Mets Season Sliding Away

By Rich Mancuso

August has been a brutal month for the Metropolitans. Even after winning the last two games against the Washington Nationals this last Saturday and Sunday, there record for the month was 8-19 leaving them a season-high 7-½ games out of first place in the NL East. 

But it is obvious they were exposed and couldn’t beat the elite teams. Seven of those losses were determined by a run and saw a continued season issue of leaving runners on base. The Mets knew a 13-game stretch with the NL elite Dodgers and Giants could determine their post season chances. Last Thursday night at Citi Field, the Giants put an end to the gaunlet and got the 3-2 win. For the Mets it was not enough runs. On the other hand, the Giants with the best record in baseball, 83-44, take their hacks and are 72-5 after eight-innings and that separates the elite from the rest of the league.

“They took hacks, something we been lacking,” Rojas said. “Been a tough stretch because of the result but we battled against these two teams. Thought we would win more games than this. Could have gone the other way too. It is disappointing.”

In the end, as Rojas said, the Mets did not get the results. The Giants swept three games in New York as did the Dodgers. The Mets managed to get a win in San Francisco and had a dominant 7-2 win at Dodger Stadium that led to some optimism.

Then things got ugly between the fans and Javier Baez who obtained in a trade from the Chicago Cubs at the trading deadline. Having heard enough boos from the hometown crowd during their losing streak, Baez, Kevin Pilar and Fransisco Lindor were seen giving the crowd “thumbs down” signs during the game in which they ended up winning 9-4. The signal showed what the players thought off the fans treatment of the team while they continued to struggle. The explantion offered by Baez was dumbfounding. “When we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed. So they [the fans] are going to get booed when we get success. Just the boos that we get. We’re not machines, we’re going to struggle. We’re going to struggle seven times out of 10. It just feels bad when I strike out and I get booed — it doesn’t really get to me, but I want to let them know that when we’re a success, we’re going to do the same thing, to let them know how it feels. Because if we win together, then we’ve got to lose together and the fans are a really big part of it. In my case, they got to be better. I play for the fans and I love the fans, but if they’re going to do that, they’re just putting more pressure on the team and that’s not what we want. Yeah, I mean, to let them know that when we don’t get success, we’re going to get booed, so they’re going to get booed when we’re a success.”

The reaction from management was swift and took the players to task. President Sandy Alderson released the following statement: 

“Mets fans are understandably frustrated over the team’s recent performance.” he said. “The players and the organization are equally frustrated, but fans at Citi Field have every right to express their own disappointment. Booing is every fan’s right. The Mets will not tolerate any player gesture that is unprofessional in its meaning or is directed in a negative way toward our fans. I will be meeting with our players and staff to convey this message directly.”