|
|
|
What’s amazing to me is that if the Mets win this afternoon, they will have gone 3–3 on a West Coast road trip against the two hottest teams in the National League, all while being three games over .500 and an inch from first place all with roughly 80 percent of the season left to be played.
Meanwhile, if you peak in on my e-mail’s inbox, talk with fans on the street, listen to talk radio or read the 
newspaper, you’d think – without looking at the standings – you’d think this team was 10–30.
There appears to be a a huge disconnect between what is happening on the field, in the stands and in the division.
In spite of reality, I feel restless – even though I know I shouldn’t. Even though I know there is plenty of baseball left to be played, I can’t help but feel frustrated, and disheartened, and edgy. I just can’t shake it. I wish this was not the case, but it is.
From what I can tell, the problem is that I’m just not having a whole lot of fun watching this team – and, for me, that’s what matters most.
To much criticism, I have written many times in the past that my goal is to have fun watching baseball. Wins are preferred, obviously, but ‘fun’ is a requirement.
In 2006, if the Mets were down by a run or two, I kept watching because – even if they lost – I knew it would be an entertaining finish. This is not the case right now.
I’m curious, at the very least, what do you want from this team?
It’s a simple question with a a complicated answer.
Do you want this team to win a ring, is that the only acceptable result? Do you want them to at least make the playoffs? Do you want them to at least play fun, exciting baseball, even if they lose. Do you want them to show more emotion? Do you want them to care as much you and I do? Do you want a new manager, a new GM, maybe some younger players – even if it could mean not making the playoffs?
What is it that you want, besides a better-than-.500 team, who is one game out of first place with roughly 80 percent of the season yet to be played.
“Again, speaking as a fan, at the very least, what do you want from this team?”
…put your response in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an e-mail…
3 hours to escape from reality. 6x a week. The rest is bonus.
Agree 100%.
I think it is time Antonio Pierce came into the Mets’ clubhouse with his now legendary air horn.
I just want to be excited to watch. Right now, I love watching the first 5-6, but then once the parade out of the bullpen starts, I lock up, “Here we go again”.
therick4, have you watched most games? I mean, while our bullpen isn’t lights out….what lost us the last 2 games? oh thats right, lack of clutch hitting!
I don’t get this whole idea that the Mets aren’t playing hard. Going 2 for whatever with RISP isn’t “not playing hard” - it’s called not getting the job done. The 2006 team stormed out of the gates. They won many, many games. Now you guys look back and remember them as ‘playing hard??’ How about the fact that that was Delgado’s last effective year? That Beltran had a mosnter season. Fans look at a team that’s a bit over .500 as lacking energy or enthusiasm. These guys go up to the plate and try to get hits. That’s what they do. Because they’re not succeeding means they’re not playing hard? That’s a big crock of you know what. Once they reel off a 7-8 game win streak, then they’ll be “playing hard” I’m sure, and everyone here will be excited about the streaking Mets. 2006 was their first year back to respectability and also the last year before the rest of the NL vastly improved. They’re not getting the job done right now, but they will and they’ll win the division. Period. Thank you.
My problem, is that they raise ticket pricies to give these stars large contracts. I pay $8 bucks for a beer and $60 bucks for a Mezz level seat and this is how they perform??? They are supposed to be entertainers.
We should be getting paid to watch them.
I do not blame randolph one bit. He backs his guys and manages with class.
I blame the players. The players who show up just to earn their paychecks.
Since opening day, which is the last game I attended, this team reminds me of old men going to work, soley for the purposes of getting their time in to collect their paychecks and move a step closer to getting their pension.
What is the deal NY Mets? No fire……
The only man on this team, is Billy Wagner. What does that say for this joke of a ball club?
I said this on the other post, but I’ll say it again:
When Willie came in 2005, there was this “no acceptance of mediocrity” attitude around the team. That attitude carried over into 2006 and got us the devision. The collapse of 2007 and Willie’s attitude toward it as well as his general approach to the entire situation is “acceptance”. “It’s over. Accept it and move on…” - that’s all we’ve been hearing from him. I’m ok with that if the teams plays hard, but the truth of the matter is - and this is showcased by no other than David Wright in his statements - this team has accepted being mediocre. They have accepted striking out with a man on third and less than 2 outs, they have accepted hitting into a double play in a big spot, they have accepted our boos, they have accepted ugly losses. You would never hear these words out of DW in 2006. Their attitude has changed for the worse. They have accepted that they nothing to prove after 2007, yet they’ve proven that nothing has changed in 2008.
What I want is for these guys to come out and play like they BELIEVE they will win. That’s how this team used to play. No matter the score, they played like they will win, and we all watched them as such. I remember in 2006 and beginning of 2007 when the Mets were down by 3-4 runs going into 8th-9th inning, the stadium would still be pretty full, people would stay just because they knew something would happen, they would try, they wouldn’t just hang their heads and say “ok, we lost…” What I want is for this team to stop accepting and start fighting for every pitch, every base, every out, every run…They’re supposed to be professionals, and I expect professional performance and attitude from them….162 times a year. I couldn’t care less about their off-field comments, appearances, advertisements, family issues, etc. When they’re between the lines, during those 9 innings of play, I expect winning, professional attitude, and that we haven’t gotten. I would like to place the blame on each individual, but when it’s the entire team that can’t put some real consistent winning together, and not just one or two guys (on the contrary, it’s only been one or two guys that have been consistent this year - Wagner and Church), then the blame has to come on the manager. Where’s the excitement? Where’s the passion? Where’s the winning attitude? You’ll hear “these games happen” or “turn the page” but is that what you want to hear 3 times a week? I’ll accept these explanations once a week, may be twice. But hearing it every other day is annoying and tired. These guys need to figure out what winning baseball is all about, ’cause frankly, they got no f—ing clue…
it’s about heart. i think they’ve got it. i think willie’s got it, but they don’t SHOW it. that 06 team was great to watch - they were fearless, loved playing the game and since about june of last year, that whole mentality is gone.
look at the white sox - those guys are taking heat in the media for blowup dolls and (gasp!) acting like ballplayers. the mets need to break out of this funk. willie needs to get run, they need a bench clearer - something.
zero09 is 100% right - we hear ‘these games happen’ more often than not now.
where’s the pride? where’s the fire? if jimmy rollins wants to run his mouth about how the phils are the team to beat, someone needs to put him on his a$$ when he steps to the plate at shea. they need a fight or willie needs to throw a piniella tantrum and get run. point is, this team sleepwalks through too many games and has a ‘ho hum’ attitude about it afterwards. they need something to wake them up.
Maybe they are just a .500 team. They could have 10 bench clearing brawls and flip over tables after each loss, but their starting pitchers would still last 5 innings and they would still not hit. You cannot wake up a lack of pitching and hitting talent.
Somehow this team had the talent in 2006. The core hasn’t changed. I refuse to accept that explanation. These guys have shown a very different kind of baseball before. The talent is there, the inspiration is lacking.
I have a hard time agreeing with the “I pay money I deserve to see a good team angle.” You pay money to see baseball, and to see your team the Mets. Just because they lose doesn’t mean you aren’t getting your moneys worth. Sure you’ll feel slighted that you came to a game, and spent 3-4 hours and 60-100 bucks total, but you are paying for the ability to watch the game…not to see a team win. You want the team to win, but by paying money, there’s no obligation.
There’s this strong sense of entitlement that most fans are grabbing onto now. It was what I hated about Yankee fans - “we pay $$ so give us championships.” It’s amazing how much this team and the fanbase has changed since 2006.
Glengarry- haven’t some of the Mets been roundly criticized when they visibly “showed heart”? I’m thinking about Milledge, who was roasted because he was happy for hitting a game tying home run (wouldn’t we love to see some game winning homeruns now) and Reyes, who was roasted for annoying the Marlins. I wouldn’t necessarily be in favor of acquiring out and out jerks, but I would love to see some ATTITUDE. And I just haven’t seen any. This team simply doesn’t have any swagger. Matt seems to chastise himself because he is feeling angst too early in the season. But essentially, the Mets have been only a little better than .500 for most of the last calendar year.
Matt, I agree with your assessment( somewhat). The poroblem with this team is that they seem to be slipping into “we’re just good enough” syndrome. Instead of setting higher standards like sweeping series’ instead of splitting or going .500; the team just likes getting by.
I watched almost every game last year, the year before that ‘06, and this year. The difference between the 2006 Mets and these past 1 1/4 seasons is that the ‘06 Mets bludgeoned the opponent into submission early and often whether it be explosive offense or lights out pitching.
I realize it’s early. True, the offense hasn’t kicked in yet (Beltran is hitting way low, Wright and Reyes have been streaky. (at this juncture I am not even including Delgado into the equation). Ollie Perez has been mostly down and while he had a rough patch, Heilman is coming around a little. Every game is important as we know all too well from last season.
I do not blame Willie for the collapse of 2007 (I mostly agree with his decisions). However, I’ll go on record as saying that if this inconsistent play contiinues to the All-Star break, , I’ll join the few (but persistent) number of fans who believe that it might be time for a managerial change. Something seems to be a little awry in that clubhouse.
I’m with you. What I want from this team is baseball. Sure, I get frustrated when the team doesn’t play well, or misses opportunities, but its still all baseball, and the reason I watch is because its baseball. If the team just didn’t try, it would suck to watch, but they try, they’re just not clicking on all cylinders right now. So be it, I still like watching baseball and the NY Mets. It’s ok to get caught up in it all during the game, but if you’re over analyzing everything during the day, worrying yourself sick about it, and just plain upset over it all, at all times, then where is the fun? People take this stuff so seriously. It’s fun to talk baseball, but when you get people this upset, it just makes you wonder.
What i want is to stop hearing that I shouldn’t be worried because it’s “only” May or because they’re still above .500. After 6 weeks of baseball this team is average. From June of ‘07 to the end of last season this team was average. This team has lost the excitement, energy and passion it had in 2006 and has been a .500 for a full year now. I’m tired of watching the veteran players go through the motions, seemingly not caring all that much what the outcome of the game is. I’m tired of hearing things like Reyes shouldn’t be showing as much emotion during the game because it may rub the opposing team the wrong way. I’m tired of Willie telling Wagner to keep things “in-house” when all he is doing is saying what all Mets fans are thinking. In 2006 I thought this team was ready to put together a 5 or 6 year magical run that I’ve been waiting years for, and now I’m pretty sure that it won’t be happening. Don’t tell me it’s only May, because i promise you this team will be having these same problems in August. And don’t tell me about the last 17 games of last season because the choke really started in June…somehow this team lost it’s fire after May of 2007 and has not been able to recapture it.
hear hear
I just want to see this team be competitive while giving the impression that they are leaving it all on the field. I see that effort level a few innings a game. We still lack the ability to get that big hit, which, if you recall, killed us in the 2000 World Series where we always seemed to be one hit away from taking a lead. That problem persists today. I love the fact that Wagner spoke his mind and ruffled some feathers; maybe if Willie would rip these guys once in a long while they may respond. Last year this team lost 13 of 16 during one stretch yet only lost a half game on the division lead. If complacency and a false sense of security is not bred in that environment I don’t know where it is. Plain and simple this team needs to dig in, wake up and bust some heads.
How do you know that Willie doesn’t call players into his office and rip them a new one and thats why they are pressing and trying to hit the 6 run homerun instead of just looking for the base hit to manufacture runs? Just because he doesn’t call them out thru the media doesn’t mean he isn’t in his office or clubhouse yelling at them!!!
We know, Metsrule, because Willie has said that he does not do that. It has been widely reported. There was 1 time last year that he threw or kicked a garbage can and there was a big to-do about that because that is not willies style.
and to be fair, he does call his players out in the media. just recently he called brady clark out for getting thrown out at home, and reyes for throwing to the plate instead of going for two. so when he says to keep things in-house, he is being hypocritical.
Is it just me of does it seem like Cerrone doesn’t watch the games. This team LOOKS bad on the field and all he keeps bringing up is our record. The don’t hit in the clutch, or in general for that matter, our bullpen is horrendous other than Wags, and it seems like we either squeek out a win, blow a lead in rediculous fashion or get blown out. Even when we get a lead, its like they play not to lose. They never go out and put up 4 or 5 insurance runs to put a game out of reach. But hey we’re .500! Seriously, I’m all for looking objectively but you can’t tell me you think that this team as assembled can actually WIN anything. Maybe the wild card, but please stop regergetating our record. I know what our record is and we’re lucky to be that.
the only thing that matters is the record, I don’t care if the team makes 20 errors in the game and can’t hit with runners on base as long as they find away to win the game. We missed the playoffs by 1 game last year and everyone brings that up, but aren’t you talking about the records there? Maine and the team can go out there and play 9 very strong solid innings today and lose 1-0 and it won’t mean a thing in the standings because all it is is another number in the lose column.
The record? ” we are still in first place” where have we heard that before..hmmmmmmm The record means nothing at all. The games and the way we play will set the record straight. No th eother way around. At the end of 2007 we where in second place for ONE DAY!!! And that one day is all it took. SO the record meant nothing at all. We where crashing and nobody cared or did anytihng to stop it. Now, we are heading in the same direction and we still hear th esame old thing. ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE !!!
Look after the first 50 games I expect the METS to be 30-20 or around there and at this pace they wont be. I also think that all the talk about playing 500 on the road is junk. We had chances to winn all these games and could not do it. This is the weakness of this team and it could be a fatal one. Im tired of al the talk and excuses ts time for ACTION!! PLAY AND WIN !!! Stop playing lousy baseball and start taking advantage of the other team, STOP leavin a small army on base and GET-R-DONE!!! Have faith in the team like we do. Give us a reason to cheer and when you play at SHEA it will ROCK like it should!!! LETS GO METS !!!!
Matt, you should feel restless. It’s called the collapse from 2007. Honestly, many fans feel their inconsistent play is due to last years collapse. Despite what their record states, do you honestly believe they can peak at the right time? I’m not saying they will not peak, but at the same time, I cannot say “yes”. Their play is a huge cause of concern. Granted it’s still early, but their play is probably an indication of what to expect later in the summer.
I agree I have no confidence in this team to be able to turn it on when needed. They seem to have a oh well it’s early attitude and it is getting old. I want to see some fire.
This team played great in 2006 when they were the underdogs and not expected to make the playoffs. Last year they were supposed to win the NL pennant and collapsed. Maybe this team needs to be the underdog again to find their fight to go out and win games instead of having a lead that they are just trying not to lose. I’m not worried because its alot easier to play when you have no pressure to win, how many years have the phillies been leading the Division only to choke and finish behind the Braves at the end of the year?
That’s understandable, but here’s the difference for me: watching this game for SO long, you come to realize that it really is a lot of ups and downs. At this time in 2007, we had one of the best playing teams in the Majors….we were already printing out playoff tickets…all the while receiving heaps of *crap* from other fans that you don’t win the World Series in May. AT THIS POINT LAST YEAR, no one was seeing signs that this team would collapse (aside from a few perpetually negative fans).
Why can’t the opposite be true? A lot of things have been going wrong with this team so far, but why can’t it happen where they turn it on and bust out a huge month? I dont see why it can’t
good post, I don’t see why fans have to be so perpetually upset and pessimistic. Why not just go with the flow? Enjoy baseball for its up and downs, because if you can’t do that, you’re going to have a heart attack before its all said and done. What fun is expecting the worst?
We are talking about the WHY and/or the WHAT. And I agree, why can’t that happen?
But HOW does that happen? It doesn’t happen magically. With “turn around” (for lack of a better term) occurences, you can usually look at a season and find the turning point.
- 1986 was the late April 4 game sweep in STL.
- 2006 was the West Coast road trip and sweeping in PHL..
- The 1990 team got hot when Bud Harrelson took over the reigns.
- The 1988 team stormed out of the gates with a 7HR performance on opening day. As the race got tighter, they pulled together a 7 game West Coast winning streak and an August Gregg Jeffries infusion.
This year…Omar gave us THE stud starter going every 5 days. We just got Alou back. We had a hometown boy (Fig) pitching on high emotion. We’ve had a few extra inning wins. This is the last season at Shea. We had Wagner justifiably calling out the team. All these are reasonable catalysts or at least a platform to build some emotion upon. But not one of these things has changed the approach and feel of how this team played last September.
So not WHAT and WHY. But HOW and, more importantly, WHEN..
Good post Danny….and i’d be hard pressed to try and disagree with anything you said.
some are waiting for the other shoe to drop where the mets fall out of contention….I’m waiting for them to pick it up and firmly think it can and will….
Its true…I realized last night tha the collapse really does hang over this team. Honestly, if they just play a stretch of crisp baseball, it will start to change…I’m not saying they need a 10 game winning streak…I’m saying they need a 10 game streak in which they don’t beat themselves by making boneheaded plays that cost them games.
If you remember last year, they played the same way, and all we kept hearing was, “we’re still in first place”. In 2006, the confidence, the swagger, and the great baseball was there. in 2007, and now, they are playing like a .500 team, when they should be playing a lot better. Granted you have some aging stars but with guys like Reyes, Wright, Church and to a certain extent, Beltran, should be tearing up the NL. The only team with a better lineup, I hate to say it, is the Phillies, just they don’t have the pitching. I am sick of this team making every sub par pitcher look like the 2nd coming of Cy Young. Get it together guys! we want a ring!
Crispness is EXACTLY what is missing!
I want Willie Fired.
Please tell me his good qualities as a manager. I do not think that he has any; he’s a great guy but a horrible manager.
I hate this argument….he’s a horrible manager? how so?
Because his pitchers have let him down so far and he’s had to use a mostly ineffective bullpen? because he doesn’t flip tables over and scream at every bad call? That he doesn’t double switch or suicide squeeze to your liking?
In truth, it really is the GM’s fault, not the manager.
Willie mismanages a bullpen, can’t light a fire under any of his guys, doesn’t know how to correctly use a double switch, seldom hits-and runs, is not agressive (ie- see his team’s bunt defense), removes pitchers too early–or too late. Aside from the fact that he’s so smug with the media, hates answering questions, etc……uhm, you want some more examples? He’s horrible.
For all the moments that you’re obviously counting against Willie, i bet there are JUST as much positive coming out of him.
Mismanaging a bullpen is more of a product of effectiveness of the starting rotation and, of course, the pitching coach. “Can’t light a fire under his team.” Give me a freaking break…you know what affects a game more than managing? Advanced scouting…and it’s become QUITE clear that the mets are doing an awful job of it…”Doesn’t know how to double switch?” I LOVE this argument.
GM: So, what can you bring to this team?
Managing Interviewee: I’m the best double-switcher in the league.
Know what i think? People had this pre-conceived notion of how bad he is or how much they hate him (see: Yankees coach).
my favorite part was that he removes pitchers too early and too late. Priceless. The opposite of what willie does obviously would have worked. Wake up.
You beat me to it Mackey. Willie is wrong. no matter what, whatever move he makes is the wrong one.
I also enjoy the Willie can’t light a fire under the team. We need the fire from 2006. Who was the 2006 Manager - Willie Randolph. He obviously failed to double switch his ability to manage from 2006 to 2008.
Note that the response is never “he’s a good manager because [x, y & z].” Willie supporters can’t point to anything. His good decisions are always by the book. His bad decisions are legion. The whole team has taken on his dour, joyless, sagging expression. They wear it on the field and off. To use a champagne metaphor (Willie would approve), he’s the cork in the bottle. Get him out of there and enjoy the results.
Ok, how about this for a negotiation:
When the team starts playing well and winning, i will begin to stuff all of his positive contributions down everyone’s collective throat….sound fair?
Yeah, shove it down our throats, but get ready for some humble pie of your own, because every time this team brings out the chest-beaters, it punches them in the gut. They are treading water, and will continue to do so with Randolph as manager. I am confident in that, although I’m completely sincere when I say that I hope against hope that I’m dead wrong.
I hope you are wrong too, and i was making a point with my post…not attacking you or getting defensive…i
‘ve never been the type of person to rub “I told you so’s” in people’s faces (unlike what goes on here sometimes)…
if you can think of how ridiculous that would be (pointing out EVERY right move that is made), then you must also take a step back and realize what is done on here every day…..pointing out EVERY WRONG MOVE.
Is there a double standard? I think so…
I agree but please keep the humble pie references to a minimum, I live in Boston and can’t stand the Patriots and everything they stand for.
I want Willie out. Actually, I never wanted him to get the job in the 1st place! This team plays like they are in a coma. That has to fall on the manager and the GM(Omar is just as much to blame for this, but he won’t get the hook yet). The biggest collapse in regular season history took place on Willie’s watch. His everything will be fine attitude is getting old now. When I watch his postgame press conferences they are beginning to remind me of Rich Kotite. They need a change in attitude.
I want them to play hard every day and entertain me while doing it. Just like the 2006 Mets. It’s partly an effort thing, and it’s partly an overall body language thing. Even when they make the plays, as a whole they still look like they are phoning it in. They need to look like they are playing hard. They need to look like they are having fun, because then they are fun to watch.
All I want is meaningful games in the fall. This is a sport and a form of entertainment, not a religion. As long as the Mets are a competitive team I can live with the outcome. My expectations are that this team should compete for a playoff spot, and that’s about it. My desire is that they win the World Series, of course, but I’m not childish enough to boo or hate the franchise if they don’t.
I agree. But win or lose, I want heart and focus.
And I don’t see it.
I want to some retro Old Backstop posts on MetsBlog…i recall the team winning when we had those!
SKILLSETS!!!
We need SKILLSETS.
I think poor old Double S put himself on a deserted island with no TV so he won’t get tempted to watch the team!
Seriously, I just hope he is alive.
I think the Mets need a change. I do not know if Willie deserves to be fired, but something needs to change. You can’t start fireing players, so sometimes a manager or coach needs to go to shake things up a bit.
Matt, I think you hit the nail on the head. I don’t enjoy watching this team right now. It has almost nothing to do with the win-loss record. It’s just their tendency to totally give up games, like the 13-1 drubbing by the Pirates, or virtually every last game of a three-game series. They don’t look like they’re trying, and they don’t look like they care, and I’m starting to wonder why I should, either.
I want them to win the division. The playoffs are largely a toss-up. I want them to be the best team in the regular season in the National League East, and to be the best in the entire National League would be nice.
“…from what i can tell, the problem is that i’m just not having a whole lot of fun watching this team – and, for me, that’s what matters most…to much criticism, i have written many times in the past that my goal is to have fun watching baseball…wins are preferred, obviously, but ‘fun’ is a requirement…”
BINGO!!! that’s the problem right there…they are the most boring, unclutch Mets team I’ve seen in a few years (and this has been since 2007, too). We all know how great they were in ‘06 and who knows, maybe it was partly just a lucky year, but even in 2005 they very exciting…sure they only ended with 83 wins and they didn’t have enough talent yet…however, they had a ton of Heart and would always fight through the tough games. in the 9th down by 3 runs, maybe they wouldn’t come back but they put a few guys on and come close. or of course Braden Looper would just blow all of the leads, but that’s another story.
the point is, i enjoyed watching them more in 2005 than I do now and I never thought I’d say it, but this is just too painful for me (and i watched 150+ games a year from ‘01-’04, so i know painful….this year is worse to me).
We need to bring Ty Wiggington back. Now that guy has heart. Not so much on the talent, but plenty of heart.
LoDuca had “heart” and “fire”…
he also got on base 31% of the time and needed a relay man to second.
However, I get your point. I need to see these players playing with some kind of emotion…any kind. Please show us you care…please
I want to see my team having fun out there. I think it’s hard to do that when you lose, but the way you lose also matters. If you have clutch hitting and decent pitching, and you still lose, you just have to tip your cap to the other team. But when you go 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position, that is just frustrating, for the hitters, the coaches, the pitchers, and especially the fans. I shouldn’t feel disgust and hopeless when they fall behind by 2 runs. But yet that’s how exactly what I feel when I watch them.
I don’t think Willie is the source of all evil, but if getting a new manager in there will light some kind of a fire, then so be it. Again it’s not the manager’s fault your #3 and #4 hitters are slumping into oblivion, but it is their job to get the most out of your undeniably talented but insofar underachieving players.
I want this team to play hard, because I know if they do the rest will follow. Also, yes they’re inches away from first but I’m just nervous that once Rollins comes of the DL, the “inch” is gonna be a mile. I hate the Phillies, I really do, but they’ve shown a lot more fight the past 2 years and that’s what pains me the most
and how about Beltran coming out and backing up that claim that the mets are the team to beat by hitting under .210???
At least when rollins said it he went out and did it and showed some heart.
I’d like to see passion and energy. Something that even in the first couple innings last night, there wasn’t a whole lot of. It’s almost like this team thinks they can go out and win without putting forth much effort. You’re right… at 16-15, ythere’s no need to panic - but i sure would like to see a little more energy and attitude out there. I’d like to see someone get ejected, perhaps willie for arguing a blown call. Something that gets the guys fired up. I’d like to see somebody called out for not executing, like Beltran or Delgado, for batting in the low .200’s. But reality is, like Matt says - the Mets are only a game behind in the loss column and there’s still 80% of the season left. They could start on an 8 game winning streak today and we’d all be making plans for late October, and follow it with a 6 game losing streak and we’re having this conversation again. It’s a long season… even as fans - we have to excercise patience, and faith!
“They could start on an 8 game winning streak today and we’d all be making plans for late October, and follow it with a 6 game losing streak and we’re having this conversation again.”
That’s just it… I don’t have any faith that this team can reel off 8 straight wins. I don’t have faith they can reel off 5.
They have already done that this season.
yes they did. I have no faith they can do it again.
Well we did just that. We won 5 in a row and then lost 3 and won and lost 2 and won 1 that will NOT get us anyplace. We need to win 6 loose 1 win 4 loose 2 win 5 loose 1 thats what we need. This 2 steps up and one back is CRAP.
I want a team that is not frustrating to watch. The predictability in which they play is frustrating to watch. So yeah … they are clearly not having fun and we the fans are not having fun.
Anyone see how the players react in the Dodgers dugout when they score? Anyone notice the team chemistry there. Those guys are having fun.
That’s what I want.
This is why I thought yesterday was going to be great — when Alou stole home. That showed fire and ingenuity.
In a perfect world, I’d want the manager (I know this will never happen with Willie) to come out and admit what everybody watching seems to know — that there is something missing on this team. Be it an individual team leader, or overall team chemistry, hustle, clutchness and emotion. Or a combination of all of those — which is what I think.
To me, that is the most frustrating thing about this team and like Cerrone has made it not fun to watch them. They (mostly Willie) keep saying things like “everything is alright, we’ll come around, I have confidence in this/that, etc.” But in reality, they haven’t exuded any of that on the field in almost a year. They said all the same things last September, and we all know what happened. So why are they telling us the same things now? They act like we’re not watching every night.
It’s tough for non-Met fans to understand this, which is why Met fans are being criticized for being fickle, fair-weather, etc., but the fact is the team just isn’t fun to watch or root for right now, which sucks more than anything. I’ve followed many losing teams in my life but I’ve never felt less affection than I do for this particular Mets squad. It’s hard to describe exactly why. A lot of it had to do with last year obviously, but it’s more than that. Once again, there is just something missing, and I wish someone on the Mets would just come out and acknowledge that.
I agree. I’ve been a Met fan since the 60s and I have rooted for a lot of really really bad teams, and I have always rooted loud and hard.
I am not a fickle Mets fan. I am a true, loyal, passionate Mets fan.
This team is about as hard to watch as any I have ever witnessed. With the possible exception of those early 90s teams.
They are not fun to watch this year, not at all. I want to see them come back on teams. I want to see emotion on the field. Hustle, fire. I want them to win more than they lose but I want them to be fun to watch more than anything.
to be fair, they were not fun to watch last year, either. i feel the same frustration this season as I had last year.
How about good, crisp, intelligent baseball played with focus and intensity? I want not to have the feeling I had last night with Church up, Wright on deck, the bases loaded and no one out. That feeling that Wright was going to K and somehow, some way, the team would blow it. We had an excellent 5 game winning streak early in the year. Apart from that, it’s been on balance a dull team playing poorly — 10-14. Sure, we played pretty well one game in AZ, and we’ve taken four of six from the Phils. Great stuff. Sure. Yeah. But do they look like a team that can keep that up? That’s going to battle through June, July, August, September? Not a chance. Every hitter is slumping. No one is playing at his peak. I’d like to see at least someone at the top of his game, other than Santana and Wagner every few games.
Agreed, but at what point do you stop saying they are slumping and instead maybe this is what they are, or that the cause is something else, like chemistry or managing? There are too many players not playing up to par for it to be just called a “slump” ….Reyes, Wright, Delgado, Castillo, Chavez. It’s ridiculous how many players are underachieving, and it’s not only hitters.
I sincerely doubt that healthy players (Beltran, Reyes, Wright) performing below career norms are showing us “what they are.” I think part of it is concidence, but a lot of it is attitude and focus, and that comes from the manager and coaches, in part. Chemistry is another problem, I think.
NO DISCONNECT!
The Mets are 1.5 games out of first place, yes. But, they are also basically .500 in 31 games.
If one team in this division got out to a hot start (like Boston, St. Louis, Arizona, or the LA Angles) the Mets would be further exposed for the mediocre team it is.
Consider if the first place team were playing .656 ball (about the average for the teams that are playing very well right now), the Mets would be 4.5 games back after 31 games.
The Mets are just lucky right now that the rest of the teams in the division are struggling. But, make no mistake, one hot streak by the Marlins or Phils and the Mets are in serious trouble.
There is NO disconnect between the play and the fans reaction. There is only no clear hot team in the NL East yet. I don’t feel the Mets have it in them to get hot and I know the Phils do.
So, again, no disconnect.
I hate to bring up the Kazmir thing, but this is exactly the same situation we were in when we traded him. We were “in it” then, but not because we were playing well or we were any good. We were lousy. It’s just that nobody else in the division was running away with it, so we foolishly thought there was a chance to “go for it.”
We are close in the standings now for the same reason. (Obviously there is much more talent on this team then there was back when we dumped Kazmir). Nobody is playing particularly well. But that fact should not give us comfort. That fact should bother the Phils fans and Braves fans who should be saying, boy if we were playing well, we’d be running away with this.
Yes, this may be a mediocre division, so a mediocre team can “stay in it.” But this team should not be mediocre.
Another point that is not being considered is that even though no one is running away with the division and we are close to first, the longer we muddle around, the further away we get from the wild card if we did not win the division.
I know I feel frustrated, but then I look at the standings and wonder why I feel the frustration to such a degree, because we’re certainly in the divisional hunt. My best guess is that 2007 looms over me - but not the collapse. May/June 2007 looms over me, when we just tore through everyone, because before September, last summer was kind of awesome.
That said, I think people have a point about the lack of comeback spirit. Lord knows, we were going nuts at my place after Reyes’ slide that beat the Phillies in April. Stuff like that certainly adds to the fun of watching.
And I believe it will happen again. I actually voted up in the confidence poll this week, because Alou looks sharp and Castillo seems to be coming around.
exterior,
the team is not good and the standings don’t make it better. in fact, the team has issues that are completely, and in all ways, unrelated to the other teams in the division.
yes, they are only 1.5 games out of first, but just like last night….
a thin deficit feels like a insurmountable lead.
castillo, by the way, has one hit in his last 37 plate appearances…
the Mets were absolutely pitiful in June of 2007…i think you’re thinking of June 2006 when the Mets had that big winning streak and really turned it on.
In June of ‘07 the Mets were 12-15, and 8 of those wins came in a 9 game stretch at the end of the month.
Why is everyone so worried about the Mets? According to the standings on Metsblog, they are only 1 game out of first place and tied with the Phillies !!! Oh wait, the Phillies have three more wins….. the Mets would have to win three in a row to legitimately tie them in the official standings, and since the Mets actual winning percentage is like .520 thats highly unlikely.
I hate this rating system, it’s misleading and counts losses as the only qualifying factor for success. A 1-0 team is one game ahead of a 10-1 team. I know a lot of people like it, but please, we should move away from inaccurate statistics such as these.
Could not agree more! (I posted something very similar in a previous thread.)
I know - I understand losses back being important in a tight race in September, but this is freakin’ May. Matt, please replace this garbage with traditional standings - take a vote and I’m sure you’ll see that most of the readers agree with me (us).
I also agree…
99.9% of the baseball world uses the same standing system that has been in place for as long as I have known… yet matt feels its better to show it a different way.
One of my only major complaints with this site.
Yeah, Matt is applying logic (very good logic, by the way) that works in late September during a penant race for choosing this standings format. But, it simply does not apply any other time during the season.
While I would love for this team to win a championship, (who wouldn’t?) in reality I just want a team that I can enjoy watching on a daily basis…Right now the only player I am taking any enjoyment watching is Ryan Church…not sure why, but I just really like the guy. I think that the problem is how much expectations were raised by Minaya after we came sooooo close in 2006. I personally like Willie, but i think that it may be time for a change, if Acta were still here he would be perfect, but sadly he is not. The problem is that Minaya and Wilpon commited themselves to Willie last October and now are scared that they will look like absolute idiots if they fire him. To get back to the original question, I just want this team to be similar to the ‘06 mets and (sadly) the ‘07 Phillies. I can’t believe i just said that. but i really like the way that team refused to give up. that is what i want.
da burg’s greatest…that is a good point. I never would have thought that the Wilpon’s and Minaya have to save face by keeping Randolph. If they do fire Randolph then they will take the critiscm of firing in 08 when they had the opportunity to fire him at the end of the 07 season.
Two years ago, there was an air of excitement around the Mets. There was something to look forward to. No matter how many runs the Mets were down, we knew that there was a good chance that they would come back. Or at least put the tyin g runners on. Now it seems that if the Mets get a lead, they willgive it up, and if they fall behind they give up.
I want that feeling from two years ago. Show some passion, some fire. Make believe that it hurts to lose. Why by this 08 team does it seam that the fans care more than the players?
I just want this team to compete and show some life. I do not hold any hangover from last year but ive noticed since 2006 they have not fought back when they are behind. Hell if they tried to come back and just fall short, hey at least they showed some fight and life. This team even if they fall behind 1 run, i still watch as a fan and i love this team but my confidance is not there. The clutch hits are nearly nonexistant on this team.
I just think to myself “this is the last year at shea, how do we go out” and of course that story is still being written but the start has had mixed results and some glaring holes. This team is dead after reyes, no emotion no fire nothing. I think willie has argued what one call in 31 games….We all took willie knowing he had no manager experiance and we were resorting to his pedigree as a good player to make up that slack. I think he has made too many mistakes to come back from and the team just takes on the attitude of the manager. Im not saying for willie to throw the gatorade cooler on the field when the bullpen blows up or they leave 10 men on base but i just want to know he is there. Argue a call do something make your players know they have a manager.
It feels like everyone just plays for themselves. We are becoming the yankees. Alot of good players just not a team of good players. Perhaps its a mental thing of 3 seasons of losing in heart break fashion that this team endured i dont know. I just want a fight thats all. Wins and losses comes with the game and i expect to lose some games, but its the way that we are losing that is bothering me. Maybe they should shave their heads again lol idk. I just hope something changes. Yes we are still in the thick of it and i am hoping that we will until aug/sept and turn on the heat. Those qualites however are displayed and practiced through the season, this team has not shown flashes of these qualities and thats what worries me.
Matt, I think you hit the nail on the head. This team is NOT in bad shape. Their record is fine for now, considering that they’ve had their starting 8 on the field for all of two games, and lost 40% of their starting rotation by the second game, and have several players in slumps from which they will undoubtedly escape. It seems that the only thing that would satisfy some of these nattering nabobs of negativism is winning the World Series in May. Getting into the playoffs is all you can ask for. A playoff series is a crapshoot. Anybody who calls the 2006 season a failure is an idiot.
Finally, as the saying goes, you’re never as good as you look when you win, and you’re never as bad as you look when you lose.
And I still don’t understand this “energy” complaint. Can anybody point to concrete examples of the team not trying? I didn’t think so. These complaints are a reflection on the fans, not the players. These fans have a “gloom and doom” mentality that nothing will shake.
Agreed about the “energy and passion” complaint. I think this team actually plays hard for the most part. Sure there is the occasional debacle like the game against Pittsburgh last week, but this team’s biggest problem might be that they are trying to hard and thus pressing in pressure situations. They are not having fun which in turn makes it frustrating for us to watch. About 10 games into the season, Beltran told Reyes to get back to being himself and it worked for about a week. I think the entire team needs totake a deep breath, relax and try to have some fun out there.
Did you not see the game vs the Pirates? They totally gave up after OP gave up those runs. That game was over in the 2nd inning. There were no signs of life from anyone on that team. More errors than hits? There have been other games but that was the most glaring example.
As for the doom and gloom comment, some winning and consistent and hard play will fix that. The Phillies have kept pace without Rollins and Howard has struggled. When they turn it around they will surpass the Mets and right now I have no confidence in their ability to win the division.
What do you call it when we leave the bases loaded with zero outs and can NOT score? BAD BASEBALL? A man on third with 1 out and Delgado hits into a DP? Or A man on third with 2 outs and Beltran Strikes out? We need productive outs and we need to score runs. It dont matter who is on the mound, if, we dont score we cant win. Im sure they want to win, but, they dont. It seems lik ethey find a way to loose more than win. Even today with a 5 run lead I was worried. I was happy until we had 10 runs then I felt that even Heilman and Sosa could not blow that game.
At this point I’d settle for an 8 inning quality start…
I want for the 2008 Mets to play to their full potential. I want them to execute on fundamentals and play smart, heads up baseball.
I want to see Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez pitch as if they really want huge contracts in their walk years.
I want to see Duaner Sanchez return to dominance.
I want to see Aaron Heilman use his change up as a contrast to his fastball, having established his fastball, and not as his ‘go to’ pitch in every count.
I want to see Jose Reyes smile after hitting his 20th triple of the year.
I want to see Johann Santana in full domination mode, winning at least 15 games this year while striking out 300 batters.
I expect them to play in the World Series this Fall.
Is that asking too much?
Besides Church,Wright,and Reyes it seems like I expect everybody else to make an out somehow. Its like the team knows theres something missing, and now the fans are starting to see it as well. Were old, and definitely playing like it. I dont think its as much Willies fault as it is our players fading away from there former selves. We need to change something but I cant put my finger on what it is. One thing I do know is we need more excitement because if they keep playing with no emotion and urgency, the fans will continue to rain boos
I want a team that doesn’t play as if last season is still going on.
Passion and energy are great, but I want to see execution. I want to see these guys do what they’re paid for and live up to the expectations. There’s no way this team should be one game over .500 right now, with all the talent it’s got on it.
I want the disappointments to stop. And I want someone to take responsibility for it.
I think this website is killing the mets. Matt said it himself. Too much criticism…
Obviously its a well run website with a lot of “blog worthy” material, but good god, this site just reiterates everyday that these guys cant win, on or off the field, in the clubhouse, with the fans, etc…
They just need to have fun, kick it, and win…like they did in 06…just like in 06 I didnt check this devilish website everyday to hear what some blogger needs to get off his shoulders about the mets.
I got hooked on this site in the off season, bc it was news worthy with any deals that were going down…it also built excitement for me for the 08 season…but now, it is bringing me down as a mets fan. cerrone, you are a blogger, and i question you as a “fan”.
maybe im the only one that feels this way, but this site almost makes watching the mets stressful.
I hope they start winning, so this site turns mets fans more positive and there is a better, cumulative feeling about this team and this year.
LETS GO METS!
There’s a remedy to your problems with the site. . . .
I don’t know, maybe I’m not “as big a fan” as others on here, but reading about a mediocre team being called mediocre doesn’t really stress me out. It’s only baseball, after all. The idea of a .500 team doesn’t appeal to me, but I don’t have to shut my eyes and whine about other fans’ “negativity” to get over it.
haha good post uniforms. now prepare to get ripped.
I’m sorry, did you just blame MetsBlog for the team’s woes?
LOL!
I love you, Matt, but if “this website” is responsible for the perceived malaise of this team … well, frankly, they’ve got much bigger issues than I thought!
I was beginning to wonder the same thing. Maybe reading this site every day is making me enjoy the Mets less. I just don’t know.
Don’t misjudge this website. I started out as much more than just a venting post for angry fans that are irrational.
Matt, winning today is a very big “IF” considering how the Mets have looked the last two nights. Yes, 3-3 wouldn’t be so bad but a loss would mean a 2-4 trip and a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. I don’t care how “hot” they Dodgers are, we were just talking a couple days ago about how well the Mets are playing away from Shea and the boos. If they lose, they will be a mere .500 team - that is unacceptable for a $135 million team. The Mets’ proximity to first place does not indicate they’re a good team, it merely shows that the NL East is weak. Using that as a barometer or saying that everything is sort of okay because they’re not out of it doesn’t quite work for me. Remember, all of last September we were saying “well, they’re still in first place.”
I want the Mets to play fundamentally sound baseball - isn’t that why Willie is the manager? He was supposed to field a team in his image - hard-nosed, hustling and doing the right things, so to speak. It’s not happening. Championships are a fickle thing, so I won’t say that I demand a World Series. But I do demand a team that actually looks like they care.
I want fans to realize that passion and energy have nothing to do with this team being mediocre so far. Blame the 2 out hitting, or the pen, or the starters not going deep. But for the LOVE OF GOD stop blaMing it on things are inconsequential. These are the same type of fans who blamed Giant losses on Eli’s unwilligness to get angry or show emotion. All guys react differently to adversity, and not everyone is paul o’neal. That does not mean they don’t care. This team will start winning regularly when the big boys execute regularly. We have a slumping beltron and a slumping delgado a slumping wright (to some degeree) and a slumping reyes (say what you want, but they are all far off their career numbers). Throwing your bat or flipping a cooler is great for the fans and the media but it doesn’t change a thing in the clubhouse.
I want fans who despite all odds, despite a horrifying collapse, despite having 2 outs in the 9th last night with no one on, STILL BELIEVE. We are not the GM’S or the coaches or the players, WE HAVE NO CONTROL, so all the booing and negativity doesn’t change a thing…….why not be healthy, be positive and BELIEVE. Thats what I want, and thats all I want. LETS GO METS!
Or fill out a poll as though any one cares.
Amen.
I agree with this guy…if everyone believes, so too will the players, when they realize that they are playing for more than their paycheck…they are playing for the millions of people who watch, pay to watch and cheer these guys on and look up to these guys on a daily basis…
now we have a 7 game homestand coming up against the reds and nats…lets start here and ride the wave, and just hope, or BELIEVE, that that wave is gonna carry us to where we wanna be.
LETS GO METS!
agreed.
Belief and “ya gotta believe” attitudes among many fans vis a vis this particular crop of Mets died last season. And was buried when, inexplicably, nobody was held accountable.
I want this team to be consistent. Is that too much to ask? One day I think “Wow, this is the team I have been looking forward to watching all day.” The next day I am thinking “How can they roll over and die so often?” Whether they are consistently good or bad, I just want to know how to identify with them.
Before you can identify with them, they need to come up with an identity.
Seriously…this team has absolutely no identity. They are a blank canvass in the first inning of every game they play.
Actually their inconsistency IS their identity. They are consistentlt inconsistent. That is the mark of a .500 team.
But, if you want other consistencies:
They consistently fail to get the big hit with RISP.
They are even more consistent if failing to hit w/ RISP & 2 outs.
They consistently go to sleep on offense during large stretches of games, especially after taking a small lead.
The bullpen consistently gives the fans agita.
The manager consistently exhibits his limited grasp of even the basics of National League strategy.
So, there you go….identity.
when sarcasim actually reveals the truth….you know you’re in trouble.
“when one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have”
steven hawkings
just enjoy the season. it’s baseball.
Who the F is Steven Hawkings?
I know Stephen Hawking.
:)
Zen,
I can feel that way about football, or a watching a golf tournament, or tennis. But not the Mets. I am a Mets fan. That means I am a fanatic. I am nit a casual enjoyer of the Mets, like you seem to be able to pull off. Just enjoy the game, win or lose, is not the answer if you live and die with the team.
Frankly, I even manged to take the attitude you suggest when the Mets were talentless (early 80s, much of the 90s, etc). But not when they have this much talent. Not with this payroll. Not when they are built to win now. Not when we may be staring yet another decade in the face without a championship.
i’m hardly a “casual enjoyer of the mets.”
it’s pretty obvious that i’m a huge mets fan.
you don’t get extra credit as a fan if you’re angry and bitter when your personal expectations aren’t met.
Zen,
It’s just a different way of approaching fandom. With some sports, I can personally take the attitude you are advocating. Not with the Mets. At least not when they have a talented bunch.
Come on Gip you are above the pay role garbage. We have seen thanks to our next door neighboors and our previous Mo Vaughn years that money does not buy wins or happiness.
Didn’t mention payroll.
Like Matt said where do you draw the line between manager and player.
If you have a team of go getters that are hitting then the managers an all star, but if your team is lacking your a bum.
In 06 the arms performed and the hitters hit and Willie was in contention for manager of the year.
In 07 and a drop of 08, the arms and bats have not performed to their potential and now Willies a bum.
These players are grown men. I want fire, I want someone to step up, I’m talking about a player.
Not the manager, I want a PLAYER to buckle down with RISP and deliver for an extended period of time.
I want Ollie to get his head on right, now a MANAGER has to help there. Here you have kid with great talent and little poise, we can look to a manager to help in this case.
Enough Blaming Willie, enough with the scapegoat garbage.
You can name a million in game errors by a manager and none will change my mind about this teams lack of timely hitting with their best HITTERS up at bat, or when a PITCHER needs to buckle down and can’t.
WHERES THE PLAYERS PRIDE.
Willie haters . . .these games are won and lost with the balls we hit and the pitches we throw . . . PLAYERS.
The players all agreed on one thing in the offseason:
Willie is the leader.
And that counts for something.
I want Willie gone as much mor more than anybody. He should have been gone last year.
But, last night was all on the players.
That said….you simply cannot fire all the players. You can fire the manager, whose job, after all is to motivate the players.
Why do fans assume that arguing calls vehemently or flipping tables in the clubhouse is the only way to signal passion and/or light a fire? Don’t you also think that players see through such phony moves.
BTW, I compared the schedules of the Mets, Braves, Marlins and Phillies to date the other day. Through Monday, the Mets had played against teams that comprised a .522 winning percentage to date. The Phillie, .463 and the Braves and Marlins .468. After today, the Mets will be done with what may be their three hardest non-division road stops this season, Chicago, Arizona and LA. The Braves still have to hit all three and the Phillies still have LA and Chicago to play on the road.
Stop with the rational thought please. Too many people on here do not want optimisim.
1.) A lot of thes arguments sound an awful lot like the same discussions last year.
2.) Why is optimism considered “rational”?
Cerrone, if the Mets “Play fun, exciting baseball. Show more emotion. And care as much you and I do.” Then the rest will fall into place. They did that in 2006 and for five months in 2007 and look at the results. We have the same players but not the same team…because of the lack of emotion and the fact that the players aren’t having fun on the diamond. When they have/do both, we’ll start winning consistantly again…
actually they did it for 1-2 months of 2007…
I wrote the same thing the other night. I just haven’t really enjoyed watching this team play as much. They make too many dumb mistakes and play very sloppy baseball, every time they get the leadoff man on, the immediate thought is “how are they going to screw this up?”.
When they are winning, you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop…and I know that’s how it should be as a Mets fan and maybe it has always been like that, but right now I am sick of it. I feel like maybe it will pass, but there was something about this team in 06, I have yet to put my finger on it, but every game was exciting. How many people turned that game where Pujols had 7 RBI’s in the first 3 or so innings off? Not too many, I know I kept watching and was rewarded by Delgado hitting his 400th and Beltran hitting the most exciting walk off of that year (which is saying a lot). Now when we are down 1, it seems like the entire team collectively hang their heads, and we as viewers get our energy from the team. If they are playing sloppy ball and making errors, they can’t expect the fans to be jumping around and screaming. They have to give us something to get excited about.
That leads to what is bugging me the most: everyone complaining about the fans. How we are such horrible fans and we are to blame for the team not playing well. Guess what, these guys are pros, if they can’t handle people not treating them like kings win or lose, what are they doing? It is an old cliche that the team gets their energy from the fans, but the fans also need the team to hold up their end of the bargain and provide us with SOMETHING to get excited about. Yet it seems like every time we get a little spark, it is extinguished right away by the many mental errors and bad plays we see. While I don’t doubt that the team is playing hard, they aren’t playing inspired, it seems like they are just playing angry.
No matter how much I threaten, I’m still going to watch every game, because they are my team, and it represents 3 hours a day where I can get away from my daily grind.
On a side note, Wright is worrying me because in RBI spots he’s really starting to expand his zone. Since Beltran has given him no protection, they are generally just pitching around him. It worries me that he’s starting to get frustrated and swinging at pitches he normally would have taken.
I want the team to play to its potential.
I want them to be alive and full of emotion a la 06.
I want them to win.
I want Beltran and his beautiful swing to hit 300 with power.
I want Reyes laughing and high-fiving and running all over the place.
I want Maine to pitch like he can.
Now i know this is asking too much but how about one solid releiver to bridge to Wagner.
I want Santana to pitch like its July.
And once just once how about a no-hitter.
I want to think that this team cares about winning at least as much as I do.
I don’t get that feeling.
I want Carlos Beltran to earn his $100 million.
And I agree it should be fun to watch.
I’d rather have the ‘62 Mets with their bumbling ways
Than these zombies in baseball caps.
They are not Great, they don’t stink,
They are mediocre and dull.
Ugh!
Young Players who care about the game. No more old has beens!!
I simply want this team to meet my expectations of playing well, to at least look good, and win the games they are supposed to. Losing games on the road when you have Pelfrey going against Webb or the first game of a series on the road where your pitcher made a couple of mistakes is fine. It’s not necessary them simply losing it’s the way they are losing. It’s one thing to lose a game like that when it’s June and you are 10 games over .500. But this team has blown so many winnable games) you can’t afford to just keep losing these games. An elite and top tier team is not supposed to blow a 3-0 lead against Kuroda when you have already lost the first game of a series in which you didn’t show up.
The worst part of the collapse was that much of it can be contributed to lack of effort, complacency, and taking things for granted. This was plain to see by our eyes and backed up with quotes such as Delgado’s who said they were bored.
You would think this team would have learned their lesson and would want to come out and make a statement yet it appears to be the same thing all over again with the same attitude. There was no accountability last year and there continues to be no accountability this year. With the exception of Wright and Wagner nobody else seems to think this play is unnacepptable. They either use the crutch of it’s still early or worse yet they have been putting some of the responsibility on the fans. Saying that they are more relaxed on the road and indirectly our booing is making things worse. Delgado (rightly or wrongly) not accepting a curtain call and showing more disconnect with the fans.
Beltran coming out and talking a big game and then doing the furthest thing from backing it up. It’s just getting harder and harder to like these guys and give them any benefit of the doubt.
This team needs to show a little more fire and life. A sense of urgency 24/7 would be appreciated. I think part of this falls on Willie, which is why the a good part of the fan base is incensed with him. For me Willie’s has until mid-June to get this team going. I also want the fan base to cease the non-stop criticism of Luis Castillo. Criticize Omar for signing him to 4 years. That’s not Castillo’s fault.
I think this team is boring. Reyes is exciting, but he’s lost some spark, there can be no doubt. Wright is exciting. Pedro is exciting. But even a guy like Santana, who is an amazing pitcher, no doubt, is boring to watch! (IMHO)
The pitchers on this team all fall behind hitters. They walk too many guys. They take (I’m looking at you, Pelfrey!) way too much time between pitches. It’s boring. Figueroa, despite losing yesterday was a little more fun to watch because he’s a ballsy pitcher — pitching inside, mixing it up.
Mediocrity is boring, and this team is mediocre.
I like watching great Mets teams play great, and I like watching young Mets teams play hard regardless of whether they are winning or losing, because I enjoy the promise they bring. (I think it is unfortunate that there’s this belief that you can’t rebuild in New York, because I find the rebuilding to be very exciting when it goes well.
What I don’t like watching is overpriced over-the-hill veterans stink the joint up (I’m looking at you Mo Vaughan and Roberto Alomar. What’s this? Delgado creeping into my sight?)
I don’t think that’s what we have now, exactly, but we’re getting there. And the sad thing is there is nobody on the farm to be excited about who is close enough to infuse energy.
Matt you ask what we want. I want high priced teams to run like beasts. Or I want kids playing their hearts out. I don’t want 2 games over .500 mediocrity with little hope in sight.
Very well said!
A little heart, and a few hits with runners in scoring position.
Reyes to start taking some pitches and stop hitting fly balls.
Beltran to stop swinging at any breaking ball that breaks down and bounces before it gets to the catcher.
Delgado to start bunting down the third base line.
Staying ahead of the Phillies all season.
Scoring at least a run when there are bases loaded, no out, and the heart of the order is up.
Reyes didn’t take pitches all game until he came up with the RISP last nite and proceeded to K looking.
I believe that I’ve grown weary of this squad and the morphing of this franchise into a slightly less pricey version of that soul-less, humourless team in the Bronx . . . what I’d like is something akin to the Arizona D-Backs dressed in Mets uniforms, even if it takes some lean years to get there.
This is probably obvious but more offense. More dependable offense.
I may be in a minority who thinks pitching will turn around but Mets need at least one big bopper. It is currently Reyes, Wright and (who knew!) Church and then pray for rain. After the awesome but brittle Alou it goes downhill. I think Beltran is an asset on any team but the Delgado experiment seems to be showing he can’t hit for average even unless protected in the batting order.
Seriously if we can get at least one bat who can hit for average and knock runs in this is a playoff team. Then with F Martinez coming in next year you’ve got a fearsome WS team.
baseball is an escape for me. It gives me such joy when it is played well and such pain when played poorly. Currently the Mets are just not fun to watch. Winning is always nice but when a team makes so many mistakes the win is not that enjoyable. Even when we win we can’t get clutch hits andespecially can’t get runners home from third with less than two outs
Last night I went to sleep after the top of the fourth because I stongly felt (almost knew) that the Mets were going to lose. I never would have done that in 2006.
Wow. What a coincidence. You went to bed, I watched Dancing with the Stars with my wife.
Besides, she’s been treating me better than the Mets have this season.
I wanted them to take advantage of the Phillies injuries and early season slumps and take a 4-5 game lead in the standings. But that hasn’t happened, in fact the opposite has happened. We have fallen behind them. And now that window is closing because Rollins is coming back by this weekend and Howard is due to get hot. Then what?
My problem with this team is that they find it acceptable to lose. The teams attitude is that even a great team loses 62 times so one loss is ok. I understand that - but great teams are not happy to lose even once. This Met team seems to feel that because they will lose - It’s ok to lose. I feel as if they give up on some games and just put it down as one of those 62 losses and stop trying. Of course with that attitude we’re must more likely to lose 80 times rather than 62 times.
The same goes for striking out and situational hitting. As David Wright said below - yeah, we’re gonna strike out sometimes - we’re going to hit into double plays. Once again - this is an acceptable outcome to the Mets just because it will happen sometimes. This drives me insane. I cannot stand to watch Reyes, Wright, Beltran, or Delgado stand up at bat and watch 2 straight fastballs go right over the center of the plate. They get in an 0-2 hole or a 1-2 hole and either strike out or hit into a double play. I feel like I hear Gary or Ron say “wow, He must have been looking for something else - there goes a fastball right over the middle” at least 2x a game. When any of our pitcher groove one like that the opposing team makes us pay. Is it too much to ask our team to stop watching these pitches go by without even swinging at them?
As for starting pitching, I am pleased with Johan, Maine, and Figgy. They give me what I want to see. They show emotion - they focus on each pitch. They hope to throw a no-hitter each time out there. Of course they don’t actually do that - but that is their goal and it shows. With Perez - he gives up, he stops trying. A call doesn’t go his way - turns out to be ball 4 rather than strike 3 and he calls it quits. Then, God forbid, there is an error behind him - I almost feel like the floodgates are opened. It’s like it’s in his mind that he’s off the hook and the runs will be unearned - I’ve really never seen anything like it. Pelfrey is young and developing - I really think he can be very good. He’s going to hit some bumps - but I believe he’ll straighten out eventually.
The bullpen - YIKES - this is the main difference between us and the ELITE teams. We simply do not have a shutdown arm out there aside from Wagner. It’s a roll of the dice with each and everyone of these guys. I don’t see any rhyme or reason to it. Every single one of them can strike out the side or give up 5 runs and there is no way to predict it.
I can’t really complain about the way the team plays defense. We make some errors - but we also make the spectacular play. For the most part the team doesn’t take the hitting out on the field. They stay focused and you can see that they are upset when they make a mental error/blunder.
Overall I want to see more FOCUS and HEART. I beg the team to SWING at that fastball over the heart of the plate regardless of what the count is. Our avg. with risp will be much much higher if you do. Get upset if you lose a game - just because it is going to happen doesn’t mean it’s an acceptable outcome. If the team does this, I will be happy and satisfied as a fan.
Nelson Figueroa is now “Figgy?” He’s a great story, but the fact of the matter is that he is a 32-year old journeyman who gives you five-innings. Like Angel Pagan getting exposed the more he played(by the way Victor Diaz was released by the Astros AAA-affiliate the other day), unfortunately Figueroa will be exposed the more the starts pile up (remember Matt Ginter?). He had a three-run lead last night and then couldn’t find the plate. Tony Armas, after a start or two more in New Orleans, will probably the fifth starter in a couple of weeks. I hope I’m wrong, but “Figgy” was a good story for a couple of starts. The exposure started last night.
All I want as a fan is for my team to play hard. What’s been disappointing so far this season isn’t the losses. It’s the seeming lack of effort.
I can take a loss if it looks like they went down fighting. But the way the Mets have been playing this year it seems like a girl scout troop could beat them up. The days they do win it always seems like its because the other team made mistakes not because they put up a fight.
They may be in second place but the way they are playing they should be in last.
oh, and I also want them to get rid of the black uniforms, and to lower the absurd $8 beer price at Shea Stadium, while we’re at it.
And more men’s bathrooms would be nice too.
matt, you’re right. i have found myself not quite enjoyining the games this year, win or loss, and it seems like neither are the players (part of that definitely has to do with the over-reacting media and fans). what’s lacking is the enthusiasm.idon’t think that’s willie’s fault; at the end of the day, it is the players who play the game. it is still may, but i want them to play every game like we are in september
Oh, and I want A NON-ROBOT TO BE MANAGER
Howard Johnson, anyone?
Well, he sure is helping the offense. Maybe if he becomes manager we can get another hitting coach.
Our payroll is what…130 million? One game over .500 for a team of this caliber is UNACCEPTABLE. Moreover, the effort is simply not there and it’s disgusting. Say what you want, but when you make all these signings and trades and expand the payroll, EXPECTATIONS CHANGE. The Mets are not supposed to “stay in the race,” they are supposed to compete for a pennant. We’re not even close to doing that right now, and to hear people constantly defend them is aggravating. This is the same lack of urgency that burned us last year (that you swiped under the rug constantly) all over again. And Im sick of it.
To hear people constantly be negative is just as aggravating.
I want a team that is entertaining and plays crisp defense.
I want Bobby V. back.
I second the BobbyV notion!
Can we start a bring back Bobby V chant on the next homestand?
I want Buck Showalter!
no, you really don’t.
I want a team that has is competitive and has championships aspirations. A team with those goals inevitably is fun to watch.
That said, I think Wright should totally get RIPPED for those dumb comments from last nite. These guys made that pen look as good as it did. Sure Kuo gets credit but these guys choked when he gave them chances to score. Reyes, Church, and Castillo all going down looking in big spots is so aggravating and points to how much these guys really choke in a big spot.
As far as blame, I say it goes to Omar, the idiot who constructed this crappy roster, and also did a horrendous job drafting and building a minor league system along the way.
It’s an interesting question to ask what we “want” as fans. A number of comments suggest that we want a team to take the field that looks like they want to be there and that they want to win as badly as we’d like them to.
I am in 100% agreement with those sentiments. I have lived out of market for my entire life up until a few years ago. I started watching them everyday around 2002 with MLB Extra Innings, and now everyday on SNY. I have seen a noticeable change in attitude from the 2005, 2006 teams versus the 2007 and 2008 teams. I have no idea why either.
My impressions of Willie have changed over the course of that time too. I never thought he would a great X’s and O’s kind of guy, but I did think that he would be a great locker room guy. However, his approach has been frustrating to say the least. Perhaps a manager change would do this club some good. I tend to think a personality like Bobby V would be perfect.
I do not know if I want a change in manager, what I do want is to watch a game and not want to rip my hair out. I know they are not going to win every game, but they should play like they are going to win every game. They give away more games throughout the year than any team in baseball. Those games add up and at the end of the season they can determine whether or not you make the playoffs.
I have no expectation of a championship, they have won 1 title in my life time. But, I do expect them to approach each game with a winners mentality.
You have to remember, this is a team that two years ago, with basically the same people, consistently put up 4 run innings once (or twice!) a game. This team seems to leave an incredible number of runners on base, especially 2nd and 3rd bases with less than two outs.
I say we bring back the Stache.
The problem with this team is the lack of clutch hitting and pitching. Its as simple as that. There is absolutely no one on this team thats clutch. This team always fails to get a big hit with runners on and 2 outs, and always allows the big hit with runners on and 2 outs. Its uncanny, its sickening, it fosters a waiting to exhale type of watching experience, and it makes watching this joke un-fun. Simple as that.
I want this team from the owner’s on down to the ball boy to want to win as much as I do, I want them to play the game the way I was taught how to play it: be aggressive, steal the base, hit and run (that double steal made me shed a tear b/c that is how to play), sacrifice bunt, hit the other way, etc, etc.
I want this team to understand that you do not play baseball to make money, you play for the love of the game and to WIN!!!!
Off topic, I keep asking myself how I can help this team and I finally have come to the realization that the one and only thing that I can do as a fan is be supportive…cheer when we are winning, cheer even louder when we are down…thats all we can do as fans, unfortunately, but it is something. Let’s make Shea and Citi Field a place where opposing teams dread coming.
Also, I want this team to have fun and our fans to have faith in its team.
“Again, speaking as a fan, at the very least, what do you want from this team?”
Matt,
I’ve been wondering the same thing myself lately. If all the commenters on Metsblog and all the radio callers and all the fans in the stands are so frustrated from slumps or errors or losses, what do they want?
There’s only one thing I want from this team, and that’s to watch baseball. And that’s the only thing guaranteed from being a fan of any team, which is why I’ll always be happy to be a Mets fan.
I think some people take your website’s tongue-in-cheek motto too literally. “One team, 1000 GMs”. The fact is, I’m not a GM. Maybe I’d have a different attitude if I was, if my decisions or feelings or emotions could have a tangible effect on the team. But I’m not the GM - nor would I want to be.
I’m not an owner, manager, player, coach, or clubhouse attendant. I’m not a columnist, journalist, analyst, or even a blogger. I am a fan. And all these fans commenting on your site or calling into the radio seem to forget, there is only one thing that fans can do. It’s not to whine, complain, moan, groan, or yell and scream. All we can do as fans it root for our team. Or as Tug more eloquently put it, “Ya gotta believe!”
If they hate the job so many people on the team are doing, or if they think so many people need to be fired or traded, or so many changes have to be made, why do they waste their time to watch all the games? Just to complain? Is the only reason they watch baseball to get some sort of vicarious satisfaction from a winning team? I say, to be a fan, you have to love the team and sport no matter what. And if you constantly complain about the team and demand firing at every level, you simply can’t have the love required to be a fan.
Losses are part of baseball. Even losing seasons are part of baseball - even from teams and players we never thought could lose. I thought the 2002 Mets of Robbie Alomar and Mo Vaughn were World Series bound. They weren’t. Did I love the Mets any less? Of course not. Did I stop watching games? Of course, I didn’t.
Maybe I have a better perspective on things since the first season I followed baseball for 162 games was when I was 8 years old - in 1993. But in the midst of the 103 losses, you see the things as a fan that make us love baseball. Like some rookies named Bobby Jones or Jeromy Burnitz showing promise, or a veteran like Eddie Murray staying consistent and professional in the dog days of a dreadful season, or the team jumping around like they won the World Series as Ryan Thompson rocketed from 1st to home to give Anthony Young his first victory after 27 consecutive losses.
And it seems odd to admit, but these down moments make the winning times even better. Would the 1973 Mets winning the division with 82 wins have seemed so special if they weren’t in last place with 28 games to go? But do you think the commenters on Metsblog in 1973 would have found it “acceptable” for Yogi to last the seasons as manager?
The 2006 season was very special. It was special for me personally, as it probably was for all Mets fans. But unfortunately, I think it brought in a group of fans with unrealistic expectations who have not followed baseball in down moments. These fans tend to be louder than people like you or me, and they’re creating this aura of dissatisfaction which is making it difficult to listen to the radio or read your website’s comments.
Now if the 2008 Mets don’t win the World Series, or at least a division, will I be disappointed? Obviously, I would be extremely disappointed. Should the players and Willie and Omar be disappointed? Absolutely, they should. This team has all the tools to be a winning team and to bring a title back to Shea.
But as a fan, none of that would affect me next year. Whatever team the Mets put out this season, or next season or any season after that, I’m just going to watch every game and root for them to win. There’s nothing else I can do. I love the Mets and I love baseball. There’s no point to complain about it, because I’m always going to feel that way.
No matter the outcome of the games or the seasons, no matter the personal statistics, no matter the streaks or slumps, at times no matter the effort - you have to have fun watching baseball. If you don’t, you can’t make it through 162 games and you certainly can’t make it as a fan of any franchise in any sport.
So that’s what I want. I want baseball.
Thanks,
Adam
I want self-editing.
lol!!!!!
so what you want ,you can see on any schoolyard ,little league field or highschool…….. why bother paying….
oh and enjoy the game at it’s core…
He did say he wanted us to win. What is wrong with what he said, that no matter what he was going to be a Mets fan and pull for his team. Why is that so wrong?
Was that in there? I must have dozed off somewhere around page 73.
No, it’s fine that he loves his Mets, but I agree with JFF that it seemed like his message was that any 9 morons with matching pants, gloves and a wiffleball would provide some sort of transcendant Roger Angell euphoria regardless of the outcome or how sloppy the team is getting there.
“transcendent.” Darn illiteracy. . . .
Delgado can’t continue being this bad. Castillo can’t continue being this bad. Beltran will definitely step it up. While the first two are almost certainly past their primes, they are not THAT past their primes. I am kinda pissed we have to endure 3 more seasons of Castillo’s decline but if the guy can hit .250 and clear the pitcher batting 8th, we’ll be fine.
Sometimes people get past their primes very very suddenly.
The above being said, like many of the posters above, I just want to see exciting baseball. This team SHOULD have you believing that down by a run or 2 in the late innings, there’s still a chance to pull it out. The bullpen nor the offense inspires that sort of hope right now.
Matt, 23 runners left on base is not Willie’s fault, I know that. BUT they show some heart and rally in the ninth. You got two guys on, an extra base hit could potentially bring both runners home, shoot we saw an inside the park home run in this game, and your closer is pitching lights out so far this season. How do you not pinch hit for Castillo? From what he has shown this year, is Castillo the guy who can produce that extra base hit? How do you leave Easley and Anderson on the bench? I know the pitchers spot is up next, but is there something wrong with using two pinch hitters back to back? It’s two out in top of the ninth, what are you saving these guys for? Matt and or Mets fans please tell me if I’m wrong in my thinking. It’s hard for me to defend Willie when in my opinion he makes a dumb decision like this last night.
agreed with that one.
dude but we are over .500 and a loss out of first place…lol I think metsblog makes this more painful
2 questions, do you want Easley facing a RHP with the bases loaded 2 out?
Next question, as bad as Castillo has been, whose OBP is higher? Anderson or Castillo. IF Castillo had gotten on base then you would have seen Anderson.
Simply put, I’d like to see and feel they want to win as much as I want them to win…I don’t get that desire or toughness from this cast of Mets
I have been w/ my Mets through thick and thin since 1969. My dad took me to my first game back in April of 1970, and we lost to the Braves w/ Jim McAndrew pitching. I cried, and it’s kind of been that way ever since when they lose.
The Mets are like my family: they represent me, my origins, my pride in who and what I am. When they lose badly, they shame me and embarrass me. I know it’s this way for so many of us. Sure, I love to be entertained by baseball, but I can get friggin’ entertainment from watching the Cubs-Cards or the Tigers-Orioles; I adore baseball. WHen it comes to my Mets, I want wins, and if they can’t win, then I want them gaming it, scratching and clawing.
Last year, the Mets mostly stunk; they never left any of us feeling like they were a great ballclub, just that we were coasting in a crappy division. ANd then they decided to stop playing. They made those miserable Mets teams of the late 70s look not so bad. And now, Matt you point to the standings and the W-L record and say, hey, it’s not so bad. To me, it’s all about the competitive level and the way we’ve lost. We play like garbage on most days, and only two or three of our wins this season have been serious beatdowns. No dominance, no sparks, no toughness. I can’ F-ing stand it, and yet I have to. There’s nothing else I can do with my hopeless devotion to the sports team that will always have my undying love. SImple.
We all remember how seriously deficient the ‘73 Mets were–aside from pitching–and yet they gamed and gamed and never gave up. A vastly inferior team took the As to Game 7 of the WS, and we should have won it…
I want another championship more than anything in sports for our Mets, but at least show me 25 men who go out there every day and play as if they want to be the very best professional ballclub out there, and then I will see them finish without a ring this season and be satisfied. Right now we need an electric current.
well, the ‘73 team was also just a .500 club, and actually below that for much of the year!
Just think if the internet existed back then!
Yup…that tickertape parade in `73 was so great. And the ring ceremony so memorable. Oh, wait….nevermind.
Look on the bright side. No one is bringing up the ‘06 Cardinals as if any 83 win team is in fine shape and all you have to do is get there, blah, blah, blah. (Oops, I’ve gone and done it.)
LOL.
yes…but that 83 win Cardinal team won the World Series b/c the Viva El Birdos and CardNilly fan blogs were so positive and didn’t bring that team down.
Wow…sounds even more ridiculous when applied to the opposite scenario, doesn’t it? ;)
I want Luis Castillo to only hit right-handed.
I want Ryan Church to hit #2 every day.
I want Moises Alou and Pedro Martinez to live in suits of bubble wrap that are only removed when they take the field.
I want Oliver Perez to go on ritalin or something.
You know what I want? I want a crowd that’s into the game, not anxiously cheering the Wave as it goes around, while failing to applaud a pitcher that’s got a 2-strike count. I want our pitchers to enter a game, if not to cheers, then at least to silence. I want a crowd that doesn’t have the entitled air of Yankee Stadium despite the team winning one Division title in the past 20 years.
Maybe if the crowd made Shea feel more like home, the team would feel compelled to play better, and not shirk curtain calls. Not every team can be the 86 Mets, so let’s at least throw some support behind a team with Mets on their jerseys.
Oh and only one sing-along: during the 7th inning stretch
Um, you realize they have a better home record than road record?
Also, did you just choose noty to read or watch Matt;s interview with Darryl where Darryl basically laughed off the notion that this is anything new and the whold “boogate” thing is silly? That he thinks it is normal and to be expected that the fans at Shea boo, but that the same fans are the best when their team plays well? That he missed that passion when he played for LA?
I think i’ll take the opinion of a former Mets great over the whining of uber-sensitive online posters.
What is the explanation for last night and the night before? Were the Mets’ feelings hurt by the Dodgers fans booing poor Andruw Jones at every turn? By them booing a guy who has been their offensie hero this series (DeWitt) when he made an error? Those boos certianly didn’t have a deleterious effect on the Dodgers themselves!
STUPID JOE BENIGNO. Can someone please tell this clown not to make irresponsible comments? He brought up this idea that there is a “latin divide” in the Mets locker room which Evan Roberts promptly shot down saying there’s no basis for saying that…but then some moron caller called in and said that Mike Francesa’s sources (which is the dumbest thing I’d ever heard) and Ed Coleman both reported that Tony Bernazzard hangs out with the latin guys and too much and he schmoozed with Manny Acta when the Nats were in town, and that ticked Willie off.
1)I doubt Francesa has any believable sources
2)This was something from last year if I remember, and still doesn’t say anything about any divide.
I can’t believe how dumb some of the callers to this station are
Actually…it was Boomer and Carton this morning.
Correction…Joe and Evan were discussing it, but the racial issue became prominent this morning on Boomer and Carton and I think they just took it from there.
I for one do believe there is a disconnect between Willie and his players. I don’t know if its racial, cultural, generational, or just irrational…but it exists. You see it often. Reyes and Ollie barely look at him when Willie talks. LoDuca couldn’t stand him. Wagner just circumvents him. The Carloses live in their own worlds. The only guys who Willie seems to get through to are the new guys…but they eventually tune him out too.
I’m not so sure there is any divide. But in any case, losing brings this kind of stuff out, and winning cures it.
see dude you are actually the stupid one.. Benigno didn’t start that.. if you listened to Boomer and Carlin this morning you might know where that came from..
Wow, Jones, you’re right. I’m so stupid and you’re so smart because you have time to listen to all 4 hours of their show. What a productive member of society you must be, and what a stupid guy I must be.
I heard Joe make that statement about a “latin dvidide” and he’s had a history of making dumb comments without thinking. If it was Carton that started it, then I didn’t know that, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least b/c he lives on irresponsble journalism. That doesn’t make it any less of an idiotic comment (and I say that b/c of the fact they wanna make it a racial thing).
The thing is, that making it a racial thing goes into a sensitive area, so you can’t just make those kind of comments unless you have a real sold basis for it (ie, media reports. quotes, sources).
And besides, it’s not Carlin, it’s Carton.
The most enjoyable seasons I’ve had as a fan–across all sports–are when a team exceeds expectations. Even a .500 team is fun to watch if they were picked to do poorly. Especially if they have young guys who develop out of nowhere and give hope that they can be the core of a possible championship team…
This team the past couple years they’ve done exactly the opposite. They are underperforming their talent level.
They can’t hit with runners in scoring position and the relievers seem to blow close games. It seems they make more defensive blunders with runners on.
My guess is that they’re pressing, trying to do too much, trying to erase last year, and live up to Mets fans high expectations. It’s been a vicious cycle. The harder they try, the worse they do, which causes them to press even more…
Great points. Agree on all accounts.
Gee, if only they were professionals and could deal with the “pressure.”
I just want a ring….not 2 or 3(even though that would be nice)just one championship year I can remember, thats all…
I got it from my Giants this year, now, just i want 1 from the Mets..
Been a fan since 1988 when my dad worked at the diamond club for 6 years as a bartender and he used to let me sit in the suites for free….(hose were the days)
So please, just ONE ring, thats all…is that asking for too much??
It’s a lot more than the record and what the rest of the division is doing. They are fortunate to not have a team like the Cubs out in front of them to chase. This team is FRUSTRATING! I’ve taken 10 steps back from this team to see the big picture of what is going on here.
They have a lot to prove to people after what happened last year, and they know it. I don’t see that chip on their shoulder that I was hoping to see coming out of Spring Training. Where is it? Yeah, we had some key injuries up until recently, so I think between now and the rest of this month, we will see what kind of personality develops with this team.
They still appear to be a team that I can be patient with, but they still have a long ways to go to right the ship.
eddie murray staying consistant and professional…..<<<<<<<<
only thru the eyes of an 8 year old………
what do i want…… to borrow the words of miss shea allready…
shut up and play good baseball……period..
I want this team to play to its POTENTIAL!!
END OF STORY!!!
anything else is a reflection of the coach
I want to know where the well thought out, reasonable, sane and G rated post I keep writting about 2008/2009 keeps disappering too, since it sure ain’t getting posted!
I want them for once to not give up a rookies first major league home run/hit/rbi.
I want them to not treat a rookie pitcher like he’s Cy Young.
They must lead the league since their inception in these two categories.
I’m so glad somebody else noticed this!
I agree, the 2006 Mets were fun to watch. The game was never over. I always felt they had a chance to come back and win. Not this year. You know the routine. Either they’re out of it from the first inning or they get a lead and spend the rest of the game giving it back without ever scoring again.
As for ‘the disconnect’, I don’t think it is a disconnect. Regardless of their record or place in the standings, they are not playing well. Many of their wins are of the ‘gift’ variety. (Philly issuing 9 walks and making 4 errors is just one example).
Moises Alou showed more desire and baseball-sense last night taking third and then stealing home than the rest of the team has shown all year.
agreed.
not to mention his hustle to even get to third…
a 42 year old shows more hustle and fire and intensity than the rest of the team…all younger…
Lets see….I want a team that realizes its potential. A team that comes to play focused every game. One that you can count on to never say die until the last out. There are days you will get beat by a better team or pitcher. But you shouldn’t consistently beat yourself. In order to get this, my feeling is that you have no alternative but to get a new manager. If the fans have lost faith in the manager’s ability to make the correct calls with his strategy and they have lost faith in his ability to lead them to the playoffs (see the Collapse), then I don’t think it is a stretch to think that the players feel the same way. With Willie gone, there will be a renewed optimism that this team needs.
I cheer every night for this team, but it has been harder and harder to get behind them…mostly because if its just one game for them, then let me know when the games do matter to you, and maybe I’ll watch.
all i want is for this team to enjoy what they are doing. If they are enjoying it, the fans, including myself, will enjoy it. having “fun” is a requirement. The fans will act based on the attitude of the team. I don’t think it is so much about wins and losses. I mean, it is a part of it obviously. But you could see it in games this season, when the mets looked hungry, excited, and had fun while the played. That is what I want to see. I want to see hustle and enjoyment. is that too much to ask? most people come home hating their job or at least don’t enjoy it too much and could be in a bad mood, and for 3 hours 6 times a week, they can watching something fun and exciting. that’s all we ask for…for them to give 100% for 3 hours six times a week…i am pretty sure almost all, if not all of us would kill not only to make the money they are making, but also just have the chance to play baseball for a living and get to play in front of the new york fans. i’m not saying we need to win the WS or go deep in the playoffs, all that would be nice…but before any of that happens, they need to want it, they need to enjoy the game they are playing…they need to show they care and show their excitement and enthusiasm, and fight like their lives depended on it until the last out is recorded, and then get ready to do it all over again the next day…the game is bigger than they are, and they need to show their passion for it, their excitement for it, day in and day out, that’s all that I want
What i want is to stop hearing that I shouldn’t be worried because it’s “only” May or because they’re still above .500. After 6 weeks of baseball this team is average. From June of ‘07 to the end of last season this team was average. This team has lost the excitement, energy and passion it had in 2006 and has been a .500 for a full year now. I’m tired of watching the veteran players go through the motions, seemingly not caring all that much what the outcome of the game is. I’m tired of hearing things like Reyes shouldn’t be showing as much emotion during the game because it may rub the opposing team the wrong way. I’m tired of Willie telling Wagner to keep things “in-house” when all he is doing is saying what all Mets fans are thinking. In 2006 I thought this team was ready to put together a 5 or 6 year magical run that I’ve been waiting years for, and now I’m pretty sure that it won’t be happening. Don’t tell me it’s only May, because i promise you this team will be having these same problems in August. And don’t tell me about the last 17 games of last season because the choke really started in June…somehow this team lost it’s fire after May of 2007 and has not been able to recapture it.
I want to see everybody try everyday. If I wanted to watch a bunch of hired guns phone it in I’d be a Yankee fan.
Matt, how can you blame the ‘disconnect’ on the fans??
If there’s any disconnect at all, its in the clubhouse (managers AND players). They don’t understand that we EXPECT a $140M franchise (highest in the NL, 3rd in baseball) to be more than a game over .500…
The well-documented ‘malaise’ that entrenched this ballclub last year is percolating once again. After having to endure the WORST REGULAR SEASON COLLAPSE IN BASEBALL HISTORY, fans like you and I should be rewarded with recitified results, which hasn’t happened. Like anything else, the $$, time and emotions invested into this team has resulted in nothing but, “we’ll get the ship righted.”
That doesn’t cut it in my book. We want W’s and NOTHING ELSE.
“Baseball was made for kids. Grownups only screw it up.” - Bob Lemon
What do I want?
I want to see a team that at least looks like it gives a good crap whether they win or lose.
Do I want a team that cares as much as I do? No. I want a team that cares MORE than I do! After all, I’m not being paid to care: they are.
“Do I want a team that cares as much as I do? No. I want a team that cares MORE than I do! After all, I’m not being paid to care: they are.”
Right on CharlieH,,, Right on
Well said!
in fact…if you look at your cable/DirectTV bill….you are actually paying to care.
I have seen this chapter of the story way too often, i just want the Mets to get over thier writers block and start a new chapter. We the fans needone that involves extra hustle and winning, yes its easier said than done but there is way too much talent on this team to be average. I know we are without a few guys but bottom line is bases loaded no outs and your meat coming up, you need to get some runs in, even if it is a SAC RBI, give me something!!
I want to see Willie get fired only because I think that is when we will truly find out what has been going on with this team.
I think all the people who are anti willie and suspicious about something not being right in the clubhouse will eventually be proven right.
I believe that the day he is fired guys like Reyes, Wagner, Perez, maybe even Castillo will completely throw him under the bus and only then we will really find out what has really been going in the last year with this team and the way he leads
I want a team that is confident and thats gives its fans confidence in how they play.
I want consistency.
I want someone to bean someone, because they’re standing over the plate.
I want someone other than Reyes to have a dirty uniform.
Finally, I want to see some life. I feel like this team is just treading water right now w/o going in any direction.
If this happens, the winning will take care of its self.
As fans, we DONT want the same old Mets!
I want to see the Mets play Ty Wigginton Baseball. I want players who want to win. Give me a field full of Ecksteins, Rowands, and Wiggintons and at least I know they are giving it their all every second of the game. Give me 5 johan santana starters–not talent wise (that would be nice) but competition wise. Even David Wright sounds complacent right now—DAVID WRIGHT!!! Willie needs to show emotion, Peterson needs to light a fire under those other pitchers’ ass and pedro’s gotta come back soon. “You gotta have heart, all you really need is heart…”
I hope you’re serious, because Eckstein & Rowand just might be better for a team than Castillo & Beltran.
(Somewhere, a stathead is spitting coffee all over his screen. . . .)
I’m not a stat head, but I’m spitting Mountain Dew all over my screen.
Yeah, the Beltran vs. Rowand part is, admittedly, a tough sell, even when Belt is floundering.
That said, players rave about Rowand’s impact.
I’d like to enjoy watching them again…which probably stems from winning. In 2006 through first half 2007 every game was great to watch…this year I just wait for the “other show to drop” and it is painful.
I simply want a team that plays hard all the time and enjoys playing the game. Simple as that.
On a side note I also would like fans to actually back their team through good times and bad and not boo everyone who’s not playing their best at the time. How is it helpful to the team to boo Delgado whenever he steps on the field. Yet those same fans will cheer him when he hits a HR.
My god, I honestly think that we fans think it’s our right to have the #1 team in baseball and that if there’s any deviation from that, ie a player not performing well, then we become spoiled brats.
This is exactly the attitude — “we’re playing ‘good enough’ and you people should be grateful” — that’s hanging on this team like a sea anchor.
Why should we have to settle for anything less than THE best?
Doesn’t David Wright himself call us the “best fans in baseball” before every home game? Well, why shouldn’t we get THEIR best?
As a fan, I demand excellence. I shouldn’t have to settle for less. So when the appearance is one of “good enough,” I will always let my dissatisfaction be heard.
With the “starting lineup” in place now the next two weeks or so are gonna show what we really have this year. The rotation will probably improve with the return of Pedro, but they have kept us in games of late without him. The weak link is the offense not puting people away. Last night is a prime example, they had a 4-1 lead after 3-1/2 and could not finish. We shall see……
Matt, I think you hit it on the head. I’ll amend it slightly — I think fans want either winning OR fun. We’ll take a “boring” winning team without question (Think the NJ Devils when they perfected the neutral-zone trap and turned hockey into a grind-a-thon). And we’re quite happy with a “fun” team even if it doesn’t win.
Obviously the best is when the team does both (1986 Mets). But for most Mets fans of this era, I think people’s favorite team was the 1999 team. Why? Because they were incredibly fun to watch, and gave us some of the most exhilarating moments in Mets history (Pratt HR, Grand Slam Single) even though they ultimately came up short because of their flaws.
In fact, even consider the 2005 team — before they folded after winning the first game of the Phillies series on Castro’s HR — remember how much fun they were? When Mike Jacobs broke in? When Castro turned into Piazza for a couple of weeks? Yeah, they folded — because they just weren’t good enough. But they brought us a lot of fun for a few months.
What we can’t stand is a team that does poorly AND is not fun to watch. So, say, when you cut Ruben Gotay and sign Castillo to a 4-year deal, not only did we probably do something that was dumb from a baseball perspective, we got rid of a player who clearly had fun (he had a great dynamic with Reyes) and got someone who looks like he’s in pain all the time.
If the team starts winning, that will cure all ills — winning IS fun, and guys like Beltran, Delgado, etc. will look like they have fun if they play well. The problem, of course, is that a lot of the team is over the hill, and others simply aren’t good enough — which means that willing is less likely, and with that, so is fun.
Bobby V used to say that he needed 30 games to tell what kind of team he had.
Well, here we are at 31 and if Bobby was right, your looking at the team you’ll see for the rest of the year.
Get used to it now or you’ll be dead before the season is over.
the 2006 team was never out of it, not because of some magical never say die attitude. it wasn’t the Mighty Ducks. They were never out of it because they had a fearsome lineup with power throughout. They don’t have that anymore. The only player performing at the same level is Wright. Castillo is a useless player in the 8 hole, even when he’s hitting, which he has yet to. His production is a joke compared to Valentine. Delgado will never again hit like he did in ‘06 and without that protection Beltran cannot approach ’06’s totals. Hypothetically Reyes could up his game, but anyone that watches Mets on a daily basis would tell you it is not a guarantee. The only offensive positive when compared with ‘06 is Church, who, more than likely, is playing above his head. The Mets simply aren’t as good of an offensive team as they were in ‘06, mostly because of Delgado’s aging, but also because ‘06 was probably a career year for Beltran. Without those two big sticks in the middle of the lineup don’t expect too many walk off wins. It has nothing to do with motivation, unless willie can motivate Delgado to go back in time.
Matt — There is NO disconnect. The fans aren’t stupid. We see this as a gravely, even fatally, flawed team. We see this as a team that rather than being an inch away from a long winning streak and first place is only an inch away from a long losing streak and last place.
This is no joke, the fans are angry that this team quit last year and NOBODY was held accountable. Add to that the fact that this year’s version looks to be plagued with the exact same problems as last year and you have a dedicated fanbase that is understandably reluctant to buy into this team and increasingly angry that nothing substantive was done, or is being done to change this team into a group that can actually win.
I’ve been a fan for 40 years and I can’t even watch this team this year. I lived and died with them last year and they made sure that they killed me. Who lost their job as a result of last year’s collapse? Omar and Willie got off scot free and so did the players. Where is Carlos Beltran this year? Has he arrived at the ballpark? The king of the called third strike. Are we supposed to get all excited because Carlos Delgado had a couple of singles and he’s batting .216? They say that Jose Reyes grew up playing baseball with a milk carton as a glove. Well I’m convinced that he gave that “glove” to Delgado and he has been using it all year.
So no, there is no disconnect. The fact is, the fans are REALLY connected. The fans are quite smart enough to see not only what has happened and what is happening right now, but also what will happen for the rest of the season.
Trex23 got it exactly right. This year our guard is up. We might’ve been fooled last year, but we aren’t going to get fooled again.
I’m sure most people were blinsided and started realizing trouble in September, but I was one who saw the writing on the wall in June when we stopped having quality wins.
We are more conscious and on the look out this year. All the talk about it being early, or they will be fine, or tasting the champagne might have fooled us last year, but it’s obvious something is not right with this team. These people who say that it’s early and we will be fine sound exactly the same as September last year.
TRex23,
Send that comment to Matt as an email. It is PERFECT.
Seconded. Send it to Matt on a giant greeting card with a big photo of Lenny Dykstra on the front.
I guess I just assume that Matt reads these comments, but on the other hand, he must be busy running the site so he may not.
I have a lot of respect for Matt for making this site what it is and for putting in a lot of work on it. I don’t mean any disrespect. I just think that in this case he is being overly optimistic and may be misunderstanding the reality of what is going on with the fans. Other than the misguided and foolish booing of Santana on opening day (he isn’t the problem), I think the fans are on top of things and are booing with some good justification.
This team needs a wakeup call — from the top (Fred, Omar and Willie) right on down to the 25th man. Quite a few players with better statistics and making a lot of money have already been released this year so it CAN be done.
I don’t think you were dissing Matt. Not at all. Just suggesting you email it as he has said he often doesn’t read the comments. He does read his email, he’s responding to me when I email him (which I do rarely and try to write coherently). That’s why he suggests email in his post.
I think your comment is the perfect summary of the state of mind of many loyal Mets fans, and I think Matt would really appreciate such a well reasoned, concise response.
If anyone has ever watched a little league world series game, I want the Mets to show 10% of that emotion and passion. Then I might be happy.
I want that BUZZ back!! You guys remember what it felt like in August 06. The energy we felt before the games in the lot,, the buzz that filled the halls of Shea after a great win on a hot summer night. Do you remember how great that felt? God, the optimism that filled the air. You could run New York city for a day on that stuff. It was electric!!
Ohh how I want that feeling one more time at SHEA. Thats what this is about for me. Its about the BUZZ
alright, I haven’t read all 165 comments because I have a paper I need to finish and Im just coming on her for some quick procrastination, but here’s what I see. True, they can go 3-3 against good teams on the road, and are still right in the division race and there’s still a lot of season left, and and and and. None of that hides the fact that they are not playing good, entertaining baseball. Just because the Phillies and Braves aren’t playing great either shouldn’t excuse the Mets. I hold them to a higher standard than I hold the Phillies and Braves. Last night is a game a good team HAS to win. They should have won that game 11-3 or something like that, they had the opportunity early on to put that game away, and they let up. The 2006 or 1986 teams wouldn’t have let up like that. Then, in the end of games, I have no confidence that they are gonna come back. In ‘99, ‘00, and ‘06 (and I’m sure ‘69 and ‘86 too), you just had a confidence that they would come back. They didn’t always come back, but it seemed like they did.
This team lacks a Mike Piazza, someone with a flair for the dramatic who would come through in big spots. I love David Wright, and he’s had his share of big hits, but it seems like more often than not he doesn’t come through when they need him to (heck, even that walkoff hit last week came AFTER he could have won the game in the 9th inning and flew out and that was after he came up with 2 men on in the 7th and struck out). I don’t know what the solution is, but right now they are paying a lot of money for a very mediocre roster. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the 2002 team, that just wasn’t any fun to watch.
The team is playing tough, things just aren’t clicking. I feel like they can kick it into gear soon, but right now, the team is just not fun to watch. If they’re down by 2 runs in a game by the 4th inning for example, I have zero confidence that they can come back to win. Here’s what I would love see with this team and organization…
Playoffs this year (NL Champ or Wild Card)
A WS championship in 3-5 years.
Any Met to win an MVP award in 5 years.
….and getting rid of the black drop-shadow from the logo and color scheme.
Agreed on the drop-shadow (and oh yeah — the World Series and stuff, too.) The black jerseys and drop-shadow are setroid era relics that were outmoded when we got them. . . . Sort of like Delgado, only we got one great year out of him.
SC-NJ - If that’s the case then I guess we missed the WS in 2000 because we stunk through mid-June and Dave Wallace was fired.
Hubie,
Should they fire Rick Peterson in order to garner the same results?
If so, I’m on board with that.
Firing Rick Down did nothing last year. Go one level up and you might get something.
We got to the WS in 2000 because we didn’t face the Braves in the post season. Th ‘99 team was FAR better than the 2000 team.
they’re dissapointing. that’s the long and short of it. they killed us last year and they promised that they’d learned all the lessons and thay they would be back this year, but they’re not. i don’t care what the standings say, last year taught me that, i care about the product on the field. they just don’t look good. there’s very few clutch hitters, too many mistakes on the field, stupid baserunning mistakes and everyone looks like they’re asleep. i for one, get angry when i see them do this. they raised ticket prices this year, they charge us an arm and a leg for anything in the stadium and they won’t perform.
i’ve been rooting for mets for as long as i can remember. i’ve stuck by them through thick and thin, but last year’s collapse and this year’s mediocrity, when we were promised more, is tough to swallow. yes i know i sound insane here, yes i know i shouldn’t be this attached to a freakin baseball team, but i am. it just sucks knowing how much i care about this team, and seeing how little they care.
so that’s what i want. i just want them to show that they care a little. they’re too good to play like this.
i personnally could care less about a ring. or gaudy offensive numbers.
i want the mets to play sound fundamental, good hard nose aggressive exciting baseball.
catch the ball.
put the bat on the ball.
get runner over.
get runner in.
make the pitcher work.
throw strikes.
finish off hitters.
if they gave me that everyday and for whatever reason only won 86 games and out of playoffs, i would be totally cool with that.
In reality this team is soooooo BORING! I remember in 2006 and in the good Piazza days, I got excited for every pitch of every game. Even if they were down by 4 or 5 runs in the 7th inning, I always thought they were coming back to win. With this team, if they are up by a couple of runs in the 7th inning, I’m pretty sure they are going to lose.
Correction Dave Wallace was fired in 1999. To all the non-believers on here today, in 1999 our record was 27-28 and we went on to the NLCS. In 2000, we were 20-20 and went on to the WS.
But those teams had heart and a desire to do better. I dont see that with this current roster. At All!
So your saying there’s a chance, yesssssssssss!
you mean like 1 out of 100…….. no more like 1 out of a million
Dave Wallace was fired in 2001.
And he was a very key cog to the success of the ‘99 and 2000 teams.
I am just going to put my opinion on the whole fire willie thing here as everyone seems to be discussing it. To those who think he is this horrible manager i.e. doesn’t know hot to double switch, “can’t light a fire under the team”, mismanages the bullpen etc. Can you all please just look at what Joe Torre did for years in the Bronx. He is considered BY YANKEE fans as one of the WORST managers in there history. He has HURT various relievers careers with overuse yet the man had a run of 12 straight playoff appearances with 4 WC sprinkled in. If you think he “lit a fire under the team” you are seriously seriously mistaken. Clueless Joe, Sleepy Joe, Bigelow Tea Joe very rarely got up from his dugout seat unless he was taking a pitcher out of the game. Many Yankee fans often wondered if he was sleeping in the dugout. He never raised his voice to the team, he dealt in soft spoken one-on-one meetings as Willie does. The fact of the matter is THESE PLAYERS NEED TO PLAY. If they cannot get up and try as hard as they can to win on there own what makes you think that when a guy they supposedly do not like flips a table and screams that will change anything.
Also if he has not done any good on this team then I guess Art Howe was coaching in 2005 and 2006. Not for nothing but 2006 was one of the most memorable years this organization has experienced. Whether Tony LaRussa, Bobby Valentine, Willie Randolph or Joe Torre are coaching this team it always will come down to the players executing.
BTW IT IS THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY…CALM DOWN
Toronto is 2 games under .500 5 and a half back
Detroit (the team predicted to be the best) is 6 games under .500 3 and a half back
Let’s chill out and give this sometime. As others have said we didn’t win the division in April and May but the Phillies sure as well won the division in August and September. The Rockies won the WC in August and September
But Torre had that thing that Willie will never have. And thats respect from his players. They loved Joe and played there hearts out for him.. They believed in Joe and he in turn believed in them..
i want people to stop posting things when they know NOTHING!!!!
I want the pitchers to walk less batter and the hitters to strikeout less.
A little inspiration, a chance to believe, and excitement for the future without having to worry who the team is going to sign in the offseason to patch holes.
I didn’t catch this when I first read Matt’s post, but my subconscious has finally dragged it to the surface.
“if the Mets win this afternoon, they will have gone 3–3 on a West Coast road trip …, all while being three games over .500″
IF????? Do we really need to play IF games? Let’s stick with reality.
A) They can just as easily end up 2-4 on the trip including a sweep in LA. Maybe more easily. Doesn’t that make it a completely different story? Let ‘em play the game before you put it in the win column. Why not wait until tomorrow when you know which story to push?
B) Their record is 16-15, so unless today’s game is a two pointer, a win will only get them to two games over .500.
“an inch from first place”
C) they’re tied for 3rd, so they’re an ‘inch’ from 4th place.
I want the fairweather fans to jump off this wagon and never come back.
I want this team to play to win the game, rather than not lose it.
I want these players to play with heart and emotion rather than a bunch of cold stiffs out there collecting a paycheck.
I want this team to go for the kill when it has another team on the ropes, rather than allowing them to stay in the game and keep believing they have a chance to win.
I want Willie gone. Not because I blame him for the collapse or because I think he’s a bad manager, but because I think this team desperately needs a change in attitude. I think he has let his arrogance infect the team top the point where they are believing that they can just turn it on and off whenever they want, and the reality is, that is simply not to case. They are going to lull themselves into believing it’s still early, and before they know it, it’s going to be too late. This whole “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon” garbage has to stop, instead of being perpetuated by the manager who is trying to convince people to relax because it’s only May. I want a guy who is going to tell the team it’s not okay to accept losing, not in April, and certainly not in September. Come to play every day, and play hard to win every day.
That’s what I want.
Thank you cyclone…thats basically what I want.
I want a team that CARES. If they lose and they at least appear to be upset that they lost it’s easier to accept. What bothers me is that anyone not named Wagner, Wright or Church seems to care less about how the team is doing. I understand baseball isn’t the most important thing in life, but when you’re getting paid a gazillion dollars to play a game for a living, would it kill you to show the fans (most of which make less in a year than a player does in one day), a little emotion when you lose?
I want to not feel the need to go to bed if they get down by 3-4 runs. I’d also like to see castillo/delgado/whoever else get as pissed as I do when they fail to get the ball out of the infield with no outs and a guy on third. Slam the helmet, throw the bat………..anything. If this means replacing “veterans who have been there before” with younger players with borderline personality disorders………so be it. I want to see some fire.
since Nov of ‘06 the Mets have been neither good nor entertaining. Its hard to put up with that for very long. If your weekly must watch sitcom became mediocre and unentertaining you certainly wouldnt stick with it for 14 months hoping it would spring back to life, …you find another show.
This team never looks animated or excited and the 20+ pitches per innings makes the game really boring, imo.
I want some zip to the play, a crispness to their performance, and some emotion other than contentment… to have a game capture my attention rather than drifting off to check minor league scores or the latest inane comments here.
Instead we get a 1B who doesnt seem to care at all, a gimpy 2B, a mild mannered SS, and a 3B who cant make routine throws to first anymore… pitchers who are afraid to put balls in play, and get a look of resignation whenever anything goes poorly. Pagan and Church have been about the only thing worth watching consistently so far this year.
agreed 100%
i ahve never seen so many cry baby pitchers.. we look like a bunch of girls on the mound… santana is the ony pitcher that doesnt look like hes about to burst into tears…
I just want to be able to watch a game and relax. i can not do that with this team right now.
1. Errors in the field - The amount of errors this team makes is a bit ridiculous at this point.
2. Lack of clutch, timely, hitting - 20 runners left on base in a two game series in which we lost both games is a nightmare. How many mets STRUCK OUT LOOKING last night? How many? I cant even count!!!!!
I cant understand how you can be up witht he tying run on second base(DW and Castillo) and not protect the friggin plate… no one on this team but marlon anderson protects the plate.. How many times do i have to see beltran and reyes and delgado strike out on dirt balls, or strike out looking at a perfect strike.. do they know what a strike is???
3. Lack of responsibility by the hitters and pitchers.. I hate Ollie perez right now.. two horrendous starts, and he says, Im Human.. what can you do…
what can you do??? you can throw a damn strike, you could quit your 4th grade puss-face act out there, like heilman and main sometime get as well, and be a man.. man up like wagner says.. get out there and throw stirke, go 7 innings…
And hitters, come out after the game and say, WE SUCK.. because lets face it, you do… 4-1, bases loaded three or four more times, and we cant score another run?????
This team is just frustrating beyond belief.. .i had much more fun in 2006 watching this team blow away the competition, until the debacle that was jeff suppan..
And also, id like to see some scouting on junk pitchers.. how mnay times do i have to see adam eaton, or tom gorzellany or some other crap 5th string starter shut this team down???
Who doe sthat fall on, besides the hitters and coaches… Hojo is not helping this offense.. they swing wildly at first pitches when hitters are ont he ropes.. they strike out looking more than a little league team.. and the continuously do not take advantage of bad pitching..
I am just frustrated, that is the 2008 season so far…
How can we forget 2007 if it is still happenning????? the same suspects, the same story… this team is second place at best if they keep this up.. and maybe thats what we are, but then SNY and Omar and Ticket prices shoudl reflect that.. they shouldnt pretend to be the next yankees dynasty.. prove to me that you are that good.. they have not proven anything to me since 2000 when a squad of nobodies went all the way to the WS.. similar to what STL did in 2006… a squad of overperforming average players that actually PLAYED THE GAME!!!!!
Maybe reyes is too busy making his dumb video game commercials, which all they do is show how conceited the guy really is…
If it was that easy everyone would be a .300 hitter.
It would be completely believable that this bunch of hitters expects to beat up mediocre pitchers and don’t do thier homework to make it actually happen. Its their sense of entitlement showing through again.
I would like to see consistency from the team. Situational hitting and good pitching, regardless of whether they win or lose. Losing while going 2/14 with RISP is the epitomy what I’d not like to see. But I’m not completely upset with the team’s play; I’m an optimist and I feel they’ll have a very good year.
I just want something that I can enjoy to watch. I want to be a fan and thus, it pains me to see this team lose in a bad effort. I just don’t want to feel pain after watching the Mets.
What do I want?
I want my money back… my saturday package was a waste.
We want fire.
We want focus.
We want our team to care about winning.
We don’t want our team to be happy with .500 baseball.
We want smart baseball.
We want clutch hitting.
We want….We want…We want.
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!?!? We know it is possible, but HOW!?
My tactical solution:
- Give Willie the next 11 games (starting today and ending with the Yankee series) to get this team playing sound, smart, no-holds-barred baseball (you know…like that team 90 min SW of Shea).
- Anything less than 6 wins equates to Willie being fired (that means they would be exactly at .500).
- Drop Sosa. Call up some young live arms (Kuntz or Niese) whom the league does not have an established book on. Our bullpen has no jump on their pitches and needs some power. Compare our pen to LA, and you see where we are difficient. It’s so clear after watching Kuo and Broxton throw last night..
- Bench Castillo. Easily could bat 8th AND be a power threat. Just like we got from Valentin in 2006. A power bat batting 8th can makes a difference. Castillo is an auto out and lets far too many good pitches go by.
- Tell pull-happy David to start sitting on the outside corner against righties and go to right field..
- Tell Reyes to stop looking so jittery at the plate and focus.
- Tell Beltran to take the bat off his shoulder, suck it up, and back up his words from this Spring. Jimmy Rollins doesn’t sit for ‘Flu-like symptoms’.
My Emotional solution:
These guys are men. They are professionals. And they need to find it themselves. If not, then the manager has got to kick them in the ass and help them find it. IF he fails, then find someone who will kick them in the ass.
But I do know one thing, NOT ONE of our everyday players is afraid for his job.
I will say this…in all my “Willie-defense” posturing….they need to DOMINATE their next 2 series at home (vs. Reds and Nationals)…anything less should put the noose tightly on the coaching staff/willie.
Why such a change in tone? Well, let’s just say for S&G that they lose today….that would put them at .500. If they’re still at that record point after playing two VERY mediocre teams, then it’ll be time for a change…there will be no excuses for this team then…
Excellent, Danny!
Good job Danny.
Danny, as I told TRex above, you should email your comment to Matt. It is superb.
Just Curious….why? What’s the difference between posting it here or emailing it directly to Matt?
I would think he reads these threads. But then again….he seems to be maintaining his sanity quite well….so maybe he doesn’t read these.
He has said he doesn’t generally rad all the comments, just the first few because that’s where corrections of his posts (grammar/spelling/stats) usually appear.
Plus, he asked for email responses in this post.
I think everyone has overblown expectations of a mediocre club. Face it, they have one great starting pitcher, one good one, and after that it is a roll of the dice. Relying on old, injury-prone veterans will never work. They have some good young players they can build around but right now get used to 80-85 wins. And please stop whining about it. They should have fired Willie after last season’s end. If they cannot win this year Omar should probably go too.
agreed on the firing willie last year
wasn’t going ot happen. Or else you’d have Al Sharpton picketing the CitiField construction site.
Gamers: Heart in the game all the time
Wright
Alou
Church
Schneider
Semi gamer: Heart off/on during game
Reyes
Lamers: Just have no heart in the game
Beltran
Delgado
Castillo
Anyone feel free to adjust.
Alou’s heart is only in the game when his legs allow it to be…
I would definitely add Wagner and Maine to your list of gamers.
Maybe Figgy too. Unfortunately it looks like the rest of the pitching staff is with the last category.
True! I was just pointing out the starting lineup which seems to be what is affecting the team the most these days. Other than Ollies and Heilmans lapses the rest of the staff has been alright.
Wagner’s heart seems missing when he’s asked to pitch a 9th while down 2 runs…
Maine, he seems to get caught up in all the foul balls and unfortunate stuff that happens behind him. Its not that he’s not trying his best, he just doesnt put it out of his mind.
I hope to see more of Maine’s curve today, that could be the put away pitch that he needs to avoid all those foul balls.
Castillo may be in a slump right now but there is no way you can say that he does not want to win. In the begining of the season he was still hurting and was stealing bases and running as hard as he could while giving everything on defense. I have no problem with Castillo, especially now that he is in the 8 spot he is a non factor compared to Reyes and Beltran’s issues.
I like how Wright escapes criticism, meanwhile he’ll sit there with the bat on his shoulders while watching 2 meatballs fly past him, and end up swinging at some garbage away and in the dirt.
But I forget he has <3 so it’s okay. In his case, I’ll take a little less heart and some better execution. After all, he is the face of the franchise. Stop talking about it and be about it.
in 2006 and for the beginning of 2007 if the mets were down (any number of runs) i stayed watching because i knew there was at least a CHANCE that they would come back. yesterday and too often this year and late last year the team went down at any time after the 5th inning i knew i was able to do other things as the mets would not be coming back from the defecit.
this is how i felt last night when the mets had all the chances in the world and didn’t capitlize, but the dodgers got all the two out hits, took the lead in the 5th and the game was esentially over. i turned the tv off after the inside the park homerun and fell asleep thinking: the mets lost.
that is not fun, and i have been having less fun each game cause even though they register a win here and there (see az series) i know that this trend will just continue
I want this!
I want that!
I want Everything!
and I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!!!!
what a bunch of babies tossing toys from the pram. go back to work, wait for the game tonight, turn on the tv and see if you cant manage to find a little enjoyment out of the past-time without jeopardizing your blood pressure or overall emotional well being.
sheesh
well said. All the bitching does get quite tiresome. I will take the current club with all its flaws over Met teams were out of it by June.
I agree, you should just enjoy the game. But, some people do need to vent and i think this is the right place for it. Not everyone can let it roll off the sleeve. I went out last night when it was 4-3 and thought we might pull it out. It sucked for around 5 minutes when i saw the score later showing the loss. I always remind myself that its just another game while remembering its baseball season. Appreciate it while you got it!
This is not a great place to vent because it is ruining the blog. All we do now is argue. The gloom and doomers feel a need to bring everyone down and the sunshiners feel a need to support their team.
I just ignore them. If you dont pay them any mind they will go away to another blog. Half of them are just fans of other teams trying to get under your/our skin. Some of the venters do bring constructive posts to the forum.
I would think most of us being constructive critisism of Willie, and the sunshiners. The out of touch Willie/Omar bashers never seem to last all that long, and arent all the plentiful.
you gotta be kidding me.
No one calls out others more on this blog than therealsince86.
Truer words have never been said. The guy just looks for a fight.
I don’t want to antagonize, but just for SAG’s…i did a find (control+F) on his/her name on this one thread. He has over 10 posts. Not one of them is an original or initial post. All of them are in response to someone elses post.
And that’s the point. He hasn’t bothered to answer Matt’s question…just wants to argue with everyone else’s answers.
And he gets on others for being too pessimistic. Just a bunch of crap.
If youre indifferent then its not enjoyable. The same reason it’s enjoyable is the reason we get worked up.
there is a lot of space between indifferent and insane. you can enjoy the game without dying a little bit everytime Delgado leaves the fan base hanging,
I just get a little tired of the conventional hot head ranting and raving.
You see it with the stupid roundtables on ESPN in the afternoon, your hear it on the FAN, and now, you can see it in its worst form on SNY with the insufferable discards who could not even get time on the radio. yes, I mean you Adam Shine, Mark Maloosis, Scott Ferrell and other assorted retreads.
it is so canned, contrived and absent of any intelligent sports observations, it is more unwatchable than Hillary Clinton knocking back shots of Crown Royal
pram?
I didn’t know you could get SNY in England.
SlowRoller, Um, you do realize Matt ASKED us to comment on “what do you want?” as the subject?
Sheesh.
I do, which is why my comments are equally directed at Matt for encouraging this nonsense by starting such a thread,
you can throw in the thread this morning about whether willie was too blame for last nights loss.
I think that Metsblog (no disrespect intended) is failling victim to its own success. much like the rest of the NY media, as readership grows (in this case Huge) you constantly need to feed the animals and when there is not much to write about, well, maybe you manufacture an issue or two that will rile some people up.
that is the whole game of the Daily News, NY Post, Newsday, and SNY. I understand it, but it creates too much static
Okay, I didn’t realize you were criticizing the site as well.
I disagee about the site. It’s hard to argue that there isn’t widespread fan bitterness and anger. The papers may feed it a bit, but it is there nonetheless. And, frankly, it is understandable after last season.
No one has a better pulse on the state of the fanbase than Matt Cerrone.
M&MD. Esiason. Joe Beningo. Loud Mouths. Tierney. They are simply shooting off their mouths and saying what they feel. No merit or representation of others except for themselves.
When Matt gets on SNY, he typically talks about the fanbase. And that is the value he brings.
I like the site, I really do, which is why I visit it. I have come here since its early days because is the clearing house for all things Mets (before and after the birth of SNY) and i found many of the posters to be informed and quite funny.
i still make my daily visits to the site and sometimes even post, but I think an objective fan of Metsblog since its inception can see that the texture of the conversations have changed, last years collapse notwithstanding.
if the Mets had two more wins this season, they would be on pace for 93/94 wins and three more and they would be on pace for 100.
my point is that all of the negativity is disproportionate to the facts at hand. The Mets are not steamrolling, but they are not dwelling in the basement either.
by some views on the blog, a 100 win season would incllude 62 HORRIBLE losses and 62 new opportunities to call for the managers head.
that is not how baseball works and if you miss that point, you are missing one of the beauties of the game: it is a marathon, not a sprint.
back to work, sorry for the rant
i agree on the marathon point.
But realize this, over the most recent marathon (meaning the past 162 games played ending with last night), this team has a .500 record.
Parcells said you are what your record is. Though I believe that for the most part…I refuse to think it applies to this team, which has far too much talent. But maybe I am in denial.
And that is where people are rightfully frustrated. Expectations were set not by us, but by this organization. And it is failing.
With all of my favorite sports, I don’t care if the team wins. I just want to know that tthe team left everthing on the field. That they didn’t make stupid mistakes and that they hated to lose. I don’t need them to win a ring, but I want to see that they got the most out of whatever talent they had.
The Mets seem far from that. I feel that the manager is ultimately responsible for the teams performance. If he can’t reach his players and get the most out of them, then he should go. I am not sure who you could replace him with. But it couldn’t be any worse than now.
Matthew asks:
“I’m curious, at the very least, what do you want from this team?”
I want this:
“In 2006, if the Mets were down by a run or two, I kept watching because – even if they lost – I knew it would be an entertaining finish.”
You are incorrect to assume the Mets are doing fine based on their standings and record. The reality is as your gut tells you. The current mets, for some reason, don’t have toughness or fight in them. They are not fun to watch even when they win (few exceptions).
I want Matt Cerrone’s job
just listen to Mike and the Dog..
All the mets are right now, is a bunch of IFS..
if perez pitches well, we can win
if pedro comes back, he can help
if beltran and deldago hit, we can win..
They said they are amazed we are over 500 at this point, and frankly so am i..
The NY METS of 2008 are nothign more than the braes of 2007.. we have the potential to be good, but IF a bunch of things dont come together, we wont be…
im going to change my perspective, and think this team wont make the playoffs again, and if we do, its a bonus…
Thing is can’t almost every team in our division or league even say the same thing?
if the Mets had 2more wins thus far this season, they would be on pace for 94 wins, so it is a bit early to declare disaster
beat the Dodgers today, take 5 of 7 at home against WAS and CIN and they are right back on pace
And it’s still early. And they are 7 up with 17 to play. And, the champagne will taste so much sweeter.
Here’s a better suggestion: NEVER listen to Mike and the Mad dog.
I want exactly what you want Matt. I want to see the Mets down 5-3 in the 7th inning and keep watching because I know we have a shot to win. I want to have confidence in the potential of every player to get a hit in every situation. I don’t need them to always get a hit, but it feels like there isn’t even the potential for Beltran to hit a 3-run hr or Castillo to hit a ball into the OF if we really need it. I want to believe.
I want several things and it would be really nice if several other things happened too.
Most importantly I want to go into every game with a sense that the Mets will win/dominate.
I want to have faith that this is a team that can win, and that they can both put up good numbers on offense and with the pitching.
I would be happy if the Mets won 90 games (even if they didn’t make the playoffs - although I’d love for them to make the playoffs).
What I don’t want is a nervous edginess all season before every game, where I have to worry so much that every game counts, that every game is do or die.
I want what you want. Which is to have fun watching the Mets. But, I can’t have fun knowing that the Mets should win but can’t. If the could win and did, that would be the best. But I could probably have more fun if I didn’t think they stood a chance cause then at least there would be no pressure. Like this there is pressure for them to win and they can’t do that well enough. Thus making it less enjoyable.
I want separation from 2007. I want a month like June 2006 that will make me think different team. I want to be rid of names that represent the worst memories, like Delgado and Sosa. I want Willie to change they way he uses his pen and refuses to be aggressive in certain place (won’t squeeze, rarely hits and runs); I want to see change, and if I don’t see that, I at least want accountability.
I am not over last September. I will never have the passion I had for this team before that. I am seriously scarred/changed - I learned not too pin so much hope and emotion on a group of men I don’t control or answer to. In the meantime, I can still have fun as a Mets fan, but they’ve yet to convince me that their a changed team.
Ya Gotta Have Fun! (RIP Tug)
I think personally that of course I want them to win a ring and get to the playoffs and win the division but I want to sit back and enjoy watching the game, most of last year and all of 2006, I would watch the game thinking they are going to win because they had that attitude, now when I watch the game I am nervous from pitch 1. I honestly would probably be happy in just playing hard fun ball and not make the playoffs but something has to happen to them for it to happen, does that mean firing someone? I don’t know!!! I was thinking if Omar were to get fired, what kind of effect would that have on the latino players on the team? Would they respond better to someone like Acta (not that he is available).
100% effort. That’s it and that’s all.
A playoff appeareance, a more consistent ability to come back from games in which they don’t come out swinging, but also not having everyone acting like Jerome on WFAN every single darn time the team loses a game, even if it was like last night facing a dominant bullpen featuring a pitcher that just seems to have our number, a guy who is arguably the best setup man in baseball, and a guy who succeeds against, well, everyone despite defying the “flame-thrower with more K’s than brains” stereotype of a closer…
I think frustration is inevitable when expectations are high based on a team’s perceived talent level and as spillover from the previous seaon’s disappointment. Also chemistry is improved when a team is winning, it’s sort of a chicken and the egg thing but that usually seems to come afterwards.
It’s a very long season as Matt points out, the team is playing two of the best teams in the league on the road right now and should improve the RISP issue. That said one difference is teams like LA and AZ have some really good young talent, hitters and pitchers, that not only helps the team on the field but also gives them energy. Not that the Mets don’t have some young talent too, but most of those guys have been around for a little while now. And they’ve traded some of their up and comers for win now players like Santana (and let’s not even go back to the Kazmir trade).
Another perspective check: Also wanted to point out that I still don’t get some of the comments/frustration about Billingsley and Kuo — especially the latter mowing down the Mets hitters. Kuo has always done well against the Mets and the only thing keeping him from being one of the premier young pitchers in the league (after he had recovered from elbow surgery acouple of years ago) is that he’s had some wildness (K’s a lot, then BB’s a lot). But he is an extremely talented fireballer. I wish people would get a little perspective on some of the players they are facing these days before coming down too hard on the Mets. (Like the commenter who pointed to Billingsley’s high ERA to s tart this year as proof that he is no good. Ignorance ain’t bliss, people.)
But anyway have some faith that the Mets will come back, they are in a division in transition and have the lineup to mash. But depth issues are still a concern. There’s hope, but there’s some reason to be a little worried, too.
I would like to see a starters last beyond the 5-6 inning. Or even a hit or two with runners on scoring position. Something about this team just doesn’t seem right. I felt it with the 2006 team. I was at the Cardinals game in August 2006, where Albert and the Carlos’ traded homers……I want THAT feeling back.
mets fans are dumb.
Nah…to keep saying the Mets are going to win the 2007 World Series while spiraling out of control in September….that’s dumb my man…
I wonder what happened to that dude… *whistles*
This thread probably has the least amount of fighting in a long time. Just a lot of people venting and actually, most people are saying the same things just in different words. They want emotion, hard play, Willie on a short leash….and definitely something different than what we have seen for the first 31 games.
I want to see a team play with heart, hustle and desire.
A team like the Diamondbacks with a lot of youth. Mostly (but not necessarily) comprised of homegrown players.
I don’t want to see a lot of aging, “bored,” laid back, declining, and hurt players. Omar has put too many of these on the Mets the last two years, negating a lot of the good moves he has made. That’s the primary problem with the team. And it’s on Omar. Not Willie.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Omar is creative or smart enough to put together a championship caliber team either through his tired veteran approach … or through a build-from-within approach. He acquires the wrong types of veterans — way past their primes — caves in to sentimentality and friendship, and doesn’t draft well or know how to develop young players.
I think the only solution if the Mets want a WS championship and a consistent winner is to get a new GM.
I want someone like Beane, Josh Byrnes, Epstein or Moore. They need a complete overhaul of the front office.
And, yes, I’m willing to go through a year or two of losing if it means a younger team built more from within. I’m patient enough, and it’s more enjoyable to see a player like Jacobs grow than a “bored” and declining veteran like Deglado struggle with the bat and glove game after game.
But that means they need to draft well. And I don’t trust Omar to be able to do that. So he would have to go.
Aside from the grand dream of a World Series victory, what I want from this team is to play the game with as much passion for winning as I have as a fan. Regardless of what Willie and the players say about last year’s collapse being put behind them, as a fan, it is hard to forget – especially when the first month of this season has been a repeat of the same lethargic and ineffective play.
These players make millions of dollars to go out and play to the best of their capabilities and most of the time when I watch this team I feel like they don’t give a crap. The do not hit in clutch situations at all. They fail to make the most routine plays…What drives me most crazy is that in a bases loaded situation with less than two outs they can’t get a run home unless they walk. I don’t quite understand how that is…Or how about on the mound in a seemingly impossible situation of the bases loaded and no one out? Our pitchers will inevitably get 2 outs without letting the opposition score and then give up a hit / walk or make an error. It’s like as a Mets fan you wait for the other shoe to drop. You can sort of see the bad situation coming a mile away.
All I really want is some exciting baseball. Some kind of feeling of hope that down by two runs late in the game they can make a comeback. Our team in 2006 had that magic. The chemistry was there. Bobby V’s teams in ’99 and 2000 had it too. Somehow this 2008 group is completely uninspired. Whether that’s Randolph’s fault and can be fixed by a new manager, I don’t know. It certainly annoys me to see his post-game zombie-like Art Howe comments and some of his in-game strategies are questionable. Maybe we need someone to start throwing chairs in the clubhouse and light a spark. Maybe Manny Acta really was the brains behind 2006’s winning season. Or maybe a player needs to step up. All I know is emotionally I’m spent after last year. Before I invest my time, money and sanity in 2008 this group needs to prove they are deserving of my support.
Two words. Ozzie. Guillen. It can’t happen, and everyone will again spew whatever coffee, Mountain Dew, scotch (there are a lot of lawyers on here), etc. at the screen, but Ozzie Guillen would be the perfect manager for the Mets but for one small problem . . . . the media would be on him like a frisky schnauzer on an unsuspecting pant leg, and it would make the current climate look like hero worship. Sigh.
As a recovering lawyer living with a girlfriend who is a practicing attorney….I can tell you (1) we prefer vodka or good wine and (2) most firms ban drinking during the work day, even during lunch (the three martini lunch is long gone) as it is easy to get slapped with malpractice.
The Mets, on the other hand, drive all of us to drink…. regardless of profession.
This team has so much talent all I want to see is this team playing hard every night and being in the hunt for a division title at the end of the year. Now I think they have the best team in the NL East and should win the division but I really just want to see them compete for the division crown because as a young Mets fan all I can remember besides 2000 and 2006 was terrible teams way out of it in September. LETS GO METS!!!!
i just want the team to play good baseball. it just frustrates me to see them get the leadoff man on and not be able to move him over to second. or get men on 2nd w/no outs or 3rd w/one out and not be able to drive that run in. no one can bunt, some pitchers are afraid to throw strikes, relief pitchers come in and immediately walk the leadoff hitter, when men are on hitters are swinging for the fences instead of taking what’s given to them, etc…it’s just all bad baseball!
and it was the same last yr. that’s why we throw away so many games over the course of the yr and in the end they all count. if the team played good fundamentally sound baseball and lost, at least i could feel comfortable that they gave it their all and we weren’t the better team. but the way we play, most of the time i feel like we’re the better team(in talent), but we can’t scratch together enough good luck to win because we create our own luck and bad baseball = bad luck.
is it willie’s fault? maybe. answers? i don’t know at this point, but i’m ready for a change.
I want to be able to light up a smoke in the Upper Deck open ramp at Shea without being treated like a child molester while a bunch of alcoholic bandwagoneers are dumping their $8 beers on visiting fans and booing Santana. I want to see CitiField collapse and a new 55,000-seat stadium that has nothing to do with a dead NYC organization—the Dodgers. I’d like to see Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Amos Otis, and Ken Singleton not be traded, but it’s a bit too late for that, but it was fun having an entire section to myself. I also want Mr. Met to manage a game and have Willie shoot T-shirts during the 7th-inning stretch.