Things Aren't Always As They Seem

By Jack Flynn
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Snoozing. Lifeless. Aging. Non-achievers.

All the old adjectives were back on display Tuesday morning, as the local sports sections took the Mets to task after a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Whatever rays of hope and enthusiasm that were generated by Jerry Manuel’s arrival in the manager’s seat and surprising loquaciousness in front of microphones quickly faded into the short memories of the headline writers.

“Same Ol’ Mutts,” the New York Post headline blared.

“New Mets? Nah,” Newsday declared.

So all those stories I’ve been reading about the re-energized Mets clubhouse, finally free from Willie Randolph’s oppressive yoke, weren’t actually true? One bad loss was all it was ever going to take to turn them back into the same old Mets? Or is there something else at play here?

The Mets are still one of the oldest teams in baseball, especially in the field. David Wright and Jose Reyes are the only position players born in the 1980s. The bench consists of two catchers born before America’s Bicentennial, two mid-30s infielders masquerading as outfielders and a 38-year-old utility man who is being pressed into regular duty at second base because the incumbent can’t play every day anymore.

Yes, the Mets are old, and it has shown in their play on the field all season. Perhaps, though, the individual players that have been called out for being lazy, uncaring or lackadaisical are playing with just as much passion as ever. What should be of greater concern to the franchise, then, is that veteran-laden rosters like theirs may be increasingly falling out of fashion – for reasons that have very little to do with the actual game of baseball.

In a season that has seen only five teams post a winning record on the road so far, it’s becoming clear that something has changed throughout Major League Baseball. It seems that teams just aren’t adjusting to long road trips as well as they have in the past, and home teams are taking advantage more than ever.

The rising discrepancies in home and away records may have something to do with the crackdown on amphetamine use in MLB clubhouses. Baseball chose to bury its head in the sand when Jim Bouton’s classic Ball Four hit bookshelves in 1971. Bouton’s season-long diary of the 1969 campaign detailed, among other things, the rampant amphetamine use in clubhouses of the day – the little pick-me-ups to help ballplayers play through their hangovers or the extra boost of energy they needed to get back on the field the first night after a long road trip.

The days of ignoring “greenies” are over – MLB has openly taken up the fight against the one drug that has had a far greater impact on the everyday lives of ballplayers than steroids ever did. Just ask former Met Mike Cameron, who didn’t make his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers until April 29 this year, after serving out a 25-game suspension for allegedly misusing amphetamines.

What does this have to do with the Mets? Far be it from me to suggest that any New York Met, current or former, has ever engaged in amphetamine use. However, if former players like Bouton and Jason Grimsley are to be believed, then one has to wonder if the many veterans in the New York clubhouse are still trying to adjust to a life without coffee choices that go beyond Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts.

Grimsley famously described the “leaded” and “unleaded” coffee pots that were allegedly once a staple of major league clubhouses when being investigated for steroid purchases two years ago. Now that this option has presumably been taken away from professional ballplayers, one has to reasonably assume that it will have some type of an effect on the game.

Monday night’s showdown against the Mariners was the first game back in New York for the Mets after yet another cross-country road swing – already the fourth such trip in the last seven weeks. They left Colorado after Sunday’s 3-1 victory against the Rockies and flew back home before taking on Seattle without the benefit of an off-day.

In the past, maybe this wouldn’t have mattered as much to a ballclub. Just put on a special pot of coffee, add a little extra sugar and play some ball. There’s no longer a place for that in today’s game, however, and logic dictates that veteran teams like the Mets would suffer the most. So many other teams have given the reins to younger players this season, allowing them to fill roles previously reserved for proven veterans. The Mets have not, and they have paid a price for it.

Much has been made about the remainder of the Mets’ schedule and how much time the Mets will be spending in the Eastern Time Zone – 77 of their final 87 games will be played on the eastern side of the time line. Considering the overall age of the club and the difficulty of having played four western swings so close together – not to mention having the crutch that comes from relying on a little green pill kicked away – perhaps the Mets’ pedestrian record so far shouldn’t come as such a surprise.

Maybe it’s not the same old Mets we should be lamenting – it’s the tired old Mets.

Ask Jack Flynn about his alleged former amphetamine use after you check out his blog, Productive Outs and Crackerjack. Put it this way – he still hasn’t gotten a 25-game suspension from blogging!

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