One frustrated Met Blogger

[stevejrogers]

Word Press, the website editor for the SportsDay.com blog that I have in the sig, doesn't seem to be allowing cookies to be set on my computer, but I worked on this rant too long to not let it out

Sorry about the cobwebs. Work, school, and a season that appears to be going downhill rapidly have taken my time away from blogging.

But I need to get this off my chest now. I�ll do some stuff Saturday, but right now I need to clear the head.

I�ve been a fan since 1985, when I was just 8 years old. Okay so the good times of the 1980s ended around 1991, but I always thought that something better would be lurking just over that horizon.

First it was misguided faith in Bobby �Fresno� Jones, Jason Jacome, Rico Brogna, Todd Hundley, Butch Husky, and the fact that Dallas Green had turned the Phillies into the 1980 champs, and built the 1984 Eastern Division winning Cubbies.

Then Generation K came. Alright, this was going to be this generation�s version of�well maybe not Seaver-Koosman-Matlack, but certainly the Mets� answer to Glavine-Smoltz-Avery in terms of home grown (yes I know Smoltz was from the Tiger organization) trio of a dominant pitching staff.

Well when that fizzled, it did not deter my optimism much because, hey that Alfonzo sure has a sweet swing, and despite Ordonez� severe lack of a bat, boy could he make those plays. Not to mention Hundley was coming into his own, and Bobby Valentine knew how to get the job done, so by 1997 you could make a case for brighter days were just around that bend.

Enter Mike Piazza! Funny, when I first heard that Mike Piazza had become a Florida Marlin, my first reaction was annoyance that it meant the Mets were now out of the Sheffield sweepstakes. Funny how things work. Needless to say, to borrow Reggie Jackson�s lines, the magnitude of Mike was part of a show of force, a show of power, Piazza helped to intimidate the opposition just because he was here.

And that did happen. 1998 through 2001 were good years. Horrific endings, but a fun time to be a Met fan, unfortunately this was happening just as I was wrapping up college, so I really couldn�t share that fun experience of the give-and-take with fellow Fairfield University students who were Yankee fans, or Red Sox fans, or whatever in terms of October play. Well, only briefly that October of 1998, but all that is stuff for a different entry.

Well, of course all that went up in smoke, literally it seemed by 2002. But you know what? There was this short stop rising through the ranks, set to debut pretty soon, and just behind him was this third base prospect. And man, that draft pick hurler that summer, oh you knew he�d be getting comparisons to Doc Gooden during his rise through the system.

So it seemed onward and upward, excelsior true believers as Stan Lee would say as the Mets headed into the mid-aughts, and despite the trade of Kazmir, good things were bound to happen on the horizon because Omar Minaya was going to be the McIllvaine of the Aughts. Well, if you believed certain members of the press coughWally Matthews and Tom Keegancough Omar really was the brains of the 99-00 Met front office, and he was frozen out by the �evil� Steve Phillips on the big decisions.

Well, in any event, 2006 arrived, but again, despite a Game 7 of the NLCS that felt like a band aid being ripped off a freshly deep wound, something seemed to be lurking around the horizon. Reyes and Wright would undoubtedly be the NL All Star Team�s left side of the infield for the next 10 years, Carlos Beltran would be putting up numbers that would put him in the conversation of great Met acquisitions, ala Piazza, Carter, Hernandez, etc. And look at what was coming through the system, Lastings Milledge was coming on, Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber seemed poised to succeed where the Jose Valeras, Bobby Jones, Gen Ks, and Grant Roberts of the world had failed and the Scott Kazmirs and David Wests of the world never got to be at Shea.

So, where do we take it from here? That is what troubles me about the 2008 Mets. For the first time that I�ve been a fan of this team, I really do not see anything of great promise on that horizon. This coupled with seeing a team playing with such a malaise that having a collection of All-Stars can�t seem to help.

Funny, sounds quite like 1992 and 2002. But unlike those years, I�m not brimming with excitement about what could be coming from the horizon known as the Met minor league system. And that troubles me more than watching a team go through the motions of what looks to be nothing more than a 75-83 win season.

[Frayed Knot]

Oh good, I was hoping for another 'this team stinks so much I'm going to kill myself even though it's still May' rant.

Can't get too many of those.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Funny how things work.

Yes. Funny how things work.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: That is what troubles me about the 2008 Mets.

What is it that troubles you about the 2008 Mets?

[Willets Point]

SteveJRogers wrote: And that troubles me more than watching a team go through the motions of what looks to be nothing more than a 75-83 win season.

Wow, you can foresee that the Mets are going to have four games that they don't even play. Fear not Steve, I'm sure this team can manage to go 87-75 at the very least.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: Oh good, I was hoping for another 'this team stinks so much I'm going to kill myself even though it's still May' rant. Can't get too many of those.

Hey that wasn't THAT bad FK.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Funny, sounds quite like 1992 and 2002.

You already said something was funny.

[stevejrogers]

Willets Point wrote: ="SteveJRogers"] And that troubles me more than watching a team go through the motions of what looks to be nothing more than a 75-83 win season. Wow, you can foresee that the Mets are going to have four games that they don't even play. Fear not Steve, I'm sure this team can manage to go 87-75 at the very least.

Uh Willets, that was meant 75 to 83 win season, not that they'd go 75 and 83 this season. Thanks for correcting that grammatical error though.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Funny, when I first heard that Mike Piazza had become a Florida Marlin, my first reaction was annoyance....

Now I'm confused. Were you amused or annoyed? Or both? It's funny how that stuff works.

[Frayed Knot]

When did following a team or sport become a contest about trying to prove how pissed off and negative one can get?

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Funny how things work. Yes. Funny how things work.

I go to Grad school at Iona for journalism, not English at Pace or Stony Brook or somewhere.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: When did following a team or sport become a contest about trying to prove how pissed off and negative one can get?

Heh, just letting off steam, not trying to prove anything right now. Well I'm pissed that I can't post this on my blog!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm not about to pile on Jeets here, but this season to me doesn't look nearly as bad as last year's version. I mean, I think they play badly more often than I'd like, but I don't think they're any worse, and that team for all its flaws finished a game out.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: I go to Grad school at Iona for journalism, not English at Pace or Stony Brook or somewhere.

Me too.

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Funny, when I first heard that Mike Piazza had become a Florida Marlin, my first reaction was annoyance.... Now I'm confused. Were you amused or annoyed? Or both? It's funny how that stuff works.

Oh my God. Yes, I'll agree journalists SHOULD know basic English composition, but I'm trying to write a story there. Really, it is a blog posting more than an article, and yeah the sentence was meant that I was annoyed that the Mets were NOT going to be getting Gary Sheffield. And it is funny considering how the Mets ended up getting Mike Piazza and Sheffield has continued his act of being a POS, talented yes but a POS nonetheless at every stop since being traded to LA.

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]I go to Grad school at Iona for journalism, not English at Pace or Stony Brook or somewhere. Me too.

What, are you a Tribe Fan in Yankee Land or something?

[stevejrogers]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm not about to pile on Jeets here, but this season to me doesn't look nearly as bad as last year's version. I mean, I think they play badly more often than I'd like, but I don't think they're any worse, and that team for all its flaws finished a game out.

Last season though, at this time the Mets were in first though, IIRC the floundering really didn't kick in until June-July. Red flags yes, but nothing to suggest how badly the season could turn out.

[batmagadanleadoff]

You have a blog, too? Am I like the only one on this forum that doesn't have a blog?

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: What, are you a Tribe Fan in Yankee Land or something?

If we're going to continue this exchange, you should explain this comment to me. A little help, please.

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]What, are you a Tribe Fan in Yankee Land or something? If we're going to continue this exchange, you should explain this comment to me. A little help, please.

Fellow who is currently in the same Grad school journalism program as I am,
Has a blog called Tribe Fan In Yankee Land Sorry, bit of a too inside joke.

[stevejrogers]

You said "Me Too" to being a grad student at Iona's journalism program.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

SteveJRogers wrote: ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]I'm not about to pile on Jeets here, but this season to me doesn't look nearly as bad as last year's version. I mean, I think they play badly more often than I'd like, but I don't think they're any worse, and that team for all its flaws finished a game out. Last season though, at this time the Mets were in first though, IIRC the floundering really didn't kick in until June-July. Red flags yes, but nothing to suggest how badly the season could turn out.

No, they weren't as good is what I'm saying.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Fellow who is currently in the same Grad school journalism program as I am, Has a blog called Tribe Fan In Yankee Land Sorry, bit of a too inside joke.

Well, I'm not that guy. You shoulda known that because I posted that I have no blog. I was also kidding about the going to Iona part.

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Fellow who is currently in the same Grad school journalism program as I am, Has a blog called Tribe Fan In Yankee Land Sorry, bit of a too inside joke. Well, I'm not that guy. You shoulda known that because I posted that I have no blog. I was also kidding about the going to Iona part.

I was kidding too, hence the inside joke.

Iona is becoming a joke though, the program is going to be eliminated! Know of any programs around the area? Mercy? Pace?

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: I�m not brimming with excitement about what could be coming from the horizon known as the Met minor league system. And that troubles me more than watching a team go through the motions of what looks to be nothing more than a 75-83 win season.

Back to Baseball. In short summary, this is an odd Mets team. They have some terrific players. Beltran and Santana are superstars in the prime of their careers. David Wright is a precociously gifted player --years ahead of his prime yet already as much of a superstar as Beltran and Santana. But there are too many questionmarks throughout the rest of the roster. And three very good players is not enough to get to the post-season. TBD.

[batmagadanleadoff]

SteveJRogers wrote: Oh my God. Yes, I'll agree journalists SHOULD know basic English composition, but I'm trying to write a story there.

Hey! Wherd'ja go? I wasn't making fun of your English.

[stevejrogers]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Oh my God. Yes, I'll agree journalists SHOULD know basic English composition, but I'm trying to write a story there. Hey! Wherd'ja go? I wasn't making fun of your English.

Well, the way you were picking apart my syntax, it seemed like you were channeling a few English professors I know.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Those English professors can be bastards. Well, thanks to you, I'm no longer whoever I was (<---------) before Jack Heidemann.