Double Your Frustration

Think of it this way: At least the Mets waited until April 23rd to play a doubleheader that told the fan base “yeah, this isn’t our year”. Last year, that happened on April 14th. This is progress.

For those that were there on Monday, and stayed all 18 incredibly mind numbing innings, I commend you. And it’s good to know that I can thank all of you personally because I could probably count the number of people that stayed for 18 innings on one hand. You really deserve some sort of commemorative t-shirt that is stylish, comfortable, and makes a statement to your friends and family that you’re a complete lunatic. But take heart, there are people that wore the uniform of your favorite team that wishes they could have made it to a third of those 18 innings. Take Miguel Batista for example. He lasted just three and two thirds in the Mets’ game one loss. And I think we all learned that Batista is a different pitcher when he’s not facing a team that is preoccupied with the off-season.

And then there was Tim Lincecum … horrible before today, but a dose of the Mets lineup was just what he needed. He walked five, but escaped because Ike Davis left five men on base, and eight all together. (It was noted that Lincecum was ordinary against the Mets when he started his career, and then dominant after that. Simple explanation: The Mets were actually good when Lincecum started, and then they morphed into the Mets we know and love later on. Simple.)

Then the nightcap. Dillon Gee must have told Pablo Sandoval “Hey, here comes the old number one. If you hit it, you can rename my goatee.” Pablo hit it … hit it all the way to the Pepsi Porch. So Gee’s goatee is now officially renamed “Panda”. The three run HR by Sandoval in the first sent the Mets on a death spiral towards their second loss of the evening, but not before Jason Bay let another soul crushing double slipped through his glove, and Ike Davis left another three men on base in a cameo appearance … after which he flung his bat in disgust and somehow didn’t hit a teammate in the head or tear an intercostal muscle in the process (like his buddy Ronny Cedeno did.) This in itself is a victory, but it also showed that the frustration we all feel is fans can at least be matched by somebody on the roster on a given day. I … guess that’s good?

(Editor’s note: That pitch was pretty damn low.)

So now the Mets are 8-8 and the big reunion series with the Marlins is now officially upon us. I wonder how we’ll react to the video tribute for Heath Bell.