I spent a lot of words early on this season on this page scolding Jason Vargas and the Mets for continuing to trot him out there. Why even link those? We're not here to re-litigate all that but rather celebrate the fact Jason Vargas, fresh off shutting out the Giants over 9 innings, now has the 2nd lowest ERA of the Mets starters, 2nd only to Jacob deGrom.
It doesn't matter whether this wouldn't be the case if some of our other starters had their shit together. Vargas has quietly, as we dog him every time his slot comes up, had a resurgent season. Forget the fact the Giants have not been very good. We know the Mets well enough to know the record status of their opposition never matters. Every ball team is going to have to play the good, the bad and the ugly, and you have to collect W's wherever you can find them. Not only did the Mets collect one on the backs of an impressive offensive performance, but on the back of a man who would not be here had most Mets fans gotten their way going into the season. We can only hope and keep rooting for Jason Vargas to continue to excel. He gave the Mets and us fans all we could hope for and more last night, and relieved a relief corps in desperate need of some support (and more quality outings.) Momentum is only as good as your next day's starter, and Vargas has been a rather good next day's starter after a miserable start to the season. Keep it up, Vargy. Are people calling him that, by the way? We should be.
After Sunday's loss, Mickey Callaway had no positive spin to put on the exemplarily bad play of his New York Mets ballteam. According to the NY Post:
“Overall game, bad defense, bad pitching, no offense," Callaway said. "We can't allow people to have the best games of their career against us. That's the bottom line.
Inconsistency is not going to win you games. That is why we are where we are in the standings and what our record looks like. We are just too inconsistent. I don’t think it is a focus issue at all, it’s going out there and trusting you are going to get the job done and doing it every time. We play great at home and then we go on the road and what we do on the road is not acceptable.’’
“We put ourselves in a position to win more games than we did but we lost them so it doesn’t matter what position you put yourself in, you gotta go get the job done,’’ Callaway said. “We have to do better. I’m kind of getting sick of saying we have to right this ship.’’
Up until this point, he has tried to stay positive, using clichés such as "hard fought" and "toe-to-toe" and what have you. Obviously, after yet another listless loss following a game the Mets should have won, which is standard practice for this team, he couldn't take it anymore. Unfortunately for Callaway, in my opinion, no matter how awful you want to say the roster is, he himself has been inconsistent in doing what he says is the strategy they are taking. I have a habit of being a chronic reneger. I'll say one thing, and then eventually do another. I lose steam on momentum and the goals fall by the wayside. I get life is a hard thing to overall follow through with sometimes. Maybe that is why, as I personally try to correct my reneging nature, I'm so sensitive these days to when Callaway says one thing then does another. When Jeurys Familia got back from his injury, Callaway said they would ease him back into high-leverage situations. The Seth Lugo injury certainly left them altering strategy, but only within a few days was he given back the 8th inning mantle, and a day after giving up a run in the 7th, no less. Then, as another example, Callaway overall preaches taking everything one game at a time, but then is quoted as not committing to Tomas Nido being deGrom's personal catcher because they'll need Wilson Ramos's bat out there in the playoffs. He makes a point, for sure, that it won't be ideal for the light-hitting Nido to be starting game 1 of the division series if we even make it that far. Guess what, though? There are better ways to frame that. Say, we need Ramos to be catching our best pitcher because we need all of our personnel on the same page. Whatever is the wording, don't be mentioning the playoffs when you are struggling to even push over the .500 mark. For the Mets, and for Mickey Callaway in his green managerial career, it's 1 step forward, 3 steps back. For two years in a row, Mickey has struggled to maintain his club's hot start. Last June, the Mets went 5-21. Any chance they had for the season completely fell by the wayside then, obviously. I and others wondered whether they were going to lose 100 games for the first time since the 90's. The way they were playing, it was a grand possibility. Now, this June, they play the likes of the Phillies, the Braves, the Yankees, the Rockies, the Cardinals and the Cubs, with the Giants the only team under .500 they face. As we saw on this past road trip, every flaw the team has was exposed by the better clubs after they were able to mask their flaws, which still bled out some, against the Nationals and Tigers at home. Callaway may not survive long enough for his team to have yet another similarly bad month. I am not sure I like the way Brodie Van Wagenen is operating the ballclub. We all know it always comes back, regardless of the management personnel, to the way the Wilpons operate the team. Callaway, however, is leaving much to be desired. I talk about the nature of New York sports in not letting anybody, whether it is a player or a manager, settle in to their role. Callaway is only in his sophomore year managing at all, though this may be why it is so difficult for a newbie to get his feet wet with a team like the Mets. Tony LaRussa survived a few 90-loss seasons to go on and have a very successful career split between the White Sox, the A's and the Cardinals. Terry Francona, Callaway's supposed mentor with the Indians, was not immediately the genius he is viewed as now, beginning his managerial career with the Phillies and 4 losing seasons. We never give anyone, whether it is Amed Rosario or Mickey Callaway, a chance to settle in. Mickey, however, is making it rather hard for us to give him the benefit of the doubt when he contradicts himself so much. June is here, buddy. What have you done for us lately?
TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(too fitting a song title to not use twice this year)
Many people want to say, "Oh, it's just the Marlins. The Mets are SUPPOSED to fatten up against a team like that." Any Mets fan knows it's not that simple when it comes to this team, but there we were, trying to climb out of our slog that left us 17-20, one game away from making that winning percentage have at least a 5 in the right place again.
On cue, Mother Nature wanted the Mets, on Mother's Day, no less, to take two days off. Who knows whether we were just being set up for disappointment, after they were just able to give their ace some run support in the 6th inning with some power from our young core in a 4-1 win Saturday night? There on Sunday, however, was an opportunity to somewhat eradicate the road trip that left us shaking our heads and rolling our eyes. With an offday today, we'll just have to wait one more day. My fear is that we were indeed setting ourselves up for disappointment, with the overrated Nationals, currently even worse than the Mets, rolling on in. It is always like the Mets, and a pessimistic way of looking at it on my part, to play the part of slump buster. As terrible as I think the Nationals are when they are always the darlings of the early season predictions, they always have a knack of being a thorn in our sides. The Mets need to crush them when they are this low, making sure they have an even harder time at any point this season getting up again. Otherwise, I envision them looking back on this coming series as the catalyst that turned their season around, and us recognizing it was here when things finally got buried. The only thing I hope gets buried is the consistent inconsistencies, starting with Noah Syndergaard. He must revert back to his superhero ways, and if he needs to do it with his bat, so be it. Regardless of his opponent the day he won 1-0 with a solo shot, he looked so damn fresh and determined in that game. Replicate what you did on a pitch-by-pitch basis that day and you will get back on track. Have at this Nationals team struggling to get by. There we sit 19-20, the rain laughing as it drips on by. Take these days to take some breaths. And let's all regroup when the sun comes out tomorrow. What's that? It's grey till Wednesday? At least the rainy rhythm can sooth a troubled mind. I hope all the Metsian Mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day, whatever you ended up doing.
Yet again we were fooled on cue by fake diamonds and pearls It may only be May 7th But these feelings go round the world Yet again it appears to be The shine that glimmered bright Was only a piece of shit wrapped up in foil blinding us with its light Yet again the holes are exposed Before they can be filled Many of us screamed, "Get the cement!" But budgetary restrictions spoke still. Yet again we just had to believe And yet again we probably will It is never as bad as when it feels at its worst And never as great when we're thrilled.
Yet again we're exasperated fooled by Aprils and Septembers 2015 a lifetime ago We can't live just to remember The losing the only consistency Of the last 50 years two years of winning six years of losing The rollercoaster fills many beers Yet again there is much more season left And things may yet turn around. But yet again It feels like crashing and burning will be the only sound. Yet again we will stay up late To watch them on the left coast. And yet again We will continue to push Hoping they don't just melt. Yet again we will watch this team As ugly as it can be.
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.)
Yesterday, I got an opportunity to sleep an extra 3 hours after having gotten used to 5-6 hours of sleep in general lately. The sleep police out there will say that isn't enough, but when your body gets used to it, you're weirdly even more out of it when you get those extra 3 hours. I knew I needed more sleep so when my first ride took me back to the city from a far way away, I decided to find a parking space and crash out for a bit more knowing I would be driving the rideshare game further into the weekend night. When I woke up around noon, I was way out of it and it was pouring outside. More rides tend to head out in the rain with less people wanting to walk those shorter trips. So, I got right to it once I crossed into Jersey. All day, as I drove around in the inconsistent weather, sometimes raining, sometimes turned off, briefly sun showers, I thought to myself, "They couldn't make the decision to pitch Jacob deGrom off the DL for the first time in THIS, right? It's so inconsistent."
Inconsistency is the name of the game with the Mets. We are all trying to practice consistency in our lives and I overall struggle with being scatterbrained and unfocused. I, however, am not a Major League Baseball organization. The second I saw that alert that he was coming off the DL, I knew, even as it was rather dry out at that moment, that something was not right about this being the night. I had looked at the weather alert. I was well aware that the rain was supposed to pick up around the time the game got going. When I saw it was delayed, I said, of COURSE it is. As it got going around 2 1/2 hours after the initial start time, it was raining rather hard in North Jersey. What did anyone expect was going to happen? Rust, the delay, whatever it was and is, deGrom should not have been on that mound, as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention how inconsistent the bats have been on this homestand since having pretty energetic first 2 nights against the Phillies. Since throwing behind Rhys Hoskins, the Mets have not backed up anybody on that mound, as much as we continuously moan about Jason Vargas. Full disclosure: Since I was driving during the 10-2 Mets loss to the Brewers, I hardly have enough details to know exactly what went down in last night's deBacle. After making a mistake with the LOB from Wednesday's game, not investigating further the fact 19 Left On Base sounded rather high after reading that on the Mets box score page and getting called out by facebook folk...I am committed to stopping to smell all the details before ranting and raving and barking and yelling. In this instance, however, the score and the rain leading up to the game is all I feel I need to claim, "deGrom shouldn't have been out there." The guy is still, however, an inspiration. He made no excuses afterwards (when they ended sometime after midnight....cue eye roll) and I hope outside of all the extraneous circumstances, he uses it as motivation to get even better like he did after his bad stretches in 2017.
Ugh and Oy.
I gotta go.
Naturally, I alluded to it in the title of this post. Cue Creedence.
I wasn't able to pay nearly full attention to the game last night, let alone analyze the numbers (and that isn't because of the fact the Mets were on ESPMeh.) I was, per usual, driving Lyft and forcing myself to drive before, during and after the Game of Thrones premiere when I knew I would be dropping people off and picking people up to and from, respectively, their respective Game of Thrones parties.
At quick glance, it looks like the offense got stifled by a great ace counter in Julio Teheran and deGrom hasn't gotten completely back on track to his stifling Cy Young form. No matter these factors, I still point back to my points about Jason Vargas in my last post. It doesn't matter how good your top 4 starters are, and we have some pretty darn good top 4 starters. If that 5th one is a MAJOR drop off, then momentum you have gained during those 4 other games will be seriously thrown off and it may take a few games to gain it back. Unfortunately, they are going with Jason Vargas at least one more time, and it's not like we're not rooting for him to have a Natural-type turnaround albeit on the mound. We wish he were the 2nd coming of every great pitcher who ever pitched this beautiful game. BUUUUUUT...
The Mets could have seriously used a 4-game series win going into their first series against their Turnpike rivals in Philadelphia, but alas, 'twas not meant to be. They'll need their Avenger superhero Noah Syndergaard to step up and pick up the slack. 'Twill be helpful for the offense to do what they normally can do as an oppositional team in Citizens Bank, ie, KNOCK THE BALL CONTINUOUSLY OUT OF THE PARK. Will be interesting seeing the beefed up new lineup the Phillies have put together for their 2019 run.
Enjoy the game, all. And as always on April 15, Happy Jackie Robinson Day.
I believe the Mets to be good. Ya Gotta. I think what they have shown us so far is much more reason to be optimistic than last year's above-their-heads 11-1 start. The offense has had a fantastic approach, seemingly attacking in ways the opposition cannot continuously adjust around. Usually, when a team is making a run, the starting rotation is lucky to have two aces at the top with the other 3 pretty good to round it out. It is a blessing, of course, that we have 4 horses that could potentially in the long run be other team's best.
The 5th starter, however, is not supposed to be this freakin' awful. Many of us all offseason long were screaming that no matter how Jason Vargas seemed to get better in the 2nd half of the season last year, we all expected him to resort to the atrocious pitching he presented at the beginning of it. He wasn't all that good in his first start and he was skipped to keep our better pitchers (cough cough deGrom) on a regular pitching schedule with so many off days early on. So, maybe he was a little rusty, but excuses excuses excuses. This world hates them (no matter how hypocritical each of us are and how often we seem to make them) and you have to adjust to what is thrown your way. His throwing was so bad he was taken out in the 1st with clearly no faith he would get back on track. Post-game, Jason Vargas made the excuse that he wasn't out there long enough to make an overall assessment of his pitching. Oh, please. This isn't the type of talk fans want to hear and most likely not the type of talk teammates or coaches want to hear either. There isn't an easy fix, no matter how much we keep screaming for Dallas Keuchel. That would be INSANELY AWESOME. This is the Wilpons, however, we're talking about. They do not operate in the same operational plane that most successful teams do. Signing him would not only most likely sure up our potential success but prevent our divisional rivals from swooping in to counter our attack with the pitcher of topic. It's crazy that a former Cy Young award winner, and one who hasn't had a drop off in performance of Matt Harvey territory, is still out there on the free agent market along with an elite closer of Craig Kimbrel's ilk. At this point, give a kid down in Syracuse a chance instead of someone who wants to keep making these excuses. We all will make excuses, but we have to continue to check ourselves and make less and less of them as time goes on. Maybe one day, the Wilpons themselves will heed those words as well.
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.
On Wednesday night, as Jacob deGrom and the Mets took on the Marlins in Miami, I was driving around enjoying my #LyftLife having decided to keep the oldies going on Pandora Radio instead of putting the game on the radio. For some reason, and maybe it feels different during the day with the sun out, I just wanted the passengers to enjoy the grooves instead of subjecting them to a game they most likely weren't interested in. After all, no matter how much I like baseball and the Mets, not everybody does nor needs to hear the sweet sounds of baseball on the radio. Plus, as I said, it feels much more in tune during the day than when you are picking people up who may be going out for the night.
Throughout the game, MLB At Bat sends me certain alerts, most of which had to do with one particular man: Jacob deGrom. Even when referring to a fast offensive start, the alert read, "With deGrom on the mound and the Mets looking for a sweep in Miami, they take an early lead thanks to this smoked Amed Rosario RBI Triple" (more on that in a bit.) The most jaw dropping alert, however, was that deGrom had hit a homer in the massive Marlins Park, a visual I was most certainly anticipating viewing later on in the night. 'Twas impressive indeed.
More impressive, however, is how absolutely LOCKED IN our Cy Young Award winner is at this point in his career. Throw out your cynicism about it being the Marlins and such, 'cause we all know those pesky, flippin' fish will never allow us to easily pad our win total against them, no matter how much the league and its followers want you to believe they could be the worst team of all time in any given season. The highlight reel of deGrom's night is a thing of beauty, making sure you soak up an artist who has every brush, every color, every palate working, and it not only shows in the pitches batters cannot catch up to, but shows in the way he carries himself on the mound and as he strides towards the dugout after a strikeout. He's just that good right now, and we're watching a once in a lifetime talent quietly go about his business. His business, however, is so good, it is screaming at you to pay attention. Regarding Amed Rosario's triple, his approach is maturing and indicative of the overall approach of the offense that has been so impressive in the first six games. They are attacking the ball and going the other way. Whether it is Amed or newcomer Pete Alonso, there is a consistent approach us fans can pick up on, and whether it is just hitting coach Chili Davis or the overall offensive mantra they are going with post-Alderson era, I'm loving every minute of it and I hope and pray they don't get away from it. Jake the great is the boss right now. And we may finally have an offense that can support his impressive stuff. Have at it, fellas. Knock that ball all over the park. Just like Jake.
I have just arrived in the last 24 hours to the place I spent the majority of 2018, Denver, Colorado, where I was fortunately but much more unfortunately taking in the last 7 months of my dad's life with him, my oldest sister, my niece and my nephew. I prefaced with "fortunately" because there must be fortune to making the decision that I couldn't hang on the sidelines in New York while my dad and the family dealt with the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, the newly-anointed "worst of the cancers." When I was growing up, at least via my perception, lung cancer was a devastating blow. Now, however, even Walter White can ride a little longer than how quickly my dad went from diagnosis to small enough to attempt rare "Whipple" surgery, to metastasized and spreading to dead within 9 months from being diagnosed on his 73rd birthday. I don't know how to say it, because I feel in some ways I'd have to start overdescribing the personality that is my father, but not only am I making a movie detailing the very essence that was our dad Max, but I can explain, through one of my dad's favorite jokes, how the man dealt with the pain: "Well, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
That passion, however, though always there, has not manifested itself thoroughly and in the ways I have practiced over the last few years. I got out here with a great ballpark and didn't go to one single non-Mets game and the 2018 Mets lost both of the games I did go to, evening out my overall Coors Field Mets record to 2-2 from going 2-0 in 2012. Although, come to think of it, after my dad's death, my family and I did go to a Cardinals/Rockies game but that basically sums up the depression I felt and didn't even realize it: I go to games by myself on a whim all the time. Yes, the fact the Rockies aren't my team partially played into that, but the fact I never just walked up and enjoyed a random game of baseball before Lyft-driving passengers back to Littleton, or Arvada, or anywhere in the greater Denver Area is astounding and asinine to me.
The 2018 New York Mets, when you think about it, mirrored my dad's cancer-fighting process: So much hope at the beginning...eventually, though, disastrous. I tuned in, I soaked up, I always pay attention even when I can't listen or watch. But there still is that disconnect from who I've been and what I am as a fan. This past year I've never felt more detached, the 2007 season notwithstanding. That year, I was lost is weed, wine and vinyl, and then all of a sudden my friend from Philly in September was like, "Are you not paying attention to what is going on?" This past year, however, was an entirely different beast that will be the defining moment of wherever this life goes. I did not respond to the inevitable well, the moment that all of us will eventually deal with before dealing with our own mortality. When, no matter what we have going on in our lives or how well or terrible we have it together, we have to take care of our parents just at the time when we can't even take care of ourselves. Or, as I say in dailies of our budding movie about Max, "Adulting hits you hard. And all of a sudden, before you even figure it out, you gotta be concerned and take care of your parents. And you have to be completely selfless, just when all you want to be is selfish."
When I finally made it to Citi Field in September, it was a weird feeling going through the motions again. Taking the train...walking down the corridor of the station before exiting into that Metsian Plaza. It was familiar, but strange. I hadn't been jacked at all, I didn't have that, "I'm going to my first home Mets game of 2018" feeling. The entire thing felt foreign. And then, I was reminded of along the way, there was something about this night actually...
Jacob deGrom was pitching. And it was obviously the last time in a crazy historical season that he would do so.
Ok, I like that. I'm starting to feel it a bit.
But on that first approach, it wasn't completely there.
I sat down in the upper deck. That magic feeling's not completely brewing but some of the brooding sadness and depression are starting to subside. The baseball field is certainly a nice sight but I'm not..."pumped" yet, if you will. That excitement, that feeling, that loud baseball New York fan feeling.
And then there was that ERA anxiety. Well...I guess I at least had that. That feeling when a player on your team is doing something so Amazin' that you need him to keep putting up zeros so that Amazin' number can keep dropping.
Single up the middle. Oh, boy.
He stole second. Braves are tough, they won the division after all.
Inciarte. out. Freeman? out. Markakis out.
Alright, alright, alright. I'm not loud yet, but appreciate the wigglin' out.
Then, if there was ever any doubt of where my 2018 Mets were, Jacob deGrom proceeded to suck me back into that ol' Mets feeling, mowing down like it was the first game of the year basically every single batter he faced thereafter in a 2-hitter Seth Lugo shouldn't have finished but did with flying colors. Groundout, strikeout, lineout. Jacob deGrom is going to win the Cy Young AND he'll be a winning pitcher at 10-9. It's so funny the little things we root for but a winning record was a factor as well.
And there it was. The reason we all came. No matter the darkness, there is always light in this game we play. Jacob deGrom can reaffirm my passion and conviction for this band of misfits, for this beautiful sport my dad helped bring to me in heavy dosages, and for life itself. It's been real tough and continues to be so, but at least we have Jacob deGrom. Or baseball itself. Or the New York Mets. No matter how much they aggravate us, as does life and death, you can count on them to put a smile on your face even if you're doing it while shaking your head.
It really was a good play indeed.
REST. E. Z. MAX.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(My dad was certainly a performer through and through. One of the last roles he performed was in a stage production of Man of La Mancha out here in Colorado. While this was not the role he played, he most likely burst out singing this song randomly while just living his life, so an appropriate way to end this.)
While the playoffs are most likely not happening, 'tis nice to check in from my first visit to London and see a laugher occur out of the All-Star break.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
The Colorado Rockies are sitting rather comfortably in the 2nd Wild Card spot with a 6.5 game lead over their closest competition (we are 9.5 back of them) but have not been playing well of late after getting off to a ridiculously good start. They are an ever-annoying team (I guess that can be said about any team playing the Mets with some clearly at the top of the heap?) even when they have been on the lower end of the competitive spectrum. I am still not sold on that environment in Denver being conducive to a consistently good Major League caliber team, even though the ballpark is my favorite of the ones I have been to and the area around the ballpark a fun time as well. We'll see if they can one day prove me wrong.
Seeing Yoenis Cespedes look refreshed out of the break with a four-hit game and showing off his arm is a breath of fresh air, and hopefully this is the start of one of his ridonkulously great stretches. Keep those legs loose!!
Jacob deGrom is everyone's favorite pitcher on the Mets, right? I know the health of pitchers these days is a fluid situation, but this team should be aiming to build around Jacob, Thor and Matz.
Alright, I woke up here in London unable to get back to sleep after only 3 hours, and after getting a taste of the British version of McDonalds for breakfast (don't worry, I've been sampling plenty of the local goods that isn't their take on an American staple) I'm going to try to get back to the pillows. Looking to hopefully find the Sunday day game in a local pub if possible, so I'll let you all know how that goes.
I was basking in the rarity of a Mets win against the Nats, and it dawned on me the juxtaposition of how I used to write every day during those seasons of 2012, 2013 and 2014, yet have been mostly absent during 2015, 2016 and 2017. Life comes at you, and you have ebbs and flows of motivation, but it is so simple to scurry on over to the website that helps produce this and jot a few words down on those Metsies in the Orange and Blue.
Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Here the Mets are, looking as bad as those '12-'14 teams, but that shouldn't be the only reason to write. I was documenting my time following the Mets back then, hoping that the "Ya Gotta Believe" mantra would bring about more wins than losses as the seasons progressed. That still hasn't changed, but during these years where things have turned around, I have had other things I needed to focus on while still obsessing over this measly ol' mediocre baseball team that seems to pull it together usually when all seems lost. Or not at all, but when they do pull it together, usually all seems lost right before the run begins. Why can't I head to this blog and jot down the minimum amount of words possible, which is whatever the fuck I want? The Mets this year have not been able to take hold of momentum when it is ripe on the vine. I have many thoughts (Primarily about the lack of Amed Rosario) but I'll leave those for future writings that will begin to fill these digital pages once more. deGrom deGested a baseball today for the first time in his Major League career, an opposite field shot that was mighty impressive indeed. On top of dominating from the 2nd inning onward. It just goes to show you that no matter how miserable the Mets can look from inning to inning against a foe like that Nats, Ya just Gotta keep watching, because someone might do something that you've never seen before. There's no business like Mets business. There's no business I know.
In October 2006, in the living room of a friend of mine not into baseball at all, I watched Endy Chavez make an incredible catch...and subsequently Aaron Heilman, Carlos Beltran, and a nasty curveball that absolutely pissed me off.
In September 2007, my friend Ted, a huge Phillies fan I've discussed on here before (in fact, first) texted me something I can vaguely remember now, but my response might have straight up been, "What are you talking about?"
To which he responded...
"Do you know what's going on?"
He had snapped me out of a season-long credit-card-max-out-inducing vinyl disc binge I had been going on, and I got back just in time to watch the 1st inning (or 1/3 of...) of Tom Gl%£¥ne's non-devastating 7 run performance. I vowed to never NOT follow the Mets daily again.
In September 2008, in a White Plains bar, I watched the bullpen put a bow on a very exciting yet uneven, odd and bittersweet last season of Shea Stadium baseball. About a week before that, I watched on the SNY Plaza monitor Daniel Murphy, who led off with a triple, get stranded on 3rd in the 9th inning against the Cubs. A disgruntled fan, with as thick of a New York accent as you can imagine, walked away, exclaiming, "Dey Stink!" Luis Alaya blew it right thereafter. I shook my head at Lee Mazzilli.
I got myself to Shea Stadium the next night, my last time ever in the building, and the Mets walked off on the Cubs in what everybody knew was an evening too late.
In October 2009, after the worst season, still to this day, I ever experienced as a baseball fan, I watched the Yankees take on the Phillies. I rooted for the Phillies...eesh.
October 2010, I watched Sandy Alderson introduce himself.
October 2011...
October 2012...
'13...
'14...
'15.
In August, I found out that the friend whose house I watched 2006's Game 7 at, whom I hadn't really seen since 2009, overdosed back in April and passed away. Besides being the first person my age (30) to die that I once spent a lot of time with, he died, unbeknownst to me till August, while I was in the middle of writing the 1st draft of a screenplay that takes place during the time I knew him.
Now, I don't mention this to bring the mood down, but my point is how long 9 years really is. A lot can change in that matter of time. And I, and we, have been through a lot as Mets fans in that time.
I thought about my former fandom some as I watched the Yankees and their fans go down in 1 game. I have an interesting perspective as having been raised in the Yankees world in my initial baseball years, then coming of age and becoming a Mets fan as an adult (the way I see it, I was born again, and now have been thoroughly raised in Mets fandom.) While Mets fans can sit in their anxieties that the other shoe will eventually drop, Yankee fans are cocky about the ghosts eventually emerging and swinging things the navy pinstripes' way, or at least that was the attitude till 2004. 11 years of a different world where the Yankees no longer dominate the Red Sox and have only been to and won only 1 World Series might have quelled that inevitable feeling for those fans, but while watching that Wild Card game, I couldn't have felt farther removed from the Yankee fan mindset.
I stopped having fun in my Yankee fandom. I have, including during my time rooting first and foremost for the Yanks, never not had fun rooting for the Mets.
We New Yorkers are lucky.
Unlike other towns, where the only flags you see flapping are Phillies flags, or Indians flags, or Red Sox, or Cardinals, or Brewers, etc. you see not only the local baseball flavor worn here, but basically every other team in all of human sports accounted for, since New York is a domestic and global phenomenon. In the 4 major U.S. sports, we have 9 local sports teams to mix and match with.
And in baseball, over here, we choose the Mets. In reality though, the Mets chose us.
And it doesn't matter how shallow or deep our playoff run ends up being.
After 9 years, I am about to have the time of my life.
KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.
LET'S. GO. METS.
(Thanks to Greg Prince of FAFIF for the song selection. Only one that makes sense.)
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