12 Hours That You'll Never Get Back

The Recap: Beltran/Castillo/Perez Activated... Season: Deactivated.

If you were stupid enough to watch all 12 hours of the 4 games the Mets played in Los Angeles over the weekend, you witnessed 2 shutout losses, bad managerial decisions, untimely hitting by overpaid players, and the most lackluster downward spiraling baseball ever witnessed on the West Coast (short of the Mets recent series in SF.) Folks, we have a problem...

THE GOOD: No need to worry about the mental aspect of this team. Each and every player is sleeping well these days knowing they have nothing to worry about regarding the economy, unemployment, inflation, etc. It's good to be a Major League Baseball player and travel around to different cities, staying at the fanciest places, eating gourmet dinners, living in lavish mansions, driving luxury cars, all guaranteed regardless of what happens on the field. So next time you're upset about missing the latest Met game on TV because you have to work your second job just to keep the creditors from repossessing your car, remember: it's all good for the players!

THE BAD: Think of what you could have done in 12 hours. 12 episodes of "24"... Read a good book on the beach... Flew to a vacation destination and back... The point is, watching the Mets play as constructed these days is tantamount to wasting time. We can't even get into the details about how bad the Mets played in Los Angeles, against a team that's been equally poor since the All-Star game, yet toying with the Mets like they were playing a AAA squad. (and maybe the Dodgers were!). Fire Jerry? Fire Omar? Fire HoJo? Fire SNY and cable for bringing the games to us? Bench Bay? Trade Beltran? Dump Perez? DFA Castillo? Sell the team? K KRod? We're so close to the point that we don't even care it's not funny anymore.

Bring on the resurgent Cardinals at home? Who cares?... Sitting in third place with the Marlins a half game behind as the season slowly slips away? Who cares?... Not making any waves in any trades that may help this team in the second half of the season like every other "contender" is doing? Who cares?...

Our advice to Mets fans is to use the next 12 hours of Mets games to do something constructive, so after the games are over (with the same pathetic results you see so far), you can at least sit back and say to someone, check out my newly remodeled kitchen.

THE UGLY: Here's the scenario: Game 3 of the series (maybe a "must win"?), top of the ninth, game tied 2-2, a runner at third, 2 outs, Dodger closer Jonathan Broxton on the mound. Who do you want batting in that situation? Certainly not David Wright. Was there any knowledgeable Met fan who didn't know he was going to strike out in that situation? Was there anyone who didn't know it would happen on just 3 pitches? And was there anyone who didn't know Wright wouldn't even foul one off? And here's the ugly part: I made the following offer to the 20+ Mets fans I was watching the game with - you give me $5 if Wright strikes out here, and I'll give you $2 if ANYTHING else happens. You know what? - not a single taker! Knowledgeable Mets fans sure know their team.