Right now, the Mets are in prime position to win a few games and clinch their spot in October, but you wouldn’t know that if you surveyed a lot of worried Mets’ fans.
Let’s use my father, as I often do, as an example. Yesterday, we were in the car heading to Party City to pick up balloons for my sister’s surprise 21st birthday, and he wouldn’t stop talking about how he feared a collapse, stressing that the Mets pitching staff is young, hasn’t looked good lately and could be fatigued heading into the team’s most important stretch.
And then there’s Yoenis Cespedes. The golden boy of Queens has been mired in a slump ever since Tom Koehler of the Marlins plunked him with a pitch, and Cespedes has been hitless (0-for-17) ever since. My father even uttered the words, “Is he worth the money?” that made me laugh.
I told my dad that a collapse of these proportions has never happened in Major League History. Sure, the pain of 2007 and even 2008 has left a sting, but it goes even further back than that. My father thinks it’s historically appropriate for the Mets to take the wrong turn. He brought up 1973, when Yogi Berra opted to pitch Tom Seaver in Game 6 of the World Series, only to lose and force John Matlack to pitch and also lose in Game 7. I told him to take a chill pill, because we need to focus on making the playoffs before devising our World Series strategy.
The bottom line — I am not worried. After tonight’s rubber match with C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees, the Mets will play the Braves, Reds and Phillies before closing the regular season with a three-game tilt against Washington. The three teams before the Nats have a combined record of 178-267.
It’s going to be fine.
2 Comments