October 1, 2007
With a Whimper, the Mets Go Golfing
For a team used to making miracles, conjuring up a disaster had an especially bitter taste. With a sloppily played 8-1 loss to Florida and the Phillies' 6-1 win against the Nationals, the Mets' season ended about a month too early. The loss capped an agonizing stretch of two and a half weeks in which the Mets played some of the worst teams in the National League and still played their worst baseball of the season.
Few can escape the blame game. Willie Randolph might have to update his resume, and that doesn't seem unreasonable. He relied too much on veterans all season, playing them over more talented youngsters. His team showed a lack of discipline -- not running out ground balls, making foolish outs on the basepaths -- that always gets pointed out during struggles. He mismanaged his bullpen all year -- how else can you explain Guillermo Mota ever pitching with a lead -- and tired out the relievers so much that they could hardly lift their arms by season's end.
Randolph can say he did his best with the hand he was dealt -- even though he didn't -- and that sheds some light on Omar Minaya's flaws. This is a team that, like it or not, was built to win last year. Its apex may end up being Endy Chavez's catch in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series. The team's failure to better that had plenty to do with Minaya's roster decisions heading into 2007. He traded away capable relievers in Heath Bell and Royce Ring. He swapped American League Rookie of the Year Candidate Brian Bannister. Wouldn't he have wanted all three when the wheels came off the Mets' pitching staff in September? Moises Alou and his $8 million was fine when he was on the field, but he only played half a season. There is no excuse for any Major League team putting David Newhan in left field. Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green both turned in seasons that didn't even approach their remuneration. Paul Lo Duca was a defensive and offensive liability. With some creativity, Minaya could have upgraded those positions.
At some point, the players just have to perform. Who gets a free pass? David Wright and Carlos Beltran. That's the end of the list. Jose Reyes stunk for much of the second half. If he put as much energy into his baserunning as he did into his dances, maybe he wouldn't have invited the scorn of the Mets fans who booed him throughout Sunday's loss. Lo Duca hit into a ton of double plays, didn't hustle and couldn't get his on-base percentage above .310. Carlos Delgado was a shadow of his former self. Luis Castillo is a singles hitter who doesn't get on base that much anymore and who lacks the blistering speed that made him an asset in years past. That's a long list of problems for the Mets' payroll and resources.
Then look at the pitching staff. Pedro Martinez did all he could in a return from a rotator-cuff injury. Glavine had a good enough year but got only one out in Sunday's drubbing. His ERA approached infinity in his final three starts. Oliver Perez seemed to alternate dominant starts with wild starts like the one he put forth Friday. Orlando Hernandez represents the Alou of the pitching staff: Fine when healthy, but not healthy enough. John Maine pitched his heart out but control problems kept him from being a top-notch pitcher. In the bullpen, Billy Wagner and Aaron Heilman rarely got big outs and found little support behind them.
What now for the Mets? Could anyone blame them if they fired both Minaya and Randolph with a desire to start fresh? That probably won't happen, but it could be considered. The 2008 squad probably won't include Lo Duca, Green or Castillo. The Mets have an option on Alou, and all the other regulars are signed. As for the pitching staff, how long can it exist without a true ace? Will trucking out the likes of Hernandez and Glavine lead to anything but another 88-win season.
The good news? The Mets play in the National League, where a collection of No. 3 starters can still leave a team on the precipice of the playoffs. They'll be able to compete even if future versions are flawed. Their dreadful play to close this season gives them a head start on making sure those flaws are minimal.
Photo of the Mets dugout in the 9th inning and photo of a dejected Mets fan after the game by AP/Kathy Willens
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I would blame the Mets wives and children. The wives probably didn't give them enough head and the children were probably bitchin and moaning about not getting halo 3 last week even though they still haven't finished bioshock. and their babies should have just shut their traps instead of crying for food. THis totally distracted the Mets from their 500-1 shot at making the playoffs against sub 500 teams in the last week. stupid wives and kids. I blame them
If I were a met fan I'd seriously ask for a gambling investigation into Tom Glavine's finances. Did he just get a few million in his bank account from somewhere in philadelphia? seriously, 1/3 of a inning and seven runs, and he hit the pitcher? sounds like someone was on the grassy knoll.
Thank god this will be the last time we see that fuckin logo!
Locate wound
Insert salt
LET'S GO YANKEES
HAAA, HAAAA, HAAAA, HAAAAA
October baseball
Yankees are there and the Mets are playing golf.
All the Mets fans were making fun of the Yankees fans for the first two months of the season. Yankees having the highest payroll in MLB were in dead last place and almost everyone though they were completely dead.
and now the tides have completely turned.
bet George Steinbrenner is one happy man now.
WORST COLLAPSE IN BASEBALL HISTORY!!!!! the yankees collapse was against the Red sox and they were a good team that won the world series, the Mets collapsed against the Marlins, Washington and st. Louis in 2 and a half weeks? Their mothers are sucking cocks in hell.
The best article about the NL East in 2007. Hahahahhaha
Tom, this posting is very confusing. Did you watch the same team as the rest of us? Either you are a pissed off Mets fan who is blaming everyone and everything they can think of, or you didn't research the team at all. All the players you said played poorly were, in fact, quite good this year. Obviously the last two weeks they weren't but that doesn't mean they should be given the ax. The whole team (expect for Wright) would get the ax if you were the owner.
HA HA!
LOL Tim that article was dead on lol Poor Yankees lol
How many David Wright shirts am I going to see on the commute tomorrow? lol
Thankfully, my personal favourite moment in the history of the Philadelphia Philles, worst team in the history of organised professional sport in the known universe, is online and the call is done by the late great Tom Cheek and not the NFL Films guy who is the Phillies announcer. This has to be one of the best radio calls anywhere. Of course Phillies fans would not like the reminder of the last time they somehow made it into the post season, but it is a classic moment of losing for the team that was ironically formerly known as the Blue Jays.
Still baseball needs to be more competitive and the collapse of the Mets is reflected in the small pool of actual pitching talent. What needs to be done is eliminate several teams to improve the level of play. The following teams should be eliminated and a brief reason:
1. Philadelphia Phillies - They are the wost team in the history of organised professional sport. I am sure we can find a spot in the New York Penn league for them.
2. Milwaukee Brewers - Because Bud deserves it.
3. San Fransisco Giants - They moved to San Fransisco and the Dodgers followed which created alls sorts of problems such as making it easy for hucksters from Cleveland to manipulate borough presidents. Plus they didn't fire that freak before he took a dump on Hank Aaron.
4. The California Angels - LA has a team, it is the one that was in Kings County.
5. Washington Nationals - They have no reason to exist.
6. Kansas City Royals - Too small a market.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks - Arizona is for spring training.
8. Florida Marlins - Florida is for spring training.
9. Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Florida is for spring training.
10. Colorado Rockies - Because you were part of the whole expansion problem.
11. Texas Rangers - Spite.
12. Houston Astros - Because of their horrid 1970s uniforms.
13. San Diego Padres - Please remind me why they exist?
14. Pittsburgh Pirates - Because nobody should ever have to go to Pittsuburgh.
That would leave us with two eight team leagues and more pitching to go around. Perhaps to make things more exciting, the team that finishes dead last in the league gets sent down to the minors. If such a scheme was in place at the start, the Philadelphia Phillies would most likely be in the Moose Jaw Parks Department Little League by now.
Willie Randolph has to stop acting so white, come back to the dark side.
couple a weeks ago tom was saying everybody should stop hating on the mets skid and celebrate the fact that they were in the lead all year - what a fucking tool! keep willie and have tom write about the stroller mommies in park dope.
"He relied too much on veterans all season, playing them over more talented youngsters."
Which youngsters might you be talking about????
Mr. Met and I are SPEECHLESS, I tellya.
www.forgotten-ny.com
wow - you replaced the logo with pics of douchebags!
Fire Minaya. Don't fire Willie. Willie is a solid manager. Look at the garbage the Mets had on the mound this season. Tom Glavine is the guy you want on the mound in 1997 and not 2007. They need young arms. The Mets will be aggressive to acquire much needed talent in the off season.
Go Yankees!
Who's your daddy?
Lets not forget the worst collapse in NYC World Series history - 2004 ALCS anyone?
I see Toby is one again taking one fact and riding it into the ground i.e. Phillies having more losses than any other professional sports team. Dude, you're a bore.
And all of you pathetic Yankee fans trying to push the Worst Choke title off of the 2004 Yankees and onto the Mets are wrong. At least the Mets didn't have their archrival take four straight from them including the PENNANT WINNING GAME. And where did the Red Sox get to celebrate? Oh yeah, ON YOUR LAWN!! HA HA HA!!!!
First off the Red Sox team in 2004 was a very good team who just didn't show up in the first three games while the Mets just struggled against very garbage teams..Marlins and Nationals at home!? losing 5 out of the last 6 games.
The veterans were Shawn Green and Marlon Anderson and the like. I've pointed this out in previous posts, and there was little value to Green -- and Anderson !!! -- playing over someone like Milledge. I've also argued before that the Mets should have played Castro over Lo Duca. As for who didn't play well, Jose Reyes had a .321 post All-Star break on-base percentage. Deglado had a similar total for the year. Castillo couldn't hit a home run with a metal bat. Green couldn't hit for all of July and August. That's the team I saw.
as a yankee fan, i have nothing against the mets
i actually want them to do well.
its the mets fans that i cant stand
i remember all the trash talking from earlier this year . .
so i'm loving this right now
maybe you all can learn a lesson and show some class next year...but somehow i doubt that
toby...bitter...hehehehe
mets fans ARE huge tools. But nobody ever listens to them cause they never win. It's like the little brother syndrome.
Toby wrote "favourite" and therefore is canadian and therefore anything he says about american sports is invalid - save for hockey but no one cares about hockey anyway.
Two words: Johan Santana
He's a free agent...Do it...Do it...
Beat the Mets
Beat the Mets
Step right up and
Beat the Mets
Santana is not a free agent until 2009.
The Mets had a good season and couldn't deal with pressure down the stretch. It happens. It just doesn't usually happen this late.
As for the Castillo deal: it was a good one. The guy's constantly hurt but he plays through it for the most part. Minaya expected them to work with a bullpen for a staff of guys who never go more than 6 innings and they didn't have mid-season bullpen replacements like the Yankees did.
Shitty bullpen management and the huge lack of mental discipline leading to all the errors killed the season.
Good luck, Yanks.
If they are going to keep Randolph as manager Omar has to let him hire his own coaches. Rickey Henderson was a terrible choice as a coach and firing Rick Down was a mistake.
I would also call up the Twins and see if they will trade Santana now since it doesn't look like they will sign him.
looks like #30 just listened to 66 the fan.
Go Tribe..!!
Beat them Skankees !
Anderson was great off the bench down the stretch. I have a hard time complaining about what he brought to the team.
It's hardly surprising that Johan Santana might be on the trading block this winter, since the Twins presumably won't be able to afford him as a free agent in the 2008-09 offseason, but his price will be sky-high.
Unfortunately I think [22] is right that this is a deeply flawed team. There's a lot of guys who are on the wrong side of their peak, and it showed.
This article is spot on.
to lose a 7 seven game series, after being up 3 is a pretty bad choke - but to lose a season in the last 3 weeks, and on the last day to a team that should me in the minors. that's horrendous - they should knock shea down right away, shitcan next season and start building the parking now!!
Seriously, Toby von Meistersinger. At least us PHILLY fans admit we're just downright bitter. You try to wrap it up in shiny paper with a pretty bow.
You just came off as the elitist, so far up your own [expletive deleted] you haven't seen the light of day in years New Yorker everyone stereotypes.
Tell your boys in blue that we hope they have a wonderful extended off season. :)
Actually, the REAL boys in blue just got done whooping Philly's ass last night, 16-3.