Coop, You Ignorant Slut: Point/Counterpoint for Mets First Half 2007

By Taryn "The Coop" Cooper
Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Over at My Summer Family on Opening Night this year, I made a few predictions for the season in a “Coop’s Crystal Ball” column.

As of the second half, I wasn’t remotely close with any of them, except for maybe the fact that the Mets would be in first place. But I also predicted that the Mets would also be in a tight tight TIGHT divisional race, up until the last week of the season.

Since I also threw out that a) Lastings Milledge would be a starter come May; b) Danny Haren would be a Met (it came to me in a dream, I swear); and c) Tom Glavine would have win number 300 by the ASB (still three away…), the one thing I was sort of right about is the Mets' position in the NL East, and the fact that it is a very tight division, the Mets being in the lead by only two games.

I guess we had it good in 2006. At All Star break last year, the Mets were an overwhelming 53-36, whereas now the record is 48-39, a whopping nine games over .500 for those who can’t count (like myself). Now only two games in first over the Braves and four and a half over the third-place Phils, the season is not a cake-walk. Then again, some of us believed a repeat of last year was a little far-fetched too. I call it a draw.

Last season, the team ended up winning 97 games, despite throwing the likes of Jose Lima, Jeremi Gonzalez, Alay Soler, Mike Pelfrey, Dave Williams and even a skittish-at-first Oliver Perez out there. This year, it’s not so much the questionable pitching (which has been as solid as anyone could hope for, with the emergence of John Maine and the re-emergence of the “Nasty” Oliver Perez) but the unforeseen injuries. Last year, the Mets remained somewhat unscathed (except during the post-season) with the injury bug. This season, it hurts them when they breathe.

At the beginning of the 2007 season, Mets fans pretty much knew Pedro would be a non-factor until after the All Star break and WAY after the All-Star break, if we were lucky. But we knew Duaner Sanchez would return…or as it turned out, not return when he reinjured his shoulder. The bullpen has been lacking in several areas. Like, in the reliability category.

El Duque has already hit the DL. But he’s had a LOT of company. He’s been joined by the likes of Moises Alou, Jose Valentin, Shawn Green (who *surprise!* never went on the DL in his career till he started playing at Shea), stalwart Endy Chavez, replacement Carlos Gomez, and towards the end of the first half, Rock of Gibraltar fifth starter Jorge Sosa AND Oliver Perez. Heck, even Lastings Milledge met up with them while in AAA!

But now the first half is over. With all the injuries, the drama, and the "BP" nominees, the Mets are *still* in first place.

Let’s look at that again. The Mets are still in first place. Meaning, they never left. They’ve never been dethroned. That’s good, right. Well, not bad.

The good news is -- they still have not clicked on all cylinders.

But now let’s revisit Coop’s Crystal Ball and see if we can glean anything from it.

Well, for now, it appears with the DFA’ing of Ricky Ledee, it’s almost a certainty Lastings Milledge will be starting for the big team come Thursday. So the Coop was almost right on with that one. OK, give me some credit there.

Tom Glavine will get win #300 eventually. Before August 1st, she says carefully. Can I get a boo-yah for that?

Oliver Perez will be back from the DL. Which by the way, was just a precautionary measure and had nothing to do with The Coop meeting him at Citizens Bank Park. And with that comes the nastiness that will be OP. And did I mention he will win 15 games?

Pedro is returning! Initially, I said his return would not have an impact on the team, good or bad. What I meant was, the Mets would be doing fine without him, and he coming back would be the cherry on top of the sundae. Well, I think the Mets need Pedro’s guidance, leadership and fun more than ever.

I think even though the team appeared to be falling apart in the first half, things will start to come together once again when they get back home on Thursday. For example, I think when the Braves come back in August, the Mets will steamroll them.

Or since I was so dead-off in the beginning of the season…maybe I should say the opposite.

After all, that is the premise of Point/Counterpoint. Someone disagree with me. Coop, you ignorant slut.

Taryn "The Coop" Cooper of My Summer Family writes for Flushing University every Tuesday. Here at FU we all love her, even if she can be a little over self-deprecating from time to time.