…if you want perspective, can-do, rah-rah, exhortations to stay the course, solidarity with our boys, or any of that shit. Because you're not going to get it. You're not going to get one little scrap of it.
This team sucks. And they don't suck in a wet-behind-the-ears way that makes you want to see what they'll turn into next year. They suck in a way that makes you want them to just go away. Which it certainly looks like they'll be doing at the end of the week.
And really, honestly, how can you care about this pathetic baseball team? Horrifying mental mistakes, stupefyingly dumb tantrums at umpires, ludicrous mismanagement of the bullpen and roster, listless play and innings and innings and innings of bad baseball — which part of this rancid stew makes you want to remember your boyhood heroes, or daydream about green fields and summer nights? And should the Mets somehow pull out of their death spiral, which part of it makes you want to fork over $75 a night to watch them sleepwalk through the first week of October against the Cubs or Padres?
This New York Observer article is full of dreadful admissions from Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, all of whom said that yeah, the Mets play complacent ball. If you didn't read it already, go do so. You're back? Good. One of those articles that makes you want to look away for fear that your fandom is about to crumble, isn't it? Because how on earth can those players — potentially three Hall of Famers — let such a thing happen in their clubhouse? If it's not their job to stop it, whose is it? Willie Randolph? Dream on — apparently he's been a winner all his life, and winners don't dirty themselves by asking millionaires they're paid to oversee not to get bored with little details like making the postseason.
What's so infuriating is that the article makes clear something I'd suspected, but shied from confronting. Namely, that blowing a five-run lead to the Washington Nationals — the fucking Washington Nationals — is a symptom, not the disease.
“I think at times we can get a little careless. We’ve got so much talent I think sometimes we get bored.”
“We have so much talent that sometimes we relax a little bit and then we get ourselves in trouble.”
“Sometimes when you’re a team as talented as we are—I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘bored,’ but I guess you can get complacent sometimes. You don’t pay attention to details every now and then because you do have a ton of talent and think you can on most days do everything you wanna do.”
These are not things said by pissed-off bloggers fuming in their basements. These are things said in very recent history by decorated New York Met veterans, players universally known as leaders and good clubhouse guys. They are horrifying self-indictments that are about to turn into epitaphs.
And if they somehow don't? If the Mets somehow cheat the hangman, what then? Don't tell me about the 2005 Chicago White Sox and the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, because I don't want to hear it. I want to hear why on earth I should give a fuck about the 2007 New York Mets. Because there's far too much evidence that the 2007 New York Mets themselves do not.
I have seen the Mets play awful baseball. I filled those seats in '93. For Art Howe.
This mess, though… taking talent for granted? When did the Mets start thinking they were the Yankees? What the hell is with this sense of entitlement?
Still, I'm left with a sentiment from an icon of my childhood, uttered in a year of happier times for the Metropolitans…
The year was 1986. The icon? Transformers. Uttered by Optimus Prime… on his deathbed…
“One day, a hero will rise from our ranks and light our darkest hour.”
But who? Step up now or forever hold your peace.
Dear 2007 Mets,
Go Fuck yourselves.
Sincerely,
Someone Who Wants You to go Fuck Yourselves
There were a few wags who said that '06 was Mets year. Loss of Bradford and Oliver didn't help. Bannister would have helped.
A starting pitching staff going average 5 – 6 innings will kill any bullpen. I haven't written off the postseason but I expect them to be swept in the first round.
This has not been a comfortable season overall for a fan since 1962.
That person is Joba Chamberlain and he is pitching for the Yankees, who have, this year, been a different kind of Yankee team.
Oh please. This kid's thrown 20 innings and people are ready to freaking induct him into the Hall of Fame. Just wait and see, the postseason isn't a lock.
You root for the Mets because that's what you do. So this team isn't last year's team. But we knew that on January first, when we changed the calendar to 2007. Different year, different team, different game.
It's not the 2006 cardinals or anything like that I'm taking about, it's the 2007 Mets who are just as capable of winning this year as any other team. Maybe some players have been listless for parts of the year, or for too long, but it's a long season, it's a grind, and it happens. There have been multiple times this year where the Mets have put together good streaks, 10 of 12, 8 of 9, even the 2 and 2 I believe they need now. or the 11 of 19 after that. or any of it.
I don't think it's fair to suggest the Mets would sleepwalk through the first round of the playoffs.
I doubt they'd bother with the walk part.
“We’ve got so much talent I think sometimes we get bored.”…“We have so much talent that sometimes we relax a little bit and then we get ourselves in trouble.”…“Sometimes when you’re a team as talented as we are—I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘bored,’ but I guess you can get complacent sometimes…”
What is this, “Flushing Is Burning?” If I were the manager of a team that had players who made quotes like this, and if I was sure those quotes were accurate, I'd have three very good ballplayers sitting on my stinking bench, getting even more bored than when they were playing a kid's game for a CEO's compensation. I'd be playing nine rookies if I had to.
At 5-0, at least they haven't blown it yet. Once it was 5-2, you just knew. Joe Smith was our JOBA earlier in the season. Not so much now. Why does Feliciano suck too? Remember when Billy's ERA was like 1.40 and he was perfect?
more anger: http://slamonline.com/online/2007/09/mets-wow-do-i-hate-being-a-sports-fan/
I think everyone is overlooking the whole message of the article and of Jason's very accurate post: Look how TALENTED this team is!
The Mets are going to walk away with the talent portion of this contest, no mistake. Forget the standings for a while and bask all winter in the glowing talent of your glorious 2007 Mets. 2008 should be even more talented.
Your Talent Has Come.
I want to know who upset the baseball Gods?
My plea to them fell on deaf ears.
Why have they foresaken us?
Jose “Mr. Excitement” Reyes supremely offended the gods of baseball with that idiotic 2-out attempted steal of 3rd that Saturday game at Shea vs. the Phils and then Willie failed to appease the baseball gods by not benching Reyes the next day, as he should have in atonement to the gods of baseball. It is now far too late to assuage the baseball gods, whose wrath shall continue to hammer down on the Mets . . . It's over.
My God that felt good – thank you sir. I've resented this dumb team since the spring – this has easily been the least fun I've had as a baseball fan, this team is a miserable, wretched stew of rancid excrement.
Dogs.
Feliciano played winter ball through the Carib WS last winter. He was lights out. Less than a month off. Now his arm is dead.
Where the hell is all this “talent” we keep hearing about? Our 80-mph-slinging 300-game-winner who can't make it into the sixth inning in pressure games against dreadful opponents? The vastly overrated young trio of Maine, Perez and Pelfrey, soon to become the four horsemen of mediocrity with Humber as the non-Pedro portion of our 2008 rotation? The assortment of ass-clowns in the bullpen who can't retire .166 hitters with men on base? Dancing Jose? Washed up Castillo? GIDP Wright? The pathetic rally-killer Delgado?
Alex Ochoa, er Lastings Milledge?Shawn Abner, I mean Carlos Gomez? Do I really need to go on? Our best player is 41 years old.The lineup isn't clutch, the pitching stinks (not looking so smart these days, Omar), the manager is in over his head. If the Phillies manage to be the Phillies and choke away the opportunity we're handing them, we'll be lucky to win a game in the playoffs. I can't believe I'm in for $500 for playoff tickets.
Ok, I'll be the resident heretic in the Church of FAFIF this gloomy morning.
Faith isn't faith unil it's all you have left, or something.
Two outs, nobody on, bottom tenth, down by two runs, down three games to two.
The team's spiritual leader takes the hill tonight, backs to the wall. The man who gave him that fourth year when no one else would is in trouble. He put a lot on the line, believed in Pedro more than anyone.
Pedro can help redeem Omar tonight, can help salvage a season.
Can inspire, lead, show them all the way.
I'll be there tonight, rooting like hell.
If I'm wrong, we all have six months to not root for them.
Let's go, Mets.
Ed – Here's who upset the baseball gods. Whoever it was that decided this was a good idea to pitch on mlb.com in mid-September:
http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2874199&cp=2879714
Should have been an extra-large pair of sweat pants instead; in the words of George Costanza, “I'm not even tryin' anymore”…
Thanks for that – we need a boost of the Faith around here.
Pedro's gotta be Pedro tonight.
And tomahawk chop your ass off..
I don't know… I had my 1986 World Champions t-shirt by mid-September that year. That team was simply too strong for the gods to derail.
On the other hand, I may just have come up with the explanation for 1987…
We won the talent competition, but we got tripped up when we were asked why we couldn't find first place on a map of the National League East.
Re: The Nats, there's nothing like fear of finishing in last place to light a fire under a team.
There also may have been some voodoo involved. Did you hear about how Cordero was supposed to close, but he randomly threw up right when he went to warm up and was then replaced by Ayala? Cordero said he felt fine the rest of the day.
OK, so they suck. But do you really think they don't care? Do you really think they don't realize what's at stake here?
If the Mets do not make the playoffs they will never live it down. NEVER. The players will be asked about the Big Choke all their lives, over and over again, without letup. Jim Bunning still gets questions about 1964 and he's a fucking U.S. SENATOR. And he was the least of the Phillies' problems.
I'm willing to accept that the talent we thought was there was a mirage and that they're really not that good. I'm even willing to accept that our manager and our pitching coach are idiots and that possibly even our GM is highly overrated. I'm not willing, however, to accept that as long as the players draw cushy paychecks that all of this is okay with them. I don't believe that for a goddamn second.
I got mine in JULY that year. From an I Heart NYC souvenir shop in Rockefeller Plaza.
If you go into that same store today, you'd hardly know the Mets exist…
I think they care now, and realize what's at stake now. But I also think that it's too late.
I am fervently, desperately praying that I'm wrong.
honestly, while any other day of the season, I would have been right there with you, I read you writing that, and I just feel like you did it maybe as a joke, or did it with a listless expression while sighing to yourself as you typed it out. It's just beyond my ability to grasp why we should care about this (07) team.
If I'm wrong, we all have six months to not root for them.
Six months will be too long as it is.
LGM…four more days at the very least.
Three words, everybody:
Ya. Gotta. Believe.
I mean, who do you think Tug is up there rooting for in this pennant race? He helped us both win World Championships, but your first one is always the best.
Come on, people. Do you seriously think the Phillies are gonna steal this thing? Seriously? The PHILLIES?
Ya Gotta BELIEVE!
I mean, who do you think Tug is up there rooting for in this pennant race? He helped us both win World Championships, but your first one is always the best.
Goodness, what a difficult question to contemplate since Tug had more Phillies connections than Mets connections in retirement, especially toward the end of his life. Plus he didn't pitch in the '69 World Series while he closed the '80 World Series.
At least I'm sure John Stearns must be rooting for us.
awesome. A+
let's go phils!
Are you freaking kidding me? Tugger is an ex-Phil all the way. There's no question who he's rooting for.
He's rolling over in his grave over the Mets fans' ridiculous usage of his You gotta believe quote.
Menawhile, Ray Knight was holding a broom on the post game show on MASN last night in celebration.
Ray Knight people.
He's dead to me.
Dead.
I beg to differ sir.
He coined the quote in 1973. At that time he wore the blue and orange.
We have used it ever since.
I doubt Tug is upset about it.
Or Juan Samuel.
Can you picture Ralph Kiner wielding a broom on Kiner's Korner in 1973 after the Mets beat the Pirates?
Some RK's are classier than other RK's.
I'll still never forgive Maz for seeing him yukking it up in the Yankees' dugout while they were blowing us out last year.
Every time I see him I only have one thought: “Goddam turncoat motherf***er.”
Waaah, waaah, the Mets have only won 87 games this year. They're one of the best teams in baseball and still in the pennant race, and yet they may not win! And even if they don't, we'll still maintain this fantastic team next year! Oh, woe is me!
Fuck you. I saw this post on Deadspin, and shut the fuck up. You take having a great team for granted. I'm a Pirates fan…I've seen 15 years of horrendous teams and losing seasons. We've had one year where we were relevant in the pennant race and they STILL finished with a losing record. You don't know how good you have it.
Oh, by the way, you're welcome for Oliver Perez.
C'mon Nate, I doubt you felt great after Sid Bream was called safe.
Things are finally looking up for the Pirates, with the front-office changes. Heck, we wish them (and you) all the best — great team, great park, baseball town.
And yeah, thanks for Ollie.
At some point, someone needs to put the nail in Beltran's coffin. It wasn't just the playoffs last year … it is nearly every big at-bat I see him in. He has that distinct deer-in-headlights look. I don't know if he is mentally counting his $18 million or whatever he earns a year.