Opinion: I Miss The “Old” Days

by Regis Courtemanche on June 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

I was watching the last game of the 1991 season, David Cone’s 19 strikeouts, on SNY’s UltiMets Classics the other day and got to thinking. Did I enjoy baseball more when I had lesser expectations for the team to succeed such as in ’91 when they finished with a 77-84 record?

It’s always more fun to win, but when there are lofty expectations for a team and they lose, especially when they get swept, I get reminded of the lean years in Mets history when winning was a bonus and going to Shea was stress-free.

Now, with one of the highest payrolls in the majors and a team that on paper was predicted to go to the World Series hovering around .500, the fun has just not been there because the expectation to win is so high.

I look at teams such as the Tampa Bay Rays who have never been good but are now playing their hearts out because they believe they can win, and are having fun doing it. Then I look at the Mets who seem bipolar; one week they look like the team I know can still win the division, and the next week they will appear lazy.

Would I rather have that ’91 team than this one? No. I would still rather have a team that I believe can succeed than one I expect to fail, but I just can’t remember a time when I felt as confused as this team makes me feel.

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