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Greg Prince and Jason Fry
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.

Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.

Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.

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He Never Heard of Us Either

FLUSHING (FAFIF) — Mike O'Connor didn't feign surprise at his success versus the New York Mets Tuesday night.

“The Mets?” the celebrated lefty asked after accepting congratulations from his Washington teammates. “Never heard of 'em.”

When told that in fact the Mets had been in the National League since 1962 and have been leading its eastern division by a wide margin most of the year, the 25-year-old pitcher just shook his head.

“Nah,” he said. “Doesn't ring a bell.”

O'Connor swore he meant no disrespect to those who provided the nominal competition in his second Major League start: “Listen, you face teams all the time. Sometimes they're familiar, sometimes they aren't. Tonight was the first time I've ever seen the Nets.”

Reminded that the Nets are a basketball team leading the Indiana Pacers in the NBA playoffs, O'Connor quickly corrected himself: “My bad. I meant, uh…I'm sorry, what's their name again?”

A Mike O'Connor can be forgiven his ignorance regarding the relative obscurity of an opponent that garnered all of two hits across seven innings. O'Connor is, after all, the reigning Washington Nationals minor league pitcher of the year. He's just become a one-game winner in the big leagues. Most of all, he's a recently promoted southpaw in the best tradition of household names like Chad Zerbe and Brian Barnes. Fans of the New York Mets certainly remember who they are even if they'd have a tough time identifying who their own pitcher was Tuesday.

O'Connor, on the other hand, can't be expected to differentiate among all the teams he's beaten. The Mets certainly did nothing to leave an imprint on his psyche. They can't waste a lot time worrying about their anonymity, however. Wednesday night, they face the daunting task of batting against Pirate starter Ian Snell.

Yes, that Ian Snell. Mike O'Connor and Ian Snell on consecutive nights…makes you wonder whether anybody will hear from these Mets again.

12 comments to He Never Heard of Us Either

  • Anonymous

    Mark my words, we should not scoff at Ian Snell. The way this season's been going, a pitcher's effectiveness against us is often inversely proportional to his ERA. Snell's been god-awful, but has recently showed signs of improvement, looking to rebound…Well, he's come to the right place: we are a team that loves to be generous. But we've got Pedro, thankfully. If he pitches a shut out, he just might be enough to edge Snell. (I'll be there for my birthday, so he better).

  • Anonymous

    Snell is a young hurler we've never seen. Translation: He should kill us.
    Snell is on my fantasy team. Translation: We should kill him.
    Something's gotta break.

  • Anonymous

    Tonight, he's gonna be Snellin' like a felon…

  • Anonymous

    That's Snell!
    But you can never Snell what's gonna happen so just haveta hope it all works out Snell.

  • Anonymous

    Let's hope Pedro is the Snell Answer Man.

  • Anonymous

    can you snell what the rock is cookin'?……..uuuggh.

  • Anonymous

    Oooo-ooo that Snell
    Can't you Snell that Snell
    Oooo-ooo that Snell
    The Snell of death surrounds yoooooouuuu

  • Anonymous

    A sound strategy, Jason. Snell done.

  • Anonymous

    I think this joke is getting ridiculous. Definitely one too many times to the Snell…

  • Anonymous

    On the mound stands young Ian Snell
    If he's good, not many can tell
    Will the Mets trail behind?
    Three words spring to mind:
    Fortell, death knell, ah well…

  • Anonymous

    Kid's got 7 K's in 3 IP.
    C'est la vie, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can Snell.
    (Though I think we all saw this coming.)

  • Anonymous

    Yes, but in the 6th, he Snelled up the joint…