N.Y. Mets ~ Coda

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET




NEW YORK METS:  Exit Stage...Right?

 
Did we all want a player; our player; to behave in a more gentlemanly or Victorian-like manner?  Were you looking for Civil War era respect for protocol out of Jose Reyes?  As a younger Mets Fan (younger than me), were you looking for an instantaneous moment in time to live in; something to endlessly recreate in your mind and be able to hand down a great Baseball tale to your grand children some day?  Are we in such desperate need of a legendary moment like we see those players have in old black and white reels during the earlier eras of the game?  Well hell then, I wrote about Jose Reyes and a game like that in my last post.


Or, ....did we just want Jose Reyes to achieve something no other Met player has, in a reasonably more traditional manner with respect to the 150 years of baseball achievements that precede him; and just treat and play through the situation with a little more class and sense of responsibility to finish what you start?  That should not insinuate he is without class or is irresponsible.


On why he played the game the way he did, Joe DiMaggio spoke of the hypothetical kid who might be in the stands that day who never saw him play before.  I guess it just depends on who you ask.  Because I know none of this has to do with Yankee envy.  Right?


It's days like today that lends itself to better understanding the subdivisions and psyche of the once great place called METropolis.  This afternoon's intra-fan base flare-up pitted a faction of Met Fans who are tired of their team getting ragged on for all the incredulous things they do, against a faction of Met Fans who continually rag on their team for all the incredulous things they do.      .....Or don't do; or get wrong; or have things turn out badly; or go awry; or with the best laid intentions have things blow up in their face.


You get the idea.


Me?  By the time I get to typing, I'm a pragmatist.  I'm somewhere in the middle with most of you.  But I learned long ago when to react in anger, and when not to; and have learned to pick and chose my battles.  On Jose Reyes Gate?  I'm more ambivalent now than anything and I think, that, comes with age.  But I was right there with all of you today.  I went through the whole gambit of anger and frustration; then chastising the jury who won't admit this happens all the time.


After tonight, it looks like he'll have the batting title all wrapped up.  And if he doesn't win?  A batting title only gets you some bold italic numbers on your baseball card anyway....(wrong!)  But what were the majority of us Met Fans really upset about today?


I think years of frustration came cascading through over today's development and filled into Flushing Bay in what amounts to be a trivial matter for most of us.  I don't think we were really upset with the Jose Reyes thing at all.  But there were certainly a portion of fans that were probably more upset they couldn't have a pre-meditated moment with their shortstop.  That part of it is a little too contrived for me and belongs on a stage.  But because today was the last day of the season, this is the lingering event/non-event we'll take with us into a precarious off-season of pondering our future with or without Jose Reyes.


If this was indeed his final game playing for the Flushing Nine, then what an underwhelming good-bye it turned out to be.  That's where my displeasure lies.  The Mets won the game against the Reds.  But the day was supposed to be much better that it was.  But the weight of METropolis shouldn't have come crashing down because he took himself out of the game.  But you'd be within your right to graffiti up the walls because Fans at the park and Jose didn't have a last moment together, if that's what you wanted.


Led Zeppelin's last released album went similarly.  Coda.


Update:  Jose Reyes wins the 2011 N.L. Batting Title ~ .337


Mike.BTB