Crushing in Flushing

By Marshall Weber 

Let's be honest. The order of interest in MLB All-Star 'week' goes as follows: The Home Run Derby (obviously), The 'Celebrity' Softball game, checking out Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and then the actual All-Star game. 

Maybe the ghost of the 2002 All-Star game still leaves a bad taste in our mouths. It's hard to believe it was eleven years ago when the frustrations and confusion surrounding baseball saw its breaking point when the game ended in a 7-7 tie. The frustration was not so much with the tie itself, but the disorganized manner in which it was handled by the MLB big-whigs. It was like a bunch of angry adults arguing over a Little League contest, and in turn ruining the spirit of the game while greatly embarrassing themselves. 

To 'make up' for this blunder, they went a step backwards and made the MLB All-Star game "mean something", and since 2003... the winner of the game has gotten home field advantage in the World Series. Homefield is a very, very important thing. 25 of the last 32 World Series Champions have had homefield advantage. An advantage like this shouldn't be decided by a group of men, most of whom won't even be affected, months before the World Series starts.

But despite fan's disapproval of the All-Star game 'format', All Star Hosts are still able to maintain the magic of the summer classic. The success of last night's All Star activities can be attributed to the fact that the Mets put the most important thing first...their fans. 

This isn't the Bronx. This isn't new Yankee Stadium. 

This is Flushing, Queens. This is Citi Field. 

This isn't the New York Yankees. This is the New York Mets. 

Understanding the Mets and their fans is kind of complicated. The New York Mets are just like the Chicago White Sox. Either of them could win ten World Series in a row and still be their city's second favorite team. But the Empire city's second favorite team put on one hell of a show last night. 

"That's a clown hit, bro."  

      -Bryce Harper, to himself on his last out 

The more I get used to him, the more I like Bryce Harper. Yoenis Cespedes may have took home the hardware, but the night belonged to the Harper family. This includes a very badass handle bar mustache worn by Harper's brother. 

Crush Davis was also a little underwhelming, but hey...he did hit the car. 

The Celebrity Softball game was also a gem. 

The Mets might not have the Jay Z, Jack Nicholson, Billy Crystal, Paul Simon, LeBron James, Bruce Springsteen, or even the Adam Sandler fan power that the Yankees do. But they do have Kevin James. 

James walked away as co-MVP in front of his hometown team, and was on an NL Roster that included Mets greats such as Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and Roger Clemens' homeboy...Mike Piazza.  While you may laugh at first (like I did), Kevin James winning co-MVP is a perfect representation of how the Mets and Citi Field killed it last night.

It may be hard to comprehend, but the Mets were the dominant team in New York during the 1980s. While their big brother in the Bronx suffered their worst period in team history, the Metropolitans flourished and created new superstars. But the success and lavish spirit of the 1980s quickly caught up with them as their best players developed serious cocaine addictions. What could've been a real turning point for Mets and a chance to usurp the Yankees as New York's team were ruined. 

I'll never understand why the Entourage guys, except Drama, were such big Yankees fans despite growing in Queens....especially if they would've been kids in the 80s. Sorry Vince, I guess you're not as Queens Blvd. as you thought. Also, it's more proof that Johnny Drama was by far the best character on that show. Sorry Ari. 

But like Johnny Drama, Kevin James and thousands of other Mets fans have stood loyally by their team. To have a guy like Kevin James be 'the' celebrity of game and win an MVP is everything that is representative of the Mets. Kevin James knows he will never be Adam Sandler just as much as he knows the Mets will never be the Yankees... it's something that he not only seems completely fine with, but very proud of as well. 

Each year, the All-Star game is an ode to a specific team. Everything about the team including its history, its city, and its fans should be on display for America to see. The Mets and their fans reciprocity towards each other shone brightly last night and set a new standard for how future All-Star hosts should honor their franchise.

Simply put, The Mets crushed it.