Hey Guys! It's Us! No, Over Here!

IMAGE: JOSHBOUSEL FROM FLICKR

You'd think the New York Metropolitans had died or moved to Kansas. Fade to black. From the last week of September: the great pulling of teeth, to the first week in October: the exodus, the week of sorrow, pain, disgust and anger, to nothing. I swear I haven't heard a thing about the Mets anywhere in the mainstream NY media since the Indians celebrated on the hallowed grounds of the Boss's toilet. Beyond that, if you didn't know better, you might think the playoffs had just stopped, Sopranos-style, with no ALCS, no NLCS, no WS. They just ended when the Yankees bowed out.

There are a lot of unfortunate elements to this whole situation. I say hats off to Joe Torre for turning down an offer that can only be called an insult. He wins for championships, gets in to the postseason every year, and arguably restores respectability to the Yankee franchise, and he gets offered a one-year deal with a 2 million dollar pay-cut after 10 days of limbo. That is a slap in the face. Period. Good for him for not sheepishly submitting to the House of Steinbrenner.

And now, I don't want to hear Joe Torre's name for a long time. Torre is a truly decent human being, and was certainly a great manager. That said, this Torre circus has been enough. The Red Sox and Indians are two hours removed from game 5 of an ALCS, ace vs. ace, and the first question fielded today by Red Sox manager Terry Francona concerned Joe Torre. The Colorado Rockies have won 21 of 22 games, the Cleveland Indians can smell their first title since Truman was in office, the New York have holes-a-plenty to fill this winter,Mets and all we've heard about is Joe Torre.

Alas, the supply will always meet the demand, and if you ever happen to tune in to WFAN in New York, you will have heard endless Joe Torre calls for the last week. Mayor Bloomberg chimed in. So I suppose my wish to put this story to rest will not be heeded, and that's fine, but can we at least take a spare moment to look at what else is going on in baseball? If there were ever a reason that the rest of the country resents to hell all teams from our neck of the woods, this is it. Go watch the World Series, even if the Red Sox do get eliminated some time before Sunday.

I can only hope that in the wake of all this, a couple of notable Yankees, (but mostly Jorge Posada) decide to go elsewhere (Queens). Should he become available, hate him as I have for so many years, it's an absolute no-brainer.