A Closing Ceremony and an Aggravated Mets Fan

Shea Stadium was my home away from home. It’s a lot like college. A lot of things about it are either entirely absurd or ridiculously too expensive; but you look to your left and your right, and you bond with everyone in the stands.

The Mets were eliminated from the playoffs today, at home; an awful thing to happen on the day where you had planned to honor every storied Met in history. I’ll be honest in saying that I was too young to appreciate all of the great names.  But with that said, I was absolutely stunned when I tuned in to SNY at 1 PM to learn that the closing ceremony would be happening after the game.

From Minaya up, the Mets are suffering from management cancer.

I almost laughed out loud at this oversight. Here is a team that has been defined for as long as they have existed for late-season heartbreak, but absolutely none like these past two years.

If the Mets lose this game, they will have finished another monstrously disappointing season absent from the playoffs. But more importantly, the diehard Mets fans, both at home and in attendance, would immediately be forced to celebrate the history of Shea Stadium, while at the same time, trying desperately to hold in the vomit ensuing from yet another amazin’ collapse.

As I watched the game unfold, I couldn’t stop thinking the same thing over and over. Why would someone schedule a celebration for after a game when we knew more than three weeks ago that the Mets would be fighting for their playoff lives?  I’m sure the fans in attendance would still enjoy themselves, but the experience would be agonizing. How could one person not have said, “Mr. Wilpon, I fear that if the Mets lose this game, it may compromise the entire premise of our closing ceremony?”

And then it clicked.

Smith walked in a run, Schoenweis gave up a home run, Ayala gave up a home run, another bullpen nightmare came true, and the pieces were put together. It all of a sudden made so much sense to me that the Mets lost and missed the playoffs the way that they did. And it is the exact same reason why they opted to have the closing ceremony at the wrong time.

This season and this game can be defined in the exact same sentence. The New York Mets are run by a group of people that are so stricken with pride that they refuse to go back on any decision they ever make. From Minaya up, the Mets are suffering from management cancer.

The Mets' bullpen was exclusively the reason why this team did not make the postseason. They are also exclusively the reason why Johan Santana will not win the Cy Young, but I digress.  The Mets' bullpen plagued them when Wagner was healthy, when Willie had a job, when Manuel took his place, when Wagner hit the DL, and at seasons’ end, when the Mets needed them the most.

But why fix your problem when you can try to compensate for the issue? That was Minaya’s battle cry. More bats, more speed, more starters, and more everyday men off the bench. But the problem was never addressed. It was like covering a leaking dam with power putty, and then praying to god that the putty could hold until October.

Sometimes, glaring management errors can be overlooked. But the actions of other teams this season made the Mets’ mismanaging incredibly obvious. The majority of other playoff teams were able to recognize their biggest issue and make a serious move to address it.

The Mets, out of all of the teams in the playoff race, had the biggest weakness. The Mets’ problem was the one that most urgently needed to be addressed. The media knew it. The managers (both Randolph and the far more outspoken Manuel) knew it. The fans knew it. And no one responded.

And now, the Mets may say another goodbye. Manuel was the manager only on an interim basis. However, he had a winning record, and without a shadow of doubt would have made the postseason. But there is that one thing that the Mets' management hates, and Manuel has “it.” 

Manuel openly joked about and criticized the awful play of his bullpen. If he is not re-signed as a manager, then the Wilpons and Minaya have completely proven that their decisions are never to be questioned.

After all, that is the philosophy of the team that the Mets remain in the shadow of, even after all of these years.

Thank you for the memories, Shea.

Love,

The Takeover