Thursday, September 27, 2007

Uncle

"Someone's dreams will come true. Why can't they be yours?" -Mega Millions television commercial
Because I'm a Mets fan, that's why.

Joel Pineiro? Three hits? Really?

Let's review, kids:
  • The Mets can't win with their spiritual leader on the mound.
  • The Phillies beat Tim Hudson and John Smoltz in back to back games. That had never happened before to Hudson and Smoltz.
  • The seven game lead is all gone.
  • Marlon Anderson is gone for tomorrow's game.
  • And speaking of tomorrow's game, and things that rhyme with Marlon, the Marlins have just swept the Cubs, and they come in to Shea Stadium hot.
  • The f***ing Marlins!!!
I don't want to give up yet. I've invested too much time and effort rooting for this increasingly historical (and not in a good way) baseball outfit not to get in the bunker for the final three games. But my positive outlook hasn't worked thus far. And that's why I'm ready to do the following:

Hope? Not for me. We're done. I'll pray I'm proven wrong. It will be futile. Any team that lets a first inning error by their second baseman, and a journeyman pitcher who was picked up off the scrap heap by a team that's out of the money dictate their night is exhibiting the classic signs of a team that is playing nervous, scared, whatever you want to call it. I'll go so far to say that if you used the C-word in this instance, you wouldn't be wrong. And any fan base that sings the "Jose Jose Jose" like it was a funeral march knows exactly what's going on.

My only hope is that the construction on Citi Field is accelerated. Because Shea Stadium might very well be burned down to the ground on Monday.

(Editor's note: Ten minutes after this loss, the Mets e-mail me and tell me that I wasn't chosen for the postseason ticket drawing. Nice of the club to cheer me up with a joke.)

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

yep. we're done. How long until opening day?

Metstradamus said...

You're talking hockey, right?

Anonymous said...

At this point, Jose Lima would shut them down.

Anonymous said...

sadly...no.

I heard Steve Somers call in to WFAN tonight saying he was going to jump off a bridge.

If only it were that easy. I get to wake up in the Philly burbs tomorrow and have to tune out every news outlet imaginable.

Anonymous said...

Magic Number for 2008 is 163.

Anonymous said...

I got that e-mail too. I thought it was kind of them to spare me the hassle of buying tickets to games that likely won't exist.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to "You gotta believe" and the "amazins"? Seventy-seven percent of the vote on your site saying that the Mets will not make the playoffs? I realize that faith has been tested like no other.....but to give up when things mathematically are still in play? You should be ashamed. One Hall of Famer that's part of NY's better baseball half once said "It ain't over till its over". More Yankee fans kept the faith in May...comparing it to this bailout!

Has hockey started up again? Because no one is watching.

Jaap said...

Bah, I'm not ready to quit on the Mets. I've seen 159 games of up and down performances (other Phillies sweeps, that wretched trip out West culminating with that gutless series against the Dodgers, to name a few) but they've always redeemed themselves. They've got three more games to do it and until those three games are over, I'm not quitting on the Mets just yet.

Donn said...

Tough to really get on the bats for not scoring 23 runs in a game for the first time since HOJO took over.

BTW, where the @%$& was this bullpen for the last 3 weeks?

JAMMQ said...

Fuck that, there's no way I'm letting Philly fans have more faith in their team than I have in mine.

The Mets can lay down and die, but the fans don't have too.

The games are at home. Instead of being pathetic, fair-weather frontrunners, now is the time to stand by the team.

It's easy to root for someone when things are going well, but it's how you react when times are hard that counts.

Let's Go Mets!

Anonymous said...

I admire your faith and optimism all. I must just be exhausted.

I actually have tix for a supposed NLDS game to be played at Shea on Wednesday, so I am still hoping.

Anonymous said...

I too have not quit on this team, and that's what is killing me. I live in Virginia and work at a bar at night, and every night I watch the ESPN bottom line and fully expect to see the Mets have gotten things back together. I really believe that this team can do it, and it tears my heart out of my chest every time they don't. There's nothing in the world that can affect me like this team does. In April and May I was on top of the world while Maine and Perez were unbeatable and Wagner was a sure thing. Lately, I've been depressed, horrible to work with and have had a burning desire at all times to just start breaking things. There is a cancer in the bullpen somewhere, and it's growing. Earlier in the season, I remember thinking that the bullpen was one of this team's strengths, not its fatal flaw. Maybe it's Mota, maybe it's something or someone else. I'm not sure how I'm going to react if they blow this, and still don't think they will, but I don't think I could bear listening to Jimmy Rollins's "You didn't believe me when I said we'd win the East, but we did" speech. I hate the Phillies with every bone in my body, not just because of the rivalry, but because of the fact that they have the stupidest name and ugliest uniforms in all of sports. I don't think I'm willing to commit murder yet, but I can't say it's out of the question.

katherine said...

Metstradamus, when I read that you had heard from Mets.com about your postseason tickets, I was quite indignant that I had not been contacted. Finally I found my rejection notice, appropriately in my spam folder, sandwiched between penis enlargement and Nigerian banking offers.
Did everybody notice Jose R has a new hairdo? Blondish-red highlights.... That is exactly what Doc Gooden did, right before he tested positive for cocaine in 87 - had a creepy new hairdo. I hope history is not repeating itself.
Anyway, this blog is now officially the only thing on the internet I can look at. I may need to go to the Himalayas after this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Let's all wear Yankee jerseys tonight and hope Kim has a 2001 flashback

Anonymous said...

To All - Take a deep breath - shake your hands, your fingers, your feet and your toes.

At the beginning of the season if someone gave you the option of being tied with 3 games to go - we all would have taken it. It does not matter how we got to this point but where we go from here. (Read that sentence again.) With three games left - let's go out and worry about winning the first game tonight. Then focus on tomorrow and then Sunday.

The attitude is that you must win tonight. Forget the Phills or watching the scoreboard. (That is just a distraction.) There are 20+ other major league teams that would love to be in this situation. Win 3 plus the playoff game if necessary and you are in the post season.

Difficult - Yes Impossible - No

While we all feel down and some talk of next year - why not go out and win this year!!! Stop feeling sorry for yourselves about the 7 game evaporation and go out and win tonight.

My adopted city has just gone thru it 10th consecutive losing season with no end in sight. The fans just want to get to .500 Think about that and consider us Mets fans as being lucky to be in a situation to get into the playoffs.

Now stop all this whinning and go out and give it your all and WIN - not because you have to but because you want to.

Anonymous said...

They looked like zombies last night. That 5 run 5th inning the previous night demoralized them. That's my theory anyway.

I got an e-mail that I WAS chosedn to purchase NLCS tix. That's when I knew things didn't look good.

katherine said...

Dear Anonymous - How can I personally give it my all and win? I have tried everything to affect the outcome of the game - wearing different outfits while watching, different chairs, different combinations of listening on the radio, watching on the TV, or on my computer, not watching at all, being pessimistic, optimistic, supportive, critical (once, in my heart, not out loud, I even booed Carlos Delgado). For the first week and a half of September I found that leaving the TV room during the opponent's inning at bat was highly effective, but that has stopped working.

Anonymous said...

Haha. Don't cry liberals. It is no coincidence that liberal city like new york doesn't have the courage to make the playoffs while a tough manly city like philadelphia actually works hard and doesn't need everything handed to them. haha. libs never learn.

beezermess said...

The theme song for M*A*S*H* and the 2007 New York Mets....

Suicide is Painless....

Whether they make it or not doesn't matter...do they deserve it...NO!!!!!!!

Seven game lead gone in a little over 2 weeks...No heart and no guts...

Let's Go Rangers!!!!!!!!

katherine said...

"Mr. Mutt", in his subtle, thoughtful way, makes an astute connection between politics and sports. Now I remember that the last time I felt this terrible was the 2004 election.

Anonymous said...

I hear you Katherine. Too bad we can't ask for a recount.

I tried standing for entire innings, hoping that would help. Last week, I even started wearing my Mets cap from 1986 for good luck. Its REAL uncomfortable, and I only use it when the situation is dire. (I used it in both Game 3 of the 06 NLDS, as well as game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, with success both times.)

I've been wearing this thing for a week now and all I have is an itchy head.

Anonymous said...

My playoff tickets arrived this morning.

Here's the thing: you can have faith when your team is not supposed to win, or is a bunch of underdogs. This isn't a team of loveable misfits or a rebuilding model full of youngsters. it's full of people who are supposed to be experienced and paid well.

right now, all we're believing in is the same kind of luck that got the cardinals rings last year. i guess that's okay.

the team on tuesday night i could root for. the team on wednesday and thursday doesn't care. and the observer article is all the proof i need.

that said, i'll probably still be there this weekend. because they're my team. but it's starting to feel like that old-fashioned 'you gotta believe' ethos is out of context.

philadelphia: city full of homophobes and racists. do you have one latino person even living in your city limits?

Anonymous said...

Uhhhhhhhhh,Im sorry to do this, but Mr. Mutt might easily be the dumbest person on the eastern seabord.

Check the facts, pal. In the 2004 presidential election, Philly went to Kerry by a pretty large margin - which isn't surprising, considering that Philly leads the east coast in both murders and people on welfare. Meanwhile, New York has had 16 straight years of Republican mayorship.

So the next time you wanna get on the internets and comment, you might wanna lay off the oxycontin first. K, pal?

Unknown said...

Sometimes, despite my atheism, I believe in Karma (perhaps because I watch LOST, which the Mets should audition for). Seriously, I had bad vibes the moment Minaya re-signed Steroid Cheat Mota. Going further back, perhaps our good karma ended when they officially broke ground on CitiField, a masturbatory Dodger shopping mall for the Wilpons' Dodger fetish that disenfranchises thousands of loyal Mets fans via luxury boxes and higher ticket prices. Whatever, having gone to 40 games this year--generally with an upbeat supportive crowd--I have to wonder if many of the guys on the 2007 roster are "NYC-type" players. With the maddening media, some wilt (Reyes, Castillo, Delgado), some suprisingly shine (Alou, Beltran), and some are battle-tested by the frenzy and give it what they've got, despite results good or bad (LoDuca, DWright).

Metstradamus said...

My kingdom for some karma.

kjm, I will say that despite last night's error, I wouldn't put Castillo in the "wilt" category. He's been very good since he's been here, and obviously emotional despite only having been here for a couple of months.

And Delgado's just old and breaking down. That wouldn't qualify as wilting. I know last year is last year, but Delgado was their best hitter in the playoffs in '06, especially against the Cards. So I can't say that it's a spotlight problem with Delgado...merely physical.

Reyes is fair.

Anonymous said...

Earlier this year I was saying it will be sad in a way to see shea go. Now I say tear it down and I will work through the winter to open Citi Field for 2007. I still Believe though Lets Go Mets!!!!!!

x-nady said...

Ronny said it best: 'groundhog day'

Anonymous said...

The Mets need to take some of Hernandez and Gooden's tactics:
Start smoking weed and snorting coke--cigars won't do. DO IT NOW, DO IT OFTEN, DO IT IN THE FRIGGEN DUGOUT AND DO IT ON THE WAY TO THE PLATE. YOU GUYS CAN'T BE SERIOUS, playing like a bunch of losers. With your fancy cars, high salaries, endorsements...I hope you lose it FAST and then realize you shouldn't call yourselves athletes...playing each and everyday like it was the last game you'll ever play. FOR SOME OF YOU, it just might be the last game you play--definitely in this TOWN...Now, go home and cry and take your material possessions with you, cause you SUCK. I've seen little leaguers play with more gusto, more desire, more clear heads...
FOUR FUCKEN INCHES, MR. WRIGHT. THE PLAY WAS A FORCE. HOW ABOUT A BUNT ATTEMPT, MR. REYES. Remember, you make it to FIRST in 3.4 seconds? And, Mr. Randolph, you can't possibly be listening to your coaches and for certain you ain't listening to your own instincts. Nice try, but I think you belong in academia! Try the PSYCHOLOGY department cause you are one HEAD CASE. My Grandmother could run your team better!!! And she's been dead for 15 years!
You creeps. Thanks for having YANKEE FANS shove this one down my throat. TOMORROW you should shake it up and pull REYES, DELGADO, LO DUCA, and if anyone goes 0-2, sit their asses down. Nice going Mr. Anderson. See you didn't learn in Little League that acting like a big baby has consequences--couldn't be more selfish. TRY TEACHING TEAMWORK AND KEEPING ONE'S EMOTIONS IN CHECK IN 2008 SPRING TRAINING...Or find some minor leaguers who know the game! The MEDIA HYPE YOU GUYS BUILT AROUND "Certain" players is BULLSHIT. I'll take JIMMY ROLLINS over REYES! At least that guy's got GUTS.

Signed,
SICK AND TIRED AND IRATE METS FAN...
IT'S FOOTBALL FOR ME ON SUNDAY you WEASELS. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, RAISE TICKET PRICES NEXT YEAR!!! Nice. GO ON AND PRETEND YOU GUYS CARE ABOUT PROVING YOURSELVES. YOU BUMS.

MetFanMac said...

Mets fan in 2057:
"Pineiro? Pineiro?... Oh... You mean JOEL FUCKING PINEIRO???!?!"