The Mets and David Wright Are Having Trouble Getting Started

Of course one of the teams who lost the first two and won the Series was the 1986 Mets. Another was the 1996 Yankees. Indeed two of the last three NL series winners from NY were losers in the first two and the first of them, the 1955 Dodgers, lost those first two on the road. In Thor I trust to get the ball rolling. LGM!!!

While it is certainly sporting of Wright to provide his well-worn platitudes and homage to his opponents, can't it at least wait until after the World Series is over? Imo, the quotes given in the article project equal parts excessive admiration and "deer-in-the-headlights," rather than veteran and captain.

Not scapegoating Wright, just wanting them to do what it takes to win, which should make Wright happier anyway -- in KC, with the DH, bat Lagares first and Granderson second, which increases the chance Granderson can knock someone in, use Wright at DH after a 14-inning freeze fest in Game 1, have Wright bat 6th or 7th. While baseball is the team sport where players play most individually, it's amazing how contagious non-hitting is. Even at the co-ed softball level, if you had someone in a slot for a good hitter and it was pretty clear that person wasn't going to produce, you could hear a balloon popping every time it got to their part of the order. Now you're down 2-0 with 3 games with no DH so he has to aggravate his condition in the field to have a chance to hit. Opportunity missed.

It's an el chokeo el foldo feeling with the Mets. Look for a 4-0 sweep.

Unfortunately, as soon as Cuomo announced he was showing up to the first game the outcome of the series became a forgone conclusion.

The Mets have had a surprisingly good run and as a lifelong fan of the game I can say that they made it fun and interesting to watch their roller-coaster like, streaky season. They have a chance to take 2 or even 3 at home where the no-DH is a plus for the Mets. Even if they don't take it all this year they have the pitching to make another good run next year. The blown save looms large, but the sloppy play and lack of offense looms larger. If it goes seven it will be truly Amazin', Amazin', Amazin', to quote Casey Stengel about this bunch of achievers.

No Met player has exactly covered himself in glory this series, so singling out the captain for some typical home-town love seems a bit like scapegoating. The Royals look pretty good, but two games do not a World Series make. Let's go Mets.

"And we made a deal when he came back: if there is any problem, he’s going to say something. He says he feels great, and I trust him.”
-- Terry Collins

Several problems with this:

(1) David is throwing side-arm because of his condition, and needs hours of pre-game treatment, so Wright's really not doing great, even if he repeats that greatest of all athletes' clichés, "I'm ready coach."

(2) Supposedly Collins imposed the mid-season rule "hit or sit," and he took a lot of credit for that policy. So where did this "I feel great" exception come from? I'm sure Lagares felt great when he was benched for not hitting. Is it because Wright is a veteran? The Captain? Highly paid? All those reasons put the team's best interests secondary, and I don't think that's right.

(3) Undue deference to Wright aside, it still does not justify putting him #2 in the batting order. If he plays, he should be #7 or lower, period.

(None of this is anything against David Wright. He's doing what athletes do. Perhaps I fault him for not going to Collins and volunteering to move down in the order, but I don't think he's wrong to play. )

I fear I'm shouting into a dead phone.

Please, they've been getting started since '87.
All they have to do now is sweep at home and then win 1 of 2 in KC, piece of cake, right.

The author cited statistics stating that Harvey and deGrom had 4 strikeouts in eleven innings, which is 36% versus 43 strikeouts in 322 innings which is only 13%. The implication of the sentence was that the last two games were worse than overall, but it was actually better if you look at the numbers. Am I missing something here?

Collins is not tough enough to address Mets shortcomings with lineup changes.

Seems sort of odd that Collins is waiting for Wright to say something to him. Doesn't really matter if Wright is feeling fine--he's in the number two spot and he hasn't been hitting the ball throughout the playoffs. He's the captain and a $20million man so it's unlikely that they'll sit him but pushing him further down in the lineup may help. And then Wright can be the forthright, standup guy and say "I totally understand it, I haven't been hitting well enough to stay in the top of the lineup". Managers need to manage and players need to produce.

Say what you want about Pete Rose, but he is as astute an observer of baseball as any player in the history of the game. I recall one writer recounting how he went to Rose with some arcane stat (what team in the league that year was was most prone to doing something, I forget what) and was startled to find that after thinking about it for a minute Rose gave the correct answer based purely on his observations; the guy clearly didn't even know he knew, the writer marveled, till he thought about it.

Before the series started Rose said (in that aggressively matter of fact manner of his) "the Royals in five!"

Take it to the bank.

I was amazed and very disappointed in how a great pitcher like Jacob deGrom pitched last night (or was told how to pitch). And flabagasted by the crew of announcers who never said boo about how he basically only threw fastballs and a few curves. Hardly any sliders and I saw/counted one maybe two change ups - one of his best pitches. So with a great arsenal of 4-5 pitches, he depended on 2 and mainly 1 - his fast ball. What the Hell??
He was excellent first 2 innings - maybe 3 - with a 95 to 98 mph fastball - many rising and overpowering.
But everyone knows the Royals are the best team in baseball at hitting 94 mph and over fastballs and hardly strike out. Always keep the ball in play and they always seem to own the last 2 innings of a game.
SO why were we pitching to their strength which boggles the mind. You must keep them off balance and stay ahead in the count. They capitalize on errors and badly thrown/placed pitches. And deGrom in 4th & 5th was grooving pitches down the middle. And with their pathetic offense - "game/set/match.

For the next couple of days, do not turn on the radio or listen to happy, shiny experts molding fans. If this year's Amazin's are good enough, or lucky enough, to win, they will begin to turn the tide on Friday, or, god help us, Saturday. Otherwise, it was a pretty good year. But despair not yet. Thor is our most fearsome hurler of the moment and with our savages making a different sort of din than was heard in K.C., things may well change.

Wright is a nice guy and I begrudge him nothing. But he can barely move. It is not "forthright" for Wright or Collins to ignore DW's condition. You can't win a World Series while using someone at third base who cannot throw to first base, except if he uses side arm, cannot hit, and cannot field.