How To Cope With the Loss

Haha now this is funny stuff! Sean Gregory over at Time magazine is a lifelong Mets fan. So needless to say, he's feeling the blues just like all of us. So he asks the question:

So how do they get over it? How can sports fans, whose teams so often tease them with outsize expectations, deal with such unexpected failures? How should I, a lifelong Mets lover who has lived through so much disappointment from this franchise, take the greatest heartbreak of them all?

He continues:

The first step is to accept how much it hurts, regardless of those dismissive observers you might know who tell you to have some perspective, that it's just the end of the season, not the end of the world. Sure, the fate of your sports team is less pressing than, say, your marriage or mortgage, and it may seem ridiculous to tie your self-esteem to the actions of multimillionaire athletes who don't know you one bit, but you have to allow yourself to mourn a little. "It's natural to be upset," says Dr. Richard Lustberg, a clinical psychologist from Long Island and creator of the Psychology of Sports website. "Baseball is being taken away from you. It's difficult to handle, especially when watching Mets games have become part of your routine. There's some reality to it. It's like you've suddenly had an aneurysm."

An aneurysm? Sooooooo watching the Mets lose is like having an aneurysm? Call me crazy but it ain't hurt THAT bad.

You can click here to read the rest of the Time magazine article.

Here's my advice:

1.) First, grab a Heineken. Better yet, since this loss was such a tough one to take... make that some scotch or vodka on the rocks.

2.) Next, lift said drink and swallow as fast as you can.

3.) Next, repeat steps 1 and 2 over and over again until the Mets become the absolute last thing on your mind. Or until you pass out. Either or, you won't have to thnk about the "collapse."

And remember - don't drink and drive! Holla back.

Surprise: Scott Schoeneweis Received Steroids

Why am I not surprised. Looks like Scott "Show Me The Door" Schoeneweis had a thing for juice. And I ain't talking about Hawaiian Punch. Check it out:

Scott Schoeneweis, the veteran New York Mets reliever and a survivor of testiticular cancer, received six steroid shipments from Signature Pharmacy while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 2003 and 2004, ESPN has learned.

According to a source in Florida close to the ongoing investigation of Signature, Schoeneweis' name appears on packages that were sent to Comiskey Park while the White Sox were battling to win the AL Central title in 2003. Two more shipments arrived at the stadium in 2004, months before Schoeneweis underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow.

Source: ESPN.com


First off let me point out again that it seems like a good amount of pitchers were on the juice, far more than I ever imagined. But seriously, do the Mets have to sign all of them? I mean first Guillermo Mota and now Scotty. Sheesh it just gets worse by the minute.

Mets Will Keep Randolph

Looks like Willie Randolph will not be fired after the team's historic collapse.

From Newsday:

Willie Randolph will visit the principal's office today at Shea Stadium, and he'll be told to never, ever do that again. He'll be warned that if he attempts another stunt like this, he can try getting work with his first organization, the Pirates.

Mets ownership, particularly COO Jeff Wilpon, is livid about the collapse that ended with Sunday's embarrassing loss to the Marlins. It's understandable. But it's heartening to see that the Wilpon family - described yesterday by Omar Minaya as "an ownership group that's a fan" - will look past its rage and give Willie another chance in 2008.

Randolph deserves that opportunity, because, just as Minaya said at his Shea post-mortem, his body of work as a manager merits it. He also should come back because it would be criminal to scapegoat Randolph for what turned into a system-wide malfunction.

Honestly, it's the right move. The team's struggles down the stretch were more of Omar Minaya's doing than anything. Willie just played the cards he was dealt. Turns out his deck needed a few more aces and trump cards.

A Sad Day...

I was originally going to post this long analytical piece on everything I think went wrong with the Mets. Then I got an email message from one of the biggest Mets fans I've ever known in my life. So instead of going in depth, I'll just post her email and my response. I think it sums up the emotions that all of us Mets fans have gone through these past weeks.

---

Subject:
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 08:32:55 -0400
From: ************
To: ************


Well Keith, I really don't know what to say, except that was the worst Mets game I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm not even disappointed, I'm just mad. The Phillies deserve that playoff spot, they played their hearts out for it and that is something the Mets just didn't do. Things might turn out differently next year if the Mets make some changes this winter. Thanks for the encouraging words the past few weeks.

---

My response:

Hey ***... yeah this sucks. I really kept hope and thought they would eventually pull it out. I mean, they're not called the "Amazin' Mets" for nothing. And after Saturday, I just knew deep down that Philly would blow it and the Mets would slide in. But after the first inning of yesterday's game, I knew it was not to be.

I just can't understand how this team lost so many games in the same fashion night in and night out for the last month. Score 6 runs, take a 3-run lead into the 6th inning, watch the bullpen blow it. Hold the other team to 2 runs, score 1 run on our end, lose the game. I mean it was sickening to watch. No clutch hitting, no clutch pitching... The whole thing is unbelievable.

A year ago I remember saying how the Mets would be good for years to come because the core of the team was young and Omar was building for the future. At the same time the Yankees were the old team of has-beens with the gloomy future. Somehow the whole thing flip-flopped and now the Mets look extremely old.

And what in the world was up with Jose Reyes? The guy seemed depressed for the better part of 4 months and it showed on the field.

They should just let all of the old players on this team go their merry way and continue to build for the future. Wright will be an MVP someday and we should build around him. Delgado, Glavine, El Duque, Alou (even though he hit well this season) Lo Duca, Green, Castillo... I say let them all go. Play Milledge and Gomez or bring up the kid Fernando Martinez and let them play the outfield. Get a young, big bat to replace Delgado or fill one of the corner outfield slots. But most importantly, get an infusion of young pitching talent into the organization. If that means trading Milledge or Gomez so be it.

The big question - would you trade Jose Reyes for Johan Santana? The fact that I can even sit here and not give you a definitive answer says a lot.

Anyway, Omar has plenty of work to do this offseason. They basically need everything - bullpen help, quality starting pitching and a legit, clutch run producer for the middle of the lineup. It sucks not to have October baseball this year when making the playoffs was never really in doubt all season... but hey what can you do?

So for 2008 and beyond... Let's Go Mets!

(P.S. - Even though things didn't go our way this year I can honestly say that I'd still take being a fan of this team over any other team on the planet. They broke our hearts but that sorta comes with the territory when being a Mets fan. This year's team learned a valuable lesson and hopefully it will stick with them when we compete for the World Series next year. Yes, I still believe.)