Mets – Page 14 – Hank Kalet

A good sign for the Mets?

I’ve avoided making any comment on the firing of Willie Randolph, because of how utterly dysfunctional the entire affair showed the organization to be.

But I have the game on now and I am struck by what I just watched in the top of the second against Aaron Cook of the Rockies:

Carlos Beltran — singled to right.
Carlos Delgado — homered to left, Beltran scored.
Trot Nixon — popped out to shortstop.
Damion Easley — singled softly to center.
Brian Schneider — singled to center, Easley to second.
John Maine — flied out to center.
Jose B. Reyes — singled to left center, Easley scored, Schneider to second.
Endy Chavez — singled to right, Schneider scored, Reyes to third.
David Wright — singled to left, Reyes scored, Chavez to second.
Carlos Beltran — grounded out to first.

Yes, a five-run inning. But that’s not what was striking. It was the three straight hits with two outs, something I don’t think I’ve seen from this team in more than a year.

Getting healthy

Pedro’s back and Alou is on his way — a little optimism for a change from this old Mets fan.

Bad neck and a bad game, so far

I’m sitting in the den, paying bills and doing paperwork, neck bothering me as I wait for the rain to return and wait for the Mets to score. David Wright fails to get anyone home — first and third two outs — and the Mets leave the Dodgers’ lead intact.

After three games in which the Mets looked like the Mets of ’06, the last two games have seen them return to their lackluster ways.

Alas…..

It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

The season is over — if you listen to the sports talk radio callers in New York. The Mets, having played mediocre baseball (and often times just plain terrible ball), find themselves 5.5 games behind the Florida Marlins and two games under .500 — not the kind of record expected from a team with a $140 million payroll.

So, let’s just move on, right?

Not so fast. The Mets need to make some changes — which may include the axing of Willie Randolph — but writing the team off is just plain foolish.

Consider the 2007 season. On May 28 last year, three teams that would end the season in the playoffs — including the N.L. pennant winning Colorado Rockies — were under .500 and a fourth, the Phillies, was just a game over.

In fact, the four teams that would eventually qualify for the National League playoffs were a combined 16 games out of the playoff spots they eventually qualified for.

Does this mean that the Mets will find their way back? No. It just means they can.