An MMO Fan Shot by Laura (Mookie4Ever)
Surviving as a lifelong Mets fan requires you to wall off your heart a little. You have to be cautious for your own sanity, because they will break your heart 14 out of 15 years. You naturally try not to get your hopes too high, so you can avoid the devastating lows that inevitably have come with this team.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda…. will drive you crazy, so when at all possible, you avoid looking back in too much painful detail. (I still have little personal memory of the 2000 WS games. Pre-Series hoopla, yes, actual games, no.) Similarly, you avoid looking too far ahead, too. Well, that strategy has worked for me in most years, anyway.
Which is why, with the Mets 7 games up and 22 to go last year, I was still telling myself, just enjoy the exciting ride, that watching meaningful September baseball was so much fun, that if they didn’t make it to the playoffs, I would be good with it.
As Gary and Ron and Keith started counting down the magic number using Mets uniform numbers, I was screaming NOOO! inside, fearing a jinx. Superstition goes along with this deal, of course, because of the decades upon decades of awful past disappointments and the Oh-So-Close finishes.
By the way, that little touch with the players’ numbers was my favorite part of the season to that point. It gave us a chance to share our connection to Mets history, and to honor all those guys, especially those we have lost. Little did I know then just how much fun and excitement was yet to come.
But here’s the thing about rooting for the NY Mets. It only gets really great and memorable when you go all in. When you give them your heart and really hang on for the ride, the magic truly happens, for me, anyway. It’s always a huge risk, but just like in love, no risk, no reward.
And so, of course, I finally did unwall my heart, and it was truly a magical journey. It seemed like we didn’t get more than 4 hours of sleep a night for the whole month of October into November, all while in a state of continual adrenaline rush, with all those heart attack postseason games. And of course, we did get our hearts broken in the end. But it was different last year, I actually was good with it — eventually.
First came the awful first week of grieving, actual physical grieving (to be honest it was probably mostly adrenaline withdrawal), to the point that I felt like I needed to have a little cry to get past it. I have to tell you, I haven’t cried over a sports team since I was a teenager with the ’73 Mets and Rangers, so this came as a shock.
Then, I painfully stumbled through various other stages of grief, from denial in the early morning hours of insomnia, to wallowing in the highlight videos, to the Hot Stove obsession, to finally watching MLB’s World Series Film, and my own brand of acceptance. You know, they really were so close in every game….
With this weird and wild offseason culminating in signing Cespedes, the crazy fun loose spring training, and the young stud pitchers looking so damn good, the rollercoaster is happily cranking up the hill again. Except, I’m hoping it’s more of a freight train ride like 1986. The Mets are finally ready to throw down and work their way back to finish what they started last year. The defending National League Champion New York Mets, that is, thank you very much.
I’m so excited for 2016 real baseball to start. First order of business will be to watch Matt Harvey and a quietly seething Mets team teach KC about the dangers of rubbing opponents’ noses in their past failure. Never before has the opportunity to settle Unfinished Business come so soon for any two World Series opponents.
This year, I’ll be all in from start to finish, hoping to hang on for another wild ride to the World Series with a happier ending this time. All aboard! #LGM
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This MMO Fan Shot was written by MMO reader Laura (Mookie4ever). Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Met fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
