Spring Training is staring at us from a distance and long before a single pitcher or catcher has been asked to report, Met fans have gone through an obstacle course of emotions:
- We are thrilled to have gotten a big name free agent like Curtis Granderson.
- We are worried about the future of Matt Harvey.
- We are intrigued by the prospect of Noah Syndergaard.
- We are dubious about the abilities of Ike Davis.
- We are frustrated by the Wilpon’s inability to fund a major market team.
- We are hopeful that Chris Young can rebuild his career like Scott Hairston and Marlon Byrd have done.
- We are wary of putting any faith in Ruben Tejada.
- We are confident in the leadership of David Wright.
- We are tired… because we’ve already been through a lot and no games have been played.
I was talking with people over the past weekend and discussing what it was to be a Met fan. What makes us tick?
- Do we thrive on failure?
- Do we just like a reason to complain?
- Are we foolish or misguided?
Met fans are… mercurial. One day we are excited about our prospects for 2014, the next minute it’s 2013 all over again. It’s not that we’re front-runners or band-wagoners, we’re not Yankee fans, but we certainly have flighty opinions of our team. It’s true of New Yorkers in general. I recall Carlos Delgado winning game one of a double header with a walk-off home run and then being booed after a first at bat strikeout in game two. “What have you done for me lately?” is a question we seem to often ask.
I’ve spoken to people who think the Mets are a playoff team and to others who think they might finish with a record worse than 2013. It seems that we’re giving ourselves ulcers with all this Met stress. My solution? Let’s stop focusing on what the results of 2014’s season will be and lets just get excited to watch Met baseball again!
I’m really looking forward to the Mets 2014 season and am more optimistic than I have been in a long time. Feels like 1984 or 1998.
Hope the FA’s do well, but dying to see how d’Arnaud, Lagares, Montero and Thor do.
“Let’s stop focusing on what the results of 2014’s season will be and lets just get excited to watch Met baseball again!”
I’m exactly in the same place David. It’s so easy to use idle time to prognosticate that the thrill of pitchers and catchers reporting in a matter of ekes is almost forgotten.
Let’s Go Mets!
The keys are d’Arnaud, Chris Young & whoever the shortstop is. They are the only parts of the offense that are nearly impossible to gauge. I expect everyone else to play to career norms (Ike Davis as Dave Kingman, Murphy slapping the ball all over the place, etc.) and if they do and TDA/C Young/SS actually hit and if the young pitching is as advertised, I see 82 wins and 3rd place in the NL East.
PS — And with the Mets playing 3 CFs in the outfield, nothing much will fall that isn’t supposed to. That’ll help, too.
Couldn’t agree more. The outfield defense should be a treat to watch.
An example of how the Mets FO/coaching staff lives to hurt fans:
Sandy Alderson indicated that Lucas Duda might be playing the outfield. It’s almost like he said that just to tweak fans, to see us jerk around on the ground a little bit in apoplectic fits. His own little taser job.
I’m hoping the first base situation gets resolved before Opening Day. I think the media will continue to badger TC as long as Ike and Duda co-exist.