The Three Cs

Surely if you're reading this you're only doing so to see how I'm possibly going to be optimistic at a time like this. There is a lot to be down on lately with the Mets and I am, and surely you are too, sick of hearing about it.

No baseball today, unless you count finding out if the Yankees are going to welcome in the Mets at .500, or on a nine game winning streak. Either way, I'm predicting they are going to be no better than .500 on Monday.

The Mets are obviously not as bad as they've been playing. You can complain about individual pieces and problems, but every team always has something that's not going right. The problem is that they all were happening at once. It doesn't matter where Lo Duca hits in the lineup, as no one's driving in runs from anywhere.

Obviously the Mets aren't going to lose nine of ten for the rest of the season. The important thing is that they're still in first place. They've lost maybe two games in the standings during this streak. Atlanta has struggled too, they couldn't even catch a cold. Obviously Philadelphia wasn't going to be eliminated after a bad first two weeks, but they haven't caught us either, despite the sweep. I don't think they're anything to be worried about either. The Mets will visit them at the end of the month, playing better baseball and thirsty for revenge after last week.

There is no reason to panic, or declare the season over. Although declaring the season over right now would put us in the playoffs. The Mets are going to play good baseball again. If they started doing that on Friday, they'd again be padding the lead, not trying to play catch up.

The Mets didn't have a streak like this last year, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for these guys. Last year they cruised, and they lost in the playoffs. The Mets are now feeling the pains of losing, they're learning that despite being the team to beat in the NL East, they can't take it for granted. They need to take that message to heart, and go out there with fire and passion to win in each game. They don't look happy right now, and that's good. They're not enjoying the losing streak, and they know the media frenzy that's going to take place this weekend. Maybe being back to being treated as second-class citizens, and the second best team will spark the fire that they need.

Sometimes losing can teach a team a lot, and when they learn their lesson, they will be able to win that much more effectively. I see good things for this weekend, remember the three Cs. Clobber Clemens and Clippard.