Dwight Hood - Is it just me?

PC - Ed Delany

Jacob DeGrom had a year for the ages in 2018. His season ERA ranked amongst historical lows posted by Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, and a young Dwight Gooden. Still, the Mets could not provide him with run support, and the team as a whole could not earn a playoff spot. I try to look for the positive, but sometimes, I’m still disappointed with the Mets.

Is it just me?

Pessimism is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “…an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome.”

I was born in December of 1969. Although I was not yet born to witness 1969, I have the 1969 World Series on DVD. From Swoboda’s miracle catch to “shoe shine” plays, it seemed that the Mets were destined to win in 1969.

It seems that pessimism came around in 1970. The ominous, omnipresent cloud of “nothing will ever really go right.”

Would it just be me?

1973 came around. The Mets would come all with way back from last place to take the NL East Pennant with what was at the time the lowest winning percentage for a pennant champion. We had the “Say Hey” kid on our team. Yes, he was aged and at the end, but we had him. We had his presence. We had Staub. We had Seaver. We had this…won…I thought….

Harrelson went toe to toe with Rose. This tussle at 2^nd base was the symbol of our fight. Our tenacity. We would never say die. We took the Big Red Machine and stomped them like cherry tomatoes all the way to the World Series. We took the might Oakland Athletics to game 7…but…then it came…

Pessimism. It was like the impending nausea after the third slice of pepperoni with cheese. You don’t want it to come. After all, you love to eat the stuff. But, in the dark recesses of that vacuous space between your ears that you call a mind…you know it is coming. Now matter how hard you try to avoid it. To push it back. To deny it is there.

Maybe we should not have started Seaver on short rest for game 7 in 1973. Maybe having Mays in center was not such a good idea.

Maybe…all the incessant “what could have been”. Pessimism came back to ruin 1973 for us. Were we only expecting the worst possible outcome for our Mets? Maybe it was supposed to be this way. Why did we start to feel the Mets could never win?

Did anybody out there feel that way?

I watched my Mets through the “lean years” of the middle to late 1970s. Even though Stearns could catch, hit for power, AND steal bases. Even though all the girls loved Maz in those form fitting pants, even though we tried to forget that the likes of Henderson and Zachry could never replace Tom Terrific, I tried to believe we could do it. I tried to believe we could win. But I knew we could not. Pessimism.

Was it just me?

1986 was so GREAT! But, pessimism was staring at me behind the black and white TV set. Taunting me in Game 6 of the World Series. Snickering at me between the antenna, mocking me, sticking its tongue out at me.

BUT, THIS TIME…. Carter, Mitchell, Hernandez, Knight. I don’t remember the order. I remember hit after hit. Then, I will NEVER forget. Mookie hits a grounder to 1^st…Buckner boots it! In comes KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!! (Think of your best Scully voice).

I still get chills thinking about that moment. That moment when I made pessimism run and hide. I ran up and down the house and jumped up and down and STOMPED pessimism like the nasty bug that it was.

Then came Game 7. Then came World Series Champions!

Then came 1987. The Cardinals. Then 1988. The Dodgers. Then the 80’s went into the 90’s. Pessimism came back and hit me in the face. It smeared my countenance like a water gun filled with bleach right to the forehead (Remember that?).

Pessimism is back. I’m disappointed again. My hopes are dashed every year. We should have been a dynasty. We should have had a team full of Hall of Famers. I can’t be positive. I can’t think of the good times with my Mets.

Was it just me?

The 90’s. Generation “K”? No way. 1999. Was there supposed to be a walk to send in the winning run against us for the Braves in the NLCS? Was my favorite slugging catcher supposed to hit that deep fly ball in the 2000 World Series that was just not deep enough?

Pessimism just spit in my face and laughed at me. I’m sitting on my couch experiencing another disappointing season. Pessimism is repeatedly jumping on my head like a sadistic miniature ogre.

Did other Mets fans feel this way? Or was it just me?

Was I the only one who watched 2006 unfold, watched the snow cone catch of the home run over the left field wall only to watch probably the greatest center fielder in my team’s history watch that curve for strike 3 in the NLCS? Was I the only one who felt pessimism kick me in the gut in 2007 and 2008 as my Mets just ran out of gas down the stretch like an old 1927 Ford in a street race with a rag top Mustang?

Was this just me? Need I continue?

Oh yeah. Back to DeGrom.

I waited in nervous anticipating toward the beginning of the season. I wanted to call Brody and BEG him personally to PLEASE sign my favorite Met pitcher long term. We can’t let him get away. We can’t let pessimism get HIM. Like the proverbial thief in the night, would pessimism make him turn his back on us, sign with another team, set himself up with a self-imposed innings limit.

I know this was NOT just me.

DeGrom and the hurler known as Thor are struggling early this year. DeGrom has some “mechanical” issue and his arm “barks”. My Mets, as of today, are hovering near .500. We can hit this year, but now we can’t pitch. It seems like if we hit, we can’t pitch, if we pitch, we can’t hit.

Is that pessimism lurking behind the plasma??

Today Matz pinched 7 innings of 2 run ball. Just one mistake. A slider that didn’t quite slide. Got too much of the plate. I think I saw a little pessimism lurking. Hanging over the plasma from the top, his large nose pointing down toward the depths of my insecurity like the WWII “Kilroy was here” caricature.

Mets come back to win 5-2. I think Howie says that Mets are currently the best in the majors scoring runs in the 7^th and beyond.

It can’t only be me. Let’s GO METS!!

How can you not love this team?!