The spectre of Generation K hangs over everything.
We live in a society that wants to name everything. But so far there has been no defining nickname for the quartet of young pitching prospects – Jeurys Familia, Matt Harvey, Jenrry Mejia and Zack Wheeler – that the Mets are counting on to lead their resurgence in the second half of the decade. It is as if everyone is afraid of jinxing this batch, much like what happened to Generation K.
Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson were going to wash the bad taste out of our mouths from “The Worst Team Money Could Buy” and lead the Mets to the promised land in the second half of the 1990s. They were dubbed Generation K, a play on Generation X, but due to the combination of “There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect” and Dallas Green, none of those players developed the way fans dreamed they would.
Generation X was the name given to the post Baby Boom generation, which Isringhausen, Pulsipher and Wilson all were members. What gets lost a little today is some of the connotations behind that name. The generation before were the Baby Boomers, ones born with hope and the belief that they could do anything. Generation X had no identity, they had an uncertain, poorly-defined and most likely hostile future.
Perhaps the decision to create a nickname for a trio of pitchers that you were pinning major hopes on based upon something uncertain, poorly-defined and hostile wasn’t the best idea ever.
So, right now Mets fans are stuck between the desire to name everything and the desire to avoid the fate of Generation K. I have to admit, I wish there was a catchy phrase to describe the four pitching prospects. It needs to be something that rolls off the tongue (like Generation K) but also something that conjures up images of greatness and dominance (unlike Generation K).
We already have sports nicknames revolving around the four aces or the four horsemen or the four majors – so those are all out. And I think the Fab Four and the Fantastic Four have already been taken in other entertainment genres, so let’s scratch those ones off, too.
So, until someone comes up with something better, I’m going with The Queens Quads. Please, someone come up with something better in the comments section ASAP.
Can we wait until they do something before we give them a name? In some ways I think “Generation K” created another layer of pressure besides the ones of a)being a young player trying to make the major leagues and b)being a young player trying to make the major leagues while playing in the fishbowl called New York City. Let’s not do that again. I’d rather they be successful than for them to have a catchy name.
Own the past: “Regeneration K”.
Failing that, how about a corporate sponsored nickname? “The Coca-Cola Doritos Quaker Oats Quartet: To Xfinity and Beyond!” That way the Mets may still be able to afford one of them when they hit abritration eligibility!
Or we could just let ’em be for now and wait to give them their own nicknames when we’re celebrating their first Cy Young Awards.
How about “Jenrry, Jeurys, Matt and Zack”? Appropriately used, of course.
I echo the above the above concerned about undo pressure due to overhyped expectations of a pissed off fan base.
THAT said, I will riff off of Chris W. — The Firestone Buy 3 Get One 1 Free
Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, and Matlack didn’t have a nickname. They won a World Series in 1969 and pushed Oakland to seven games in the 1973 World Series.
Gooden, Darling, Fernandez, and Aguilera didn’t have a nickname. They won a World Series in 1986 and had that great run from 1984-1990.
Generation K did nothing for the Mets. I’m sticking with precedent here. No nicknames!
How about “Wheel n Deal” as a nickname for Wheeler and Harvery?
[…] soon The Queens Quads will come up and bump Pelfrey from the rotation, giving the Mets a staff of five above-average […]