By Doug Geed
So as a Met fan since birth (well almost) this one hurt. To me, the '08 collapse was worse than the '07 collapse because we were supposed to LEARN something from last year. And on top of that, this year we had Johan. (Johan, by the way, gets NONE of the blame -- he was a shining star.)
Losing Billy Wagner hurt. He is one of the premier closers in baseball and if you take away ANY team's closer, you'll hurt their chances a lot. But the team STILL had enough talent to overcome that. And yeah, the bullpen does deserve a lot of the blame for the collapse.
But the final week, the offense should get most of the blame. They scored a total of 5 runs in their last 3 games combined -- that last series of the year -- the weekend debacle against Florida. The last game before THAT series started, their final game against the Cubs, they had a runner on third with none out in each of the past 3 innings with the score tied. A fly ball would have won them the game, but they couldn't come up with one.
To me, the team didn't have any heart. They could dominate some games, but look terribly weak in others. So many times during the season, they looked intimidated by their opponent -- and sometimes WEAK opponents like the Nationals or Pirates. I've lived through some brutal seasons, but I can't remember a season where I said so many times to myself, my friends or even on the air "that was the most crushing loss I've ever seen." It's like the '08 Mets somehow could always come up with a new way to win in a more
heart-breaking fashion. And the bottom line is, we were playing a weaker team -- the Marlins -- AT HOME in the final weekend of the season. It's the same team that humiliated us last year by beating us on our own turf and knocking us from the playoffs. No matter what, you need to find a way to win at least two of those games.
The team needs a natural leader. At least one gritty player who may not have tremendous talent but
makes up for it in grit and determination -- the "do-anything-to-win" attitude. And I admit, like a lot of stunned Met fans, I'm saying the teams needs to be shaken up. But most fans are also saying they don't want to trade Wright, Reyes or Beltran. For economic
reasons, Delgado will probably come back and of course, Santana is our king. So if the "core" of the team stays -- along with GM Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel -- what's left to "shake up?"
It won't be an easy off season, but then again, for Met fans, it usually isn't. I don't know what's worse -- having a job where I have to make the moves to bring the franchise to the next level, or being a fan and having to watch your team die a slow, painful death as it
nears the playoffs. Ouch.