Heartening….

They were only 2-1 and 5-1 wins, but they came after a lot of garbage was flushed out to sea.

Jose Reyes returns… much anticipated since he signed with the fish on December 7. How will the fans react? Will they cheer? Will they boo? Well, it was a mixed bag. Let’s face it, it wasn’t warmhearted l like Seaver’s first start at Shea in a Reds uniform on August 21, 1977 when emotions were still very raw or a ton of boos like the return of Darryl in which he homered off Frank Viola in 1991, or the return of the conquering hero Mike Piazza’s return in 2006 when he hit two homers in a Padres uniform and the fans wanted him to come out for a curtain call. More like Jerry Koosman in 1984, a smattering of applause- and then we got down to business. At least It won’t be lingering hatred like Carlos Beltran gets everytime to the plate in Houston.

Early in the day, it was like the Corleone family taking care of business. Jason Bay goes on the DL in what is presumably part of the effort to keep his plate appearances down and avoid the 2014 vesting of his ridiculous contract. I harbor no ill will toward Bay. He just can’t play here but he goes out and tries anyway. Bobby Bonilla, Vincent Coleman, Oliver Perez, Robby Alomar, Carlos Baerga- they couldn’t play here either, but irritated the fan base in their own obnoxious ways.

Also, Mike Pelfrey goes on the disabled list with a partially torn UCL in his elbow. He may never throw another pitch for the Mets again. And that’s OK. He goes the way a typical top pitching prospect goes- more likely to flame out than become a top flight pitcher. For every Tom Seaver, there are 99.5 Mike Pelfreys. So let’s get on with the future…;

We turned the page on the first play of Tuesday’s game- after the Reyes theatrics, he launched a rocket to left field and Kirk Niuewenhuis put an end to all conversation with a circus catch. Jose, sit down, there’s the business of moving forward.  As I look around the field last night, I see Thole, Davis, Murphy, Tejada, Wright, Niuewenhuis, and Duda. They’re kids… and it is fun again. Murphy is looking more comfortable at 2^nd, THole is looking more comfortable at the plate. Nieuwenhuis is a grinder out there who will do the little things as well as the big to help a team win whether it is that catch, sliding hard into second to break up a double play, hit by pitches,  2 out hits- he always seems to be in the middle of a rally. Maybe it can turn to something the way a lineup of kids were sorted out into keepers and trades in the early 80s and mid 90s.  

Niuewenhuis started the game winning rally in the 8th. Lucas Duda was involved in both scoring plays. And hopefully, Ike will hit and I am rooting for him the way I rooted for David and Jay Payton to succeed when they first came up. Let’s hope it’s more David and less Jay.

Last night R.A. Dickey took center stage. And like Rick Reed a decade ago, he is a dependable starter and a bulldog out there. David Wright asserted that it was his team and last night it was The Dude in the middle of a rally again.

I don’t expect great things this season still. It’s different, but it feels like the clouds are lifting and maybe Terry and Sandy were right. This team might just be fun. It’s also great to look to the future at the minor league box scores and follow the progress of Harvey and Wheeler, Fulmer and Lagares, and Satin and Marte.