When your team’s bad you spend a lot of time fuming about how it should be made good. This guy who’s failed too often needs to lose his job to this guy who hasn’t failed yet, any fool can see the lineup should be revamped so it works like this, etc.
I’m not generally one for half-measures, so my favorite proposed remedy is to declare that the Powers That Be should DFA everybody, which has never happen but would indeed sure show ’em. I have on occasion gone a step further and advocated that the Mets be contracted, though that usually requires them to have offended me by doing something truly dreadful, such as losing six of seven.
That’s the formula for bad times. When your team’s good, on the other hand? Lips tend to stay zipped. Nobody wants to offend the baseball gods, those capricious beings capable of directing batted balls past or into gloves. And, really, what is there to say?
On Friday night the Mets beat the Kansas City Royals, who’d won seven straight and attracted all sorts of accolades for their youth and dynamism, by the rather convincing score of 6-1. They got key hits and airtight defense from Brett Baty, solid work from Luis Severino and the bullpen, a no-doubter of a homer from Pete Alonso, and a ridiculous number of two-out hits. Seriously, the last part was mildly absurd: Ten of the Mets’ 14 hits came with two outs, and five of those timely tallies drove in runs. No wonder Michael Wacha, our old friend from the bell jar 2020 season, spent a good chunk of the evening stamping around the mound looking consternated.
“Don’t make a third out” isn’t a particularly replicable formula, so maybe just shrug and enjoy that part, but it wasn’t all the baseball gods deciding to scatter rose petals: Beyond Baty’s welcome continuing maturation (or at least his continuing run of confidence-breeding good results), Jeff McNeil looks more like his old self of late and Harrison Bader‘s bat has come alive. Severino’s pitches didn’t strike me as particularly sharp, and he lost the plate at times, but his last act was to fan Royals phenom Bobby Witt Jr. with KC threatening to make it a game again, and that final line is undeniable regardless of how many caveats you attach to it.
It’s also not like the Mets are firing on all cylinders. The baseball gods have apparently forgiven Brandon Nimmo, but both Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor have hit in oddly poor luck. Oddly for them, of course; it’s not odd at all for someone in the lineup to be suffering a run of misfortune, just as it isn’t odd for someone else in that lineup to be enjoying unexpectedly good results when meeting ball with bat. (Not to ruin a good story, but so far in 2024 that’s Baty.)
The fans greeted Lindor with standing Os, offering an antidote to some vile social-media drive-bys on his family; there hasn’t been the same mutterings or poor behavior about Marte, probably because everyone’s still glad to see him hale and hearty again and he’s less of a heart-on-his-sleeve player than Lindor, which gives onlookers less to react to. (Also: Even if I were reincarnated as a skeevy Internet troll, I would prefer to not have Starling Marte angry at me.)
Lindor expressed his gratitude, saying being cheered “fills my heart” (aw); one imagines a few more balls touching down on grass would have the same effect. Maybe the baseball gods will grant that wish next. Or maybe they won’t. We’d never presume to tell them what to do, after all.
That was a nice win.
I can think of about 340 million reasons why skeevy Internet trolls would hit Lindor harder than Marte, I suppose.
I don’t believe in the baseball gods. If there was such a thing, would they have created a Rob Manfred?
Perhaps a reason those who DO dislike Lindor DO dislike him, is because he DOES provide a great deal of ammunition, besides the salary, which is so high, he could never live up to it:
The goofy garish hair.
The garish gloves.
This reeks of “Look at me!” and people might think he spends too much time thinking about this stuff, rather than how to improve his game.
Some more:
Trying to reneg (sic?) on the car he promised McNeil.
His fight with McNeil, and that dumb rat/raccoon story.
And finally ‘Thumbs down!’ while being led around by the nose by Baez, that certified creep.
That’s a lot of stuff right there.
@Eric1973 — The only valid point you made is about the whole “thumbs down” thing. Everything else either reeks of racism or fuddy-duddyism (why are you blaming him and not McNeill for the fight? what do you care about his hair, or the car he was supposed to buy for McNeill? are you kidding me about the gloves?!) and is honestly pretty gross.
“Thumbs down” was truly moronic.
You obviously missed the point, Edgardo. I said those who DO dislike him can use that as ammunition.
I DO think the hair thing is goofy, and that perhaps a remedial reading course is in order.
And I only disparaged Baez.
Eric: “This reeks of look at me” — you. Also you, listing the “great deal of ammunition” Lindor “DOES provide” (caps yours). Not that his detractors perceive, but that “he DOES provide”. Closing with “That’s a lot of stuff right there”, and then trying to pass this off like you’re just engaging in a philosophical exercise is about as dumb as your previous comment was, I repeat, gross.
I follow Eric’s view. I’m no fan of Lindor. But I can see why others are. However, the fact that he always hits at the top of the lineup simply because he gets great press is ruinous to the team. He’s currently a .100 hitter. I know where he belongs in a lineup.
@John — Agreed that he’s been terrible this season so far (two weeks and a bit) and should be hitting lower in the line-up until he heats up (as he always seems to do). I also fear his contract may turn into a real problem for the team in a few years when his defense drops off. My point re: Eric is that he didn’t once address Lindor’s baseball skills, instead focusing on various personality/appearance issues.