Lately, it seems the only thing the Mets excel at is finding ways to lose.

Shaun Marcum had his first quality start as a Met, going 6.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and punching out three. He threw 96 pitches, 65 of which for strikes, however fell to 0-4 on the year in easily his best effort for the Amazin’s this season.

After matching goose eggs with the Cardinal’s young phenom Shelby MIller, things got rocky in the bottom of the fourth. With Matt Holliday on first and two out, Jon Jay roped a double to Mike Baxter in right that went to the wall. Seeing that he didn’t have a play on Holliday, who came around to score, Daniel Murphy threw to third and pinned Jay in a run down. Apparently giving up, Jay stood almost still in front of Wright for a routine play to tag him. Wright went to lay the tag on, but dropped the ball. As it skidded into the infield, Jay was able to safely make it to third base, costing Wright just his third error on the year. Tony Cruz would follow up with a knock to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Looking overmatched at the plate, the offense was completely anemic against Miller who did not have his best stuff today. He held the Mets off the board through 5.2 frames before being relieved by Randy Choate for the last out of the sixth. In the seventh against Seth Maness, John Buck got himself on base with a one out single, setting the table Rick Ankiel. On the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count, Ankiel took a 90mph sinker deep to center to tie up the ballgame at two. Maybe the Mets luck is finally starting to turn around right?

Wrong. In the bottom half of the frame, Marcum got the first two outs but got himself into trouble with runners on first and third. After which he was lifted for this year’s go-to lefty, Scott Rice. Rice came on to face the former-Met Ty Wigginton, and on the first-pitch of the at-bat, threw a breaking ball that careened off John Buck and to the backstop, scoring the lead run in Daniel Descalso.

After the end of the seventh, the life was sucked out of the Mets. Carlos Beltran walked to lead off the eighth. Matt Holliday grounded into what would be a routine double-play, but the throw from Murphy sailed into the home dugout, allowing him to go to second. Allen Craig would also be walked to create a nice opportunity for Yadier Molina, who came through with a base hit to drive in the insurance run and make it 4-2.

After the wild pitch from Rice, the offense showed little fight as they went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth to end the game.

John Buck had a nice day at the plate, but a horrible one on the basepaths as he was doubled off on a Ruben Tejada liner that was caught, then made a boneheaded steal attempt, resulting in the slow-footed backstop being picked off at second. That plus the key wild pitch, and it was overall a night to forget for Buck.

The offense continues to be ice cold. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both had 0-fers in this game.

The Mets just aren’t playing good baseball, it is as simple as that. They are giving opposing teams extra outs with sloppy D and giving away at-bats with an inept lineup.

Two positives to take away from this one however was the encouraging start from Marcum, and the solid offensive effort by Rick Ankiel.

The Mets have now lost six-games in a row for the second time this season and are 8-18 in their last 26 games. They now have the third worst record in baseball at 14-23, nine games under .500. Only Houston and Miami are worse.

Jonathon Niese (2-4, 5.93 ERA) opposes right-hander Adam Wainwright (5-2, 2.30) in the series finale on Thursday at 1:45 PM. The Mets look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals which last happened in 1982 when Keith Hernandez played for St. Louis.

We wont win this season. We wont compete this season. We wont be any good this season. Okay, now that that’s settled, lets go ‘Play Ball’ this season and see what happens. Opening Day is a little over one month away and when that first pitch is thrown, the Mets technically have just as good a chance as anyone to win.

We Mets fans are an interesting bunch Always have been. In 1962 that other team in New York were defending World Champions (again) They had guys named Yogi and Mickey and Whitey and Moose. And they had Roger Maris fresh off breaking what had been deemed the unbreakable record. However, just a few miles away, playing in a dilapidated stadium that was close to being demolished, there was a new team in a town. The Mets countered with guys named Choo Choo, Elio, Marvelous Marv and ‘Hot’ Rod.

And yet, even though the 62 Yankees won 96 games and their eighth World Championship in 13 years, it was the new kids in town who drew more fans.

The difference between the fan bases of our two clubs is simple: Yankees fans feel that anything less than a Championship is simply unacceptable. Mets fans, on the other hand, are ecstatic over finishing .500.

We always hope for the best…but prepare for the worst.

When you think back to 1986, what are the words that come to mind? Swagger. Confidence. Arrogance. Buckner. One word that never really gets brought up is ‘Miracle.’ Sure, Mookie’s slow roller was a gift from the ghosts of Joan Payson and Gil Hodges. But ‘miracle’ is more fitting of 1969 than 1986.

Think back to Game Six. No, not that one. The one against Houston. The Mets were leading the Astros three games to two but we came into the ninth trailing by three and Mike Scott, who’d already shut us down twice in a week and on his way to winning the Cy Young Award, was poised for game seven. Remember that feeling?

Remember that feeling in another Game Six? After Keith flied out, Gary stepped to the plate. The Mets trailed 5-3 in the bottom of the tenth, bases empty and two outs. No hope. Shea was deathly quiet. Failure was written on Davey’s face. The players sat on the bench staring in utter shock and despair at what was playing out before them. Losing was bad enough. Being the team whom the Red Sox would break their curse against was downright embarrassing. But the most heart-wrenching feeling of all was disbelief. Why?

1986 was OUR year. We were supposed to win. We deserved to win. We were entitled. We were the best team. My heavens—We had turned into the Yankees.

And two days later when ‘the dream came true,’ sure, we were elated. But the agony of possible defeat far outweighed the thrill of victory.

In the mid and late 80’s expectations were always high. This was something new for our Metsies. We’re never favored or picked to go far. But with this new burden comes a heavy task. When excellence is expected, almost demanded, anything less is deemed failure. However, when nothing at all is expected and something great happens, it’s that much sweeter.

Over the last quarter century, the two most heartbreaking moments for us came off the bat of catchers: Mike Scioscia and Yadier %$#&^% Molina.

In 1988, the Mets were expected to repeat their ’86 performance. We won 100 games, 10 of those coming in 11 matchups against the Dodgers that season. When Scioscia hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth in game four against Doc, we were shell-shocked. The Mets never recovered. We were supposed to win. But in the blink of an eye (or the swing of a bat) our expectations and sense of entitlement was crushed.

Same could be said of 2006. That years’ Mets were similar in many ways to the 1986 club. Confident, some arrogance. We dethroned the much hated Braves. Yes, 2006 would definitely be our year. That is until Yadier Molina dug in.

As if 2006 was not heartbreaking enough, the subsequent collapses the next two seasons were downright unfathomable. Choking is hard enough to swallow. But choking when you’re expected to win? That just seems unfair, cruel.

In 1973, the Mets were not good. To say our hitting was anemic would be an understatement. Only one player had over 16 HRs. Only one player hit over 280, Rusty Staub was our RBI leader, plating a whopping 76. No one even had double digits in SB’s. Even our traditionally strong pitching was a letdown. Two of our big three pitchers, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack both finished with more losses than wins. And on August 31, our closer Tug McGraw, had an ERA north of 5.00.

But somehow, with no expectations, 1973 remains one of the best years in Mets history. We managed to finagle the NL East title, upset a Big Red Machine team that was filled top to bottom with would-be Hall of Famers. And then, pushed the A’s in the midst of their dynasty, to seven games, even getting the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of Game Seven.

There are certain players that are held in reverence by their team’s fans. The Red Sox have Ted Williams, the Cubs Ernie Banks, the Royals George Brett. And for us it’s No. 41.

But Tom Seaver was not always Tom Seaver. In the spring of 1969, Seaver was not yet Tom Terrific. He was a promising 24-year old kid with a mediocre 32 wins and 25 losses. (No one expected Seaver to win almost as many games that season as he’d won in the previous two). In Spring Training that March Seaver was joined by Cleon Jones who was a career .272 hitter. (No one dreamed that Cleon would hit .340 in 1969) Former Rookie of the Year Tommie Agee was coming off hitting .217 the previous year. At 26, Agee was considered a has-been.

And if this wasn’t bad enough, our manager was none other than Gil Hodges. Sure, Hodges was loved by New York fans but as a skipper, he achieved little success. With 6 managerial seasons under his belt, the former Brooklyn first baseman had a lackluster .407 winning percentage.

Now, as we inch our way closer to another season, we have little hope. Will Jon Niese turn into another Tom Seaver? No. Will Lucas Duda, like Cleon, hit 340? Of course not. Will Terry Collins join Davey and Gil as championship managers? No way.

But just for the hell of it, lets play out the season and see what happens. In 1962, Casey Stengel told his team, “All I ask is that you bust your hiney on that field.”

Do the Mets have any chance to win it all this season? I think we have about as good a chance as we did in the spring of 1969.

Without further ado, I present the first ever FPM All-Stars… 

Catcher – Yadier Molina

Yadier narrowly edged out Buster Posey simply because only 37 players were successful when stealing bases with Molina behind the plate in 2012. He threw out a ridiculous 47% of runners attempting to nab a base. Did I mention he put up some dynamite offensive numbers as well? He’s hitting .321, to go along with 20 HR and a .888 OPS. His WAR, for you sabermetric fans, is currently a 6.8.

First Base – Prince Fielder

Every team deserves a prince. Fielder put up very solid offensive numbers again this year hitting .304, to go along with 27 HR and 101 RBI. Any guy that swings the bat with the intensity of a kid trying to knock the candy out of a piñata will always have a spot on the FPMASs. With that monster swing, he only struck out 77 times in 537 AB this year – awesome.

Second Base – Robinson Cano

Is there any question regarding who would be the second baseman on this team? No need to go through the stats, but he’s hitting .299 with 30 HR this year. There’s always next year Aaron Hill.

Shortstop – Derek Jeter

Does this guy get old? He’s having one of the finest offensive seasons of his career, to go along with his solid defense at the all-important position of shortstop. Jeet is currently hitting .323, to go along with 30 2B and 15 HR. I love that his uniform is always dirty, and there’s always room on the FPMASs for future Hall of Famers.

Third Base – Miguel Cabrera

Can you say Triple Crown? Barring some sort of ridiculous slump we will have our first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. He is currently hitting .333, with 41 HR and 130 RBI. Triple Crown winners can play whatever position they want on FMPASs, but Miguel will be a third base. 

Left Field – Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball – period. I don’t care if he’s listed as a center fielder, he’s playing left field for the FPMASs. Ryan Braun might be upset with me, but nobody can argue with a stat line of .287/42/123. Josh Hamilton will retire from this game as a legend, and legends are always welcome on the FPMASs.

Center Field – Mike Trout

I really had a hard time with this one. My heart was yelling Andrew McCutchen, but my brain kept whispering Trout. They both play a ridiculous center field. They both hit for average and power. It really came down to the stolen bases. Mike Trout was simply the better all-around player this year. For a rookie to put a team on his shoulders, when Albert Pujols is on the team, says enough. For you sabermetric fans, Trout leads the league with a 10.1 WAR.

Right Field – Giancarlo Stanton

The player formerly known as Mike. This guy hits moon shots. I watched him at batting practice down at Citi Field in early August, and his upper deck blasts were jaw dropping. I would love to see how many homeruns this kid could hit in a season if he could stay healthy. Only three right fielders had a higher WAR than Stanton this year, and Jay Bruce may play on a better team, but Stanton is a better player.

Designated Hitter – Edwin Encarnacion

Who can argue with 40 HR, 120 RBI, and a .280 batting average from your DH position? ‘Nuff said.

Starting Pitcher – R.A. Dickey

Come on…you knew I was getting a New York Met on this team somewhere. Dickey has been one of the very few reasons Mets fans have had to smile all year. With 18 wins, 205 Ks, 2.67 ERA, and in the discussion for a Cy Young award – Dickey is the clear choice as the FPMASs starting pitcher. Now we gotta get Molina one of those crazy big catcher’s mitts for when Dickey throws his “Dancing Destroyer.”

Closer – Fernando Rodney

This guy is lights out and wears his hat cockily tilted to the side. Love it. With 43 saves, a ridiculously minuscule 0.66 ERA, and 68K in 68 innings pitched – I will be tapping my right arm as I walk out to the mound in the ninth inning to replace Dickey.

* * * * * * * *

So there it is, the first ever FirstPitchMitch All-Star Team. The baseball gods are happy with my choices, but what about the readers? Use the comment section below if you have any conflicting player choices you would like to share.

The first World Series ever played was in 1903 and in all those years, only twice has a Fall Classic ended on a walk-off HR. In 1993, Joe Carter hit a 3 Run HR in the bottom of the 9^th to give the Blue Jays an 8-6 win and their 2^nd straight Championship. The pitcher who gave up the gopher ball to Carter was Mitch Williams. Nicknamed ‘Wild Thing,’ Williams had been one of the top closers in the NL. In the 5 years before serving up the infamous HR, he had recorded 154 saves with a 3.23 ERA. For the 3 years after serving up the HR, Williams’ ERA shot up to 8.40 and he would only record 6 more saves. His career was finished.

In late August 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers held a 13 game lead over their much hated cross-town rivals, the New York Giants. Brooklyn faltered. The Giants came on strong. The teams ended in a tie and it was decided that a 3 game playoff would be held to determine who would win the NL pennant. After the first 2 games were split, Brooklyn was leading 4-1 going to the bottom of the 9^th. The Giants won the pennant when Bobby Thomson homered to LF off of Ralph Branca. In the 5 seasons prior to giving up Thomson’s HR, what sportswriters have referred to as the most famous HR ever hit in NY, Branca had a 3.70 ERA. For the 3 seasons after allowing the pennant winning HR, Branca’s ERA rose to 7.86. Thomson’s pennant winning blast is best known as ‘The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.’

There have been critical turning points in our country’s history. America was a different nation before the assassination of JFK then it was after that fateful day in Dallas. Viet Nam/Watergate are benchmarks as well. Post 9-11 America is far different than Pre 9-11 America. The history of our own Mets also has turning points.

The laughable 60′s of ‘Casey’s Amazin’s’ gave way to a title in 69 and nearly a decade of competitiveness. The departure of Tom Seaver in 1977 sent the franchise into a new era of dark days until the arrival of Keith Hernandez and a rookie named Strawberry in 1983. The Mets of the 80′s were born. And so it goes…

As I watch the Mets nowadays, I wonder if we are perhaps in a new ‘dark era’ and don’t realize it yet. The Mets of 1979 were led by Pat Zachary and John Pacella, a huge step down from Seaver and Kooz. In the 90’s guys like Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilla and Paul Wilson were a far cry from the likes of Knight, Dykstra and Gooden. The team was…’different’…after these turning points.

Was Yadier Molina’s HR in Game 7 another turning point from which we have yet to recover? 2006 was our season. No doubt about it. We were World Champions. We just don’t have the trophy to prove it. We had spent a couple of years building to that crescendo. Endy’s catch should have been the cherry on top of the World Championship cake much in the way the catches of Agee and Swoboda were almost 4 decades earlier. However, it didn’t happen.

Since Molina’s HR in the 9^th, this team has not been the same. They have not recovered. Once again, this team ‘feels’ different. Since that infamous blast by Molina, ‘The Shot Heard ‘Round Flushing,’ the Mets have had not one but TWO monumental September collapses. We became the first team in baseball history to lose a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season for two straight years at home. And now, albeit only a few weeks into yet another season, we still seem haunted by the ghosts of Septembers past. After the collapse of 07, Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez predicted that many players would be gone. To paraphrase what #17 stated, he pointed out that the best way to remove the scars of this was to ‘clean house.’ But most have remained.

In the same way that Mookie Wilson was a turning point for Bill Buckner and the way that Joe Carter was a turning point for Mitch Williams and that Bobby Thomson was a turning point for Ralph Branca, could Molina’s HR have been a turning point for our entire team? Can one Home Run send an entire organization and its fans into an unending black hole of negativity, pessimism and self-doubt?

The confidence, the heart and the swagger that this team displayed in 06 seems like a lifetime ago. It seems a distant memory. The fire displayed by Wright and Reyes and Delgado just three seasons ago now seems as far removed as the fist pumping curtain calls of Gary Carter and images of Tug McGraw pounding his glove on his leg..

Two of my writing gigs are blogging “American Idol” and “The Biggest Loser,”  which means I have to watch a lot of TV on Tuesdays so I can recap those shows on Wednesday.  So I had to watch “American Idol” in real time while TiVo’ing “The Biggest Loser” in the bedroom.  That meant I could check the Mets/Cardinals game during commercials.  I watched as the Mets were up 2-0, and Yadier Molina punched a base hit off Ollie P.  Of course he did—I don’t think the Mets have gotten that guy out since he ruined their 2006 season in Game 7 of the NLCS. 

Anyway, Idol ended and I had to go to the other room to watch “The Biggest Loser,” minus the commercials, which had me back in front of the Mets game by 9:45 central time.  I turn it on to see that it’s 4-4 heading into the 8^th inning.  And all I’m thinking is, the Mets are going to lose this game.  I don’t know how, but they are going to lose this game.  Now, this is supposed to be a championship caliber team, with big name players and a huge payroll, but their collective confidence was damaged the last two Septembers, and my confidence in them also took a huge hit. 

My worst fears were realized when Carlos Beltran was thrown out at the plate as Molina blocked it and Beltran, for whatever reason, did not slide.  Out.  Double play.  Inning over.  Then JJ Putz came in to face the Cards in the bottom of the 8^th.  Daniel Murphy falls down in left field, allowing Brendan Ryan to reach third base with nobody out.  Rick Ankiel rocketed a double, scoring Ryan, and then with first base open Putz pitched to Albert Pujols, who moved Ankiel over with a fly ball, after which Ryan Ludwick drove in Ankiel for an insurance run.  Then Molina (naturally) smashed another hit to left, but the damage had been done — and it’s worth noting that several Cardinals absolutely crushed Putz’ pitches. 

In the top of the ninth, Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin set the Mets down one-two-three.  Luis Castillo waved at strike three like he was thinking about what to order for room service.  Gary Sheffield hit a grounder up the middle to a perfectly positioned Brendan Ryan, and Jose Reyes hit a weak grounder to end it. 

Sure, Ollie P. blew it by letting the pesky Cardinals back in the game, but the rest of the Mets did everything possible to give this game away, and they did nothing to gain any of my confidence back.  I wrote last week about my worries only 7 games in and I’m still worried 13 games in as the Mets sit at 6-7, 4.5 games behind Florida.  

It just seems like every opponent wants to win more than this Mets team does, and they all do the little things better.  Am I wrong? 

Perez returned to his bad self. Four decent innings, and that’s all she wrote. Loss of control, and then batting practice. Yadier owns us. We had a 4-0 lead that lasted till the fifth; we also had 10 hits till that point, and then added exactly one more over the final four innings.

Tonight it was the BP’s turn to let us down. New call up Casey Fossum walked in the tying run on four pitches (Whew! Good thing we DFA’ed Figueroa). Then it was Putz’s turn to implode in the 8th.

J.J. had a little help from Daniel—“I got it! I got it! He got it alright!—Murphy who manages to do lots of seemingly acrobatic things in the OF without ever making the play to go with the, er, act. Oy vey! How much more of this guy do we have to watch in LF? I am souring on him quickly. He needs to go to OFers school. Oh, and he also managed to get himself picked off of first in the first because, again, Yadier owns us!

And speaking of some bone-headed base running…What the &*^% was Beltran doing in trying to score on a bungled Sac fly throw to 3rd. He decided rather than sliding into home to beat the throw, he would just cross HP standing up, save that Yadier had the plate blocked w/ his foot; Beltran more or less beat the tag, but ended up on Molina’s foot.

Definitely a more painful and exasperating loss than the last one to the Brew Crew. Tonight was a carbon copy of so many games in ’08 when we would score big early, and then take the rest of the game off at the plate. I’m kind of hoping JMAN smashes some things around in that locker room tonight.

The Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players gave us their worst game of this young season, but it’s reflected in the score; it’s reflected in the little stupid and careless things they did.