On Monday I write a weekly column for Flushing University. This is this week’s column.
So Mets fans, how did you enjoy the first half?Remember way back when, when we were mad they didn’t have a 10 game lead and we would talk about breaking up the core? Well, the baseball gods decided to break it up for us. Instead of the core we have Francoeur. Instead of the core we have Cora. I shouldn’t pick on Cora, he’s like Mr. Reliable, so is Sheffield.I think that says it all, when we make it to the All-Star Break and Gary Sheffield is somehow one of the most important Mets.What’s more troublesome is that there is nowhere to go. There’s nothing to rebuild with, unless you want to go whole hog and deal David Wright (see June 15, 1977 for how that will go), Santana (lightning strikes me down) or…well…there’s nothing else. I guess you could get small change for Sheffield. Two weeks ago i thought you could get small change for Livan Hernandez but that ship has sailed.Speaking of June 15, 1977 – that was the day the Mets traded Seaver for you younger folks – I find myself thinking that there was more hope on June 16, 1977 than there is on July 13, 2009.On June 16, 1977 you had hope. Sure M. Donald Grant had ripped the soul out of the franchise by trading The Franchise – but in theory at least they got something back. Pat Zachry had won 14 games as a rookie in 1976. Doug Flynn was 26 and had hit .283 in 1976. He could be the starting second baseman for years!Steve Henderson was highly touted, and actually hit .297 with 12 home runs in 99 games in ’77. Those were 12 1977-home runs, when a home run was a home run, and 32 might lead the league. Despite the burning in your soul, and the pain you would feel when Tom Terrific would throw a no-hitter for the Reds, you had hope. Maybe these guys would be the core of the late 70’s championship Mets.Flash forward 30 years and….um…..does anyone believe Nick Evans is destined for the Hall of Fame? Murphy-mania didn’t quite work out. Fernando Martinez is so young that there’s hope there – but I don’t see him starting in the 2010 All-Star game, do you?So we sit on our hands and wait. Reyes will return some day. Remember when we all thought Jerry had benched him for a game for whatever the controversy was? I don’t even remember what the issue was, but I thought Jerry was lying. Guess not.Beltran will return some day. So will Maine (on his second straight season of arm troubles). Delgado will come back just in time to leave (you really can’t sign him for 2010 unless he is dirt cheap and you hate Murphy.) There’s some other guys missing, but they have been gone so long I no longer miss them. It would be like waiting for John Stearns. I spent half of ’82 and all of ’83 waiting for him to return. By the time he did in 1984 I had made new friends like Mike FItzgerald. (By the way, did Stearns actually appear in 4 games in 1983 – with zero at bats? What’s the story there? I don’t remember).So we can’t rebuild, and we have nothing to trade. I often say that if the core must be broken it is Reyes who should go – but with bad wheels, he isn’t going anywhere. So we sit and wait.Enjoy the break. I’m going to clear out the DVR and price Francoeur jerseys.
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