The headline on the New York Mets website said it all. "Finale in Philly doesn't go Mets way." That is one way of looking at an 11 to 0 defeat. Six games into the 2011 baseball season, and in the immortal words of Yogi Berra it's "deja vu all over again." Instead of waiting until September to melt down, the Mets have started early this year.
Of course, no one went into the new season with any illusions. When Sports Illustrated begins a team preview with the words "They're going to be bad," you know an appearance in the World Series probably isn't in the immediate future.
Still, there were 3 games in which the Amazin's looked downright dynamic. Fighting back from a 7 run deficit yesterday showed character. Unfortunately, not enough to actually win the game, but at least they got close. Then came today's debacle... Yes, as dire as things might seem this evening, it is only one game. But we all know that will be a hard sell to the dispirited and instinctively cynical callers filling the phone lines at Sports Radio WFAN.
The guys (and I assume they are guys) I really feel sorry for are the ones who work on the Mets website. While all of the articles carry a disclaimer asserting the editorial independence of the writers, you know that management (MLB and local) keeps a close eye on everything.
Whoever wrote the headline "Finale in Philly doesn't go Mets way" knew full well it was right up there with "Except for the unfortunate gun play, what did you think of the play Mrs. Lincoln?" That scribe may have cringed as much (or more) writing it as we did reading it. From their perspective, with 156 games to go, it probably looks like a very long season.
