The Optimist Slips

It doesn't matter how bad it gets, the optimist can always find a silver lining. I try to stay as optimistic as I possibly can be. In my life, with the Mets, with whatever comes my way.

photo via nypost.com

For instance, I had to go to court in Mount Laurel, NJ, for a traffic summons last week. I found it enthralling to watch the judge and the cases he had to give judgement on before I was the particular one. It was theatrical, and it serves me in my screenwriting persona to act as a fly on the wall before entering the scenery. Of course I wasn't particularly thrilled to have to pay my fine, which included a court fee I would have rather avoided by being able to plead guilty online and just pay it there, but it benefited me to get the most out of the experience.

At what point, however, does the most optimistic Mets fan become so cynical, disgusted and depressed that even he or she can no longer weave positivity from the negative they see?

There is a breaking point for everyone. Every year can be different. Every person can be different. Even though we have gone through this before, each season offers a new potential for wiping the slate clean and starting over. Though we have a point of reference for the misery of other years, many of us sweep it under the rug in hopes that what we know to be the pattern will shift ever so slightly to provide a different outcome. At some point, the idea it is still early becomes just another lie we tell ourselves to forget the fact there is always a further bottom, one closer to the hot, uninhabitable core that apparently sits in the center of this Earth.

Yesterday, in some fashion, offered a contained metaphor for the overarching theme of the season: a little hope early with a dreadful, devastating middle that makes any hope late pointless. I have railed many a times this season at the job Mickey Callaway has done, but I cede to the folks who say that firing him will make little of a difference. I was never in denial that the main issue of this franchise are the Wilpons, as I have been skeptical all decade there would ever be sustained success with them in charge. I was hopeful, however, they would prove me wrong. This decade started with a new beginning and once more ends with the reality that it doesn't matter if you change the manager, the general manager, the pitching coach, the hitting coach, the bench coach, or the bay boy. The owners of this team keep doing the same thing and expect different results. Maybe one day they will pass go and collect their 2 billion dollars.

The pessimist in me, however, has no faith another collection of owners would be any different. The optimist in me, though, knows it couldn't hurt to try.

SAME. OLD. SAME. OLD.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Bottom of the Rock

I'm exhausted.

I know all of you are, too.

It is 5:35am as I type this time. Oh, it turned 5:36 before I finished the sentence.

AP
Photo via nypost.com

With my focus on an improv show that was the culmination of a 10-week class, I had a built-in excuse to not first-hand experience (from a fan perspective) the weekend that will live in Metsfamy. The weekend that, I can only speculate at the time I write this, sealed the deal for the firing of Mickey Callaway in his sophomoric year as a Major League manager. As of now, two years in a row, the team, after a hot start, has lost steam rather quickly. This has happened to other Mets teams, of course, but there seems to be an extra-special way the team seems to lose total preparedness for the grind of a hundred 62 game season.

As many people are pointing out, however, Mickey, and any manager, can be scapegoated as much as the Wilpons want, but they themselves are the King-Kong-sized gorilla in the room. They are the only constant since 2002. We all know how the majority of those seasons have gone. The seasons that haven't gone that way where the Mets contend have only experienced two (ok, three) playoff appearances. None of which have the Mets winning the last game of the year. Two of which they contended till the last day of the season only to get completely exposed for their lack of preparedness. 

There is, however, no firing of those men. Those men will stay until they decide to cash in their Park and Boardwalk deeds.

As I said on Friday, however, I ain't going anywhere either. If you're reading this, you most likely aren't as well. You will state, "I've had it with this team," but still decide after you're fed up with the Game of Thrones finale (once you catch up on-demand) to check in on the Mets game that night. They might be losing 2-0 to the Marlins once more, and you'll raise both your hands and say, "Figures!" But you ain't going anywhere. Unfortunately, the Wilpons know that. Maybe one day, however, they will see enough of it in their bottom line to recognize that even they have a deeper river bed than they thought.

The rocks are slimy down there. They're covered in mud. Somewhere under there, however, is at least 2 billion dollars. We the fans, though, should always be careful what we wish for. It could always be worse.

Nowhere to go but up from here? The truth that is not.

All we can do is

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Difference Between 2012

Back in 2012, when I wrote about my hope for the 2nd Half, I used a photo of Jordany Valdespin after he scored the winning run against the Phillies in the Jonathan Papelbon game, July 5.

After losing 2 of 3 to the Cubbies going into the break, the Mets went out of the break on a 1-11 run.

The fact Jordany Valdespin is no longer on the team is not the ONLY difference between 2012, but it does interestingly offer a fitting symbol between the difference of this year, and the last year the Mets crashed and burned in July.

2013 and 2014 were miserable first halves with 2nd halves to build on. 2012 was the last time the Mets were in a position to contend, but they fell apart, and too quickly to even think about making a deal to support them.

Like 2010...

And kinda 2009, but that was the culmination of the mess of post-2006.

When you look at 2012, however, you remind yourselves of where the Mets were.

Johan Santana completely broke down.

Lucas Duda, still in the outfield, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis stopped hitting and were sent back to AAA.

The completely unsustainable rampage of 2-out hits predictably dried up.

And Frank Francisco was the closer.

It's crazy to think of how bad the offense currently is, but when you look at the lineup, even without Wright or d'Arnaud in there, it should be much better. Is how historically bad they've been really sustainable?

The pitching is world's and world's above where it was in the 2nd half of 2012, when Johan Santana, a great 1st half, was a non-factor, Matt Harvey was getting his feet wet, Dillon Gee was an anchor and R.A. Dickey was the only true ace. And Jeremy Hefner was getting innings.

Plus, now, there is Jeurys Familia, arguably the best closer in baseball currently.

The Mets are in a MUCH better position to continue to contend heading into these final games of the year.

It's up to Sandy Alderson and the Wilpons, however, if they want to make 2015 it's own special thing...

Or they want to have another 2012.

LET'S. GO. BASEBALL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

40-40

This usually comes with prestige...this usually comes with champagne bottles....

Not that I've ever been, but apparently it is an elite club in the Flatiron District owned by Hova, Jay-Z, Shawn, whatever you want to call him today...

It's also an "elite" club that only 4 players belong to in baseball, though all but one have been accused or proven of taking steroids.

But all of that is irrelevant, because the image of 40 and 40 together is the only thing those have in common with THIS.

Through 80 games, the Mets have been their entire history all at once. You can either take solace in the fact you've seen this before and know it could get better, it could add resilience, it could be 1973...or better.

Then there is the 1978 in you, the 2009, the 2012...

It's almost as if the Wilpons don't give two shits because, well, we've seen this before. This actually PUSHES our brand, keeps that hope alive, that Ya Gotta Believe that is the core of this franchise and its fanbase.

But I guarantee there will be a coup d'etat the likes of which you could never imagine if you keep going on this way, Mr. Wilpon and Jr.

Figure out a plan that doesn't just involve you in a holding pattern, while you more and more have to let go of these prized prospects because you can't afford them over the long haul...

Something's gotta give, you guys. HOW can you even STAND this? I mean, I will say, Mr. Wilpon, that you did seem more like a fan in that controversial New Yorker article, and I appreciated that. BUT HOW, as a fan, one that has roots in one of the greatest fanbases of all time, can you keep this up just so you don't have to say, "Passing it down to my son isn't going to work"?

And why, as a businessman, haven't you cashed out? All of your problems would be solved, THEN some. You got swindled, it sucks, but now you have a chance to make something close to $2 billion, if not more. The Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion after being valued at less, and apparently, because of your SNY stake, you are valued at $2.05 billion. And that was in 2013.

What's wrong with you?! CASH OUT! LET SOMEONE DO A BETTER JOB! HOW CAN YOU EVALUATE YOUR PERFORMANCE OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS AS APPROPRIATE?! BUT SOMEONE'S STILL GONNA GIVE YOU A $2 BILLION DOLLAR BONUS?! DO IT!

It doesn't matter what happens in the next 82 games. Until this franchise is run differently from the top down, no matter how good the farm system continues to be, they will be hampered by The Wilpon family.

You are holding us hostage. Release us from the abyss.

.............................................

HAPPY 4TH EVERYBODY!!

LET'S. GO. 'MERICA.

LET'S. GO. METS.

No Method to Their Madness

It is evident while watching the New York Mets vs. the Former New York Giants, especially live, that these are clubs way on the opposite end of the secure franchise spectrum.

The Giants are very secure in their franchisehood. It is evident in the way everything they present at AT&T Park celebrates the Giants, whether that's in New York or San Francisco.

The Mets are very insecure in their franchisehood.

Let me reiterate.

The franchises are on the opposite side of the secure spectrum.

NOT the fans.

We know who we are. We're the New York Mets. We're the birth child of the Giants and Dodgers leaving town. We're Orange, and We're Blue. We were endearingly awful, before surprising the world. We let the pressure of the city get to us in the 70's before letting it build us back up in the 80's, before collapsing around it in the 90's, before...well, yada yada yada. We know who we are. But this team, from the top down, doesn't seem to know, or really, knows and is too much of an insecure sack to own it and have fun with it, so it can finally stop letting it haunt it every step of the way.

The New York Mets, starting with Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon, don't seem to get what this team is all about. And in that little detail of knowing your franchise and being proud, bruises and all, of the damn thing completely throws off their ability to operate the team. And in the time that they have been sole owners of this team, they have failed to show us they can properly operate a ballclub, let alone the New York Mets.

They could use some serious pointers from the Giants franchise right about now. Just by walking around the freakin' joint.

And the thing is, The Dodgers and the Giants had to develop as franchises as well. And the Dodgers, moreso than the Giants, had a similar first 50-so-odd years, actually with less success than the Mets.

But they eventually settled into their identity. And they didn't have to compete with being the offspring of long-time New York institutions.

And the Wilpons do have to compete with the Yankees, but they don't really NEED to. There is NO EVER competing with the Yankees unless you went on some CRAZY World Series spree over the next 50 years. Probably not going to happen. So, screw them and stop worrying about it because if you play good baseball, you're going to get a lot of people watching a lot of baseball in New York.

You just need to worry about being the Mets. 

And forget the fact most of us don't think you can continue to financially fund your ownership. And the fact most of us just don't think you really know what you are doing, even if you were able to fund your ownership. So, forget anything you are or aren't able to do with this ballclub on the field.

You want to show us you actually GET who the Mets are?

Erect 3 statues or monuments in or around Citi Field.

Tom Seaver, Joan Payson, and Marvelous Marv Throneberry.

Ideas and moves and thoughts along these lines would AUTOMATICALLY make me have more faith that you are capable of running a ballclub like the New York Mets, and understand what this team means to the folks who call themselves Mets fans.

But then again, it's probably too late.

Because when your fans give it all they've got in enemy territory like The 7 Line Army did last night, you best be prepared to give it your all as well.

I'm sure you guys are really nice. That's all I hear. That you're not tyrants like James Dolan.

But sell the team. Come on. Honestly. The shenanigans are up. Do the right thing. Because this? What you're doing and what you've been doing? This ain't it.

But this is it, what the fans are doing, I'll tell ya that.

I'll see you at the ballpark today.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, follow on Twitter here, and listen to the research process here.

Can We Finally Stop With the Pessimism, Please?! (Uh...METSimism?...)

The ironic part of me calling out the pessimistic aura that radiates from the fanbase is that it's basically the same way they are only looking at the awful stuff that has gone on with this team over the last decade (or 5...)

Just in the same way "everything sucks," I am only looking at the negative aspect of the fanbase, when in reality there are plenty of fans who "believe" or at least don't claim to know "as fact" what is going to happen this offseason.

Nobody accepts mediocrity. I am just not going to let it make me bitter. Life is too short and you never know when you are gonna go, so why harp on the 88 losses? Why not love the fact baseball gives you a chance to still have 70-something wins in a losing season? That's one of the beauties of the game, that it is played everyday and gives us the opportunity to soak in the beauty of the sport on a more consistent basis.

Listen, I may sound like a broken record. And sure, some people may think I have no legitimacy since I am still only in the first decade of my full-out Mets fandom, and if we want to go back farther, I haven't even reached 20 years in my all-out baseball fandom, having gained an obsession for it in 1998.

But I believe a large portion of this fanbase needs to check themselves, take a breath, relax and let the offseason play out before claiming they know nothing is going to get better.

Everybody has had an eye on 2014.

Yes. The Wilpons timed it so they had to start paying loans back NOW on Citi Field.

The last 6 years have been the perfect storm. They leveraged everything to build that park expecting Madoff money to be there, and all the while they had a general manager who didn't have a grasp on how to not let everything crash to the ground baseball-wise at the same time.

Money, however, is coming off the books. None of us truly have an idea of what the Wilpons' money situation looks like, though there are writers out there who have done their due diligence when it comes to researching and talking to the appropriate people to at least get a better public idea of what it looks like.

I'm sure the Wilpons are refinancing. And there is nothing we can do about them wanting to keep the team in the family.

At least they aren't a tyrant like Jim Dolan who fires a security guard for not recognizing him when he is hardly in the public eye anyway.

(And basketball and the way the NBA is run is a WHOLE 'nother conversation for a WHOLE 'nother day.)

They have turned the farm system to one of the worst in baseball to one they can be proud of, with only 2 teams in the system under .500 last year. So, this could play out in the trade market.

They have huge contracts coming off the books, and even after they pay their arbitration-eligible players, they will have money to spend.

They aren't talking about dropping the payroll to A's or Rays numbers here, people.

So, yeah, we're frustrated that we see a lotta Red in the playoffs, and some Yellow, and some Navy-with-Orange, and some Blue with no combination of Orange included ('cause that Blue historically hates that color when combined with Black...)

But every team has to start somewhere when the foundation was not that firm in the first place.

Let's sit back, relax, and enjoy that you're an American who has been lucky enough to have the instinct of loving this game of baseball with Orange and Blue blood pumping through your veins, finally arriving at the offseason everyone has been pointing towards.

I am anticipating the next few months with baited breath.

I hope for your sake and the sake of your stress that you can do the same.

LET'S. GO. BASE. BALL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, and follow on Twitter here.

Ain't No Random In the Heart of the Citi

Been a while since I was Random.

Though the song's title works for the Mets' current plight.

 

AIN'T. NO. LOVE. NOW.
LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

Blast from the Past - R.A. Dickey Stares at Loss in NY State of Mind

The Canon T3i, a camera that takes both still and moving pictures, has been in my possession since April of 2011, and 18 months after that, I officially owned it. Now, I have 16 months left to pay off my latest purchase, which has finally given me the technology to maximize my media capabilities. My new Mac computer replaced what was completely incapable of even playing video appropriately, much less editing it. Now, that is not the case, and if you could tell recently, I have blown up my YouTube account with many a video; of Opening Day 2013, Opening Day 2012 and the Ira Berkow event at Bergino Baseball Clubhouse. I expect the amount of uploading to continue as I come across the last 2 years of video.

Today, I have uploaded one of my favorite things from the early stuff that I shot.

On April 20, 2011, the night Fred Wilpon made controversial comments to a reporter from The New Yorker, the Mets, who of course had plenty of chances to win the ballgame, lost a tough one, 4-3, to the Astros, their 9th loss in 10 games. Their record stood at 5-13. 

R.A. Dickey struggled early, pitched into the 8th, and gave up the deciding run on a homer to right field. After some missed opportunities in the bottom of the 8th and 9th, it was over. Billy Joel's New York State of Mind cued up, and R.A. stared out onto the field, contemplating what could have been.

Enjoy the video, check out my whole collection if you haven't yet seen some of the others, and subscribe to me on YouTube to get the latest video updates (which there will certainly be plenty of this year.)

R.A. DICKEY.
LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

Hittin' the Road from Upstate as our "Team is Broke."

I'm sorry, but isn't this the same news we found out when the Wilpons found out that $700 million they thought they had they actually didn't? Why is this breaking news? Because the idea they can't get a deal done with their two most popular players (one who became one in 6 less years than the other) is hanging in the balance.

This "news" hits as I help ready my dad to transfer his life to Denver, where my sis lives. He has just been approved for disability retirement, and Veterans Disability Retirement. For at least till next summer, my dad will help out with his grandkids, enjoying life in a nice town they call the Mile High City as we pay him back for his service to us and his country. To get there, we opt to drive. First, we will take a journey down the east coast and in, to Alabaster, AL, to visit the youngest of the three sis's on my dad's side. She has a newborn boy, not mention two other nephews (yeah, yeah. I'm Uncle Sam.) FROM THERE, we will drive to Denver in either 24 hours, or 12 and 12. Will be quite the adventure.

Meanwhile, here at the upstate house, my Wifi is not working. I am typing this for the first time on my new iPhone, on the Blogger App. I'm pretty sure the Courier New Screenplay-type font I want is not being used. I'm pretty Effin' pissed off (this is what our Twitter brethren would call #FirstWorldProblems.)

Anyway, as I venture out into the Wild American Yonder (with working wifi) I have a screenplay to write, a couple screenplays to revise, and some Mets stuff to write about, including the 2nd part of my April Denver trip. It is only fitting that the 2nd chapter of the Mile High journey get posted as I hit the road for that Colorado town. (Because of my no wifi I cannot link Mile High Mr. Met Pt. 1 to you. If you have not read it, it can be found in the links to your right. If you have read it, read it again, please.)

I also implore help from you all. I mentioned this on Twitter some days ago, but I now mention it to the Met fans who read these posts. I would like to interview Met fans this offseason and into next year on their Fandom on camera. Every aspect of it. I appreciate those who retweeted this request (I know them as @Sharklady2, @petemc1969, and @jimbojoker38) and those who have already agreed to the request (like Greg Prince and all his NY Baseball Giant buddies.) Anyone who would like to help me explore the human sports psyche via your Met fandom, please contact me, and let your friends know as well. I will do my best to reach out to many of you, but please, reach out to me first.

That's it for tonight. Thanks for tunin' in. (Aw, man. I can't put the song I wanted to put in the post from the Pandora that is playing on my iPhone as I type this on my iPhone. #FirstWorldProblems suck.)

(If this IS the font I want, I apologize to the makers of this app. Otherwise, get to work.)

HAPPY VETERANS DAY.

LET'S. GO. METS.

A Rhyme for your Time in a Metsian State of Mind

With all the Verse around me
In the show put on by Fools
I had the inclination
To break all the sound prose rules.

I might not follow each and
Every scheme the Gypsy says
But I think most of you care as much
As you care about Ollie Perez.

We're not here to go over the rules
of the Iambic Pentameter
We're here to speak of our own Mets
The team we hold so dear.

What is it that makes every weakness
Be exploited all at once?
That's what we've seen in this 2nd half
That's led us to all fuss.

Four wins at home
It doesn't make sense
Track records normally show
You play winning baseball here at home
Aim for .500 on the road.

Is it the energy that Davey says 
Is like a freakin' morgue?
Could it be that the lack of fans
Has players feeling sore?

How could it be
An over-achieving team
Could fall so fast?
Why can't there be a middle ground
Instead of trying to avoid being last?

Some say certain players aren't tough enough
And while that might be true
It's not as black and white
As fans and media have in their view.

There are several different factors
Some we certainly cannot see
We may think they're crystal clear to us
But there's no way they can be.

I wish I had the answers
We all wish that we did
Some of us wish the Wilpons
Would let more of us make bids.

To some it is as simple as them
Giving up their pride and joy
They see a father and his son
Playing with the team like a toy.

But if they can recover
I say more power to them
I'd love for the Redemption Song
To include the Wilpon's Gems.

But who knows how the story will go
We didn't see this coming
We thought after the fantastic start
They'd still be in the running.

But they did what they tend to have done
Way too often over 50 years
It certainly makes it easy
For the next rhyme to include "tears."

But one day it will turn around
I know it's hard to believe
Even when the mantra of this franchise
Has been to keep "believe" up our sleeve.

I haven't been to a game in weeks
The one with Collin McHugh
I'm trying to go next Tuesday Eve
As they come home to bid us Adieu.

Regardless how this season has gone
I will certainly be upset
No matter how fed up you all get
Say it with me now...

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

"Smiled with the Risin' Sun..."

You would think, after a debacle like that, I would welcome these hours that ESPN is making us wait for the next Mets Braves game. But it sure feels like I'd rather be watching Mets baseball right now than writing about it. Watching the next chapter unfold. Yeah, everything unraveled last night, but I was never really upset. As all those dribblers rolled by fielders, I just nodded my head and said to myself, "Yeah, that makes sense." It's the way it is meant to be right now, and of course Met fans are sick of it. A lot of us are worrying about whether this team will ever be able to get it together, since so many of the problems will not necessarily be helped by oncoming farmhands. The bullpen is yet again a mess (even though they've been relatively solid throughout this period of loss; of course they couldn't have been solid when the starting pitching was at it's best), there are no sure-thing outfielders coming up, and the catching position is a world of hurt. Many doubt the Wilpons are in a position to take care of those needs this offseason, let alone sign our All-Stars (I doubt they won't sign them, and if they don't, it will probably spell the end of their ownership.)

Yes, the Mets look flat right now. Every one of their holes has been exposed and the losses are piling up (we fans in Queens have only seen ONE win since the All-Star break.) But these are just growing pains, folks. It's not like Rod Barajas keeps pwinging and missing (which is a mixture of trying to pull the ball and swinging.) Jeff Francoeur isn't here NOT believing in taking a walk once in a while. Robinson Cancel isn't catching (although he might be able to take it on the chin better than our current option.) Forty-year-old Gary Sheffield isn't riding the bench with the occasional start, and Jerry Manuel isn't claiming we'd be better if we had everybody healthy. This evaluation season that took off but got exposed might not be answering all the questions, but it's answering a ton of 'em. And I like what I see.

As the night grew closer to finishing and the score steadied at 3-9, only one song played through my mind.

Hang in there, guys.

The New York Mets may not be at their best right now.

But the payoff will be HUGE.

Don't Worry About a Thing.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.