In between plugs for obscure orchestral rock groups and Broadway shows, Mike Lupica, sports columnist for the Daily News and anyone with a dollar, had this to say about the Mets malaise:
Imagine the sympathy vote the Yankees would get from the Yankee media if they were down three position players the way the Mets are right now.
He's spot on, isn't he? We've been missing Floyd, our second best hitter, Reyes, poised on the brink of stardom, and Wigginton, who is, well, balls-to-the-wall (I wish I could say something better about the fellow, I really do). There's an air of continued failure about the team -- the ugly sister of the Bombers' Aura and Mystique, perhaps; we'll call our muse Catastrophe -- a prevailing opinion that this year it's the same old Mets, that nothing's changing, and as fans we've got nothing for which to hope. Catastrophe's melancholy muttering, like Kyle's daily affirmation that his life will turn around or the Sox will win it all, has just enough truth in it to justify all the misery-laden writing of a thousand Mets blogs (coincidentally, a number I'm confident we'll reach before season's end). While there are reasons to think nothing is changing, the two recent games ending with a Met hero mobbed and joyously smacked have me thinking along a different track. As optimism is similar to embarrassing stories about Kyle's romantic pursuits -- far better when shared -- I thought I'd provide you with a few solid reasons for my current contentment:
1) Like Lupica said, we're down three starting positional players. Our lineups have looked horrendous. A number of talking heads (Brandon Tierney of 1050 is the latest culprit) have been belittling our Amazin's for being beaten by underwhelming opponents this year, as if that were indicative of the direction this team is heading. Naysayers, Eric Valent and Joe McEwing are seeing regular time. Valent would be in the minors anywhere else, and McEwing would be handed the utility role he deserves if he were given a job at all. These are not the Mets of 2005 and beyond, or even the Mets of June, 2004 -- these are the Mets of Right Now, which is an admittedly desperate time, but one which will not last forever. Floyd will return. Reyes will, god-willing, get his problems under control after seeing a damned specialist, and -- ok, maybe I'm not quite ready to speak about Jose in an optimistic tone. But he'll be back. Wigginton is back, and judging by his early performance which includes a clutch two-run single in today's game, he'll hit as well as he's able, which is a damn sight better than the AAAA replacements available to the Mets right now. This is not the team we invested with quiet hopes in the offseason, but a pale shadow of that group. Any win against major league clubs comes as a welcome surprise at this point, and most any game we lose because of anemic hitting is worth swearing over, maybe, but not destroying furniture.
2) People have also been speaking about the Mets' bench as being a major weakness. Again, the "bench" that we're seeing now are the dregs of the dregs; most of our real bench is plugged into the starting lineup. We've seen that Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia can hit, even outside of the platoon they were hired to man. Once Floyd returns, one of them will anchor our reserves. Danny Garcia has impressed me by being a bit better with the bat than he was last year, which means that he has been able to place a bat in contact with a baseball, and then to aim that baseball with some velocity in fair territory. Even Joe McEwing has shown improvement by employing a "diminished leg kick", which to clarify is his new batting technique and not a Chun-Li move executed by furiously tapping "A" while pressing down. Best of all, of course, is Todd Zeile's resurgence in his eightieth year of professional baseball. My apologies, Todd: I thought you were done. Speaking of which:
3) Our ancient pitching staff has been one of the best in baseball, various and well-documented bullpen collapses notwithstanding. We're stuck with Glavine
for another year at least, so it's good to see him living up to his billing as staff ace. Leiter has been great; hopefully he'll be able to repeat his performance in his last start, in which he kept his walks down and pitched late into the game. Trachsel is resuming his form as a solid, dependable third starter. What all this means is that I can watch games now and actually expect to win simply because one of those three is starting. Jae Seo is back in the rotation, and even if he's chipped a nail again, I think Mike Piazza can probably quote him Anderson Bourell's manicure fee. Yates has struggled, but who cares? He was a young unknown, and the organization gave him a shot to see what he can do. Ditto Grant Roberts. At least we're promoting some of our young guns when they show they deserve it, and allowing the fans to watch a good game by starting the decent older fellows when they haven't. The Mets don't need a complete overhaul, and so far they're toeing the line fairly well.
4) Some of our relievers aren't compeletely terrible, and may yet be spun for good young players later in the year. Stanton, in particular has bounced back and pitched nicely recently, and I have hopes that David Weathers will do the same. Moreno and Wheeler haven't been half bad, either. The big surprise is just how effective Looper has been. He's no Mariano Rivera, but thus far he's no Armando Benitez either. (Let's set aside the latter's success down in Florida for the moment, because we all know he's no longer capable of pitching like that in New York. One rare case in which I really think the atmosphere can drastically affect a player's performance.) If nothing else, perhaps we can entertain the thought that the front office has learned from Billy Beane's treatment of the closer role and would be willing to part with Looper for prospects later as well. If not, then we can look forward to a reasonable amount of confidence in save situations, something many Mets fans have nearly forgotten.
5) The Braves are not very good. In the absence of rational hopes of postseason play, I've dialed my expectations down to just performing better than our unlikeable, amoral foemen down in Atlanta, the dung heap of sweetly rotting Southern gentility. Andruw Jones is hitting .254! Does not that bring you joy? Chipper Jones has barely played this year! Larry, I would weep but for the certainty that you are even now tarnishing your already black as night marriage vows with another toothless Hooters wench, and whatever family whose hearts you're breaking this time are probably taking care of you on that end.
All is not lost -- all isn't even close to being lost -- so I'm keeping the faith with a little joy to temper the agony. I'd write off Catastrophe use Schilling's line about "Aura and Mystique" being "just a couple of dancers", but I've already mentioned Chipper's wife. No need to pile on; it is Mothers' Day, after all.
Plenty of good stuff going on in the Mets blogosphere lately.
Eric Simon of Sabermets is threatening to become a Sox fan; find out
what would make him wish to join a group so desperate Kyle is already a card-carrying member.
Yankees, Mets, and the Rest has a nice new design. (I'm working on ours, without a sense of style or urgency; preview to come.)
Here Vinny champions Ken Griffey, Jr., an old favorite of mine, against Bonds, an irritable, ungrateful bastard.
Norm of the Shea Hot Corner documented and Tivo'd
an amusing Mets moment I'm mad I missed. Any chance you can put that up for us somehow? Anyone? Mike Cameron is hysterical.
Kaley of Flushing Local continues what I believe is a 300-post streak of either making me laugh or think with this look at the state of our lineup. It features our bald, fist-pumping captain exclaiming, "Oh, piffle!", which is reason enough to
click here.
When Kyle was in high school, he spent most of the five years trying to get his dog drunk and writing romantic novels entirely in the second person, which he'd read aloud to truckers who had the misfortune to fall within range of the CB radio he made out of parts scrounged from the junk yard clubhouse that was his home.
Jeremy Heit, meanwhile, writes about the Mets, and well.
He's solved the "Veteran Conspiracy" we all knew existed but were too afraid to cover.
Steve Keane of The Eddie Kranepool Society
delivers as usual, and like Karim Garcia, he doesn't pull any punches.
There are many more, of course. Check the sidebar, and have a happy Mother's Day. (Will that make up for my harassment of Chipper Jones? Time will tell.)
