no, i mean that. no irony, no sarcasm, no bitterness.
it’s been a great season, full of highs and ups, and very few lows and downs. i had fun when i went to shea, and i’ll miss the creaky old place when it’s gone. i even enjoyed the food, especially since i found mama’s of corona in the concourse. great subs, and excellent salads and antipasto.
i watched the new mets tv network, sny, quite a bit, and enjoyed the commentary, the personalities, and the coverage. it was a great first year for them, and they are to be congratulated on how much they improved from an admittedly rocky start, and how quickly they got up to speed.
thanks to omar minaya, for getting us good players and giving us a very competitive team ahead of schedule. and to willie randolph and rick peterson, who pulled all the right strings and got the best out of everyone even through the ghastly year-end injury fest.
i got up this morning ready to be cranky about the mets’ heartbreaking last-minute game seven loss, and to dissect all the details about who did what, and why, and whose fault it was, and what should be done, and all the other technical analysis that runs through my head all the time, but especially at times like these.
and then i realized that none of that really matters. they did their best, got further along than anyone ever expected given the injuries and pitching woes–and in the end got a bit unlucky.
i’m convinced that the best team did not win, and that the mets would have had a far better chance against detroit than will the cardinals. it pains me to see success come to a team that is so obviously rancorous, with scott rolen not talking to tony larussa, and outfielders running into each other from a lack of communication and yelling at each other afterwards. they are the living embodiment of james woods’ great quote from this season’s new show shark: “there’s no team in i”.
but all that’s water under the bridge now.
the mets have the core of a team–players, coaches, and front-office staff–that will be competitive for years to come, and winter trades and free agent acquisitions will only make it better. the seeds of a dynasty to rival the braves’ long run are in place.
next year can only be better than this year.
thanks, mets.