Paul Articulates – Mets Fans are like Mets Players

30-4 was the damage in this weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  It is not reversed – we really took the wrong end of a football score beat-down to a team that started the weekend 18 games under .500.  This is a team that is hurting both mentally and physically.  Earlier today you read what Reese had to say about the physical side, so I will address the mental.

So for those that have read a few of my articles addressing “state of mind” as a key influence on player performance, you can resonate with the fact that when everyone around you is struggling, you feel the weight yourself. (Unless you have Juan Soto’s talent)  This is what is going on with the Mets – talented guys who suddenly fear failure and try so hard not to fail that they lose the focus they need to succeed.

Today I want to apply that theory to Mets fans.  We are so exasperated by the team’s inability to win that we find fault with every little thing the players do wrong.  This leads to the illusion that all the players are flawed and the desire to replace them all with free agents (which by the way are mostly just more expensive but not more talented).  We lose confidence in the team, the players, and the manager when really they need just the opposite – they need our support.

Example – Jeff McNeil just can’t glove a ball in the gap on a full dive, and fans are saying, “I told you he should not be playing center field.  He’s too slow, too old, or he’s a corner outfielder”.  But wait, didn’t he just leap over the fence to rob a homerun the day before?  Do you want to replace him with a guy that gets that one ball in the gap but hits at half the batting average?

We all know that baseball is a difficult game to play and we expect players to fail often.  It’s just that when they all fail at the same time we decide that they are all no good.  They are really the same players and for the most part fail at the same rate on average.

So why am I saying this? So you can heal yourself.  Don’t take these losses so hard.  There are 77 more regular season games to play, and when (not if) this turns around, the Mets will win a healthy share of them.  They are not as bad as they look right now.

When is it going to turn around?  When you least expect it, and by a totally unexpected coincidence of events.  Last year it was the McDonald’s mascot “Grimace” showing up for a game – which had nothing to do with baseball.  It usually happens when a couple of players have some success and the lightbulb goes on with the notion, “we can do this”.  

When will the fans turn around?  Usually many games after the players pull it together.  Except in last year’s reverse-psychology experiment by the Phillies fans, who cheered a slumping Trey Turner before he started hitting.  Guess what?  It worked!

Maybe it is time for US to step up.  No better time than Citi Field at 7:10pm on Tuesday.  See you there!