Mets Play Rotten Spoilers

Remember the last few years when the Florida Marlins would play the Mets in September and - despite being totally out of postseason contention - play spoilers to the Mets chances of reaching the playoffs? Back then we would listen to the TV commentators and read articles in the newspaper and magazines about how even though teams were out of it, professional ballplayers still play for pride and some even relish in their spoiler role.

Well things have gone so wrong for the Mets, they can't even play the role of a spoiler right! They're even bad at that! In yesterday's 13-4 loss to the Marlins, they:

1. Got swept for the first time at CitiField by a National League team
2. Saw starter Bobby Parnell walk consecutive batters with the bases loaded. (the Mets now lead the major leagues with 19 bases-loaded walks)
3. Watched centerfielder Angel Pagan forget how many outs there were.
4. Had Luis Castillo show off another head-scratching disaster at 2nd base.
5. Struck out 10 times or more once again.
6. Never had a 1-2-3 inning until the ninth.

Where are the fundamentals? Where is the focus? I guess closed door meetings don't work, as that's the way the Mets began the day. And here's an actual quote by manager Jerry Manuel:

"Every time I have a meeting we seem to play bad, so I guess we won't have anymore meetings"

I hope he was kidding, but doesn't the lackluster play, the brain-farts, the total lack of urgency this team exhibits, all fall under this guy's watch? What kind of message does the Mets organization send when they tell us despite the fact this team can't even play a spoiler role, Manuel (and Minaya for that matter) are definitely coming back next year!?!

What do they say the definition of insanity is? Doing things the same way over and over again and expecting different results...