The Last Ride

In a game that featured Travis Taijeron’s first major league home run, a diving catch by Brandon Nimmo on the first play of the game, and two dingers by Jose Reyes, the Mets resumed their dominance over the Reds with a 5-1 victory on Friday night.

But this game is personally notable because it will be my last appearance for a Mets game at Citi Field until April.

Somehow in this season of suck, the ten games I went to wound up being a 7-3 record for the good guys. But the line of demarcation was as clear as it could have been. The three losses were against Washington, Arizona, and the Dodgers. Playoff teams. The wins were against teams who are out of the playoffs right now if the season were to end. Twice over the Phillies, Cincinnati, Miami, Oakland, St. Louis and the Angels. The latter two still have a shot but are three and two games back of the wild card respectively. But it’s a telling point of the Mets season. Some Mets teams are frustrating in their ability to play down to the competition, beating the good teams and letting the basement dwellers beat them a bit more often than “even bad teams win 56 games”. But the 2017 Mets were predictable. Even without half of the injuries this team suffered, they were outclassed from jump. And that’s why you really can’t call this team “frustrating” in that sense. They are who we thought they were.

I hate that it’s over for me. I’m at a point now where without Mets games, life becomes mundane and a major grind (more than usual). This off-season is going to be either very interesting or very frustrating. It’s a longer conversation for another time (which we’ll have), but with the Mets possibly cutting payroll next season (and I’m not convinced that whatever Sandy says is the actual plan … remember: he’s a lawyer and he never tips his hand, and it’s what we like about him when things are going well … but yeah, it’s ominous), a lot of people are deciding to not renew their tickets to send a message. I applaud them. But at the same time I’m convinced that these kind of messages and protests rarely work, and the only people that get punished in the end are us.

The adage holds true for me: “A bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day at the office”. And right now, I’d kill for another bad day at a ballpark.

Today’s Hate List

1. Good days at the office