You might have noticed me and a few of my closest twitter friends discussing possible 2013 road trips now that the schedule is out. (And by the way, all that hope I had about teams having easier travel schedules because of interleague play … yeah, doesn’t seem to be the case. Thanks for wasting another opportunity, guys.) Amazing how this team can have a horrific final half of a season and still inspire discussions about how many hundreds of miles to travel to see them. Maybe the fact that they actually score runs on the road has something to do with it. Because who wouldn’t want to play in front of bad-asses like these:
The Mets busted out the spoiler sticks on the suddenly hot Milwaukee Brewers and beat them 7-3. The Mets put on a show with their bats which was topped only by the kids above with their bad-ass balloon swords. Lucas Duda, who is baseball’s prime candidate to commit baseball’s 500,000th error (and who looks strangely like that kid on the left), had a home run and a double … wistfully making Mets fans wonder how this season would have gone if Duda had acted like a power hitter all season. Daniel Murphy, baseball’s other prime candidate to commit baseball’s 500,000th error, also hit a bomb into the upper deck at Miller Park. Jon Niese also pitched six decent innings to help them have a say in the pennant race, even if they’re nowhere near it themselves.
I have no idea why the Mets have been so bad at home the last two seasons. The awful 2010 Mets were 47-34 at home, and the next season they were 34-47. This season, they’re going to end up right around the same mark. I’d be careful about making any inferences about how the Mets hate Citi Field or its fans … even if Josh Thole can’t wait to get out of there sometimes. For example, B.J. Upton’s home/road splits in 2011 told the story of a man who just needed to get out of Tampa to be the superstar he was meant to be. His 2012 splits told the story of a man whose 2011 splits were a fluke. So who knows if there is a concrete reason the Mets can’t score at home. Did Citi Field mess with their heads? Did bringing in the fences mess with their heads? Maybe they’re more relaxed on the road. I’m not discounting any of that, but I’m not going to assume it’s so. This team has bigger problems than mental ones. Putting aside that David Wright seemed to be affected in 2009, not every split or stat needs to expand into a psychological study. (Mets fans have gone crazy enough.)
Besides, if B.J. Upton really is better on the road, then maybe he can come to the Mets where all 162 games can seem like road games. And perhaps he can team up with his brother. Yeah. That would be nice. Now excuse me while I have more dreams about pipes.
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