Why the 2011 World Series will haunt Mets fans

Just when I thought I could take a mental vacation from the Mets for a bit, at least until Jose Reyes officially hits the market, I turned on the World Series.  And I was reminded of the Mets immediately.

The Cardinals and Rangers rosters are sprinkled with players who evoke, at best, bitter-sweet emotions, and at worst, bad ones.  On the St. Louis side is Octavio Dotel, the now-veteran reliever who seemingly just days ago was a young flamethrower in Queens.  Dotel saved the Mets in Game 5 before Robin Ventura's walk-off grand slam ever happened, but was bypassed bypassed in favor of the immortal Kenny Rogers in crunch time of Game 6.  We all know how that worked out.  Dotel was then shipped off to Houston for Mike Hampton, who helped the Mets reach the 2000 World Series before ditching New York for the schools (read: money) of Colorado.

Matt Holliday, on the other hand, was never a Met but will forever be linked to the team.  Back in the winter of 2009, the Mets seemed to have their choice of two top free agent sluggers: Holliday and Jason Bay.  The Mets chose Bay over Holliday, words that should eventually go on Omar Minaya's gravestone.  Holliday has been an all-star for the Cardinals, while Bay has been, well, less than that for the Mets. 

Now on to the Rangers.  Nelson Cruz was originally signed by the Mets in 1998, but was traded away while still in the minors.  In a rare case of a player becoming good after leaving the (*sarcasm alert*), Cruz has blossomed into an excellent hitter.  However in this case the Mets can't really be blamed for missing out, as several teams gave up on Cruz before he finally made the major leagues in 2005

Here is where it gets really bitter-sweet: the players that remind us of 2006.  Darren Oliver, now a 41 year old lefty specialist with Texas, was a key part of the Mets 2006 world series champion team.  Or, I should say, the team that should have won the world series but didn't.  Speaking of which, that brings me to ....

Endy Chavez and Yadier Molina.  One (Chavez, now on Texas) should have been the hero of the 2006 NLCS, the other (Molina, still on St. Louis) a distant memory.  Instead, the roles were reversed.  Molina will forever be known for hitting the series clinching home run, while Chavez' seemingly game saving, miraculous catch is now only mentioned with the caveat of "but the Mets lost".

I guess it's really more bitter than sweet.