Great article Brian. I very much related to this. I ve found that my general mood is too strongly impacted by whether or not the Mets are playing well or poorly and thats been even more true since the pandemic for whatever reason. Over the last few years I've had to ensure that when they are going through bad stretches I simply have to tune out a little. Still watch but not hang on every pitch. Still root and care but at a slightly greater distance. The 22 playoff loss was miserable but it helped me handle the 24 loss more calmly. Etc. Fan since '83 so maybe im finally getting it. :)
Boom Boom, due to my profession of working in a restaurant and being in CDT when the game starts, I am usually focused on work. I also have found the distancing of myself from the Mets as personally helpful, and have written about it. I keep telling myself that they don’t care about me as much as I care about them, but the connection with fellow fans is heart warming and passes the time well. However, when I do get to see a game, I like to inhale the whole game but let it go as soon as possible.
I tend to get this way too. When the Mets are going through rough stretches I have to distance myself or it bleeds too heavily into my personal life. I quite literally had to stop watching football altogether for this reason, now going on 8 years ago. It's hard to have the team struggle without a clear end in sight. With injuries piling up and players underperforming, all we can do is stand helplessly by while they figure it out. In Stearns we trust. Thankfully, as I write this, we've taken the last two series against the Brewers and Yankees. I can only hope we can repeat our offensive production against Baltimore and KC before a much needed break.
I recall Brian recently making the point that although the team was in the midst of an awful streak, they are still in a much better position than last year at this time. I think most of us would have signed up for this record before the season, especially with the Braves 11 games behind us. For whatever reason this team seems to have problems in June (last season notwithstanding) and hopefully that’s behind us now. Think about where we could have been right now without the NL player of the month.
The starting rotation should improve with the returns of Senga and Manaea and I expect to see some bullpen pieces added. I wonder if that could include one or two of the Sproat, McLean, Tong crew in a relief role. I’d definitely give Tidwell a shot there based on his performance so far in the early innings of his outings.
Resilience is such an important theme—especially in baseball. Take Game 6 of the 1986 World Series: Ray Knight, Kevin Mitchell, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson—did I get that right? Great teams get down big—more than four runs—and they do not swing for a five-run homer. They usually play smaller ball. They passed the baton.
Resilience isn’t just grit in the moment—it’s also preparation. It’s being ready to fake a bunt, to throw off a pitcher’s rhythm. It’s fouling off pitches until the pitcher eventually throws ball four. And your teammates are right there, on the railing, watching every pitch. The batter behind you has his own plan.
Suddenly, the ignition switches on. One player—maybe one who had a vision back in April—starts something. And now the whole team is showing resilience.
We go through the bad streak and we are still hanging with the Phillies. The Yankees go through it and they find themselves three games out. Todays victory was very satisfying, one to extend our winning streak to four and to also stick it to the Yankees. Todays game has to also provide some additional confidence.
Great article Brian. I very much related to this. I ve found that my general mood is too strongly impacted by whether or not the Mets are playing well or poorly and thats been even more true since the pandemic for whatever reason. Over the last few years I've had to ensure that when they are going through bad stretches I simply have to tune out a little. Still watch but not hang on every pitch. Still root and care but at a slightly greater distance. The 22 playoff loss was miserable but it helped me handle the 24 loss more calmly. Etc. Fan since '83 so maybe im finally getting it. :)
Boom Boom, due to my profession of working in a restaurant and being in CDT when the game starts, I am usually focused on work. I also have found the distancing of myself from the Mets as personally helpful, and have written about it. I keep telling myself that they don’t care about me as much as I care about them, but the connection with fellow fans is heart warming and passes the time well. However, when I do get to see a game, I like to inhale the whole game but let it go as soon as possible.
I tend to get this way too. When the Mets are going through rough stretches I have to distance myself or it bleeds too heavily into my personal life. I quite literally had to stop watching football altogether for this reason, now going on 8 years ago. It's hard to have the team struggle without a clear end in sight. With injuries piling up and players underperforming, all we can do is stand helplessly by while they figure it out. In Stearns we trust. Thankfully, as I write this, we've taken the last two series against the Brewers and Yankees. I can only hope we can repeat our offensive production against Baltimore and KC before a much needed break.
I recall Brian recently making the point that although the team was in the midst of an awful streak, they are still in a much better position than last year at this time. I think most of us would have signed up for this record before the season, especially with the Braves 11 games behind us. For whatever reason this team seems to have problems in June (last season notwithstanding) and hopefully that’s behind us now. Think about where we could have been right now without the NL player of the month.
The starting rotation should improve with the returns of Senga and Manaea and I expect to see some bullpen pieces added. I wonder if that could include one or two of the Sproat, McLean, Tong crew in a relief role. I’d definitely give Tidwell a shot there based on his performance so far in the early innings of his outings.
Resilience is such an important theme—especially in baseball. Take Game 6 of the 1986 World Series: Ray Knight, Kevin Mitchell, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson—did I get that right? Great teams get down big—more than four runs—and they do not swing for a five-run homer. They usually play smaller ball. They passed the baton.
Resilience isn’t just grit in the moment—it’s also preparation. It’s being ready to fake a bunt, to throw off a pitcher’s rhythm. It’s fouling off pitches until the pitcher eventually throws ball four. And your teammates are right there, on the railing, watching every pitch. The batter behind you has his own plan.
Suddenly, the ignition switches on. One player—maybe one who had a vision back in April—starts something. And now the whole team is showing resilience.
We go through the bad streak and we are still hanging with the Phillies. The Yankees go through it and they find themselves three games out. Todays victory was very satisfying, one to extend our winning streak to four and to also stick it to the Yankees. Todays game has to also provide some additional confidence.