I was saying to my friend Paul today after I got word that the Mets lost. That I don't even believe the Brooklyn Dodgers ever choked away two seasons in a row like this. Did the Red Sox, the Cubs, any team?
And judging from the stat in the headline, I believe I am right. Usually a team has a season like last year where they come so close only to fall apart and come back the next year and win a pennant, or don't even contend, which to me is more acceptable.
The all-time collapse is still the 1964 Phillies. They blew a 6 1/2 game lead with ONLY 12 games to go. To me that's much worse than 7 with 17 to go, but you don't hear people talking about it anymore, because they want to beat up on a New York team. But what did the Phillies do in 1965? They finished in 6th Place.
But the Mets blew two of these leads in a row. I really think they need to start looking at trading some stars and of course hiring an entirely new bullpen. They blew 29 saves!!! By comparison, the Phillies closer, went 41 for 41 in save opportunities. If the Mets blow just half those games they win their division by 12 games!!
Omar Minaya supposedly got a 4 year contract extension, that is outrageous if it's true, his head has to be near the chopping block for these two disasters. I'd like to give him a year to correct it, but FOUR???? I like him as a person, but I'd seriously consider trading David Wright, he is a great ordinary game ball player, but he CHOKES huge in the clutch. Which you could excuse if they didn't have an even bigger choke artist in Carlos Beltran. He hit .224 from the 7th inning on for the season. The Mets as a team had the worst batting average from the 7th inning on.
I like having stars, but not at the cost of championships. The Yankees of 1996 showed that you can win a World Series without stars. What you need is solid pitching and clutch hitting. Jeter, Posada, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Brosius, Tino Martinez and Wade Boggs all came through huge in the clutch, it is why the Yanks were such a powerhouse and such a terrible team to try to beat. What Omar needs to do is stop looking at players' baseball cards and start watching videos of them playing in pressure games in pressure situations and trade FOR THOSE GUYS!!!!
I don't know who they are. I don't watch other teams except when they play against the Mets. But I hear about them from the hinterlands. It is Omar's job not to get excited about the prettiest thing under the tree, we the fans can do that, he needs to find the guy who comes through year after year when the money is on the line. Carlos Delgado has shown to be that kind of player, but he is getting old. Jose Reyes is a sparkplug, but for some reason even he needs jumper cables when the pressure is on.
I'm less than disgusted. Maybe because I could see this coming. I am so glad I wasn't at Shea today like I was last year on the Final Day. I can't even imagine how embarrassing it was to have that final Shea ceremony after the game in front of all those champions. Willie Mays and Seaver, Gooden and Strawberry. Even Mike Piazza, who played on two classic choke teams (1998, 2001), at least made the playoffs twice, won three playoffs series as a Met and went to a World Series. That's more than Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado have done.
If one bright shining star rose from the ashes in all this mess. It is that we have the greatest starting pitcher in our midst since Dwight Gooden. Johan Santana is the Money Man. He is the greatest clutch pitcher we might have ever had. Gooden never won a playoff game. Darling had his stinkers when the money was on the line. David Cone talked us into losing a series to the Dodgers and Tom Seaver lost a few games in the World Series. Santana gained tons of new respect from me with his last two outings and if you were ever going to build a fresh team around one player, he is it.
My friend Paul said, if by the Mets blowing these two seasons in a row, it forces them to do a major shakeup and with those new players they win the World Series next year, would all this pain be worth it?
I said yes, but that would take some major miracle. If the Mets play bad again next year, instead of their new ballpark being called Citi Field, it will be known as Shitty Field.
The Freditor
And judging from the stat in the headline, I believe I am right. Usually a team has a season like last year where they come so close only to fall apart and come back the next year and win a pennant, or don't even contend, which to me is more acceptable.
The all-time collapse is still the 1964 Phillies. They blew a 6 1/2 game lead with ONLY 12 games to go. To me that's much worse than 7 with 17 to go, but you don't hear people talking about it anymore, because they want to beat up on a New York team. But what did the Phillies do in 1965? They finished in 6th Place.
But the Mets blew two of these leads in a row. I really think they need to start looking at trading some stars and of course hiring an entirely new bullpen. They blew 29 saves!!! By comparison, the Phillies closer, went 41 for 41 in save opportunities. If the Mets blow just half those games they win their division by 12 games!!
Omar Minaya supposedly got a 4 year contract extension, that is outrageous if it's true, his head has to be near the chopping block for these two disasters. I'd like to give him a year to correct it, but FOUR???? I like him as a person, but I'd seriously consider trading David Wright, he is a great ordinary game ball player, but he CHOKES huge in the clutch. Which you could excuse if they didn't have an even bigger choke artist in Carlos Beltran. He hit .224 from the 7th inning on for the season. The Mets as a team had the worst batting average from the 7th inning on.
I like having stars, but not at the cost of championships. The Yankees of 1996 showed that you can win a World Series without stars. What you need is solid pitching and clutch hitting. Jeter, Posada, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Brosius, Tino Martinez and Wade Boggs all came through huge in the clutch, it is why the Yanks were such a powerhouse and such a terrible team to try to beat. What Omar needs to do is stop looking at players' baseball cards and start watching videos of them playing in pressure games in pressure situations and trade FOR THOSE GUYS!!!!
I don't know who they are. I don't watch other teams except when they play against the Mets. But I hear about them from the hinterlands. It is Omar's job not to get excited about the prettiest thing under the tree, we the fans can do that, he needs to find the guy who comes through year after year when the money is on the line. Carlos Delgado has shown to be that kind of player, but he is getting old. Jose Reyes is a sparkplug, but for some reason even he needs jumper cables when the pressure is on.
I'm less than disgusted. Maybe because I could see this coming. I am so glad I wasn't at Shea today like I was last year on the Final Day. I can't even imagine how embarrassing it was to have that final Shea ceremony after the game in front of all those champions. Willie Mays and Seaver, Gooden and Strawberry. Even Mike Piazza, who played on two classic choke teams (1998, 2001), at least made the playoffs twice, won three playoffs series as a Met and went to a World Series. That's more than Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado have done.
If one bright shining star rose from the ashes in all this mess. It is that we have the greatest starting pitcher in our midst since Dwight Gooden. Johan Santana is the Money Man. He is the greatest clutch pitcher we might have ever had. Gooden never won a playoff game. Darling had his stinkers when the money was on the line. David Cone talked us into losing a series to the Dodgers and Tom Seaver lost a few games in the World Series. Santana gained tons of new respect from me with his last two outings and if you were ever going to build a fresh team around one player, he is it.
My friend Paul said, if by the Mets blowing these two seasons in a row, it forces them to do a major shakeup and with those new players they win the World Series next year, would all this pain be worth it?
I said yes, but that would take some major miracle. If the Mets play bad again next year, instead of their new ballpark being called Citi Field, it will be known as Shitty Field.
The Freditor
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