Here’s to the losers/ the substance abusers
To all the rejects / To all the imperfects
Warrior Soul
Yes here’s to our team the 2009 New York Mets, a team that proves that even though you have the highest payroll in the National League, it doesn’t guarantee a winning record. With that being said I would like to congratulate former Met Carlos Gomez and the Minnesota Twins on clinching the A.L Central Division title from the Detroit Tigers – They showed us guts they showed us perseverance and a ” never say die” attitude that was sorely missing from the last game of both the ’07 & ’08 seasons where we could only muster up a combined four runs against the then lowly Marlins. Okay and now with the INFAMY !!
Happy Birthday to an original Met from ’62 ( even though he was a late season call up – outfielder Sammy Drake (1934) We had obtained Drake from the Chicago Cubs organization during the expansion draft of ’61 – He was released after the ’62 season and was never played professionally again.
Also celebrating yet another year on this Earth is none other than utility outfielder and pinch hitting specialist from the ’79-’80 team -José Cardenal (1943) As we all know after retirement he became Joe Torre’s bench coach during the late ’90′s for our cross town rival New York Yankees.
On a final note today I can’t help but to feel numb about all this – it feels strange – yes I am a Mets fan for thirty seven years and yes I am used to losing seasons . But this feels different. The past two seasons my heart was ripped out on the final day of the season – first with blow out – ( thanks again Tom Glavine!!) and then again last year where we were winning up until the bullpen ( yet again) imploded . This year it was obvious by late June that unless a major trade was made or the calvary came stampeding back that this season was lost and I guess even though I cheered hard and passionately I was just fooling myself . And as you my readers noticed in my columns that I went from Pollyanna to being a pessimistic realist. And honestly after listening to Omar & Jeff on sitcom that is “Francessa’s Always Right ” I wish I could say I’m optimistic but I have heard the same horse hockey from from upper management before .But I will always support my team through the good times and the bad ( I can’t ever see my self rooting passionately for another team) So as the book on 2009 closes lets hope a more positive one will be written for 2010 ( the year we make contact with the trophy?)
Oct 07
This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty 10-07-09
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43 comments
metsfan4decades
10/7/2009-7:57am at 7:57 am (UTC -4)
Greg Prince over on Faith and Fear in Flushing has a good post yesterday summing up how I feel about this whole season and the Mets FO. He expressed it far better than I ever could.
And contrats to the Twins. Here’s hoping that momentum takes them right past the Yankees, starting tonight!
darknova306
10/7/2009-8:02am at 8:02 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, about the only thing we could really get out of that interview with Omar and Jeff was that Omar and Jerry will be at the helm next season (and our opinions on that have all been well defined), and that we still have no definite answer on budget for this offseason. All we heard is that “we’ll continue to have one of the highest payrolls in the league”. Action is the only thing that matters this offseason, these words are all meaningless.
trs86
10/7/2009-8:16am at 8:16 am (UTC -4)
Well he did say there is no set limit and Omar will get what he feels he needs. So again, I see nothing to the fact that they will lower payroll due to needing to lower payroll. Now if they can’t get Lackey, Bay or Holiday for some reason because they decide to go elsewhere then you MAY see a smaller bottom line because there would be no one worth spending the big bucks on. Of course if that happen I would rather them go after many short term FA.
metsfan4decades
10/7/2009-8:32am at 8:32 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, let’s not spend money just for the sake of spending money. That would be incredibly dumb and would smack of trying to appease the fan base.
If the higher priced FAs that would fill holes aren’t available and don’t work out, then go for the lesser ones to fill some holes. Maybe pieces we still might be missing will become available at mid season trade deadline….
trs86
10/7/2009-8:56am at 8:56 am (UTC -4)
Exactly, I would persue the high priced early and try and get my top guys. After that look at the trade market then if still no game changers, back fill with those guys who are always left over because of the poor economy such as Abreu last year.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-9:04am at 9:04 am (UTC -4)
the difficulty will be that Boras will extend this till March, so there won’t be middle tier FA’s left in case we can’t get Holliday or Lackey.
trs86
10/7/2009-9:09am at 9:09 am (UTC -4)
There were plenty of ones left after the big names last year even. Look how late guys like Wolf and Abreu signed.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-9:13am at 9:13 am (UTC -4)
hope so
trs86
10/7/2009-9:18am at 9:18 am (UTC -4)
And Lackey is NOT a Boras client. Boras is shut out in this year’s pitchers market offering only Washburn and Rodrigo Lopez.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-9:24am at 9:24 am (UTC -4)
oh, good
trs86
10/7/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
However if he pulls the occasional Boras and makes Washburn hold out only to screw himself, I will take Washburn on a 1 year incentive deal along with Lackey.
darknova306
10/7/2009-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
That’s nice to hear.
darknova306
10/7/2009-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
True. Omar’s typical patience would lead one to believe he could wait for these types of players to come cheap, but proved that wrong last year by jumping on Ollie as soon as Lowe signed with Atlanta, then ignoring the pitching after that. Maybe that was due to him not being as skeptical of our rotation as I was, and maybe he can realize our serious pitching needs this year and actually fix it right, but I won’t hold my breath.
trs86
10/7/2009-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)
I think it was just a poor decision that he felt he was forced into. I think the Lowe signing caught him off guard and there was no doubt that based on talent alone that Ollie was the best of what was left. I don’t think any of us would have REALLY expected Garland to be that much better than Ollie this past year or Wolf to stay healthy.
darknova306
10/7/2009-10:34am at 10:34 am (UTC -4)
That’s a fair point, but I was personally done with the ‘he’s got talent’ defense of Ollie a while ago. Omar should have at least sat back and carefully thought through his options (which has been a strength with him at times).
And to be fair, I expect a 5 year old to pitch better than Ollie.
wannybackstra
10/7/2009-10:40am at 10:40 am (UTC -4)
But it was Livan’s fault the Mets walked so many hitters this year, not Ollie’s 58 in 61 innings.
trs86
10/7/2009-10:55am at 10:55 am (UTC -4)
Yeah Ollie was terrible but I don’t think even the great Wanny could have predicted that he would be this bad. I thought at worst a #5 starter and if that was what we got we would have overpaid but still gotten a return. Examples, Silva, Padilla, etc. I am not saying that makes the contract ok but it at least makes it barable.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-9:13am at 9:13 am (UTC -4)
“and that we still have no definite answer on budget for this offseason.”
What else do you want Wilpon to say?
“He said the team will continue to have one of the highest payrolls in the National League, despite being the second year of a new ballpark.”
“The payroll is what Omar needs,†he said. “There is no set limit.â€
He said he’s opening up his purse for Omar to spend as he sees fit. So Omar doesn’t have an excuse for not signing FAs.
I guess you want a figure. Why? The real question is, “Will Omar have the money to go after the guys he wants?” The answer is yes.
What more could you want to know?
trs86
10/7/2009-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
What kind of bargaining tool would that be anyway with this year’s FA. Wilpon comes out and says Mets will set a new team record in payroll. If I am a FA then I am going to try and squeeze every penny out of them. Hey you still have another 10M you have not spent yet. LOL.
darknova306
10/7/2009-9:31am at 9:31 am (UTC -4)
Fair enough, comment withdrawn.
Kingman 26
10/7/2009-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
Well Case, in all fairness, not to be a spoilsport here, but that interview was 100% politics and an attempt to keep fans from cancelling their tix, and to save face after a truly horrid year…..we will see how much they spend, and I am sure it is Fred who holds the purse strings and not Jeff.
I will be absolutely thrilled with the same or slightly higher payroll, and with Lackey and maybe Holliday or a trade for a big-money guy we may not even have on our horizon, but it is absolutely also possible that when the season is farther in the rearview, we will hear things about “changed/changing circumstances” and we might not get what we want.
As for Dark’s comment “Action is the only thing that matters this offseason, these words are all meaningless.” He is 100% right.
We shall see….
trs86
10/7/2009-9:40am at 9:40 am (UTC -4)
I agree with the comment on actions. I however, while I understand it was politics, think it was very good for Omar and Jeff to go on the air with one of their biggest critics and answer questions. They did not HAVE to and I am sure people would have or would not have bought tickets either way.
darknova306
10/7/2009-10:24am at 10:24 am (UTC -4)
One of the good things about all of this is that it’s at least forcing Jeff to come out and be vocal. The Wilpons have seemed like some of the most reclusive owners in sports for a long time, so it’s nice to see one of them actually showing his face and making statements.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-9:57am at 9:57 am (UTC -4)
possibly, but at least they’re saying the right things.
I really don’t care how much they spend as long as they improve the team and address the areas in need of improvement.
trs86
10/7/2009-10:12am at 10:12 am (UTC -4)
Which will require them for at least a few more years to spend a lot of money.
Kingman 26
10/7/2009-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Nice work as always Rust—I completely agree with your last three sentences especially!
steveo
10/7/2009-9:36am at 9:36 am (UTC -4)
Money still won’t fix the core problems on this team,we are still forgetting omar is running this team with the wilpons pulling the strings on their puppet same problems next year with this incompident group running the show.
trs86
10/7/2009-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
That same puppet had the Mets in line to make the playoffs in 2008 and 2007 and was pretty damn good in 2006. Omar has a lot of issues but what we can’t say is that he can’t put a competitive team on the field. Can he put a complete team on the field? Most likely not.
steveo
10/7/2009-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
In line to make the playoffs doesn’t equal making the play offs on paper it shows up as not making it, on paper the way omar works, on paper what the wilpons want is green paper.A good team in NY makes them money a championship team don’t really matter to them.
CaseStreet
10/7/2009-10:04am at 10:04 am (UTC -4)
Of course a Championship matters. Teams that win Championships get more fans which equals more tickets and merchandising sales and increased ratings on SNY. There’s a reason why the Yankees have so much revenue.
The Wilpons could put out a good team with much less paid in player salary, instead they lead the league in salary because they want to win.
Make no mistake, championships do make money.
trs86
10/7/2009-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
I am confused by this comment. Could the Wilpons not slash payroll to say 70M and still PROFIT about what they are now? That 80M that they saved in payroll for more than make up for the loss in ticket sells.
udontmesswthejohan
10/7/2009-9:40am at 9:40 am (UTC -4)
Yes, the previous two years (I guess we can make that 3 now) have been excruciating, but say this for the Mets, at least they had the decency NOT to take it to a 12 inning one game playoff loss.
prismo
10/7/2009-9:48am at 9:48 am (UTC -4)
That would’ve been so exciting…I miss that adrenaline rush.
udontmesswthejohan
10/7/2009-9:52am at 9:52 am (UTC -4)
No way man. You aren’t thinking of how horrible it would be to lose a game like that. especially with all the opportunities they had. Nah, I think I might actually be able to enjoy a little playoff baseball for a change this year.
prismo
10/7/2009-9:53am at 9:53 am (UTC -4)
Better to have loved and lost than never loved before.
udontmesswthejohan
10/7/2009-9:56am at 9:56 am (UTC -4)
Touche.
metsfan4decades
10/7/2009-10:41am at 10:41 am (UTC -4)
Ha! Good one….
Kingman 26
10/7/2009-10:04am at 10:04 am (UTC -4)
Agree totally….would have been brutal, but had some incredible moments, and would have been FAR better than the way we have ended every season since 2000 except for 2006….
darknova306
10/7/2009-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
If they had lost a game like that, it would have taken me a while to recover (which 07 and 08 did anyway), but I could have looked back on it fondly as a great game (much like game 7 of the NLCS in ’06). In the end it’s still baseball, which is a beautiful thing, even if it’s marred by chokes and heartbreaking losses.
steveo
10/7/2009-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
Thankyou tigers the laughing stock lable goes to you now.
trs86
10/7/2009-9:46am at 9:46 am (UTC -4)
Problem is no one even noticed or talked about it.
prismo
10/7/2009-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
“At least they’re not the Lions!”
darknova306
10/7/2009-10:37am at 10:37 am (UTC -4)
Hardly. If the Mets and Tigers have any sort of lead in September of 2010, what do you expect the talking heads to mention all the time? They’ll talk about us most likely choking again, but I doubt they’d do anything more than briefly mention the Tigers. No one cares enough about Detroit to hate on that team. NY on the other hand….