Here we sit, on the eve of the 50th Opening Day in the history of the New York Mets. Much has been made of openers in Mets history, the bad (never winning one from ’62 through ’69), the good (hardly ever losing one from ’70 until now) and the foreign (Japan in 2000). On Opening Day, it’s traditional to accentuate the positive. “Hey, we’re tied for 1st! Everybody’s 0-0!” There’s always the anticipation of what the summer will bring us, of the better days ahead, of the warm weather and the barbecues and Howie & Wayne on the radio in the back yard. It’s all good on Opening Day, even if there’s snow in the forecast.

As stated above, the Mets have had great success in lid-lifters for the last 40-odd years, and very little to show thereafter. How come? I mean, I know you’ve always got your ace out there to start things off – and it certainly helps when your aces over the years are named Seaver, Gooden, Pedro or Santana – and the pitchers are ahead of the hitters, as the old saw goes. But it seems like every year, the bloom fades from the rose. 1-0 becomes 1-1 all too quickly. Even in the magical year of ’86, the Mets started off 2-3. And it’s not like the #2 men in those rotations were any slouches: Koosman, Darling, Glavine, etc.

I think the opener is a pretty intense day, what with the bunting and floral horseshoe and the speechifying and the first ball and all. Next day is kind of a let-down and they realize that they’ve got another 5 months to grind things out and come out successfully or not at all. There’s a sprint to the starting line, but the marathon ahead appears daunting.

So, I’m going to enjoy Friday night in Florida – from afar, of course – secure in the knowledge that the Mets won’t play 1.000 baseball: they’ll be .500 soon enough.

6 comments on “Mets Opening Day: Why Can’t it Last?

  • Brian Joura

    I don’t mind bunting on Opening Day. But I prefer my team not to do it the other 161 games of the season.

    • Charlie Hangley

      Ha! I’d rather see bunting in late-October, myself…

  • Jeff Young

    What’s driven ME insane over the years is the fact that we do so well on Opening Day and then always immediately have to take the next day off (haven’t checked the 201 schedule yet, assume it’s the same). Kills all momentum dead.

    • Charlie Hangley

      Both Leagues do that to hedge their bets against a rain/snow out on the scheduled day.

      Kind of no way around it, but I think the Mets & Marlins play on Saturday, so WOO-HOO!

  • Tanya Mercado

    Opening Day is always filled with excitement and anticipation. The next day and every day following is usually filled with anxiety.

  • […] an “uh-oh” moment over here when the Mets lose on Opening Day. It doesn’t happen all that often, and in more than a few seasons I can think of, it was the high point of the year. When there IS a […]

Leave a Reply to Tanya Mercado Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 100 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here