I can't believe it.

[Guest JaySilverman]

As a lifelong Met fan, you grow accustomed to the idea of having a frequently losing team very easily. And even when we have gotten into the playoffs or into contention in recent memory, it's been a thing where we were an underdog team and so I didn't really expect much.

But this year was supposed to be different.

So much different.

And I'm just shocked at how high my expectations for this team were and how devastated I am over this loss. I still can't believe it happened. I really believed that this was the year and I'm just completely floored right now in a way that I can't remember ever feeling over a Mets loss. This is probably exacerbated by the tens of phone calls and messages I've received in the nature of "are you okay?," but still.

Hope you're all hanging in there.

[Zvon]

we hear ya Jay.
we feel ya.

is this worth a whole thread?
I dunno.....




Just kiddin!

It really was devastating.
And your right--expectations--I dont think I ever had such faith in a Met team- a Met lineup...--- such potential--not even in the 80s.
And it was the bats that let us down--surprising.
But thats baseball.


So... the next season starts now.
Lets get some pitching.
Lets fix whats broke.
Lets field even a better team next year.
Lets win even more games.
Lets
Go
Mets!

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Hang in there Jay.

I dunno about youse guys but I had a bad feeling after Game 2 that I wasn't able to shake completely.

The fact that we didn't score enough shouldn't have come as a tremendous shock: We've been capable of not scoring often enough in the second half of this season to see it was a possibility. That was overlooked by lots of fans/media and buried in the panicky attention to the devastated rotation, but the offense was the one thing we needed to show up whether it was Pedro or Trachsel or Maine on the mound.

Two moments I'll regret are Delgado's error in game 2 and Eckstein's stop of LoDuca's hit in Game 5. But that's baseball.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A freakin' "few productive outs" with runners on third and less then two outs and that game is out of Molina's reach. Suppan got some big outs. I want to tip my hat to him, but I also want to throttle:

(1) the guy who wrecked Duaner's cab, under the assumption that Duaner might have bought us two more innings to win this thing, and

(2) whoever signed off on David Wright competing in the homerun derby.

It's purely speculative to blame the derby for Wright's second half, but he's looked tired and outguessed since the beginning of August, and I credit his professionalism for him grinding out a reasonabtly productive ssecond half, but it has seemed like a grind for him.

I hope he enjoys his time off, and relaxes. He supposedly had a crap second half in A ball in 2003, and the scouts and the Mets just decided that he had been working too hard. Let's hope that was it this second half, and they cut back on his extra BP in future seasons and get him a day off every ten games.

[soupcan]

Meanwhile he's going to Japan for an all-star tour.

Hey David - go sit on beach for a bit why dontcha?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I'm not devastated at all.

It was a fun ride, and I'm sorry it won't last another week, but I'm looking at the glass as being half full. We had an additional ten games this year, and they were more involving and intense than the 162 before them.

Like Johnny, my optimism went away after Game 2 and the way it was lost. Because of that, I don't feel like I had the rug pulled out from under me.

Absense of joy doesn't have to mean sorrow. If the Mets were in the World Series I'd be happy. But the fact that they're not doesn't have to make me sad.

[Farmer Ted]

Mrs. Ted's response after watching Beltran look at strike 3:

"Turn off the fucking TV. FOREVER."

Two bases loaded situations and you come up empty. You deserve a loss.

I wasn't sure of the Pink Floyd pinh hit in the 9th. I would have tried to get a runner over with a bunt. Willie wanted a big blast and Cliffy didn't have it in him.

[Guest JaySilverman]

I can't really buy into the idea of "productive outs" here. There are times when it is justified to sacrifice bunt, but this wasn't one of them. If you make a 'productive out,' you're bringing the Cards one out closer than they needed to be. (People say I get too into sabermetrics, I'll let you decide). I wouldn't have done that any differently, I just would have put Wagner in at the top of the 9th inning. So it goes.

This was, without any doubt in my mind, the best Mets lineup in the history of the team. It was a fantastic and fun year to be a Mets fan, which doesn't happen that often, and it was a joy to watch the team all season long. I'm not sure if my original post captured that enthusiasm, but it's true. I'm just bewildered for the time being.

[Vic Sage]

there is no joy in Mudville.
All you "glass is half-full" types make me want to kick a puppy.

We were the best team in the NL this year. We didn't win the pennant. That sucks.

[Batty31]

I was expecting a major implosion in August. So when that didn't happen, I had a slightest bit of hope. I didn't expect them to get past the Dodgers, either. After game 2 against the Cards, I officially declared the Mets were "done" to all my friends. They went beyond my expectations for the season. But having said all that, I still feel like someone punched me in the gut today.

Edgy, I agree with all your Wright points.

[Elster88]

How'd batty get a custom designation?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Um, I don't remember?

Regarding productive outs, I'm not advocating a sacrifice at any time. I'm merely bemoaining the narrow difference of Jose Valentin (for instance) striking out with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Vic Sage wrote: We were the best team in the NL this year. We didn't win the pennant. That sucks.

Yeah, but life goes on. I'm not a tooth gnasher.