All the Sweeter
"Those hideous days and nights made the franchise so lovable, so human, so flawed. Mets fans used to get it but I am not sure they do nowadays. All that cable swag has raised their expectations, gone to their heads. They think like Yankees fans, for goodness' sakes." -- George Vecsey, NYT.
I've been reading Faith and Fear in Flushing, so my mind has been very preoccupied with the history of the Mets fandom. The glory and the losses, the pain, and the inspiring way true fans remain strong behind their team. My friends' diverse reactions to the blunder-filled game last night really provoked some strong emotions in me. Then this article above basically gave that emotion some articulation.
We love the Mets, not despite their flaws, but along with their flaws. In the past few years, the Mets have been very very very close, only to unleash devastation on our hearts. I'm not downplaying the pain of the ends of those years. We were there. We were there, in a crowded bar, watching Beltran in 2006. We were there in 2007. We were there in 2008. It was worse because compound.
There are, it seems, two types of Mets fans. There are the optiMETs and the pessiMETs, and each group experiences pain and suffering in their unique ways. Most optiMETs staunchly and stubbornly "believe," (as in You Gotta--!), shame their less-believing friends, and eat their cheerful words when the Mets inevitably lose. Most pessiMETs piss and moan, nitpick and predict disaster, only to have to eat their shame when the Mets inevitably win. I'm not saying either group is correct in their approach. It's all about self-preservation, really.
What is the best way to protect your heart from the ever encroaching disease of cynicism? It's amazing to me. After year after year of disaster, how can Mets fans still cling to their hope and love for a team that seems, sometimes, hell-bent on disaster? I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know that today, suffering as I was, it still made me upset to hear those boo-bird jerks call in on the radio and call for trades of "the core." True, I'm also upset that Jerry Manuel called out Ryan Church in front of the entire press corps. It struck me as unclassy that Beltran pointed at rookie Pagan's mistake in not moving after he called the ball. I'm tired of Manuel's trigger-happy russian-roulette ways with the lineup. Injuries are plaguing us and the team, even after some great come-from-behind inspiring wins, sometimes can't seem to mesh together for a consistent performance.
I still love them. I think the trick is, for me, to not actually expect the win. I mean, I hope for the win. I think they're capable of winning. But when I start expecting the win and start deriding the Mets for not making it to the playoffs every year... that's dangerously close to characteristics I hate in certain Yankees fans (not all Yankees fans are terrible; I've met a few of the rare breed of rational, intelligent Yankees fans). But you know which fans I mean, right? The ones that think their team is "terrible" without even understanding the nuances of the game, just because they lost. All they see is the bottom line, not the plays, not the strategy, not the finely tuned details of a classically well-played ball game (that unfortunately results in a loss).
Yesterday's game was the dead opposite of a classically well-played game, but it did remind me of the Lovable Losers and Marvelous Marv Throneberry, but not in a shameful way. The loss and the errors were embarrassing, but invoking the name of Marv Throneberry only reminds me of the proud/tragic history of the team that I love. The magic of our '69 series, for example, stemmed in large part from the terrible, terrible seasons before it. The Mets have always performed in peaks and valleys. The valleys make the peaks all the more enjoyable. That is one of the things I love about the Mets. That they don't win all the time. And that's why... even though sloppy play is a terrible way to do it... the losses don't get to me too much. Although.... okay, they do get to me. Still, I shake them off as soon as possible, only holding on to the memory of the stinging loss for as long as it's necessary.
It'll just make the next win all the sweeter.
I've been reading Faith and Fear in Flushing, so my mind has been very preoccupied with the history of the Mets fandom. The glory and the losses, the pain, and the inspiring way true fans remain strong behind their team. My friends' diverse reactions to the blunder-filled game last night really provoked some strong emotions in me. Then this article above basically gave that emotion some articulation.
We love the Mets, not despite their flaws, but along with their flaws. In the past few years, the Mets have been very very very close, only to unleash devastation on our hearts. I'm not downplaying the pain of the ends of those years. We were there. We were there, in a crowded bar, watching Beltran in 2006. We were there in 2007. We were there in 2008. It was worse because compound.
There are, it seems, two types of Mets fans. There are the optiMETs and the pessiMETs, and each group experiences pain and suffering in their unique ways. Most optiMETs staunchly and stubbornly "believe," (as in You Gotta--!), shame their less-believing friends, and eat their cheerful words when the Mets inevitably lose. Most pessiMETs piss and moan, nitpick and predict disaster, only to have to eat their shame when the Mets inevitably win. I'm not saying either group is correct in their approach. It's all about self-preservation, really.
What is the best way to protect your heart from the ever encroaching disease of cynicism? It's amazing to me. After year after year of disaster, how can Mets fans still cling to their hope and love for a team that seems, sometimes, hell-bent on disaster? I'm not sure what the answer is, but I know that today, suffering as I was, it still made me upset to hear those boo-bird jerks call in on the radio and call for trades of "the core." True, I'm also upset that Jerry Manuel called out Ryan Church in front of the entire press corps. It struck me as unclassy that Beltran pointed at rookie Pagan's mistake in not moving after he called the ball. I'm tired of Manuel's trigger-happy russian-roulette ways with the lineup. Injuries are plaguing us and the team, even after some great come-from-behind inspiring wins, sometimes can't seem to mesh together for a consistent performance.
I still love them. I think the trick is, for me, to not actually expect the win. I mean, I hope for the win. I think they're capable of winning. But when I start expecting the win and start deriding the Mets for not making it to the playoffs every year... that's dangerously close to characteristics I hate in certain Yankees fans (not all Yankees fans are terrible; I've met a few of the rare breed of rational, intelligent Yankees fans). But you know which fans I mean, right? The ones that think their team is "terrible" without even understanding the nuances of the game, just because they lost. All they see is the bottom line, not the plays, not the strategy, not the finely tuned details of a classically well-played ball game (that unfortunately results in a loss).
Yesterday's game was the dead opposite of a classically well-played game, but it did remind me of the Lovable Losers and Marvelous Marv Throneberry, but not in a shameful way. The loss and the errors were embarrassing, but invoking the name of Marv Throneberry only reminds me of the proud/tragic history of the team that I love. The magic of our '69 series, for example, stemmed in large part from the terrible, terrible seasons before it. The Mets have always performed in peaks and valleys. The valleys make the peaks all the more enjoyable. That is one of the things I love about the Mets. That they don't win all the time. And that's why... even though sloppy play is a terrible way to do it... the losses don't get to me too much. Although.... okay, they do get to me. Still, I shake them off as soon as possible, only holding on to the memory of the stinging loss for as long as it's necessary.
It'll just make the next win all the sweeter.
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