Reese Kaplan -- As Bad As It's Been, It Could Be Worse

One of the things people fret about today are the outcomes of the Mets baseball games.  There’s no point in rehashing the offensive weaknesses, the lack of fundamentals nor the uneven pitching.  They are what they are and that’s not going to change between now and September 30th.  

No, what is different about this team’s output is that for once the wrath is not particularly directed at the players.  Most of the fans do not hold individual grudges against anyone in particular.  Surely there are many who have disappointed and I won’t reiterate what they’ve done wrong.  It was very different in the past.  

For a refresh of players in the Mets past who certainly drew the wrath of fans and media, the list is a long and undistinguished one.  In no particular order, let’s have a look at some of the least favorites:

Roger Cedeno -- this one-man-stealing-machine was a horrific pest to opposing pitchers.  When the Mets picked him up, the fans weren’t sure who they were getting, but it quickly became apparent that no matter how he hit and how many thefts he made his defense was laughable at best.  He lasted just one season with the Mets when he hit .313 and stole 66.  A lot of defensive flubs are forgiven with that kind of production.  He came back for two more years, much heavier and seemingly more disoriented than before.  In those seasons he hit in the .260s and combined over two seasons to get 39 SBs.  He was out of baseball at age 30. As you can see in this late photo he no longer had a sprinter's physique.

Vince Coleman -- the predecessor to Cedeno was the former St. Louis Cardinal stolen base empresario.  His performance wasn’t bad at all -- hitting .270 over three seasons and racking up 99 SBs, but then he got involved throwing a lit firecracker into a crowd, injuring three people and forever ending any positive feelings the fans might have had towards him as a player.  

Doug Sisk -- the mere sight of Sisk warming up in the pen was enough to drive Mets fans to push aside beer for something more potent like Thunderbird.  His control was abysmal and no one ever gave him credit for the good he did.  It would shock fans to realize as a Met he was a career winning pitcher with a 3.10 ERA but he did walk more per 9 IP than he struck out.  

Tom Glavine -- he was always the “other guy” to Gregg Maddux, so the Mets fans were not totally enamored from day one when he was acquired at a high cost to pitch during his age 38 through 41 seasons.  His 3.95 ERA as a Met was half a run worse than he was as a Dodger, but the real issue became the final game of the 2007 season when the Mets needed a win desperately and Glavine gave up 7 runs in the first inning.  He shrugged it off as unimportant and forever dug himself a hole with Mets fans.  

Bret Saberhagen -- the one-time All Star caliber pitcher was in the middle of his career when he arrived at Shea Stadium.  What he did with his pitching arm was not the problem.  He was 29-21 during 3+ years with the Mets and delivered a 3.16 ERA.  In fact, in 1994 he finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting, going a very nice 14-4 and represented the Mets at the midsummer classic for the National League.  However, he took it upon himself to fire a super soaker loaded with bleach at a gang of baseball writers inside the locker room, potentially causing eye injuries.  His fortunes turned a bit sour on the field after that incident while pitching elsewhere and not a single Mets fan shed a tear.  

Frankie Rodriguez (K-Rod) -- now his acquisition was generally met with great enthusiasm among the media and fans, but the incident in the players’ area under the stadium in which he punched out his father-in-law and then exploded against the reporters covering the story.  He was essentially given away just to have him off the roster.  

There were any number of other players who the fans despised for one reason or another like Bobby Bonilla, Jason Bay, Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Rick Ankiel and others, but the fact is that these players generally did something to instill the fans’ hostility.  The 2021 crew of Mets may not be the first place caliber team they pretended to be for much of the season, but it seems that most of the fans are more accepting and forgiving.  Maybe because it’s a first year under a new ownership, maybe because contention has been so long in happening at all, or maybe because none of the players have done anything blatantly objectionable.  The Mets may not be fun to watch, but their players are at least trying (if not succeeding).