As the season fast approaches I wanted to take a look at the pulse of the Mets fanbase and see how people feel about the competition out there. Rivalry is such an overused word by most sports broadcasts that it tends to get watered down. In the case of the Mets I wanted to take a look at who I felt were their top rivals. I’d love to see how you stack them up cause I know some people are gonna disagree with me!

1) Philadelphia Phillies: Most of you are doing “Duh!” but this top spot is really fluid. Of course for the last few seasons it’s been the Phils in the top spot. But for years before that the same position of distinction was held by the Braves. I think it goes up a notch though when it’s Philly. There is just a lot more animosity between the two cities. Both towns just do not like each other. A lot of it carries over from other sports like football, hockey, and even basketball. We despise the Phillies and especially their fans.

2) Atlanta Braves: These days this is more a residual hatred then an active distaste. The Braves have had a down few years but the rivalry is still there. You still hear “Laaaaaaaarry” chants at Citi Field so you know the hated is strong (the guy named his god damned kid after OUR stadium, ughhhhh). These guys just had such a run you could’t help but dislike them. And they did it in such an arrogant way. It certainly didn’t help that Tom Glavine continued to be a great asset for the Braves, even when he was wearing a Mets uniform.

3) New York Yankees: Ok so the first non-division opponent. This isn’t so much a Yankees vs Mets rivarly, it’s really all about the fans. It’s about Yankees fans, particularly those under the age of 30, that just think their Yanks have always been great and their overall sense of entitlement, and lack of reality. I am not sure if the dislike is mutual, but I know Mets fans can’t stand Yankee fans. Even if your not a Yankee hater, you can’t help but get a smirk on your face when they lose in some agonizing way because inside you hope that maybe, just maybe this will put some pause in Yankee fans and wake them up. It never does.

4) Florida Marlins: Ok so this might be the first spot I veer off course for a lot of you reading this. Why the Marlins? Cause it made me sick to my stomach to watch them play spoilers and beat us in our own building two seasons in a row to knock us out of the playoffs. On top of that my Grandmother is a huge Marlin fan, and anytime they do anything remotely interesting I have to hear about it. Let alone if they knock the Mets out of the playoffs … again. The fact that since their inception this team has been basically abysmal and yet still has twice as many titles as the Mets do in that time is staggering. When the Florida Marlins are a better run organization then you are, over a fifteen year period, something is really wrong.

5) St. Louis Cardinals: Another one people might not agree with. I still have nightmares about that 12-to-6 boomerang curveball by Adam Wainwright that left Carlos Beltran’s bat on his shoulder. This still causes me pain. Not to metion having to watch a guy who has hit 35 home runs in 6 seasons jack one out against Billy Wagner in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the NLCS. Can you tell I am scarred? Deeply.

Honorable Mentions:
LA Dodgers: Not so much for the baseball played, but because of the fact that when our owner goes to bed at night I know he secretly dreams that he actually owns the Dodgers, and not the Mets. That’s ok though because at times I have the same dream about the Wilpons!

Pittsburg Pirates: this is a nod to back in the days of Bobby Bo and Barry Bonds. I remember as a kid rooting so hard for the Mets to beat the Pirates. Man they just seemed invincible back then. Of course they quickly fell off the map of baseball and into the land of obscurity. Quite sad really.

There is a quick run down on how I feel about the Mets rivals. I’d love to hear how you rank them!