Mets Worse Than Nats in the Eyes of History

Maybe you’re a little down about the constant negative/hacky Redskins-related commentary these days, or the latest lame Harlan-wrought snippy shot at the burgeoning Nationals, or the squalid lack of DCO posts since the tragic mid-July termination of our mentor and inspiration. Well, if you’re looking for something to bridge the gap betwixt unequivocally excellent and ‘tism-evoking Caps’ and Wizards’ camps and the start of the NHL/NBA seasons, look no further than tonight’s developments in the Nats vs. Mets contest.

With Justin Maxwell’s gently arcing, "evidently” line drive grand slam into the left field seats went yet another Mets’ September heartache at the hands of the “lowly” Nationals. Whether it’s crushing hopes of a division title, contributing to an epic collapse, or just piling on to an historic under-achievement, it just isn’t quite September without the Nationals laying some kind of embarrassment on the vainly grasping-for-greatness Mets of the last half decade and more.

It is SO worth mentioning that Maxwell’s slam also propelled the Mets into the wondrous category of “Worse Than The 2007 Washington Nationals”. As this blog so eloquently and gleefully declared in those hot, humid, halcyon days of two years ago, the Acta-led Nats of yore bucked each and every prediction of historical awfulness and surged to a record of 71-91, far short of the gloomy predictions, presented by hack after hack, of 120+ losses.

With Maxwell’s full-count, two-out heroics, the Mets and their epically swollen $143 million or whatever payroll earned their 92nd loss. While the calendar may save the Mets from 100 losses, ignominy knows no such Gregorian-enforced leniency. The 2009 Mets are now worse than the team widely predicted to be the worst baseball team of all time, at the hands of the very such squad predicted to achieve that distinction. Oh the irony/shame!

Manny would be/probably is proud.

Nelson Figueroa Is Who He Is

“[The Nationals] were cheering in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls. I am a professional, I take great offense to that. … They won tonight, but in the long run, they’re still who they are, a last-place team.”

Poor put-upon Nelson Figueroa, who had to endure some clapping from the Nationals’ dugout last night as he gave up six runs in five innings (two unearned, thanks to some fine erroneous-baseball-slinging by himself and Carlos Delgado).

Since the Nats are who they are, let’s look at who Nelson Figueroa is: he’s a career 9-20 pitcher with a stellar 4.71 ERA. Sadly, however, he didn’t have the opportunity to contribute to the Mets’ historic choke/collapse of last September. It was a collapse, incidentally, to which these temporarily last-place Nationals were happy to contribute with a 5-1 record against the Mets in that critical division-lead-whittling-away stretch between 9/14 and 9/30. To put it more succinctly, the Nationals were denying making dreadful history while the Mets were embracing it. The Mets' choke job will live on in memory long after these minorly inconvenient Nats' rebuilding seasons are forgotten.

To be fair, Figueroa does know something about last-place teams, having toiled for the futile Pirates of 2003 and 2004, when he pitched in nicely with a 2-4 record and 4.36 ERA. The Mets themselves, of course, know have knowledge of last place teams, having been one themselves not too many years ago, with records of 66-95 in 2003 and 75-86 in 2002 (before rebounding with that 4th place 71-91 finish of 2004).

So that’s who this whiney tool is. The Nationals, as we optimistic types know, are a turnaround in progress. Perhaps a slow turnaround, but a turnaround. They are, for now, a last place team still gradually pulling themselves out of a franchised-sized hole MLB graciously dug for them during years of neglectful hive ownership and hampering. They are a team making tangible gains, as the Master, Manny Acta said towards the end of T-Boz’s sometimes-painfully punny column from yesterday: "Last year [on May 10] we were 9-25," Acta said. "Now we have 15 wins. Wait." Wait. As in, wait until our brilliantly drafted studs and Manny-molded budding stars develop into the division-threatening squad they can be. It’s not that far off, and it won’t take a prone-to-failure $100 million + roster (hi, Mets) to do it.

We also can’t help but wonder why Figueroa was so angered to hear the dulcet Elijah-Dukes-led tones of ‘tism emmenating from the Nats’ dugout (this smells like a symptom of another Manny-led life turnaround, by the way)? Is his New-York heart so embittered that he only responds to the jeers, taunts, and fair-weatherism of the louty Shea faithful? Is the slightest bit of positivity anathema to his dark and heavy soul? Whatever self-loathing and optimism-hating issues may be there, apparently this little bit of cheering and clapping brought them blazing out. That and years of ineffective pitching. He is who he is.

Rain Prevents Nats Series Win

An enormous "spring" storm was the only thing that prevented the Nationals from winning their first season series today. All the signs of the imminent demise of the Mets (at least for this weekend) were there. The Nationals outscored (8-5) and very nearly outhit (15-16) the Metropolitans through two games, and on Saturday closer Chad Cordero even felt comfortable enough with a four-run lead to tease the home team with a pair of ninth-inning baserunners before getting down to business and shutting down the "rally." It's that kind of confidence that the Nats (winners of 2 of 3 overall, by the way) need in order to continue gaining ground on the allegedly NL-East-Championship-bound Mets.

No doubt the Mets are grateful for this respite from what would assuredly have been a humiliating, and potentially season-deflating, series loss against a team they were expected to easily beat up on all season. The fact that most in the sports world project these Nationals to best the much-referenced 1962 Mets in dreadfulness must also weigh on the minds of New York players, as they are the ones in the best position to ensure that their franchise is no longer home to the worst team of all time. (As an aside, can we dispense with the "worst team of all time" talk until at least August? It's not like there aren't other teams out there at or near 3-9 right now).

Even more heartening than the almost-won series was the steadying of the starting pitching. After a below-average couple of weeks, John Patterson and Shawn Hill for the most part stifled the much-ballyhooed Mets lineup. Ronnie Belliard is looking good in the field as well as the plate, and Ryan Zimmerman, perhaps taking advice from his hitting coach, is unconcerned by his early season struggles, surely an indication that he will break out in a big way soon.

So call off the dogs for at least a moment, because this team may yet disappoint many with its (relative) success.