And Then, Nothing
I'm sure a lot of people out there are upset right now, but when you look back at the 2008 season, ask yourself one question.
In your heart of hearts, did you really feel this was the year?
* * * * *
Last year I was devastated. But to use a loaded turn of phrase from Mets history, this year I'm not devastated, I'm disappointed.
In the coming days a lot of people are going to brand the Mets chokers or say that they collapsed again. Neither description is fair.
This was a good but flawed team. With a bullpen it might have been a juggernaut, but we didn't have a bullpen.
We had a team that many of us left for dead somewhere in July, but they fought tooth and nail and gave us a season when it looked like none would be possible.
So unlike last year, this is not a team that caved. They were a team that went about as far as could reasonably be expected. They were also a team that started poorly and found itself; last year's team, gosh, I don't know where to begin.
* * * * *
Am I satisfied with how this season ended? Of course not. The goal is to make the playoffs, and for a second straight year, we fell short of that goal in spite of a massive payroll. It's tremendously disappointing, but last year when we lost it felt like the whole organization had collapsed upon itself.
Willie Randolph looked hapless. Tom Glavine was clearly gone. Carlos Delgado had been a non-factor for months. The farm system seemed depleted.
This year, Jerry Manuel established himself as a talented manager, and I'm excited to see what he can do in an entire season.
Johan Santana was a joy to watch, a master of pitching who, for a fan like me who was too young to remember Doc in his prime, is the greatest pitcher I've ever seen toe the rubber for the Mets.
Delgado reemerged to become an MVP candidate.
Daniel Murphy looks like the kind of gamer that Mets fans have been waiting for since Lenny Dykstra was sent away, and Mike Pelfrey finally made the jump and looks like he could be a premier pitcher in the National League.
In short, there is more to be hopeful for today than there was at the end of last season.
* * * * *
I wish I'd devoted more of this post to Shea. I'll write about it in greater detail another time (it's a long offseason, people), but I will say the following about it.
Shea Stadium is where I fell in love with baseball, and it's where I went as a little boy with my dad and my brother and fell in love with the Mets. And while I realize it wasn't a very charming facility, it is for me a place of great sentimental value.
It's too bad the old stadium had to go out with a loss, but nothing that happened today, last year, or any of the other disappointing years could ever change what we loved about going to games there.
The team on the field, the fans around you, a Mets cap on your head, and a smile on your face. That was Shea. And I'll miss it.
Someday when there's a little A.F.O.M.G. Jr. pottering around I'll tell him about Shea. And in the parking lot of Citi Field I'll take him to where the bases used to be and I'll say, "Son, they used to play baseball here."
- A.F.O.M.G.
In your heart of hearts, did you really feel this was the year?
* * * * *
Last year I was devastated. But to use a loaded turn of phrase from Mets history, this year I'm not devastated, I'm disappointed.
In the coming days a lot of people are going to brand the Mets chokers or say that they collapsed again. Neither description is fair.
This was a good but flawed team. With a bullpen it might have been a juggernaut, but we didn't have a bullpen.
We had a team that many of us left for dead somewhere in July, but they fought tooth and nail and gave us a season when it looked like none would be possible.
So unlike last year, this is not a team that caved. They were a team that went about as far as could reasonably be expected. They were also a team that started poorly and found itself; last year's team, gosh, I don't know where to begin.
* * * * *
Am I satisfied with how this season ended? Of course not. The goal is to make the playoffs, and for a second straight year, we fell short of that goal in spite of a massive payroll. It's tremendously disappointing, but last year when we lost it felt like the whole organization had collapsed upon itself.
Willie Randolph looked hapless. Tom Glavine was clearly gone. Carlos Delgado had been a non-factor for months. The farm system seemed depleted.
This year, Jerry Manuel established himself as a talented manager, and I'm excited to see what he can do in an entire season.
Johan Santana was a joy to watch, a master of pitching who, for a fan like me who was too young to remember Doc in his prime, is the greatest pitcher I've ever seen toe the rubber for the Mets.
Delgado reemerged to become an MVP candidate.
Daniel Murphy looks like the kind of gamer that Mets fans have been waiting for since Lenny Dykstra was sent away, and Mike Pelfrey finally made the jump and looks like he could be a premier pitcher in the National League.
In short, there is more to be hopeful for today than there was at the end of last season.
* * * * *
I wish I'd devoted more of this post to Shea. I'll write about it in greater detail another time (it's a long offseason, people), but I will say the following about it.
Shea Stadium is where I fell in love with baseball, and it's where I went as a little boy with my dad and my brother and fell in love with the Mets. And while I realize it wasn't a very charming facility, it is for me a place of great sentimental value.
It's too bad the old stadium had to go out with a loss, but nothing that happened today, last year, or any of the other disappointing years could ever change what we loved about going to games there.
The team on the field, the fans around you, a Mets cap on your head, and a smile on your face. That was Shea. And I'll miss it.
Someday when there's a little A.F.O.M.G. Jr. pottering around I'll tell him about Shea. And in the parking lot of Citi Field I'll take him to where the bases used to be and I'll say, "Son, they used to play baseball here."
- A.F.O.M.G.
posted by A Friend of Mr. Glass' at 11:18 PM
2 Comments:
"This year, Jerry Manuel established himself as a talented manager, and I'm excited to see what he can do in an entire season."
No. He established himself as a horrible manager. Hire someone average and we get 2-3 more wins next year. He did nothing, got the least out of the bullpen and bench that he could. And he was a poor leader that needs internal player leadership, not outside dictatorship. He can't make in game decisions to save his life, and he trusted a AAArgenis for a month past his last hit. He never tried to get what he could out Castillo, because there is no doubt that Castillo is the best 2B that was on this team, with regular playing time. I cringed every time a decision had to be made, because he'd inevitably make a questionable one.
Ceetar:
Look at the post again. Do I have more confidence in our manager now than I did after the 2007 collapse? Yes. Jerry Manuel took a comatose team and led it to a .591 winning percentage. If you were wondering, a .591 winning percentage translates to a 96-win season over 162 games. And as for Luis Castillo, you can't be serious. My god, my girlfriend who's been watching baseball for 2 months knows he's the worst player on the team.
If you think that Luis Castillo was the answer this year or that the failure of the bullpen had more to do with the guy waving his arm toward the bullpen and less to do with the guys he called on to throw strikes... for one thing, I never would have guessed that was possible. It really makes me wonder whether I could ever agree with you on anything related to this team, other than a mutual appreciation of it. Maybe we should just leave it at that?
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