All Wet Again

A few weeks ago, I'd batted around going to a Mets/Cubs game amid an iffy weather forecast. I decided not to go and the game ended up being played, and the Mets won. Yes, there were also three Rain Delays, but I still felt like I'd missed out.

Monday night, I had tickets to the opener of the Mets/Cardinals series, amid an iffy weather forecast. In spite of the fact that there was a torrential downpour in Manhattan when I left my office, I decided to forge ahead to Citi Field anyway, since, according to the Mets Rain Hotline*, the game had not yet been called.

On the 7 train out to Citi Field, I saw plenty of lightning flying around but no rain, as though Noah Syndergaard had waved his Mjölnir and willed the weather away so that he could make his start. By time I arrived at Citi Field, it wasn't raining at all. In spite of the weather, it seemed like there was a fair enough crowd on hand, including a healthy presence of Underwear sniffing, Selflie-stick using Cardinals fans ready to thumb their noses at us brutish Mets fans while Mike Matheny wrote another book about how wonderful he is.

There was a tarp on the field, however, so a delay was in the offing, but I'd figured it wouldn't last long, and maybe by 7:45 we'd be underway. So I walked around the Field Level a little bit. The crowd was sparse, at least for the current times, sparse enough that by time I reached Fuku, the new David Chang outpost, there was, in fact, no line whatsoever. Usually, the line runs halfway down the Shea Bridge. Now, I've made mention of my misgivings toward David Chang, but I'll admit when food lives up to hype. I hadn't been to the Fuku at Citi Field, but I did have the opportunity to visit another location and, well, it's a really good sandwich. And the fries have this wonderful spicy seasoning. So, if there was no line, and I wasn't in a rush, well, here we are.

So I get my Fuku and head upstairs and I grab some napkins since I know I'm going to have to towel off my seat, and then Alex Anthony starts talking and I turn around towards the field and I see on the scoreboard in giant block letters:

POSTPONED

Oh dammit. 

So this, then, would be my first Citi Field Rainout. I seem to have had a good run of avoiding going to games that get rained out. I'd suffered through some delayed games, but none that were rained out outright, not since a Saturday night in 2008 at Shea Stadium when the Field Level literally turned into a lake and they waited a good 10-15 minutes after the game had been called to announce it to the some 50,000 fans in attendance that night, so they would keep buying things. The age old trick, of course. I thought there was a window to get the game in, but the Mets have more advanced meteorologists than I do and so if they didn't think it was possible, couldn't they have called things at 5:30 and saved me the trip? I feel a bit like I fell into one of Ratso Wilpon's rabbit holes because I showed up and spent money, so not only was I annoyed that the game got rained out (and I've once again been rooked out of seeing a Syndergaard start by some weird happening), but also because I'd been made a rube of by a weasel-faced turd that nobody likes.

Well, me, and about 15,000 other people who showed up and were still eating and drinking and buying things after the game had been called. To say nothing of the mass of humanity that formed at the ticket booth outside the stadium afterward. 

So, no game tonight, just another random escapade where I went to see a Baseball game and instead just went out to dinner at Citi Field. We'll try this again on Wednesday.

*Yes, there is in fact a Mets Rain Hotline. Only us true lunatic Mets fans know about it. When I tell people about it, they think I'm joking but it's a real thing. (718) 507-RAIN.

Bill of Goods

I don't want to piss on the Colin McHugh parade, but when you go up against the Triple A lineup that the Colorados put out this afternoon, it's not so difficult to have a historical Major League Debut. I wouldn't go crazy comparing McHugh to anybody spectacular. Let's see what he does after a couple of times around the league. There's a reason nobody had heard of McHugh until about 2 days ago, and it's because he's not Nolan Ryan. He's not Tom Seaver. I don't even think he's Matt Harvey right now. He had an excellent start today. I get it, I understand it. But I'm tired of being sold this bill of goods. There's probably only one team that McHugh might have pitched better against, and that's the team he was playing for. The team that managed 6 runs in 4 games against the worst pitching staff in the league, a staff so bad that they pull their starters after 3 innings and just let relievers try to figure it out. A team that came into Citi Field on Monday with a record of 46-73 and left 4 victories richer.

The Mets were flawed to begin with, and their solid first half was something that surprised and tantalized everyone, but it's ancient history now. It's safe to say that every ounce of good vibes the Mets had generated earlier this season has been erased. Right now, the Mets look about as miserable as they did in 2009, and maybe that's being kind, because they're generating the kind of results that look like something out of 1993 with a roster that's a little bit 1982, a little bit 2003, a lot miserable.

I'm being awfully cynical, but how can you not be when we keep getting told about the prospects and the pieces of the future that are here now? I said it yesterday and I'll say it again; who on this team would you want to have back next season? At this point, you could count them on one hand. Wright, Ike, Tejada, Dickey, Harvey, Niese...And who else exactly? The rest can be fed to the wolves. I can't even dump on the Jason Bays anymore because it's too easy. How about Josh Thole? Has he had 2 hits in the last month? I was skeptical about him last season because his defense had gotten sloppy and he spent the entire season hitting about .240 with no power. This season? Same thing. Not an everyday Catcher. Stop telling me he is. Jordany Valdespin? Infectious, Jose Reyes-like energy? Got a few long hits at opportune moments? Can't field any position adequately? Misplays routine fly balls? Runs into outs with frightening abandon? Swings for the fences every time up? Lacks a general sense of logic and basic Baseball discipline? Not an every day player. Barely passable as a reserve. Bobby Parnell? Electric Fastball? Consistency of Oliver Perez? Not a future closer.

More than half the team looks like it's going through the motions. Players like Torres, Murphy, Baxter and Hairston aren't every day players. Murphy's close, but he can't go through these 2-for-20 streaks that he's always going through. The stink that this team is generating isn't the same kind of stink we've endured in 2009, because that was because of injuries, or 2007, because that was complacency. This is the stink of suckitude, and it's gotten so bad that it's dragging down the good players on the team. David Wright was hitting everything in sight in the first half. Now, teams are just pitching around him, and when they're not, he's gotten back into that old habit of killing himself trying to carry the team on his back. He's just not the kind of player who can do that. But since nobody else around him seems to be able to hit, or in many cases pitch, here he is again, pressing. Can you blame him for grousing about being tired of losing? Aren't we all tired of losing?

Terry Collins is just as culpable for this mess as anyone. If we're all going to heap praise on him for the job he did keeping this team together, keep them fighting and scrapping for every win they got in the first half, then he deserves blame for letting it all crumble in the face of adversity. He mismanaged the bullpen because he couldn't trust anyone, and then he started getting stuck in situations where he had to go to the bullpen and it was damned if you do, damned if you don't. The personnel he's given isn't his fault, but when I routinely have to question removing the starting pitcher, and immediately being proven right because the bullpen immediately fucks it all up, something's wrong. Terry Collins said he wouldn't tolerate exactly the kind of play he's now tolerating out of his team. So...which is it? Or has he just lost the clubhouse? If that's the case, then, hey, we may as well have just kept Jerry Manuel around chortling in the locker room.

I've been told, and believe myself, that the only way to change a lousy team is if they are completely humiliated. That's beginning to happen to the Mets right now, in the midst of this 10-32 12-30, 2 wins at home since the All Star Break stretch. Everyone watching certainly knows this, and I certainly hope people in the organization get it as well. Sandy Alderson even said as much, but does he have the leeway he's supposed to have from the wonderful owners? The hot word is that the team payroll isn't expected to increase much, and most of it is still going to be tied up in 5 or 6 players. So, what sort of freedom do the Mets have to bring in someone who can make a difference? How can they bring in real, actual Major League talent to bolster this roster? There's not much tradeable in the Minors, I don't believe (still), so will the Wilpons actually let Alderson spend some money this offseason? How long do we have to keep asking this question? It's getting  a little tired. If the great owners don't have the money to field a competitive team, then do us all a favor and get lost. Go away. Sell the team to someone who, hopefully, cares about building a winner. Because there's only so many times you can sell the same rotten stew to a long-since disenchanted fan base.

Phew. This rant might not be quite as impactful as the one Mike Francesa unleashed on the Mets earlier today, but it comes from the same place. He's tired of watching this, and he's not even a Mets fan. How do you think the Mets fans feel?

He Said, They Said...

I'm beginning to wonder who, exactly, is driving this bus.

The Mets can continue to add pitchers to try to round out their starting rotation, but in reality it's no secret that if the Mets really want to make themselves a bonafide contender, they need to add a major bat to the middle of their lineup.

I'm not at all against the signing of Freddy Garcia. I really liked Garcia back in his Seattle days, and I certainly think the move is a great low-risk, high-reward kind of deal. Should Garcia prove himself healthy and capable of eating up innings and winning games, the move is a steal. But there was another news blip late in the week that left me a bit perplexed about how the Mets are approaching the 2009 season.

The article, of course, involved the Mets lack of interest in Manny Ramirez.

I'm kind of confused as to who, exactly, is telling the truth. For all we've heard, or at least all that's been indicated to us, Omar Minaya is a huge fan of Ramirez, and has been so for years. I don't know if it's substantiated, but I keep hearing word that both Freddie and the Boy-King don't like Manny because of Character issues.

This strikes me as a pretty sorry excuse. Manny Being Manny is going to pop up wherever he ends up. So will a guy who's a pretty safe bet to hit about .300, with 35 HRs and 110 RBIs. The kind of bat who would look pretty damn good in the middle of a Mets lineup that was simply dying in key RBI spots late last season. He'd look pretty good in a lineup that already boasts major question marks at no less than 3 positions, and probably 4 if you figure that Carlos Delgado is another year older and for at least 70 games last season looked to be completely past it.

But nooooooo, apparently this guy isn't even an option. The Mets can continue to load up on pitching and more pitching, and have that shutdown bullpen that will keep the Mets in games that they will continue to lose 3-1 and 4-2 because they couldn't get a key hit. The argument that the offense wasn't the problem because the Mets finished tied for 2nd with Philadelphia in scoring 799 runs is a load. The Mets tended to score runs in bunches. I'd bet that, more often than not, the Mets were either scoring 9 runs or 2 runs, with no in between. I can't buy that this thought hasn't crossed Omar Minaya's mind. Minaya isn't a guy who has been timid to make a major acquisiton; it's part of the reason the Mets have had the modicum of success they've had over the past 4 seasons. And I'm sure the Mets players would certainly be glad to have him around, at least David Wright has indicated as much, and I'm sure plenty of other players agree with him.

Bringing in Ramirez is, the more I think about it, an absolutely necessary move. Going into the season relying heavily on Fernando Tatis, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church to carry a major part of the offensive load is not going to inspire confidence in anybody, certainly not anyone who really picked apart the Mets struggles last season. I don't care about the fact that he's a space cadet. I don't care if he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed one day and decides he doesn't want to play. Manny spent a large chunk of his childhood in Washington Heights. If he comes here, he immediately becomes the King of the City. He can carry the team on his shoulders, act like a goofball, whatever. I don't care. He needs to be here.

One final point on who we ought to believe: Nobody will say it, and any reporter who does would likely be fired on sight. But if Freddie and Jeffy are such keen judges of character, then how did they manage to get swindled out of $300 million by Bernard Madoff? If that's not a ringing endorsement for Omar to bite the bullet and bring Ramirez on board, I don't know what is.