NY Mets: The three Braves players that I despise the most

Freddie Freeman

This might come as a shocker, but I am only 21 years old and got into baseball in the mid-2000s. Chipper Jones was still playing and killing the Mets, but I have a much longer history watching Freddie Freeman just ruin so many of my evenings.

The 2020 National League MVP basically did this season what he has done to the Mets his entire career. And that’s crush baseballs.

In his career against the Mets, Freddie Freeman has slashed .303/.386/.509 with 27 home runs and 111 RBI. Chipper leads the Mets-Braves rivalry in pretty much every statistical category but Freeman is in the top two or three in just about every category. If the 31-year-old continues to smash baseballs like he has the last number of years, he very well could be at the top of the list for these offensive categories.

Freeman is just as annoying as Chipper was. Every game the Mets play against the Braves it seems like this guy comes through in the clutch.

What’s really crazy to me about Freeman’s work against the Mets is the fact that he has done it in years that the Mets have had the best pitcher in baseball and one of the best staffs in baseball. Prior to the last three seasons, the Braves were rebuilding and Freeman didn’t have much protection in the order while the Mets were rolling out guys like Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, and so many others yet Freeman always seemed to come out on top.

The most annoying Freddie Freeman moment occurred back in 2013 when the Mets were bad and the Braves won the division. It was a school night so I should have been asleep but I just couldn’t fall asleep because I was watching Dillon Gee throw what was the best game of his career.

The game was initially delayed for a long time and I believe started at 10:30. The Mets finally took a 1-0 lead late in the game, and Gee was cruising along. But in the bottom of the ninth, the Braves had a man on and Freeman at the plate so I knew internally the game was either tied or over following his at bad. It turned out to be over. He hit a walk-off home run at like 1:30 in the morning to win the game. He had three of the five Atlanta hits and ruined my night with one swing of the bat. I was devastated.

With the Mets looking like they will compete this year, I hope Freeman isn’t the guy that wins games for Atlanta when the Mets play them, I don’t know if I can take more of a beating from him than I already have.

Chipper Jones

Everybody who is a Mets fan knew Larry would make his way onto this list and that he would be on this list. While I hated him, I am too young to hate him more than the current ultimate Met killer in Freddie Freeman. Chipper Jones tormented the Mets in his entire 19-year career which was spent exclusively in Atlanta. He enjoyed playing the Mets so much, he named his son Shea, after Shea Stadium; the ballpark he owned.

In his career against the Mets, Chipper slashed .309/.406/.543 with 49 home runs and 159 RBI. At Shea Stadium, he slashed .313/.407/.557 with 19 home runs and 55 RBI. These numbers at Shea were his best at an opposing team’s stadium.

While I hated his guts, I can also say I sort of miss Chipper. I miss the crowd chanting “Larry!” at him. Though what I do not miss is the countless clutch hits he had at the Mets’ expense.

While I am too young to have a lot of memories of Chipper haunting the Mets in the ’90s and early 2000s, there are still some moments that come to mind for me.

The one I think about the most was actually his last game in New York. I was in attendance at Citi Field in September of 2012, and I remember wanting to boo, but everyone else was giving him a round of applause, so I did too.

Looking back at it now, I understand why they did that. He was the ultimate Met killer, but he is someone I’ve learned to respect. While I respect him, I certainly do not like him.

Chipper is the all-time leader in pretty much every offensive statistical category in the Mets-Braves rivalry. Everything from games to hits, to home runs, he has a massive lead in just about every category and that will likely stay that way for a very long time.

Craig Kimbrel

For this third spot, I had no idea who to choose. I could’ve chosen an older pitcher like John Smoltz or Tom Glavine or I could’ve chosen current Met nemesis Ronald Acuna Jr. Acuna has obliterated the Mets and was going to be my choice but then I came up with the conclusion that he has not played enough yet so I gave him a pass.

Then after more thinking, it finally came to me. The one pitcher I never wanted to see was Craig Kimbrel. In his prime, when Kimbrel came into the game it was basically over. He has that weird motion with his arms out sort of like a bird, and then comes set and fires 99 mph fastballs by any Met hitter or a devastating breaking pitch.

Kimbrel in his prime was borderline untouchable. He was the most feared closer I have ever witnessed. In his career against the Mets, Kimbrel has gone 1-0 with a 1.43 ERA, striking out 50 in 32 innings pitched, a 14.1 K/9.

It seemed like every game against Kimbrel went the same way. He had such unbelievable stuff but control was sometimes an issue with him. So he would walk a batter or two and give me some hope, but then would strike out the side and nail down a save.

Kimbrel was so dominant and rarely blew saves but one that I do remember against the Mets happened in 2013. The Mets were down 5-4 in the ninth and David Wright hit a long home run to dead center off Kimbrel to tie the game. The Mets would go on to win that game making me a happy kid.

That one moment was sandwiched between utter dominance Kimbrel has had against the Mets. He has 26 saves in 27 career tries against the Mets, the Wright home run was the only blemish in Kimbrel’s record against the Mets.

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When he was traded to San Diego in 2015 I was thrilled and when he later went on to Boston and out of the National League I was even more thrilled. Now Kimbrel is not very good anymore, but I still hope to never see him again.