The only difference between today’s team and those of 1998, 1984 and 1969 is that they all played at Shea.

What happens to a team that doesn’t like the place they call home? Of course, I’m not referring to the modern ammenities –I’m referring to the distances and high fences hated by the hitters and the stands that jutt out and walls that hug the foul line causing fielders to be cautious (not to mention having to contend with those crazy angles).

It will never happen again; an individual player who’s that much of a party animal, let alone an entire team of extreme party animals, won’t last long in today’s game full of fitness freaks, the game where Joe Girardi won’t even let his players have a Snickers in the clubhouse, let alone a cigarette. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; the Snickers ban might be a little extreme, but teams like the ’86 Mets and ’93 Phillies fell apart for a reason. That kind of energy is not sustainable.

Anyway, how do you “lead” a team whose roster is getting further decimated by injuries every day, and has to field the C team more days than not because even the B team was hurt? That was just a staggering number of injuries; no team can survive that. And is Charlie Manuel such a genius compared to Jerry-no-relation? Or Joe Girardi? Nah. Probably none of them is all that bright, but two guys have been lucky and one hasn’t (yet).

I’ve been on record for years as saying predicting W-L in January is fookin’ stupid, because nobody’s roster remains static between now and September, and and I’ve never been more sure of that that now. And any team that wins big has to get lucky with the guys they pick up off the scrap heap who nobody else wanted and the guys they already had who were left for dead. And of course, players can fall off the table completely, Alomar-style, too. But this roster still has some of the best talent the team has ever had; I can’t count them out. And given our history, I’d rather see them underrated than overrated.

I’ve just been mentally — and financially: I didn’t renew my Saturday plan — armoring myself against whatever let-down 2010 may bring.

“Happy are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed.”

This current club ain’t ’69 and if you want to read about how that team did it, Mr. Prince’s fine contributions to the Miracle Has Landed http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Has-Landed-Amazin-Shocked/dp/1934186171 would be your next destination.

But Manuel took a team 7 1/2 out without any bullpen and with many of the same starters he has now to within a David Wright sac fly (he led the league in those in ’08, you know) from at least giving us one more day at Shea. So stop the whining and pining and get behind your team, for God’s sake. They make me crazy, too. But I’d say most people here have lived through at least one dark period in Metdom (everything pre-’69, late 1970s to early 1980s, much of the 1990s, the end of the Bobby V. reign and all of Howe hallucination). This team is as fickle as it’s fans. We were made for each others.

You’re either with ‘em or agin ‘em.

We don’t have a new or almost-new manager implementing a new and improved vision.

Methinks that therein lies the rub…

Is there anyone on this team that resembles the professionalism of Alfonzo or Olerud? Francouer? Maybe, but he has not gone through a spring with the team yet. Although I like the fact that he played through a “broken thumb” to finish a lost season. Murphy is a baseball version of a gym rat, which this team needs more of, but he is only one full year into his career…not to mention the manager is already calling him a “super sub”. He hit 40 doubles and was the team leader (I know not saying much, still) in HRs. And they are giving his at bats to Fernando Tatis…mind boggling. I hate platoons, but if you are going to take ABs away from one of the few players that gives a damn on this team, give them to a Ryan Garko, a legit power threat. And if you are set on a platoon, I could live with the other half being Nick Evans, who the manager also hates.

Leadership? There is no Keith Hernandez on this team. It should be Wright, but he does not seem ready to want to do it. He has been so busy deferring to the “vets” like Delgado, he doesn’t see it is his team. When he was a rookie and it was Cliff Floyd that was one thing, but Delgado was a negative influence on the team, and no one wants to admit it. He is too polite…He needs to go to Jose Reyes, admit he was wrong for not going to this past weeks’ mini camp and tell him, Jose you and I need to be at Spring Training the day pitchers & catchers report, this is our team and we need to start acting like it. This team does not even have a Ray Knight on it.

As for the management, when was the last time you thought Jerry Manuel mind-melded with Mike Scoscia? It is bad enough when he manages with a full roster, but the way this team runs, more often than not the manager is forced to play short handed, because no one ever gets put on the DL without a ten day wait to see if the 15-day DL is necessary. As a manager, Manuel deserves his own show on Comedy Central. As far as a manager is concerned, do you ever feel like he has ever outmanaged the other guy? I admit to loving Bobby Valentine, and did when he was here, although I have no way of proving that. I know he is never going to come back, but he should…at least then the fans would feel like the manager grinding things out with the Fernando Tatis’ of the world you would feel like you have a chance.

As for the GM, do not even get me started (okay, I have already started). The whole younger and athletic thing from his first press conference, anyone seen where that has gone? It seems as if any player the Mets go after is no younger than 35 years old. However beyond that, where is the guy that lost wave after wave of good players as the GM of the Expos/Nationals because they had no money? He has run the organization for five years, and I know they traded some players for Santana (had to be done) but most of the top ten players in the Mets’ farm system are players that were drafted in the last two years. What happened from 04-07? And while, I am excited about a lot of those guys (Holt, Thole, etc…) if the organization was even close to what Minaya did with those other teams, Mets’ fans would have a lot less to gripe about. Show me the legitimate baseball person in the organization that is influential in the “war room”. Why did (and I am not even goin g to try and spell it) Seattle find a guy in the Mets’ front office that had a clue, and Mets’ ownership did not…which brings us to the Wilpon family.

Mr. Wilpon (either one) what in the heck goes through your heads in the morning, when you wake up? The stuff about the stadium, has been well documents…and we do not need to go through that again. Although I would still like to hear again, your rationale for your immediate reaction of paint over it, when you found out Dwight Gooden signed the wall of one of your sacred high end spots in the ball park. Still trying to figure that out…simply put, this is not about your willingness to spend money, only an idiot would complain about that, your team had the second highest payroll in baseball last year. However, when it is public knowledge that there are players (Marquis & Hudson) that would fit in nicely on your team and they WANT to play here, why does it have to be based on whether or not one of the teams’ biggest mistakes has to be taken care of before anything can be done. This all comes down to one thing…No one in your fan base has any faith that you (father or son) have their back. We had that feeling years ago, when Mr. Doubleday was part owner (whether it was true or not we can only go by what we see) And it has been a long time since Mets’ fans have had that feeling about you.

Finally, who gives a damn what Ken Rosenthal or Bob Klapisch thinks? They and most of the other media (the guys at Newsday, Madden at the Daily News, among others) are so busy trying to detach their lips from the rear-end of the team in the Bronx, who gives a crap what they think. If the team gets back to the playoffs, and heaven forbid win a third World Series, watch how fast they put their lips to yours as well. You should worry more about how your customers percieve you than the media. The media likes Jay Horowitz, but it is not his job to deal with the customers. Whoever in your front office advises you on how to get the messages out to your customers, needs to be fired…they have made your organization more of joke than thought possible.