“I don’t give a crap what the Mets are doing. Or Dodgers or Giants or Texas or anybody.” These are the words uttered by Washington Nationals’ young star Bryce Harper when asked how he felt about the Mets taking over first place this late in the season. While these words do not mean much when said by on of the most arrogant players in Major League Baseball, it certainly does mean something when said by the most arrogant players in the sport. Harper was clearly trying to keep his “cool guy” attitude when asked how he felt, but one does not have to dig deep to figure out what he really meant. The Nationals are obviously upset about not being in first place anymore, especially when considering they are behind one of the worst offensive teams in all of baseball. The Nationals also do not play the Mets until the last series of the season, which is currently looking extremely intriguing considering the possible circumstances. Therefore, it is vastly important that the Mets use this power to annoy the Nationals for the remainder of the season, because it will give them an advantage over their opponents.
The more annoyed the Mets make the Nationals, the more annoyed Harper will get. The more annoyed Harper gets, the more frustrated he gets during ballgames. The more frustrated he gets during ballgames, the more likely the pain in the Mets’ side is to get ejected from games, which leaves the Nationals without their best player for the remainder of their game. Although the Mets and Nationals will not be playing each other until the end of the season, the two teams will be scoreboard watching because every game played impacts the other team directly. Every time the Nationals lose, the Mets need to win in order to continue pushing their rivals down in the rankings. If the Mets can capitalize on their annoyance factor when playing/discussing the Nationals to the media, there is no saying what the standings will look like come late September.
The Mets have not played meaningful September baseball in seven years, and the Nationals are not blind to that fact. The Nationals know extremely well that the Mets have a young team who may not be able to handle the pressure of such games down the stretch, which is why the Mets need to listen closely to their veterans. Bartolo Colon, David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, and Juan Uribe all know what September baseball means when in a pennant chase. The Mets need to ignore what is being said by them about the Nationals, because the Nationals will be doing all that they can to get under the Mets’ skin. By listening to these veterans and ignoring the outside noise, the Mets will have a much easier time in September, which will increase their chance of making the playoffs.
It is hard for a ballclub to ignore the media, especially when the team is located in the media capital of the world. However, it is vital the Mets do so, and also take advantage of having such a surplus of media members listening to what they say, because the Mets could use it to get in the National’s heads. Therefore, when Harper says something about the Mets, it needs to be in the hands of the veterans on the ballclub to listen to what he says, and then decide whether or not to pass it on to the rest of the team. If they do not, the Mets will have a much harder time during the remainder of the 2015 season.
His point,I think,is that the team he is concerned about is the Nationals.If the Mets can use it as bulletin board material that’s fine.
FYI, the Mets and Nats have a three-game series in early September, in addition to the season-ending series.
Jayson Werth told D.C. reporters: “It’s our division to lose.”
Don’t look now Jayson but your team is in the Mets rear view mirror.
Six games remaining including September 7th, 8th and 9th in DC.
I’d imagine that he’s (Harper) been bombarded with Mets questions for the last week or so and finally grew tired of it. Can’t really blame him, as his team (who was predicted to run away with the division) was at the wrong end of the culmination of the Mets’ ridiculous week.
Werth is right, the division is the Nationals’ to lose. It was that way entering the season and, as of right now, it’s that way now. Of course, we all hope that they actually do end up losing it to the Mets.
Agree with #1. Not with #2.
This isn’t high school. No one cares what Harper says. And in general it would be far better served to heed the Werth comment than to parade around as if the Mets are locked into winning the East by some higher force in the universe. We all love the last 5 games, but that kind of run can flip the other way, just as fast. Let’s recall, Harvey is typically horrific in Miami. Maybe we should be worried about the season 1 game at a time.
+1
Beyond all else, the Mets aren’t commenting. The closest thing to arrogance by this team is the interview with Noah Synergaard during this series. He said “when we make the playoffs” instead of “if.” What this shows is that the Mets clearly aren’t worried about what is going on the Nations Capital, especially what Bryce Harper thinks.
This expected from a ballclub that surpressed the personality of Matt Harvey, refused to tolerate Jordany Valdespin’s attitude (there were other reasons, too), and refuses to make headlines. Regardless, the Mets are focused on winning- not other teams.
“While these words do not mean much when said by on of the most arrogant players in Major League Baseball, it certainly does mean something when said by the most arrogant players in the sport.”
Ummm… what?
everyone talks trash but the games are played on the field not on paper or in the media just play the games and enjoy the season remember it is a long season.