Magical Ride For Mets And Pirates Comes To Crash & Burn

Their seasons got off to so much promise, even though
no one believed in them other than some of their most
ardent fans.  The Pirates even had a share of 1st place
for a moment past the season mid season mark.  The Mets
too had possession of 1st place in the NL East for what
would amount to a little less than a moment, and the
reality set in for both of these recently beleaguered
franchises.

I'm not sure which story is sadder, the one which had
the Pirates finishing above .500 for the fist time in
over two decades, but is now in jeopardy, or the one
that has season play six games over .500 hundred for
the 1st half of 2012 only to play a woeful TWENTY TWO
games under .500 since. 

These teams share other things in common as well, both
of their managers are in their second year and have
received much praise for the way their teams have both
played hard, and stayed relevant, butunfortunately the
Pirates like the Mets had a decent start to the season
last year only to have a similar fate in the 2nd half.
Now though the Pirates have already surpassed 2011,
but after being 2-8 in their last ten games and losing
games to the 100+ loss Houston Astros and the clearly
inferior Chicago Cubs, it's bound to leave a really bad
taste in your mouth going into the off season for the
fan base.  Terry Collins had a better 2011 than Clint
Hurdle did, but in 2012 the Mets stand to regress if
you just base this on wins and losses.  At this point
the Mets would need to finish the season 10-2 just to
equal last years mark, and they too are a miserable
2-8 in their last ten games.  Similarly the Mets too
fell victim to the Chicago Cubs, the Mets dropped 2
out of three to them at Wrigley at the end of June and
later dropped 2 out of three at home again just before
the All Star break.  

The fans of these two teams are going to need to hang
on a little longer if they hope to enjoy in the riches
of good seasons to come if there are to be any, but
with baby steps like these, and some one step forward
two steps backward type seasons, it may be a while
before these two managers get to straighten it out. 

Tweet

Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

NY Mets Get Ready For Another Season Of Folly

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Mets Terry Collins is without question one of the
brighter beacons of hope the Mets have right now.
He talks a good game, has some nice young players
on the roster, and they do indeed love playing for
him, but as much as I am a firm believer that a
positive attitude is a must, I'm just not buying
the fact that the Mets are gonna make some noise
this season. They made noise last season for
about 65% of the season, and it was great, but I
can't see them doing any better than that, so
anything less is just a little disappointing.

I won't go over a laundry list of things that they
need to do, change, or you can expect, but I will
tell you that there are a couple of things that
aren't very favorable.

The most obvious of all is ownership. I am not
going to sit here at tell you that I hope they
sell, lose, or are forced to sell the franchise,
I just can't do that, it's not one of my things,
but the Wilpons and their financial problems are
going to be a crutch on this team all year long,
and until they get their affairs in order going
forward.

The second thing that bugs me is that their best
player is being dangled at us, as if a carrot stick
in front of a carriage horse. This time last year
we heard that there was a possibility that Johan
Santana "could" be back in July, then August, then
maybe a start or two in September, perhaps just a
rehab start, but nothing, A few weeks ago the word
was that he "should" be back in time for the start
of the season. What do you mean should?! What the
heck was all this garbage you've been feeding us all
this time then? Setbacks? OK, now he will be back
in time for opening day, but you hope you can get 25
to 28 starts from him. Good Luck with that is what
I have to say.

Then theirs payroll, and though this may sound like
the first gripe, but it isn't necessarily the same.
The thing here is that owners can choose to spend
what they want, money problems or not, and the Mets
have chosen to cut payroll by about $20-30Mil this
season, and there is just no way that by doing this,
that they have improved the team. No Beltran, No
Reyes, No added free agents to help pick up the
slack, and four teams in your division that all
improved. The Wilpons will actually save more since
they will no longer have to pay an extra $18Mil to
Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo this year.

The last one might be the biggest head scratcher of
all, Jeremy Lin. Yes you read right, Jeremy Lin!
Terry Collins wants us to understand that they may
have a Jeremy Lin of their own, and though he doesn't
know who that is yet, it is just as likely to happen
to the Mets as it is to the Knicks. OK, since no one
can honestly say that they saw how big Victor Cruz was
gonna be for the Giants, and Jeremy Lin was gonna be
for the Knicks, maybe Ruben Tejada, Andres Torres or
some yet to be mentioned player will be the that guy
for Terry Collins and the Mets, but I won't hang my
hat on that either.

I like Terry Collins, and I believe that they will be
very fun to watch at times as well as very frustrating.
I also believe that we all need to step back and learn
from the departure of one of the great New York Mets in
their history, Gary Carter. Carter played hard, had fun,
and always smiled, and now that he's no longer with us
we can appreciate that it's just a game, no matter how
wrapped we get in it, it's just a game.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis