"The Mets have shown me more ways to lose than I even knew existed." Casey Stenegel said this more than 40 years ago, and it rings so true today. This season, we’ve probably seen the Mets lose in every possible way, plus a few additions. The Mets are currently going through a rough patch. In April, we weren’t really worried and we said to ourselves, "It’s only April. They’ll come around." As we approach Memorial Day weekend, the Mets currently sit in 4th place, and one game under .500.
Right now, the Mets are lacking a leader in the clubhouse. We are lacking the one person that will take the entire team under his wing and tell them to play better. We currently have a manager, but it just says that on the door of his office. We have a very talented, MVP-caliber 3rd baseman, who steps up as a team leader but doesn’t have a "C" on his jersey because he doesn’t have the veteran status of Billy Wagner and Moises Alou.
All ESPN analysts can talk about when the Mets are on TV is their historic collapse, blowing a seven game lead with 17 left to play. Seriously, I don’t want to hear about it anymore. They fail to even mention the 1964 Phillies, who blew a 6 and a half game lead with 12 left to play.
It takes a special person to be a Mets fan. The Mets have done a lot of losing in their history, especially in the earlier years. The fans stuck by our loveable losers whether they won 2-1 or lost 11-4. We stuck by Anthony Young, after he set the record for most consecutive losses. We stuck by the 1962 team, who went 40-120. We stuck by their team after they traded away Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan. We stuck by our team in the Art Howe era, in the Dallas Green era. And now, we stuck by our team after one of the greatest collaspes in baseball history.
Tom Seaver once said, "There are only two places in the league: first place and no place." The Mets need to realize that they aren’t going to get anywhere if they’re all talk and no action. The Mets need to hit their ultimate low. And sadly, I don’t think that has happened yet. I love this team as much as the next fan, but Billy Wagner can’t curse out the media every day in order to provide a spark. But whatever happens this weekend, anything is better than waking up in ladt place in the Al East.
