Calling All Omens

True story for you:

So I'm waiting for my order at a Wendy's in New York City, when a young man approaches me to ask about my Rangers hat. I expressed concern about Game Four against the Caps later that night. That's when he told me that he was a Canadiens fan, and that he was getting ready to get swept later that night by the Bruins.

As we talked hockey, I told him that I had always wanted to go to a game in Montreal, that the place looked like it was hoppin' on Monday. He tells me that he's gone to plenty of games and indeed, Montreal's a nice spot for a hockey game. Then the following exchange occurs:

Him: My uncle played professional hockey.

Me: Really? (Expecting to hear that his uncle played three games for the Milwaukee Admirals or something)

Him: Yeah. He played professional for 20 years.

Me: Twenty years? Ummm ... if you don't mind me asking, who's your uncle?

Him: (Matter of factly): Guy Lafleur.

So before the biggest game of the Rangers season to date, and I run into not only the nephew of one of the greatest players of all time, but a former Ranger who was quite popular in his one season with the Rangers.

So I decided to take it as an omen, and felt better about that night's game.

Rangers 2 Capitals 1

If you've gotten this far in the blog post you're probably asking yourself "Why is he telling me this?"

I'm glad you asked, er ... yourself.

Because I could probably use one or two ... hundred ... similar omens regarding your New York Mets, who were about as present at Busch Stadium Wednesday night as I was.

So I implore of you: If you're a relative of a Hall of Famer who was once a New York Met, and you happen to see an annoyed looking guy wearing Mets paraphernalia, go up to him and give him a handshake and a smile ... and convince him that everything is going to be all right.

It doesn't matter how distant a relative you may be. You could be Rickey Henderson's third cousin. You could be Duke Snider's granddaughter. You could be Eddie Murray's grandniece. It doesn't matter. If you see a Met fan on the street, let him know you care.

Heck, at this point, your Met relative need not be a Hall of Famer. Dave Gallagher's fourth cousin twice removed? Dave Magadan's uncle in law? Jeff McKnight's baby mama? In fact, forget being related. You could be Kevin Mitchell's gardener, Nolan Ryan's limo driver. Butch Huskey's sous chef. Doesn't matter. Met fans need good omens right now. Because the Mets aren't providing any.

I mean, Joel Pineiro? Again? And this is especially disgusting because by all accounts (okay, by Bob Ojeda's account) Pineiro was merely ordinary compared to how he looked during the infamous three-hit shutout back in '07. Which means that the after the horrifying loss on Tuesday night, they bounced back about as high as a meatball dropped from seven stories. For a team that has had its mental toughness questioned, that's not a good sign.

"Even in April?"

Yes, even in April.

"If Joel Pineiro's relatives come up to me and ask me to attend their family reunion, what kind of omen is that?"

I don't know, but if you're a Met fan, you should probably run ... fast.