David Wright returned to Mets camp on Tuesday after the end of the World Baseball Classic, and brought with him a parting shot from his Team USA teammate Jimmy Rollins.
"We were on the same flight [Monday] night," Wright said. "He said, 'It's on again.'"
"It" is, of course, the race for the top spot in the National League East. Some people were apparently under the impression would be less fierce because Wright and Rollins both played for the United States, and, gasp, they got along just fine. It's unclear just who was offended by this relationship, but anyone who was can now sleep a little better at night. The Phillies and the Mets will still compete with one another.
This is about as surprising as finding out that the sun rose this morning. Why would the rivalry between the Phillies and Mets drop off because two guys spent time in the same locker room as part of a team that had nothing to do with the Phillies or Mets? Professional baseball players make friends with guys on their team who leave for other pastures all the time. Something tells me that if Aaron Heilman comes into a game with runners on base, Wright will actually try to get a hit even if he and Heilman shared a good time in the past.
The fascination with the fact that Wright and Rollins, or Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia, got along is baffling. These are baseball players from different teams, not soldiers from different armies, and their similarities are much, much greater than their differences. One of those similarities is that they want to win. Now that the WBC is over, we can finally start focusing on that.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
