Phils are gamers, and Mets know it
Another night when the Phillies showed the Mets what they're up against.
Phils are gamers, and Mets know it
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Good column in the New York Post today by Mike Vaccaro. What it did, more than anything, was paint a picture of the dynamic that exists between the Mets and the Phillies, about how the Phillies know how to win and how the Mets know this all too well.
Everybody has lived the rivalry the last couple of years. Everybody knows what happened, about how the Mets gagged away their chances as the Phillies caught fire at the end in both 2007 and 2008. Faced with the need to win, a desperate need, the Phillies responded and the Mets wilted.
Gamer. It is a baseball word, even if it sometimes gets applied to athletes in other sports. Gamer. A guy who plays the game. A guy who does what it takes to win. A guy who recognizes those moments in games, those moments when fortunes pivot, and gets himself on the right side of those moments.
Gamer. It is the word that defines so many of the Phillies. And on a night when Jayson Werth makes a great diving catch to save the game in the 10th inning, and then Chase Utley hits his second home run of the night to win it in the 11th, it is a words whose definition was writ so very large. The Mets read it, too.
Manager Jerry Manuel could read it. He said, "It's no secret that this is a team that knows very well how to win baseball games. They take advantage of anything you throw at them."
David Wright -- who hit the ball that Werth caught, who rounded first base with this excruciating look of frustration on his face as Werth tumbled and held on -- could read it. He said, "What we have to do is a better job of answering. Like they do."
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Where are all of the Werth haters today??? I'll be at the game tomorrow vs the Red Sox with my custom made Werth jersey on.- Comment removed.
After so many years of watching a team that looked like a deer in the headlights looking for any way possible to lose, it's great to root for a team that knows it can win... and does!! You gotta be in a serious state of depression after last night if you're a Mets fan! Poor babies!!— James TL- Comment removed.
- Muck the Fets.— Philth
- Its not being a Werth hater. He gives it all he's got. He's just not an everyday player as evidenced by his mediocre numbers for a corner OF.— gluteman
- The Trash talk doesn't really mean very much in the end...— NickEeee
- the muts are choke artists! i cant believe how they gave that game away to the phils last nite. 99 out of 100 times wright makes that dribbler to 3rd, but the phils get in their heads and they choke! I LOVE IT! i think this roadie is already a HUGE success, but to win again tonite would be the icing on the cake!— theeducator
- werth is an everyday player you're nuts— Sillies
Phils are proven gamers, Bird's have not been. The Bird's lost their best gamer in Dawkins. It all stems from the leadership (Lurie/Banner/Reid) on down.— Earl J- Phils are proven gamers, Bird's have not been. The Bird's lost their best gamer in Dawkins. It all stems from the leadership (Lurie/Banner/Reid) on down.— Earl J
- good one donkey!— doggybag
- Werth still sucks!!— Greg1
- It's nice to see a team with so many clutch players! Most of our teams choke when the games on the line! Go Phils!— hexyscores
