The Mets lost another game last night, dropping to 5-14 in May after a promising April.
Last night’s loss was punctuated — as most of the team’s losses this year, by an inability to get men home when they manage to get them on base. The night before, they were blown out, demonstrating another major problem — inconsistent pitching. (The Mets ERA in April is third-worst on the league and they walk more batters than anyone.) What we have is an old lineup with a young, inexperienced staff, an ownership that won’t spend and a GM who is essentially charged with keeping the wheels from falling off but who has neither the vision nor the tools to move the team into the future.
And yet I keep running into fans like the one I met this morning. He saw my Seaver jersey and bemoaned last night’s loss while talking up the team’s future.
I’d sum up his comments this way: They can’t hit, but Granderson is coming around. They’ve got young pitching, but no one can get through the sixth. They have young talent like Lagares, but they play guys like Chris Young because, well, what else are they going to do. They are coming around. You can see. The future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades.
This is typical stuff for Mets fans — I engage in the false hope of spring every year. I actually thought Tejada might turn it around. Ha.
I am still hoping the team can get to .500 and maybe steal a weak division — wait. That’s just foolish, just the long-suffering Mets fan in me bubbling to the surface again.
Hank Kalet 