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Hey Brett, know who I hate? People who hit their spouse.
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[url=http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17888142&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18040&rfi=6]Link[/url]
Brett Myers: ‘I hate the Mets’
Dennis Deitch, Journal Register News Service
02/23/2007
First, it was Jimmy Rollins vs. David Wright. Now, players from both the Phillies and Mets’ dugouts are spilling into print with venom aimed at the other team.
Rollins initiated the war of words when last month he said the Phillies were "the team to beat -- finally" in the National League East. Wright responded with a harsh response on a New York radio station. Rollins countered Tuesday by reiterating his assessment and saying that he’s "stating a fact."
In the New York papers Thursday, Wright and several other Mets returned the volley. Tom Glavine said that Rollins’ statement is "an opinion" and that the Phillies’ offseason "looks good ..but it doesn’t equate to anything, while Wright said that, "talk is very, very cheap."
One guy who didn’t need a lot of coaxing to take Rollins’ back was Brett Myers. The outspoken right-hander said he "hates the Mets," and that he agrees with his teammate’s appraisal of the teams.
"I think they’re good," said Myers, who went 1-1 with a 5.09 ERA in three starts against the Mets last season, "but I don’t think that one through five (in the starting rotation) they can match up with us."
Shifting between serious and joking comments, Myers boasted, "wait until we get a 20-game lead and then they have to catch us." When it was brought to Myers’ attention that the Phils are in New York for the Mets’ first home series of the season and that Rollins and the team could be in for an extra helping of boos due to the verbal sparring, he said that he likes pitching in hostile territory.
Myers also urged Philadelphia fans to give it back to the Mets at Citizens Bank Park and to make sure Mets fans weren’t infiltrating the Phils’ home.
"We can’t sell tickets to Mets fans anymore," said Myers. "I don’t want them in our place.
"They’re our rivals. I want to beat them more than anybody."
Not all the Phillies were as blunt as Myers. Chase Utley tried to keep it diplomatic.
"The whole goal is to come out of spring training ready to win," Utley said. "We want to take the mentality that we built on last year. We need confidence to be successful."
As for Charlie Manuel, unlike many managers and coaches he doesn’t mind his players offering some bulletin-board material.
"It’s OK," Manuel said. "As long as we back up what we talk about, it’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with some cockiness and swagger, but we have to deliver.
"I know our guys want to play and what they’re going to put into it. If (the Mets) get high, then we need to get higher, that’s all."
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