On the morning of July 11, 1973, I boarded a bus bound for Shea Stadium. It was my first Mets game. It was also the last time I rode such a vehicle to a Mets game…until June 22, 2006.

Sometimes it's good to retrace your steps.

Helluva day to take a bus to Shea. Helluva day to […]

First, our closer throws 98 MPH fastballs, collects two easy outs, fires up the crowd and then he loses the strike zone, never to regain it in any meaningful fashion.

Fucking Armando.

Then, our closer induces a pathetic little half-swing squib and, wouldn'tcha know it, that defensive excuse-me whoopsy! cut rolls less than 90 feet to exactly […]

As a people, we set our alarms to go off on Opening Day. For us, that's the flashpoint that turns the clocks, the calendars and our raison d'être ahead. The season began. The non-season went away. Those are the only seasons we care about.

But it's worth noting that summer is here. It crept in on […]

Hot one out there. I think I need to wear a cap. Why, I'll just put on my…

MERCURY METS CAP?

For those of you who wonder how co-bloggers surprise each other after a dozen years of continual baseball contact, it's with one of these babies. My reaction upon its presentation by Jason unto me?

“THE MERCURY METS? […]

Fourteen things to shovel on the last-place Atlanta Braves:

1. Fourteen spadefuls of dirt for each game that separates the last-place Atlanta Braves in last place from us in first place.

2. Four spadefuls of dirt for each position in the standings that separates the last-place Atlanta Braves in fifth place from us in first place.

3. One […]

Crappy losses to dismal opponents generate little cause for concern as regards our unassailable Mets, but they're still crappy. I didn't like 'em in '86 and I don't like 'em now. But they happen, sometimes in twos.

The second day of the rest of our lives went suspiciously like the first: flat and flat again. Maybe […]

Well, the first game of the rest of our lives has come and gone and absolutely nothing has changed. The Mets lost; no biggie there. We didn't lose any ground. I'd argue there's no ground to lose. What hasn't changed is the Met fan reaction to anything less than eternal perfection.

I went to the game […]