" We are a hearty lot !"
As we all know this has been in some respects a very exciting off season, while in other respects its been excruciatingly, painfully boring. Yes we have cleared out the front office rot and replaced them with the pedigreed trio of Alderson ,Riccardi and DePodesta in hopes of returning this floundering franchise back to it’s halcyon days of the mid to late ’80′s. We all know that this frst season will be tough , especially since they are saddled with a few bloated contracts which coupled with a limited budget means very little top notch talent will be imported this off season. But us Mets fans have delt with way more obscurity that this. In fact you can say that obscurity and adversity are the hallmark of being a Mets fan !!
You see being a Mets fans doesn’t require you to always expect that by the end of the season there will e a championship trophy in the teams museum or ticket tape parades down the Canyon of Heroes. If you are expecting that become a Yankees fan !! To be a Mets fan means to always hope for the best and expect the worst because as history shows us when it comes to the Mets and mediocrity – they go hand in hand.
I think that to be a Mets fan we are predisposed to root for the underdog, to root for the Washington General when they are going up against the Harlem Globetrotters. Yes we pretty much know the outcome, but they are still the team we root for.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not being negative here. I am just stating it from the perspective of a fan who has seen almost 39 seasons of Mets baseball, and even though I have seen many losing seasons peppered with some really awesome ones, I always look to after the season ends and give the old Brooklyn rallying cry “ WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR !!!
Most of us have lived through the Late ’70′s when the marquee names were Swan and Zachary and Mazzilli as we did during the ’80′s when we worshiped at the alter of Keith , Doc and Darryl. We hold out hope for the coming years of David, Jose and Johan also .It is in our blood. It is what makes us Mets fans.
In my honest opinion being a Mets fan means never having to say that you are sorry, because there is very little arrogance in the heart of us Mets fans. If anything we are a very humble lot. We live and die by our team , craving for them to win. We cry bitch and moan when ownership seems to be aloof to the teams needs and we praise them when they make the right decisions.
Thats what it means to be a Mets fan to me .
And with that said …. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today is :
Mets pitching coach from the ’01-’02 season ,Charlie Hough is 63 (1948) . He was one of the best knuckleballers that ever lived , to bad he was a mediocre pitching coach.
Sadly on this date in ’63, original Mets hitting coach and baseball legend, Rogers Hornsby passed away.
Sadly on this date in ’04 , we lost the heart and soul of that ’73 team when Tug McGraw passed away. I remember as a kid watching his 7-up commercial when he was a Phillie and I always wanted to know why the Mets traded him away. All I know is that whenever I see a piece on him I still feel the emotions as well as the tears well up inside me.
New York Mets traded headache of a outfielder Vince Coleman to the Kansas City Royals for past his prime outfielder, Kevin McReynolds on January 5, 1994. Yes after the firecracker incident in Los Angeles – which led to his indefinite suspension by the Mets. He was unloaded to the Royals for the washed up McReynolds. And if you thought Big Mac didn’t want to be here the first time , you should have seen the way he played and carried himself the second time – he looked miserable !
New York Yankees signed utility infielder, Miguel Cairoof the New York Mets as a free agent on January 5, 2006.
New York Mets signed free agent outfielder, David Newhan of the Baltimore Orioles on January 5, 2007. Newhan was lost man on the bench, he was only used when all other options were exhausted.
New York Mets traded minor league outfielder, Corey Coles and minor league pitcher, Ryan Meyers to the Chicago Cubs for Angel Pagan on January 5, 2008. This deal was a obvious coup for the Minaya regime. At the time we obtained a good offensive and defensive fourth outfielder in Pagan. And since then he has blossomed into a member of the starting lineup.
New York Mets signed free agent outfielder, Jason Bay of the Boston Red Sox on January 5, 2010. There was so much hype about Bay after his signing of that 66 million dollar contract that we all knew he was bound to have a off year, But we never expected him to have a Ryan Church post concussion type of year.
And while you are wishing that we would thaw out of this arctic freeze, just remember that there are just 86 days until the Mets open the 2011 season against the Florida Marlins in Miami and 93 days until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
Mo Vaughn is looking for a set of under armor insulated underwear – size XXXXL !!!
6 comments
kingman 26
1/5/2011-9:14am at 9:14 am (UTC -4)
Nice piece my friend.
Yes, for me being a Met fan definitely has never meant feeling that the playoffs are a right, a certainty, or hell, even a realistic possibility!
But for me, other than maybe 1993 and 2010, I have really enjoyed every year regardless. As long as the players care, I enjoy it.
Baseball is entertainment, it is me and my Dad and brother bonding, it is the history of the orange and blue which goes back to, for me, the magical 1973 postseason. My entire childhood passed until I saw another postseason! But it was worth waiting for.
It’s Hammer Milner and Ron Hodges and following Tim Leary and Doc Gooden in the minors, it is all of it.
RIP Tug. A true giant in Met history.
TRS86
1/5/2011-9:19am at 9:19 am (UTC -4)
For me I enjoyed 2010 a lot more than I did 2009.
kingman 26
1/5/2011-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
I can understand that, and I did enjoy Niese’s development especially.
I guess that for me, while 2009 surely had higher expectations, I did not have the feeling in 2009 that guys were mailing it in, as I did in 2010.
I know you may not agree; just my opinion.
And I am quite sure it will be VERY different by the end of this coming year.
TRS86
1/5/2011-9:51am at 9:51 am (UTC -4)
I am not sure they were mailing it in as much as they too felt let down by management and managers. I think they believed they were in it at the break and expected the FO to do something and when they did not (for 2 years in a row from their perspective) I think there was a big let down.
metsfan4decades
1/5/2011-9:44am at 9:44 am (UTC -4)
Same here. I think I can honestly say that 2009 tops the worst season I’ve ever followed as a Met fan. And I’ve followed this team for over 40 years. Yeah, we’ve had some incredibly bad teams but the expectations were high for 2009. Then we watched as one by one by one they all fell like bowling pins.
metsfan4decades
1/5/2011-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
Well said and I couldn’t agree more.
For me, I started paying attention to baseball and the Mets sometime during the ’68 season as thanks to Dad, the Mets were always on. I was just old enough then to understand and appreciate it.
I followed from day one in ’69. And we all know how ’69 turned out. To this young Met fan, I thought it was always going to be that easy. Ah….talk about naive. Little did I know repeating and even staying on top was easier said than done.
I think though that’s the reason I don’t start the season expecting the worst – even though we’ve had some incredibly bad teams. If I had become a Met fan in say, the late 70s – I would probably be way more on the negative side.