Bay Brings More Than Bat

For the past couple years, the Mets have lacked more than the talent needed to make it all the way to the Promise Land. There is something about those darn Phillies that bring light to those weakened areas of the New York Mets and it's more than the right pieces, talent wise.

When you look at the team of the '86 Mets you also see that very thing that the Mets of the present have been lacking. The '86 Mets weren't a team with the highest payroll in baseball, they weren't full of superstars at every position, although they had the talent and potential to have that come to pass. The '86 Mets had what the Phillies of the present have, and the word that I'm going to use to describe them is "grit."

Allow me to define the word to explain what that looks like on a team. Dictionary.com defines the word grit as follows: "firmness of character; indomitable spirit." That "grit" is something that can take an average person, despite limitations, and can carry him/her in to stardom, in this case an all-star.

You can look at players like Dustin Pedroia with many physical limitations, small, not very muscular, and he was able to put together an MVP season. He's an amazing player and one reason is because he has that "grit."

The '86 Mets had that in Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, etc. The current Phillies have Jason Werth, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins, etc.

The '06 Mets had that "grit" in players like Paul Lo Duca, Xavier Nady, and even Steve Trachsel.

These current Mets haven't really had those kind of players. They have had players who throw tantrums on the field when the manager tries to take them out of the game, they have had players who don't run out ground-balls, failing to perform basic fundamentals of the game.

As for Jason Bay, I think he brings that "grit." He's not some animated person, but he's a grinder, leads by example, and isn't fazed by what people may say or any kind of pressure that may be placed on him just like when he had to step in and replace Manny Ramirez a couple years ago.

Jason Bay is also known as a great clubhouse guy, loved by team mates and I think his character will rub off on young players like David Wright, and even Jeff Francoeur who has already shown that "grit" in his career.

David Wright has stated many times that it just seems like they haven't had that "swagger" that they had in '06. With the addition of Jason Bay, and possibly Bengie Molina, I think we're going to start to see that more and it's going to take their play to another level. I'm not saying the additions of Jason Bay and Bengie Molina puts them automatically in contention, but it certainly gets them going in the right direction.