Mets fans have had to endure a lot of heartache and grief in the last few seasons. As if one historic collapse in 2007 wasn’t bad enough, we followed it up with a less historic collapse in 2008, a season long episode of MASH in 2009, and all the drama, embarassment and comedy of a Paris Hilton movie in 2010.

In the media, the mere mention of the Mets would conjure up terms like “what a joke”, “what an embarrassment”, “oh God, not again” and “what a bunch of overpaid choke-artists”.

I was reminded of all those terms in a post by David Gershman of Beyond the Boxscore, who believes those days are now a thing of the past and in our rear view mirrors. The “embarrassment fairy” as he calls it, is long gone.

Not too long ago, the Mets were a laughing stock. The Amazin’s were the first that came to the mind of many, when the terms “joke,” “overpaid,” “choke,” and “horrible” were thrown around. Year after year the Mets would spend a boatload of money on free agents and make claims trying to excite the fans and at the same time “scaring” the Phillies. Obviously it backfired on the Mets. The question has always been, how can the Mets get back to those days of bees, shining orange and blue opposed to just plain orange and blue, and simply heading in the right direction.

Finally, the bees are flying around the the parking lot of Citi Field. The grass is ever so green. The embarrassment fairy is long gone. And the Mets are expected to look a lot better in their blue and orange uniforms than they ever did since 2006. The days of horrible contracts, win-now pressure, and last day chokes are behind them. The Mets can finally play baseball the right way at Citi Field.

Sandy Alderson has a lot to do with this. As he was presenting the award to R.A. Dickey, not only myself, but many others in the room were able to sense confidence and trust in the Mets. It almost felt like they were a team all in it to win together for the first time since ’06. It seemed as if Sandy, could forsee the Mets future and see nothing but positive encounters in the Mets future. It just seemed as if the Mets family was in good hands.

Have you seen enough in the last 12 weeks to safely say that the Mets will play up to their potential and finally shed the overpaid label?

Have the recent offseason moves raised your expectations and have you convinced that we are now on the path toward championship caliber baseball in 2011 and beyond?

It really is amazing how the perception of the Mets has changed for the better within the media since Sandy Alderson took command as general manager. Yes of course you still have all the wise cracks from guys like Jon Heyman and Mike Francesa, but for the most part, the organization is respectable once again.

I’m looking forward to a great season in 2011, one that will make us all proud again, and very optimistic. It’s been a while.