What Would You Say

Games 60 through 74 - Mets

Mets 6, Yankees 2
Yankees 15, Mets 0
Mets 6, Orioles 4
Orioles 6, Mets 4
Orioles 5, Mets 4
Mets 5, Rays 3
Rays 3, Mets 1
Rays 10, Mets 6
Mets 6, Cardinals 4
Cardinals 3, Mets 0
Mets 11, Cardinals 0
Mets 3, Cardinals 2
Yankees 9, Mets 1
Yankees 5, Mets 0
Yankees 4, Mets 2
Record: 37-37

I don't know what's more disappointing in the text above, that the Mets have slipped to .500 or that I haven't weighed in in 15 games. The Mets have done plenty to chase their fans away, but we're still watching. I'm still tuning in and pulling for them on a nearly-nightly basis. It's getting harder to justify it, but I'm still here.

I just have less to say about it.

The injury-plagued lost season is the toughest on a guy like me. For although the '03/'04 seasons were misery at its nadir, the sarcasm and raggery were fun sidelights for me. Being able -- obligated, even -- to come up with new and creative ways to explain Robby Alomar's putrid plummet into doldrumville kept me going.

With the majority of the (supposedly contending) Opening Day roster dwelling on the DL for the better part of the season, what's left for us? Those tiny, fleeting glimmers of optimism when youngsters or retreads catch a little fire . . . only to fall back to earth. The notion that some potential unsung heroes are going to get some serious AB's . . . only to see that potential discarded. The tantalizingly mediocre division, keeping the concept of "still in this thing" floating around in our collective head . . . only to watch the Mets face a stalwart opponent and get swept, cast aside like (g)nats on a sweaty June afternoon. Delusion and disappointment are fishing buddies in this summer of our discontent.

So why do I continue to tune in? Well . . . what the hell else am I gonna do?

And I mean that in two ways. One, what other activity would fill my evenings of the next few months? Trust me, I'm not turning away attractive offers of any kind. I also mean it in a less Rodney Dangerfield way: as in, what am I supposed to do, give up and quit on this team? I haven't seen this team -- this collection of not-ready-for-prime-time players, this assortment of overachieving understudies, this batch of Mets-for-now with nothing to lose -- give up yet, so I have no business packing it in.

Fair weather fans have been leaving Mets Township in droves for years now. From the crappenstance of the early part of this decade to the heartbreak and collapses of recent years to the ridiculous parade of injuries this year, there's been a great deal of trimming the fat from the Metwagon. A few other fan bases could use such an era, though they aren't likely to any time soon. As for the Township, we're lean and mean and ready to bask in the revelry of something significant.

For now, though, we'll just wade along in this muck and hope some guys heal quickly.