Get it Over With

The Mets last night reached that ignominious 90-loss plateau with yet another September Loss in Washington where they managed to get decent pitching, but didn't hit.

Unlike in previous years, this loss didn't cause mass panic or me to start screaming and ranting and tearing my hair out.

Greg from Faith and Fear brought this up yesterday, but even before reading his column, it wasn't lost on me that yesterday was the anniversary of the Last Game at Shea. One year later and I still consider it to be one of the most depressing days of my life, between the game and the finality of it all, knowing that the Stadium I'd spent 22 years worth of my Mets fan life in was no more. But Citi Field, it's OK. It can stay. The team, on the other hand, needs some work.

A comment on Greg's post sort of summed up my feelings rather well. Mets fans don't like this team, and right now, this team is the only memory we have in Citi Field, and so as an extension, Mets fans tend not to like Citi Field. Had most of the team stayed healthy, and the Mets remained in contention, and this season was playing itself out like the two years prior, well, not only would we be all having one more mass coronary, but we'd also be enjoying Citi Field. The place would be full and rocking at every game this weekend, just like it would have been at every game this month. It would have been the same horrendous, piercing, dramatic feeling that we'd gone through in the playoffs in '06, and down the stretch again in '07 and '08. Every game would feel like life or death. There would be plenty of tangible things to write about. And, though I went off on one particular rant last season where I said that it wasn't fun to watch the Mets, it would be fun. This year has made me realize that. I'd rather sit through 2008, a season that I called the longest ever, one that was maddening and miserable and at times no fun to watch, a dozen times than have to be subjected to this team, that looks pale and tired and uninspired and was finished by the end of June.

I don't think "Why?" even needs to be asked.