We're exhilarated when they're playing well and we're disgusted when they are not. I have not been high on Mickey Callaway and I'm always skeptical this franchise can ever sustain success with the Wilpons at the owning helm. This team creates such a bipolar emotional swing, there is never a dull moment.
Thing is, the 2019 New York Mets are bucking the trend and playing well at home. They're just not playing well, and that is an understatement, on the road. They are currently 7 games over at Citi Field with a 17-10 record but 9 games under on the road at 13-22. That right there is the difference in the season. The majority of the games we have complained about them blowing have been the bullpen's inability on the road to stave off their opposition's 0wn home cookin'. Just a 5 game swing and they would be a .500 road team. It all is obviously hypothetical, but that's how thin the difference is between them being a winning ballclub and 2 games under .500. I'm sure all us fans can list 5 games we know the Mets could have held onto in other's people's ballparks. Tighten that up, and we're not as fed up as we have been.
Now, with the Rockies on the way in, it is time to plow forward and make sure June is not even remotely close to the miserable 5-21 it was last year. I still believe this team is far better than the 2018 squad was but they have their work cut out for them this month with the majority of the clubs vying for a playoff spot, including the Yankees at the stadium on Monday and Tuesday. I'm sure all Mets fans are looking forward to THAT potential trolling. Buckle up, Buckaroos.
The look in Noah Syndergaard's eye was palpable. He was a man on a mission. Livid with his performance up until that point of the season, the man nicknamed Thor was clean-shaven and had his hair down, his "man bun" a point of contention with some fans on Twitter throughout the first few starts. The offense had been putrid against the rebuilding Reds, so Thor was going to have to take all matters into his own hands.
Brad Penner/ USA Today Sports Photo via nytimes.com
I got a chance to watch this gem at the Barnwood Restaurant in Catskill, NY. This was only the second game all season I was able to watch live, the other one a gem from Steven Matz against the Phillies. So far, I've been able to see two Mets pitchers at the top of their games, this most recent one with Noah at the top on both sides of the ball. Only a handful of players in the history of baseball have homered in a 1-0 shutout, and Noah was the first time anyone has since 1983. Sometimes, the best pitch you are going to get as a batter is that first one. The pitcher sometimes lollygags it over, especially against the opposing mound thrower. Syndergaard's track record with power should provide an example that you cannot just casually toss a fastball in and expect it to be the first strike of the at bat. The home run was monstrous as well, carrying a few rows deep over the original Great Wall of Flushing. Why the Mets cannot coincide the pitching turnaround of the last few games with some run support is not necessarily beyond me because...well...we've seen this story play out before. Though the W-L record has been basically .500 during that stretch, the fact the starting pitchers are coming around can only mean good things for this Mets baseball team...right? Before I go, I've got to give a shoutout to Tim Healey of Newsday for his fantastic appearance on A Metsian Podcast last night. Thrilled we could pick his brain about this team and we welcome him back anytime in the future. Give a listen whenever you get a chance. Now, off to Milwaukee...brew up some wins, Mets.
There is no end to dePuns we can come up with when it comes to deGrom. What a sight for sore eyes, even though my ears were doing the work last night when I got a chance to tune in. Throughout the night, I and most Mets fans had flashbacks to his Cy Young season, when luckily he was too damn good to overlook giving the award. The lack of support he got on the offensive side, however, was a big reason we were mired in the disgusting grime of the sewage that was the 2018 season.
The Reds, who are trying to grow themselves after years of frustration, have not yet won the series but have already left two bad tastes in our 9th inning mouths. I have never been a fan of pitching your closer in the 9th inning of a tie ball game. Logic would dictate you want your best relief pitcher out there to keep the game intact. Edwin Diaz, and numerous other closers, however, have a history of having ERAs and AVG against that tick up when in these situations. I couldn't tell you why this is, but even going back to Mariano Rivera, and of course the 2016 Wild Card game with our former closer now on our IL, I would love to see how widespread this is across the league over the last 20 years, and whether my trepidation is warranted. Many point to the fact Seth Lugo only pitched to one batter before Diaz was brought into the 9th, a valid point to make about the managing. The turnaround to the next game is the first of its kind this year with a 12:10 game today and temps heading into the 70's. No matter whether we split this 4 game series, the bad taste of yet another uneven series, where even the game we've won so far had to be salvaged in extra innings, makes optimism with the way this team plays the game right now hard to process. Still, you must keep that head held high, because no one in the NL East is running away with anything as of yet. I wish I could just stop everything and head on out to Flushing, Queens, today, but alas, I will have to find another time to take in my first game of the year. I wasn't able to make it out to Citi Field until September last year, the two games I watched the Mets lose in Denver notwithstanding. No matter how much I currently have on my plate, I could use a little Metsian teacup as soon as possible.
KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(as I got back to work last night having taken a dinner break that coincided with the end of the game, this was the first song the Pandora app played for me on the oldies station I was listening to. I voiced it on Twitter as well at the time that I appreciated the optimistic sentiment.)
After a night where I watched a game on TV for the first time all season, I was back to the radio waves, which I certainly don't mind given we have a great radio tandem in Howie Rose and Wayne Randazzo. Though you can certainly have the game on in the background when taking in SNY, the radio lends itself to multitasking better than the visual distraction that respective broadcast can be. I appreciated being able to just relax and take in only the baseball in front of me Monday night, and the Mets, who looked rather lackadaisical on the road, seemed to perk up being at home in the Citi, which is never a given the way things have gone over our ballpark's first decade.
They've had a habit lately of winning the first game only to fall flat the next two, so they needed to show us that energy Monday night was not an isolated incident. Behind the literal strength of the blossoming Zack Wheeler, they were able to carry themselves to a 9-0 win, sealing the series victory in the process. I had to head to bed around 8:30, but the radio was obviously left on, allowing me to doze off with the sounds of two homers. Firstly, Zack Wheeler's, whose jack was a beautiful sight once I was able to see the highlight this morning, taking it the other way impressively in that cavernous outfield. He took matters into his own hands earlier with a double that put us on the board, while simultaneously shutting down a Phillies team who got called out by their resident veteran, Jake Arrieta, for a lack of energy in Monday's game (as well as chiding Bryce Harper for putting himself in a position to not be an on-field factor the remainder of that game.)
When Zack is lit on the mound, he is so much fun to watch. The ball just zips out of his hands and the confidence he exudes is palpable. He has crept up incrementally on the starting pitching depth chart. Friendly competition would be lovely from Syndergaard right about now... Secondly, the last thing I consciously took in was Todd Frazier's grand slam, more or less sealing the outcome of this game. I like Frazier. There. I said it. I know people are low on him because of the large contract and his generally low batting average, but it isn't a bad thing to have a power-laden veteran of his caliber if he can obviously not be a black hole out there (whether it is starting or off the bench.) No, he should clearly not be taking AB's away from Jeff McNeil right now and I prefer McNeil's defense at 3rd rather than in the outfield. Frazier, however, is defensively a good 3rd baseman as well (even though Jeff is a McRevelation out there right now.) If they can make the mix work, more power to them. Last night, it worked wonders.
It is time to press down on the Phillies' necks and sweep this series. This is how you should be performing at home. While Jacob Rhame throwing behind Rhys Hoskins' back was, I think we can all agree, a message after a few of our batters got hit on Monday (and we lead the league in that category so far this year) we have to make sure it isn't a letdown game with the Phillies jacked to retaliate to the perceived "not fair form" and obviously with our resident worst starter on the mound in Jason Vargas.
It was yet another disappointing weekend for the New York Metsies. So far, on Saturdays and Sundays in 2019, the Mets are 1-5. Sue me for the #SmallSampleSizing. For a fanbase busting their butts Monday through Friday (and sometimes through the weekend, like in my case where the most money I can make as a Lyft driver are those party days), our favorite baseball team has been anything but a respite from the work grind. Watching them has been as difficult as any job we do.
I envy folks like Jacob deGrom. From what we know of the pitcher, he’ll take a setback like last night's loss to the Twins, as angry as it will make him, and use it to make himself even better. He’ll analyze what he did wrong, even if certain things are out of his control, and go into the next start that much more determined to be the best possible Jacob deGrom he can be.
(Not sure where the photo went when I clicked on the link, but google said it was this link from nypost.com yet it's not on that page and so I got no mandatory credit to write. Take it up with them I like this photo too much for this post to not use it)
Even when things are out of my control, I struggle to keep the positivity and focus, not letting the negativity just completely ensconce with my emotional wherewithal. It always feels like 1 step forward, 3 steps back, and even though I will be reminded at a certain point that everything happens for a reason, I can’t help but feel my emotions get the best of me every time a setback occurs.
This morning, I woke up ready to drive Lyft after a fantastic day yesterday, one that got me more or less exactly where I wanted to be going into the middle of the week. Once I got on the road, however, I discovered my back tire so low it was at 12 PSI, which, if you’re city kid unaware of what this means, isn’t a good thing. Knowing I may be one pothole away from a flat one way or another and also knowing I needed an oil change today anyway, I tried to take it in stride. The negativity, however, just completely overwhelms me and I just feel like I’m always on the brink of completely losing it. I went to put air in the tire because I would just rather drive over to my local pep boys instead of being forced to change the tire (admittedly something this Manhattan kid has never done.) As I filled the tire up at the Speedway gas station in Hoboken, I saw exactly where the issue lied: a nail/screw at the top of the tire, the fates giving me the chance to glare directly at the issue based on where the tire was after I had rolled to a complete stop. As I filled it up, I could hear the air mocking me, expunging with a “hissing” sound, making me all that more upset. Instead of driving a couple hours before the oil change, I’d have to change my schedule completely, a benefit of the Lyft gig but annoying as I miss the morning rush that can be so lucrative.
I should, however, recognize immediately what moments like this provide me. They provide me reflection, the ability to build from these struggles and get some writing done, which I had planned on doing one way or another while the car soon hereafter had originally been planned on being serviced anyway. Maybe it is just my emotional immaturity and my nature to be dramatic in the moment, immediately thinking the worst about what this life throws my way. I am fully aware how blessed I am. Whether it is just the news filtered through places like Twitter or the TV or just the examples from some of the people I pick up as a rideshare driver, there are constant examples of how I have it relatively easy and how my life is substantially better than a lot of what this world gives a lot of other people. It just becomes hard for me to not consider that every step I take towards feeling better about myself and gaining more success in this world, the world just keeps pushing me 3-4 steps back.
Oh, I’m sorry…did you come here to read about the Mets? That could very well be one of the reasons I became a Mets fan in the first place; I feel I can relate to the rest of Mets fans and the Mets overall. After a game like yesterday, and at many different junctions the Mets find themselves at, the nature of Mets fans after the experiences we have gone through leads us to a “sky is falling” mentality. They’ve trained us to hope for the best but expect the worst, even though we also have the knowledge a miracle could be on the way. Reading the pulse of Mets fans last night, you could very well find plenty of examples of immediate remorse, immediate “woe is me” moods, immediate feelings of, “There goes the season.” If deGrom isn’t going to be our knight in shining armor that keeps us afloat at the top of the division, what do we have to look forward to? The thing is, once I’m back on the road, just like once the Mets play tonight, there will be something to remind us why all of this makes sense…why we love this team, or personally, why my schedule had to be rearranged this way. Even last night, there were glimpses of what to look forward to. Pete Alonso just continues to rake. The offense overall continued to fight, even through all the pitchers' struggles. Last night was just one of those games where no matter how hard you push to get closer to the goal of winning the game, the finish line just keeps being pushed back. The Twins’ runs continued to climb farther from where your runs stand. A failure like last night gives us a chance to be reminded of how remarkable Jacob deGrom has been 26 straight games. He will forever be listed next to one of the greatest pitchers to ever play this game, Bob Gibson, when the subject of “quality starts” is discussed. He may have not been able to break the record, but he sure reminds us of how Amazin’ this game can be, and how Amazin’ life overall can be even when the score continues to get away from us.
All I can do is remind myself of all the positivity I have in this world even as air slowly edges out of my back right tire. It’s all any of us can do.
When I woke up on Saturday, the game against the Nationals was already about a half hour in. The trendy topic of note on #MetsTwitter was how awful of a decision it was by Mickey Callaway to hit JD Davis, the Mets' new infielder brought in from Houston, in the four spot. He was after Robinson Cano but ahead of both Wilson Ramos and Michael Conforto. It did seem rather perplexing, but with southpaw Patrick Corbin on the mound for the Nats, the logic was that JD Davis hits lefties well. It didn't stop a solid amount of tweets in my feed to be the latest outrage trend sweeping Mets nation. And everybody was thrilled to eat their words.
Photo: Andy Marlin - USA Today Sports Photo via northjersey.com
JD Davis not only hit the first Citi Field home run of the year for the Mets, it was the first run of the young season at home for the team, and the hardest hit homer in the Major Leagues so far this year according to statcast. He wasn't done, hitting another one to make it 2-1 after the Nationals tied it, and in the same inning that Michael Conforto crushed a goner as well. Of concern, however, is and was the bullpen, who could not hold the lead for Steven Matz (who had an uneven 5 innings but kept the runs off the board.) Both Robert Gsellman and Jeurys Familia struggled mightily, the latter giving the lead over to the Nationals in the 8th inning. The homer brigade wasn't over, however, as Pete Alonso crushed a solo shot to center in the bottom half with Robinson Cano following to tie the game with a no-doubt-about-it bridge blast that was his first big moment in front of the hometown fans, and the Citi went nuts. Up until that point, the Mets had 4 homers to their credit, more than doubling that number with 5 yesterday. I don't think it was a coincidence that on the first day of the season temperatures soared close to 70 that the ball flew a little easier out of the offensive-soul-sucking Citi Field ballpark. Going from the sun of St. Lucie to the early spring chill is probably a big reason why it is being reported that the cold bug has been going around the clubhouse, but those affects were not felt by the team yesterday. What was so nice about this game was how the offensive contributions were spread around, including the game-winning opposite field single by Keon Broxton, another Brodie Van Wagenen complimentary pick up from the offseason. Now, if only we can figure out what is wrong with the prolifically striking out Brandon Nimmo... It's still so early, and whether it's 1978 or 2012 or 2018, we all know how important it is to take an early hot start with a grain of salt. Still, I like what I see (though the bullpen DOES need to Tighten Up like Archie Bell and the Drells...)and with the roster turning over the way it has as well as it being just the first few games of the Brodie Effect, it was important for the Mets to look as good as they have. They've just got to sustain it past the 13th game of the season this time.
Yesterday, a day after Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal published this article, Citi Field continued to mock the home team, silencing them in a 4-0 loss to the Nationals on our opening day. There may have been many factors contributing to the loss: the crazy turnaround from playing a night game in Florida before a day game in New York, the fact MLB allowed for a 3rd party drug test administrator that kept them delayed an hour because Dominic Smith didn't need to pee right away, or maybe just a dominant pitcher in Stephen Strasburg...still, if you're going to be facing the best, you would rather do it at YOUR best and the Mets were not set up to present the best fight against one of the best in the game. Even with Noah Syndergaard sent ahead to not have to worry about all those other factors, he still could not hold down a Nationals team without Trea Turner, who is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.
Citi Field, however, may also be a major factor. The Mets have the worst home record there since 2012 and even their exit velocity goes down. The ballpark shouldn't be a factor in the latter, unless you factor in the psychological aspect of it, where it is constantly in the heads of the home team that they have to change their approach, which may lead to greater insecurity. We fans have criticized the place since it opened up for a variety of reasons, but 10 years later, we're still feeling the affects of the Wilpons overall lack of oversight, or just poor oversight all around, or "Hubris" as Greg Prince said in my Mets fan documentary...whatever you want to call it, no additions or fixing or what have you can change the fact that Citi Field was poorly thought out, poorly designed and poorly executed.
Whether the Wilpons own the team for all of our entire lives, or the life of the franchise overall, their circus-like organizational influence will never be lifted off of the Metsian experience, and it is just an absolute shame. I hope the team can consistently perform better as time marches on within the confines of how the owners like to do business, but it just saddens me, like much in this world, that they've left such a negative legacy on our favorite baseball team.
As my dad would say, "Well, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" Although, now I'm wondering how the Lincoln family feels about that...
Anyway, here's last night's A Metsian Podcast with Stephen Keane joining us.
My head has been in so many different places that I knew it wouldn't dawn on me that Mets baseball is back until I watch the team take the field at Citi Field. The fact my head has been pulled from left to right may sound like a negative, but indeed, I have made it a goal of mine in 2017 to focus; I've just been focusing on multiple things. Whether it is working on my coming-of-age stoner biopic, or getting the 3rd draft of my Dodgers period piece in order, or helping to pump up the brand that is Two Boots Pizza, or working out more consistently, or getting back to consistent Rising Apple Mets podcasts, I have felt the need to be active in 2017 with many different things after reacting too passively at times in my adult life. Though I love baseball and can't wait for the first pitch, it still hasn't hit me that the game I hold so dear, and the team within that sport I hold the dearest, will take the field soon in Flushing, Queens, wearing the bright, beautiful colors of the Orange and Blue.
The Mets are something to behold, and a collective to look up to. Though times can be tough, though times can be rotten, you have to trudge through the sludge to taste the glory on the other side. A baseball season, even when your team wins more than they lose, is a metaphor for life squished into a daily period for 6-7 months. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...sometimes it is a beautiful sadness, and sometimes it is achingly happy. Most of the time, the unexpected finds your path. Either way, it makes you feel alive. The Mets and baseball make me feel alive and have taught me to take a breath and enjoy this experience I and all of us discover ever day of our lives. Unlike other years, where I've really had Spring Training to help me ease into it, this year, it's just going to smack me across the face in all it's wonderful green-grassed glamour.
Baseball and the Mets are back.
Bring it on.
KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(Speaking of Two Boots Pizza, there is also this...)
(I just got internet in my new apartment today, Thursday, November 5. This was written on Tuesday while on the B train heading into the city from Brooklyn.)
On Monday, I treated everything that had happened on Sunday night as a New Orleans-type 2015 New York Mets funeral, marching around Brooklyn in my new Orange and Blue Mets 2015 World Series cap, my Mets Mitchell & Ness Jacket, and my Green Jets shirt. Neither team had played well the day before, though no one had anything at all to say about the football team.
"Yo, what happened last night, man?" Said a man in a Brooklyn Nets hat as I passed New York Avenue and Snyder Avenue.
"We didn't get it done, but it's alright. We'll be more athletic next year and beyond."
"We need to get a closer that can shut it down!"
"It's not Jeurys' fault (Other than the one quick pitch too many in the 1st game.) We need to make plays behind him! It's alright, we're gonna take it all next year!"
"Hey, man. They could go back next year. Gotta get it done."
I passed a group of 5 school kids somewhere between Rogers and Bedford Avenues, probably somewhere between the ages of 7 and 12.
"The Mets are not winning the World Series, bro."
"That is now officially true."
I should have added "...smartass," to the little twerp. All in good fun.
I got to a Staples Print Center, and while waiting on line for a computer, a middle aged man with very heavy bushes of hair in his ears sat on a chair off to the side. I asked him if he was on line, he just pointed at the computer and muttered something. I didn't really understand what he said, but I understood his next words.
"What happened last night, man."
The conversation continued and so on and so forth.
On Church Avenue, next to the old Dutch Church, a man in a Yankee hat of some New Era nature stuck his head out the passenger's side of a moving car.
"What happened, man?"
"Wait Til Next Year!"
And that's all I could think of after the Murph and Clippard debacle from Game 4; the parallels to another young National League team of this region, whose old adage, "Wait Till Next Year" kept their faithful sane and warm through the winter. I hoped it wouldn't be the case the next night, but unfortunately, Game 5 became even more devastating than the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers parallels I had started drawing up.
You see, the 1941 Brooklyn National League Baseball Club hadn't been to the big show since 1920 and had never won a championship in the World Series era. After just inching out the Cardinals for the pennant, the young team was poised, at home in Ebbets Field on Bedford Avenue and Sullivan Place in Flatbush, to tie the experienced North Neighbor Yankees 2-2 in the series. Up 4-3 with no one on, 2 out and a 2-strike count to Tommy Hendrich, Hugh Casey unleashed a curveball that was swung on and missed, but ate up catcher Mickey Owen, allowing Hendrich to reach 1st base. The Yankees rallied from there and won 7-4.
Unlike OUR Game 5, the Yankees controlled that one throughout, where the Bombers' Tiny Bonham outpitched Brooklyn's Whit Wyatt and New York (A.L.) won 4 games to 1.
What's even spookier for a series that was played on Halloween was that Ebbets Field, whose facade was mirrored by our Citi, also saw it's home team lose 4 games to 1 in its inaugural World Series in 1916, against the Boston Red Sox, although, oddly, Game 5 was back in Boston back then.
So, after marching around happily mournful yesterday (attempting to let the belief that the Mets are about to get more athletic as the Minaya position players start fading away keep me smilin') Tuesday is a different story. Combined with the fact it's unseasonably 70 today, I left my hat and jacket at home, only dressed in jeans and an orange Knicks shirt. I didn't want to talk about it anymore. I just wanted to write about it.
This season started with me heading down to Washington on a Megabus at 5 in the morning to catch the afternoon game between the Nats and the Mets. It brought me back down to Washington in September for one of the greatest times I've ever had watching this team on the road. It brought me to work at Citi Field for Two Boots from Mid-September all the way through the last game of the year, which turned out to be in November and turned out to be the WORLD SERIES. It may not have turned out the way we wanted to, but I can't say I didn't have fun.
I had the time of my life, but now I've got work to do. I've got an new apartment that I OWN to get together and a life to attend to.
But I'll have the Mets on my mind the entire time.
