What is going on...

with the fans this year. I've talked about fans once this year already, but I want to focus on Mets fans now. More importantly, I want to offer my theory on why we are so disgruntled.

Here is what I think. We all remember 2006. It was fantastic. Carlos Beltran bounced back from a disappointing season. Pedro was pitching well until he was hurt. Wright and Reyes took huge steps forward. Cliff Floyd was still around. Duaner was lights out. Delgado was exactly what we needed him to be. Everything felt right. The team had that certain something about them.

Fast forward to 2007. Everything was flowing along rather nicely. Division lead in May. Games up fluctuated for a while, but seemed to be steady around 6 or 7. To quote Matchbox Twenty, there's an awful lot of breathing room, but I can hardly move.

This is how I felt, and other Mets fans around me felt. We were pleased, but not overly confident. I discussed this with a friend, and we both felt like things felt different in '07 than they did in '06. This discussion took place before the end of the school year in early May. We could see something bad coming, but we didn't imagine it to be this bad.

The acquisition of Johan Santana was supposed to make this go away. That bitter taste from 2007. And it did for awhile. We as fans were perfectly happy during the offseason, and ready for March 31st to arrive. When it did, it was everything we expected. Big win over the fish.

Day 2: Pedro goes down and we lose. And we haven't had that 2006/we have Johan feeling since. Instead, we have that 2007 feeling. Somethings not right, and in the end its going to hurt us. We expected to win in 2006, and this is where the problems started.

I think this is where we picked up some bandwagon fans. Fans who in the past would have jumped on the Yankee ship. However, that Yankee ship was sinking and this team was up-and-coming. Of course there were some who jumped off that ship and onto ours. If the Titanic is going down that shoddy lifeboat doesn't look so bad.

Of course, these fans expected to win. They root for winners, that's what bandwagon fans do. Most bandwagon fans are used to a few years with one team. But this Mets team only gave them one and a half years. They can't jump yet, their time isn't up. They don't want to jump off too early.

And now, they give the true Mets fans, who were lovable losers, this bad reputation. We look stupid and panicky, booing everything we can. Meanwhile, the true Mets fans, some who have coped with losing for years while others for decades, are painted with the rest as "bad fans."

But we're not. We're dedicated and passionate, and we will persevere. Stay true to the orange and blue Mets fans. It's only a matter of time before we turn this thing around.

Appalling fan behavior

And it's not even at Shea. Even more shocking, it's not even in Philadelphia. Nope, it's in good ol' Atlanta. Guy gets beat up because he roots for the opposing team. Apparently, even Pittsburgh Pirates fans aren't safe in Hotlanta.

I'm a fan writing this. Most of the people who will read this are fans as well. How many of us would dream of decking another fan for wearing the other teams gear? I'm all for some friendly heckling, but this is over the line. To quote Joey Tribbiani, this guy is so far over the line, he can't even see where the line is. The line is a dot to this guy.

Fan behavior seems to be at an all-time low early in this season. Phillies fans are cheering injuries and throwing Mets fans over the railings. Braves fans are knocking opposing fans' teeth out. In a completely unrelated sport, I was at the Bills-Bengals game when Chad Johnson got carted off the field on a stretcher, and some fans were cheering. We're booing our own players frequently at Shea.

The sad part is, some "fans" can't go to the game without getting completely hammered. I just want to know why. If you want a beer or two, fine by me. But why do people have to have to get completely hammered and ruin the game for others? If you can't enjoy a baseball game without getting drunk, why are you at the game in the first place?

I have two words for these people. Stay home. If you can't have a good time at the game without getting smashed, don't go to the game. Just stay home and drink all you want. That way you can enjoy what you like, and the fans of the game can enjoy what they like. So just stay home.

Stop giving the rest of us a bad name.

Mental Toughness

We don't have it. It's unfortunate really. I wish we had it. But we don't.

How do I know we don't. ESPN has told me. Sports Illustrated told me. Eric Karabell told me on the Baseball Today podcast. An anonymous GM told me.

Its too bad really. I don't like knowing that if Aaron Heilman gives up a home run he can't come back the next day and strike out two batters with the bases loaded. It disappoints me that Jose Reyes can't bounce back from a 8 for 39 (.205 BA) to go 8 for his next 19 (.421 BA).

I'm concerned because Mike Pelfrey doesn't have "it". I don't think Nelson Figueroa will be able to recover from his world travels, his confidence is probably shot. It's a crying shame that Carlos Beltran has no leadership ability whatsoever.

We still can never beat the Phillies. Their in our heads. Our rotation has too many question marks. The Braves rotation is much more reliable. We won't finish any better than third.

Might as well give up on this season. The experts told me to.

Turning Point

I think I'm officially ready to put 2007 behind me. You know, put it in writing, get over it. And I have a reason. This guy is gone:

And this guy is back:

Ever since the Carlos-Jose heart-to-heart (dashes galore!!!) this team has looked better. That lack of heart seems to be gone, replaced by the guy who makes this team run.

Jose said he didn't want to be the reason the team lost. And in my opinion, straight-faced Jose may not have been the reason we lost, but he wasn't helping us win. Reverting to his old form is the best way Jose can prevent losing. Don't think for one second the Phillies and Braves want to beat us more because of Jose's exuberance. It's ridiculous. They want to beat us because they want to win. Like every other team, regardless of their opposition.

But it's going to be a little tougher now because...

Heeeeeee's Baaaaaaaaccckkk...

Hits of an Angel

A parody of Lips of an Angel/tribute to Angel Pagan. Enjoy.

Why did this game run so late?
Shea is really rockin' right now
Charile quit your whining
You'll lose anyway
Can't hear a whisper through the roar of the crowd

Well
Your hit bounced
Through the infield
Boy did you ever come through
And drive in Jose with the winning run

It's really good to have you back
On our team
Your swing's so sweet
We're livin' on the hits of an Angel
Winnin' the walkoff game of the week
And why
Doesn't Charlie say good bye
To the umpire who made a good call
On the hit of an Angel

It's funny he's called safe tonight
And yes, it's the right call too
But it's not gonna stop old Charlie
From trying to start a fight
No I don't think he has a clue

Well
Your hit bounced
Through the infield
Boy did you ever come through
And drive in Jose with the winning run


It's really good to have you back
On our team
Your swing's so sweet
We're livin' on the hits of an Angel
Winnin' the walkoff game of the week
And why
Doesn't Charlie say good bye
To the umpire who made the right call
On the hit of an Angel

Enough's enough, I've suffered and I've seen the light

You're my Angel, come and save me tonight. You're my Angel, come and make it all right.

Walk-off hit for the Mets' best hitter in the clutch this year. What else did you expect? Pagan leads the team in RBI right now, and has a nifty .370 batting average. It's early, but still this is encouraging. He may not have Moises' pop, but he (along with Ryan Church) are driving in the runs right now. And he's racking up the hits, when pitchers are usually ahead of hitters.

But let's not forget to give this guy some credit too...


That pic's for you, lady readers (Hi Mom!!!). Big time two out double. Gameday made it look like it was smoked, as much as Gameday can. Two hits for Jose, and his first steal of the year. And scoring from second when Werth was playing shallow in center. I'm not sure how he was safe, but I think he was.

It looks like he got his hand in right before Coste applied the tag. Gameday only gives the one replay (which, by the way, is awesome to get replays right after they happen), so I didn't get a better angle of the play.

The angle isn't the best, but the Angel is pretty darn good.

Throw-Ins

Everyone discusses the core of the Mets as being David Wright and Jose Reyes. Solid young nucleus who came up through our system. The Mets also have a couple of pitchers who we acquired, but still treat as guys who we developed. John Maine and Oliver Perez.

These guys will be just as important to us in the next 5-10 years, if we can keep them together. They're our guys, even though we didn't bring them up through our system. Ollie had some success early in his career, posting a 2.98 ERA in Pittsburgh in 2004. However, he was a disaster before the trade, and considered a throw-in. John Maine was also a throw-in, with the gem of that deal being Jorge Juilo.

My point is, even though we didn't bring these two up through our system, they're our guys. They made their names on our team, so we feel like we brought them up. Getting steals like this in trades are just as satisfying as promoting players through our system. They're not some high-priced guy who became a superstar on another team. Not a guy who we sold the farm for...

Not that there's anything wrong with that either. Johan is the best pitcher in the game, the kind of guy you sell the farm for. And sure am glad he's here, and would make that trade every time. However, now we need to restock our farm system.

What we need to do is continue to develop these guys, and the pitchers in our system. What we need to stop doing is trading guys like Brian Bannister for Ambriorix Burgos. I'm worried that at the deadline Omar will think we need a starter because of injuries. And who knows, maybe he'll make the right move and win a title in '08. But he needs to make trades like those with Baltimore and Pittsburgh where we get a "throw-in project" who we can build up.

So Omar, don't forget the throw-in when you make your next deal. One more young solid starter and we'll be set for a decade.

Michigan and the Phillies

Alright, actual baseball on Sportscenter this morning. Caught Jose's double and David's home run. For those of you who haven't seen this and would like to, here it is (not the Sportscenter clip, but it works). Also, the story about Billy wanting to bean the Michigan kid who tried to bunt on him. I'm so proud of Daddy Wags.

The Phillies become more and more laughable by the day. First, Little Jimmy Rollins tries to tell everyone he originated the term "team to beat." Then there's this post from yesterday on why the Mets are not the team to beat (and I hope an attorney at law would recognize he's plagiarizing Little Jimmy). Check out the comments as well, as they prove once and for all how much smarter Mets fans are than Phillies fans.

And here's today's Phillie Phoolishness. That's right, Philly.com did a writeup on how the Cubs have not won a World Series for 100 years. Isn't that just screaming "Yeah, we suck, but at least we haven't sucked as much as the Cubs!!!" Winning one World Series in your 125 year history apparently gives you the right to laugh at other teams failure to do so.

Don't worry Phillie fans. In 72 years when you have gone 100 years without a title, at least you can write about how the Cubs haven't won a Series in 172 years.

Woo-Hoo!!! Actual Baseball!!!

Ok, it's an intersquad game, but its about time we get to read about Jose hitting triples again. Man have I missed that over the last 5 months. Check out Adam Rubin's recap on Surfing the Mets Dirty came back today, and struck out the Teenage Mutant Hitting Machine (I added the mutant to Matthew Cerrone's nickname for Fernando) after getting into a bases loaded jam.

Also back was Juan Padilla, who retired the side in his inning of work. Great news coming out of the bullpen today, as we need arms down there.

The game was played on Field 7 at Tradition Field, which has the same dimensions as Citi Field. Good to hear that Jose's hitting triples, it will be a joy to watch at the new park next year, even if the logo isn't that pretty.

Finally, my favorite baseball player who's name is an oxymoron, Angel Pagan, hit an RBI triple.