The Vicious Mets Win Cycle

History show us the Mets are by and large a streaky baseball team. They have ups. They have downs. But like the economy there seems to be a cycle to this madness.

The good news is that given time the team usually finds a way to climb out of the hole they find themselves in. The bad news...well, there's lots of it.

According to the cycle outlined in the chart above the Mets are smack in the midst of their decline. The sad part is they're plummeting at a faster pace than previous downturns and it usually takes a good 3-4 years before there's a recovery back to the top of the food chain.

Every team has it's skids, but the last 4 seasons, starting with Yadier Molina's home run, have ushered in what is arguable 4 of the most painful seasons in modern baseball history.

And history shows the potential for more to come.

Johan Must Win Today

Today, I have every expectation to win this game as Johan Santana takes the mound against John Smoltz and the Braves. Opening Day was a nice start, but that was against the Marlins. This game today is different. This is the game I want Johan Santana to go out and win.

No doubt he will be facing a formidable lineup - probably, the best in the NL – but Santana needs to shut them down so the Mets can head back to NY with a winning record going in to their home opener against the Phils. With the exception of 2006, Atlanta has absolutely owned us over the last decade+ and yesterday’s defeat was no different. It was rather typical. But now, armed with our best pitcher in 20 years, the result needs to change. And that change should begin at 1:30 this afternoon.

Need a Win Tonight

I need a “W” tonight. I’m still reeling from that bitter defeat last night and need to get the bad taste out of my mouth as quickly as possible. And the fastest route to shed the carnage would be by winning tonight’s game against the Dodgers.

It’s also important for the Mets to get back on track as they were on a nice streak, winning 7 out of 8, and suddenly they lose two in a row. If they make it three, that doubt, that inherent pessimism I thought I had vanquished until October will begin to creep back in and devour me.

So, Mr. Oliver Perez, please go out and get that first Mets’ no-hitter.