FLUSHING, NY – We’re a psychologically fragile bunch, us Mets fans. There’s just so much that as gone wrong, so much that has emotionally scarred us. We are at our breaking point Let’s lie on the proverbial couch and vent to our trusted shrink, Mr. Met.
FOR STARTERS…
From Generation K on, the “The Next Tom Seaver Derailed by Inury” list has been overrun with the likes of Bill Pulsipher, Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, John Maine, Zach Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. One could easily put the oft-injured Jacob deGrom on that list and pencil in Max Scherzer 2022. How about Dwight Gooden?
NO RELIEF
The likes of Mel Rojas, Braden Looper, Armando Benitez and Billy Wagner have broken our hearts over and over again out of the pen. Heck, Edwin Diaz even looked like a bust for two seasons before finally morphing into Mariano 2.0. – and guess what? He’s a free agent. More agita!
DISAPPOINTING ACQUISITIONS
Mo Vaughn, Shawn Green, Robinson Cano, Bret Saberhagen, Vince Coleman, Jayson Bay, Roberto Alomar, Bobby Bonilla and Carlos Baerga litter the Roosevelt Boulevard of Broken Dreams with underperforming stars.
ONES THAT GOT AWAY
We’re not talking about any of the zillion lost opportunities here. This is about the players we let go of foolishly. We’re looking at you, Jeff Kent, Justin Turner, Kevin Mitchell, Ty Wiggington, Rick Aguilera, Jeff Reardon… Oh, and there was that guy Seaver that was traded for a bag of used baseballs and some chewing gum.
SEARED IN MEMORY
There are moments and plays that we collectively can never unsee. Like the aforementioned Mel Rojas coming in to face Paul O’Neill with two on. I was sitting between Yankee fan friends for that and said, “He’s not letting Rojas face O’Neill, is he?!” BOOM. 3-run shot… Yadier Molina’s home run off of Billy Wagner… Endy Chavez’s catch NOT being enough to win that epic game… Bel-tron taking that called third strike. Todd Zeile’s shot that was an inch shy of going out vs the Yanks… Kenny Rogers walking in the winning run vs Atlanta… Timo Perez lollygagging it around third and nailed at the plate… Luis Castillo and A-Roid’s popup… Wagner taking years off our lives by coughing up a 4-0 lead vs the Stanks… Okay, let’s add the collapses of 2007 and 2008.
Enough already…
WE’RE STILL STANDING
Any one of the above items would be tough for anyone to handle. The fact that one team’s fan-base has had to handle all of them – plus a thousand more – is unfathomable. Yet, here we are. We have a pulse. We have Steve Cohen. We are alive… in October, nonetheless! Sure, our hopes are pinned on the chests of what looks to be a rapidly-aging pitching staff. Yes, Scherzer is likely pitching with one good side. Granted, deGrom likely has an injury issue as well. We know he’s been human in his last 5 starts. And yeah, he wasn’t the deGrom of lore last night in what may be his last appearance as a Met. But he got us to today and ya gotta be in it to win it, baby!
Also…
Ya gotta believe.
