I never thought that would be a headline. Coming into the year, I mostly bought the MSM narratives about the Mets’ awfulness. I steeled myself against the inevitable onslaught of negative news stories, ridicule from the Bronx and Philadelphia, braying on the airwaves and early-season rain. Even after a 4-0 bolt out of the gate, [...]
Well that was fun, wasn’t it? A day after the immediate future of the Mets was bemoaned in some circles – this one, in particular – they blasted four homeruns, stroked six doubles and posted a 17-1 rout of the Chicago Cubs. (I almost called them the “Flubs,” but then I remembered the Metsian follies [...]
“You are what your record says you are.” – Former New York Football Giants coach Bill Parcells, 2005 “Those were the real Mets.” – Cubs manager Leo Durocher after a Chicago win, June 1969 “I’m afraid we’re starting to see the real team peek out.” – Vince, a Met fan friend of mine, this morning. [...]
They get swept, they sweep. They get swept, they sweep. That’s how it’s looked since Friday, June 8, when the Mets walked into Yankee Stadium, fresh off dropping two in Washington, with Johan Santana making his first nerve-wracking appearance since his no-hitter. It didn’t go well. The gopher was well-fed by the time Sunday afternoon [...]
Ho-hum. Another R.A. Dickey one-hitter? Must be Monday. I kid…I kid. There’s hardly any other way to express my admiration for the other-worldly performance put on by one Robert Allen Dickey for the New York Metropolitans in the year 2012 A.D. I can’t believe what I’m seeing, so I go back to my default mode: [...]
As you read this, the Mets are going for a sweep this afternoon in Tampa. A week ago, I couldn’t imagine typing those words. Off the disastrous Yankee series last weekend, I was steeling myself for the annual June tumble when all the dew from spring training is finally blown away and hard reality snaps [...]
Well, if anything was proven this past weekend, it’s that the talent gap between the two New York teams is as wide as ever. While it’s been a fun year so far in Met land, it has become clear that they can’t quite compete with their neighbors to the north. If someone told you Johan [...]
By the time you read this, the Mets will be taking on the Washington Nationals on getaway day (6/7). For me, the Mets can’t get away quick enough. This dispiriting series has been filled with mopey, dopey play and hard-fought comebacks in spite of themselves. This set in DC has reminded me of nothing less [...]
I should admit, right off the bat, that I was not riveted to my TV from inning one through the post-game pie. I did not sit there chewing my nails to my knuckles when there were two walks in the second inning. I did not see Carlos Beltran’s fair foul in real time. I was [...]
It finally happened. And it couldn’t happen to a better guy. History was made tonight, in case you hadn’t heard. Johan Santana – “Johan The Magnificent” – threw the very first no-hitter in the history of the New York Mets. Mere moments ago. It took a spectacular Mike Baxter robbery of a long fly to [...]
Two entities celebrating fiftieth anniversaries this year grab my interest. The first, obviously, is the New York Mets. The second is the Beach Boys. We’ve heard a lot about both lately and reflections on their respective pasts, both glories and warts. There have been retrospectives on the radio, revisits on the field. Face it: for [...]
Regression to the mean can be a cruel thing. Maybe that’s why it’s called “mean.” The Mets seem to be running full-speed, headlong in that direction. Since busting out 4-0 against Atlanta and Washington, Terry Collins’s crew has gone a definition-of-mediocre 18-20. Much as I hate to say it, perhaps the preseason prognosticators were right: [...]