The 2009 Mets And Their Fans: A .500 Mentality

By Shannon Shark
Posted Monday, April 20, 2009

Good morning! The Mets are 5 games out on this fine Monday.

I know, I know, they are 5 in back of the stupid Marlins. I mean, the Marlins are a joke. What did they ever win? (Do those two world series rings really count? They dismantle the team every time). Plus they are 11 and 1, they won't do that all year, they will come back to earth, right? Right?

As I look back on the past week, I realize that the Mets and we fans are the same. We're of a .500 mentality.

We have pitching now! Of course we're all expecting Santana to lose 1-0 every time he pitches, and don't you expect "the bad Ollie" to show up this week? John Maine and Pelfrey are shot, woe is us, right? However, we're Mets fans so we know that Livan Hernandez is going to win 20 games based upon one and half good starts.

The lineup, well it couldn't be better! We have the Carlos Brothers, and Murphy is hitting, and we all love Reyes and Wright, and even Castillo and Church are hitting! Even this catcher from nowhere had two extra base hits! That's all nice, but the record is 6 and 6.

I guess the problem must be the manager. Let's criticize Jerry for.....um......that bad decision he must have made when he......

So it's not the pitching, not the hitting, not the bullpen....yet they are 6 and 6.

What would you change Mr. Amateur Minaya reading my column? Is 2009 going to be the year where the team gives up on a key piece, the way the Red Sox eventually gave up on Nomar? Will it take trading, say Jose Reyes, to shake this team to its core? Who will be this generation's Keith Hernandez? I don't think he's here yet unless Gary Sheffield has a personality transplant.

Then there's our beautiful new ballpark. It's great...well except for those pesky obstructed views all over the Promenade (come visit me at The Mets Police
for tons of pics). Even with a great new home, we Mets fans can't be happy with what we have.

Maybe we want what the Marlins have? Two rings since 1987 and a first place team. Sounds nice, doesn't it? The grass is always greener.