FAST OUT
OF THE GATE? I SEE A PLUS FOR THE METS IN 2015
by Tom Brennan
Any team hopes for a fast start out of the gate. It is no fun starting the season poorly, as
trying to make up ground can be disheartening.
Yogi may have said “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” but when the Mets went
0-9 starting out in 1962, the mortician was summoned. Season over, RIP, when does football season
start?
A fast start, though, has a team out amongst the leaders and
can give the team a feeling of believing in itself that can be both sustainable
and self-fulfilling.
So does it look like the Mets’ 2015 early schedule help or
hinder them? A lot of it comes down to
the quality of the competition. A good
team (and I believe the Mets will be one) can get on a roll quickly against
weaker opponents.
Well, the Mets do open against the highly regarded Nats in
Washington for 3 games. Let’s say they
win one of those 3. Whew! Now that the hard part is past, 3 with the
downgraded Braves followed by 3 at home vs. the gutted Phillies, and I could
see the Mets being 6-3 after 9 games.
Then 4 at home vs. Miami and 3 vs. the Braves. How about 10-5 after the first 15. Then 3
mighty early interleague games against the Yankees, who appear to be 10-20
games weaker than those Yank teams of the Mariano Rivera/Derek Jeter era. I’ll slot us at 12-6.
Then 3 with Miami, 4 with the Nats, 2 with weakened Baltimore,
and 3 more with the Phillies. Let’s call
those 12 games a split, bringing us to 18-12.
18-12. Hmmm. I like
that. 18-12 would bring a ton of fan
excitement, and a real boost in attendance.
I asked Austin Powers his thoughts.
He said, “Mets fans can get loud, baby, very loud”, so it’s settled.
I can see this early season strong start becoming the
foundation of both the fans’ and players’ expectations. With continued success thereafter. An early season roll will be the forerunner
for meaningful Fall baseball at Citifield.
That’s how I see it unfolding, anyway.
How do you see it?
3 comments:
Jim Bouton once said he had optimism in his DNA like a robin with one end of a 10 foot earthworm in its beak. You and he are of the same ilk.
As the resident glass half empty guy, what happens if Flores slumps, Granderson repeats his 2014 debut performance in April or Duda regresses?
Let us not forget that the Mets went 15-10 last April with Grandy playing like a GCL player and Duda not even starting, but May turned ugly right out of the gate and practically sunk their season. a lot of that had to do with Valverde and Farnsworth disintegrating, but the point is that they had a .600 winning pct last April, while May and June destroyed all chances
Reese, if that happens, sell off and recall the kiddies!
ANONYMOUS, I was amazed at their fluky successful April start last year, especially after the first Nats series, and just as amazed at their terrible May.
This is a better team with a relatively easy schedule. let's hope they beat up on people
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