I know we all live in a world where we panic about everything in life and Twitter only intensifies that feeling but we all really need to calm down. I totally acknowledge panic sells papers and spikes both TV and radio ratings but those of you that know me realize I don’t subscribe to that notion.
The sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals is a bitter pill to swallow but it is April and this Met team under Terry Collins has proven time and time again that they respond to adversity as well as anyone in the sport. Timing is everything in life and all worlds collided this weekend—injuries, a red hot Nats team, and Jeurys Familia getting his feet back on the ground after serving a 15 game suspension. Take nothing away from the Nats as they played brilliant baseball but as I said-let’s just relax.
Over 30 years ago, George Steinbrenner fired Yogi Berra in a fit of rage after a slow April start and I remember the feeling in town that he overreacted in the worst possible fashion. Here we are in 2017 and we’ve all become mini-Steinbrenners trying to take the football mentality and insert it inside a baseball season which is the biggest mistake present day analysts make. This Met team was pronounced dead and buried the day before they obtained Yoenis Cespedes in 2015 and again in mid-August last year. You would think that would have given this team some equity but not in today’s world of social media overreaction.
This is a talented roster but more that, one that believes in each other and shuts out all of the outside air pollution in the newspapers and on the airwaves. The strength of this team is their starting pitching which will hit their stride and in turn that will help ease the bullpen work load. Offensively, this is a power-laden team that will have their ups and downs but the emergence of Michael Conforto (who should be playing every day) will help in a number of ways especially if he continues to excel in the leadoff spot.
My social media followers gave me credit last year and in 2015 for never quitting on the Mets but if the truth be told, I deserve no credit for that. I understand fans panicking and wondering how the team will right the ship. What I don’t understand is veteran baseball reporters who have covered this sport for decades and still don’t get it. Maybe it was hanging around guys like Steinbrenner too long or maybe they’ve succumbed to the notion that anything that provides internet clicks is the way to go.
I will leave you with one simple question: If April decides baseball seasons, how come the Indians were 11-12 on April 30, 2016 while the White Sox were 17-9 and somehow the Indians got to the World Series while the White Sox were in rebuild mode by the trading deadline? It is simply because April baseball is just what it is—the opening act of a marathon no matter how many people tell you otherwise.