	1997	29	NYY	AL	158	685	594	96	176	31	2	141	75	14	75	3	0	13	15	3	1	.296	.371	.577	.948	*3/DH
5	Curtis Granderson	43	2012	31	NYY	AL	160	684	596	102	138	18	4	106	75	4	195	5	1	7	5	10	3	.232	.319	.492	.811	*8/HD
6	Curtis Granderson	41	2011	30	NYY	AL	156	691	583	136	153	26	10	119	85	0	169	12	4	7	12	25	10	.262	.364	.552	.916	*8/HD
7	Jason Giambi	41	2003	32	NYY	AL	156	690	535	97	134	25	0	107	129	9	140	21	0	5	9	2	1	.250	.412	.527	.939	*3D/H
8	Jason Giambi	41	2002	31	NYY	AL	155	689	560	120	176	34	1	122	109	4	112	15	0	5	18	2	2	.314	.435	.598	1.034	*3D
9	Reggie Jackson	41	1980	34	NYY	AL	143	601	514	94	154	22	4	111	83	15	122	2	0	2	7	1	2	.300	.398	.597	.995	*9D/H

No Met has been voted MVP. Yankee MVPs since 1962, the first two could be ignored:
Mickey Mantle 1962
Elston Howard 1963
Thurmon Munson 1976
Don Mattingly 1985
Alex Rodriguez 2005
Alex Rodriguez 2007

Johan Santana (Innings: 1,308 Twins, 717 Mets) finally pitched a Met no-hitter and it ruined his career. Cy Young awards since 1962:
Mets 4:
Tom Seaver 1969
Tom Seaver 1975
Dwight Gooden 1985
R.A. Dickey 2012

Yankees 3:
Sparky Lyle 1977
Ron Guidry 1978
Roger Clemens 2001

Mike Piazza finally became the first Met position player elected to the Hall of Fame; his best seasons were with the Dodgers.

Any all time Met team is unimpressive. It has, of course, Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (won game 300 pitching for the White Sox) as the all time Met pitcher. The Mets sent Seaver away ... twice. I've compared it to an all time Yankee team limiting the Yankees to 1962 forward and not including Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. The only position the Mets win outright is catcher with Piazza. I gave Strawberry a draw with Winfield in right. Seaver wins pitcher.

So I sent an email to a couple of friends who are Met fans, teasing them about deGrom's haircut and paraphrasing the great Yankee Clipper, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio:

I became a Yankee fan before the Mets existed, during the true golden age of New York baseball, 1958-1961, when the Yankees were the only New York team, culminating in the great home run race between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Then the clown stuff began when Casey Stengel (managed Yankees to ten pennants 1949-1960) became the Mets first manager and clowned around calling his team the Metsies, Metsies.

Today during the Met game color analyst Keith Hernandez (PA: Cardinals 4,724, Mets 3,684) seemed to approve of deGrom's new look but referred to the team as your Metsies. 57 years old and they're still Metsies. Cute or embarrassing? Or just clowns? Like Bozo the clown.

I'd like to thank the good lord for making me a Yankee fan. And not a Met fan.