Well, the last two games of the season are, I think, apropos of the entire season for the Mets, it is an example of what the Mets have been doing to themselves, and worse yet, to their fans, all season. This is a team that is, as far as I am concerned, the best team in the NL east, and really the best team in the National League. They did not play like it, but I believe they are.
So, after falling out of first place with only two games left to play, after being in first place since mid-May, the Mets showed heart, they showed grit and determination. John Maine pitched the game of his life and looked absolutely brilliant. The Mets offense came to life and they kept hitting and scoring runs. What was the final? Was it 12-0, 13-0, maybe more? Actually it was 13-0. The Mets showed some determination and some fight, literally and figuratively as they were ready to brawl.
I had given up on them the day before when they fell out of first place, but they sucked me right back in. After seeing that game, and seeing the Phillies lose, I had hoped. The Mets were coming back. They should have had the momentum going into today’s game. They didn’t. Glavine flat out sucked. I actually decided I was not going to watch the game right from the beginning and came in half an hour late, only to be shocked that the Mets were already losing 5-0 and Glavine was out of the game. The Marlins scored two more times that inning and before the Mets came to bat they were trailing 7-0.
The Mets had their opportunities to get back in it, but they fell short and left a lot of men on base. When they needed the big hit, they did not get it. When they needed a big out, they did not get it. So Glavine, who was let down by the Mets in his first attempt to win 300 games as the bullpen blew the lead, returned the favor and let the team down today. Yesterday’s game gave us hope and got us back in it, but consistently, the Mets have been unable to seal the deal, to get the job done for good, and once again that happened today.
We laughed at Jimmy Rollins for his comment about the Phills being the team to beat, but they are there. Give the Phillies some credit as they played well to get in, but the bottom line is, the Mets did this to themselves. A team up by seven with two weeks to go does not lose out unless they themselves suffer a meltdown. They did and the Phills were there to take advantage.
As a Met fan, I guess the good news is we do not need to suffer through anymore heartache and heartbreak this (post)season. The Mets blew it and now it is time to speculate on the changes that will occur.
I would think Willie is let go. I do not see anyway Randolph can stay. I understand that the manager is not the one on the field, but he is making decisions and more importantly, he is the one who has to inspire players. Randolph didn’t and he doesn’t. As I see it, Randolph has managed three must win games, three elimination games. Game 6 of the NLCS last year against St. Louis, his team won, and avoided elimination. Still, they had to win the next day and the didn’t. Today they had to win and they didn’t. Randolph has seen his team loss two of three must win games.
Last year the Mets underachieved as they should have gone to the World Series, but they could not get past the Cardinals. This year the Mets underachieved as they could not even win the division. The could not even get to 90 wins. This, in part has to be the fault of the manager. You need to fire up your players. Randolph did not do this. He has got to go.
I do not know if I will even watch postseason play. Go ahead, call it sour grapes. Who knows, maybe it even is, but right now I have no interest or care as to who moves on (other than not wanting it to be the Yankees). All I can say is, it will be a long off season, but I hope that the off-season for the Met players is even longer and they reflect on what a disappointment they have been, nothing more than a bunch of screw-ups this year.
As I said before, it was a disappointing season.
2 comments:
First, visualize the most focused pitcher you have ever seen start a must-win game (we'll-win-or-nobody-gets-out-alive type). This person doesn't even have to exist, just a consensus idea who exists in the abstract. Ok, now look at Tom Glavine and the like. See anything that fits here? NOTHING! Now visualize Josh Beckett in Game 7 at NY. Or visualize David Cone... Tom Seaver... even Dontrelle! A successful manager has to know what the consensus big game pitcher is like, this isn't like just reading a racing form and picking horses on their records. A big tipoff was the lax clubhouse today, did you read that Glavine was yawning and kicking back (he's won enough elimination games I'm guessing)? Oh well, please don't let this get you too down :) Step out of the box and enjoy the whole of MLB (the world's biggest soap opera).
Perhaps Hyman Roth said it best in The Godfather: This is the life we've chosen.
As Mets fans we have chosen to come up just a bit short and be frustrated. We don't have to like it, we can continue to be pissed off about it, but it isn't really much of a surprise. Just like we fell short last year and in the late 80's, we did so again this year. Maybe it's Willie, maybe its "trading" Downs for Henderson, maybe its out key guys not being able to string together good streaks at the same time. For whatever reason, we're on the outside looking in and honestly, we deserve to be.
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