Not What Was Envisioned

Well last night didn't turn out to be what Mets fans and myself had hoped for since the end of September last year.  Basically, it seemed as if it were the same team playing the same game from last year.

David Wright kept striking out.  Jose Reyes was jumpy at the plate.  The offense had no pop in its bats.  Mike Pelfrey struggled with his command and channelled his inner John Maine by allowing way to many foul tips.

There were some positives though.  Brad Emaus played well defensively at second base.  Carlos Beltran had a decent game in right field and had the first RBI on the season.  The bullpen, although giving up some hard hits, pitched decently.

That's the great thing about baseball though, there's 161 games left to be played and they Metsies get to do it all over again tonight at 7:10 (Jon Niese vs Ricky Nolasco, SNY/WFAN).  I believe the team will have settled down from their Opening Day nerves and get back to the team who hit the ball pretty well the last week of Spring Training.

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My Frustration, My Headache

Ok, so their season just ended yesterday but the pain has essentially lived inside of me since I watched Carlos Beltran stare at Strike Three against the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS.  Yeah, that's right, the New York Mets.

I've been lucky (?) enough to say that I have the most history with this ball club.  You see my father grew up a Mets fan and instilled the Blue and Orange in my blood.  I can't recall the year but I can remember my first Mets game that I witnessed at the old Shea Stadium.  Mets vs Giants.  Mets win 3-1.  Sid Fernandez was the winning pitcher that night and we sat about 10 rows up along the first base line.  Throughout the years, I've been able to hear numerous stories of Tom Seaver, Ron Darling, Davey Johnson, Jerry Koosman, Rusty Staab, Casey Stengel and more.  So many stories of the '69 and '86 World Series teams; of how close the '73 and '88 and '00 teams were.  So much promise, so much hope, so much despair.

When I can first recall remembering individual seasons, the dreaded Yankees won their first World Series in many a year and it seems as if they've won about another five since.  Oh, wait a minute... All the meanwhile, the Mets have shown and said a lot of potentially powerful things, but in the end, it all fizzled out.  I am extremely grateful that the Mets did have the 2000 season because without that year, I would not know what it would be like to have baseball success in New York.

I still don't totally know what that feeling is like.  Again, the Mets have not won the World Series since 1986. But, I do know the feeling of having the team run by Art Howe, and Oliver Perez has your number three pitcher, and blowing a seven game with only 17 games to go, and blowing a four game lead with seven games to go, and 2009, and now 2010.

But next year is a new year.  Omar Minaya is gone.  Jerry Manuel is gone.  Will some of the franchise players be gone?  Will the salary be evened out a bit?  Who knows.  Let's just be grateful that they can't lose a game until at least late March.