Fellow Mets Fans: Please Climb off the Ledge

With due respect, I hope that the Mets as a team have a little more pluck and resiliency than those Mets fans who already seem willing to concede the season to the Braves based on two games.  While I agree it was an extremely disappointing weekend, I'd be careful not to see a trend for the whole season when you are only a week in.

To put things in perspective, the Orioles are 4-1 and sitting atop the AL east.  The Red Sox are dead last.  Is anyone willing to give me odds that they will finish the season in those spots?

The White Sox and Royals currently rule the AL central while the Tigers languish at 0-6.  The Cardinals are 5-1 while the Rockies are 1-5.  Trust me, you can read too much into too little data.  Baseball is a game for fans with long attention spans.

As Mets fans, we are still scarred from the 2007 campaign and worry about a repeat.  As bad as the weekend went, however, the blasé attitude of last year's underachieving Mets club wasn't to be found these past two games.

At the risk of appearing simplistic, the other team has good players and they wanted to win, too.  The Braves executed better and took advantage of their breaks.  The Mets had a bad couple of days and paid for it with two losses.  That doesn't mean it's time to panic yet.

I do agree with many of the pessimists that, for the New York Mets, this is a bottom line season.  The 2007 Mets quite spectacularly couldn't seal the deal.  The 2008 Mets will be judged on their ability to get it done.  Forgive me, though, if I believe it's quite a bit premature to pass final judgment on that matter.

I also concede it has not been a banner week for the orange and blue, with Pedro going down so early in the season and the two dreary losses this past weekend in Atlanta.  I'm just honestly not ready to switch out of "believe" mode into fatalism.

Rest assured, however, if they continue to play this poorly against their rivals as the season progresses, that ledge will still be there for all of us.

[Mike Steffanos blogs daily on the New York Mets at www.MikesMets.com]