IT'S WAR! Hawk Tuah Girl Hasn't Forgotten Mike Francesa Calling Her 'Sleazy' After She Threw Out the First Pitch for the Mets

As so many armed conflicts go, this one started out innocently enough. Everyone going about their simple, daily lives. Until the peace was shattered by a wave of violence. And history would never be the same.

In mid-August, Hailey Welch rode her new-found internet fame all the way to the pregame pitcher's mound at Citi Field. Trying to do some good in this world with the notoriety that can only come from offering sex tips in a viral video. Though not everyone saw the partnership between MLB franchise and oral lubricant enthusiast in such a positive light: 

So it was inevitable that the loudest voice in all of New York City sports of his generation would weigh in. And he too was less than enthusiastic:

Source - Veteran sports radio talk host Mike Francesa … blasted the decision-makers for inviting Welch to appear on "Camp Day," knowing that she had risen to internet fame in June after making a lewd comment in a video that went viral on social media. 

"I know nothing about this . . . young lady. I know she’s in her 15 minutes of fame – she just struck a chord and went viral with some sleazy answer to a man-on-the-street question," Francesa said in his nearly four-minute long rant on the topic. 

"The question I have is, knowing that that’s the case, that her fleeting – and it will be fleeting – fame was about something as suggestive as her answer was, what in the world would possess the Mets to bring her in to throw out the first ball? And, on top of it, on camp day. …

"This is the kind of shake-your-head one where you just say, ‘What the hell are they thinking? And could you imagine when the owner is explaining to his wife exactly who this girl is?"

To review: Hailey Welch threw out the first pitch. Mike Francesa fired the first shot. And the battle lines have remained the same ever since. 

Until now. Welch has merely been amassing her forces and waiting for the chance to counter-attack. And once the opportunity presented itself, she pounced. With a post that is no less effective for being fuzzy and out of focus:

If you couldn't or merely didn't click that, let me summarize. The hosts made the point that Hailey is deserving of an apology from the "gasbags" who ripped the Mets for inviting her to ceremoniously toe the rubber. "Because this team has been rolling post-Hawk Tuah." And they are 100% correct. 

Lost in the uproar led by Francesa and the other assorted gasbags is that the Mets fortunes changed dramatically and for the better since she donned their uniform and threw a strike. They lost the game at which she appeared, but have been on a heater ever since:

On August 16th: 62-59, .521, 9.0 games back in the NL

After August 16th: 18-7, .720, the best record in the Majors

Then, the Mets were in freefall. Now, if the season ended today, they'd be in the Wild Card. There's no disputing those facts.

Say what you will about the decision to invite her in and put parents in the position of having to answer who she is and why she's famous. And feel free to argue that this is just a coincidence. Correlation, not causation. But you can't deny what has happened. In a sport as hung up on superstition as baseball, you can't simply dismiss the Hawk Tuah Effect as being nothing. In MLB, perception can be more important than reality. In the words of former Yankees executive George Costanza, it's not a lie if you believe it.

All that said, what we need now is for Francesa to respond. And thus escalating the conflict in the war of our times. Zoomer vs. Boomer. Internet Fame vs. Terrestrial Radio Fame. Hawk Tuah vs. the Sports Pope. Girl Who Spits for Pleasure vs. Guy Who Spits Truths for a Living. Mouth Used for One Purpose vs. a Mouth Used to Spew Hot Takes to Millions of Commuters and Truck Drivers. 

Two will enter this arena. Only one will leave. Let the better narcissistic, attention-seeking media whore win.