Solly's Rant on the 2007 Mets Collapse
Sept 30, 2007 20:08:09 GMT -5
Post by Pun on Sept 30, 2007 20:08:09 GMT -5
Yes, I realize this was from OO, but this thing was so epic, so wide in scope (a fucking SMALL WONDER reference?!?!?), so heart wrenching, that it deserved a spot in immortality.
Originally posted by fsolomon75
First off, congrats to the Phils. They scratched and clawed their way to the division and played every game like it was Game 7. I have to think that's all due to Rollins, who backed up what he said in the offseason. Seemed like when the Phils needed that big hit, Rollins was the one who came through and his never-say-die spirit was picked up by everyone in that clubhouse. When Hudson and Smoltz lose back-to-back games for the first time all year, you know the Phils mean business.
I've been a Mets fan since 1984 and I've seen it all. '86, Doc, Straw, the drugs, the drinking, the chopping off cat heads, Bonilla, Coleman, The Worst Team Money Could Buy, Generation K, Piazza, the Kazmir trade, etc. For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be a Mets fan... and I know this is where the jokes come in. Fine. Do your worst. When you lead by 7 games with 17 to go and completely throw it down the fucking toilet by losing to the Nats and Marlins in a home and home series, you open yourself up to all the jokes in the world. They're all justified because what happened the last two weeks was embarrassing, ugly, demoralizing, disgusting, and just painful. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy. Losing happens, I can accept that. What I can not and will not accept is HOW the Mets lost. Just a complete and total choke job.
I'm pissed, I'm angry, I'm embarrassed, I'm numb, I want answers, I want someone in that organization to apologize and I want it now. They should all be ashamed and embarrassed to call themselves professionals. I'm not going to rehash exactly how a team can blow a 7 game lead in two weeks, I'm just going to rant on this bunch of complacent, lazy, arrogant quitters. 12-25 at home against the other NL East teams is fucking inexcusable. They lost games in every possible way - lack of clutch hitting, poor starting pitching, a horrific bullpen, shitty defense, they covered all the bases. I don't even know where to assign the blame since this was a total organizational effort, from the GM all the way down to the bullpen. Let's start with Omar.
You're a nice guy, very personable but let's look at that track record. Anyone can overpay for Beltran, Pedro and Wagner, you just need the deep pockets. How about some of those trades, O? Whatever magic you had in 2006 totally disappeared in 2007. Instead of trading Benson for Maine and (eventually) Duque, you trade Bannister for Burgos, Bell & Ring for Johnson & Adkins, and Lindstrom & Owens for Vargas and Bostick. How do Bell's 33 holds and sub 1 WHIP look now? How did it look seeing Lindstrom blow Beltran and Alou away to stop that rally Friday night? Bannister is a valid ROY candidate for the fucking Royals but it's not like the Mets could have used an arm like theirs down the stretch... oh wait. You mean losing 16 games where you score at least 6 runs isn't good? You mean saddling your manager with a bunch of stiffs in the pen won't get the job done? You mean not making one move to shore up that overworked bullpen won't take you to October? For fuck's sake, if you're not going to pull the trigger on someone like Cordero, promote from within. Pelfrey and/or Humber could have taken on a JOBA-esque role, setting up for Heilman and Wagner. But hey, who needs when that you have Gascan Mota and his syringe of kerosene lighting up the NL to a tune of a 6.00 ERA? And that's another thing on Omar. How the FUCK do you expect Mets fans to swallow that line of shit by giving Mota, an admitted steroid user, a 2 year-deal? Mota's a better option than Bradford? Than Oliver? Who needs them when you can re-sign a cheater who pitched his way out of Cleveland (CLEVELAND!) who won't even be available for the first 50 games?
And then there's Willie. Hey Willie, see this statue?
This thing shows more emotion than you do. Mickey called that "a ting of beauty", I'm calling you a piece of shit. The tragedy is you won't even get fired because the Wilpons don't want to be on the hook for your salary like they were for Howe so we're fucking stuck with your robotic ass for another year. Another year of more Small Wonder goodness and cliches like:
"We battled."
"Our guys tried tonight."
"Tip your cap to the other team."
"We were in first for most of the year, now we're in second. We have to find a way to get it done."
Holy dogshit, Sherlock Fuckin Holmes over here! There's a reason you were passed over so many times for a gig and it ain't your skin tone, sir. You are NOT cut out to manage an NL team. Period. You have no idea how to properly execute a double switch or a bullpen and your stubbornness to make changes to a lineup cost you a WC berth in 2005, your Earl Weaver attitude of waiting for a 3-run HR cost you Game 7 last year, and your bullpen management cost you the division this year. Congrats Tin Man, you hit the fucking trifecta of choke jobs. Can't wait to see how you parlay that into '08. Here's some advice. Define a role for Feliciano. Is he a LOOGY or your 7th/8th inning guy? One day you have him face one hitter, the next you extend him for 1.1 IP. I'd also love to know why Humber only pitched on 9/5 and 9/11 before his pressurized start on 9/26. You're gonna tell me that Mota or Sosa were better options in the pen and Lawrence a better option in the rotation? Are you that much in love with veteran players that you'll let them derail a promising season? Just go away Willie and take your coaches with you.
Let's start with Peterson. Listen up Jacket: you should have been drawn and quartered the minute you said you could fix Zambrano in 10 minutes. When the bulk of the collapse is due to the pitching, you have to take the fall. You're done.
HOJO: I grew up watching you, I met you in person 20 years ago but you're getting nothing from this offense. Wright's called you his baseball father, huh? Fascinating. I haven't seen parenting like this since Benoit. You can go too.
Rickey: Rickey never should have been hired in the first place. Rickey's a jake, Rickey's a bad influence cuz Rickey ain't playing no more but Rickey still thinks he can suit up and run like Rickey. Rickey would rather play cards in the clubhouse than pay attention to the game. Rickey checks. Rickey calls. Rickey don't like the flop. Rickey has a full house. Rickey happy. This is what happens when the GM and manager don't get along. The GM fires one of the manager's coaches to replace him with a personal favorite. Manager and coach don't get along, manager and GM don't get along.
Jerry Manuel: Are you still even alive? Man, I thought you died[/Hogan to Warrior]. You sealed your fate when you told Willie not to bunt in Game 7. Hit the bricks.
Finally, to the players: I hope you all enjoy watching the postseason and more importantly watching the NL representative in the World Series, because that could have and it should have been you. Sound familiar? Hell, at least you made it to the NLCS before you choked last year. Where's your pride? Where's your dignity? You'd think after the way you lost the NLCS you'd be out for fucking blood this year. So what happened? You were coasting all year, hit a small bump in the road, and you quit. Way to respond to a little adversity, boys. How come someone didn't curbstomp Mota just on principle alone? Where was the Code Red for Reyes? The Phillies beat Huddy and Smoltz and you can't even touch Joel Pineiro, let alone Redding, Chico, Bergmann, Moyer, Eaton, Lohse, Durbin, and Kim in Game 160?
Glavine: FUCK YOU!!! We needed you to come up big today and you shit the bed like Spud in Trainspotting. Unquestionably the biggest tank job by a great pitcher in a big game. Take your Questec-loving ass back to Atlanta. I'm tired of your constant bitching and complaining about run support when you couldn't even hold a 6-0 lead in LA this year. You never wanted to be a Met, you begged and pleaded to stay in Atlanta but in the end, your greed won over your heart. You did the union proud Norma Rae, now make like a tree and get the fuck outta here.
Reyes: HEY RETARD STOP FUCKING SMILING AND DANCING! You strike out on 3 pitches outside the strike zone and you're doing the fuckin cha-cha. Anytime you feel like pulling your head from your ass and stop hitting popups to SS, that would be fine with me. 1 for your last 22 with RISP and two outs? NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY...NO WAY NO WAY. You're a spoiled little bastard in love with your own press clippings and I feel ashamed I ever tried to convince Moose you were better than Rollins. Take a good look in the mirror this offseason because I'm blaming YOU for the offensive collapse. Seeing you jake all year makes me long for that rumored Soriano trade back in the day. Hell I'd even think of signing A-Rod and packaging you to get Johan. That's how much you fucking piss me off right now.
Wagner: I guess Burrell was right: you can't save a big game. When the Mets needed you the most, you either A) imploded in that 11-10 loss in Philly or B) didn't answer the call like the 7-6 loss in Florida (when Sosa had to pitch the 9th). You've said the players need to man up. Where do you get your balls big enough to make demands like that? Either grab a bat or shut the fuck up, because when you make statements like that, you better have 50 saves with an ERA under 1 and a WHIP under .5 Fuck off Wags. I hope someone rapes and poisons your alpacas.
Mota: Die... please.
Delgado: You picked one hell of a year to turn in your worst ever as a starter, huh Chazz? I know being the new badass on Prison Break is demanding but you shouldn't have quit your day job of hitting HRs and driving in runs. A slugging % of .448? Wilson Delgado laughs at that.
Beltran: Arthritis in both knees? AA is like 50 and he laughs at you. 109 Ks? You're striking out more than Moose in high school. Love the OPS of .780 too. Thanks again for proving that one great October doesn't translate into anything worth a damn from April to September.
Wright: I love ya. Soprano loves ya. But Jesus Christ son, stop with the MVP talk when you can't even come up big against the Nats and Marlins when you were needed the most. Instead of walk-offs, we got errors and DPs.
Bottom line this is on the players for not getting it done. The sad fact is they didn't even have to play .500 to get in the playoffs and even that proved to be too big of a task. Just two wins against the Phillies and I'm popping the champagne. They were complacent all year, never had the sense of urgency to really put the Phillies or Braves away and when the shit finally hit the fan, they completely collapsed due to a lack of clutch hitting, atrocious pitching, physical & mental errors, and questionable managerial decisions. You don't re-build in this kind of situation, in this market, with a new stadium a year away but there have to be some sweeping changes made and it starts with the front office and the coaching staff. Give me a GM who's not afraid to move a prospect for someone who can help right away, give me a manager who's not afraid to take chances and squeeze, especially when you have the two fastest runners on the corners, and finally give me a team that will play hard for all 27 outs and all 162 games.
Congrats to the fans of the playoff bound teams. They all deserved it.
First off, congrats to the Phils. They scratched and clawed their way to the division and played every game like it was Game 7. I have to think that's all due to Rollins, who backed up what he said in the offseason. Seemed like when the Phils needed that big hit, Rollins was the one who came through and his never-say-die spirit was picked up by everyone in that clubhouse. When Hudson and Smoltz lose back-to-back games for the first time all year, you know the Phils mean business.
I've been a Mets fan since 1984 and I've seen it all. '86, Doc, Straw, the drugs, the drinking, the chopping off cat heads, Bonilla, Coleman, The Worst Team Money Could Buy, Generation K, Piazza, the Kazmir trade, etc. For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be a Mets fan... and I know this is where the jokes come in. Fine. Do your worst. When you lead by 7 games with 17 to go and completely throw it down the fucking toilet by losing to the Nats and Marlins in a home and home series, you open yourself up to all the jokes in the world. They're all justified because what happened the last two weeks was embarrassing, ugly, demoralizing, disgusting, and just painful. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy. Losing happens, I can accept that. What I can not and will not accept is HOW the Mets lost. Just a complete and total choke job.
I'm pissed, I'm angry, I'm embarrassed, I'm numb, I want answers, I want someone in that organization to apologize and I want it now. They should all be ashamed and embarrassed to call themselves professionals. I'm not going to rehash exactly how a team can blow a 7 game lead in two weeks, I'm just going to rant on this bunch of complacent, lazy, arrogant quitters. 12-25 at home against the other NL East teams is fucking inexcusable. They lost games in every possible way - lack of clutch hitting, poor starting pitching, a horrific bullpen, shitty defense, they covered all the bases. I don't even know where to assign the blame since this was a total organizational effort, from the GM all the way down to the bullpen. Let's start with Omar.
You're a nice guy, very personable but let's look at that track record. Anyone can overpay for Beltran, Pedro and Wagner, you just need the deep pockets. How about some of those trades, O? Whatever magic you had in 2006 totally disappeared in 2007. Instead of trading Benson for Maine and (eventually) Duque, you trade Bannister for Burgos, Bell & Ring for Johnson & Adkins, and Lindstrom & Owens for Vargas and Bostick. How do Bell's 33 holds and sub 1 WHIP look now? How did it look seeing Lindstrom blow Beltran and Alou away to stop that rally Friday night? Bannister is a valid ROY candidate for the fucking Royals but it's not like the Mets could have used an arm like theirs down the stretch... oh wait. You mean losing 16 games where you score at least 6 runs isn't good? You mean saddling your manager with a bunch of stiffs in the pen won't get the job done? You mean not making one move to shore up that overworked bullpen won't take you to October? For fuck's sake, if you're not going to pull the trigger on someone like Cordero, promote from within. Pelfrey and/or Humber could have taken on a JOBA-esque role, setting up for Heilman and Wagner. But hey, who needs when that you have Gascan Mota and his syringe of kerosene lighting up the NL to a tune of a 6.00 ERA? And that's another thing on Omar. How the FUCK do you expect Mets fans to swallow that line of shit by giving Mota, an admitted steroid user, a 2 year-deal? Mota's a better option than Bradford? Than Oliver? Who needs them when you can re-sign a cheater who pitched his way out of Cleveland (CLEVELAND!) who won't even be available for the first 50 games?
And then there's Willie. Hey Willie, see this statue?
This thing shows more emotion than you do. Mickey called that "a ting of beauty", I'm calling you a piece of shit. The tragedy is you won't even get fired because the Wilpons don't want to be on the hook for your salary like they were for Howe so we're fucking stuck with your robotic ass for another year. Another year of more Small Wonder goodness and cliches like:
"We battled."
"Our guys tried tonight."
"Tip your cap to the other team."
"We were in first for most of the year, now we're in second. We have to find a way to get it done."
Holy dogshit, Sherlock Fuckin Holmes over here! There's a reason you were passed over so many times for a gig and it ain't your skin tone, sir. You are NOT cut out to manage an NL team. Period. You have no idea how to properly execute a double switch or a bullpen and your stubbornness to make changes to a lineup cost you a WC berth in 2005, your Earl Weaver attitude of waiting for a 3-run HR cost you Game 7 last year, and your bullpen management cost you the division this year. Congrats Tin Man, you hit the fucking trifecta of choke jobs. Can't wait to see how you parlay that into '08. Here's some advice. Define a role for Feliciano. Is he a LOOGY or your 7th/8th inning guy? One day you have him face one hitter, the next you extend him for 1.1 IP. I'd also love to know why Humber only pitched on 9/5 and 9/11 before his pressurized start on 9/26. You're gonna tell me that Mota or Sosa were better options in the pen and Lawrence a better option in the rotation? Are you that much in love with veteran players that you'll let them derail a promising season? Just go away Willie and take your coaches with you.
Let's start with Peterson. Listen up Jacket: you should have been drawn and quartered the minute you said you could fix Zambrano in 10 minutes. When the bulk of the collapse is due to the pitching, you have to take the fall. You're done.
HOJO: I grew up watching you, I met you in person 20 years ago but you're getting nothing from this offense. Wright's called you his baseball father, huh? Fascinating. I haven't seen parenting like this since Benoit. You can go too.
Rickey: Rickey never should have been hired in the first place. Rickey's a jake, Rickey's a bad influence cuz Rickey ain't playing no more but Rickey still thinks he can suit up and run like Rickey. Rickey would rather play cards in the clubhouse than pay attention to the game. Rickey checks. Rickey calls. Rickey don't like the flop. Rickey has a full house. Rickey happy. This is what happens when the GM and manager don't get along. The GM fires one of the manager's coaches to replace him with a personal favorite. Manager and coach don't get along, manager and GM don't get along.
Jerry Manuel: Are you still even alive? Man, I thought you died[/Hogan to Warrior]. You sealed your fate when you told Willie not to bunt in Game 7. Hit the bricks.
Finally, to the players: I hope you all enjoy watching the postseason and more importantly watching the NL representative in the World Series, because that could have and it should have been you. Sound familiar? Hell, at least you made it to the NLCS before you choked last year. Where's your pride? Where's your dignity? You'd think after the way you lost the NLCS you'd be out for fucking blood this year. So what happened? You were coasting all year, hit a small bump in the road, and you quit. Way to respond to a little adversity, boys. How come someone didn't curbstomp Mota just on principle alone? Where was the Code Red for Reyes? The Phillies beat Huddy and Smoltz and you can't even touch Joel Pineiro, let alone Redding, Chico, Bergmann, Moyer, Eaton, Lohse, Durbin, and Kim in Game 160?
Glavine: FUCK YOU!!! We needed you to come up big today and you shit the bed like Spud in Trainspotting. Unquestionably the biggest tank job by a great pitcher in a big game. Take your Questec-loving ass back to Atlanta. I'm tired of your constant bitching and complaining about run support when you couldn't even hold a 6-0 lead in LA this year. You never wanted to be a Met, you begged and pleaded to stay in Atlanta but in the end, your greed won over your heart. You did the union proud Norma Rae, now make like a tree and get the fuck outta here.
Reyes: HEY RETARD STOP FUCKING SMILING AND DANCING! You strike out on 3 pitches outside the strike zone and you're doing the fuckin cha-cha. Anytime you feel like pulling your head from your ass and stop hitting popups to SS, that would be fine with me. 1 for your last 22 with RISP and two outs? NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY...NO WAY NO WAY. You're a spoiled little bastard in love with your own press clippings and I feel ashamed I ever tried to convince Moose you were better than Rollins. Take a good look in the mirror this offseason because I'm blaming YOU for the offensive collapse. Seeing you jake all year makes me long for that rumored Soriano trade back in the day. Hell I'd even think of signing A-Rod and packaging you to get Johan. That's how much you fucking piss me off right now.
Wagner: I guess Burrell was right: you can't save a big game. When the Mets needed you the most, you either A) imploded in that 11-10 loss in Philly or B) didn't answer the call like the 7-6 loss in Florida (when Sosa had to pitch the 9th). You've said the players need to man up. Where do you get your balls big enough to make demands like that? Either grab a bat or shut the fuck up, because when you make statements like that, you better have 50 saves with an ERA under 1 and a WHIP under .5 Fuck off Wags. I hope someone rapes and poisons your alpacas.
Mota: Die... please.
Delgado: You picked one hell of a year to turn in your worst ever as a starter, huh Chazz? I know being the new badass on Prison Break is demanding but you shouldn't have quit your day job of hitting HRs and driving in runs. A slugging % of .448? Wilson Delgado laughs at that.
Beltran: Arthritis in both knees? AA is like 50 and he laughs at you. 109 Ks? You're striking out more than Moose in high school. Love the OPS of .780 too. Thanks again for proving that one great October doesn't translate into anything worth a damn from April to September.
Wright: I love ya. Soprano loves ya. But Jesus Christ son, stop with the MVP talk when you can't even come up big against the Nats and Marlins when you were needed the most. Instead of walk-offs, we got errors and DPs.
Bottom line this is on the players for not getting it done. The sad fact is they didn't even have to play .500 to get in the playoffs and even that proved to be too big of a task. Just two wins against the Phillies and I'm popping the champagne. They were complacent all year, never had the sense of urgency to really put the Phillies or Braves away and when the shit finally hit the fan, they completely collapsed due to a lack of clutch hitting, atrocious pitching, physical & mental errors, and questionable managerial decisions. You don't re-build in this kind of situation, in this market, with a new stadium a year away but there have to be some sweeping changes made and it starts with the front office and the coaching staff. Give me a GM who's not afraid to move a prospect for someone who can help right away, give me a manager who's not afraid to take chances and squeeze, especially when you have the two fastest runners on the corners, and finally give me a team that will play hard for all 27 outs and all 162 games.
Congrats to the fans of the playoff bound teams. They all deserved it.