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…as a mets fan, never before have i felt that every game matters as much as it does this season…i have typically been of the mindset that it is a long season, and every team goes through its ups and downs at unpredictable times…i still feel this way, but for the first time the sense of urgency created by last year’s finish has me exaggerating the importance of every loss…i’m definitely not naive enough to say that the mets are in one of those funks right now, only that the seeds of doubt have creeped into my psyche, and the confidence i once felt in the overall result of 162 games has been slightly lessened…
…it’s very early in the season, and i thought that i had put last year behind me, but apparently i have been conditioned to feel the way i do about this year’s losses…this is odd to me because for the majority of my time as a mets fan i did not fully expect the team to succeed, but things have changed…obviously the team can’t win every game that Johan Santana starts, but i unrealistically feel like they should…i know these thoughts are mostly baseless and it irks me when people compare seasons to each other, but i can’t deny that the urgency to win has been heightened for this mets fan…
..i don’t like taking every game so seriously, that’s for the players and coaches to do…so for now, i will be mindful of my standard “one game at a time” mantra, and try not to lose sight of the big picture of a long season…it will just be much easier to do so when the mets win…
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I do think generally fans should relax. The 86 Mets started with the same record. As for the can’t win every Santana start, that’s true. But when your starter goes 7 and gives up one run, you should win.
The 1986 Mets weren’t coming off an epic collapse.
Nor did they say they were turning the page, only to sleepwalk through the first 5 games in the same fashion as they played for the last 4 months of the prior season
Jeff Keppinger just had another hit & RBI for the Reds, while Ruben Gotay is still on the Braves (who got him for nothing) and Luis Castillo is in year 1 of a 20 year contract with the Mets.
Which one do you want Kepp or Gotay? You could not have both. I have no idea why you would post Kepps stats.
Also look back at the 85 season. Think that the 86 Mets were not supposed to win the NL? Think that opening up 2-3 did not cause some concern? A case could even be made that the 85 Mets should have won.
Keep Keppinger.
Gotay was acquired because of his bat and they knew what they were getting with his glove.
Then they get rid of Gotay because of his glove.
Oh and we are stuck with Castillo too.
Brilliant.
Keppinger will not swing this hot of a bat forever but he did hit .332 and drove in 32 RBI last year in 67 games. I’d take that extrapolated over 150 games at his salary vs whatever we are going get out of Castillo the next 4 seasons.
BTW, there is a huge difference in being expected/predicted to win (1986) and what the 2008 Mets are up against.
Keppinger’s glove wasn’t good enough for the Mets either. Willie is obviously extra-ridiculous-critical of second baseman defense because of his own career, so we lost both Gotay and Keppinger because of it.
We just have to live with Castillo for 4 years and hope Ruben Tejada or somebody develops in-house to take over soon.
either one would be fine. four years of castillo is going to seem really, really long.
True its a different situation but I think the fans panic and think about it much more than the players do. They are out there trying to do their job.
As for Kepp, you have to realize that you route for a large market team. Kepp would have never been the longterm solution at 2nd for the Mets and neither would Gotay. If Kepp were dominant how did he end up on the Reds? Did we trade him to the Reds for Gotay. Fact is that as desperate as the small market Royals were and are they did not even keep Kepp or Gotay, that has to tell you something.
i’d rather have a somewhat acceptable short term solution at 2nd than an unacceptable long term one
I think it’s less about being a small market team, and more about an old school mentality of veterans “know how to play the game” and not being able to integrate young positional players onto these teams.
Reyes and Wright are the most elite talents. What separates Pedroia from Keppinger? The Red Sox gave Pedroia a chance to be the second baseman, even after he hit like .120 last April. The Mets would have never done that. They don’t trust their scouting. They will make a move to the veteran Every.Single.Time.
large market team*
Why wouldn’t a .300 hitter with a good glove been a long term solution? That makes no sense.
Keppinger ended up on the Reds because the Royals were idiots for leting him go after not giving him a chance…just like the Mets.
Keppinger got the Brian Bannister treatment before Brian Bannister got it. (Discarded after an injury despite showing obvious worth as a player).
He was never “dominant” like say, David Wright but he has been a .300+ hitter in college, the minors (every level), and now the majors.
As pointed out above, amongst Willie’s many other glaring shortcomings is how he treats his 2nd basemen.
Ok so the Mets and Royals both screwed up with Gotay and Kepp but the Reds were geniuses? I stand by the notiion that Kepp nor Gotay were good enough to start here long term.
However, Castillo who is still a gold glove caliber 2nd baseman who will hit .300 for the year without a doubt is a better solution for the Mets.
He hits .300. He must be good.
and Ruben Gotay has yet to supplant Kelly Johnson or Martin Prado on the Braves as the starting or back up 2nd baseman. How is that possible if he is soooo good?
Don’t worry when the Braves release him the way that the Royals did Kepp and Gotay gets pickup by the Dodgers and has to start due to injury we will get those stats and I told you so’s then too.
The Royals traded Jeff Keppinger to the Reds for Russ Haltiwanger, a RH reliever.
In addition to what Tidewater said…i think it is more of the feeling that the Mets CAN win with Santana on the mound. I was not blessed to be alive when Doc took the mound but it seems to me like the fans were in consensus that he gave the Mets a chance to win every game…he brought his A game every game, much like Santana
Before the season starts, it is almost guaranteed that each team will win 54 games and lose 54 games. How a team does in the remaining 54 games determines how successful that team’s season will be. So while each game is important, only a fool would draw conclusions based on less than a week’s worth of games. For those who are complaining, your whining isn’t going to make the Mets play any better or make you feel any better.
At this point in the season, you can’t live and die on every game like it’s the NFL or something. The great thing about baseball is the ebb and flow of the season over the course of the whole summer. You gotta roll with it or you’ll go crazy. Give the Braves some credit. They got 2 very well pitched games. Remember, the Mets were coming off a 13 run shellacking of the Marlins and the Braves shut us down cold. You have to tip your hat to them for that. One thing I will say though, the Braves play every game against the Mets as though it were the playoffs. Cox always insures that we have to face their best pitchers and the team is quite amp’d up to play us. I’m not sure that Mets do that. Maybe they should.
every game matters. the Phils are also struggling and Atlanta has logged a lot of bullpen innings this far too.
the Mets haven’t even played a home game yet and Pelfrey is yet to throw an inning.
once they start playing everyday and get in their normal groove, we can start to judge this team, but it way too early right now.
Agreed. It’s too easy to get worked up, but we’re just once through the rotation, sort of, and haven’t had time yet to assess the ups and downs that make up a season. Hell, the team itself hasn’t yet had the time to assess the ups and downs that make up a season. It’s too easy to hit the panic button (”Maine’s lost his control” “The Mets have stopped hitting!” etc.) but give it a few weeks and we’ll know much more realistically what the remaining five months will bring. I remember a Howie Rose interview that Matt posted last year (or the year before?) in which HR described the hardest part of broadcasting – having to detach from the fan’s intensity of daily ups and downs. Let’s wait and watch, and hope.
you make it sound like pelfrey not throwing an inning is a bad thing
Imagine how the Tigers feel. Doom, doom, doom.
The Met fan has been an increasing skeptic since long before last years collapse.
The Met fan mantra was once you gotta believe, hopelessly hopeful no matter how ridiculous the odds seemed.
The Met fan mantra has become somewhat permanently akin to the Yankee fan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, everything must go, the gm, the manager, every coach, the owner, all of it.
And then when that is all done, the question becomes what actually makes you become better but as much good fortune as good play.
Wonderful post. We’re more like Yankee fans than I would like to admit.
PBoegel:
There are still many Met fans who still resign to that feeling of being eternally optimistic (while also realistic).
Many people here say they hate the yankees and their fans, when many are JUST like them
i fall into the aforementioned category.
Beltran. Wright. Reyes. Santana.
DYNASTY IN THE MAKING!!!
…besides whats the use of baseball if i have to stress about it, i’d rather have lower expectations, enjoy the game and celebrate that much harder when we win instead of merely being (finally satisfied)
Bipolar disorder is a serious illness. It can make a person’s normal moods seem extreme. It used to be called manic depression.
People with bipolar disorder have mood swings. Their moods can swing from very low (depression) to very high (mania).
The “It’s only one game” excuse was used a lot last year during the epic collapse. The fact of the matter is that EVERY GAME is important, especially when those games are against division rivals. We’ve been laying eggs against the Phils and Braves for quite a while now. So while it’s early in the season, we’ve already started out the year looking flat against a team we should have been trying to make a statement to. I wonder if we lose 3 or 4 against the Phils this week if it will be “just a few games”? You have every right to feel concerned.
as of right now, they are a half game up on the Phils and a half game back on the Braves. every game matters for the competitors too.
if you think these teams will turnh it arund and the Mets will not, maybe you should start visiting philliesblog.com or bravesblog.com.
If we can’t beat the Braves or the Phils, then it doesn’t matter what they do against other teams, we won’t win the division. We haven’t taken a series from either team in a long time. I’m not saying that the Mets won’t turn it around, I’m saying that people that are already concerned have every right to be concerned. This SAME TEAM gave them reason to be concerned last year alone. Oh, and thanks but no thanks to the “You have to be positive 100 percent of the time or be a fan of another team” post. It’s garbage.
Not true, you can win the division and do very poorly against the Braves and Phillies. We were 1 game away from the division and played horrible against Philly last season. However, 1 more win against the Marlins last place team and we could have been in.
Didn’t we take a series against the Braves in September last year?
Right…ONE MORE WIN. One of those “It’s only one game” losses ended up costing us the division didn’t it? Listen, I’m not saying the season is over and we shouldn’t play the rest of it…but this team needed to come out strong, play with heart and determination, and help erase the memory of last year for the fans and more importantly for the team. So far, they have failed. Taking the series against the Phils this week would be a good step in beginning that goal. But I refuse to take the “It’s only one game” attitude this year because we saw what those games ended up costing us last year.
I don’t think that the team is in panic mode at all. It’s fans that panic over every lose. The Mets did not perform down the stretch last season. They had set themselves up for an easy September and blew it. They moved on and are ready for this season. The only reason it will stay in their mind is because fans won’t let it drop.
Besides, your orginal point was about not being able to beat the Braves and Phillies not about losing to the Marlins and Nationals in the final week of the season. My point is a game is a game. They count now and count later. I am sure that Willie like all managers/coaches was kicking himself at the end last season and going back in his mind thinking about how he made a mistake here and there that cost them the division that’s what managers do. But I can say this, as a coach when the game is being played I am not thinking about anything but that game.
Alright, let’s get back to my point. We lost 4 series to Atlanta last year and won 2. We lost 3 series to the Phils last year (we were swept in all 3) and won 2 series against them. That’s pathetic. We didn’t take the series series against either team and therefore lost the division.
Mets were 9-9 vs. Atlanta last year. That’s not pathetic, lol.
Yes, they were lousy against the Phillies. But not the Braves. At least be accurate.
No, actually the Mets were 9-10 against the Braves last year. Call that what you will, when you are expected to win the NL East it isn’t good.
Before calling somebody out about their accuracy, learn to count.
Or maybe I need to learn to count. But it doesn’t change the fact that it isn’t very good.
Um, I didn’t count it. I just looked it up in the standings grid. And I can read, lol.
They played the Braves even last year. So relax everyone.
And even is acceptable…to some people. Maybe it’s acceptable to the team and that’s why we can’t win a season series against the Braves very often.
Personally, I don’t care if they play the top teams in the division at just even … as long as they beat up on the lesser teams in the league and come out ahead at the end.
The Mets are over that Braves curse. They were even with them in 2007. And had the edge on them in 2006.
If the Mets were as bad as the Tigers have started out, Mets fans would have been jamming suicide prevention lines today. And the Tigers are a lot of peoples’ favorite pick to win the WS this season.
You are fooling yourself if you think the Mets are over the Braves curse. That’s why our bats were once again dominated by Braves pitching this last weekend. The Mets are going to have to do more than what they did in 2006 to get the Braves monkey off their back.
By the way, I’ve seen a lot of…what if we were Tigers fan posts. Tigers fans have reason to worry. That bullpen is attrocious and their starting pitching outside of Verlander is questionable at best. They shouldn’t be taking this 0-6 start lightly.
How many years does it take before we can say it’s over? They haven’t had a real edge on the Mets since the 2005 season, so for me it’s over. If the Mets come out even again or ahead this year, will you be willing to say it’s over?
I agree with you on the Tigers though. I always thought they were being overrated going into the season. Their pitching just wasn’t that great. They are the NL Central equivalent of the Yankees. Great offense. Weak pitching. So maybe it’s the baseball establishment’s fault for proclaiming them to be the best team in baseball before the season started and getting the hopes of their fans up. Since so many were picking the Braves or Phillies to win the NL East, Mets fans shouldn’t be panicking now.
i really dislike this fallacy. i can love the mets and honestly feel like they have some serious problems.
That is what a true fan is. One that roots for their team but is able to be realistic about things as well. Homers and haters are not true fans.
not on this site the homers are the “real fans” the haters are “trolls” and the people who say the mets have many flaws (which they do) or that its ok to be worried 5 games (which i am) are told to root for the yankees.
Very, very true. But there’s pointing out flaws and there’s apoplectic calamity howling after an unfortunate two game series. My “realistic” take is that this was a below .500 team from June on last year, and we’re right to have concerns. That said, drawing conclusions from the first five games is ridiculous. The ONE statistic that I really don’t like is Reyes having not stolen a base in five games. But even that isn’t particularly troubling . . . yet. We will have high highs and, sadly, much lower lows over the course of the year. Of course every game matters and no one who cares enough to post here is going to be happy being “swept” by the Braves. But you have to keep a litttle perspective, lest you actually do induce a stroke.
youre right, it is what it is, a slow start. and frankly im with you about reyes, so far on the whole im worried but i think about 99% of that anxiety is being caused by jose reyes or at least the guy wearing his jersey hitting in the leadoff spot.
I agree! It’s only the first week so I’m holding off going nuts but every game does need to matter this year. Willie better not pull that everything will be fine when we are sipping the champagne speech again. So far week 1 was flat and the Phillies are on deck. Let’s pick up the pace boys because we’ll need every game we can get all year.
Early days yet. Early days. C’mon, this is the best part of any season, where you can just enjoy the fact that baseball is back and before you start really paying attention to wins and losses. I mean has anybody really jumped to stats page in the paper to check the standings? The sample size is miniscule at this point. Tomorrow’s the home opener for Pedro’s sake!
The reason for the urgency is this: We like this core group, we like Willie and we want them to be around for the next decade. However, we know that if they don’t succeed this year, things will change.
this was well said, very good post, we shouldn’t caution yet, but we need play every game and believe every game does count. cause, IT DOES
Speak for yourself. Willie is terrible.
He’ll be gone before the end of the year because Teflon Don Omar will fire him to cover up the problems with his roster.
No one will be fired before the end of the season.
If they fail to make the playoffs I think both Omar and Willie are on the hot seat, depending on how it happens. But no one’s going before the end of the season. The owners have a lot more patience than the fickle fans.
The collapse has changed everything and everyone’s perspective. You can hear it yesterday’s post-game posts. You can smell it in the air. Willie’s on a very short leash.
You are right, it is too early to judge this team.
but if you look at the preformance they put out there, and the sense of urgency as well as the effort, you have to wonder WTF they are doing.
The braves tried a sucide squeeze yesterday. They hit the crap out of argueably the greatest pitcher in baseball. They were smart on the basepaths, they did things right..they ran hard, they played hard.
What did we do? we didn’t even challenge them on the base paths until the 9th when defensive indifference made those steals pointless. We let a 40 year old John Smoltz look like freaking Sandy Koufax in his prime. We let bloop fly balls go over our heads for singles, we misjudged fly balls that cost us runs, we got doubled up on plays to the outfield, we grounded into double plays when it mattered..AND OUR 145 MILLION DOLLAR PITCHER WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SHOWED UP TO PLAY..pitching both LIGHTS OUT..and hitting a double.
This team is frustrating to watch because its like there is no sense of urgency, as if they are playing with some swagger like they own the NL East. News flash – we got swept by the Braves, who took that series 100x as serious as we did.
It’s just frustrating – I get really annoyed. to the point that its game 5, but i dont even want to watch them lollygag like they have been. makes me sick.
“They hit the crap out of argueably the greatest pitcher in baseball”
“AND OUR 145 MILLION DOLLAR PITCHER WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SHOWED UP TO PLAY..pitching both LIGHTS OUT..and hitting a double.”
So which one was it? Did he get the crap hit out of him or pitch lights out?
You know what he meant. The braves were getting hits, and even a lot of their outs were hard hit balls. But 1 run in 7 innings is almost as lights out as you can get.
I agree, I think we are looking flat. Yes it’s the first week of the season, yes fans shouldn’t be hitting the panic button, but we are infinitely more aware of bad signs of our team thanks to last year. And I think I’m not alone in saying I see some of those warning signs already. If you bought all the rhetoric about how they all learned something from the collapse, bully for you. But knowing what it’s like being a met fan, we should probably start buying stock in heartburn medicine if we knew what was good for us.
They need to start playing with some fire and passion, otherwise it will be a long season, and not in a good way. Who cares if your opponents don’t like your home run celebrations, if it energizes your team then do it. Hopefully Reyes understands that and will find a happy medium somewhere, since he is the igniter of this offense.
As a Mets fan I have signed a life time contract with Rolaids anyway.
And I really did not get nor do I get the fire an passion part. Why can it not be that Smoltz pitched well and Heilman gave up a HR to one of the best 1B in the game. Thus the Braves executed better than we did and one the game. The team that executes the best will always beat the team that has the most fire if in a competition with each other.
basically. The braves excecuted better than we did those 2 games and thats the bottom line. It took a very lucky catch from tex to win that game. If heilman had done his job and gotten out of that inning, we would have extra inning baseball that day. Again it comes down to excecution and the braves on that day did it better than us and they won. Hopefully they can tighten up the defense and pump some life in the top of the order.
Thanks, that is what I am saying. If you want to blame anything right now its that the Mets are hitting .300 as a team but .150 with runners in scoring position. That has nothing to do with fire. I don’t think the players are going to go up to the plate and say ooooooh man there’s a guy up If I don’t get a hit we lose. I need fire. They just need to get a hit like they are supposed to at a normal rate.
For me personally, it’s not the collapse that bothers me. That was last year and it’s over. What bothers me is the continued , relentless, if not domination, then fierce competition by the Braves who I now hate more than any other sports franchise. So, I know it’s early, but please at least split with the Braves. Don’t get punked and say “gee it’s good to finally be going home” and that kind of crap in the newspaper. Why do the Braves always seem to play better than us? Why do they seem to do all the little things right, while the Mets make excuses? That’s what bugs me. The Braves took a couple of years off and here they come again. Reloaded.
Now here come the Phillies to boot. The Mets better show some spark in this series.
1)It’s not about spark it’s about execution.
2) The Mets vs. the Braves 06 and 07? Braves have by far not dominated.
3) It was a 2 game series that is not like getting swept in a 3 or 4 game series. We said in the begining that the Braves 1-2 are comparable to the the Mets 1-2 its 3-5 where the Mets were supposed to have a major advantange. We did not get to even see Glavine much less the other pitchers in their rotation.
very true, we did face their 2 best pitchers but what bothers me is smoltz was only there for 5 innings, and we couldnt do anything against their bullpen.
The Mets can’t win every Johan start but if they lose the starts where he gives up only 1 run and they lose the (rare) starts where he gives up 5 they won’t be doing too well. Unfortunately this is still a bully team, they can pile on when the going is good but when they face any adversity they don’t come through. Hopefully they start turning things around this week.
i agree that this team just isn’t tough. i keep reading things like “oh who needs a fast start, what did it get them last year” – what it got them was a lead they couldn’t hold. if you see this team coming back from a 5 or so game deficit come july or august, please explain why, because i recall three straight flops in september.
Summary of Mets weekend baseball= THEY SUCK!!!
AH, just shut up.
Dude, you gotta relax with your pom poms and rose colored glasses….. When a fan is fed up with this highly paid team, paying their crazy ticket prices, not to mention parking prices, he has every right, and in my opinion is correct simply saying “they suck!” After last years collapse fans have every right scrutinizing each lack luster game…….
Define suck?
You have to be kidding therealsince…. seriously
You said they suck. Does that mean the Phillies and Tigers suck?
Verb. To be worthless, contemptible. E.g.”How can you wear beige? It totally sucks
I feel the same way Regis—after watching the weekend series, I was thinking to myself that the team may be headed for a disappointing season, and then realize they haven’t even played at Shea….I think its a combination of how last season ended, as well as the expectations of the team…its supposed to be an improvement over 2006, and those guys steamrolled everybody
Yup, the Braves are going to be tough this season as are the Phillies and the Mets. Duh.
The best that we would have hoped for was to win one of 3 in Atlanta. We only played 2 and did not get to hit Glavine. Maybe that was our game to win? Who knows, that is why people say its still early.
Wait until we get through April before we start saying that the team is doomed.
Ultimately I realize that 5 games is not a season, and on top of that, I’m generally pretty optimistic, but I think a mix of the three things I’ve mentioned tempered my optimism a bit.
3-2 phils over reds after 1. noce to see hamels smacked around a little.
They had a bad game. GET OVER IT!! Its way to early to doom the rest of the season because of this series with the braves. These people who have this win now mentality are in the same group of media people who RELENTLESSLY keep harping on 07. WE ARE NOT GOING TO COLAPSE LIKE LAST YEAR and certianly 5 games into the season does not forcast that. Lets just take one game at a time like we USED to do and you guys will see that we have improved. Look on the bright side of things. And while i would love to win santana starts, most of the time he is going to be matched up with a very good pitcher sooo the chances of us winning goes down significantly. We all know 07 happened but we cannot accomplish anything until we as fans get over it, because i bet you the players have already got over it.
Wow. I had no idea Phillies played a 4 game set at Cincy.. guess I better get up to date or something. Very nice to see Hamels give up a couple in the first inning. He was a bit erratic his last time out against the Nationals, even though he only gave up the Zimmerman homer…Told ya he’s hittable.
I don’t know. I guess I feel the same way you do Matt. I mean.. I was pissed at the line-up for not scoring at least one run while Johan was out there…for 7 INNINGS, giving up only one run. Felt like this weekend we were playing the ‘59 Dodgers..
We played really well in Florida and it was a bit un-even this weekend because of the day off and the rain out on Friday.. Shouldn’t be excuses, but yeah.
I think I’ll really see how things go after this home opener. Let’s see how we do at home, how Pelfrey looks, if we can get another gem from Ollie. Still early, and last I checked : the Florida Marlins were tied for first place.
haha I meant Regis. I said Matt. Esko’s gonna get me for that. lol.
Here’s a cure for the Mets’ doldrums (if you call it that)… the Phillies!
Let’s send a message and give them a thumping tomorrow. Might we even see one of those brawls this series? If anyone will thrown inside, it’s OPerez (maybe not even intentionally!). That might wake ‘em up.
maybe my memory should be a lot shorter, but the thought of playing the phillies sends me spiraling into post-traumatic stress disorder
hahhaha, me too. I just kind of go numb when I think of all those games last year.
the thing is, people are acting like because of these 2 games, we can’t beat the Braves, we can’t compete with the other good teams in the division, and that’s after 2 games. How in the world can you make any sort of judgement based on 2 games? Playoff series’ are 7 games, and a lot of the time, THAT doesn’t even tell the whole story, and we’re going to say now that 2 games, against their best 2 pitchers (who were both pitching well) is the be all end all of this team’s outlook? I don’t care how they lost those games, or how they would have won them, either of those results would have meant exactly one thing, nothing. 2 games mean nothing. I realize that every game counts in the standings, but when you’re a major league baseball team and you play 162 games, any game, any 2 games, can be bad, can be good, or one could be horrible, the next could be great. That’s baseball. And people ask, well, will you still be saying this when we’re losing games in late April/May? No i won’t, because that’s not 5 games into the season. We’ll be winning then anyway…right? c’mon people, LETS GO METS!
good post.
why is this so freaking difficult to grasp?
when you lose the division by one game, it makes you realize that EVERY GAME counts.
simple as that.
let me just say that when you get beat by hudson and smoltz, how can you freak out?
Because your not supposed to meekly accept it. They went out and beat the Mets with the “best pitcher in baseball” on the mound. They found a way, the Mets need to be able to do that if they are ever really going to win a title.
So what if the Mets beat Hudson with Santana on the mound at Shea? Does that mean they should panic?
No, it means the “team to beat” did their job. I am not really saying its time to panic but it is time to assess that IMHO this team is missing an intangeable…that undefined element that good teams have when they figure out how to get the job done even when things
aren’t working well for them. Let’s face it the Braves big weakness this year is supposed to be their bullpen first and foremost. Maybe their starters are too old and injury prone but we will have to see about that. They can hit, play D, and have starters. Their pen is where the pundits point to as the place where things can go wrong. So, Smoltz does his thing for 5 innings…and then what happens agaist their weak pen. Nothing! For whatever reason…. Reyes with a crappy “:give up” fly ball at bat, bad base running, no power in the 2 hole, I don’t know but …Nothing!!!… with our supposedly good offense agaist their supposedly weak pen. That is an illustration of that intangeable concern. Yes ,I get it ,it’s only one game but try and see my point here…something isn’t quite in synch with this team…players, breaks, the manager whatever….Opportunity wasted, even early in the season, is never good.
I think, again in my opinion, that a lot of us fans, are picking up on the part that isn’t quite in synch, the missing piece. That is why we are all wishing so hard for real solid ball and a good fast start especially against the Braves and Phillies.
why is THIS so freaking difficult to grasp?
when you play 162 games in a season, you WON’T win all of them.
simple as that.
don’t try to make me sound like i’m panicking. i was simply responding to what regis was saying. i’ll repeat: when you lose a division by one game it exaggerates the impact each game has the following season. if you don’t understand the nuance there, sorry.
thank you voices of reason
you all forget going 2-3 on a road trip isn’t that bad. id love for the mets to play 500 ball on the road and 25 up at home. everyone needs to chill out and relax. enjoy the fact that baseball is back.
i wish the mets would go 50 up at home but what makes you think this is likely to happen? this team has historically underachieved at home. and if i really believed in small sample size i would point that the mets are 1 for their last 10 at shea.
enjoy baseball? blasphemy!
Right, we were in Atlanta facing their 2 best pitchers with our 2 best pitchers. Chances are that the home team would have the advantage. In a 3 game series its mostly likely going to be 2 out of 3 for the home team. In a 2 game series there is a great chance for a sweep.
this post is pointless, unless it was to try and play up on met’s fans insecurities. it almost seems like the author is intentionally trying to drum up a fearful response from the readers of this site.
hmmm on my browser it doesn’t say sunshinehappylandblog.com, maybe yours is different
tomorrow i will be screaming and happy and awesome. today i get to say what i think.
i commented on your intent not your oppinion, and after reading your post, i assume this is your post, in my oppinion from sunshinehappyblog land is that your intent was to stir up a sensational reaction. Considering your sophomoric response you might have a future at the fox news channel as well.
i honestly think that is what is going on here, and i am getting nervous that metsblog is pulling a mike and the maddog, by purposely trying to freak out mets fans to get them to call.
what is the point to this post?
are you really against difference of opinion here?
i think metsblog generally skews optimistic (because matt is very optimistic and level-headed – he’s had the same tone since he started writing) and personally i think it’s refreshing to see someone else here get a little worried.
i dont think this is about being worried. its been five games. what are you worried about? that they will have a bad season?
and i can have the opinion that is is just a bad post. what can i say? it provides me no information other than that regis is a scared mets fan.
i would just really like to know, what are you so scared of??
who said i was scared?
i am not saying you are, but if thats not the point to the original post by regis, then what is it? to me, it says, regis is scared of something. and i am asking , what is he and you afraid of? i am not calling you a chicken or something. i just want to know what your concerns are after 5 games.
- lack of offense, especially pop from the right hand side
- lack of starting pitching depth
- lack of a manager that give us an edge in terms of fundamentals and strategy
But you have to compare those to who you are up against. I am 5′11 if I am playing basketball I would worry about my height. That’s short for a basketball player. But what if everyone I play against is 5′10?
Who in our division has SP depth? What team does not have some holes on offense? As for manager with fundamentals and strategy, that is so hard to judge. Did the Cardinals do poorly last year after having won the WS because TL forgot how to manage with fundamentals and strategy or did his team just get outplayed?
Hey fellas, the point of my post is that because of last year each loss reminds me how much every game matters, thus the title of my post. I am by no means freaking out in a delusional way after they played just 5 games.
i am glad you are not freaking out. it would be silly. but it does suck losing. and yes,i agree, every game does count. but that doesnt mean every loss means doom.
It’s his opinion, maybe you just don’t like hearing it.
sure, i think his opinion in this post is stupid, but i still dont understand what the point of this post was.
anyone who is panicking about this season because of the braves 2 game series is not looking at this rationally and logically. its been five games. five games. FIVE. and yes santana lost, but he lost giving up 1 run.
i am not saying not to be upset, because you want the mets to win every game, including every game against the braves. but the first five games of the season is not a time to go crazy. if that wasnt true, we should all be impressed by the orioles.
Right, if we had played the 3rd game chances are we would have won and our record would be 3-3. We would have won one series on the road and lost one. We would have beat a bad Marlins team on the road and lost to a good Braves team on the road. Kinda see how all this works? Not many “good” teams do well against other “good” teams on the road.
i mean i dont even think it would be a problem if we go swept by the braves. i mean, it would suck, but its not a large enough sample size to say anything about this team yet.
remember last year, how we crushed the cards to start the season? how much did that matter at the end?
all i hope is that we are at least 1 game over 500 after april.
but i can be very concerned about why they lost, especially yesterday. and my reasons include: willie stubbornly refusing to use the wheel play with the go-ahead runner on second and the pitcher up, delgado gaffing it up on the baseball paths and (as far as i can see) getting away scot-free, failing to pinch run for the catcher at first as the tying run, and heilman continuing to serve up the juicy slow, high meatball.
same story, different day.
As for the wheel play, the Mets have used it. They just did not in that situation. I guess you could make a call for it there but with Santana being lefty and falling off to that side I am not sure most managers would have there.
Delgado’s baserunning blunder did hurt but what if the Braves did not make a spectacular play? Then we are prasing Delgado on scoring from 1st. He was trying to make something happen against Smoltz who was pitching very well.
on the wheel play: how did that affect anything?
one delgado, on tv, i thought that was a ball into the gap. he tried to run the bases by estimating if it was a hit, and it wasnt. he messed up. he was looking at it the entire way and made a mistake. i dont know if thats an indication of anything yet.
the catcher pinch runner thing seems like a sensitive issue because we dont have castro.
heilman made a bad pitch. he had pitched well before that. i find the walk to be worse, TBH.
see, i understand that all these things suck. but should the be full fledged concerns after five games?
if the wheel was on johan/wright would have had an excellent chance to nail kotsay at 3rd and the go-ahead run would not have scored. employing the wheel there is a no-brainer.
delgado made a stupid mistake, that was not a crazy unreasonable play by kotsay so he had to play it safe and go halfway. stupid mistakes should have repercussions.
even if we had castro willie would not have pinch ran there because he apparently wakes up at night sweating about the possibility of using an emergency catcher in the ridiculously far fetched scenario of (a) catcher 1 leaving the game (b) the game tying up and (c) catcher 2 being injured. so too often we see d) loss. casanova has to play anyway.
heilman, i’m just angry about.
looking at that replay, it looked like to me that it was wrights fault that happened, not that the wheel should have been used, but we can agree to disagree.
i really thought that ball was fall into the gap. it reminded me of the same feeling i had in game seven of the nlcs in the ninth when reyes hit that line drive that was caught. oh well. that play wasnt what cost them the game. it would have been a man on first with two outs. not hardly a situation that equals scoring.
and i dont think being aggressive in that spot warrants some kind of disciplining. he misjudged it.
All true. The pinch running thing I understand. I never liked pinch running for someone on first unless I felt I needed to steal second. Otherwise I was always concerned with the batter hitting into a doubleplay and losing the starter for what ended up being no reason. Running for Schneider on first in hindsight ends up being a good idea, but what if Marlon hit into a doubleplay? Schneider would be out of the game, Clark or Endy (the likely pinch runners) would have been out of the game for Casanova to come into catch, and all for nothing. Not to mention at the end of the game Casanova would have been up against Soriano because we couldnt pinch hit for him because we’d be out of catchers. If anything, I thought he should have pinch hit someone else instead of Marlon because a base hit wouldnt have tied the game. Maybe run for Schneider if you bat Endy and have him bunt. Use Marlon to hit for Castillo. Not doing that I can understand jumping on Willie for.
also, dont conflate disappointment in losses and cynicism creeping in with actual logical analysis. if you cant gauge a players season based on 25 at bats, why would you grade a teams season on 5 games?
oh man, i cant believe people are talking about jeff keppinger….
he’s this year’s brian bannister.
i mean come on guys…its jeff keppinger! he was dropped by another team too!
are people still pissed about marco scutaro too?
you did get the sarcasm in my post, right? i mean, kepp, gotay, bannister, neither is tom seaver.
lol! good call, i’d rather have him over castillo too
kazmir isn’t tom seaver either, should be happy about that trade too?
you don’t have to be tom seaver to help a team win
its just really silly to harp on a guy that hasnt played a major league game for you in almost three years. if victor diaz gets a game winning hit, are you going to get this down on losing him? did you know timo perez won a WS three years ago. maybe we should have kept him?
i think it’s perfectly fine to harp on the SUM of young talent that has slipped away since late 2006. it might be disingenuous to complain about any one of bannister, bell, ring, owens, lindstrom, flores, milledge, kepp/gotay, but add them all up and i smell trouble.
Exactly. I am annoyed when people harp on players lost too. But the Mets are fundamentally poor at integrating young talent. Unless we are talking the most elite talents like Reyes and Wright, the Mets become impatient with every young positional player and deal them away.
“But the Mets are fundamentally poor at integrating young talent.”
mets fans are even worse at dealing with the tough times it takes to let kids grow in the majors.
people dont trade or get rid of people because they are young. these didnt work out. every team has these situations where players didnt work out.
does it make you reevaluate the mets farm system, sure. the mets are good at producing credible everyday baseball talent. not superstars, but good talent.
Yes, that is also very true. I remember thinking about how much promise Milledge showed in 2006 when he got called up, yet Mets fans were almost universal in saying he was overrated and he sucked.
I think everyone wants the immediate David Wright impact, and that is just so rare.
The Mets have recently developed Reyes, Wright and Kazmir.
That is nothing short of EXTREMELY rare. Of course, we know what happened with Kazmir but we still developed him.
i remember how loud the boos were for heath bell as a met. i also know that mets fans are not prepared to allow pelfrey to grow in the majors the way guys like glavine did
heath bell was terrible as a met. and that was especially frustrating when he was dominating in the minors.
but yes, i agree with you, the mets organization being impatient with young talent has something to do with the patience of the met fan with young talent.
Brain Bannister is STILL this year’s Brian Bannister. I’d rather have him pitching this weekend instead of Figueroa.
As for Keppinger, his trade probably makes less sense than Bannister’s. At least Bannister was traded for a flamethrower that Omar took a chance with.
They basically didn’t Kepp a chance, traded him for Gotay, and then cut Gotay for the very same reasons why they probably shouldn’t have gotten him in the first place (didn’t love his glove)
why? he also hit .332 last year in 241ab’s to go along with a fast start this year. he’s a nice player who’s 27.
nobody saw it coming, but he was a mets farm hand. another piece of evidence that our system was better than it was given credit for
The fact that people are bringing up Jeff Keppinger is beyond ridiculous. All of a sudden he’s a hot topic because of his start to the season? Talk to me in June.
Another thing that is ridiculous is today’s poll grading Randolph’s performance thus far . . . after FIVE games of the season. In any city not named New York, Boston or Chicago, Randolph would be a god for what he’s done with the Mets. But because New York is a championship-oriented city when it comes to sports teams, Randolph is full of fail. Have some of his decisions been questionable and flat out wrong? Yes, but show me a manager or head coach that makes all the right decisions . . . I’m waiting . . . still waiting. A manager can have the most well-planned game strategy, but if his players don’t execute, how is that his fault? And in terms of motivation, what more do these guys need? As far as I can gather, three players have championship rings on this squad: Scott Schoeneweis, Moises Alou and Luis Castillo. I’m sure those guys would love another ring and guys like Delgado, Beltran and Santana are really gunning for one. Add in the millions of dollars they are making, the collapse and being thisclose away from the World Series in 06 and they have more motivation than most teams out there.
Everybody just needs to chill and give this some time to work out. All will be well. And be glad you’re not a Tigers fan.
5-2 phillies
thats it im going to math. i come back they best better be losing. :p
A decent competitive start to ‘07 is important o General Willie.
A continuation of last seasons late collapse – he’s toast.
No judgement can be made on this team until the 40 game mark. gees 5 games tells you absolutley nothing about a team. espeically 5 games at the beggining of a season when everyone hasnt found their groove.
5 games isnt even enough time to tell if someone is having a hot streak or in a slump. give it a break. if this team is in panic mode after five games we all might as well not watch all year becasue it is over already and we might as well watch the Dragons or the Red Bulls of NY. I cant believe there is this much taken out of 5 games. say it again 5 games
wat about stealing maine and perez? we got them as throw ins in deals.
i just want fundamentally sound baseball this year. they better be at practice today, learning how to run the bases, catch a fly ball when hit to warning track and just doing the smart thing on D. It is early, I know, but I though for sure they would at least be playing smart.
yeah i would like that. they have played actually pretty well so far. they have done some stuff and not done others, but they already look better to me than the end of last year.
david wrights defense has looked great.
to get 92 wins and a probable playoff spot a team needs to average 4 wins every 7 games. it wont take a huge winning streak to reach that level. even if they only win 3 of 7, it aint like they cant run off 3 or 4 in a row and get back on pace. no team in baseball consistantly wins 4 out of 7, it comes in winning streaks and losing streaks.
The best part about this weekend— Maine had a bad outing. He coasted this spring and got some serious plaudits. Now, he’ll go back to work. (And I say that positively– he works hard and will be ready for Thursday.)
it’s borderline unbearable in here…
mets fans seem to be as divided on this issue as the country is divided politically.
can’t we all just get along?
its going to get worse, charlie. if the mets are the best team of all time and go 120 and 42, we still have to deal with over 40 days where fans will go nuts. thats a month. thats a lot.
and the mets are not winning 120.
i would have to think that if the mets were winning games at a .741 winning percentage, folks would calm down.
right?
a loss always fans the flames of disappointment and the most fervent of emotional people show up.
well, whatev, i for one plan to watch as many games as i can because i love mets baseball. i loved it in the 80s, 90, and now in the 00s.
i am so glad they are back! i hate days off!
i’m with you…at least there’s a ncaa championship game tonight.
David Wright playing great defense? yes he has had some spectacualr plays but in florida there were at least 3 times i saw him drag delgado off the bag with routine throws, he needs to work on that before he turns into knoublach or steve sax
delgado comes off the bag all the time. it’s really annoying.
agreed. hes not a very good 1st baseman. i still think wright has looked great defensively. much better than 3 or even 2 years ago. i hope he keeps it up.
every single third basemen in baseball does that.
not that much and not on the routine grounders. he does it too much, he triple clutches, he thinks too much. you can tell he is squeezing the ball when he has time instead of just letting it fly.
watch him every play where he has to hurry the throw, he sets his feet, transfers and throws.
on routine grounders with time, he crow hops three or four times, pumps the glove then aims the ball over. too many moving parts make the ball sail on him
i would agree with you if this was sept of last year, but in the past five games, i have seen him make good throws and cover alot of ground. i hope he keeps this up.
Are people going to flip out over every 5-game stretch of the season during which the Mets don’t go at least 3-2?
This is ridiculous.
Yes, every game matters, whether it’s in April or September, 2004 or 2008 — they all count in the standings … we get the point. But was the only acceptable way for the Mets to begin this season for them to go 8-2 out of the box?
But to go nuts over a 5-game stretch, one that includes a loss on a walk-off homer and another where we flat-out got out-pitched by one of the best pitchers in the game is crazy.
the way it sounds nothing less than 162-0 would bring complete happiness.
the way it sounds nothing less than 162-0 would bring complete happiness. even then could be iffy
162-0 would just be an expected end result. 163-0….that should quiet the masses
keppinger came over in the benson deal with the pirates, and was branded a no power, no glove, no future guy by the fans. he did maginally decent when 1st called up and gained some support, but was panned for no range and was quickly replaced as a fan favorite by ahern. then he was traded for another player of similar skills with options left because there was no room on the roster. kepp couldnt win a regular job with powerhouse royals either and gets picked up by the reds to be a utility guy. now 3 years later he has had some success as a utility guy. remember he hasnt been a starter for any team yet, and is only playin because gonzalez is hurt. so the way i see it is this; was it a mistake to let kepp go? or was it a good move to not wait 3 years for your utility guy to develope while takin up room on the 25 man roster? do you really think there are other fans out cryin because they lost marlon, only to find out he would have made a nice bench guy, or over chavez being a great 4th outfielder? are gm’s really worried that they could lose their job because they didnt allow a backup to waste a roster spot while the inevitably developed, just as the fans knew they would all along?
thank you.
keppinger=gotay=argenis reyes in new orleans
Yup, Kepp would have been lost either way because he did not have options and the 06 team would have had to send him down. Gotay would have been lost either way because he did not have options and the 08 team would have had to send him down (when Alou came back).
It just makes some fans feel good when they can say that they are smarter than a man who makes more money doing something that they can’t do.
The Mets lose a game; slit your wrists everyone! C’mon, this is ridiculous. It must be extremely slow in regards to sports. We’re five games into the season and everyone is getting ready to jump off the Verrazano. Seriously, could we start panicking in late May/June, instead of April 7th?
Lets be serious no one is gonna jump off the verrazzano, who would pay 10 bucks just to jump when there are a number of bridges and buildings they can jump off for free.
since congestion pricing looks like its going to fail, there will still be some bridges to save money on your suicide.
but if things stay like this we will finish like 15 or 16 out and have to watch the playoff game between the 81-81 fish and 81-81 braves to see who wins the division. you know its very likely to happen, we are a full week in already.
I love the sleepwalking comments. Yes they were sleepwalking when they won opening day 7-2 and 13-0. If they were really into it they coul have won 20-0. All we ask is have some perspective, you can’t be good all the time. Should we check the standings, are the O’s winning the AL East? Look at the players hitting under 200, is that going to stay? Yes every game counts, and when you blow leads etc…it can affect the end of the season but you can’t go 162 without having heartbreaking losses. Sorry it doesn’t work that way.
All the analyzing of body language, give me a break. None of you are smart enough to know who is playing hard or sleepwalking. When you don’t hit in the clutch you look flat, its always like that. It doesn’t mean you aren’t trying hard. Yes we’re all gunshy after last season, but I’ve got to give the team at least a month before I get too worried.
punditry is an epidemic in this country.
Basing on baseball season on the first five games is like basing a movie on the first 3-5 minutes. In neither has the story even began to develop.
i dont think that is a good analogy because i can tell leatherheads sucks based on a 90 second trailer.
just like everyone knows the Giants (baseball) are going to suck and have known it since about Ocotber 2007.
That’s a synopsis of the entire movie; the Mets season so far is only the beginning (if you can even call it that). I can’t see the relation.
Just like everyone knew the 2007 Giants (football) were going to suck and Tom Coughlin was the worst coach in football????
Couldn’t resist
a caller on wfan just made an interesting point about castillo batting second. can anyone think of a better place to bat castillo?
maybe switching him and reyes, so reyes can see more fastballs? or maybe putting pagan up second? and putting to split up the lefties at the bottom of the order?
dont know if these are better, just curious what everyone else thinks.
Castillo is a lifetime .300 hitter, he will be fine. That is the place for him unless for some reason he continues not to hit which based on his career numbers seems incredilby unlikely.
That’s like asking if because Reyes is hitting .200 we should move him down. It’s just too early to make any moves like that. If in May he is still not hitting then move him down.
no i dont think this should be a reaction to how reyes is hitting. i am saying i wonder what a better lineup would be?
hes great in the two hole because he barely K’s once reyes starts getting on base that is where he will be most valuable.
i don’t think the mets have a great option for the #2 slot. castillo fits in many ways, but doesn’t have the power to take advantage of the fastball he gets b/c of reyes’ speed.
not being able to hit a fly ball that’s deep enough to score santana yesterday was a weakness of castillo. also his great bunting isn’t as impressive when you have reyes who can steal a base w/o giving up an out
castillo is probably the best option on this team though. also better than lo duca or any of last year’s options.
Castillo is not an RBI man, nor are most teams #2. He in fact is the prototypical #2, the problem is that Reyes, one of our stars, is not currently hitting. That means that Castillo, one of our role players, can’t do his role.
That’s a great point. Not that he’s been lighting it up so far, but he’s minimalized unless Reyes starts heating up.
the problem is not really castillo. castillo is an ideal #2 hitter on a normal team with a pretty good lead-off hitter.
the problem is reyes is not just a lead-off hitter. he is a great player and should be an offensive machine. castillo’s game doesn’t help him. reyes doesn’t need to be bunted over and when reyes hits triples castillo barely gets the ball to the outfielders meaning it’s tough for reyes to score.
i like castillo tough. great defense. plays hard. better than any other option the mets had.
Actually, I agree with some points but Reyes does not tripple that often. Besides if Reyes is on 3rd and Castillo hits his normal grounder to 2nd, wouldn’t Reyes score either way?
46 triples in 3 years is a lot. led the majors. i’d play the infield in with castillo up :)
i castillo not looking to kill the guy esp. since we don’t have a better option
Actually, I’d put Church or Pagan in the 2 hole right now. They’re both swinging a hot bat and Castillo can reoccupy the 2 hole once he gets going or when Church’s or Pagan’s hot bat cools down.
The Mets just went 2-3 on the road. They have Ollie vs. Moyer, Pelfrey vs. Kendrik, Maine vs. Eaton then Figg vs. Para, Santana vs. Sheets and Perez again vs. whoever. Then the Nats come in.
If the Mets go 6-3 that puts their record at 8-6. Thats a 93 win season. Come on, relax and see what happens at least for a month. The top team in our division has 3 wins and the Tigers (predicted by many to be the best team in the MLB) don’t even have one I guess they really must suck.
i know what you mean by putting what their record could be, but every prediction right now is just complete speculation. but i agree with you, 2-3 to start the season is not notable.
It’s not the 2-3 record that grinds my gears. It’s the fact that we can EASILY be 5-0 if we make at most 3 extra plays in each of those 3 games. Even the blowout game in ATL we had a very good chance to win. That’s what worries me.
yeah i know, but you cant win every game.
Isn’t that a good thing too? To put yourself in position to win every game?
Listen Mr. Glass Always Half Full, why can’t it be that they’re always not doing enough where the opposing team just manages to beat them? I know you can’t win them all but in these games, a good championship team should at least win half of them don’t you think?
Listen Mr. glass empty. :) At least I still have something left to drink while you are going thirsty.
Maybe they will half of them, infact last year based on their record they did win more than half of them.
Well, Matt, I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve come to believe that every game does count, including these early ones. Look, they may have been in first place for most of last season, but they lost 15 games in June, 14 in July, and 13 in August (I think)– 42 losses in those three months.
I won’t say they should have won all those games, but what if they had won say, just half of them? They would have gone into September with 21 more wins- a 95-39 record, instead of 74 and 60. So of course they got some aches and pains going into September. They could have afforded them a lot better going in with those 95 in the win column.
So you are saying that last year’s Mets team should have went 115 and 47? That’s great, that would have been the most dominant team in how long?
I keep thinking back to October when everyone was saying “all we had to do was win ONE more against the Phillies.”
Every game counts. It may be a long season but if you take one game off here and there, it adds up in the end. It’s like retirement, you save $1000 less in the early years could cost you $10,000 in the end.
I hope this team changes its perspective soon before it’s too late. Every game taken lightly is potentially a 2 game swing when it’s all played and done. Taking one game lightly a month could mean the difference between going to the playoffs and finishing 3rd in the division.
How in the heck do you know that the team is taking the games lightly? Did they tell you that? Can you prove that they did not want to win this game?
Yea, you’re right. I can’t tell any of it from some of the worst at-bats and base runnings I’ve seen in these losses.
I disagree. I didn’t see any lack of intensity. I just saw a lack of results. Very, very different. This is baseball — you win 13-0 one day and lose 3-1 a couple days later. It happens.
The Mets have the 3rd best BA in the NL, 2nd best OBP in the NL and least SO in the NL.
But hey why let stats get in the way of your eyes?
It’s not about intensity, it’s their approach to the game. Cases in point, Pagan over-running Church – where’s the awareness? 8th inning yesterday, Reyes swings at 1st pitch fastball low and away – is that the pitch he’s looking for? Again, 3rd inning yesterday, Santana just reached on a double w/ no outs, Reyes swings at a filthy first pitch slider from Smoltz?
I can go on and on but there would be no point in doing so.
you take 1 game away and what are the stats then?
And how can a team 3rd in BA and 2nd in OBP lose 3 out of 5.
Could it be that the 3rd base coach as not holding him up because he was too busy arguing the call already?
And I did not know that hitters sometimes swing at bad pitches? Especially when they are in a slump. Again. That’s what your eyes can tell us.
Go ahead and go on and on. I am finding it quite entertaining.
A team can lose those games because I did not put up the RISP stat :) I guess you missed that one witch those hawkeyes of yours. You take one of those loses away and we are 3-2 and leading the division so what is your point about taking one game away? Does it not count?
Look, I’m just saying that this team as a whole, regardless of the record, isn’t playing good baseball and it seems to me that they’re unfocused and undisciplined.
You can throw the stats out the window because I know what I saw in those games and I’m definitely irritated by it.
Who is taking games lightly? You don’t think the Mets realize every game counts? Everybody is not going to bring their A game to the ballpark every single day. That is impossible. All you can ask for is consistency throughout the season. You’re going to have clunkers and bad losses, but the key is to limit those situations.
Well, at least they are consistent swinging at first pitches.
We have averaged more pitches per plate apperance than anyone in the NL but again, why let stats get in the way.
I’m willing to bet that we also have the highest standard deviation.
Reyes is pressing and I am sure that leads to less pitches taken just like last year when Wright was slumping. It seemed like every bad pitch he swung at.
He’s not helping the team doing that for at least 2 ABs a game. I know Willie won’t do it but he should implement some Willie Mays Hayes pushup punishment for it…or at least sit him for a game. The same goes for Wright, he’s been swinging at a good amount of first pitches lately too.
That’s what I men by not taking every game seriously. Look at Wise, it’s not like he’s that good of a reliever where losing him for 5 days without a replacement is better than 15 days on the DL (who is he, Carlos Beltran now?). They should have DLed the guy and call up a spare arm just in case.
To all of those who say “Hudson and Smoltz beat us and they are great,” was one of those 2 pitchers pitching after the 5th inning yesterday? You would think getting Smoltz out would energize the lineup. Not the Metsies….they stayed asleep…..
Do all of you morons realize that the other team is trying to win the games also! Met fans are a bunch of whining crybabies lately – reminding me of why I hate Yankee fans. Just shut up, show up tomorrowm scream our heads off, and get behind the team. get off the ledge. idiots.
Amen.
idiots. haha. well said. LETS GO METS! a 2 and 3 road trip is not so bad.
Well, Hudson went 6 on saturday, after which the Mets scored two runs …
Smoltz went 5 and the Braves pen was pretty good. If Texiera doesn’t make a nice play on Schnieder’s shot down the line, maybe it’s a different game.
Unfortunately, the Mets will not win every game that the opposing team’s bullpen pitches in — if they did, they’d probably be 160-2.
Phillies beat the Reds 5-3. Burrell 2 HRs, getting hot just in time to come to Shea.
Seems like they always get jacked up to play us. Braves too.
Who would’ve thought people would take Jon Stewart THIS seriously?!
There was the same kind of uproar in 86 after the 2-3 start, if anyone remembers. Just saying..
Just one die-hard’s opinion….this team hammered everyone in 06 and never learned last year that teams now get way up to play them. They never learned to match that intensity it seemed, that does not mean they were “not trying” or “didn’t care”, just that their opponents played with more urgency at times.
Did they learn from last September? Based on the very short sample, it does not appear so (yet). Of course, we will have to wait and see. As far as April series go, this is a real interesting one coming up.
Will they, CAN they, match their rival’s intensity?