As Monty Python once so wisely opined, “Another year has been too soon alas ended.”
Well, for Met fans, players, and organization employees, this year probably could not be ending soon enough.
But still, for those folks who have made their way to The Real Dirty Mets Blog over the last 19 months (yes, we are approaching our second birthday!) every loss does indeed have a slightly more pleasant aspect.
The daily history lesson served up along with a Mo Vaughn-sized platter of cheer from Rusty; the humor from the retired GravediggerHebner to lessen the blow of another disappointing evening of Met-watching; the eternal wellspring of optimism provided by co-founder TRS86; the eye-opening graphics from the always even-tempered Mr. N; the weekly Question bestowed upon us by Will; the éminence grise of MRose; and the true breaths of fresh and well-researched air provided by our newer authors—all of this provides a Met experience like no other.
But it is our readers who make TRDMB what it is. One only has to spend a little time surfing the Mets’ slice of the web to see what some other comment pages bring. One could spend a month straight in this site’s comment area and not see one racist remark; one comment about the Wilpons being broke; one comment suggesting the Mets behave like a small-market team; etc.
I know that I have learned more about baseball from this site’s comment pages than from anywhere since reading the Bill James books I devoured in the 1980s when I discovered them.
I may not always agree with Fong on history, but I probably agree with him about everything else; I may not always agree with NJTX about politics, but I aspire to be as open-minded and fair as he is; I may not always share MF4D’s sunny optimism, but I know every thread graced by the presence of the First Lady of TRDMB is a better thread; I may not agree with Stick about Jose Reyes, but I know I would be less of a person had he not nicknamed me “Knog”; I may not always feel that Ceetar’s optimism will be validated, but I bet he spends much of his life smiling and happy; Wanny may have a higher opinion of Adam Rubin than I do, but he sure has taught me plenty about baseball (Wanny that is, not Rubin!), as has Oleo; Gategem may be the only one who can educate me about Casey Stengel’s use of pitchers in the early 1950s; Salty and Darknova help me keep my positiviality in check when it rears it head; and Hazmet—well, I am not sure we may disagree about much at all!
Those who I have not mentioned will hopefully forgive me. I think the one thing everyone behind the scenes at TRDMB can surely agree on is that we boast the most fair, knowledgeable, introspective, optimistic, open-minded, and downright wise Met debating society on the internet.
One could learn more about baseball from simply reading our comment pages than one could from just about any other internet/media source.
And please allow me to most sincerely thank all of you who visit our site regularly, and who make it what it is.
All of us authors surely enjoy seeing our pieces in print—but without the readers and commenters, this place would be nothing.
Thank you to all of you—all of you who have encouraged us to make it through our first two Met seasons; keeping each other company and commiserating through two years of watching our beloved Mets finish fourth.
Thank you for your loyalty, for your optimism, for your humor, and for making TRDMB your online Met home. Even the re-opening of another popular Met site’s comment pages to the unwashed masses has not shaken your loyalty.
For all of this we thank each and every one of you, and we wish you the very happiest and healthiest of new years; and may the viewpoints of TRS, MF4D, Stick, and Ceetar on 2011 be the most accurate ones!
As Lincoln might have said had he visited our site right after he finished up at Gettysburg, we here can be thankful for all of you, who ensure that a Mets website truly of the fans, by the fans, and for the fans shall not perish from the internet.
32 comments
rustyjr
12/30/2010-8:11am at 8:11 am (UTC -4)
I second that
njstuckintx
12/30/2010-8:11am at 8:11 am (UTC -4)
Thank you for the Thank You’s. You keep rocking it like you do and we’ll just try to keep pace. Viva la Mets.
Ceetar
12/30/2010-8:49am at 8:49 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, I’m not really a happy smiling person in person. More a grumpy eeyore type.
fongy2
12/30/2010-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
Thank You to TRDMB, it’s authors and all who post!
As a sick-in-the-head, die-hard Met Fanatic for 38 years now, you all
have made the pastfew seasons moe tolerable.
It is comforting to know how many other Met fans out there are as
passionate and informed as I feel I am about the ballclub up in Flushing. Over the years, I’ve lost touch with two friends who I would
pompously describe as every bit the nut I am about all things Mets.
Point is, I always knew there was someone out there going through
and feeling many of the same things I was during the few highs and
many lows of the past several seasons as true,lifelong Met fans.
You guys (and Dolls) confirm this daily. Thank you for that!
Between Yankee fans….And now Philly fans, being such a die-hard,
life and death Met fanatic can be tough. It’s good to know there is a
small Army of like minded crazies out there. Happy New Year to All!
hazmet
12/30/2010-9:46am at 9:46 am (UTC -4)
Thanks back to you and all the fine authors at TRDMB. And the new author’s are absolutely tremendous and are raising the site to a new level imo.
I think the only area of disagreement is with my man crush on Jose. But then again, at this stage I see the merits in trading just about anyone short of D. Wright. Should be an interesting evaluation period by Sandy and crew first half of 2011 and then see what moves are made. Best wishes for a festive 1/1/11.
CaseStreet
12/30/2010-10:14am at 10:14 am (UTC -4)
Here’s to 2011 and the year of the Mets Baby Core!
fongy2
12/30/2010-10:16am at 10:16 am (UTC -4)
What “Baby Met Core”???
stickguy
12/30/2010-10:34am at 10:34 am (UTC -4)
That’s a secret code name for Duda.
CaseStreet
12/30/2010-11:43am at 11:43 am (UTC -4)
Meant Junior Core. I’ll refer you to to my esteemed colleague Kingman’s comment:
http://realdirtymets.com/2010/03/23/eddie-c-says-jose-is-a-ok/
kingman 26
12/30/2010-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
First off, great to see you sir!
And wow, what a difference a year makes!
My optimism suffered many very serious blows while watching the orange and blue train wreck known as the 2010 Mets.
Cannot say that I have much optimism about winning in 2011, but I DO look very forward to seeing what the Junior Core can indeed provide.
Well, at least Ike, Thole, Niese, and Mejia.
CaseStreet
12/30/2010-3:27pm at 3:27 pm (UTC -4)
Surprisingly, I’m very excited for next year. I guess it’s the low expectations. Plus, the composition of the team is very exciting for some odd reason.
metsfan4decades
12/30/2010-4:27pm at 4:27 pm (UTC -4)
Maybe the phrase ‘it’s when you least expect it’ will apply to our NY Mets this upcoming season.
njstuckintx
12/31/2010-7:14am at 7:14 am (UTC -4)
Duda, Neiwenhiesoghing, Mejia, Havens… They are the Baby Mets. Prob could Slap Harvey in there too.
metsfan4decades
12/30/2010-12:34pm at 12:34 pm (UTC -4)
The thanks should rightfully go to all of you for your time and dedication for making this my ‘home away from home’. TRDMB is the first site I open daily and rely on for all my Mets updates. I’ve come to look forward to the different styles and opinions – from Rusty’s daily walk down memory lane to Real’s proposed trades to Ceetar’s never waivering optimism to Kingman’s well thought out player/team evaluations and all in between.
I’ve enjoyed every minute of the knowledge, professionalism, respect and often humor I find with each post and in each debate. As Fongy stated, don’t know what I would have done without you all these past few years. Only another fellow Met fan can understand the phrase ‘long suffering’.
May all have a Happy and Healthy New Year and long live TRDMB!
And, as always – LGM!
kistics
12/30/2010-1:58pm at 1:58 pm (UTC -4)
Me too! Thanks all the authors for making my work day a lot more interesting.
metsfan4decades
12/30/2010-1:57pm at 1:57 pm (UTC -4)
If you’ve all got a minute, Mary Noble’s column from yesterday is worth the read:
Honoring legends who passed during 2010
From Feller to Steinbrenner, baseball lost far too many greats
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101222&content_id=16360802&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
I don’t often agree – or care – for Noble’s posts but this one was well written and struck a cord. Time stops for no one but oh, the memories never leave.
darknova306
12/30/2010-8:12pm at 8:12 pm (UTC -4)
Thank you all for the great work you do here. No longer being at a desk job, I don’t have much time to spend on the site, but it’s still my go-to place for Mets information and analysis. The truly great thing about this place is exactly what Kingman points out in this post: the wide spectrum of opinions and viewpoints that get shared without worry of the ridiculous intolerance that plagues most website comment sections. The disagreement on TRDMB brings about some incredible discussion.
And to all the new authors, you folks are doing a tremendous job. I’m loving all the new analysis.
May you all have a safe and happy new year!
Prismo
12/31/2010-9:18am at 9:18 am (UTC -4)
Thank you for the great year as well Kingman.
My new year’s resolution is to be more confrontational with Kingman, so that next year I make it into the New Year’s post!
kingman 26
12/31/2010-10:10am at 10:10 am (UTC -4)
LOL!! OMG that was funny!
I am so sorry; I wrote this way too quickly and forgot Case also.
I am sorry man; seriously, you know you are among my favorites to banter with here. And I really WILL read every page of your book….
Happy holidays Prismo.
Prismo
12/31/2010-11:39am at 11:39 am (UTC -4)
Whatever, jerk. You can kiss where the sun don’t shine ya yellow-bellied fool! You know less about the Mets than Steve Phillips! Oliver Perez could beat you in a battle of wits!
(I’m well on my way to making next year’s post!)
kingman 26
12/31/2010-11:57am at 11:57 am (UTC -4)
I have already begin the draft of next year’s; you made it!
saltygary
12/31/2010-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
The following would probably be true if I didn’t show my face around here:
“I think the one thing everyone behind the scenes at TRDMB can surely agree on is that we boast the most fair, knowledgeable, introspective, optimistic, open-minded, and downright wise Met debating society on the internet.”
No matter what the record is next season, next year will be better than this year. Cheers everyone!
njstuckintx
12/31/2010-1:43pm at 1:43 pm (UTC -4)
It has to be better, right?
kingman 26
12/31/2010-1:45pm at 1:45 pm (UTC -4)
But we thought that after 2007, and even more after 2009!
Happy new year NJTX and thanks for being one of the best people here!
njstuckintx
12/31/2010-1:55pm at 1:55 pm (UTC -4)
I’m only a product of my peers, for sure.
Same back at you my man. If you can’t be good, be safe.
stickguy
12/31/2010-4:21pm at 4:21 pm (UTC -4)
well, 2010 was a good 10%+ better than 2009, so if we continue that trajectory, playoffs here we come!
TRS86
12/31/2010-4:47pm at 4:47 pm (UTC -4)
Nice job King.
Happy New Year to All. It’s amazing how much this site has grown in not only popularity but in what feels like a family of commenters.
kingman 26
12/31/2010-5:00pm at 5:00 pm (UTC -4)
Thanks TRS.
And thanks again for extending me the invite to be a founding member in May 2009. I really do treasure this place, and I really mean what I wrote about our comment community.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful, happy, and healthy new year.
TRS86
12/31/2010-5:05pm at 5:05 pm (UTC -4)
Same to you. Like I said as much as we disagree on here it takes maybe 5 minutes on the other blog to realize how much we have in common again.
stickguy
12/31/2010-7:10pm at 7:10 pm (UTC -4)
try MMO for a while. There are some true looney tunes over there.
gategem
12/31/2010-8:43pm at 8:43 pm (UTC -4)
Here is my wish to everyone associated with TRDMB, be it an author or just someone like me that comments from time to time, and their families a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
TRS86
12/31/2010-10:56pm at 10:56 pm (UTC -4)
Hey, same to you buddy.