Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Games 118 through 125 - Mets
Gazing Up at Rock Bottom

Mets 10-4, Rockies 3-2
Giants 7, Mets 3
Mets 11, Giants 9
Giants 3, Mets 1
Padres 9, Mets 4
Padres 3, Mets 1
Padres 4, Mets 0
Record: 59-66

These aren't meaningful games; these aren't even meaningful players. After a very long weekend at the beach, I have returned to the somber reality of the 2004 New York Mets. Injuries piling up (I believe the Zambrano injury bumps the Mets past the Sox again), lackluster performances from fading players, and an increasingly ridiculous carousel between Shea Stadium and Harbor Park in Norfolk, with the average big league stint expectancy at 1-2 appearances. The ownership think tank is getting hammered in the press, the Art Howe Fan Club is a ghost town, and players are starting to sound off. The team building for next year now sees not only a dead '04 but a scary-looking '05. Contract talks with Kris Benson haven't gone well, Zambrano's elbow could be the most blunderous joint since Mo Vaughn's knee, and Mike Piazza's health, best position and future with the Mets are equally emboldened question marks. In addition to Benson and Piazza, decisions must soon be made regarding the tenures of Richard Hidalgo, Al Leiter, Cliff Floyd, and John Franco. (For Franco, it's simply how to get him off the roster without losing any more face.) Scott Kazmir is now in the bigs for Tampa, and he pitched five shutout innings in his first start. Don Baylor appears to be headed to a managing job elsewhere, while Rick Peterson appears to be in over his head with the staff of stiffs. The Mets are 14-23 since the break, are 13 games out, have dropped four in a row (and counting), and the losses that had been predominantly close ones all season are early-inning laughers more and more. The Mets are as close to the pitiful Expos as they are to the middling Marlins. And, just as an added punt in my ribs, those Expos appear to be headed nowhere near the DC area if the Jerry Lewis Impersonators Club that is MLB's Relocation Committee. (This is a topic for another dreary day; better stick to the Mets' woes for now.)

There's nothing but worse news every day, and there's little positive to point to right now. There might be tomorrow, but not right now. I can't justify spending any more time bemoaning the sad state of affairs in Metville. I can't even make a joke here. It's just that numbing.