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It’s June, and it’s crunch time.
It’s crunch time in the sense that, with a long hot summer looming, it will be very easy for the sub-.500 Mets to just check out mentally and quit on the rest of the season.
I hope they stay in the fight.
In the next 31 games, the Mets play the Phillies, Rockies, Angels, Yankees, Cardinals and Marlins, at which point it will be the All Star break.
The team’s ownership will then need to decide how best to keep potentially-bored fans tuned in with a long second half still to come.
In other words, as early as it is, the pressure is on.
“The bottom line with [the 1986 Mets] was…we didn’t care what was said about us; good, bad or indifferent,” Darryl Strawberry recently told the New York Post.
“I think sometimes [this current team] has trouble dealing with the pressure that comes with playing in New York.”
This morning on MetsBlog, I wrote that key players on the Mets are growing ‘sick of the pressure,’ sick of the booing, sick of the media, and sick of New York.
In April, Strawberry told me that, when he played, the more the fans booed, the more he wanted to shut them up – and so their passion ultimately made him a better player.
“That’s the test of the players,” Tom Seaver recently told me, when I talked with him for an interview that will run on SNY’s website tomorrow.
“Do you have foxhole people? Do you have people who you would get into a foxhole with and say, ‘You’ve got my back and I guarantee you I’m gonna watch your back.’”
The thing is, I’m not so sure the Mets have these players on their roster any more. If they were ‘foxhole people,’ they may now have shell-shock from The Collapse.
According to teammates from his days on the field, Willie Randolph is a ‘foxhole guy.’
Therefore, it’s up to Omar Minaya and Randolph to identify who does not have the stomach for the coming fight, and then they need to adjust.
“This is foxhole time,” Seaver said, and time is running out.
I can almost guarantee you Delgado and Perez are not ‘foxhole’ material…
Sign Bonds
it’s not just the pressure of playing in new york….
it’s the pressure of playing in the aftermath of the historic collapse….. in new york….
something the players and orginazation wanted to brush aside…..they never took into account how strong a bunch it would take to overcome the stigma……. but than again no one ever was held accountable…..
Good point. As much as I like Willie, in retrospect, retaining his services was in essence, allowing an atmosphere of failure to fester. Willie needs to be axed, as long as unproductive players (veterans or not).
I disagree. What this all shows is that it is not about Willie. It’s about the type of players Omar brought to the team. The team (Omar) has the shed itself of certain players. And we all know who they are.
i think we should dumb down our expectations and cheer them when they get an out, maybe they’ll feel less pressure…jeez why come to NY? a good player will perform under any situation
Can we please stop using “The Collapse” as the reason behind their lackluster play?
This team has played .500 ball for over a year now…. “The Collapse” was only the hot streak that the Phillies went on at the end of last year.
People just need to see that this is an over-aged mediocre team that needs some changes… not a team in need of a hug after their heartbreak last year
“The Collapse” is over and it is you and the media that keep pathetically bringing it up
To clarify, Delgado trivializes the sport (doesn’t stand for you know what) while Perez is just so damn clueless, he would probably jump out of a foxhole to ‘relieve’ himself
what are you talking about? what does not standing for “you know what” have to do with trivializing the sport? He didn’t stand for God Bless America for a couple seasons, so what? We’re talking about baseball here, not a patriotic song that gets needlessly played at games. And let me set the record straight, I am not a Delgado fan, I think he’s part of the problem with this club’s mentality, but that has NOTHING to do with his political views, and saying it does, equates to ignorance and naivety beyond my comprehension.
Awww, the guys who play baseball for a living are sad :(
Someone tell these guys they work in an entertainment-based industry and they are failing to entertain.
Well, I guess thats all true. If this team IS going to turn it around, it needs to start tonight. I’ve been negatively asserting that this team has not shot, and I’ve been asserting it for a while — but I’ll say this, if they are gonna get white hot and vault back into the race it has to start with a WIN tonight.
Can I ask why? Anytime this team gets hot it doesn’t last long and then they go on to lose more games in a row then they won on their “hot streak”
This team is terrible. Just try to rebuild already and get whoever you can get. Don’t curse CitiField next year with this horrid bunch of excuses for ball players.
I don’t know. Basically because the rebuilding that we all know needs to come will take a while, whereas a win streak will last much shorter. Wait a minute…
At this point, other than a major roster shake-up/move, the only way to keep fans interested would be “Dollar Hot Dog Nights” and plenty of them.
The problem is that you guys still have hope.
True. Not much booing going on at Shea during the Torre years when I first really started going to games. Not many fans. Certainly no hope or expectations.
It’s unfathomable to think any key player on this team with this recent history of non-performance would admit to feeling anguish from being booed by the home fans to the point of being sick of it or pressured. How pathetically weenie can this group of professionals be? Be thankful there are still fans mostly filling up the park and giving a damn enough to spend the money and energy to raise their voices at you when you stink so horribly. Pee-Wee league kids who have no idea what the rules of the game are, nor any clue why their parents are sticking them out on the baseball diamond. Yet they show more determination in their “play” and show more frustration at themselves for goofing up than these easy-going, auto-losing robotrons in Mets uniforms.
Interesting perspective. Might work - b/c Lord knows nothing else has up to this point. Foxhole time!
I think the end of last season pretty much answered the question as to whether this team has “foxhole guys.”
you said it
Exactly.
different tone in this post than the Metsblog Minute on the pregame…thats for sure
One of things I keep thinking about are thoughts I had at the end of 2007…
“Wouldn’t it be nice if instead of busting ass all season and dying a horrible death at the end, if they had a horrible horrible start and then ended up busting ass in a catchup/underdog role the 2nd half of the season and go on to the WS and win.”
It looks like I’m getting what I wished for… All the bad news is coming at the beginning.
The only question is if these guys can turn all the negative attention against them into a positive thing (like the “i’ll show you” attitude) and play some good ball. Maybe they can relate to what the giants did after their bad start.
Either way, that’s the only hope that keeps me watching this team.
No “foxhole” guys.
Plenty of “s#@thole” guys.
“This morning on MetsBlog, I wrote that key players on the Mets are growing ‘sick of the pressure,’ sick of the booing, sick of the media, and sick of New York.”
If by foxhole, you mean something with air conditioning, catering (or at least room service), and a couple of mints on their big fluffy pillows, then yeah, these specific guys are more than ready to get in there.
i think this season is just an excuse for ownership to send the mets out to LA a la major league
(in return for the dodgers)
I see the Mets more as the guys who lay on the ground pretending to be shot until the battle is over
lol thats a good comparison
hahaha…one of the best lines ive seen on here in a while! good job
Care to mention who the “key guys” are?
Should we speculate?
Beltran?
That’s the first name that comes to mind.
Delgado?
Perhaps….
Wright?
Maybe, you never know, he’s polished with the media and won’t let that side show through.
Reyes?
He didn’t seem too happy down the stretch last season and looks like he could hold a grudge.
Did I miss a “Key player”?
wagner, maybe Perez if he is paying attention. Castillo of course.
I can pretty much guarantee Alou is not going into any foxhole. Well maybe he will go in for 5 mins and then hurt himself and leave.
Which players have said that they are sick of the pressure? Did some of the players admit this somewhere or to someone??
If anyone wants to watch it, Matt’s interview with seaver is already on the SNY website
Well, I’ve reached the point that I’m in the camp of blowing it up if there isn’t a turn around by the All Star Break. Fire Wilie, Omar, trade guys, build/prepare next year and years to come.
I’ll have my resume for GM into the Wilpons sometime next week. ;)
Quick time-out from negativity. As we look forward, anyone have any theories why the Expos (Minaya is ex-Expos) and Nationals have such a record of failure, and the Marlins have such a record of success? They should be called the Florida Phoenixes.
Experience:
Metsblog.com commentator 2005 - present
Master at Baseball Mogul 2002 - present
Subscription to Baseball Prospectus 2002 - present
It’s more of a grave than a foxhole.
Did anyone else get ILL listening to Minaya’s interview on SNY? I’m so F*&^ing sick of this RICH KOTITE-esque “EVERYONE PLAYED HARD WE JUST DIDN’T SCORE AS MUCH AS THE OTHER GUY” crap that the Mets spew all the time. Omar should be taken out to center field and hung, alongside DelGado and Castillo. I’d include Alou in that group but he would probably pull a hamstring and go on the 120 day DL if you asked him to walk all the way to center field. OMAR IF YOU OR YOUR MINIONS READ THIS BLOG I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU GO AWAY VERY SOON. I WANT TO WISH MANY MORE BAD THINGS ON YOU AND ALL YOUR PROGENY BUT I WILL PROBABLY BE BANNED FROM THE BLOG IF I SAY EVERYTHING THAT I WANT TO ABOUT HOW MUCH I HATE YOU. THIS B*&^S*& TEAM THAT PRETENDS TO TAKE THE FIELD EVERYDAY IS YOUR ABORTION. IT IS YOUR FAULT BUT WILLIE WILL TAKE THE BLAME FOR YOUR FAILURES.
Finally some sensible things being posted around here instead of the constant whining about the booing.
I have been watching the Mets all and it is time to kill the dead weight. Time to axe the Gm and the whole coaching staff. We need to trade Beltran, Delgado, Heilman,perez,castillo,alou.And Anyone else who cannot handle the pressure needs to get the hell outa here. If you look around the league the dominent teams are the ones who have young talent, they have the fire to win. The mets are just simply too old and laid back. Minaya did a terrible job asembling this team. it was like he built it for one season and thats it. We have collapsed since 2006 and the only way to save this team this season is to have a mini fire sale of the veterans. we could get a really good bounty for Beltran. Maybe Beltran and some others for rios and Mcgowen. We need to see what our players in the minors can do cuz our major league team is just not cuttin it. Maybe this could light a fire under their Butts.
I might have been a little toO easy on Omar. HAVE I MADE IT CLEAR THAT YOU ARE THE MOST OVERRATED EXECUTIVE IN BASEBALL AND THAT I HATE YOU? I HOPE YOU GET A RARE AND PAINFUL CARBUNKLE ON YOUR PRIVATES THAT CAUSES THINGS TO FALL OFF!
OMAR GET THE HELL OUT OF NEW YORK….. NVM GET OUT OF QUEENS YOU ARE WELCOME TO GO TO THE SKANKEES. jUST GET THE HELL OUTA QUEENS!!!!!!!!! I AM SICK OF YOU LATIN PLAYER PREFERENCE. WHITE PLAYERS ARE JUST AS GOOD.
i really just want to see Omar start working on a younger team starting now. start working towards the 2009+ Mets by trading a few players *cough*Bletran*cough* who we can get something for
If it were a real foxhole, Willie would send the rookies out to get shot first, while the aging veterans sat in the foxhole drinking beer. All the time Willie would be reassuring the vets that “Things will let up once those Germans run out of bullets. We’ll get ‘em tomorrow boys.”
It is hard to have a well organized and unified army when your commanding officer doesn’t have a pulse, and your general keeps sending the lepers to your troop.
Seriously.. if this team was a real army, we’d surrender more than the dang French.
Since its pretty much impossible to post in the game thread, I’ll just add that I’m glad I only followed the game on MLB Gameday and played MLB 08 instead. AAAAAAHHHHH!!! Destroy this team.
Speechless is all I can say as a first time poster here, long time reader.
ALL I CAN SAY IS, MATT; YOU TALKED TO MY NAMESAKE - THE FRANCHISE!!! YOUR TIME HAS COME!!! YOU CAN GO TO HEAVEN NOW!!!
I sat in a first class on a US Airways flight across the row from Tom and Nancy. We walked up the jetway together after the flight landed in SF. I think I was the only one who recognized him. It was may greatest Met experience. We had a laugh about our work lives. That great cackle laugh of his!
I was always Tom Seaver as a kid playing ball against the wall. Ninth inning, two outs, two strikes, bases loaded, Game 7 of the Series, Mets up by won….Tom always struck him out.
Anyway, I don’t think it’s not in the cards this year folks. I’ll still go, and cheer, but unless the Mets beat Philly in head-to-head matchups, I’ll be tough to catch up. We have 12 more games against Philly. We need to go 9-3 in those games. Yes, that is looking ahead, but the wild card is not coming from the East reducing the Mets chances. I look at it this way:
Arizona or LA will win the West. The wild card will NOT come from the West. LA is average, thus Arizona will most likely win with pitching. They are not a dominate team however.
The Central has two good teams - Cubs and Cards. They will feast - generally - on the rest of the Central. Can anyone say “unbalanced schedule”. 60 games for Cubs and Cards against average/below average teams. The Cubs and Cards will finish with nice high-win records.
The East - I expect the Marlins to fade slightly, but they’ll be a tough opponent, but I don’t expect them to overtake Philly which this is all about at this point.
Atlanta has pitching problems. Hampton, Smotz, Glavine are all on the DL. They aren’t making it, though again, they are team that plays smart baseball.
Forget about Washington. They are not there yet.
So, to make the playoffs, given what is expected to occur in the Central, only the East winner will make the playoffs. The Mets need to WIN THE EAST!
And while going .600 as an average, they need to go over .700 against Philly. Every game, but particluarly every Philly game is critical from here on out.
This is the second time you’ve posted that in less than one month. Are you done here with all of your screen names or just this one?