With the 2016 Hall of Fame class being announced yesterday, it’s hard to believe the Mets will have two Hall of Famers. Understandably and rightfully so, 2016 will be the year for the Mets to honor Mike Piazza. However, it’s high time the Mets also honor Tom Seaver.
Depending on your age, you identify the Mets with a particular player. Some will pick Piazza. Younger fans will pick David Wright. Many will pick any one of the players from the 1986 Mets. Part of this is a recency bias. Another part of this is the failure of the Mets organization to forever hold out Tom Seaver, The Franchise, as the Mets singular franchise player.
Go to other big league stadiums, particularly the new ones. The Yankees have Monument Park. In Monument Park, the Yankees have paid special tribute to five Yankees including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The Giants have a statue of Willie Mays. The Phillies have one for Mike Schmidt. The list goes on and on. The Mets? They only have a special honor for Jackie Robinson.
Walk around Citi Field. There’s no special designation for Seaver. Yes, his number is retired. His retired number also hangs on the same wall as Jackie Robinson. There needs to be a Tom Seaver statue. The main reason is all Mets fans need to know who he was. For some reason, Seaver isn’t spoken about in the historical context as he should. Part of the reason could be the team he represents.
This isn’t an issue of the Mets finances. I’m not mocking the Mets here for not having enough money to purchase a statue. The Mets had the money to build Citi Field. It’s an issue or priorities. They never prioritized honoring Seaver. I still don’t understand why.
Every Mets fan needs to see Seaver on their way into Citi Field. Kids should be asking their parents and grandparents about Seaver. They should hear stories like I did from my father. Stories about how he was nicknamed The Franchise because he turned the Mets around. They need to hear about “The Imperfect Game.” They need to hear stories about the Miracle Mets. They should hear about how Seaver used his legs so much while he was pitching he got dirt on his knee.
There’s no better place to tell these stories than at the ballpark. It’s where my father told me about them. I hope one day he’ll get to tell my son those stories too. I’d love for my son to see the statute and ask, “Who’s Tom Seaver?” I’ll just then sit back as my Dad tells him the same stories he told me.
This is what we’re missing with the Seaver statue. We’re missing the history not only of the Mets, but also baseball. Sure, I look forward to my Dad telling my son about how he grew up a Brooklyn Dodger fan, and Jackie Robinson was his favorite player because he ran pigeon-toed just like my Dad did. It’ll be awesome, but it’s also a problem. My son will ask the Jackie Robinson but not the Tom Seaver question on his way into the ballpark.
The Mets have been around for 54 years and have developed their own rich history. It’s time to properly honor it with a Seaver statute. Then maybe one day we can have a Piazza statute when I can regale my son and hopefully grandson in the future with stories like the trade bringing him to the Mets, him being the greatest hitting catcher ever, and the post 9/11 homerun. Sure, I’ll relate those stories anyway because they’re great stories. However, I want my son to ask me about them. A statue honoring the Mets Hall of Famers would go a long way in that regard.
It’s time to honor Tom Seaver. It’s time to build him his statue. It’s not just for him, but for all Mets fans. The ones that saw him play and the ones not yet born. The a Mets need to honor their history now and set it in bronze.
There are moments in your life when you will always remember where you were. On July 11, 2000, I was working as a waiter at Ruby Tuesday taking the order from a table of Mets fans when this happened:
I just remembered screaming “Oh my God!” Initially, the father thought there was an issue with the Sonora Chicken Pasta. I then pointed to the TV, and we all watched the replay. That moment hung in the air until the 2000 World Series when Piazza would face Roger Clemens again. It was at that time, Clemens lost any benefit of the doubt:
For that one, I was sitting in my dorm room surrounded by my friends who were Yankee fans. Of course, they were defending Clemens. I’m sure they felt the same way when Clemens beaned Derek Jeter.
In any event, Clemens had a reputation as a head hunter. He presumably hit Piazza because he couldn’t get him out. Piazza hit .364/.440/.995 against Clemens with four homers and 10 RBI in 22 at bats. The only thing Clemens could do against Piazza was throw at him. Clemens was allowed to get away with it because no umpire would throw him out if a game for throwing at Piazza. He never received a call from the league to let him know he was being suspended. He also didn’t get a call yesterday. Mike Piazza did:
Piazza gets the call. #HOF2016 pic.twitter.com/WoJqylLgDi
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
(@baseballhall) January 7, 2016
Piazza got the call that he’s a Hall of Famer. Clemens learned he was once again being called out by another player for using steroids:
.@rogerclemens gets 45.2% of votes for HOF,up from 37.5last year.The 7time CyYoung winner issued following statement pic.twitter.com/qclbFxRcYW
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 7, 2016
For better or worse, Piazza will always be tied together with Clemens due to Clemens’ actions. However, now when the story gets told it’ll be how a man kept out of the Hall of Fame due to steroids use went after a Hall of Famer he couldn’t get out. Despite everything that transpired between the two, Piazza is a Hall of Famer, and Roger Clemens isn’t.
Piazza got the last laugh.
It’s long overdue, but the day has finally arrived. Mike Piazza was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. He is the second Met elected to the Hall of Fame.
The day the Mets obtained Piazza was one of the most important days in the franchise’s history. He transformed the franchise. The Mets went from also rans to contenders. He formed a unique bond with Mets fans. He was an important figure in Mets history.
More importantly, he was an important figure in baseball history. He is the greatest hitting catcher to ever play the game. He has the most home runs, slugging percentage, and OPS+. He will be the first player elected to the Hall of Fame who was the last player selected in a draft. By extension, he is the lowest draft pick in the Hall of Fame. He is proof to everyone that with hard work, determination, and belief in yourself anything is possible. That includes making yourself a good defensive catcher. Yes, Piazza was good defensively.
There are many incredible memories we all have of Piazza. Dodgers fans and Mets fans alike. However, his signature moment was the post-9/11 homerun:
It was an important moment for New York. It was an important moment in baseball history. It’s important that he go into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Today, that moment became reality. Mike Piazza is a Hall of Famer. I hope to be there for your ceremony in July. As you always rise to the occasion, your speech should be one for the ages.
Congratulations Mike Piazza.
Seeing how there were weird and unnecessary discussion regarding the hat which Mike Piazza will select for his Hall of Fame plaque, let’s just end the next discussion before it starts. The Mets will retire Piazza’s # 31.
The Mets had him close out Shea with Tom Seaver. He opened Citi Field again with Seaver recreating the moment at Shea Stadium. He was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. He threw out the first pitch in the first World Series game at Citi Field. He’s obviously respected by the entire Mets organization. Once Piazza is elected to the Hall of Fame, he should get his number retired by the Mets. It’s the next step in a logical process.
I don’t understand why anyone would question if Piazza’s number will be retired after he’s elected to the Hall of Fame. You can ask why it wasn’t retired sooner, but to question if it’ll be retired at all makes no sense. If you want to have a debate at all, question how that number will appear on that wall.
Will they go with the black uniforms most synonymous with those Mets teams? Will they go with the non-pinstriped jersey? If they go with the pinstriped jersey to keep it homogenous, will they include the drop shadow on the jersey number? This is the real question; not whether or not Piazza’s number will be retired.
Piazza’s number will be retired.
With one bold move, the Mets completely transformed their team with the acquistion of Mike Piazza. While he was not immediately adored (he was replacing the injured fan favorite Todd Hundley), he became a beloved Met.
To understand the Piazza adoration, you first have to understand what was happening. Honestly, I think things were worse in 1998 than they were now. The Mets were in year 10 of a rebuild from the glorious 80’s teams. That involved every player Mets fans loved leaving the team. The first step in the rebuild was The Worst Team Money Could Buy. This started some depressing baseball.
After that was the Vince Coleman firecracker incident. There was also the Bret Saberhagen bleach incident. The fans took everything out on Bobby Bonilla, who would wear earplugs to drown out the booing. It’s hard to see a team lose without trying. It’s worse to see a team try and be incompetent in doing so.This all set the Mets back years. Throw in the 1994 season ending strike, and you had the nadir of Mets baseball in my lifetime.
Nope, it wasn’t quite the nadir yet. The rebuild for the 90’s Mets was based on the same theory as the current Mets. It was based upon pitching. The problem is it didn’t work in the 90’s. The Mets entrusted Generation K to Dallas Green. All of the arms burned out. They were all injured under his watch. The Mets switched to Steve Phillips and Bobby Valentine, and things started getting better. It’s hard to imagine it, but 88 wins felt like the Mets had actually won something.
Part of the reason is the Mets acquired Mike Piazza. He came to the Mets in 1998 and he hit .348/.417/.607 with 23 homers and 76 RBI in 109 games. He did what Mets fans thought Yoenis Cespedes did in 2015. He carried the team for almost a whole season. He transformed the team. The Mets had no choice but to bring him back.
In 1999, he became the second Met to hit 40 home runs in a season. He led the team to the playoffs (even if they needed a play-in game to get there). He hit a homerun in the 1999 NLCS that I seriously thought was going to help propel the Mets to win Game 6 and complete the then impossible:
In 2000, he again led the Mets to the postseason. For much of that year, he was considered an MVP candidate. Unfortunately, the Mets lost as Piazza’s ball didn’t carry far enough. It was a shame because Piazza was the reason Mets fans had pride. He was the reason the Mets fans believed they could win it all. He was the reason the Mets could step toe to toe with the Yankees.
They did. There were some epic games between the two teams back when the Subway Series mattered. Everyone remembers the Matt Franco single, but they forget the two Piazza bombs in that game:
Did you see where that ball went? How epic was that bat flip? He was a dangerous and feared hitter. It’s why Roger Clemens went after him not once but twice. But getting back to the home runs, it was one of several huge home runs he hit for the Mets. Do you remember the homerun he hit against the Braves capping off a huge comeback:
I remember being there that night. It was insane. That homerun sums up his tenure with the Mets perfectly. Even against teams like the seemingly unbeatable Braves and Yankees, the Mets always had a chance no matter how bleak the odds were. Seeing those highlights made me a little emotional. That reminds me of this moment:
To me, that’s still the greatest homerun ever hit. If you didn’t forever love and respect Piazza before that night, you did now. It’s part of the reason why after he left Mets fans still cheered him. I know I returned in 2006 for his first game back. It was important for me to cheer the man that meant so much to Mets fans:
I remember the constant standing ovations and cheering his name. I just wish I was there for the next night when he got a curtain call:
Seriously, how many visiting players get a curtain call? This moment shows how much Piazza means to Mets fans. We loved him. It seems he loved us back. He came back to close out Shea and open up Citi Field. He is now the guy who throws out the first pitch at World Series games.
Whether it’s today or in the future, Mike Piazza will be a Hall of Famer. He deserves it. Mets fans deserve it. It’s important to a of us. We want to see him recognized for all he did for the Mets and all Mets fans. My favorite Mets teams were the ones with Mike Piazza. He’s my favorite Met. He’s my favorite player.
It’s important to me and all Mets fans he gets elected to the Hall of Fame.
There’s been a big going around my house of late, so I thought my fever was causing me to have hallucinations when I read Paul DePodesta was leaving the Mets for the Cleveland Browns. Before I started heading to the ER, I looked to verify it, and luckily, I found this:
I have learned Paul DePodesta leaving #Mets to run the NFL Cleveland Browns as executive VP, answerable only to team owner/pres.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) January 5, 2016
It was true, and it was an inspired hire by the Cleveland Browns. Within the baseball industry, DePodesta is a well regarded within the baseball industry. He went to Harvard, where he played both baseball and football. Despite his reputation, he cut his teeth being a scout. He would later incorporate analytical and statistical information into his scouting reports. Across the board, he’s seen as intelligent and as a hard worker. I don’t care what industry you’re in; these skills will always translate.
First, let’s address what he’s leaving behind. DePodesta was the Mets viewed by some as the successor to Sandy Alderson as the next Mets GM. While we don’t know what specifically he did during his tenure, we do know the Mets credit him with reorganizing the entire scouting department:
https://mobile.twitter.com/adamrubinespn/status/684423205981925377
As for which moves he had a direct impact on, we only have speculation. He was rumored to be a voice in support of the Mets hiring Terry Collins back in 2011. It is believed he was a proponent of keeping Lucas Duda and trading Ike Davis. He was supposedly heavily involved in the R.A. Dickey trade. As the Mets VP of Player Development and Amateur Scouting, he oversaw the draft that brought in Michael Conforto. Overall, he’s depicted as Sandy Alderson’s right hand man. As such, his fingerprints are all over the Mets.
Now, DePodesta is leaving all that to become the Browns Chief Strategy Officer. What most know about DePodesta is he worked with Billy Beane to help revolutionize baseball. I don’t think that is overstating the case when you see all teams heavily investing in analytics. Most people know this story from a little book and movie Paul DePodesta was featured.
One important note here is I implore you to read the book Moneyball for yourself. Despite what you’ve heard or seen in the movies, the book and/or the concept of Moneyball is not about OBP or advanced statistics like WAR. No, it’s about being able to locate market inefficiencies to maximize the proverbial bang for your buck.
Essentially, the concept is we can’t afford the best of the best, so what do we do to outsmart the other teams. Moneyball isn’t about saying a player like Mike Trout is the best player in the game because he does xyz. No, it’s about saying look, where our budget is, we can’t afford Mike Trout, so we need to exploit market inefficiencies to build the best team possible for the least amount of money possible. It just so happens that in the late 90’s that it was OBP. Such a fundamental misunderstanding has already lead to opinions like this:
Now we know what #Browns Haslam meant by the HC and GM will have to collaborate: it's analytics or bust. Come to interview w/ your abacus
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 5, 2016
I’d chalk this up to a football person making a mistake about a baseball person, but really, I see enough of the misunderstanding from supposed baseball people to know it’s a universal problem.
I think this was a terrific hire by the Browns. Football is a salary cap league. Each and every year, you’re looking at your roster. You’re crunching numbers. You’re pulling in scouting reports. You’re really just trying to figure out how you’re going to field a team within the confines of the salary cap. There is no better person for that job than Paul DePodesta.
It’s what he did in Oakland. He’s done it in New York. He knows how to find the market inefficiencies to build a complete roster. From what we’ve seen, he likes to utilize younger cheaper players at pricier positions and move them before they have outlived their value. It’s no surprise the A’s and the Mets were built upon terrific young staffs. He saved money there, and then he looked to find the players who were under market value to fill in a roster in a shoestring budget. Ultimately, isn’t that what you need your front office to do in the NFL? DePodesta’s track record matches up well with that skill set making him a good hire.
With that said, I’m not so sure this was the right move for DePodesta. First, despite the fact he has some football experience, he will always be looked at as a baseball guy. More so than anyone else his moves will be scrutinized more than anyone. The success and failure of each Browns season will be attributed to him despite the fact that he’s not the GM. He’s going to be held to a different standard.
Speaking of which, he’s going to be held to a higher standard. I don’t believe it’s hyperbole to say people are expecting a revolution. He revolutionized how front offices operate. He showed that by being ahead of the curve, any team can win. People will be expecting DePodesta to do the same with the Browns. People may not accept incremental improvements. They may not be willing to wait the five years Mets fans had to wait to see a winner.
That’s going to be difficult. One of the reasons the Browns are having problems is the division they play. The Steelers and Ravens have been traditionally run very well with very good football people. Since Marvin Lewis came aboard, the Bengals went from laughingstocks to perennnial playoff team. That is it right there in a nutshell. The best thing you can do is go get the right people and let them do their thing. Give them time to build a winner.
I’m not sure DePodesta will revolutionize the NFL. However, I believe he will do everything he can to build the Browns into a winner. He just needs to be given sufficient time to get the job done. He did it Oakland. He did it in New York. It can happen in Cleveland.
Good luck to you Paul DePodesta.
I can’t believe I’m writing this, but after all the nonsense I’ve read lately, I felt someone somewhere just had to write, “Mike Piazza is going into the Hall of Fame as a Met.”
You know how I know this? He wrote it in his book “Long Shot” at page 343:
The whole affair [of the closing ceremony at Shea Stadium] felt good, and it spoke to why, if I do make it to the Hall of Fame . . . I hope to go in as a Met. Technically, it’s not a player’s call; the Hall of Fame itself makes that decision. But players can let their preferences be known, and mine is pretty strong.
*****************
If there’s a single person in my career with whom I feel most closely associated, yes, it’s definitely Tommy [Lasorda]. If there’s a team, however, it’s the Mets.
That’s straight from his mouth. So why the guessing game? Making arguments either way is just picking nits.
He was a better hitter with the Dodgers hitting .331/.394/.572 with 177 homers as opposed to hitting .296/.373/.542 with 220 homers for the Mets. He was the Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers, but he played in the World Series with the Mets. His story started with being a 62nd round pick of the Dodgers, a team he would play seven years and 726 games. He would play eight years and 972 games for the Mets, a team for which he did this:
Point is it’s close enough to go either way. Sure, the Hall of Fame retains the right to make the selection, but it will honor a player’s reasonable request. Piazza going in as a Met is not only reasonable, but it’s also his stated intention. Even if you didn’t have his words, look at his actions.
He always comes back for the big Mets events. He caught the last pitch at Shea and the first one at Citi Field. He threw out the first pitch at the first home World Series game at Citi Field. If he’s at an MLB sponsored event, he’s always there as a Mets delegate. In each and every All Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game, he’s worn a Mets hat, and yes, that was for the ones preceding the 2013 All Star Game as well.
Overall, there is no reason to suggest Piazza will go into the Hall of Fame as anything other than a Met. To do so would be to ignore his statements and his actions.
Mike Piazza is and forever will be a Met.
Tomorrow, the Hall of Fame results will be announced. Looking at the current known ballots, Billy Wagner is not going to be elected to the Hall of Fame this year. It must be of small condolence to him that he won’t be bounced from the ballot.
It was not for a lack of trying. Wagner has been anywhere and everywhere trying to tell the world (and the voters) he’s a Hall of Famer. He does every interview possible. He retweets everything from the Wags Facts Twitter account. Naturally, the Tweets focus on why Wagner should be a Hall of Famer:
Billy Wagner's compelling Hall of Fame case https://t.co/SqydQ6dtyi via @BtBScore
— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 13, 2015
@cje1213 @NotMrTibbs – 61 votes for Hoffman, 31 votes for smith, 10 votes for Wagner. Do stats matter in baseball? pic.twitter.com/vBh4p5d13z
— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 23, 2015
Hoffman NL version of Rivera? Really @JonHeymanCBS?
Hoffman 2.87 ERA is 30%> than Rivera 2.21 & 24%> than Wags 2.31 https://t.co/dIxokDnhau— #wagsfacts (@wags_facts) December 31, 2015
Whether or not you agree Wagner is a Hall of Famer, you have to admit he had an amazing career. If you think he’s a Hall of Famer or not, he and his career deserves a lot of respect. I also respect that he’s advocating his Hall of Fame case. Never forget that in life you are your own best advocate. If Billy Wagner isn’t going to advocate his case, who’s going to take up the mantle as effectively as he has?
Wagner is used to coming in with everything on the line. He’s used to coming out and giving it his best shot armed with nothing more than a 98+ MPH fastball. He was dominant. He got the job done. If he brings the same tenacity to getting elected to the Hall of Fame, I don’t doubt he will one day get elected.
Good for Billy Wagner.
If you follow the voting history, it’s plain to see the majority of Hall of Fame voters will not vote for a player confirmed to have used PEDs. The question is what happens with everyone else as you can create a hypothetical that anyone used steroids.
Some voters use that opportunity to create false narratives. For some, like Murray Chass, it appears he has an axe to grind. For others, they just don’t bother to research their claims, thereby just guessing who did and who didn’t use steroids. Others pull stuff out of thin air. There are too many guys who lump guys together without making any distinction. At the end of the day, it’s a player like Mike Piazza, who gets his name dragged through the mud without so much as an explanation. Piazza is left standing outside the Hall of Fame asking “what does acne have to do with steroids?”
The answer is that it doesn’t matter. There was a time when reporters sought proof for their allegations. You used to need a source or documentation. Now, all you need is a byline and a hunch. This is best shown with Bob Nightengale‘s latest column. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy who famously tweeted this:
Ben Zobrist has a four-year, $80 million offer on the table. The #Mets still considered favorites to ultimately land him.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 8, 2015
I’m putting that out there before you take any of the following too seriously. Keep in mind that despite acknowledging Piazza has forever denied using steroids, Piazza having never failed a test, and Piazza’s name never coming up in any investigation, he’s accusing him of using steroids. In effect, this would be like if Deep Throat was Woodward and/or Bernstein. No one needs any facts; unfounded conjecture will do just nicely.
Essentially, his case that Piazza used steroids boils down to this:
[Piazza’s denials] counters concerns of PED use aired almost exclusively in private by former teammates, opponents, scouts and management who were struck by Piazza’s rise froma modest amateur career to a muscle bound slugger who hit balls clear out of Dodger Stadium.
The insinuation is because Piazza was a very low round draft pick, he must’ve cheated. How is that fair? Furthermore, how is it fair that all of these supposed people who accuse Piazza were anonymous? Keep in mind there has still yet to be a teammate, opponent, or even a ball boy who has named Piazza as a steroids user. It’s all rumor. If that was sufficient, we would all believe the married father of three is homosexual. I guess Nightengale has a source on that one too.
You know what’s even worse about Nightengale’s assumptions? Their just plain wrong. In fact, it took the Rising Apple very little time to disprove it:
Here's a large snippet from the 1985 Piazza article. Last one! CC @BNightengale. A retraction would be cool. pic.twitter.com/gc5TUZKfDY
— Rising Apple (@RisingAppleBlog) January 4, 2016
So yeah, Piazza had power as an amateur. Also, look at his minor league stats. Piazza hit 26+ home runs in each year he played in a full time minor league level. He did that despite being young for his leagues. You see Piazza could always hit and hit for power. It was just a question of where he would play.
You may ask why does all this matter especially if Nightengale is voting for Piazza. There’s two reasons. The first is the he’s not the only voter operating with these unfounded accusations (the others use it to withhold their votes). The second is because people mistakenly see Piazza’s induction as a path for confirmed users like Roger Clemens. How ironic.
So what happens is the greatest hitting catcher of all time waits to see if he’ll be elected on the fourth or fifth ballot. People are acting upon this rumor mongering and unproven suspicions.
If you follow Ryan Thibs on Twitter and/or his Hall of Fame Tracker, you have seen Piazza’s early support dwindle from the low to mid 90’s to 86.5%. This is just from 35.1% of the voters. Last year, Piazza received 75.1% on published ballots and just 62.1% on unpublished ballots. Overall, Piazza finished with 68.8% of the vote. Unsurprisingly, the people who are afraid to put their names to a ballot are the ones who are most comfortable pretending Piazza used steroids.
If Piazza’s vote total again dips by 6.3%, he will be elected with around 80.2% of the vote. It’s not a large margin of error. With a changing electorate, I’m not sure if we can expect a similar regression in the unpublished vote totals. It’s a wild card. It means it’s going to be close. I’m hoping Piazza gets elected, but I’m not counting on it. He may just have to wait until 2017, and that’s not right.
If he does the Bob Nightengales of the world will have to look in the mirror and ask if it was worth smearing a player with no actual proof. Either way, they should ask what type of integrity they have publishing unfounded rumors. What journalistic standards asked that uphold. I presume none.
It’s time to stop punishing Piazza for bad journalism and elect him to the Hall of Fame.
I’ve always joked that it’s the New York Giants that keep me sane. Never was this more true than on September 30, 2007. If you’re a Mets fan, you know that as the day the Mets completed a historic collapse. I was devastated even if Tom Glavine wasn’t.
I remember leaving Shea and heading to the Meadowlands as that year I had the Sunday Plan and Giants season tickets. Note, I was unmarried with no children back then. Initially, I was less than enthused going to the Giants game. The Giants started the year a very unimpressive 0-2. Furthermore, the Giants were playing the Eagles. I knew I was going to have to hear it from Eagles fans who the Phillies beat the Mets and how the Mets choked. I was stewing on my drive from Queens to Jersey. The rage just kept building and building.
As I entered the lot, I slipped off my David Wright jersey, which I never wore again, and I slipped on my Shaun O’Hara jersey. With some heckling from the lowlife Eagles fans, I was ready for the game. What ensued was the most cathartic three hours of my life. Not only did the Giants win, they pummeled the Eagles. Osi Umenyiora had six sacks. The Giants set an NFL single game sack record with 12 in total. It was a joy to see all those Eagles fans quiet and leaving early. It was a magical night that let me get some sleep that night.
Actually, it was a magical season. As we know, the Giants would win Super Bowl XLII that year. They upset the undefeated Patriots in what would go down as one of the greatest Super Bowls, if not the greatest Super Bowl, ever. It was made possible by Tom Coughlin.
Going into 2007, Coughlin was on the hot seat. In response, he became more open and accessible to his players. He formed the Leadership Council. Generally speaking, he found a way to be a coach that demands discipline while at the same time allowing his players to have a voice. You know what happened? Everyone was able to get on the same page. It allowed him just to be a great football coach, which he was. Coughlin was once seen as an impediment to winning a Super Bowl. He now was a reason why they could and did win one.
In 2007, things changed, and the Giants became champions. They won with the quarterback he developed. They won as a team. It’s because Coughlin changed. No, he didn’t change as a person. He was always a good person. Now, he showed that side to his team. They loved him for it. Looking at everything today, they still love him.
The fans do as well. He was the coach that developed Eli Manning. He was the coach that led the Giants to two Super Bowl wins. Both runs were improbable and thrilling. I loved both titles. However, I’ll always cherish Super Bowl XLII a little more. The Mets fan in me thought I was going to see a championship season in 2007. At that time, I just didn’t realize the season was going to carry into 2008. Trust me, it was worth the wait.
Through all these years, this Mets fan has kept sane because I was also a Giants fan, at least the Giants won championships. Tom Coughlin has a lot to do with that having earned three rings with the Giants. As a fan, I will always be grateful he coached my team. I’ll always be grateful he brought class and dignity to an organization renown for class and dignity. While I’m curious as to what’s next, I do admit some trepidation.
Your team is always worse when it loses a Hall of Famer. It’s even worse off when it loses a human being the caliber of Tom Coughlin. Whatever he does next, I wish him the best of luck.
Thank you for everything Tom Coughlin.
