5 Reasons Mr. Met Shouldn’t Jump Off a Bridge Quite Yet |
I have a long history in this publication of trying to talk Mr. Met off the ledge. Hold tight, I counseled in 2023. Hang in there, I advised in 2022, it’s going to be fine, I preached in … 2010. It has not been fine. Despite countless extreme makeovers, a free-spending billionaire owner, and the signing of a superstar (away from the Yankees no less!) who seemed to augur a new era of Mets supremacy in New York City, the Mets keep face-planting. The Mets have still, still, not won a title since 1986, and every attempt in each of the years since has felt like its own unique medieval torture device for their fans.
But this season — a season in which nearly every prognosticator and statistical analyst listed the Mets as one the few teams who could topple the mighty Dodgers — has been the worst in a while. The Mets have lost 12 in a row, their worst losing streak since 2002. The latest indignity came on Tuesday night, when they blew a 3-0 lead at Citi Field to the Twins (incredibly, their first lead of three runs in two weeks), which culminated with closer Devin Williams walking in a run in an abominable ninth-inning performance. The final score: Twins 5, Mets 3. That came on the heels of a brutal sweep at Wrigley Field, capped off on Sunday when they blew a ninth-inning lead on a double by former Met Michael Conforto. They are in last place and somehow already 8.5 games behind the hated Braves in the NL East. The Mets jettisoned franchise icons Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo in the offseason but still have the second highest payroll in baseball — and their season already feels over. (And now the mayor is getting blamed.)
Mr. Met has been through a lot, from his years of addiction to his recent excommunication from WABC Radio for, uh, antisemitism?, but this, in the words of Dewey Cox, is a dark fucking period.
But I know my place in the world, and I know that I am needed on that wall. So, even in the midst of this awful losing streak and every Mets fan I know peeling their face off in the mirror, Poltergeist-style, allows me to once again attempt to give those fans hope. This team is still good, this front office is still smart, the owner is still going to do whatever it takes to win…it’s all going to be fine.
Do not give up........