There was always a cold feeling in the Mets clubhouse last year. Players checked in for work, but there was no sense that this was a team that was in it together.
That has changed.
These 2010 Mets certainly have their flaws, and their margin of error is slim, but that makes team chemistry even that much more important. When last night’s game against the Padres was rained out at Citi Field, David Wright walked past Mike Pelfrey’s locker. As he passed Big Pelf, he gave him a friendly little slap in the face with his batting glove, laughed and jogged away.
Are the Mets winning because they’re getting along, or are the Mets getting along because they’re winning? Was there a cold feeling in the clubhouse last year because Ike Davis wasn’t around, or was it because basically every player got hurt and the team was out of the race by late July? It’s an impossible chicken-egg debate and not one I really care to expound upon further than I did here or here.
But I wonder why the team-oriented leadership of Jeff Francoeur didn’t propel the Mets to greatness in the second half of last season, why Rod Barajas couldn’t do much to help the Blue Jays last year, and why the 2006 Mets seemed to have no trouble winning with ol’ me-first Carlos Delgado slugging home runs?
No one could argue that it’s bad for a team to get along. It’s not. Everyone appreciates a cheerful work environment, baseball players included. But I bet the clubhouse doesn’t seem nearly as chummy when the Mets lose four in a row. Kernan says it himself in his conclusion: “Talent is always the difference-maker.”
That. Francoeur, Barajas and Davis do seem like pretty awesome guys, always charismatic and affable when pressed by reporters. And that’s good. In the grand scheme of things — whatever the hell that means — being a great person is probably more important than being a great baseball player. But the latter will probably win more games.
Tedquarters 
Its funny that this article was in the paper today, talking about the off field Mets. John Harper in the DL also wrote a similar article today, focusing on how much more likable this team is than the past few years.
My question would be, is it coincidence that these two wrote these pieces on the same day, when a game got rained out? Would we have seen thier ‘feel good’ stories had the Mets played and lost yesterday? Or are these the types of columns that appear in the absence of of real baseball news on a day the team is rained out.
But forget about the time when Delgado dogged it for 3 months or the 3 years when the Mets actually had 2 lockerrooms.
Omar is awesome.
I think people also forget that fans didn’t turn on this team on June 9 last year (as Harper’s column asserts). For an unscientific look, take a look at the Metsblog “Fan Confidence” poll (http://www.metsblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/AllTimeConfidenceRating.gif), which didn’t start to collapse until June.
Fans “turned” on the team right around the time the Mets started to play sub-replacement level players at key positions and lose 2 out of every 3 games. Chemistry and hustle are all well and good but if the same thing happens this year, I’m sure John Harper will be the first one with a column ripping some Mets player for a lack of heart or hustle. For some strange reason, I suspect that player will be Carlos Beltran (whether he is playing or not), if only because it would be all too predictable.
Beltran—such a beast he needed a whole year off to rest. What an animal. What a winner.
Dude. You used the same comment a week ago in comments to the post about Beltran. Pretty sure you used the word “beast” and “year off to rest.” If you are going to hate on Beltran at least come up with new material.
Unless, of course, your comment was sarcasm. In which I say, well done.
Beltran is born loser with no heart
Here is my take on things,
1) Even when we lost on the road, we seemed to put up a fight (and lost some tough 1 or 2 run games). I liked the vibe I got because the team battled and the line-up I felt needed to gel a little bit. However, I honestly felt like the bats would work once people got on the same page.
2) This team is a lot younger than it has ever been in the past and even Reyes and Wright are still very young when it comes to baseball age. (You know something no one points out is that the Phillies use to be the team that choked and came in second and it wasn’t till their core 3 where over 27 that they became the team they are). Wright/Reyes (27/26)
3) Omar finally did something smart this offseason and acquired a lot of depth (allows us to sustain injuries) and got a little lucky
4) Our young players may not be superstars or 1st Ballot Hall of Famers, but they are solid. From Tejada, Niese, Mejia, Davis. And we have more on the way with Havens (who is putting up Utley #’s in the minors…that’s me drooling) and Martinez/Thole (best thing this year is that we don’t need them). We don’t need these guys to become allstars everyear but they provide us nice depth and above replacement player ability
5) the last thing is that we finally have some people who came up through the system that are willing to stand the media heat. This i think is the biggest thing in keeping the clubhouse loose…everyone is responsible man in that clubhouse now
And my final comment is that I honestly think Beltran is going to come back and become a big player for us…if he can even get on track by mid-to-late August we will be lucky to acquire a talent like that to push us to the finish line.
Good point about how young the team is. That was a big knock on the Mets the past few years but if you look at the team out there now, things have changed quickly. Reyes and Wright about 27 years old. Tejada 20, Davis 23, Pelf 26, Neise 23, Frenchy 26, even the ‘veterans’ like Johan, Krod, Bay etc are only in thier early thirtys.
The chicken egg debate will obviously go on forever.
That being said, it is interesting that at this time last year, (before the floor virtually fell from beneath) the Mets record was pretty much the same as it is now.
Therefore, what’s the difference between last year and this year at the same time?
For me I main difference is the execution of fundamental baseball. Last year, Church missed third base aganist LA, Castillo dropped a pop fly against NYY, and in general play was awful.
This year, double plays, outfield assits, and pitching give the team a different attutude.
Como to think of it, maybe thats what really gives a team spirit: defense.
“Therefore, what’s the difference between last year and this year at the same time?”
Thats the right question to be asking.
It could be the vibe of this crew this year. It also could be that our expectations had been lowered by another season of disappointment and so the same amount of success feels better.
But thats cynical. I’ll go with Ike, Bay, Rowdy Roddy Barajas and Frency changed the vibe around the team. (For now.)
I think a big part of it is expectations. A lot fans came in expecting an 80+ loss season.
Doesn’t anyone else find this massively homoerotic?
“As he passed Big Pelf, he gave him a friendly little slap in the face with his batting glove, laughed and jogged away.”
That’s almost Top Gun towel-slapping territory.
If we see a column tomorrow about a shirtless volleyball game (where no sand sticks to anyone), then I might be worried.
For some reason I’m reminded of the scene in Superbad at the end of the night, when drunk Jonah Hill taps Michael Cera’s nose and says, “boop!”
My favorite part of that movie is when they are at the party and the guys think Michael Cera’s character is a singer.
worst paragraph ever written?
Oh c’mon, that doesn’t crack the top 20.
“And given A-Rod’s famously wants-to-be-liked nature, he could well be curled up into such an emotional fetal position by the time he gets to Yankee camp here next week that Girardi will need the Jaws of Life to pull him from the wreckage.”