Pitchers and Catchers

Pitchers and Catchers have reported to Mets camp, as another baseball season slowly comes upon us.

The four-month slog from early fall to mid-February seemed like even more of an eternity this year. After the way last season ended, the only story for most of this off-season was the tragic irony of the Mets' need for an ace and perceived impotence in the hot stove market. In a year where we as Mets fans are more eager than ever to turn the page, there was little to look up about for most of the winter as the Phillies and Braves made small but significant upgrades, while the haters and the naysayers dumped on the Mets and said we were nothing more than a third place team.

The thing about perceptions is that they can do a pretty effective job of influencing reality. Coming to camp with virtually the same team as the one that collapsed last September probably would have put us in contention, but we'd be hearing it from those haters and naysayers and the entire season would have been played under an asphyxiating cloud of uncertainty and doubt.

There's nothing in baseball, or life, like a fresh start, and instead of doom and gloom the narrative going into Spring Training reads much more optimistically. The biggest thing the Johan Santana deal did was re-establish the Mets as the team to beat in the NL East - sorry Jimmy Rollins. With their dominance in 2006 and position atop the division for most of last season, for the first time since the late 80s the Mets were the team everyone tried extra hard to beat - that made it harder to halt the collapse once it started. The sense, of course, was eventually lost at the end of last year, but now it's back.

For all of the renewal associated with the Mets and being a Mets fan since Willie and Omar took over, the team still hasn't climbed the big hump. We've been competitive, fun to watch, and our games have been well-attended again. But the final hurdle still hasn't been cleared, and in that sense getting Johan Santana almost makes the start of this Spring Training feel like Spring Training in '06.

Spring Training

Back then we had made several major off-season acquisitions, and as the season got underway, Mets fans most of all were cautiously optimistic. We knew we had a good team, but the Braves had still won 14 straight division titles, and we didn't quite make it the year before.

This year, we're humbled by the collapse but also aware that our team just got lucky and acquired the best pitcher in baseball to emphatically fill the hole at the top of our rotation. We had a good team to begin with, better than the haters and naysayers would have given us credit for, but now we don't have to hear about our lack of an ace or marketable prospects. As fans, we're cautiously optimistic yet again, this time that the new buzz generated by bringing in Johan Santana will help us kick out all of last year's demons and own the National League again.

You'd rather have a buzz surrounding your team in mid-February than dark, ominous clouds, and the buzz this season is as bright and sunny as the Port St. Lucie sky. It's a different buzz than last year, when everyone was excited because we almost made the World Series the year before, but there wasn't as much substance behind it because we hadn't really done much to tangibly improve our team.

And the gigantic tease that was last season followed the same script of all talk and no substance. The Mets talked like champions and played like losers when it counted. Now we have the opportunity to make up for it. The sense around Mets camp, so far at least, seems promising. It will be all about making good on this year's late winter buzz.

(Pictures courtesy metsblog, springtrainingonline.com)