Writing the Pine

LOOK. I’m gonna try REALLY fucking hard not to type this ENTIRE FUCKING ENTRY in MOTHERFUCKING CAPS. LIFE AS A METS FAN BLOWS.

I did NOT ask for this suffering (it may not be as bad as being a Cubs fan or a pre-dynasty Red Sox fan, but STILL). I was born into the Mets (my dad), and the Amazin’s won their only championship in my lifetime when I was ONE (surprisingly, I don’t have any memory of our championship). Growing up, the most significant player on the team was Bobby motherfucking BONILLA and the Mets either always SUCKED or managed to get former stars on their decline (see: 2000 NY Mets). Our amazing prospects never seemed to live up to their potential (see: Jason Isringhausen, Rey Ordonez… dare I add Mike Pelfrey to this list?). The best player that played for us before Johan Santana was GAY.

The 2009 season for the Metropolitans was supposed to be the year that the pains of losing were supposed to go away. We have a $145 million dollar payroll. The Phillies JUST won the World Series but WE were the consensus favorite to win the NL East. We started the season with four LEGITIMATE superstars in Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright. We did not have a SINGLE weak spot in our batting order. Our pitching rotation was not as star-studded but we had our ace in Johan Santana and more-than-able starters in Ollie Perez, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey. We added elite bullpen standouts in J.J. Putz and Frankie Rodriguez.

Pretty much everyone I just mentioned minus Wright, Pelfrey and K-Rod is either out for the season, suffering through major injury or has spent time on the disabled list. Missing the playoffs two years in a row with a superstar cast has been bad enough, but to see this dominant, championship-caliber team crumble to injuries all season long is heartbreaking. If you add up the salaries of the injured players, over $62 million in annual salary has gone down the drain.

Don’t tell me I should feel better because we’re only two and a half games back.  We should have the best fucking record in baseball right now.