Let's Go (Home,) Mets!
You're a Mets fan. For the second straight year, your underachieving team was eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the season. At home. Against the Marlins. Again. Now, for the next six months, you'll watch as the media hammers down on your players and manager, interrogating the team chemistry, the leadership in the clubhouse, the starting rotation and bullpen, and how a team of talented players can blow a division lead in two straight years.
The collapse wasn't as bad for the Metropolitans this year as last though. Last year's fall was the stuff of storybooks and eulogies. This year, they were bitten by the injury bug. And everyone knew the bullpen was going to stink. Especially when closer Billy Wagner went down with the injury. Even manager Jerry Manuel said that the bullpen was a "roll of the dice" every time he went to it.
"We knew [the bullpen] wasn't quite something that was going to hit on all cylinders," Manuel said. "When you don't have people in established roles in this time [of the year], you're gambling."
In fact, it really is the relievers who need to take the blame for this early ending in New York. They have been miserable all year, somehow managing to be only the tenth-worst pen in the NL. Even in the last game, the fate of the team was put into the hands of Scott Schoenweis and Luis Ayala with the score tied at two apiece. Just for fun, the two men gave up back-to-back solo homers in the eighth inning to seal their fate. The first one was a gift to pinch hitter Wes Helms. Ouch.
After the game, third baseman David Wright spoke about the second straight season of disappointment. "It's always going to be grouped together. Last year, for lack of a better word, we collapsed. This year, I think we hit a little rut in the wrong time to hit a rut."
Being that it was the last game in historic Shea Stadium, the Mets had scheduled a ceremony after the game to honor 45 of their former players, some of whom had won championships for their city. The fans wanted none of it though, filing out the doors of Shea for the last time as soon as the final pitch was delivered. With the spectators bailing out so quickly, all that was left to greet those former Met greats was the booming echoes of GM Omar Minaya's voice as it reverberated through the now-vacant expanse of the stadium.
Carlos Beltran summed it up simply in the clubhouse after the game. "It is what it is, guys," he said. "I have no more words."
So, what do you do when you're at a boring baseball game watching your team choke away another playoff berth down the stretch run of a long season? Why, you turn your attention to the drunk fans, of course. I stumbled on this video of Mets fans keeping themselves entertained during another drubbing. Enjoy.
The collapse wasn't as bad for the Metropolitans this year as last though. Last year's fall was the stuff of storybooks and eulogies. This year, they were bitten by the injury bug. And everyone knew the bullpen was going to stink. Especially when closer Billy Wagner went down with the injury. Even manager Jerry Manuel said that the bullpen was a "roll of the dice" every time he went to it.
"We knew [the bullpen] wasn't quite something that was going to hit on all cylinders," Manuel said. "When you don't have people in established roles in this time [of the year], you're gambling."
In fact, it really is the relievers who need to take the blame for this early ending in New York. They have been miserable all year, somehow managing to be only the tenth-worst pen in the NL. Even in the last game, the fate of the team was put into the hands of Scott Schoenweis and Luis Ayala with the score tied at two apiece. Just for fun, the two men gave up back-to-back solo homers in the eighth inning to seal their fate. The first one was a gift to pinch hitter Wes Helms. Ouch.
After the game, third baseman David Wright spoke about the second straight season of disappointment. "It's always going to be grouped together. Last year, for lack of a better word, we collapsed. This year, I think we hit a little rut in the wrong time to hit a rut."
Being that it was the last game in historic Shea Stadium, the Mets had scheduled a ceremony after the game to honor 45 of their former players, some of whom had won championships for their city. The fans wanted none of it though, filing out the doors of Shea for the last time as soon as the final pitch was delivered. With the spectators bailing out so quickly, all that was left to greet those former Met greats was the booming echoes of GM Omar Minaya's voice as it reverberated through the now-vacant expanse of the stadium.
Carlos Beltran summed it up simply in the clubhouse after the game. "It is what it is, guys," he said. "I have no more words."
So, what do you do when you're at a boring baseball game watching your team choke away another playoff berth down the stretch run of a long season? Why, you turn your attention to the drunk fans, of course. I stumbled on this video of Mets fans keeping themselves entertained during another drubbing. Enjoy.
posted by Eric at
1:13 PM
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