Mickey Callaway said after another bullpen collapse, “It’s kind of unexplainable tonight.” Seth Lugo spoiled a good day into night for the Mets giving up two home runs in the eighth inning. And then the capacity crowd at Citi Field of 40,809 headed to the exits.
The Mets continued to creep closer to the last place Marlins after a 5-4 loss to the first place Braves. Callaway said he still had hope for this team. Even that contingent of Amazing Mets who were honored have to admit this is not a team that can turn it around like they did in 1969.
So forget about first place for the Mets. Don’t envision a wild card spot and look at next year, again not like that team that embraced the city 50 years ago. The bullpen led to a seventh straight Mets loss, an ERA close to 6.00, 28th in the National League, is no reason for hope.
The festive mood was gone and it carried into the clubhouse, A celebration of 50 years, the Amazing 1969 World Series team was fit for a king with Keys to the city of New York. This bullpen should use those keys to keep the bullpen doors locked.
Lugo, once reliable has not resembled the late Tug McGraw. “Ya Gotta Believe” is not a part of these New York Mets, again not so much the offense at fault. Seeing the continued power of Dominic Smith and hits from Jeff McNeil is encouraging.
Smith hit his fourth home run in six games. McNeil continues to get good at bats and had a pair of run scoring doubles. He continues to be among the league leaders with 31 multi-hit games and will try Sunday night to help the Mets break this skid with a .344 average at the plate.
“It’s part of my reality right now,” Callaway said. “This is what it is. You can’t ever give up. You can’t even throw in the towel. That’s something we all know and we’ll never do.”
Those 1969 Mets never quit. They did not have to throw in the towel.Their bullpen wasn’t perfect. .They were good, and though the game was different 50 years ago, this Mets bullpen has to be tops as one of the all-time failures in baseball history.
Blame the manager, the GM, the coaches, it does not make anything different. What matters is this almost Mets win again became another loss and ruined a perfect ending to a day of celebration.
Simple, these were the 2019 New York Mets and not the 1969 champions of living members who had a parade on Seaver Way, were presented with Keys To The City, and brought back memories of that great New York City sports story.
They could finish off games. This current Mets team has not been able to close out games and their position is now a fading season that once had hope.
Wayne Garrett, Cleon Jones, Jerry Koosman, Ed Kranepool. They remembered how it was and said “How can they forget us? Of course they will always be remembered. It was the first World Series championship and a magnificent run led by Tom Seaver. It was not expected and quite a contrast about a 2019 team that had expectations.
Kranepool had some inspiring words to the 2019 Mets. They were hugging the rails in the home dugout. They watched the champions that celebrated at Shea Stadium before it became a parking lot. They were not born and can only see the moments on video or hear the stories.
“He changed the outcome of the ballclub,” Kranepool said about the manager Gil Hodges. The 1969 Mets believed in Hodges and everything worked. This was no knock on Mickey Callaway. Everything he tries to do does not work for this 2019 bullpen. Ovverall this team believes in their manager.
And the fans also, they embraced Gil Hodges, But they don’t believe in Mickey Callaway. That theme of miracles of 1969 will be more difficult with the Mets of 2019, and that bullpen is a major culprit.
“If you win in New York they never let you forget it,” Kranepool said. On this day of celebration, with another loss, and the way the 2019 Mets did it again, of course they will never forget.
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