Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Games 102-104 - Mets

Mets 3, Reds 1
Reds 8, Mets 3
Reds 8, Mets 5
Record: 43-61

Here's a bad sign: you drop two of three to a team and the next day they fire their manager and GM. This has been a season chock full of bad signs. They aren't omens, they're indicators of just how bad it's gotten. Like:

Yesterday's Lineup ----- March 31 Lineup
J. Duncan CF ----------- R. Cedeno CF
J. Reyes SS ------------- R. Alomar 2B
C. Floyd LF ------------- C. Floyd LF
J. Phillips C ------------- M. Piazza C
T. Perez RF ------------- M. Vaughn 1B
T. Clark 1B ------------- T. Wigginton 3B
J. Bell 3B ---------------- J. Burnitz RF
J. McEwing 2B ---------- R. Sanchez SS
S. Trachsel P ----------- T. Glavine P

Hey, thank the Lord for Clifford Floyd! Yes, Ty Wigginton is still usually at third base, but again, it's just not a good sign when your lineup (with salaries and expectations equally high) doesn't vaguely resemble that of April 1.

It's also a bad sign when:
1. Thunderstorms = losses -- not one, but two!
2. If Cliff Floyd gets so hurt that he ends his season soon (a real possibility), it will be likely that no Met will hit 20 home runs this year. In this era, that's horrible. The Mets' hitters will also fail to reach the 20-plateau in stolen bases, meaning they lack speed as well as power. Though no pitcher will nearly win 20, Steve Trachsel has already allowed 20 HRs. And Glavine is probably one start away.
3. The one All-Star is now pitching (poorly) for the Yankees.
4. In the expanded standings, the Mets have a losing record at home, as well as on the road, on grass, on turf, during the day, at night, against all three divisions of the NL, in 1-run games, in extra innings, and in the last 10 games.
5. The pitching staff, with the exception of Dan Wheeler, consists entirely of rookies and guys with 10 or more years experience, including three with 16 or more. Too young or too old. That stat alone reeks of "rebuilding."
6. The team's highlights come with five minutes remaining in SportsCenter/Baseball Tonight, and they are only profiled in segments about high payrolls.

This isn’t to say there aren’t any good signs this year. Among this wealth of youth invading the lineup, there really has been some very strong play. It's just that, for 2003, the bad signs will invariably outnumber and outweigh the good.