Mets 6 Rockies 5
A series win gives Mets fans a Rocky Mountain High.
johan santana
Mets Game 17: Win Over Marlins
Mets 2 Marlins 1
Seems we’re still traveling in a time machine and emerging from it to watch pitcher-dominated baseball from the 1970s — and I’m loving every minute of it.
Mets Game 11: Loss to Braves
Braves 9 Mets 3
Tough game for the Mets as they dropped to a 7-4 record, but they still remain within striking distance of the league-leading Nationals — only 1.5 games behind with 151 to play.
Mets Game 6: Loss to Nationals
Nationals 4 Mets 0
The surging Nationals take two from the Mets, moving into a first-place tie with the NL East leaders. This won’t bother me so much if these two teams occupy the same spot in September. Heck, I’ll be happy if they’re still tied for first in May.
The Mets Might Not Be Good This Season, But They Won’t Be As Bad As Everyone Thinks
It is no secret right now in New York sports that the Mets are a second-class citizen when compared to the Yankees. They are in financial ruin, their tickets sell for pennies on the dollar on secondary markets, they haven’t made the playoffs since 2006, they haven’t won a World Series since 1986, and aren’t even expected to have a winning record for this upcoming 2012 MLB season. On the other hand, the Yankees have by far the highest payroll in the MLB, their tickets are nearly worth their weight in gold (not really, but you get what I mean), they won their division last season, won a World Series in 2009, and are serious contenders for another championship this season.
As one might think when shown all of these evidences for the ineptitude of the Mets, New York’s second-best MLB team is viewed as a laughingstock and with a rag-tag roster with no more than five established talents on it, that pessimism is justified amongst the media and even the fans. However, the Mets’ situation isn’t as bad as it is expressed in the public eye simply because the Mets won’t be that terrible/awful this season.
Let’s take a look at all the reasons why the Mets should be better from last year and actually be somewhat respectable this season:
Johan: Is Opening Day the Finish Line?
During yesterday’s TV broadcast of the Mets – Braves spring training game, Gary Cohen and Ron Darling discussed Johan Santana, with Cohen going so far as to suggest that Santana’s “comeback” might serve as a case study for pitchers who have similar surgery in the future. Darling followed that by half-joking that Randy Niemann might … Read more
Marlins Keep Secret Weapon Under Wraps
The Mets and Marlins faced off for the third time this spring and once again the Fish kept their secret weapon hidden from view.
As Goes Johan, So Will Mets
Remember when the theory was that the Mets would go as far as Jose Reyes would take them? I.e., “as goes Reyes, so goes the Mets.” The thought was that Reyes was the key to the Mets success, and there may have been some stats that kinda, sorta, backed it up.
Fast-forward to the After Reyes period in Mets history, and Ron Darling‘s quote prior to yesterday’s spring training contest:
There’s no team in Major League Baseball that looks to one player — especially a starting pitcher — more than the New York Mets. Johan Santana is everything to this team …
Ronnie may have something there. The only other teams that immediately come to mind who are incredibly dependent on one starting pitcher (or any one individual) are the Tigers (Justin Verlander) and the Marlins (Josh Johnson). The Tigers, though, have a pretty decent supporting cast, including a couple of other-worldly sluggers named Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. The Fish might be a closer match, since their 2011 season went kaput in a hurry after Johnson went down. But rather than argue what player is most important to a team, let’s look at this in our Flushing vacuum: is it true that everything for the Mets in 2012 depends on what Johan Santana does — or doesn’t — do?