My Mets Good or Bad

ב"ה We all fell in love with Wilmer Flores a few years ago when he showed us how much he wanted to be a Met. I have a secret to tell you -- I've been a fan of his since day one (which, in my parlance, is the first time I ever saw him). There was something I saw in him as a player; there was something I saw in him as a person. Always under the radar, just enjoying his job as a baseball player, still a kid when he started. Then came the gossip about a trade being discussed for Wilmer to go to Milwaukee. Wilmer had been in the Mets organization since he came from Venezuela at 16. So, the friends he had in the US were in NY. But seeing him try (unsuccessfully) to hold back tears made Mets fans love him. A couple of days after, Wilmer hit a walk off home run that one of the announcers said, "dissolved into fairy dust". It did seem to be Wilmer Flores day. But, to be honest, from my perspective, just meant that the other Mets fans finally figured out what I had alrea...

ב"ה Despite how the Mets are doing this year, I'm sorry to hear about Sandy Alderson. His cancer recurrence could be part of the reason they s**k this year. Is it just me or wasn't Omar Manaya the GM who got the Mets into a deep hole in the first place? Why is he one of the three taking over the mantle? In any case, I wish Sandy Alderson the best. I suppose, given this new knowledge, I can forgive Sandy for this season so far. I suppose this explains some of the cryptic messages we have heard from him this season about his stepping down.  Now, I have to tell you, though, I'm still not giving up on my Mets -- I stick with them and I'm hoping this might give the team something to fight for and, perhaps, this might light a fire under  them.  I guess we'll see later today -- from the pre-game show to win one for the gipper  tonight at CitiField.....

ב"ה What can I say? Last year, while the team was pathetic (we were the walking wounded last year) at least they were able to win a game or two here or there. This historic patheticalness has reached a level that makes me (possibly as a sample fan) turn away from the half innings when the opposition is hitting (and I do mean hitting -- and hitting hard). I turned on my TV last night (after Shabbat, the Sabbath) just in time to see the tail end of a grand-slam home-run, not from the Mets, but from the Dodgers. Based on the numbers, they were already behind (the GS made the score 8-2) but at least at 4-2 makes one feel as though it's possible -- 8-2, especially this season with 1962-style losses abounding, makes one feel that the climb up is impossible. I started writing this before the game started today. And the first inning was scary (I was visualizing an inning that would break the Red Sox record of 17 runs in one inning before I was born)  when Blevins (who hasn'...

ב"ה So the Mets just finished off their second straight loss by an identical score of 10-8. While last night's 10-8 loss was depressing (after a "winning streak" of 3, they are back to losing yet again) because they were on the comeback trail into the ninth inning, tonight's loss was even worse. They started out ahead and did the swan dive against the one of the league's worst bullpen. It's really hard to understand how it is that the Mets, who have a team that is capable of winning, have taken an early winning streak and done such a "good job" of losing that they erased everything they did during that early period of the season. To be honest, I am at a loss for how it is that everyone has written them off with still 11 games until the halfway point of the season. Granted, they need to turn it around quickly, but just like last season, there are some serious gaps in the team through, gaps that are leading to losses. So once again, no ...

ב"ה Brandon Nimmo grew up in Wyoming -- no MLB team there (apparently, they don't even have HS baseball in Wyoming) so Mr. Nimmo grew up a Rockies fan. So last night, Brandon had the opportunity (as he will tonight, tomorrow and Thursday) to play against  the team he grew up rooting for. Thanks to Brandon's inside the park homerun, outside the park homerun and a couple of other hits (and 4 RBIs), from that flashy homer in the first to his catch of the final out in the ninth, Brandon Nimmo's name popped up in many of the highlights of the game. Jacob deGrom was great yet again but this time he finally got a win (will wonders never cease?) and pitched through 8 innings (G-d forbid any starting pitcher in the year of 2018 should be asked to pitch a complete game). I don't fool myself for one moment to think the Mets have crawled out of their funk. But it's nice to see a real live winning streak even if it's only three games.

ב"ה For the first time in about a month, the Mets have a real live come from behind victory. You can't get much more "come from behind" than this was. The Mets scored a run in the first inning but they didn't score another run in innings 2-8. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks scored two runs and then a third in the bottom of the eighth they scored a third. I had almost given up (I turned away for a while but came back for the 9th inning). Which brings us to the 9th inning. Two quick outs later, Jose Reyes came up. Reyes put down a beautiful bunt which probably would have gone foul had the catcher not grabbed it on the fair side of the line. By the time the catcher turned around, he had no play. Reyes stole 2nd and was knocked home by Jose Bautista pinch hitting for Familia.  Brandon Nimmo then hit one on the button that went for a homerun (2 runs with Jose Bautista) and Cabrera followed with another homer. Oh, I forgot to mention this all happened after 2 out...

ב"ה I am in no way convinced that this is the one that'll get us started. I am in no way going out to tomorrow buy a Mets World Series ticket (not that I would anyway -- getting to the game wouldn't be easy for me right now -- actually, I've never been to CitiField. And, yes, I have been there since the Polo Grounds became apartment buildings). But when one is a long time Mets fan, one learns to take one's victory where they come. And tonight, they actually had  a victory -- yup, chalk up one in the big "W" column. It's nice to see. Matz pitched a gem and the bullpen didn't dissolve into tears. Hitters got hits. And Michael Conforto got a three-run-homer. Nice to see him hit again and nice to see some long ball (that's supposed  to be the teams' strength). So tomorrow is another day and tomorrow is another game and another chance to make it out of the depths of despair. This team does have the potential to be more like the 1969 Met...

ב"ה I have been a Mets fan for a long time. I actually lived through the 40-120 season and their Polo Grounds years, the Marvelous Marv days, the "Willie Mays returns to NY" days, the Roger Craig losing streak days, the Ron Swoboda, Ron Locke and Ron Hunt days. I also lived through 1969's amazing year and 1973's "You Gotta Believe" year.  Until recently, I didn't watch any of the analysis shows. This season, while not my first season watching (I think I started watching them in the fairy tale season of  Yoenis Céspedes in 2015), this season it feels like everything is under a microscope. I've been wanting to write some thoughts for a while. So here goes: 1) Jose Reyes is no worse than anyone else. I don't think he's quite over the hill yet -- but he does mean a lot to Mets fans. He is, after all, the first Mets to lead the league in batting (and what was his reward???) 2) What is going on? Why is no one hitting? How can a team t...