{"id":2153,"date":"2012-06-20T09:22:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T13:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/?p=2153"},"modified":"2012-06-20T09:22:26","modified_gmt":"2012-06-20T13:22:26","slug":"on-enjoying-the-mets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/2012\/06\/20\/on-enjoying-the-mets\/","title":{"rendered":"On Enjoying the Mets"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Shannon at Mets Police<\/a> writes up his feelings about why he loves getting to go out to Mets games and enjoying baseball.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a nice enough warm summer night. Santana on the mound, friends, two beers (not eight), some food, 100 or so tweets, take some pics, maybe a blog post, a \u201cfree\u201d t-shirt, #imwith28, a folk hero in Dickey, hanging with the tribe \u2013 all good things. All make me happy<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Baseball is supposed to be fun. \u00a0Yes, the nature of sports mean some times are not as fun, but if you can enjoy the experience even bad losses have that silver lining. You still hung out with some friends, got some fresh air, and still got to see all the wonderful things about baseball from home runs to devastating curve balls and sparkling defensive plays. \u00a0Sometimes it’s the opposing team doing it. \u00a0Sometimes there is comedy in the errors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even if it ends badly that doesn’t erase the three hours you were having fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that’s my main take away from baseball. \u00a0I’m going to note that the Mets are in the playoff picture even though it’s only June. \u00a0I’m going to note winning streaks and the division champion losing. \u00a0Because even if the Mets fall out of it on September first, I’ve had five months of happiness and enjoyment believing and rooting and hoping that the Mets will win tonight’s game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wouldn’t you rather look up in September and realize it’s been a fun ride and start really getting invested in whether they can take it home than keep looking for the trapdoors around every bend in the schedule? \u00a0Isn’t it more fun to be excited about a team even if it ultimately fails than to remain un-invested until the last moment? \u00a0Ike Davis<\/a><\/strong> may carry us over those trapdoors. \u00a0R.A. Dickey<\/a><\/strong> may steer us around them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I respect that everyone has different criteria to really believe in a team, and that many people put up these huge walls between watching and truly believing because they’re afraid of getting hurt and being let down. \u00a0Some people race to the Internet after losing streaks or poor performances to proclaim that the Mets are what was expected of them in a way that seems like they’re almost chiding themselves for getting invested emotionally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Getting invested emotionally is half the fun! This is the culture of being a sports fan. \u00a0This is what makes Jordany Valdespin<\/a><\/strong>‘s first career hit being a go-ahead 3-run home run against the hated Phillies so amazin’. \u00a0Or Dickey’s magical mystery tour. \u00a0Or Kirk Nieuwenhuis<\/a><\/strong>‘ emergence and Rookie of the Year campaign. \u00a0 It’s the hopes and dreams that come along with these events. \u00a0The understanding that enough helpings of improbable wins, circus catches and league-leading 2-out RBI could make the Mets pretty damn good. \u00a0Deep down I think everyone knows this. \u00a0It’s probably part of the reason there is a ground-swell of support for Valdespin getting more playing time despite hitting .222 and playing mostly bad defense over Daniel Murphy<\/a><\/strong> hitting .271 while playing mostly bad defense.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The emotional thrill of some of Valdespin’s big hits coupled with his swagger seem to have resonated with Mets fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking I\u2019m the man,\u201d Valdespin said with a slight smile after his home run of Jonathan Papelbon<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A little bit of confidence in the face of improbable predictions of making the playoffs in 2012 goes a long way towards making the season exciting. \u00a0 It wasn’t just pure cockiness either, as Valdespin continued with a more humble appreciation of where he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so happy,\u201d he said, adding that his first phone call once he left Citizen\u2019s Bank Park would be to San Pedro de Macoris, in the Dominican Republic, to his mother Maria.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want her to know this home run is for her. Because she\u2019s the person who put me here to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe Jordany’s mix of humble appreciation for being in the Major Leagues coupled with the cocky appreciation for the team’s big hits will be a nice story going forward. \u00a0Maybe Daniel Murphy shakes off his slump with a three home run week. \u00a0It’s not one against the other, as they’re on the same team. \u00a0I’m rooting for both of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I give the mainstream media a lot of grief for creating silly Mets-hating narratives, but creating narratives can be fun. \u00a0 Don’t we love Dickey’s story? \u00a0Still, him climbing a mountain in the offseason does not actually make him a better pitcher or mean he’s destined to win 30 games this season. \u00a0That doesn’t change that it’s a fun story or that he’s a entertaining guy to root for. \u00a0The Mets being a ‘gritty’ team may not actually mean anything more than statistical randomness, but it’s still fun to get into it when the Mets are scratching out 9th inning wins against good pitchers, working counts to chase starters early, or executing bunt base-hits when the defensive situation calls for it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No one knows where this Mets team is going. \u00a0Not me, not you, not sports radio hosts or national baseball writers. \u00a0Sandy Alderson does not know, nor does Terry Collins or even David Wright<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0They believe though. \u00a0No one can predict the future, and no one has all the data required to give you odds. \u00a0The season so far is a huge example of that. \u00a0Everyone tried to tell you what would happen with Johan Santana<\/a><\/strong>, and pretty much everyone was wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are so many unpredictable things in baseball. \u00a0Things go right and things go wrong and some things are just awesome. \u00a0So instead of sleeping in the back of the train waiting for something to jolt you awake, enjoy the scenery and imagine the beautiful places the train may be taking you to. \u00a0You may not end up where you imagine, but I can\u00a0guarantee\u00a0you’ll see some amazin’ places along the way. \u00a0 Believe it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shannon at Mets Police writes up his feelings about why he loves getting to go out to Mets games and enjoying baseball.   It\u2019s a nice enough warm summer night. Santana on the mound, friends, two beers (not eight), some food, 100 or so tweets, take some pics, maybe a blog post, a \u201cfree\u201d t-shirt, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “On Enjoying the Mets”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1248,19,3],"tags":[2968,2707,2705,2706,2664,2964,353,14,2361],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2153"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2157,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2153\/revisions\/2157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ceetar.com\/optimisticmetsfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}