Well here we are on September 28th, the last day of the regular season. Unfortunately our beloved Mets once again will not be tasting the fruits of October baseball. Should we really be surprised ? Not really, we knew that many pieces had to fall into place in order for this team to have been a real threat.
Losing Johan Santana for the entire season didn’t help the cause, nor did key injuries to such players as Chris Young, Ike Davis, David Wright and Jose Reyes. Key contributors such as Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez were traded mid season, and yes while their presence helped this team to win for the short term, the front office led by Sandy Alderson was thinking about long term solutions.
I know that this team will lose more games than they did last season, but you know something – I feel that there is a light coming at the end of this 3 season old tunnel. Players such as Duda, Tejada and Gee have proven that they can hang with the big boys. The Mets farm system – albeit far from fertile, looks to have some long term solutions that should be able to come up and help the team in the short term.
But there will be many question marks surrounding this team in the off season. First and foremost will be if the Mets will be able to re-sign Jose Reyes. If you have been following the Mets for the entire season you know how rabid and vocal us fans have been about our desire for him to come back. He is integral to this team. He is not only the engine – but the transmission and the tires ( hell he’s even the Sirius satellite radio system). But alas this is not just a question of the Mets desire to retain Jose, it’s a question if Jose goes to where the money is. I hope that Jose will take a home town discount to stay, but I will understand if he bolts Flushing as if he is trying to steal home.
2011 has been a mixed bag of emotions for me. Even though the Mets record does not reflect success, it still has been successful in my mind. For the most part I feel that the “poor us” attitude has been swept away, replaced by a can do work ethic. Yes there were bonehead plays and blown saves, but this team almost always fought back. There seems to be a new found sense of pride associated in this team. With the exception of a few players that seemed to mail it in for most of this season, this squad played with a sense of urgency. After Beltran was traded they still went out there to win – even after the wheels fell off.
I will be at todays season finale. I will cheer loudly whether this team wins or loses. I will give Jose a standing ovation before every at bat. And I will always be proud of being a METS FAN !!
And with that said….. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Mets Director of Player Development from ’78-’80, Dick Gernert is 83 (1928).
Reserve catcher from ’82-’85, Ronn Reynolds is 53 (1958). In three seasons with the Mets ( he didn’t make the roster in ’84 in ’84), Ronn appeared in a total of 54 games. He had a career batting average of .195 with 3 RBIs during his time with the Mets.
Middle reliever from ’04-’05, Mike DeJean is 41 (1970) .
Mo Vaughn is mourning the end of the Mets ’11 season. He has already bought out the entire inventory of Cold Stone Ice Cream in the North East !
14 comments
SaltyGary
9/28/2011-1:21pm at 1:21 pm (UTC -4)
“I know that this team will lose more games than they did last season,”
I don’t know about that my friend. Looks like you predicted 86 wins.
http://realdirtymets.com/2011/04/01/place-your-bets-trdm-predictions-for-the-2011-season/
Hazmet also said Emaus would win ROY…LOL
MetsFan4Decades
9/28/2011-2:14pm at 2:14 pm (UTC -4)
Ha! This is great.
I see I have the Sox over the Braves in the WS.
By the time tomorrow is over, either team will be lucky to be going to post season.
Tomorrow, one our authors should put up a ‘Get your post season predictions in now’ thread. I’ll be curious to see who you all are picking.
Anonymous
9/28/2011-2:44pm at 2:44 pm (UTC -4)
If you think your predictions were amiss look at this article.
“2011 Red Sox Will Challenge 1927 Yankees for Title of Greatest Team in Major League History”
http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/2011-red-sox-will-challenge-1927-yankees-for-title-of-greatest-team-in-major-league-history.html
Anonymous
9/28/2011-10:01pm at 10:01 pm (UTC -4)
It was either with tongue firmly planted in cheek or I was smoking crack. That is f’in funny though, lol.
SaltyGary
9/28/2011-1:25pm at 1:25 pm (UTC -4)
Great news on the Carter front. The new spots were determined benign and his white blood count in finally up enough to start the next round.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7028945/hofer-gary-carter-gets-good-news-cancer-battle
MetsFan4Decades
9/28/2011-1:31pm at 1:31 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not one for early predictions on W/L until around Memorial Day. I
believe I stated this team would win more than last year, even if it was
just a game at 80 Ws. Figured more or less .500. I knew things would
probably have to break just right for it to be otherwise, but not much
hope they would.
Looking back, we’re probably lucky to be finishing out of last place. No closure, poor BP, our RBI leader long gone, and oh…have you seen this lineup Terry’s been forced to trot out there this month?
Pagan hitting himself on the back of the head with his own bat on a swing through strike, thereby inducing concussions like syndromes is all you need to know about how this season went.
Go Reyes. I’ll be rooting for him to be standing in first after the Brewers game ends tonight.
SaltyGary
9/28/2011-1:42pm at 1:42 pm (UTC -4)
“Pagan hitting himself on the back …is all
you need to know about how this season went” LOL
Look how could we not know this is how the team would be with it’s amazin off-season moves hampered by it’s financial mess.
This season is definitely the best since ’07. Simply because these guys put on the uniform and wanted to play. For that I am thankful.
At the end on ’10 I was only expecting this season to be a transitional enigma with 2012 the push forward and now it’s pretty clear that 2013 will be that push. I am confident that the right decisions are being made but I am really starting to jones for a real team.
MetsFan4Decades
9/28/2011-1:58pm at 1:58 pm (UTC -4)
I agree too. For someone who saw all but maybe 2 games, I was surprisingly entertained. It just doesn’t feel like we’re still on our way down but rather treading water until hopefully next year when we’re on our way up again. Not saying we’ll be heading to the WS but still feel it’s turning in the right direction.
But oh, that game last night. I still want to know how you lose in extras when their closer walks 4 guys and balks in the same inning. Yup, entertainment at it’s finest. But there was the Reyes 2 HRs, IF single, stolen base and great defensive play in there.
Anonymous
9/28/2011-2:33pm at 2:33 pm (UTC -4)
“Pagan hitting himself on the back of the head with his own bat on a swing through strike, thereby inducing concussions like syndromes…”
In all the years I have followed baseball I believe this is a first for me. It does indeed summarize this season and as I said it could not have ended fast enough for me.
Anonymous
9/28/2011-1:31pm at 1:31 pm (UTC -4)
The end of the season reminds me of the great Gordon Jenkins’ 1935 song adopted by the late, great, Benny Goodman as his theme song entitled “Good-Bye.” It’s goodbye to the 2011 version of the New York Mets and it couldn’t have ended fast enough. Although the song was melancholy I don’t feel that way at the conclusion of this season.
SaltyGary
9/28/2011-6:57pm at 6:57 pm (UTC -4)
Wow Collins pulled Reyes after one hit to give him a better chance of winning the batting title. That’s bush league and a disservice to the fans that showed up to what could be his last Mets game.
MetsFan4Decades
9/28/2011-8:23pm at 8:23 pm (UTC -4)
That was all Jose’s idea. He said he as going to bunt for a hit and he wanted to come out after it. Terry honored the request.
Jose explained as well on post game. It was all him. He apparently wants to win that title.
Eh…I was kind of shocked at first but whatever. It’s not like he’s played any day games after night games this month anyway. And I understand his mindset. It’s not much different then post season teams playing with their rotation to jockey it in place for the first round.
SaltyGary
9/28/2011-8:37pm at 8:37 pm (UTC -4)
I think the move lacks integrity. He wanted his trophy and he will have to look at it every day and remember he quit to get it. If he can live with it, then that’s on him.
MetsFan4Decades
9/28/2011-8:20pm at 8:20 pm (UTC -4)
And so the season comes to an end.
2 hit shut out for Batista – who would have thought?
Then again, look at their lineup on the last day of the season.
Terry very emotional on the post game show. Talking about how hard this team has worked for him, how much he loves this team, these guys and he knows not all will be back.
That came when they asked him about the fans reaction to taking Jose out in the first. Which, by the way….was all Jose’s idea and Terry honored it.
Braun has to go 3 for 4 tonight.