Dreams Aren't What They Used To Be

Hope for the Mets is now Hopeless.

-Steve Somers

I'm again speechless. There are no more words to be said after yet another completely perpelxing, befuddling and completely unacceptable loss that the Mets have put forth tonight in Florida.

IT seems like, in a season where the Mets have pretty much loafed their way through the entire summer, it's all fallen apart on them at the worst possible time. I don't know if I'm repeating myself, or repeating things I've been writing all Summer long. I don't know. I'm just at a loss. Totally deflated, frustrated, depressed all at once. It almost seems as if the Mets just don't want it anymore. The way these losses are piling up, and how they continue to happen in the most confounding ways imaginable...How can anyone make sense of this? How can the players? How can Willie? What the hell is going on here?

Who can you blame, after the Marlins put forth a 21-hit attack, battering the Mets within and without for 10 innings, seeing the Mets lead early, fall behind, pull off a miraculous comeback and seemingly have the game well in hand in the 9th before turning around and handing the game right back to the Marlins, all while the Phillies pecked and scraped their way back against the same Nationals that the Mets just couldn't beat just a few days ago (El Guapo will kill me for just writing the longest run-on sentence in history, and quite honestly, I don't give a flying fuck).

I have the feeling that any Mets fan who doesn't drink has just been driven to do so. How on earth Willie couldn't allow Feliciano to at least try to get through the 9th inning is beyond me. Even if Cabrera hit one to the moon at that point, it's still a 1-run lead. But he continued to go to Jorge Sosa, who gutted it out heroically for 2 innings on Wednesday night, and for some reason stuck with him despite the fact that he was obviously gassed. I know the other options weren't exactly palatable, and while Dave Williams and Aaron Sele wouldn't have calmed any of us anymore, I wonder what, exactly, Willie is waiting for with Philip Humber? I know he's young and inexperienced, but in the biggest game of the year, if he's going to go to Joe Smith, and if Jorge Sosa is obviously totally spent, why not give this kid a shot and see what he has? WOULD THAT KILL YOU? HUH?!?

When it appeared that Marlon Anderson had perhaps come up with the biggest hit of the season, that was the high of highs. Text messages were flying in in celebration. And it was all too soon, and the joy all too fleeting. Is there a reason for optimism? Is there any reason to continue to believe in this team when they just keep turning around and stabbing us in the back? I felt awfully low last season, when everything came crashing down on October 19th, and I wanted to believe that this team would remember that and have it spur them on to greater things. But it seems like they can't even get out of their own way. If the collapse continues and we, as fans, are left to face the offseason with this great indignity, it will probably be the greatest disappointment in Mets History.

As a rule, El Guapo and I will always attend the final home game of the season. We may have to boycott if this continues. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship where she continues to suck me in with the sweet talk and the great moments, and yet she always ends up leaving me flat. Kind of like my ex-girlfriend, the Phillies fan.

Is there any reason for optimism?

Well, one.

I harken back to one such September pennant race in which the Mets fell completely flat and lost 7 games in a row to Atlanta and Philadelphia, squandering a sizable lead in the Wild Card race and seemingly dooming them to another season of obscurity.

In one such loss, the Mets trailed Philadelphia 3-2 in the top of the 9th. They had the bases loaded with one out, and Rickey Henderson came to the plate. A simple fly ball, or a chopper he could beat out would have easily tied the game. A hit certainly would have given the Mets the lead.

Henderson swung at the first pitch and hit a one-hop shot right at the second baseman. Easy double play. Game over.

And yet somehow, someway, the Mets were able to rebound and win 4 of their last 5 games, coming back from the dead to force a Wild Card Play-in game, which they won, and rode the momentum all the way to the NLCS.

Right now, we're all praying that somehow, the Mets can summon that juice and pull themselves out of this mess.

If only...

THEY'RE WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!

I've really got nothing more to say right now, so instead of my usual rant, here's something else for your enjoyment. For some reason, watching this over and over again just slays me.



I think letting Dennis Green yell for me is probably good therapy right now. And also much better for El Guapo's blood pressure.

Teflon Willie

We’re a pretty strong team mentally. You don’t start doubting yourself, and we’re not.

This was the quote from Willie Randolph plastered all over the New York Papers Monday morning, following the shameful display the Mets put up over the weekend. In response, the Mets went out and put forth yet another lifeless effort against the worthless Nationals, behind the stellar pitching of Brian Lawrence, as the Phillies walked into St. Louis and just hammered the Cardinals.

Maybe I'm speaking purely out of frustration, and maybe I'll end up looking silly if the Mets should manage to pull themselves out of it in the end, make the Postseason and succeed, but, in all seriousness, have they given us any reason to believe that's feasible right now? I spent a large sum of money to buy my Playoff tickets last week, and right now, I have the feeling that that money is going to be refunded sooner rather than later if things don't turn around soon.

How on earth Willie Randolph told us that the team is solid and didn't need any motivational speeches, while his Marquee player is tearing his hair out, his leadoff hitter can't seem to hit or field, and his bullpen continues to implode is beyond me. And somehow, the Press just eats this crap up.

Willie is beginning to remind me more and more of another such man who coached a major Sports franchise in New York City, and was widely loved by the local media for his entertaining banter and witticisms, despite the fact that he was largely clueless in the way he ran his team, and his weaknesses were often exposed to the point of embarrassment. But he was a great talker! He was exciting! He told us all so much without really saying anything at all.

Remember this guy...?
Willie has basically become the new Herman Edwards! Say a whole hell of a lot while really saying nothing at all to cover up the fact that there's no real plan in mind other than just stand idly by as everything falls apart.

It won't be a very popular opinion, I'm sure, especially in the eyes of the almighty New York Media (and even the visiting team's media seems to be brown-nosing him...just as the Mets storm into town and get pasted by a 5th place team), but if the Mets collapse, and that scenario is becoming more and more frighteningly real with each passing day, Willie needs to go. I know, you're only as good as the players you have, but the right manager can win with just about anyone. If this one can't, FIRE THAT ASS!

You think this garbage would have gone on under Bobby Valentine's watch? Hell Fucking No. Bobby would have called someone out weeks ago, got in somebody's face, been abrasive, been cocky and smarmy like he always was, and made the players so mad they turned the ship around to spite him. And if that didn't work, he would have called himself out. That's why Bobby's teams won. Bobby always spoke his mind, and didn't give a rat's ass about pleasing anybody. Say what you will about him, but there's something to be said about a guy who went to the World Series with an outfield of Timo Perez, Jay Payton and Benny Agbayani.

Of course, the bridge has been burned, and Bobby can't save us now. Currently, he appears to be hocking Hamburgers in Japan while managing many of his ex-Mets in the Japanese league and being a major folk hero.

Bobby was pretty much vilified by the press for being too standoffish. Willie's been a total media darling, so the uneven and often pitiful play of his team over the course of the season really hasn't been put on his shoulders. But how often can you blame Guillermo Mota for sucking when we all know this to be fact. At some point, the blame has to fall on THE MANAGER WHO CONTINUES TO USE HIM DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE SUCKS!

Furthermore, with Monday night's game being as important as it was, how dare Willie even think that starting Brian Lawrence and his noodle arm was a good idea? The fact that he allowed that joke of a pitcher with his flutterball to take the mound last night was basically an insult to every Mets fan who watched a second of that game. When he has two pitchers rotting away in his bullpen whose jocks Brian Lawrence is lucky to be able to sniff, this is the guy taking the mound in the middle of a Pennant race? I don't think anybody is surprised that the Mets and Lawrence got blown away last night. And for what purpose exactly? Shame on you, Willie Randolph. Shame on You.

Again, I sincerely hope that this all blows over, the Mets rebound tomorrow behind Maine and go on to win the Division, and go far into October and we'll just look back at what I've written here and laugh. Oh, silly Mets2Moon and his overreactions.

I sincerely hope I can laugh at this in October. If we can get that far.

Nice Job, Guys

I suppose whatever I could say right now could very well have already been said the last time the Phillies indignantly swept the Mets and thoroughly embarrassed them in the process.

I'm really at a loss right now because it looked like the Mets had turned a corner and were finally ready to march into the Playoffs after a completely ass-backwards regular season. But it appears I'm mistaken. After another three games in which they looked like they were the last place team and the Phillies were the first place team, the Mets now, once again, have to turn it all around and reclaim their division lead, which has shrunk to 3 1/2.

How does a team with championship aspirations manage to get themselves completely humiliated again and again by their closest division rival? It's bad enough that they were swept in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, but now they've allowed the Phillies to march into Shea and sweep them TWICE IN A ROW! This is now 6 straight losses at Shea and 8 overall. And it's completely baffling and totally unacceptable.

I'm not sure what the problem is. All signs right now point to the Bullpen, and that's the obvious choice right now, considering they had huge hands in the pissing away of all 3 games this weekend. But while Heilman, Sosa, Mota et. al. are all worthy of the blame they receive, what's lost is that while the Phillies were doing things like getting hits and driving in runs with runners in scoring position, the Mets were grounding into double plays and getting sacrifice flies from their cleanup hitter. On Sunday, the pitching matchup featured a guy with an ERA in the mid 3s, and a guy with an ERA in the mid 6s. And guess who came out of it looking worse? It's not Oliver Perez's fault that his offense didn't back him up, and certainly not his fault that his teammates also forgot how to field.

The bitch of it is that with 2 weeks left, Philly is probably going to go out and get killed by St. Louis. The Mets right now seem to be the only team they can beat! Of course, the Mets are headed into their final stretch of the season, with 14 games against mostly dregs. It would be nice if the Mets could get their shit together and wallop them good and proper, but I don't know if I can count on that right now. Coming into another must-win game, with ElDuque clearly ailing (and my feelings that he is now the one who should go to the pen in the postseason—if there is a postseason—is another post for another time), rather than giving the ball to someone who might actually throw a good game (Pelfrey), or someone deserving of a shot just so we can see what he has (Humber), the Mets are once again announcing their presence as a World Championship Contender by sending the almighty Brian Lawrence to the mound tonight in Washington. Good God, what the hell is going on with this team!?

Magic Number: Still 11.

Out For More Blood

After a particularly nasty blowout loss on Tuesday evening that featured El Duque not having anything and getting whacked all over the ballpark, the Mets were able to rebound with a nice, albeit hair-raising victory on Wednesday that served to win them another series from Atlanta, and ship the Braves off to those nice, pretty Atlanta area Golf Courses. Fittingly, on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it would be Shawn Green coming through with the big hit to give the Mets a victory that was nearly frittered away at the mostly incapable hands of Guillermo Mota, who really has shown that he deserves no part of a Postseason game whatsoever. True, it didn't help that he came into a tight spot created by Feliciano, and he almost got out of the inning when Francoeur (who has officially solidified his spot on the list of "Braves I Really Hate") foul tipped one that LoDuca couldn't hang on to, before getting the game-tying hit.

But it was Green who was able to save the day, blow the Shofar and drive home the winning run. I noted on Monday night that Green has had an exceptional career record against the Braves (his record against Smoltz has been well-noted), and his strong showing on Monday and Wednesday nights only served to further his credentials.

I know that Green has pretty much fallen out of favor, mostly with the fans, and that's not undeserved as he really is merely a shell of the player he once was, but, looking back, Green has really made his hits count. True, he was absolutely miserable for about 3 months following a red hot April and early May, and the foot injury he suffered in Florida really derailed his season, but lately, he's rebounded. It's been quiet, a single here, an RBI there, and no real power to speak of, but he's performed admirably, and I have a feeling, and it may just be gas, but I have a feeling that he's going to come through in a key spot come October. Call me crazy.

Meanwhile...

The blowout loss on Tuesday night was rendered meaningless, and tonight proved more of the same in regard to our friends in Philadelphia, as the Colorado Rockies whipped them good and proper on Tuesday night and did the same on Wednesday night. I know before the season I maligned the Rockies as an unidentifiable obscurity, but they kicked the Mets asses back in July, and now they're doing the same to the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Have I told any of you how much I love Matt Holliday? I mean, he's a one-man Wrecking crew right now, and probably the first, last and only reason the Rockies are mysteriously tied with Philadelphia in the race for the Wildcard right now. Holliday homered twice on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, and if the Rockies somehow find themselves even closer and perhaps even winning the Wildcard (and they're only 2 1/2 games out right now), Holliday could become the odds on favorite for NL MVP, this despite the fact that most of the nation may not have any idea who the hell he is. Well, he's showing you, and in case you missed it, the Rockies are miraculously hanging around here.

So, Philly and Colorado have one more game coming tonight, and the Phillies really need to win it, else they come into New York on Friday night, with a team that is itching for some revenge after the nasty 4-game disaster at the end of August, and a team that has been red hot ever since they left Philadelphia, and ready to put them down and out and sew up the division and knock them out of the Wildcard race at the same time. I wanted blood against Atlanta, and I want more blood with Philly coming in. I know it won't happen, but part of me really wants Glavine to come out on Friday night and put his first pitch right under Jimmy Rollins' chin. This Philly team just has this air of being a little too cocky and a little too comfortable at times. Pat Burrell needs to get flipped in this series too. Not hit, just flipped, buzzed, whatever you want to call it. Just let them know. The Mets are here. We're watching, and we mean business.

Magic Number: 11.