For Two Games Now, the Mets Have Looked Absolutely Pathetic
And I hope they know it.
I hope they know how overmatched they've looked in the first two games against the Red Sox, getting blown out of games before they've even seemed to start.
I hope they know how tentative they look in all aspects of the game. Lastings Milledge -- I mean, what can you say by this point? They guy just looks lost out there. Somehow, when that ball went up last night and the camera caught its first shot of Milledge lining it up, you knew he wasn't going to come down with it.
We can apologize for the kid all we want, but the fact is that there's a big difference between a 3-2 game and a 5-2 game (Tuesday night) and a 2-0 game and a 4-0 game (yesterday).
But that said it's not all his fault. On Tuesday there was Manny Acta sending Reyes for absolutely no good reason at all, and the complete inability to get a hit with the bases loaded.
Yesterday there was Pedro's double clutch on a tailor-made double play ball that turned into a 1-3 fielder's choice, the worst of all possible worlds, especially with David Ortiz running.
The Mets haven't been able to get anything going offensively for two nights now, no matter how many A-Rod homeruns they've hit in that time.
(Side note: I caught the 2nd through 7th innings at Blondies yesterday, and seated next to our table was none other than Michael "Joseph Goebbels" Kay, accompanied by a blonde trophy. Between the beers I'd had that night and my general foul mood on account of the Mets, I was seriously tempted to ask Kay how on earth he ever got a job in broadcasting, and still more impressively, how on earth he ever managed to keep one.
In the end, I asked neither. But as two of my party sardonically congratulated him for his call earlier today, I gave him the dirtiest look I could possibly summon up. He looked dead into it, and I'm confident that my complete and utter disgust for his life's work was effectively conveyed.)
It's all been pretty unbearable to watch. I love the Mets, and the two of us have been through a lot of tough times together -- that's just part of the deal.
But through all those tough times, I've never quite felt like this. Go back to those playoff series' in 1999 and 2000. Yeah, we lost to the Braves in '99 and to the Yankees in 2000, but I'll be damned if a one of you out there says we went down without a fight.
No, we gave both teams everything we had, and we lost. It doesn't make the end result any more gratifying, but at least you could be satisfied that those Mets teams looked like they cared, like they believed in themselves, and that they were going to battle (RIP Art Howe) every step of the way.
And that's what has made the last two days so disheartening for me. We haven't seen a single trace of that. We haven't seen any fight, heart, or resolve from any of our players.
Instead, we've seen 25 guys who look like they're playing scared, guys who look like they've bought into the hype of an impossibly superior American League. They've looked like boys going up against men, or, as I was saying yesterday, they look rather like a college team out there against the pros.
What happened to the team we've been watching all season? Do they know how bad they've looked the past couple games? I hope they do.
But more than anything, I hope they realize they're better than this. I hope they realize they didn't get to be 17 games over .500 by accident; that it wasn't just playing in a weaker league, but by being a genuinely superior ball club.
After the Toronto series, someone with the Blue Jays (I believe it was their manager but I can't recall) said the Mets had the best lineup they'd seen all season. High praise coming from a guy who plays all but exclusively against the pumped-up offenses of the American League.
And yet the team that played Toronto so well for 3 and the rest of the league so dominantly for 72 other games is nowhere to be found.
The good news is there's one chance left. We've got Tommy Ballgame on the mound, and the Glass will be there.
I'm hoping to see a little more out of the Mets tonight.
Honestly though, I'm just hoping to see the Mets be the team they were before they ever rolled in to Boston. That's all it would take.
- A.F.O.M.G.
I hope they know how overmatched they've looked in the first two games against the Red Sox, getting blown out of games before they've even seemed to start.
I hope they know how tentative they look in all aspects of the game. Lastings Milledge -- I mean, what can you say by this point? They guy just looks lost out there. Somehow, when that ball went up last night and the camera caught its first shot of Milledge lining it up, you knew he wasn't going to come down with it.
We can apologize for the kid all we want, but the fact is that there's a big difference between a 3-2 game and a 5-2 game (Tuesday night) and a 2-0 game and a 4-0 game (yesterday).
But that said it's not all his fault. On Tuesday there was Manny Acta sending Reyes for absolutely no good reason at all, and the complete inability to get a hit with the bases loaded.
Yesterday there was Pedro's double clutch on a tailor-made double play ball that turned into a 1-3 fielder's choice, the worst of all possible worlds, especially with David Ortiz running.
The Mets haven't been able to get anything going offensively for two nights now, no matter how many A-Rod homeruns they've hit in that time.(Side note: I caught the 2nd through 7th innings at Blondies yesterday, and seated next to our table was none other than Michael "Joseph Goebbels" Kay, accompanied by a blonde trophy. Between the beers I'd had that night and my general foul mood on account of the Mets, I was seriously tempted to ask Kay how on earth he ever got a job in broadcasting, and still more impressively, how on earth he ever managed to keep one.
In the end, I asked neither. But as two of my party sardonically congratulated him for his call earlier today, I gave him the dirtiest look I could possibly summon up. He looked dead into it, and I'm confident that my complete and utter disgust for his life's work was effectively conveyed.)
It's all been pretty unbearable to watch. I love the Mets, and the two of us have been through a lot of tough times together -- that's just part of the deal.
But through all those tough times, I've never quite felt like this. Go back to those playoff series' in 1999 and 2000. Yeah, we lost to the Braves in '99 and to the Yankees in 2000, but I'll be damned if a one of you out there says we went down without a fight.
No, we gave both teams everything we had, and we lost. It doesn't make the end result any more gratifying, but at least you could be satisfied that those Mets teams looked like they cared, like they believed in themselves, and that they were going to battle (RIP Art Howe) every step of the way.And that's what has made the last two days so disheartening for me. We haven't seen a single trace of that. We haven't seen any fight, heart, or resolve from any of our players.
Instead, we've seen 25 guys who look like they're playing scared, guys who look like they've bought into the hype of an impossibly superior American League. They've looked like boys going up against men, or, as I was saying yesterday, they look rather like a college team out there against the pros.
What happened to the team we've been watching all season? Do they know how bad they've looked the past couple games? I hope they do.
But more than anything, I hope they realize they're better than this. I hope they realize they didn't get to be 17 games over .500 by accident; that it wasn't just playing in a weaker league, but by being a genuinely superior ball club.
After the Toronto series, someone with the Blue Jays (I believe it was their manager but I can't recall) said the Mets had the best lineup they'd seen all season. High praise coming from a guy who plays all but exclusively against the pumped-up offenses of the American League.
And yet the team that played Toronto so well for 3 and the rest of the league so dominantly for 72 other games is nowhere to be found.
The good news is there's one chance left. We've got Tommy Ballgame on the mound, and the Glass will be there.
I'm hoping to see a little more out of the Mets tonight.
Honestly though, I'm just hoping to see the Mets be the team they were before they ever rolled in to Boston. That's all it would take.
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 7:47 AM
6 Comments:
The history major in me just adores that Goebbels reference.
Other than the disgusting display at Fenway and where my shoulder still hurts from Sip's excitement over Thabo, good times yesterday.
Frank Catalanatto was the one who praised the Mets lineup.
Why did you guys take down the link to metsblog?
The link is still there, only I changed it to read "Matthew Cerrone's Metsblog". This was an attempt to curry favor with Mr. Cerrone, in the hope that he might move our blog to the "Always Updated" section under "Other Mets Blogs".
The ploy did not work, and the blog roll continues to list us as an "Anti-Yankees Commentary" blog no matter how many times we ask Matt to move us to the other Mets blogs section. It's been very frustrating. I guess when you make it big these things don't matter as much to you, or, understandably, you've got more important things to deal with. That said, when you're small they can mean the world to you. What can you do though you know?
We look bad, that is true, but the Sox are so hot right now they'd beat us at our best at least 2 out of 3. Good God they are crushing the ball. All of them. Often. Let's steal a win and get out of their way.
This team has a long way to go. Milledge sucks. Matt Cerrone's (sorry to bring him up) commentary on Pedro is spot on. Heilman's been awful. Our team is all banged up. Etc. No confidence in Soler... no rhyme or reason as to whether he's on or off... no confidence in Trashel... No confidence in El Duque... 3-7 in Petey's last 10 starts... glad i'm not invited to Pedro Bressman's bris... We just pulled a Cardinals. There is no reason not to trade Milledge at this point for a stud pitcher if we can get one. Somebody who will be with us for a few years. But we need more than what we got. And we don't need Lastings Magellan.
Post a Comment
<< Home