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My mother always tried to warn me, "Don't count your chickens before your eggs are hatched." It's a good rule to live by, especially before the start of the baseball season. A 162-game schedule makes for a long season and a lot can happen. A season can turn on a dime. Things can go bad very quickly.
So when everyone was so quick to label the Mets starting rotation as the best staff ever assembled, you just had to wonder if it was a bit premature. Well they may just be the best collection of talent. But there certainly seems like there is something to be concerned about, especially for those who remember the group from a prior era that carried the tag "Generation K." The hype is great for marketing, but sometimes it can land you with egg on your face.
The best pitching staff in baseball. The best pitching staff the Mets have ever had. The best pitching staff ever assembled. Hmmm. Can’t miss. After years of hope…or rather…hopelessness…it is refreshing to hear such high praise…any kind of praise really…for the Mets. And I can understand why the excitement about the Mets starting rotation is erupting like Mount St. Helen.
But is everyone too quick to adorn this group as the greatest ever assembled? Is the hype truly deserved at this point…or is it premature?
Mets fans have been victimized by the hype before. Remember Generation K? The big three in that group were Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, and Jason Isringhausen. Bobby Jones was also a part of that staff that was supposed to be the greatest staff ever coming together. However, that greatness never materialized. In fact, the only one who had any kind of an effective career was Isringhausen who emerged as a dominant closer for a short time after overcoming numerous arm troubles.
It is just amazing how ridiculous some fans can be. The furor over signing Cespedes was relentless. Fans screamed that the Mets ownership NEVER spends money. And I think it is just incredible that the media feeds the frenzy and perpetuates the insanity.
Whether it was caving into the fan pressure or simply Sandy Alderson sticking to his plan and doing what was right for maintaining that plan and, at the same time, adding additional necessary parts, is irrelevant at this point. The fact is the Mets GM has taken chicken shit and turned it into chicken soup. Yes...he was not very successful with acquiring some bullpen help over the years of his tenure. But then, what GM really has been? Bullpen arms are so unpredictable. But what he HAS done is oversee the reshaping of the franchise, and has made the Mets into a contending team with a strong core of young talent promoted from a revitalized farm system, and bringing in spare parts when and where needed. Isn't that the formula the Yankees used to build their last dynasty?
I'm beginning to get the feeling I'm watching a rerun. Yeah, yeah, yeah...Daniel Murphy hit another home run. And Jacob deGrom gutted out another victory. And Jeurys Familia was lights out again for another save. Maybe this is the reason that computers have "Control C" so that it makes things a bit easier. It seems like the Mets have a "Control C" of their own as they continue to get a great performance from one of their young starters and Familia has just been so dominant to finish things off. Murphy? Whatever he is eating, or drinking, I've got to get some of it. He is simply RED HOT, LOCKED IN and...if I were him...I would be hoping that this season would NEVER end.
With the 5-2 win in Game 3, the Mets have the Cubs on the brink and are but one game away from getting to the World Series.
Jacob deGrom throws another gem in the bandbox more commonly known as Oriole Park at Camden Yards...lowering his ERA to 1.98. Curtis Granderson blasted two home runs and had a great catch in the 8th inning.
The Mets get another shutout as Jacob deGrom K's 10 and Yoenis Cespedes gets his first HR as Met. Mets are now 10 games over the .500 mark and have Noah Syndergaard on the mound as they go for the four-game sweep of the NL's best hitting team
Mets finally lose after winning 7 straight. Not pretty...except for two Curtis Granderson HRs...Mets K'd 15 times & Ruben Tejada’s double clutch allows go ahead run. Noah Syndergaard had some moments but just didn't have his best stuff and allowed four runs in the first inning.
Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.
