I am sitting here watching the Yankee/Indians game, and I can't help but to smile a little for two reasons.  First, I have taken a lot of abuse from my Yankee friends over the past few weeks.  I have remained calm and haven't said anything, because honestly, what was I going to say.  So, the smile is for the fact that every Yankee fan is squirming in their seat right now.  Don't take the Indians lightly.  They are embarrassing you in Game 1 and certainly will in Game 2 if you allow them.  The second reason I smiled during this game was for the crazy fan in a Mets jersey that was jumping around as TBS was doing a spot on the "drum" man.  Gotta love the Mets fan at Jacobs field wearing his true colors.

Now for the Rockies.  Loving these guys taking a club out and beating the shit out of the Phillies, so far.  My anger for the Mets collapse will be curbed just a bit if the Phillies get swept.  I love watching the Rockies play.  Good, young, aggressive talent, hey Mets take some notes.  And also, Kaz Matsui almost hitting for the cycle, what is up with that!  It is good to see him thriving in another city. 

Oh, and by the way, Clutch-Rod went 0-for tonight.

Okay, enough of the negativity and onto other things.  Back in June the 2007 Mets Fantasy campers were invited to Shea stadium for a reunion and opportunity to play a game.  Wow, what a wonderful experience for a fan.  This one day may have been better than all the days of fantasy camp combined. 

The day started with changing into our uniforms in the Mets visitors locker room.  Walking through the bowls of Shea for the first time was like Christmas day.  When I say bowls, I do mean bowls.  This stadium is a dump.  Anything the camera doesn't see during a telecast is in terrible shape.  It looked as if they stopped caring, as they should with the new stadium looming over Shea.  The visitor locker room was very similar to my middle school gym locker room.  Small, smelly and old. 

Walking through the tunnel to the visitor clubhouse and out onto the field had to be probably the most incredible feeling I have ever had.  Before I knew it I was standing at the top step of the dugout looking out over the field.  Seeing Shea from the angle of being ON the field was a bit strange.  For over 20 years I have been seeing the field from the stands, to now be standing on the filed made you realize how big it was.  Running in the outfield you can feel just how massive it is and how amazing it would be to play to a packed house.  I went to where Swoboda made his catch, to where Bucker let the ball through his legs, to where Chavez made the greatest catch I have ever seen, to where Doc and Seaver threw from the mound.  All of my memories of the Mets came rushing back all at once.  It was a truly amazing feeling.


We took batting practice and then shagged balls in the outfield.  After this the teams were split between both the first session and second session.  We all had 1 or 2 at bats and played the field for a few innings with our team.  I was able to dig-in at the box and have an at bat (reached on an error) and pitch an inning (2 k's).  My brother Jack was there with me an had an equally good experience.  His most exciting memory came during his one at bat where he hit an absolute bomb, if it had stayed fair it may have hit off the wall.                            
 

Overall it was a fantastic experience.  The had to drag me off the field after the 7 hour day we spent playing at Shea.  I grabbed some dirt, God knows what I am going to do with it.  Maybe one day when Shea is long gone I can sell it grain by grain on eBay.

Collapse.  Punchless.  Despicable.  Angry.  Frustrated.  Worthless. 

There are so many other words that I could write that express my feelings towards the 2007 New York Mets.  If you have followed my blog you know that I have season tickets and go to as many games as possible.  From those games I write my game experiences.  Between traveling more than expected this summer for work and other obligations, I still managed to see a fair share of games at Shea.  I stopped writing in the blog because I honestly can say I didn't have anything to say new.  Each game experience from August through the collapse was the same old themes.......no energy, uninspired, horribly played baseball.  I decided after the Mets Sunday night loss to David Wells and the Dodgers that I was taking a break.  In my eyes this was the start of the "collapse". 

How does this happen?  Who is to blame?  Why did this team continue to spiral out of control? 

There are many answers to these questions, so I am not going to bore you with them as you have been reading them all week long.  I think it started early in the season when the little things weren't being done, moving men over, clutch hitting with men on base, inconsistent pitching.  I blame Willie for not doing more behind closed doors early in the season.  I blame Rick Peterson for letting his staff get away from him.  I blame Omar for not addressing needs and allowing Ricky with his horrible attitude into the lockerroom.  However, more than anything, I blame the veterans on this 2007 team.  Listen, I can fully appreciate that it is a long season, but you and I both know the same things that went wrong in the final weeks of the season were happening the 2nd, 3rd and 4th months of the season.  Let's be totally honest here, the Mets were at best a .500 ballclub.  If it wasn't for the dismal NL Central, the Mets would have been hovering around this mark all season long.  Where was the killer instinct? 

The hangover from the 2006 season lasted for months.  Once it subsided there was a reason to optimistic for an even more successful 2007.  This year the Mets played so average that were we all that surprised that they got their asses kicked the last month of the season?  We all had a front row seat for the train wreck, and where I NEVER lost hope, you just got the sense that this team didn't have that "killer instinct" (Glavine's quote after his stellar 1/3 of an inning start are a perfect example).  So, 2006 ended like a kick in the balls.  The 2007 season ended like shoving bamboo shoots into fingernails.  The difference is that the optimism for next year is not there. 

With that last statement, I am not suggesting there is a total overhaul on the horizon.  The Mets have a sick lineup, but it is it good enough to compete with the powerhouse AL?  Get stronger in the pen, try to acquire another young quality arm and solidify your defense.  I don't know what it takes to trade for Santana, I am sure Omar will try.  I just hope that he doesn't force the issue and make Duquette/Phillip type bonehead moves.  Keeping Willie is important and a good move, he just needs the endorsement of Omar to run HIS staff and HIS locker room. 

Collapse.  Disgrace.  Pathetic.  Horrible.  Ugly.  Train wreck. 

Let's go Mets 2008!