Lost in Expectations

AFOMG hit it on the nose yesterday. It's baseball time.

If Wednesday night's 20-point loss to the Sixers -- the NBA equivalent of the Royals -- isn't all the indication you need that the Knicks' season should be dismissed, I don't know what will convince you.

But Isiah remains confident in his team. He's not making any moves at Thursday's deadline. Why would he? He made the steal of last year's deadline when he acquired the man they call "The Franchise."

Right now I am all sorts of confused. That may be because Lost has officially gone from "television show that sometimes fucks with your head," to " a complete mindfuck that just happens to be on television."

I'm excited with where the show is at but I'm definitely confused and I'm afraid that when it ends something will be missing. If when this show comes to an end and I am not dazzled by the BIG secret of what this whole island really means, than I will certainly be disappointed.

It all reminds me of my favorite ball team. See, these New Mets are no longer New. To be new you have to be different from when you were old. The old Mets sucked. We loved them, but they stunk.

These Mets have not sucked for almost one and a half seasons now, and like Lost, the expectations are through the roof. As always, Sippy Downer is here to bring you all back to reality. This season should scare the shit out all of you.

Sure, the Mets' offense could be the best in baseball. Who knows what Reyes will do? He is the real wild card. He could really emerge as a top 5 player in baseball. D Wright? We love the kid and god knows he loves us. But last year's second half/playoffs scares me and it should scare you.

As for the rest of the lineup, it can't get any better. Beltran had a career year, Delgado is a year older. We got the most out of Paul Lo Duca that we're ever gonna see. Shawn Green, like Sip, is a Jew, and Jose Valentin's evil alter ego, "Wa-Jose" appears to ready to peek his little head out.

It doesn't mean the offense won't be potent. The lineup will score runs. We know that. But there may be a drop-off from last year, and the pitching, meanwhile, figures to give up more runs themselves.

Tom Glavine is coming off his first real good full season with the Mets. No reason why this guy can't tank. El Duque is somewhere between 35-55 years old and he's coming up lame already.

John Maine, my guy, just needs Rick Peterson to work the magic. This guy has the stuff. I don't claim to know a lot about scouting. I don't know anything about Phil Humber or Mike Pelfrey that I don't read cause I haven't seen enough of them. But as I have said before and said again, the best pitch in baseball is a high fastball. If you can blow that by hitters you will win in these big leagues. John Maine has it.

But then what. Are we in purgatory or paradise? Are the rest of our pitchers dead? Is Oliver Perez a dream or a reality? Chan Ho Park... what?

In short, the Mets are LOST. Like the show there are such great expectations. Like the show we watch some days and wonder how we can ever be beat. And like the show there are other days we are more confused with what we have than humanly imaginable.

In the end, all we we can hope is that 24, Two-a-Days and the rest of the best shows on TV just stay one step behind us. Because the rest of the NL East is ready. There is a ton of lip service being paid to the Phils and everyone loves the Braves as this year's comeback story.

How about those pesky Fish in Miami? That team was a group of rookies last year that was one of baseball's best clubs in the second half. They are my pick for the wild card in the NL. The starting pitching is there and the lineup is there.

They just happen to be missing what will make the Mets NL East champs again, a dominant bullpen. Heilman, Duaner, Mota and Wagner -- they are our TiVo, the greatest revelation of the 21st century.

I think back to the days of Jeff Innis and Greg McMichael and now I almost cry at the thought of knowing that we win games after the 7th inning. That's all. All I'm saying is watch out. This is not straight-forward but in fact, very confusing.

Vaya con dios,

Sip

(Images courtesy of lost.joj.sk and mlb.com)