A generous Mr. Doyle suggested that perhaps I overreacted to the Mets opening night; and to that I respond ha! I have sat patiently and loyally as a Met fan for more years than I care to remember. The team was gutsy, hard-working, arrogant... and even when they lost were fun to watch.
Mr. Howe ruined all that. Every bit of life this team ever had oozed out over 2 long years...it's no wonder they didn't hit; because in the rare chance that anyone got on base, nobody could plate them anyhow. Between Mo Vaughn munching cheeseburgers in the dugout, Roger Cedeno practicing juggling in the outfield and Mike Stanton (redneck that he is) longing for his days in the Bronx that he practically willed the ball to land there; the team was apathetic.
Mr. Randolph still has me (I should hope so after only one game); but I would have liked to see someone running Blooper laps around the stadium all night to get the point across. Winning, like losing, is a habit, and coming from a team that would not tolerate failure -- I'd like to see a bit of that fire in the belly. I was pleased by the team's hitting, true. And REyes and Beltran came through in the clutch, and even Cliff Floyd managed to stay unhurt.
The season is long, and true, it was but one game. But someone better nip this thing in the butt before another season gets wasted away.
