Dear New York Mets,
Hey guys, how are you? Rough night? Yeah, me too.
Well, let me start out by saying that I still have faith in you, and I believe that you WILL not only make it to the playoffs, but that you will do so by capturing the NL East pennant.
But here’s the thing: my eternal optimism isn’t going to cut it. In order for you to make the postseason, you’re going to have to win games.
Baseball games, specifically.
By scoring more runs than the other team.
Simple, right?! You guys are great at that! You know how to score runs – you’ve been doing it all summer! Why have you suddenly forgotten how to beat bad teams?
Look, guys, you’re in a pennant race. And by losing last night, you let the Phillies take first place in the division. That was really dangerous, because now it’s theirs to lose. Even if you win every single game for the rest of the season – which, by the way, better be the plan – the only way you can regain first is if the Phillies lose at least once. And that’s bad news, and I’m going to tell you why:
The Phillies know how to win important ball games. They keep scoring runs, and they don’t let up until the 27th out. Don’t get me wrong: they’re still the enemy here, but you gotta respect their tenacity.
But don’t just respect it; do it yourselves.
You can, you have proven it time and time again. You have the talent, you just need the will.
I don’t want to hear any whining about injuries, either. It sucks that we’re playing without Maine and Wagner, and Tatis going down last night definitely didn’t help. But so what? We have a deep squad, and every single member of the team can step up to contribute.
But Jose, David, Carlos, and Carlos: you guys HAVE to lead the charge. You have to set the pace. I know it’s frustrating when you can’t seem to get a hit when your team really needs one, but you can’t keep swinging for the fences every at bat. Wait for the right pitch, then go for contact. Don’t try to be the hero, just get on base. And – this next part is very important – when runners ARE on base – get them home! That’s literally the only way they can help the team win!
In other words, SCORE RUNS! When the game first starts, score some runs! In the middle innings, score some runs! In the 7th, 8th, and 9th, score some runs! If you’re down by a few runs, score some and take the lead! If you’re up by five, score more – the bullpen will do all they can to make that lead evaporate! But if you keep scoring runs, you’ll be fine.
It’s just that simple!
I know people are going to keep making comparisons to last September’s collapse. I’m not going to do that. I know that it wasn’t last September that started messing with your guys’ heads. It was the 2006 NLCS. That was when you started showing signs of difficulty in being able to beat teams that were vastly inferior to you. (Yeah, Cardinals, I’m calling you out!) It was a trend that continued throughout 2007, not just in September, and was rearing it’s ugly head early this year. But you guys have bounced back, and shown that you can win against good and bad teams. You CAN do it!
SO DO IT ALREADY!
Love,
Your biggest fan, Alan Noah
7 users commented in " An Open Letter to the New York Mets "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackHere is my opinion (and I am a huge Met fan as well):
A) the Mets are choking. Again. It’s painfully obvious. I refused to believe it on Sunday, as I watched them blow yet another game. I tried to deny it on Monday. However, I’ve come around. This team is a bunch of overpaid chokers. There! However, on that note, as of today, I will say that I do think (not believe, but think) that they will still make the playoffs; Maybe not win the division, but make the playoffs as a wild card. I refuse to believe that a team can choke so badly for two consecutive years. It’s just not possible… Is it?…
B) I do not think the Mets were vastly superior to the Cardinals in 06. On what do you base this on? The Mets had no pitching in the playoffs – Pedro and Hernandez, their two best pitchers then were hurt and out. Their ace was Glavine (RIP) and they were FORCED to start two completely untested pitchers, Maine and Perez (they are not bad, but we didn’t know that then.) Do I think the Mets were better? Slightly, perhaps. Were they vastly better? Absolutely not. The team that was better AT THE TIME won. No excuses. As an example, were the NY Giants better than NE Patriots this year? Overall, of course not. Were they better in the playoffs? Yes. They deserved to win the championship- just like the Cards deserved it in 06.
C) It is time for Met fans to accept it (Most don’t even see it) DAVID WRIGHT IS THE METS VERSION OF AROD – meaning he’s Mr. UNCLUTCH. OK, you are probably going “What? Mr. frachise supergreatMetbestplayer ?” Bull… Overrated! Why? Here goes.
First off – I believe one of the biggest reasons the Mets lost in 06 is Wright did not hit at all in September and October. In fact, in the playoffs, he literally stunk – he was an automatic out. Look it up. He was given a pass – Oh, he’s young, he was in a slump, etc, blah blah, blah – Well, he pulled an Arod. He stunk in the playoffs. If he hit against the Cards, they likely win.
Second, this year, he’s been horrible. I’ve noticed in back in May. “What??” you say – “but he’s got 27 or so homeruns and 110 RBI?” Great numbers… Yes. Arod numbers, and you have to look closely at them. He is the King of the first or third inning homerun. Nearly everyday when he comes up with a runner on in the 6th inning or after, in a clutch situation, HE TOTALLY BLOWS IT. I’ve seen countless times when there is a runner on third, ONE OUT, Mets tied or down by one, and he either strikes out or pops out. He can’t even get a sac fly. all year long, when he comes up in these situations I call “strike out or automatic out” and I am right 95% of the time. No joke. And regarding his RBI, which his fans use as an excuse, I saw a statistic where as of last weekend, he had over 200 at bats with runners in scoring positions – THE MOST IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES. He has Reyes on base all the time. He should have at least 140 RBI based on him opportunities. Therefore,
D) If this team chokes again (oh god, please don’t) the main fault will be 1. obviously the pitiful bullpen, followed by, in my opinion, 2. David leave-runners-on way overrated Wright 3. Carlos this-is-what-we-get-for-18 million? Beltran
Lets go Mets.
In a strange turn of events I’m cheering for the Mets to win and the Cubs to lose…UNTIL the series next week.
I’m going to the games on Wednesday and Thursday and want to see my cubbies clinch.
However, if they clinch over the weekend… the Mets could be in business. The Cubs will be resting a lot of players.
God how I’d love to see a Mets/Cubs playoff game. Do you have tickets?
@Raf – The 2006 Mets finished the regular season tied with the best record in baseball. The 2006 Cardinals were 5 games over .500. They out-played us in the playoffs – obviously, since they won – but the Mets should have rolled right over them on their way to the World Series.
As for your thoughts on Wright, well, unfortunately lately he has been leaving a lot of men on, but so has the rest of the team. He, like the rest of our heart-of-the-order guys, are not getting the clutch hits they need to.
@Mark – I have NLCS game tickets, which is why I would like the Mets to take the division. If the Mets wind up with the wild card, they play the Cubs in the NLDS. If they with the division, they face the Dodgers in round one, greatly increasing the odds I will get to go to see the Mets in the LCS.
@The Mets – Good work last night! Even though you didn’t take my advice against constantly swinging for the fences, those swings produced home runs, so it worked out. But thanks for listening to my point about continuing to score runs on top of runs on top of runs – we need to put up football score kinds of numbers from here on out!
Alan,
I hear this all the time about how the Mets won more games than the Cards and they blew it in the playoffs. This is one of the few times I will come to their defense, in a way.In baseball, as well as football, regular season doesn’t mean much. It is a way of getting into the playoffs. Just because you won a bunch of games does not give you any advantage in the playoffs, and there is tons of proof to that. The Mariners in 2000 won a record 118 games – then lost to the Yankees in 6 in the playoffs. For that matter, a year earlier the Yankees stumbled to the playoffs with like 89 wins or so, lost 11 out 13 last games , and then promptly won the world series. I can’t remember the last time in baseball with the most regular season victories won the championship. I doubt it happened in this century, it must have been the Yankees in 1996 when they won 116 games.
And Wright has been doing this (leaving runners on ) all year long…
Thank you so much for offering the NLCS ticket. OF COURSE I’LL GO!!!
I think at the game we went to, the Mets followed your advice to the letter.
…they gave up after the 27th Philly out.
@Raf – I hear you on the regular season vs. playoff success thing. All I’m saying is that the Mets in that series against the Cards looked like a different team that had played that whole season prior (and the LDS against the Dodgers for that matter.) The Mets team that lost to the Cardinals was similar to the team that played less-than-amazing ball all of last year, and they have shown many flashes this season as well. I long for the days of that dominant, pre-LCS 2006 team. I always sum that season up in two words: Steve Trachsel. He finished that regular season with 15 wins, which is all the more impressive considering he also had a 4.97 ERA. Now compare that to Santana’s numbers for 2008. So far he has 14 wins, despite posting a 2.65 ERA. Of course, the difference is run support – the Mets’ offense was consistently on in 2006, and goes on and off in 2008.
@Mark – No.
@James – No, that night, they didn’t follow my advice, because they stopped coring runs after the 4th inning. Though that night they may have been distracted by the little hooligans in the row in front of us.
@The Braves – Yeah, you *claim* to want to be a spoiler to both the Mets and the Phillies, but it sure looked like you rolled over for the Phillies just to spite your real rivals. And why do I have the strangest feeling you’ll manage to put up way more of a fight this weekend? Jerks.
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