Even Costumes Can't Hide the Ugliness of a 90 Loss Season

Last night, the Mets lost their 90th game of the season to the Nationals’ Ross Detwiller, who earned his first Major League victory. Despite a good performance from journeyman pitcher Nelson Figueroa, the Mets anemic offense could not break through against the Nats. Playing another round of listless baseball, this team is clearly done for the year and is now just mailing it in until the season comes to a merciful close.

In April, no one would have expected the Mets to have the sixth worst record in baseball. After missing the playoffs by a hair in 2007 and 2008, Sports Illustrated even predicted this team to go to the World Series. Unfortunately, a ridiculous rash of injuries threw a wrench in that plan, but even so, there really is no excuse for the mediocrity this team has displayed on the field over the past three months. Lack of hustle and a complete ineptness when it comes to baseball fundamentals is what has put this team at 90 losses and counting. You can expect some degree of mental and physical mistakes when most of your regular 25 man roster is replaced by subs and young minor leaguers, but we have also seen a ton of mistakes this year from the veterans and it is inexcusable.

While I don’t necessarily advocate Jerry Manuel and the coaches being fired, some blame has to be shifted on to this staff because clearly, the team is not responding. The same thing happened under Bobby Valentine and Willie Randolph towards the end of their respective runs as manager as well. I can’t say that about Art Howe because the leadership wasn’t there with him from the very beginning, but that’s another story. But once the season ends, Omar and Jeff Wilpon really need to evaluate everything. This includes the major and minor league players and the coaching, medical and scouting staff throughout the organization. They need to find out what isn’t working and make changes. They also need to set a direction for the club so they have a specific plan in place to fill the areas of deficiencies both on and off the field. There is no cohesion within the Mets and that needs to change because next year could be another bust if they head into spring training and everyone isn’t on the same page.

You may ask yourself, how bad is the lack of direction the Mets have displayed this year? Well, it is so bad that the players can’t even get their rookie hazing ritual right. This rag tag collection of randomness just perfectly illustrates the lack of direction, cohesion and teamwork. Check out: Mets 2009 Rookie Hazing.

And on the flip side, you have the Yankees 2009 rookie hazing, which was well planned with a consistent theme – much like their team. And, their costumes don’t look like the $19.99 specials from the nearest Halloween Adventure stores.
Yankees 2009 Rookie Hazing.

Pretty obvious just in comparing these two photos which of the New York Teams are playoff bound and the other is preparing for a long offseason.


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NY Mets 2009 - DNR Now and Save 2010

After losing three of four to the putrid Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend, it is pretty safe to say that any hopes of a Mets wildcard berth have pretty much petered out the same way this entire season has. With only 57 regular season games left, the Mets find themselves five games under .500, ten games out of first place and eight games out of the Wildcard with seven teams ahead of them. Though mathematically still alive, let’s face it, folks, our Metsies are currently on life support along with their beleaguered GM and possibly their manager. It’s time to pull the plug and look towards 2010.

As everyone knows, injuries to so many starting players and even key back-up players played a huge role in this disappointing season. At this point, I see no real reason to even try to rush Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran back so they can play at 80% and possibly cause more damage to their fragile selves. Why not shut them down now, let both rest for 2010 and err on the side of caution? Or if Beltran does indeed need that micro fracture surgery, do it now and get it over with so that the ten months it takes to heal does not kill all of next season for him. In fact, if surgery is what he definitely needs, this should have already been done weeks ago after it was deemed the bone bruise was not improving.

As for Delgado, Wagner and Putz, if these players can come back for 2009, by all means they should. As everyone knows, both Delgado and Wagner will be free agents after this year, and Putz is playing for his option year. All three want to come back and prove they are healthy so that the cash bells start ringing in the off-season. This is a can’t lose situation for the Mets. If they can help out, that’s fantastic. If they don’t, well, it was great knowing you, good luck in the future.

The one question mark for an injured players return this year is John Maine. Ah, my adorable Johnny Maine…so young and fragile yet with so much upside...Should the Mets try to rush him back this season just to test that fatigued shoulder and see if they should offer another contract for next year, or do you let him rest, offer a super cheap but incentive-laden deal for 2010 and take your chances? Or do you just walk away for 2010?

Given the amount of money this team has wasted on bad contracts like good old Ollie P’s, I would try my best to keep Maine a Met for 2010. When healthy, he has proven to be pretty reliable for a quality start and has even shown flashes of dominance. I’d trust a healthy Maine with the ball any day over Ollie. Plus, he’s young, seems to have a good team attitude, he’s adorable (worth repeating) and can likely be had for cheap. For a million / million and a half, if it doesn’t work out, you cut your losses and move on. The Mets would probably have an easier time trading a semi-ineffective, reasonably paid John Maine than they would have unloading good old Ollie without having to pay part of his contract.

Now, with all of this being said, I can almost write the script for the rest of the Mets 2009 season…As Murphy’s Law always has it, just as fans completely give up hope and start looking ahead to 2010, this team will give us some small reason to believe that they are not actually dead in the water. Maybe they’ll pull off a string of wins against St. Louis and on their upcoming road trip. Maybe their beards will grow to ZZ Top-like proportions and they’ll make it to .500…It’s okay…Mets fans are like Charlie Brown…we’re used to the football being pulled away at the last second. This year, though, we know that’s how 2009 will end. We’ll be good sports and kick through but we won’t land flat on our backs. It’s up to the Mets front office and how they deal with Reyes and Beltran to make sure 2010 doesn’t begin that way. Read more!

2009 Survival Guide for Mets Fans

Mets fans are a passionate bunch who are incredibly resilient and loyal to a fault. For the most part, we take the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe" to heart. But is there ever a time when you need to detach from the chaos to save your sanity? For the 2009 season, that time might be right now.

The Mets are finishing up June with a 9 and 17 record for the month. Now granted, with the ridiculous amount of injuries that have befallen them, the under .500 record is understandable. You can even argue that earlier in the month there were quite a few games that they should have won if they had managed to play error-free, solid fundamental baseball. As the month has progressed, however, you can’t even remotely say that. A bleak situation has turned even bleaker with the loss of Carlos Beltran. When news of this first broke last week I was pleasantly surprised to see the team rally and take 3 of 4 from the Cardinals. But losing this bat combined with the Triple A line-up of replacements, bad bullpen work, circus-like mental mistakes and a general lack of hustle, is too much to overcome.

All of this became painfully evident over this weekend’s series against the hated Yankees and it started in the first inning of Friday night’s game. I generally hate interleague play - especially the Yankee series because even though games within our own division mean more with regard to the standings, losing to the Yankees is pretty much unbearable. It is like salt in the wound in a city where your team and its fans are second class citizens. Granted, for the past few years the Subway Series has been pretty evenly matched, but the fact that we lost the World Series to the Yankees in 2000 (thanks, Armando!) was the ultimate blow and I am scarred for life by it. It was after that World Series that I learned how to save my sanity by resorting to a SIMB. Now, you may ask yourself, what is a SIMB? A SIMB, my friends, is a sanity saving tool for any fans of losing sports franchises. It is a Self-Imposed Media Blackout.

I am a die-hard Mets fan. I will always root for them and always support them, but every once in a while it is necessary for me to tune them out and sort of pretend they don’t exist. For example, while most Mets fans were in agony during the Art Howe years, I simply tuned most of it out. Much more pleasant than getting upset over a situation you can’t control.

After the collapse in 2007, I was forgiving enough to believe in them for the start of the 2008 season. When that got off to a ridiculously slow start with the Willie Randolph debacle, I again resorted to short-lived SIMB. Before I could bring myself to believe in them, they had to give me some reason to believe. And then true to form, they did give me a reason to believe in July and August. Of course, in September, they once again kicked me in the shins, but hey, as Mets fans, we have come to expect the worst and we usually get it!

Now, in 2009 with the new ballpark and a much improved bullpen, I once again gave the team the benefit of the doubt and had faith that they would redeem themselves for the past two black Septembers. I have been very patient all through this June swoon because of all of the injuries, but at this point I just can’t stomach what I have been seeing the past few games to continue watching. It is like a comedy of errors. Not only do they not hit, they also do not pitch. And the lack of hustle and the lethargic, sloppy play are just too much for me to take. So I won’t. I’m tired of all of it. Tired of the losing. Tired of the ineptness. Tired of hearing about the injuries. Tired of Jerry Manuel talking about treading water (inexcusable). Would Bobby Valentine be happy with treading water? Hey Jerry, how about losing the Zen and lighting a fire? I have news for you, Mahatma Manager, Omar can trade for whoever is available but one or two deadline acquisitions are not enough to help this team if Beltran is out for the season.

So at this point, if the Mets don’t show up for games, why should I? SIMB, baby! I will watch and listen from a distance and detach myself emotionally. Hopefully, they’ll surprise me like they usually do and turn things around once a few of the walking wounded return from the salt mines. But until then, I’ll let the games play out in the background and watch from afar. Sometimes good things happen when you least expect them but if they don’t, at least the disappointment will be over long before the last day of the season.
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