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A New Mets Lifer Enters the World

Congratulations to fellow Mets Lifer blogger, Bryan, as he and his wife welcomed into the world last night the newest Mets Lifer as their son, Gavin, was born late Thursday.

Gavin hoped to have Santana in a Mets uniform before entering this world, but he seems to be dealing with the news quite well and is anticipating a Santana press conference in Queens in the coming weeks.

Congratulations!

Best Graphic Ever of Roger Clemens

Mets Refugees has possibly the best graphic I've ever seen of Roger Clemens, and an excellent write up on Clemens steroid use while showing some pretty impressive stat comparisons that explain much more than I can in words.

Kudos, to Mets Refugees which is the best designed Mets blog I've come across and has the second best logo. Second to Mets Lifer of course.

We Are Not Alone

I wanted to thank all those Mets Lifers out there who have emailed me, posted comments and even approached me this past week with words of encouragement. This is possibly the worst baseball week of our lives, but it is definitely good to know that there are others out there going through the same thing, having the same feelings, and having to deal with annoying Phillies and Yankees fans who keep rubbing it in our faces.

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I know that's absolutely true for Mets Lifers. We're battle tested in disappointment. We're forever the underdog. We're second fiddle to baseball's preeminent dynasty. But we're ok with it. We live and die with our team. We're not the Adam Sommers of this world.

I'm planning on watching the playoffs via SportsCenter. I can't deal with an entire game, but I like to know who won, who lost and what went down. I'm focusing on fantasy football and the upcoming college basketball season to keep me entertained until those glorious words are uttered, "pitchers and catchers report today."

Ah, yes. In the spring there is renewed hope in what lies ahead. Prediction are made. Dreams are formed, and promises have the chance of never being broken. It's symbolic that as our favorite team collapsed we would be on the doorstep of a season aptly named for the Mets season, fall.

But I'm already feeling better than I was on Monday, and it's mainly because of Mets Lifers like you. The outlook on 2008 is yet to be seen, but regardless of the roster, the manager, and what morons on talk radio say, one thing is certain. We'll be behind our team for 162 games.

Magic Eight Ball Look Into 2008

Let's give the Magic 8 Ball a shake and see what's ahead for the Mets in 2008.

Q: Will Paul Lo Duca return to the Mets?
A: Outcome not favorable.
As much as I love Paulie Walnuts and his flare, I don't see the Mets resigning a catcher who's entering the last years of his career. Look for the Mets to run at Posada, but have him stay with the Yankees. I salivate at the thought of Saltilimacchia, but probably won't happen.

Q: Will Tom Glavine finally retire?
A: Ask again later
Tom, Tom, Tom. I don't care if you retire you just have to get out of New York. You, Terry Pendleton, Mike Soscia, and Yadier Molina have ruined my recent Mets hopes and aspirations.

Q: Will Willie Randolph be fired?
A: Not likely
As much as I second guess Willie Randolph and absolutely abhor some of the moves he made this year, he wasn't the reason the Mets lost. Sure he needed to show some more urgency and perhaps a little more fire in his belly, but this team collapsed in spite of Randolph. Expect him to finish out his contract.

Q: Will Jose Reyes return to his normal self?
A: Outcome looks good
I'm betting we'll hear something in the coming weeks about Jose Reyes that will shed some light on what his problem was these last two months. I wonder if he's going through some trouble at home that's effecting his mindset and ability to focus. That's what his problem was. He lost focus. I expect him to rebound next year.

Q: Will the Mets make some major offseason moves?
A: Absolutely
Expect Omar Minaya to be a man on a mission this offseason. You'll hear rumors about Johann Santana, Jorge Posada, maybe even Mark Texiera. But expect Omar to go hard after pitching. He always says that's what's most important. Hmmm, than why didn't we get bullpen help at the trading deadline? Regardless, Minaya won't let this season become a ritual. Should be a very, very hot Hot Stove this winter.

Q: Will this feeling of disappointment in the Mets go away?
A: Ask again
It seems like this will go on forever, but we got over 1987, 1988, 1998, last year. Didn't we? Ok, maybe not. But that's why we're Mets Lifers. As much as it is a badge of honor, it can also be a life sentence.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger (And More Angry)

I've been talking with fellow Mets Lifers all day. We're sharing battle scars and condolences. Even non-Mets fans are expressing their concern for me, offering a shoulder to cry on or a simple hug.

But then there are those who you just want to punch in the face. The annoying Yankee fan who comes in and says, "You were talking about the Mets all year and now look what happened. Mets stink." Now this is from a person who hasn't watched a full Yankees game all year except for games they went to. This is also a person who wanted them to lose earlier in the year just to spite A-Rod. This is also a person whom I hardly discuss baseball with so it's not like I've been rubbing in their face that the Mets were having a good year.

Then there's the annoying Phillies' fan who emails me "Why are you disappointed? Just keep watching those Mets in October . . . ohhhhhhhhhh, wait. oh, sorry 'bout that." I can't even reply to that.

I'm sure we'll all face more of this in the coming days/weeks/months/years. Just know that there are millions of others out there going through the same torture.

Black Monday

This is Black Monday. Here's why. As Mets fans we have to go into work today and deal with the Yankees fans. Sure they made the playoffs and we committed the biggest choke job in sports history, but you'd think Yankees' fans would have some decency and let us wallow in our misery. But no.

Also every major sports outlet today is talking about the collapse. We'll here about what games they should have won, but didn't. Who need to go. What needs to be added. We won't be able to suffer in peace.

But the worst part is if your a Mets Lifer is that postseason baseball is on, and you won't be watching because you know our beloved Mets should be playing. I have to go on a business trip where people will want to go out and watch the games after meetings, but I don't think I want anything to do with postseason baseball this year.

You see I'm already thinking about 2008. It's sad, I know. But it's how I deal.

One thing that makes me happy is the fact that Tom Glavine might be pitching for the Braves next year. Oh baby. Can you say revenge?

From Black to Orange and Blue

Earlier this week we changed the color scheme of Mets Lifer to black and we wrote a post on why we did this.

But it's time for a change. We're going orange and blue for the final game of the season. The Mets showed us their colors today and it's time that we show that we too bleed orange and blue. I sat through the entire Nationals/Phillies game today biting my finger nails and yelling at Manny Acta to put on the hit and run, and to please bring in Rouch & Cordero.

Who thought it would come down to game number 162? Nobody, but that's where we are. Time to man up, bare down or whatever saying you want to insert. None of them matter. It's time to WIN.

One win tomorrow and who better to face than our nemesis, Dontrelle Willis. This team should be fired up. Hey, Rick Peterson looked fired up today. I almost saw him take off his jacket so he could throw a punch at Olivio. Reyes, hopefully, is fired up. We know David Wright is geared up and I fully expect Paul Lo Duca to make a Willis Reed like appearance tomorrow.

I saw kids out today proudly wearing their Mets t-shirts, and that was before the win today. That's guts. But I had my Mets hat too and I thought we're all in this together. Do or die. We're Mets Lifers.

Let's finish this.

Mets Lifer Has Gone Black

Until the Mets officially clinch their playoff berth (or don't), Mets Lifer is going black. It's a symbolic statement of our current mood, one of mourning and disappointment.

But it's also a change of pace. And we all know the Mets need to change their ways so why shouldn't we? Consider this the closest thing to a blogging rally cap that we could think of.

If the Mets find the path to winning, Mets Lifer will return to the bright and cheerful white background that we know and love. But until then the dark cloud has settled in.

But even in these dark times, we'll still cry LETS GO METS!

Stop the Insanity!

This is ridiculous. This is beyond ridiculous, it's painful. No painful is too soft a word, this is torturous. I think this is what they do to the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. They make them watch these Mets games.

No lead is safe. No team is too weak to mount a comeback. But when you think about it is it really surprising that we lost last night? Here are the facts:

-We were playing at home in which we have a worse record than when we play on the road
-We were playing the Nationals who have beat us 13 out of the last 14 times they've played us in September
-We had a lead early which we've had the past 2 games and blown them all in a blaze of glory
-We had a starting pitcher who's never started a game in his life and we trusted him to save this team from destruction

Add that all together and it's no wonder we lost. The only highlight was seeing El Duque return to the mound and get out of an inning. That and Moises Alou destroying every pitcher he faces to extend his hit streak to 30 games.

The Mets are on life support my fellow Mets Lifers. The question is when will they pull the plug?

Mets Lack Killer Instinct

I swear someone at Newsday is stealing material from my posts. This morning Wallace Matthews of Newsday writes an article talking about the Mets lack of a killer instinct to put teams away.

I couldn't agree with him more, but his material seems oddly familiar. Perhaps that's because I wrote about this very same topic earlier this month in my post entitled Winning At Home.

I'll cut Newsday some slack because at least they got their idea from a trusted and worthwhile source (wink). The article is a good read and is worth checking out.

Or you can read the Mets Lifer post here and you'll get a little depressed because you'll realize that nothing has changed with this team in about a month.

A Change in Our Expectations

As painful as the last week has been for all Mets fans, it has signaled a change in what we now expect from our favorite team.

Just two short years ago, the Mets were once again left out of a pennant race. The past 4 seasons before that we were amongst the bottom dwellers of the National League. But last season we drank from the postseason cup, which has had a lingering taste in our mouths that makes us anxiously await the next time we can sip from that glorious cup.

As a Mets Lifer who has survived the dark years of this ball club and now have it become a winning team again, it is that much more painful to watch it struggle. You don't want them to fall back into the rut of the early 90's. We now expect this team to be a winner every year.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Every Mets fan I talk to is going through the same anxiety and pain over this recent losing streak. And today those same Mets fans are hopeful that we've turned the corner. We desperately need this team to make the postseason. Not because of the Yankees. Not because of our hatred for the Braves (and now Phillies). It's because we want our team to become a perennial powerhouse in baseball. Not just this year, but for the rest of this decade.

May we never come complacent with winning. The fact that we are holding on to every win and loss like it's the World Series shows the difference between being just a Mets fan and a Mets Lifer. It separates us from the Yankee fans who want their team to lose just because they don't like A-Rod or who gave up on them because of their rough first half.

We're critical of this Mets team just as your are hardest on those you care most about. And we'll be the first to shower them with accolades when they turn things around.

As much as we'd love to have already clinched the division, take a step back and appreciate the fact that this team is once again in a race to the postseason, and we will be for years to come.

But let's go out there and wrap up this division for crying out loud.

5 Things A Mets Fan Needs To Survive the Rest of the Season

Ok, folks. It's crunch time and as a Mets Lifer you need to be prepared for what lies ahead these last few games of the season.

I've put together a list of necessary items that I've found that can help you survive the rest of this Mets season. Here they are:

1. A blank wall: I have a nice wall just to the right of my TV. It doesn't have a lot of pictures on it. It's just a nice blank wall. You'll need a wall like this so when you see the Mets make 5 errors in a game or Willie Randolph brings in Guillermo Mota, you can just get up off your couch, approach the wall and bang your head against it until you feel better (or lose conscientiousness, whichever comes first).

2. Rolaids: If you prefer Tums or Maalox, those will work too. I get a lot of agida in these close pennant races and sometimes it's necessary to pop a dozen or so tablets in to help reduce the pressure.

3. A 2003 Mets yearbook: If you're feeling depressed this is great to have around. Just flip through the pages and remember the likes of Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Raul Gonzalez, Pat Strange and others to make you appreciate the team we have now.

4. Picture in picture: There are some points during a Mets game when you just need to look away, sort of. Picture in picture can greatly help with anxiety attacks during the 5th or 6th inning. Just change the channel to something else and leave the Mets game up in the picture in picture window. This way you won't feel like you're being subjected to torture by watching the game, but just kind of watching it out of the corner of your eye.

5. Belief: Don't give up hope yet. There's baseball yet to be played and nothing has been decided yet. This team has had ups and downs all year. It's just unfortunate that it had to happen the last week of the season. Ya gotta believe these Mets will turn it around. It's the last thing we have to hold onto.

Look Up the Word Enthusiasm. You'll Find Luis Castillo.

I'm a big fan of the Delgado fist pump after a good play at first base. I'm a huge fan of every Reyes jig he does after a home run. But I'm really loving the enthusiasm from Luis Castillo.

I never figured Castillo for an emotional guy. He always seemed to be calm and nonchalant with the Marlins, but I guess that's because I didn't watch him every day. The guy's got some fire in his belly and it fits perfectly with this Mets team.

Between Castillo and Reyes the Mets have the most enthusiastic and pumped up top of the order in all of baseball. After a big hit Castillo does what I like to call the "Castillo Clap" which is basically is pounding his hands together like he's one of the Spartans in 300.

It's that kind of adrenaline and excitement that gets me fired up as a fan. I want to feel the energy of the game even though I'm watching it while eating chips and salsa.

It's a fun time to be a Mets Lifer. Let's keep it rolling.