Thread: 2008 New York Mets

It was in the 70's, in fact I think they had more of a hatred between each other.
The media did get the fans all hyped up about though...

Mets have a history of missed opportunities
Mets have a history of missed opportunities

Wallace Matthews

September 29, 2008


Over the past three years, the Mets have led the league in nothing but disappointing their fans.

From the game that was supposed to catapult them into the playoffs to the postgame celebration that was supposed to bid a stylish farewell to Shea Stadium, they ran true to form yesterday, leaving no one in the park satisfied and just about everyone - except for those in the visiting clubhouse - either puzzled, disgusted or outraged.

The game, a 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins that left them with their noses pressed against the glass of October for the second consecutive year, served as a reminder of how much was expected of this team and how little it has accomplished.

And the parade of former Mets greats afterward, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza, only underscored the fact that longtime Mets observers should have expected nothing else.

Seaver, of course, was exiled to Cincinnati in his prime. Most of Piazza's best years were spent in L.A. The early brilliance of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry fell victim to their personal demons and lack of discipline. In fact, the entire history of this franchise has been a procession of broken promises and missed opportunities.




Why should a team composed of the likes of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran and the remainder of a $140-million conglomerate of ballplayers turn out any different?

Two years ago, after the Mets blew the NLCS to an - on paper, anyway - inferior St. Louis Cardinals team, I wrote a highly unpopular column suggesting we might already have seen the best of these Mets, that they might never again come as close to the World Series as they did in 2006. Two years later, they have done nothing to prove me wrong. In fact, they are making me look like a genius.

In reality, it was an easy call. Only once in their history have they put together back-to-back playoff years, and their resume is littered with instances of money wasted, careers frittered away, dynasties that never were.

Whatever the reason, failure has been a way of life around this franchise for most of its 47 seasons. It was cute and funny in the early 1960s, less so after the miracle of 1969, and damned near intolerable now.

Still, the Mets continue to refine the process of torturing their fans to the point it has reached today. They drag you along for the ride for 161 games, raising your hopes, dashing them and raising them again, before leaving you a quivering, hopeless, lifeless wreck on the final day of the season.

They have done it two years running now, bad history repeating itself in the worst possible way, from the rousing victory on the second-to-last day of the season that fills everyone with optimism to the final-day implosion that leaves everyone plunged into yet another winter of despair.

But that's not the worst of it, not by a long shot. Even worse than being stifled yesterday by Scott Olsen, a pitcher they had batted around like a piñata all season, and betrayed once again by their bullpen, was being force-fed the malarkey after the game that really, this had not been such a bad year after all, that this $140-million team had in fact overachieved, and that the mere circumstance of having taken the season down to its final game was an accomplishment in itself.

The person doing the feeding was none other than the architect of the team, the man who is about to be officially rewarded with four more years of Wilpon paychecks. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Omar Minaya.

"This team did an unbelievable job in getting us to today," Minaya said. "I thought that the players, when you look at what they had to overcome to get us to today, it's a credit to everyone in that room to be able to get us to 89 wins. Two years in a row, we took it to the last day of the season."

So now we're back to the modest aspirations of the Art Howe Era, when the goal was merely to be "playing meaningful games in September."

One of these years, the Mets might get around to actually winning some of those games. But not as long as the GM and his bosses continue to aim low, make excuses and escape accountability.

Yesterday, Minaya blamed the Mets' latest failure on injuries, failing to note that his habit of signing aging, infirm players to long-term contracts might have had something to do with it. He said the Mets never got to play with their intended roster, conveniently failing to mention that the roster included the likes of 42-year-old Moises Alou, 40-something Orlando Hernandez and the perpetually gimpy Luis Castillo, whom Minaya signed through 2011.

Still, the Wilpons love Omar, because he tells them what they want to hear and says what they need him to say, as he did yesterday when he wrapped up his farewell address to Mets fans with a sales pitch. "We look forward to seeing them in the beautiful facility of Citi Field," he said.

The views of next year's collapse, you are assured, will be better than ever. The history of the Mets guarantees it.

Oh....what could have been..

Piazza is a jerk-off.

Originally Posted by ReproMan

Piazza is a jerk-off.

Why?
He's pretty cool.

Bah. I live in the St. Lucie, FL area so I've actually run into him quite a few times. He's a moody bitch.

How did you approach him?

I didn't, but an employee of mine has been rejected numerous times trying to get his autograph and I personally saw him being kinda jerky to 2 kids in Barnes and Noble trying to get his autograph. I never approach celebs when I see them, cuz I know I wouldn't want anyone bothering me if I was famous.

Short story, me and min0 were at a K-Mart when this little girl and her mother stops and asks min0 for his autograph.
We were puzzled at first, turns out that she thought min0 was Piazza.
Poor little girl was sad when he said he wasn't.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

We were puzzled at first, turns out that she thought min0 was Piazza.
Poor little girl was sad when he said he wasn't.

Is it because min0 and Piazza are both black?

Hmmm...

Perhaps it was min0 that was being a big meanie then and he fooled me too.

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Is it because min0 and Piazza are both black?

Hell no!
People say I look like him but I'm only 5'7'' go figure.

Originally Posted by ReproMan

Hmmm...

Perhaps it was min0 that was being a big meanie then and he fooled me too.

Was this in NYC?

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Was this in NYC?

Naw, I'm just kidding. Happened here in FL while he was rehabbing his last injury when he was with the Mets.

Are the mets in Financial Trouble?

Will Madoff Scandal Hurt The New York Mets? (Update) - Sports Biz with Darren Rovell - CNBC.com

Wilpon lost 500 million in personal money through this scam. Plus Sterling had alot invested as well.

He is going to have to sell off assets to make up this loss......

Scary thing now that they invested all that money in the park and new players.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Scary thing now that they invested all that money in the park and new players.

exactly.... and selling off the mets....worth approx $824 million would certainly help offset those losses

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

exactly.... and selling off the mets....worth approx $824 million would certainly help offset those losses

This will break his heart, he is one of the few owners who really does care about his team.

He didn't actually put all of his own money on the stadium.

if he cared he would be replacing that retard GM.