I’m not entirely sure where MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews was going with this comparison but he made it. So I’ll post it. Matthews while speaking at the Institute of Politics was asked how he would respond to the claim that MSNBC officially supports Obama. I’ll leave that sort of hanging since this is not a political blog and I’ll just cut to the chase. So, during his response he started to talk about his “feel” and “sense” was that the higher ups at NBC were more for Hillary. Matthews went on:

…”but there seems to be a New York thing about Hillary. Just the people from… it’s like the Yankees and the Mets… it’s their thing. You know?”

I found this funny. I watch Hardball and Matthews is tough to read sometimes. He’s a real character who’s all over the place. It is interesting that educated people like those who run NBC would be guided by the fact that Hillary is a Senator from NY. She now has approximately five home towns. The Mets Yankees comparison must come from some interesting in house debates like sports fans have about their favorite teams for this to pop into Matthews bulbous skull. Well, I leave this alone. Don’t want to go down a slippery slope here. Just found it funny and interesting enough to share. Lets Go Mets!

If your interested in the rest of what Matthews had to say go to Politico.com

In a column for the Daily News, Bob Raissman notes that the Mets and WFAN are in the last year of their contract, and no serious negotiations have taken place.

He writes that the current deal nets the Mets about $8 million per year, while the Yankees currently get $13 million for their deal with CBS Radio. According to Raissman, the Mets will try and close that price gap on the Yankees, while also noting that if the Mets were to leave WFAN, the Yankees would have the option of leaving CBS for WFAN.

I guess for me, I can’t imagine tuning my dial to anywhere but 660 WFAN.

Oh, and in the article Raissman attempts to bash Matt Cerrone from Mets Blog, essentially calling Mets Blog a sellout and writing that the readers are now, “livin’ in a corporate world.” Don’t buy it, I have to imagine that Raissman is just a bitter writer jealous of Matt’s success.

Yesterday, I blogged here about a rumor that Mike Piazza might one day soon be wearing Yankee pinstripes. But today Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball Magazine updated his story with some good news for Mets fans. He points to Peter Abraham of LoHud Yankee Blog who reports that when Yankees GM Brian Cashman was asked if there is any truth to this rumor Cashman said “no”. The Reds are still a possible place Piazza might land. Read more about the “mild interest” the Reds have at Newsday.

Doc, Cone, Straw and Piazza, that would be too much for any self respecting Mets Fan/Yankee hater to stand.

Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball Magazine is reporting:

With his current catching situation (and don’t forget prospect Francisco Cervelli is still out with a broken wrist) and the very aggressive Reds trying to sign Mike Piazza to a contract, Yankees GM Brian Cashman and his advisors — we’re told by a team insider — are meeting to discuss whether a Piazza move is the right way “to address the current situation.”

The rest of Healey’s report says that Piazza will most likely sign with the Reds.

Just putting this Post in a Piazza-Yankees category made me twitch.

AOL Fanhouse relays a report from Jo Piazza (no relation) of the New York Daily News who hears the Yankees and Blue Jays have no trouble fraternizing in the company of scantily clad ladies.

The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees Wednesday night, but there was no ill will between the two teams later that evening when some of the players showed up at Rick’s Cabaret to, um, blow off some steam.

The Blue Jays bought the Yanks their first round of drinks.

‘Later, they even ‘traded’ some of Rick’s Girls. Multiple blonds and brunettes danced for both teams,’ our snitch says.

‘Dancer” Karen (34C-23-35) said, ‘I love the Yankees, but the Toronto guys had a lot of class. Oh yeah, they were great tippers.’

We take this news with a bit of tongue in cheek and with the knowledge that Jo Piazza has not been completely accurate with her reporting. Recently she alluded to tennis star Andy Roddick being single just days before he announced his engagement.

We can never resist a good Yankee PR disaster though.

Hat tip to Dan D for the news. 

In the Bronx, Derek Jeter has left tonights game with a strained quad. Experts predict this is the worse thing to happen to Jeter since he dated Mariah Carey.

In Manhattan, Patrick Ewing has been elected to the basketball Hall of Fame. First pick of the draft and a Rookie of the Year, Ewing helped keep the Knicks competitive for over a decade, but like so many other NBA players of his ERA, just couldn’t lead his team past Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Fellow 80s MSG stallwart Pat Riley was also elected.

In the Borough of Sports We Don’t Care About, the Rangers face the Devils in the NHL Playoffs, surprising the many baseball fans that thought the season ended a month ago, or that the league folded two years ago. Mark Messier may or may not be involved.

The Mets are unfortunately not on TV today, so I was able to catch Billy Crystal’s at bat for the Yankees. Crystal, batting leadoff at DH, actually worked a full count against Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm before striking out. He did foul off the second pitch he saw.

More importantly, the Mets are currently leading the Cardinals 1-0 after 1, thanks to an rbi single by Carlos Beltran.

Slow news day indeed. Now Crystal can go back to planning City Slicker’s 3, or whatever horrible movie is next in line for him.

Kat O’Brien, in an article for Newsday.com, reports of a bench clearing brawl in the spring training game between the Yankees and Rays today in St. Petersburg. The incident started when Yankees OF Shelley Duncan tried to stretch a single into a double, and barreled into Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura.

O’Brien states that this may be in retaliation for an incident on Saturday, when the Rays’ Evan Johnson collided at home plate with Yankees’ catcher Francisco Cervelli, breaking Cervelli’s wrist.

Photos of the brawl can be found here.

Well, it’s not everyday that you see a brawl in a spring training game. Who doesn’t love a good brawl? Needless to say, this should make for some nice drama, as these teams meet 18 times during the regular season.

According to the AP, the Yankees led the MLB with a whopping $218.3 million payroll last year. The Red Sox checked in second with $155.4 dollars, the Dodgers were third at $125.6 million, while the Mets checked in at fourth, with $120.9 million.

The article also adds:

In addition to the largest payroll, the Yankees have the highest revenue in the majors. New York took in $415 million last year, giving about $100 million of it away in the sport’s revenue-sharing plan.

Both the Yankees and New York Mets will receive revenue boosts in 2009, when they move into new stadiums.

Its not that they spend money, because in all fairness compared to many teams the Mets do too, but its how absurdly much and more than most it is.