Craig Mitchell -- A Tonic for a Spoiled Mets Fan

Hello. My name is Craig and I’m a Mets fan. If you are too, then this will be an extremely polarizing article for you to read.  I have become very frustrated with some of my fellow Met fans. Now, the past 10 years or so have been very trying on all fans of the orange and blue. There have been ups and mostly downs. From 2001 to 2005 we had the recovery from the Subway Series years. From 2006 to 2008 we had the heartbreaking late season collapse years. 2009-2014 we've had The Coupon era.

I have been a staunch Met fan since 1971.  That’s 43 years living and dying with the Mets. Mostly it’s been a lot of mediocrity with a small period of dominance (1985 to 1990).  Mets fans have seen it all in a relatively short amount of time. From the funny, “Lose a 100 games year” Mets of the early to mid-sixties to the “Grants Tomb” Mets of the late 70’s to early 80’s to the “Bonilla” years of the early nineties to the “Piazza Surge” of 1997.  It’s been a wild ride. But I think current Met fans have reached their limits.

As of this writing, the Mets stand two games over .500, and despite all accounts to the contrary the Mets have been competitive so far in 2014. But you wouldn't know it if you go to any of a dozen Met fan sites, blogs or even MLB, or Mets.com. Met fans are surly, combative, negative and downright pissed. Even after games that the Mets win the comments you see are incredible negative. You see comments like “This won’t last……”, “I wonder how we would do with a real pen...”, “Colon is a fat loser”, “Wright regrets signing now.”  I mean seriously, I personally find it very tough to read this crap. Met fans seem to be suffering from some sort of baseball related PTSD.  I don’t’ mean to make light of a serious medical condition, I only use it as a point of comparison. But the negative fan response just doesn’t seem to match the event. We’re competitive for shit sakes! But a certain amount of Met fans act as though things have never been worse.

I keep thinking maybe all this is an after effect of the Yankee dynasty that has been ongoing since 1996. The Mets and their fans have taken a back seat to the Yankees winning five world series in that time while the Mets have mostly sat on the sidelines and the one year we met them head on we were brushed aside in five games. We were just a mere afterthought.

Perhaps, it’s the after effects of the Madoff scandal and how that has hampered the Mets ability to be competitive in the free agent market since 2009.  Well, the Mets last splash (before the Granderson signing) was in 2010 when the Mets went out and signed Jason Bay to a 5 year 80 million dollar contract. That couldn’t have been a bigger bust. Seriously, Bay struggled so furiously it made Vince Coleman look like a Hall of Famer. While not the Mets fault, the Bay scar runs deep.  Met fans still curse and twitch at the mere mention of Bay’s name. Already, because of Curtis Grandersons slow start there is a fan that I saw is already referring to him as “Granderbay”. Seriously, I think some Met fans need a hug. More realistically, I think they need to get over themselves.

While the Mets have had their share of down times and trials and tribulations, they are far from being the saddest franchise in baseball. Every time I see one of these caustic remarks fly into the cloud I wonder to myself “What would that fan do If he followed the Cubs?”  The Cubs have been the poster child for mediocrity for 116 years, with a few post season spikes (1945, 1984, 1989, 2003,08). Their last World Series title featured the infield of Tinkers, Evers and Chance. Their last appearance was in 1945. The Mets have been to the World Series four times since 1969.  Met fans could learn from the Cub Fans. They have been through goat curses, black cat curses, the curse of Steve Bartman, the Leon Durham curse and on and on. While I’m sure Cub fans are frustrated, I don’t see the outright hate in Chicago that comes out of some of these Met fans. There’s a love there. There’s an understanding that they are and always will be the loveable Cubs. Perhaps it’s because Chicago is the 2 ^nd city. This is New York after all. This is the big apple. The Met fans I cited feel that the Mets have a higher standard to live up to.

The impatience has grown. The Mets haven’t won it all in 28 years, by far the longest time they had ever gone in their history.  The longest drought without a championship before was 16 years (1969 to 1986). Losing isn’t cute anymore. It’s drudgery. But then again the Mets aren’t losing 100 games a year either. They are in a upward swing. They have young arms that are proving to be a force to deal with. We know what we have in Matt Harvey. Zach Wheeler is still developing. Jenrry Mejia has been terrific. Still coming are Noah Syndergaard and Jacob DeGrom and Rafeal Montero. Seems to me the waiting is almost over, the winning is about to begin (if it hasn’t already)

Dare I say it? Some Met fans are spoiled? Perhaps so. Hey, I hate watching the Mets lose, but realistically there seems more to be excited about now than in years past. Let’s compare the Mets situation to that of The Padres, Astros, Mariners, Royals (last win 1985), Nationals, Orioles (last won in 1983), Pirates (Last year was first year over .500 since the early 90’s), Brewers, Rangers (back to back World Series losses and no wins ever) and Rockies.  The Mets are considerably better off than most of the teams I just mentioned. The Mets have won a championship later that all of them. The Mariners and Nationals have never been in the fall classic. Just food for thought.

I can see it now. I can see the comments accusing me of being “too positive” or demanding everyone agree

with my point of view. Nonsense, I get pissed off too. Back 2009 when Luis Castillo dropped Alex Rodriguez’ pop up that would have sealed a Met win in the first game of the subway series at Yankee Stadium. I went bananas. I throw my remote control I screamed expletives at the TV (directed at Luis Castillo) I even changed my profile picture on Facebook to that of a little kid in a Met hat and uniform giving everyone the finger.  I was mad.

But I got over it. It’s a game. It’s not the end of the world. I realize most Met fans get that. The Met lows are pretty painful, but the highs are really worth waiting for. I feel the wait is almost over now. It’s becoming our time again.

Man, I still get pissed thinking about Luis Castillo………..See? I am a true Met fan.