Yankees-Mets PR Blitz

When I first started following sports, I got excited every time I heard of a guy who played for both the Yankees and Mets. Rafael Santana was the big name in that category for a while. I got very excited when I found out that the awful Tim Leary had a cup of coffee with the Joe Torre Mets in the early '80s. I'll admit, that's creepy. And when Tim Burke and Lee Guetterman got traded, and then in '93 when the Yanks got Frank Tanana for the last week of the season, that was exciting. And then we got treated to some big names: David Cone, Darryl, Doc Gooden.

But now it seems like every few months, someone from the other Subway team gets called up or signed.

I was at the Mets game last night, and was talking to a friend about Ricky Ledee. He mentioned to me that there are 101 players who have played for both the Yankees and Mets. I thought the number sounded way too high. Turns out, he's right.

But I'm not crazy, either. What you may not know is, that ten years ago, following the 1997 season, there were only 61 players on the list. The size of the list has nearly doubled in the last ten years.

Or think about it this way. The Mets came into existence in 1962, and in the 35 years from then until '97, there were only 61 players to play for both teams. That's about an average of about 1.7 new Yankee-Mets a year.

From '98 to '07, less than 10 years, there have been 40 players added to the list. That's an average of 4 new Yankee-Met players per year! The PR war has gotten out of control, folks.

Next time a Met outfielder gets injured, who's gonna get called up first? Aaron Guiel? Do they trade for Bubba Crosby or Kevin Reese? At this rate, they'll be inviting Chad Curtis to spring training next year.

-- Today's the Rocket's biggest test of the year so far. The Yanks need a win today, to avoid slipping back to their old ways. You don't know what Igawa will give you tomorrow night. I know it's Coors Field, but Yankee fans better hope Clemens shows them why they gave him all that cash.