Paint this Town Orange and Blue

“I can’t be more excited or more proud to wear the orange and blue. I’ve said it from day one, I bleed orange and blue. To be able to celebrate with these fans, this city, this team, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

- David Wright

You can find people way more knowledgeable than me to analyze the impending Mets vs. Dodgers playoff series. But what I can offer better than anyone in the world is, why this season matters to me.

I'm 44-years-old and as legend has it, my parents bought me a Mets jersey and when they tried to put on a  new diaper I said something to the affect of, "I got my Mets jersey, I'm a big boy now." Sure there have been a few accidents over the years but for the most part, the Mets turned me from a baby to a big boy.

And its sorta turned full-circle because this team has turned me from the adult man into that little kid again. You see, the pain of losing in the playoffs in 2006, and choking our season away in 2007 and 2008 really didn't bother me. I watched and rooted but win or lose it didn't affect my day. I honestly didn't care. Glavine, Santana, Delgado, Beltran, Pedro...these guys were paid mercenaries. They were on the team because the Mets offered them the most money. Beltran publicly begged to be a Yankee. 

"Hey Jeets. Can I play?"

Even had they won the World Series these guys wouldn't be remembered as fondly as the 69 or 86 teams.

But they didn't win and they lost in horrific fashion. And I'm glad they did. Because it allowed me to become a true Mets fan again. I'm not a bandwagon guy so when everyone was jumping off, I saw a space and decided to hop on. While everyone was upset about the Bernie Madoff scandal, I embraced it. I didn't want Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder etc. I wanted Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner.

 I knew my team sucked and I loved every second of it. Because I wanted to bleed orange and blue, not pinstripe green.

And then came Opening Day 2013. I saw the big picture. I made a bet with a friend, that not this year, not next year, but in 2015 the Mets would go further than the Yankees. Whoever advances further in the playoffs makes $100. So this year started and I saw what everyone saw. A great staff with one of the worst hitting and fielding teams of my lifetime.

I started blaming Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson for every little move they did or didn't make. I was an irrational idiot, and never so happy about it in my life. I was a true fan again!

And truth be told, the big payoff for me already happened. It wasn't when we won the division. It wasn't when we swept the Nationals in Washington.

This wasn't the payoff but it sure was fun.

It was a game we got killed in. You know the game. Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler were traded for Carlos Gomez. Flores cried.

Mets 4 Lyfe!

 Wheeler called Alderson and told him he didn't want to be traded. Two nights later, Flores hits the season changing game-winning home run vs. the Nationals, and caps it off tugging his shirt that says Mets.

Flores doesn't want to be a Yankee. Wheeler doesn't want to be a Yankee. David Wright bleeds orange and blue. Home grown player after home grown player litters this team. And almost to a man it seems they would all rather be here than 8 miles away in the Bronx.

I love this team. I love their passion. I love the way they play the game. I love that Eric Young is the first person off the bench whenever something good happens, even though I have more at bats than he does this season.

And most of all, I love that they turned me from the angry old man I was becoming about this sport, into that little kid who didn't need diapers anymore.

Save the diapers for the Dodgers. And bring some tissues. Because you'll need it.

Lets go Mets!!!