Oh, that's right - the Mets traded Scott Kazmir, selected two picks before Cole Hamels in the 2002 draft, for Victor Zambrano. Can a Mets fan actually watch Game 1 of the World Series? Doubtful.

As expected, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon tabbed Kazmir to start Game 1 of the World Series opposite Cole Hamels, a battle of lefties. Kaz and Cole, both high school pitchers when they were drafted by the Mets and Phillies, have kept tabs on each other.


"We've actually been compared by Baseball America and a couple of other things I was reading as I came up through the minors," said Kazmir, who went 12-8 with a 3.49 ERA this season and led the American League in with 239 strikeouts in '07. "Seems like we were pretty much in every single league going through the ranks.

"I got to see quite a bit of him and kind of follow his career a little bit, just because of another left-hander any you just see what he's doing and see what's working for him, maybe you can use to your own game. And I've seen a lot of him. He's a great pitcher."

Said Hamels:

"We were always compared... through that, you get to know a guy, not on a personal level, but on a level of respect," Hamels said. "He's a tremendous pitcher... he's a good guy and he has a competitive spirit that is one of the best.

"Being able to pitch against him will be a great opportunity, because being compared at such at early age and finally being able to compete against each other at this sort of stage makes things a little bit better."