I used to consider the Mets my therapy and my stress relief from the daily grind, never did I believe that they would become the source of my angst.
I thought for sure that we were going to win it all in 2009 after we signed K-Rod and traded for Putz. I really wanted to get a big bat for leftfield too, but despite that unfulfilled wish I still thought we closed the gap between us and a playoff berth. Wow, was I wrong…
The most shocking thing of all this season, is just how many shocking losses we have had to endure. It’s one stunning blow to the head after another. How many times can we hit the canvas for the ten count, and pick ourselves up, dazed and wobbly in a punch drunk stupor, before the ref says ten?
Only to be knocked out again in the next round… The Mets are running out of rounds.
Ryan Church doesn’t tag third, Carlos Beltran doesn’t slide home, three errors in one inning, Castillo drops an infield popup, Reyes makes the last out stealing third, F-Mart fails to run, Murphy turns an out into a game winning triple. walking Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded, being swept by the Pirates, the 15-0 Santana shelling at Yankee Stadium , and what was that fourth inning last night?
By the way, don’t you dare blame any of those losses on our injuries. Can anybody here play this game?
And who the hell was Johan Santana yelling at last night in the dugout? I hope it was at himself for walking the opposing pitcher on four pitches, grooving one to Ryan Braun with the bases loaded, and then sailing the throw to third base allowing all four runs to score. And by the way Johan, six walks to opposing pitchers this season? What’s up with that?
These guys are so tight their facial muscles have seized up on them and they are now incapable of smiling. They are in despair.
I’m not letting Jerry Manuel get away that easy either. You vowed in spring training that this season every game will mean something. No games will be taken for granted. Those were your words, not mine. So now in the midst of a five game losing streak you want to bench Wright and Sheffield despite a combined 11 hits from them in this series? And you’ve decided to do this against their ace pitcher Gallardo? You my friend, speak with a forked tongue.
UPDATE: Manuel changed his mind, Wright will be in today’s lineup. Now he can add that he’s a flip-flopper to his resume.
I can go on and on, but why not save some gasoline for the next loss which might come as soon as this afternoon…
Someone pass me the Rolaids…
You are right Joe. The Mets are killing me right now. I can barely watch the games.
I take some sort of odd and twisted comfort in knowing the Mets are not good during the first half, especially in June. That’s their history. They usually turn it up after the All-Star break. Santana is also better in the second half. So I’ll worry after the break. This way I can enjoy my 4th of July. lol
You are also right Tanya. The Mets do get better in the second half, all the way up to mid September when they bend over, choke, and send their fans grabbing for the their bottles of Xanax.
Best thing Ive read all morning that brought a smile to myself. I gotta tell you I follow this team and read the scores with some form of emotional detachment.It gets a lot easier.
September always gets longer and longer every year. Not looking forward to it again.
Agreed 100%. Is this a team that is projected to win the NL East Crown this year or this is a team that felt like a last place team full of beer leaguers? Who knows if the real Mets can stand up.
Jerry has made a lot of silly moves this season. Like you mentioned benching Wright & Sheff today. Or how about that Saturday game against Josh Johnson and the Marlins when he benched everyone?
You really did a fine job of capturing the sentiment we are all feeling as June turns into July. Reading that list of Mets blunders is like living in a recurring nightmare. Did we really have that many embarassing losses in just this first half? That play when Beltran forgot to slide seems like it happened years ago. So many more worse things have happened since that play was the talk of the town. What a long and uninspiring season this has been.
I heard that Alex Rios from the Blue Jays is on the market…We should push to get him. I new this offseason that Omar’s plan wasnt gonna work but i didnt think it woul be this bad. Lowe, Ibanez and hudson should all be on this team and yes even Manny if not Ibanez…He is gonna still be strong…you will see. All of these players the Mets had in there grasp instead they opted for other solutions…Im sorry but Omar minaya needs to get fired already. He has made a big mess of this whole organization and Jerry needs to go to he shuffles a lineup more then i have ever seen and he is just like willie randolph…he suck in handling the pitching staff!
If Rios is available, Omar better be on the phone aboout that.
That’s not happening. Mets are gonna ride this one out. Apparently no major trade will be happening. Wonderful
You’re right. The handwriting is on the wall. I was only doing wishful thinking. When you think about it, Omar has some great job. Nothin’ to do but collect your paycheck and invent lame excuses for the Press.
I think that what needs to happen is the fans need to let their voices be heard. Obviously, no actual member of the Mets organization reads and/or cares what we post in blogs and websites, but what they will care about is if fans stop showing up at games. Show the Mets that we, as fans, deserve better, and do that by stop spending money at Citi Field. Its getting close to the trade deadline and the Mets have shown no urgency in improving the team…well, if we don’t show up at the games, I think the Wilpons will realize “oh shit, I guess we can’t just crap all over our fans with this awful team and still have 40,000 people at every game.” That will create the urgency that the upper management seems to be lacking.
The Mets have absolutely no heart this season. I think a lot of that has to do with Jerry Manuel not being an inspirational coach. He needs to show some emotion for once. I think we need a Lou Pinella type on our bench instead to fire up our “players.”
The Mets sure lost an oppportunity when Piniella was passed over for the manager job. He wouldn’t stand for what has been going on this year. Players would stop lamenting and be fighting for their jobs. Omar might have a fire lit under his butt as well.
“The Mets have absolutely no heart this season. I think a lot of that has to do with Jerry Manuel not being an inspirational coach.”
Isn’t this the same remark many Mets fans made about Willie Randolph? I like both Willie and Jerry. Maybe the problem is a little further up on the organizational chart. A few names might be properly filled in.
Once again, some of the current difficulty rests with Uncle Bernie. That scoundrel stripped the cupboard bare.
See that is the one statement I disagree with the most. It seems to be the standard line that comes out when they are in a slump. I see it the complete opposite, especially after the Red Sox series and the Cardinals series. Even with the injuries, they played hard.
I don’t think they are not trying, but you have bench players out there playing full time and there is a reason they are bench players and PT guys, thats the way the game is played now, and we are EXTREMELY short on everyday guys and these bench guys are just running out of steam.
I think, although they’ve been coming up short, other then the Yankee series where they couldn’t buy a hit, they’ve played with ALOT of heart.
Losses do not equal heart
Wins do not equal heart
Guys just save the heartache n don’t watch the games because i find myself getting to aggravated nowadays watching them play…..just look for the score on mlb.com
There are many fine points made in this story that capture the current situation and trap we are in. The litany of awful plays, errors of commission and ommission, lack of defense, and pitching debacles (you forgot the Pelfrey blow-ups) hits the nail on the head. The injuries excuse is lame when you review this PARTIAL list that JoeD assembled. It is bad fundamanental baseball and the guilty are the fill-ins, the rooks, and the injured vets as well. On top of that we get the Jerry Manuel boondoggles and lack of leadership. On top of that we have Omar sitting on his hands whether because of funding limitations or just plain ineptness. The bottom line is Mets fans are trapped in a bum season with little to look forward to. We don’t even have much hope that many of the injured will return this year! It looks like Ollie is close (mercy, please!) and then Beltran soon thereafter. After that it is all a crap shoot as we wander down this Yellow Brick Road to the Cellar. The Wizard we are about to meet does not reside in a Palace but in a gloomy Dungeon of our own creation…
Well said Joe, I think you wrote what all of us are feeling right now. I had the same thought last night, that it’s not the injuries, because major league players should not make the mental mistakes this team is making. And just about the entire team has been guilty at one point or another.
As far as those of you clamoring for Lou Piniella, his team isn’t doing that great either, and the Cubs have had a recent history of choking in big games. At some point these players need to have accountability for having their own head in the game–knowing how many outs there are, which base to throw to, and to use two hands when catching a pop fly.
It’s possible that Johan might be hurt, and there were hints of either that or that he’s either tipping his pitches or dealing with issues with his mechanics. But if I had to guess, it’s more that when you’re the only guy on the team being asked to carry your team to consistent 1-0 or 2-1 victories, you’re going to put a heck of a lot of pressure on yourself.
-Bully
I think that when push comes to shove Joe that what has bothered me the most is the mental mistakes. Wow, even bench players should know better and I have concerns about Johan. If he was calling out his team mates last nite then he needs to look in the mirror. 6 walks to pitchers! Where is that coming from? I hope that there is nothing but dead arm issue here cause he did start getting ready earlier this year in anticipation of pitching in WBC so maybe that has something to do with his velocity cause 90 and 89 is not going to do it when you need that gap between change up and fastball. I am very frustrated and am hurt cause Mets were my therapy for the year but I have hope that a fresh Reyes, Beltran, Delgado ? and maybe Wagner will give this team an infusion that will allow Mets to go on a long winning streak. The only kind of streak the Mets have not had this year.
[...] Joe D. over at Mets Merized Online wrote a very good blog earlier today. I wish I was able to post this [...]
It just feels like the late 70′s all over again. The team hits the field with no real anticipation of winning. In fact, they play like they’re waiting for the other show to drop … all game long.