Exhibit A: In August 2013 Mets fans held their collective breath when learning of an injury to Matt Harvey. A short time later when it became clear he was finished for not only the remainder of that season but for the following year as well, fans by and large threw in the towel. We immediately wrote off the next year and began looking ahead to 2015. Obviously, with our ace sidelined we simply could not compete.
As the 2014 campaign unfolded, the Mets lived up to these expectations of nothingness. A loss to the Yankees on May 14th cemented us below 500 for the next 4 ½ months. Six weeks in and already we were going through the motions of playing 162 games. Obviously, with one pitcher down, we had no chance.
However, when we look back at 2013, we weren’t exactly kicking butt with Harvey and then promptly nosedived after his injury. On Aug 24, Harvey’s last start, the Mets were in 3rd place, 18 Games Back Our record was 58-69, a .457 winning percentage. Without Harvey, the Mets concluded 2013 going 16-19 for, ironically, a .457 winning percentage.
Exhibit B: Unlike the Mets who lost one player, this unnamed team had bad luck bestowed upon them in 2014. Their ace won only two games by the All-Star Break before being shut down with an elbow injury. Their most popular starter with the fans struggled all year and eventually found himself relegated to the bullpen by July 20.
Things were so dire the GM acquired a pitcher who was 1-9 with an ERA of 4.72. The ERA for their closer was north of 5.00 when he lost his job in late June. The leadoff hitter and offensive spark plug missed most of the year, amassing only 383 plate appearances. One of their few legitimate home run threats had just 214 at-bats, missing 101 games. It’s no wonder that from June 9 through August 25, this club went 26-41, good for a humiliating .388 winning percentage.
Yet, despite the injuries and bad luck that had befallen Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo, Angel Pagan and Brandon Belt, the Giants find themselves four wins away from going to the Fall Classic for the third time in five years.
Confusing, isn’t it? The Mets lose one player and all hope is lost. The Giants have a plethora of injuries and chaos and somehow have a legitimate chance to play in the World Series. I guess this proves that good teams find a way to win while other teams raise their arms to heaven asking “Why us?”
Winners win. Losers make excuses.
And for nearly 10 years, excuses is one thing that Mets players, managers, executives and even some fans have become quite skilled at. Each year we find some excuse or excuses to hang all our woes on.
In 2006, the reason we blew it could be summed up in 2 words: 1) Heilman 2) Beltran. Aaron Heilman gave up a home run in the 9th inning of game seven in the LCS to some 24 year-old kid named Yadier Molina. And Beltran? Well, despite the fact he led the Mets with 41 home runs and 116 RBI, everyone blamed him for taking a called third strike that would have left Stan Musial befuddled. Of course, without Beltran’s stats we don’t even make it to the post-season, but many fans forget that. The fact that Molina would go on to become the premier catcher in the league and known as a clutch hitter while the pitcher, Adam Wainwright, would become one of the games’ top hurlers, was apparently irrelevant. Surely, once we’d get rid of Heilman and Beltran things would improve, wouldn’t they?
2007 saw the Mets blowing a seven game lead with 17 left. On the last day of the year, with the post-season hanging in the balance, Tom Glavine had the shortest outing of his Hall of Fame career, allowing seven runs in just one inning of work. That (expletive) Brave! we all shouted. But really, with a seven game lead in mid-September, the season shouldn’t have even come down to the final day. Glavine should have spent that day resting for the playoffs, not pitching to keep hope alive.
Joining Glavine as our fall guy was Jose Reyes. Sure, Reyes may have set the franchise record for most stolen bases with 78 and also had 60 extra-base hits, but it was clearly his fault for hitting .154 in Sept. Surely, once we get rid of Glavine and Reyes things would improve, wouldn’t they?
In 2009, this particular player batted 302, third best on the club. He stole 20 bases in 26 attempts (2nd highest on the club) and was also second in hits. Not too shabby. However, when Luis Castillo dropped a routine pop-up, it was obvious he was now the poster child for everything wrong with the 09 Mets. Had this error happened against Colorado, no one would remember it. But since it happened against the Yankees, one game out of 162, it was clear that Castillo was the source of all evil. Surely, once we get rid of him things would improve, wouldn’t they?
Even David Wright, the face of the franchise and arguably our best hitter ever, has also been blamed by some. How many times has our captain been criticized for not being “clutch” or a “leader” as preposterous as that sounds?
When still nothing improved we began pointing a finger at reserve outfielders. Jordany Valdespin was a cancer in the clubhouse that needed to be removed. Valdespin, like the others, is gone. Yet, nothing has improved.
Soon, it became evident that blame needed to be placed in the dugout, not on the field.
Of the 20 different men who’ve managed the Mets, Willie Randolph compiled a .544 winning percentage, second highest in history. He was fired, replaced by Jerry Manuel. The Gangsta posted a winning percentage of .489, lower than Randolph. When it was decided that Manuel was now the problem, he was replaced by Terry Collins. Collins’ winning percentage is .469, even lower than Manuel.
Uh oh, now what? We discarded star players and future Hall of Famers. We discarded relievers and reserve outfielders. But nothing changed. We discarded managers. But nothing changed. Time to look upstairs.
In six years, Omar Minaya’s Mets finished over .500 four times. From 2005-2010, the Mets averaged 84 wins. However it was decided it must be his fault. Minaya was replaced by Sandy Alderson. In four years, Alderson has never finished over 500. From 2011-2014, his clubs have averaged 76 wins.
In Minaya’s six seasons the Mets averaged finishing 6 ½ GB. In Alderson’s four seasons, the Mets have averaged finishing 22 GB.
In addition to blaming players, managers and GM’s, we’ve also impugned pitching coaches, hitting coaches, trainers. And the most ludicrous of all: our stadium. Yet again, for the third off-season in Citi Field’s six year existence, management is still struggling to figure out where exactly to put a wall and how high it should be.
Since 2006, the more changes that are made, the worse things become. We blamed Reyes for one bad month, Glavine for one bad start, Heilman for one bad pitch, Beltran for one bad at-bat, Castillo for one misplayed pop-up.
At this moment, the Giants, despite the abundance of misfortune they endured this season, are taking infield practice in St. Louis, answering repetitive questions from reporters and spouting tired worn-out clichés as they try to get to their third World Series since 2010.
Meanwhile, the Mets and Mets fans are—as always—hoping that next year things will improve. And hoping not one-single-thing goes wrong. Let’s just pray that Matt Harvey isn’t spotted at a nightclub in Manhattan the evening before a bad start or that no Mets’ wife goes into labor causing her husband to miss two games or that Jacob deGrom skips a single start due to a blister. I’m sure 2015 will be the Mets year. After all, since we’ve gotten rid of all our past problems, what could possibly go wrong?
