One of the reasons I hated Bobby Valentine is that his teams always got off to a bad start.
It seemed like every year the Mets would be way back and then have to kill themselves to get back into the race. They
Going back to the V years, the Mets have had a standings lead on May 1st only once. Care to guess which year it was?
Mets Standings On may 1st:
The V Years (not a single first place finish, some wild-card ass-saving and even a play-in game):
1996 5 back
1997 8.5 back
1998 4.5 back
1999 1.back
2000 4 back
2001 4.5 back
2002 ironically tied for first. This team lost 10 games in the standings in June and wound up over 20 back.
The Rest:
2003 7 back
2004 6 back
2005 3 back
2006 Up 6. Funny how much easier seasons go when everyone else is chasing YOU.
2007 .5 back – just about right. A near miss. Except they were trailing the Braves.
2008 .5 back of the Phillies.
So the next time someone tells you that it’s cool that the Mets are 10 and 13, and “only” 4 back – it’s time to start worrying and time to start winning games.