I'm getting that same eerie, "why-did-I-not-realize-this-all-along" feeling I had when I came to the conclusion that Bobby Bonilla was NOT the final piece in a perfect Mets puzzle.

Did not Ron Darling call that pitch to Chipper Jones? Didn't he say something along the lines of: it looks like Chipper Jones is trying to take the ball to the opposite field, might be a good time to go inside? Where is that defensive whiz Brian Schneider (when he's not making errors and being oblivious of runners crossing the plate) when it comes time to notice the things that Ron recognizes regularly?

Oh yeah, and where's the whole team with the highest payroll in the National League when it comes to playing even half-way decent baseball on a daily basis?

This is the nadir, man. Really. Maybe it can get worse, but it's hard to imagine how. Alou got hurt standing, as you put it exactly, Church got another concussion. Martinez' dad has brain cancer. And to top it off, Glavine, Tommy Glavine, their bud for the past few years, who collapsed so epically last September that he became the scapegoat for that entire collapse, was the first guy on the mound for this series. For a team that is still living last September, that's a whole lot of mean voodoo.

Looks like my Sept 30 tickets really will be for the last-ever game at Shea.

I hope the team loses the next ten in a row. Maybe it will force the owners to make some drastic changes.

I'm calling for a boycott. Who's with me?

At least there won't be a collapse this year...

Hey, that's a great way of looking at it. I feel better already.

It's the curse of Nelson 2XDay - Fred and Little Jeffy will NEVER hold the WS trophy in their creepy hands . . . and they are destined to always be behind the curve working off the last business model as they are now with a GM who believes in aged veterans at the expense of stockpiling the farm system and upper management that foolishly abides by Selig's slotting . . . think this year is bad, just watch how bad the next 2-3 years are as the Wilpon's try to patch things with more of Omar's vets until things become so bad that the light bulb finally goes off in Fred's dim brain that Omar's way of doing things is not working and that he has to find someone with the "skill sets" of a Theo Epstein

Well, I don't think there's any question who has a better team right now, us or the Red Sox. They have a better farm system and they manage it better. They get the big name free agents when they need to, but otherwise, they put a lot of stock in the young guys coming up. They've got 2 World Series rings and 2 no-hitters to show for it in the last few years.

We've got two WS rings and no no-no's in our entire 46 year history. We've also never but together a consistently competitive team. We've never won our division two seasons in a row. We've never made it to the play-offs more than two seasons in a row. And these other teams are not just outspending us. This year, Boston has a lower pay-roll than we do. (We're third behind only the Yankees and the Tigers...the Braves are 10th, 7 behind us). Sure sounds like a case of wrong-headed ownership and chronically short-sighted general managing to me.

Keith keeps saying "2006 was their year." Yeah, it was. But teams that are actually good don't just have "their year" and then fall apart. They're good year in and year out. They make it their year. Look at the Marlins, you think this is "their year"? They might still implode, but they sure aren't just sitting around lamenting their poor fate.

You mean the 2-time champs, handful-of-no-hitters, 16-year-old Marlins? Fucking baseball, man.

It still friggin eggs me that they have 2 rings and no division titles. This is one of the main reasons why I hate the wild card.

Just think about the playoff stretch we would have had in the 80's (and 1990) if we didn't have the Cards/Cubs/Pirates in the same division, plus a wild card as a fail-safe.

To say nothing of how high frogs would fly but for their lack of wings.

Fair enough.

I don't know, but I do see one sort of compelling storyline going. Watching David Wright evolve from say-the-right-thing golden boy slash starry eyed kid into.. something else. He seems to be pulling a lot less punches and getting a taste of dirt and blood in the mouth for the first real time in his time with the Mets. Hopefully, we'll see a fire build up in the kid and he'll permanently shed the kid gloves and start strong-arming the clubhouse.

With every unwatchable loss and bitter postgame, I like Wright more.

Be careful what you wish for . . . just as likely is that D-Wright is gonna get fed up playing alongside a perpetual child at SS along with the other culprits on this team and start angling to get himself out of Dodge, ruing that he signed a long term with this dysfunctional franchise

Oh.... oh shit. You're right.

that "perpetual child at ss" has had a very good month of may.

Reyes aint the reason for the problems they are having.

EVERYONE is the reason.

DW can't hit righties
Beltran can't hit anyone
Delgado - see above
Castillo stinks
Bullpen is leaky
4 + 5 starters are overmatched.
Ollie has been inconsistent

Remind me . . . what is the overrated child's on base % and batting average? Reyes is the 4th best SS in the NL East . . . true story

A solid hitter. Great speed. Fantastic, gold glove defense. These are the things we were told about Luis Castillo.

These were also the things we were told about Kaz Matsui.

I'm a little surprised it took me so long to make the connection.

I can see what you're saying. But, to be fair, Kaz was younger than Castillo is and his (Kaz's) apparent injury prone-ness was not something that really came into the light until he was with the Mets. When Omar signed Castillo to this ludicrous deal, he knew for certain that the guy would (and already has) chronic injury problems and he still did made the move. Baffling.

Also, considering that Kaz actually played in the World Series last year, and is hitting .282 with 11 SB and 25 runs scored this season and 'Louie' is hitting .262 with 7 SB and 19 R, I'd kind of rather have Kaz at the moment.

Sad isn't it?

I don't know about other Met fans, but I knew we were doomed with Kaz even before he put #25 on his back. That was the period of time where everything the Yankees did the Mets would try and copy--with disasterous results. Their Matsui was great. It was pretty obvious how ours was going to turn out.