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Rivalries in sports cannot be avoided, both in one-player sports and in team sports. Rivalries are mostly between teams sharing the same home; cities, or states, which are called derbies, but sometimes these teams may not be from a state or city. Still, they have been involved in some heated and competitive games in the past, or they share a particular history. Like NBA LA Clippers and LA Lakers, and MLS NY Redbulls and NY City FC, these are rivalries born from derbies, but the one between the Mets and the Braves was not born out of a but from historical events. Let us know “Why Do the Mets Fans Hate The Braves?”
Why Do the Mets Fans Hate The Braves?
The Mets-Braves rivalry can be dated back to the 1966 player-signing incident. The Atlanta Braves were on the verge of signing Tom Seaver before commissioner William Eckert stopped this from happening because of reasons relating to eligibility. Beaver later went on to sign for the New York Mets creating bad blood between them. The two teams play in the same National League East Division. The rivalry was more intense in the late 1990s when Braves pitcher John Rocker made derogatory statements about New York City residents in 1999.
Background History
The NY Mets joined the National League in the year 1962. At this time, the leagues were not in divisions. They were introduced as an expansion team into the league. However, during the divisions in 1969, the Braves were forced to join the National League West because MLB was planning to retain the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs in the same division.
Three years before the separation, pitching prospect Tom Beaver signed a pre-contract with the Braves after they drafted him in the first round of the second draft. But William Eckert, the commissioner, canceled the contract because Beaver’s college team had already played two exhibition games, even though Beaver did not participate in those games. Beaver was already a registered player of the team and had an intention of playing the rest of the season with his college team before he joined the Braves. Despite not being available in these college games, the NCAA ruled him ineligible and this brought his contract to an end.
Mets Take Advantage
Beaver’s father laid a complaint to the commissioner about the unfair situation and even threatened with a lawsuit, which made Eckert announce that other teams could come in to match the Braves’ offer. The Mets won the race to sign Tom Beaver in a lottery draw against Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians. Beaver went on to have a career worthy of a Hall of Fame inclusion, and his jersey number was retired by the team.
Reason Why The Mets Hate The Braves?
The Mets eventually played against the Braves in the NLCS, after they won their league division. They defeated the Braves in the series. With this, they made their way into their first-ever World Series against Baltimore Orioles. They became the first expansion team to win the NLC Series and the World Series.
The rivalry between the two teams became more heated after they were both selected in the same league division in the realignment in the 1990s. The Braves became a dominant team in this period in professional baseball.
It was not until 1999 that this rivalry grew into something different, when Braves’ controversial pitcher, John Rocker, made some defamatory statements about the New York Citizens. These comments led to violent incidents like objects being thrown at the Braves players during their games against the Mets, especially at Rocker. By early 2001, the rivalry had lost some steam, especially after the terrorists attack in New York and Washington.
Records Of The Mets Vs The Braves
- Head-to-Head Records
Here are some head-to-head statistics between the Mets and the Braves:
Meetings total 847 games.
Regular season series: Braves 470-395 Mets.
Longest winning streak: Braves: 12, Mets: 7.
Current winning streak: 4, Braves.
Post-season history: 1969 NL Championship Series: Mets won, 3-0, 1999 NL Championship Series: Braves won, 4-2.
Titles
The New York Mets have won the World Series twice, the National League pennants five times, 2015, the most recent. They have six National League East division titles. The Atlanta Braves boasts a better record than the Mets, with 22 divisional titles, 18 National Pennants, and four World Series championships.
Home Grounds
The home ground for the New York Mets is now Citi Fields. The former stadium was Shea Municipal stadium from 1964 to 2008. Citi Field was opened in 2009 and is the Mets’ home ground today.
The home ground for the Atlanta Braves is Truist Park. The Braves have had 6 home stadiums since they were founded on January 20, 1871. The South side was home from 1871 to 1914. Then they moved to Braves Field between 1915 and 1952. Milwaukee County Stadium was the next home ground from 1953 to 1965. From 1966 to 1996, the Atlanta-Fulton County stadium became the Braves’ home ground. The Braves spent 19 years at the Turner Fields before moving to their current stadium.
Conclusion
Now we have learnt “Why Do the Mets Fans Hate The Braves?”, Though the rivalry between these two MLB teams is not as extreme as some other derby rivalries, it sure made the game series between these two teams very competitive and heated.
