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| The New York Post headline writer |
I dislike it when some self-appointed expert tries to make a blanket characterization about what a New York Mets fan thinks. I'm a Mets fan, of course, and I know plenty of others. If there is one great truth about us that I've learned over the years, every Mets fan is different. Sure, we all start with our shared love of New York's "other" baseball team, but I'd rather try to herd cats than find a consensus among a large number of Mets fans on all but the banalest of topics. I even met a Mets fan once who didn't like David Wright — seriously. That's equivalent to a kid disliking dessert.
If there is one common characteristic of Mets fans, it has to be the ability to maintain an abiding hope. Watching this team stumble around through one inept season after another, only to occasionally give the fans a real playoff run, requires a strong dose of "ya gotta believe" that persists despite what logic and reason argue to the contrary. I've been a fan for more than 50 years. I would have packed it in a long time ago if it wasn't for that illogical, stubborn optimism that things would someday turn around and get better.
I've known or heard of a handful of Mets fans who have lost the faith over the years. Some moved on to other teams, some turned away from baseball completely. But the vast majority of people I've known that have been Mets fans have stayed Mets fans. Given all of the losing seasons, that's astounding. Being a fan of this club just gets in your blood. As hopeless as things have looked at times, it was always the hope of seeing this club go all the way one more time that keeps me hanging on.
A couple of events this week reminded me just how bleak things were, particularly in the last decade or so before the team's sale last November. The first one was Matt Harvey's return to Citi Field on Wednesday. The other was the Major League debut of Jarred Kelenic last night.
It's hard to overstate just how bleak things were for the Mets when Harvey burst on the scene in 2012. Since their second straight September collapse in 2008, the Mets had spent three straight years finishing fourth. They would finish fourth again in 2012. Jason Bay was playing his last pathetic season for the club. Josh Thole was the starting catcher, putting up an anemic OPS+ of 64 — still better than Bay's 48 OPS+ in more than 200 plate appearances. Other "notable" OPS+ numbers were backup catchers Mike Nickeas (32 in 122 PA), Kelly Shoppach (71 in 87 PA), and Rob Johnson (65 in 58 PA). The Mets weren't getting a lot of offense from their catchers that season. Other notable players on that team were all-time greats Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Andres Torres, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz, Josh Satin, and Vinny Rottino.
On the pitching side, Johan Santana came back from a year lost to injury to throw a no-hitter that June but faded quickly after that. By August, Johan was done and would not pitch in MLB again. The real bright spot in the rotation was R.A. Dickey enjoying his Cy Young season, but you knew R.A. wouldn't be sticking around long. The 37-year-old knuckleballer would undoubtedly be traded away for prospects by a club not even close to contending. The bullpen reeked of has-beens or never-were types like Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Manny Acosta, Miguel Batista, and Elvin Ramírez.
When Matt Harvey first took the mound for the Mets at Chase Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, July 26, 2012, the Mets were 4 games under .500 and already 11-1/2 games behind the first-place Nationals. It was clear they would not contend that year. That wouldn't happen for another 3 years. Any hopes that the Madoff fiasco would force the Wilpons to sell the team had faded, thanks to a bailout from their buddy Bud Selig and the other owners.
Honestly, as someone who weathered the extremely tough years from 1977 - 1983, this era in Mets history felt almost as hopeless, albeit with a few more wins. Rather than tear things down and do the full rebuild that was clearly called for, the Wilpons desperately wanted to convince the fans that the club was near contending to sell tickets and pull in some revenue. The result was a series of 90-loss seasons and a growing sense that things weren't getting any better.
Harvey electrified that late July night, and his outings became much-watch for any Mets fan looking for a reason to hope for the future. In all, Matt Harvey started 10 times for those 2012 Mets, going 3-5 despite an excellent 2.73 ERA. He struck out 70 batters in 59.1 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .200/.293/.338 slash line. His last outing of the year — a tough-luck no-decision vs. the Phillies at Citi Field in which Josh Edgin would blow both the save and the game in the ninth — Harvey went 7 innings, allowing only 1 hit, a home run by Jimmy Rollins leading off the game. The Mets didn't invent failing to support their best pitcher for Jacob deGrom.
By the next season, R.A. Dickey had been shipped off to the Blue Jays. The Mets tried to fill the void left by signing Shaun Marcum. That did not go well. Harvey was a mainstay of that rotation from Opening Day. In 26 starts, he was even better than he had been in 2012. His ERA was 2.27, holding hitters to a .209/.248/.282 slash line. That's right, hitters slugged below .300 against Matt that season. Harvey Day had become a real thing with Mets fans, and the sense of hope grew a little more when Zack Wheeler was called up to join Harvey in the rotation in late June.
But hope had a tough time sticking around Citi Field in those days. Matt had a rough outing against the Tigers in late August, allowing only a pair of runs but ceding 13 hits in 6.2 IP. Sure enough, Mets fans were devastated by the news that Matt Harvey had a torn UCL and would undergo Tommy John surgery. There would be no Harvey Day celebrations in 2014.
Harvey Day came back with a vengeance in 2015, as Harvey's return and a deadline trade for Yoenis Céspedes keyed a stirring playoff run that unfortunately fizzled in the World Series. In a year when you would expect the Mets to limit Harvey's innings to protect him after his return from Tommy John surgery, Matt Harvey made 29 regular-season starts and 4 more in the playoffs. He pitched 216 innings in those starts.
Harvey got off to a rough start in 2016. He struggled with his mechanics and command and was never the same pitcher. Harvey needed shoulder surgery that June. His days as an elite Major League pitcher were over.
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