Mets at the Crossroads

According to legend, a young black man named Robert Johnson was “instructed” to take his guitar to the crossroads near Dockery Plantation at midnight one dread evening. Johnson, who was filled with a burning desire to be the greatest blues guitarist on this planet, met a large black man, who took Johnson’s guitar and tuned it. The Big Guy then played several songs on the guitar, and then returned it to Robert, imparting his infernal gift, and Johnson soon had the mastery of the instrument as none have had, before or since. In return, of course, he bargained his soul to eternal perdition.

There are, perhaps, more then a few fans of the Amazin’s who would like to see G.M. Omar Minaya make a similar bargain with the Prince of Darkness. Ever since that fateful Game 7 in 2006, when rookie closer Adam Wainwright struck out Carlos Beltran, sending the underdog Cardinals to the World Series, the Mets have appeared to be a star-crossed franchise. Following the loss to St. Louis, the Metropolitans blew seemingly insurmountable leads to the Philadelphia Phillies in both 2007 and 2008, failing to make the playoffs either year. And then, of course, was the disaster of 2009, when mounting injuries, mediocre years from their star players, questionable management both on and off the field, and medical malpractice produced a 70-92 record. Which leads us up to this year.

On July 5th, the Mets stood at 47-37, ten games over .500. They had an 18-9 record in June. Jose Reyes had shaken off the rust, and had once again emerged as the most exciting and productive short-stop in MLB, apart from Hanley Ramirez. David Wright was producing statistics equal to or better then Evan Longeria. Angel Pagan, Ike Davis, R.A. Dickey and John Niese were all nice additions, and performing far above reasonable expectations. Mike Pelfrey, although he had a few unfortunate recent starts, was having a career year; at one time, back in mid-June, Met journalists were comparing his season to the redoubtable Ubaldo, who had pitched so spectacularly that his surname was no longer necessary for the purposes of identification. Santana was pitching well, although he had apparently lost some of his previous velocity. The bullpen was performing adequately or better, although there was some uneasiness that they were, perhaps, being overused. And, of course, Beltran would be coming back soon. Perhaps management might consider bringing back their rather ostentatious 2006 marketing slogan; "The Team. The Time. The Mets."

How quickly the vagaries of sports change attitudes and outlook. Since July 6 th, the Mets record stands at 2-7. They are currently 5 games back of their perennial nemesis of yore, the Atlanta Braves, one game ahead of the floundering Phils, two games back of the Cincinnati Reds in what is presently a six-team battle for the Wild Card slot. Perhaps this is a better position going into the dog days of summer then Met fans expected in April; perhaps the Mets were playing a wee bit over their heads, but avoiding a June Swoon, they appear on the verge of experiencing a July Goodbye. Minaya and owner Jeff Wilpon have always promised the Met fanatics meaningful games in September; at this point, they would settle for meaningful games in August.

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For the House that Citi-Bank Built (subsidized by the tax-payers of the Big Apple), threatens to come apart at the seams. Reyes is experiencing a string of minor injuries; and seems to be listed as day-to-day on a regular basis; as Yogi would say, this is Déjà Vu all over again. K-Rod has thrown a series of clunkers; there are hushed voices stating that he has lost some of his velocity, and threatens to be a more recent issue of Armando Benitez. Rod Barajas seemingly hasn’t had a home run or a RBI since April. Ike Davis has cooled off; Jeff Francoeur’s Batting Average has sunk like the Dow in the last days of the Bush administration. Takahashi’s allure as a starter has long since waned, Ollie Perez threatens to come back and join the Mets hurlers. Met’s fans are not quite reveling in ecstasy at the return of Luis Castillo. Beltran has, in fact returned, but insists in playing Center Field, although it is apparent that he isn’t in condition to roam the vast green of Citi-Field, and the thought is that it will take him at least a month to shake of the rust of not having played professional baseball in over a year’s time. And the Mets failed, once again, to pick up an ace pitcher in a mid-season trade – this time, Cliff Lee. At least he didn’t sign, as rumored, with the despised team from the Bronx. And the scariest news of all – Ollie Perez threatens to return to the Mets pitching staff, if not the starting rotation.

The most inexplicable turn of the screw is, perhaps, the pitching of Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey is seemingly in a duel with A.J. Burnett to see which New York City starter can reach more sordid depths of ineptitude. Yesterday, Pelfrey had his worst outing thus far, pitching 1 1/3 innings; he was pounded for 6 runs, gave up 7 hits, walked two and struck out 1. His ERA for the last month is over 10.00. His seasonal ERA, once hovering close to 2.00, is now 4.01. He complains a bit about a sore neck, perhaps the result of turning it backwards so frequently in order to observe the shots the opposing batters are bouncing off and over the walls, but to most observers, the problem seems to be mental. Again, former Mets manager Yogi Berra answers the conundrum: Baseball is 90% mental; the other 50% is physical. Bobby Ojeda believes that it is a lack of confidence. At any rate, the Mets aren’t going very far this season unless they manage to straighten out Pelf.

The Mets are engaged in a so-far horrendous West Coast road trip, which threatens to become apocalyptic. They have two more games with the Diamondbacks, then four with the Dodgers. Neither of these teams is playing particularly well. However, the Mets are currently a putrid 19 – 28 on the road. They need to hobble back home winning at least 3 of the remaining 6 games of this trip, or they threaten to become increasingly irrelevant throughout the rest of the season. Which may not be the worst thing in the world. Bobby Valentine is still available. Ya Gotta Believe!

By: Paul J. Nebenfuhr
MLBCenter.com New York Mets Correspondent

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