“We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats’ feet over broken glass In our dry cellar…” - T.S. Eliot
It has not been pleasant to watch the Mets play lately. Over the past 3 games, the Mets have been roughhoused, beaten, bashed, pummeled and completely whomped by a gutsier, more dominant competitor in the form of the Philadelphia Phillies. Monday’s defeat was easier to take, considering the beat-down began from the second inning and did not stop until the last out was called. Tuesday, however, was a different story.
No, Tuesday’s defeat was perhaps the most demoralizing defeat of the season, worse than the previous “worst defeat” of the season, when the Mets could not take out the Pittsburgh Pirates…at least until Marlon Anderson’s base-running blunder cost the Mets a desperately needed win. Tuesday’s loss represented something more than just a game in the standings- it was one more dagger in a season that has produced more moments equal to last October’s strikeout of Carlos Beltran by Adam Wainwright on that woeful night, an image still imprinted in Mets’ fans’ heads. In a season when almost half of the Mets’ roster has spent time on the disabled list, the Mets seem to have lost the one component that separated their team from every other National League team last year: heart.
“This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.” -Eliot
It’s fitting that the tide of the season may have changed on something as simple as a ground ball that rolled half an inch short of foul. It’s exactly the same play the Mets have waited for the entire season. The image of Paul Lo Duca and David Wright staring at the 5 ounce, 108-stitch ball is a fine symbol of how the season has gone. The fate of each game this season, the use and overuse of the bullpen, the failure of Guillermo Mota and Aaron Heilman to deliver in clutch situations, the failure of the Mets’ lineup to produce key hits game in and game out, the failure of Omar Minaya to bring in necessary parts such as a starting or relief pitcher that can get outs, and the belief that Pedro Martinez will be the magical key that takes the Mets to the promised land (don’t believe the tagline that this team is not relying at all on Pedro- they are relying completely on Pedro, and have been since the season started.) Every single action the Mets’ team and management has taken this season has been no different that Lo Duca and Wright waiting to see if perhaps fate will let the ball roll that extra half inch in their favor, rather than charging the ball and taking the risk that could have saved the game…and the season.
“Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.” -Dylan Thomas
Without a doubt, it is too soon to raise the white flag. The Mets, in spite of all their flaws and mistakes, still remain where they have sat for virtually the entire season, 3 games in front of the Phillies for first place. And even if the Phillies do complete their upheaval of the NL East and gain the crown, the Mets still have the necessary parts to throw off contenders for the Wild Card. But this is not where they should be. The Mets were to be the class of the National League- a squad that had the most potent lineup of any NL team, one that could even rival the heavy-hitting American League. The pitching was to see the rise of John Maine and Oliver Perez, perhaps even star prospect Mike Pelfrey, while the team attempted to hold the fort down until Pedro could ride in on his noble steed at the end of July and ride off into the sunset, World Series Championship in hand.
This is not a delusion- this is the promise made by the Mets 3 years ago, when the Mets signed Pedro, Carlos Beltran, and then acquired Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner one year later. The franchise promised a competitor, one that could bring pride back to Flushing Meadows for the first time in 20 years. Apparently, though, the promise expired when Wainwright’s curveball froze Beltran at the plate. Omar and Co. decided to take a wait-and-see approach to this season, and now they are watching the season begin to slip through their fingers. This reminder is for those who would have the naysayers and critics back off, trying to defend Omar’s decisions (a stance I took for far too long this season.) Ordinarily, a Mets fan could be satisfied with results such as last year and take solace in the idea that the team made a miracle run; it was amazing just to get where they got. Sorry, that line is to be checked at the door. Once the Mets became a $114-million team with World Series aspirations, they tossed aside their right to be excused for shoddy play, poor managing, and downright boneheaded moves from the front office.
Mind, this is just the division the Mets are fighting for. What if the Mets somehow make it to the NLCS? And what if they miraculously make it into the Series? How are they to compete against the likes of Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, or L.A.? At this point, they could not even compete with the Yankees or Mariners, both fighting for the AL Wild Card. Actually, there are few teams the Mets actually could handle at this point. No, the way they are now, these Mets could not get themselves arrested, as Anderson showed when he single-handedly (albeit unfortunately and probably unintentionally) destroyed the Mets’ chances to get their foot back in the door Wednesday night.
If they had heart, it might be possible. The Phillies have heart. It may be in the form of raving ego-maniac Jimmy Rollins, but they have heart, and a whole lot of it. It’s what has allowed them to keep pace with the Mets and step up now with their chance for glory on the line. The Cardinals had heart last year, when they miraculously made it into the playoffs and became the first team to win a World Series with only 83 wins under their belt. They may have even more heart this year than last year. They suffered just as many injuries as the Mets did, and even worse, they suffered through the tragic death of one of their own teammates (one that, even more tragically, could have been prevented.) And yet, they never said Jack, even when they were out of the division lead by double digits. They stepped up, and now find themselves a mere two games out of first. There are other teams with heart, including the Padres and Red Sox, and the most heart may be found a train ride away in the Bronx. But not in Flushing. The heart has left, gone with Tuesday’s loss, with the offense’s disappearance, with Pedro’s injury, with Beltran’s called third strike, down with the hanging heads of every Mets fan that has seen far too much heartbreak at Shea. The Mets could be so good, and they still have a shot to win it all. But not like this.
Not without heart.
“Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow … This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper.
