Enjoying a Metsless Postseason

Now that the post-season has taken my focus off the Mets I find life as a baseball fan so much more peaceful. Truth be told, I actually quite enjoy the playoffs when my team isn't in them.

Perhaps this is a matter of being conditioned that more often than not, the Mets are not playoff bound, but part of it also involves relishing the supreme lack of stress when your team is not in it. Instead of fretting over every pitch, you are a merely a bystander enjoying the game itself. Sure, you pick a surrogate team to root for but it’s all very casual. If they win, that’s nice. If they don’t, they’re not the Mets so it really doesn’t matter. Another perk is that you are not chained to the television for bizarre start times. You also can flip the channel if a game is boring without any guilt.

Yes, there is definitely something to be said for the detachment factor of a Metsless postseason. After a miserable effort in 2009, I can now watch the Yankees and see what kind of team can be built with a large payroll if the people spending the money do so judiciously. I can also proudly claim that Carlos Gomez, the Twins player who had the most impact on Yankees sweeping the A.L.D.S., is a product of the Mets’ farm system; a system where clearly base-running fundamentals are not on the current curriculum.

Or how about taking secret pleasure in the fact that there are other teams out there that can’t find a way to score with the bases loaded and no outs? Similarly, what about teams that head into the 9th inning with a lead only to blow games in the same ridiculous ways that I watched the Mets blow them this whole season?

Yes, fellow Mets fans, thus far the 2009 postseason has been a delight, even if only to make us feel better that at least our team wasn’t committing their heinous baseball crimes on the playoff stage. And with that I salute those players responsible for putting a small wry smile on my face this October. Matt Holliday, Jonathan Papelbon, Huston Street, Carlos Gomez, Joe Nathan and all the rest, a round of applause is in order! Keep up the good work and maybe, just maybe, at some point you’ll come to the Mets where bad fundamentals at exorbitant salaries are part of the culture.