Let’s start with toughness, the one intangible the Mets have lacked most in recent years. You only have to go back a couple of weeks for a glaring example, when the Mets let Chase Utley wipe out Ruben Tejada at second base with an over-the-line slide and did nothing to retaliate.
Oh, sure, Carlos Beltran managed to get in the way of a double play the next day, but he didn’t even make contact, and when all was said and done, the Mets sent the message that they wouldn’t stand up to the Phillies — the team that has bullied them in one way or another for four years.
I don’t blame Jerry Manuel for the Mets’ failures in recent years, but he clearly failed to instill enough grit in his ballclub. Somebody has to do it because there’s no hard-edged leadership in their clubhouse….
Not that retaliating or even fighting is a cure-all for the Mets. Talent aside, however, winning in the big leagues starts with attitude, with the type of mental and physical toughness that has defined the Phillies and separated them from the Mets.
(Well, that and a farm system that allowed them to trade for Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt over a 12-month period, but that’s another story – and a reminder of one of Minaya’s biggest failings.)
– John Harper, N.Y. Daily News.
OK, first of all, Harper totally ignores the fact that Beltran not only called out Utley for the slide, but then admitted he was trying to hurt someone the next day and regretted that he was unable to do so.
But Harper loves to cite anonymous and mysterious baseball people who think Beltran is selfish and lacks grit, and this documented evidence of Beltran demonstrating precisely the type of grit Harper argues the Mets are missing would contradict not only the point of this column but the crux of many of Harper’s past columns, so, you know, let’s just pretend it didn’t happen.
Also — and way more importantly — talent not aside. Talent absolutely not aside. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for everyone to understand that the big difference between the Phillies and the Mets is not toughness or edginess or some sort of nebulous magic dust but real damn baseball skill, the most important factor in winning real damn baseball games.
The Phillies’ pitching staff posted a 110 ERA+ this year because it got 250 2/3 (!!) stellar innings from Roy Halladay and 208 2/3 excellent ones from Cole Hamels, and a bunch of strong performances from bullpen arms.
Yes, they weathered a slew of injuries to their starting lineup, but they did that because they fielded a deep and strong team, not through Charlie Manuel’s special old-man alchemy. They had the young players to trade for Roy Oswalt. A strong and well-managed farm system merits more than a parenthetical aside.
Now, look: No one’s saying the Phillies don’t hustle or that hustling doesn’t help win baseball games. Certainly the Phillies appear to exhibit a certain mettle, and since we’ve come to associate them with toughness and grit and, above all, winning, we mentally highlight their hustle plays and gloss over their junior moments.
Talent not aside. I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t make for a good story. Remember that during the World Series last year, Harper himself expressed surprise that the “gritty, gutty” Phillies suddenly didn’t “appear to be so tough-minded after all” once they ran into a better Yankee team.
Tedquarters 
I think we all need to just sack up and face reality, that the next few weeks as a Mets fan is going to be brutal. No actual news will exist until a GM is hired thus anything written about the Mets will be complete made up nonsense such as this.
Good point about the Phils injuries. People all summer have been trying to make that point to me about how Charlie Manuel and the Phillies weathered inuries, while the Mets couldnt last season, implying the Mets should have been able to do so last year. And that the injuries coudnt be an excuse for the Mets anymore since the Phils won despite alot of injuries.
Thats just stupid really. The way the Phils were built, was just as a better more solid deeper baseball team. They were just built better capable to handle the injuries. That doesnt mean The Mets couldnt have won last year if they stayed healthy, they certainly could have if everyone like Delgado and Beltran and Reyes all played a full year.
The injuries just had a greater effect on a team like the Mets who was built like a house of cards, ready to crumble at one serious injury.
As far as “not standing up” to the Phillies goes, what does Harper think about the Mets winning the last two games of that series? Not exactly what I would call “rolling over” for the superior, grittier, etc. team.
Not gunna lie: when I read the italicized blurb, “talent not aside” was the three word phrase I was screaming to myself. Well done yet again, Ted. Hit the nail on the head.
The Yankees are not gritty, they’re talented.
The Marlins are gritty but are not in the playoffs.
The 2006 Mets team were National League dominators and they weren’t gritty, they were talented.
It’s aggravating but I do understand these guys have to add a personable element to their stories. I mean it’s baseless but still they’re job so when I take a step back, I forgive them. They’re still idiots but idiots I can forgive.
I think its kinda funny that the Mets are so pathetic that even in the few instants they want to retaliate, they miss. remember when Santana tried to peg a guy and ended up missing behind him?
I think that was Estes who threw behind Abscess-a$$ Clemens
Nah, Santana tried and missed sometime last year I believe.
Pablo Sandoval. He sent the very next pitch into the left field stands. And so it goes for the Mets.
Grit is like clubhouse chemistry. It usually follows winning, not leading to it.
although if grit means giving a shat and exerting any appreciable effort, then yes, better to have it than not in a player of otherwise equal talent. And I see no evidence that as a team, the mets are shatcareless.
and the phillies actually spaced their injuries out better, and had the good fortune to have had the NLs best rotation at the time to cover them. And Rollins stinks now anyway, so there was no actual downgrade (would have been like Frenchy going on the DL).
but yes, they survived 3 weeks or so without Howard, and 6 or whatever without utley. So Kudos to them, and their good fortune that Ibanez decided to finally earn some salary at the same time.
and rolling out hamels (dialed in), Oswalt (rejuvenated) and Halladay was like the 1969 Mets. Or the 1973 Mets might be a better analogy, having nothing passing for offense but still winning behind a stellar rotation.
It also helps that you don’t have a team like the 2009 Phils chasing you at the time. The 2010 Braves weren’t a talented enough team to put some distance between themselves and the Phils. When the Phils struggled after the ASB, the Braves only managed to play .500 ball.
Do you ever really watch the games? I cannot count how many times I have seen Beltran or others, but especially Beltran, not finish a slide or give up on a ball that he thinks is a double play. He just goes less than half way and veers off into the outfield grass.
Do you ever really even know anything about how the game is played?
If Beltran is only half way to 2nd there is a reason for it. Sometimes the ball is just hit to hard on a taylor made DP. If thats the case there is nothing the runner can do?
What do you want him to do slide when hes still 30 feet from the base? Or just keep going and try to plow over the second baseman 5 second after hes already thrown the ball (and likely already moved clear of the base anyway).
Not sure I’d use the term “Grit” but baseball is a game of intimidation. The Mets do not play hard nosed win at all costs ball. The do not throw at guys or push them off the plate since Pedro left, they do not try to break up double plays aggressively (only they could get fired up over Utley doing what every player should do)and the are much to cozy with the opposition, DW backside slapping everyone even as the batter us. Teams see them as dogs and feel they can beat the dogs to submission. Attitude helps. Confidence helps. Most people who discount this likely didn’t play much ball. Play the game right, play it aggressively and don’t give the opposition any reason to think they walk all over you.
Derek,
Pretty much all of them do that. Reyes, Wright even Ike picked up lousy habits. They pout a lot though. They are an infuriating bunch. They do not play the game the winning way. BTW, Jason Bay always hustled and always went into second hard- the only reason I never got down on him.
1. Grit, huh? I have a bag of sand here. If someone grabs Beltran and sits on him, some of us can put some down his pants.
2. Francoeur just drove in a run in the postseason. I feel nauseated.
Speaking of Francoeur, hes a perfect example of Grit, and how it means nothing in terms of success on the baseball field.
DING DING!
This team has many of things that they did not do. This team needs to show that they are there to win. They act friendly with everyone on the opposing team. It appears that they fear getting into an altercation. The pitchers fear pitching inside because there isn’t anybody who will back them up. So it’s all about an attitude and this team has none.
What’s that line from a song, “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug?” When you win, you’re the windshield. When you lose, you’re the bug. Winning builds confidence. Having each player BELIEVE they can win everyday is based on the caliber of the players surrounding him. Our players knew the truth.
I’m glad Ted called Harper out. He’s always manufacturing a story or an issue and is rarely fair….or good.
Another comment on “grit” and “hustle”, you have a guy in Luis Castillo since he came over in 2007 has been one of the players who looks like he’s trying and playing as hard as he can and doing what he can to win. If the definition of “grit” is what I think it is, he has that quality. I’ve seen a ton of hustle in him and if we’re judging players on what we “see” as hustle, he’s probably been that guy on the Mets for 3 years.
Problem is he’s regressed into a terrible baseball player and everyone hates him now. No one cares about that unless they’re bringing tangible results with them. So it’s not a matter of being gritty, it’s talent,. Besides not being any good I believe most fans don’t like Luis Castillo because Omar Minaya was stupid enough to sign him for 4 years.
Guarantee, if Shane Victorino or Jimmy Rollins are signed until 2015 while not possessing any of the skill they have now, no one is going to care about their heart and hustle.
Grit is the wrong word. Maybe it’s ability to bear down and focus, as said on metsblog. Or being Clutch. Stats might say Clutch doesn’t exist, but some players do rise to big moments. Or it just luck.
Maybe one lucky player, Orlando Cabrera, is the clutch player – in the playoffs with the Red Sox, Angels, Twins, Reds, and more? When he played for the Expos against the Mets years ago, he seemed to be a clutch player. But he never was “gritty.”
And I’d rather have Reyas than Orlando Cabrera.
Sure talent is king. Seriously though, is too much to ask the players to act like they want to win? I watch these games and have seen the Phils jam it down our throats for years and finally they get mad? DW was still patting asses on third even after that. Hey, if you win and and you want to be magnanimous, it’s an attribute. Losing like that? Ugh. BTW, when the Mets lost on the final weeks of 2007 and 2008 were they lacking talent? I don’t think so. They were lacking heart, rolled over and died. If your going down, go down swinging.
Exactly. The 07 and 08 teams had by and large the same talent level that got them to the 06 NLCS. However, they were TERRIBLE offensively down the stretch, bullpen not-withstanding. I remember being infuriated day in and day out as they pathetically flailed at pitches with RISP.
Well they can’t have flailed at pitches and also not ‘gone down swinging’. Which is it? Its all BS anyway. They didn’t lack heart in ’07. They had plenty of games where they scored plenty of runs but the bullpen couldn’t stop the other teams from scoring. Remember Schoenweiss and Mota and the other gasoline can carriers? It wasn’t a lack of grit. That’s just BS and its not explanatory anyway. Who can keep trying and trying and trying and giving something all their effort when they continue to get disappointed with the results. They’re human and they got discouraged at times but they always picked themselves up by the next game and gave it their best shot.
I said this before on the MetBlog site, and I’ll say it again here. What the Mets are missing is SWAGGER, not grit. The Phillies can go into any ballpark and they just know that they will beat whoever they are playing that day. The refuse to lose gene is something they have in spades. That’s why no matter how many runs they are down, they find a way to win. And it all comes down to SWAGGER, NOT GRIT.
BTW, whenever Harper is a guest on that dopey SNY show Daily News Live, he is only that much more coherent than Joe Beningo. He’s a typical newspaper writer who can’t form a mildly coherent sentance in from of a live TV camera.
sentance?
He meant a coherant sentance.
Yes, Swagger is a better word. I think we are all describing the same lack of…
Can someone, anyone, please look up the definition of the word grit?
grit (n): firmness of mind or spirit : unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger
Why do so many Mets fans feel they have to defend any writer or commentator that questions this team’s intestinal fortitude? Is Harper wrong to cite this as the major reason for the Mets misfortune in 2010? Yes…but, can we stop acting like it’s not a significant part of the equation for the past 4 seasons?
should read, “defend against any writer…”
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Gary and Keith kill Beltran for not going in hard at second base the very next day?
Harper is dead on. The 2007 Mets had more talent than the 2007 Phillies and if they could have beaten them just once down the stretch things would be different.
For the past four years the Mets have been my 7 pound dog. Tough from a distance until someone gets in her face, in which case she immediately lays down on her back
They beat them 12 of 18 times in 2008 and still loss the Division to them because the Phils’ bullpen was far auperior to the Mets’ bullpen in ’08.
Grit, swagger, attitude and what not are the buzzwords Little League coaches use to get 12 year olds to focus. Playing baseball at the highest levels takes talent.
I cannot believe that otherwise reasonable, intelligent human beings attribute the Mets last few seasons of failure to an attitude rather than a lack of talent. Perhaps it’s my own mistake in assuming reason and intelligence.
Thank you!
Many many many stupid stupid stupid people seem to confuse football with baseball, and as a result, the wonderfully nebulous terms like “GRIT!” and “HEART!” and “FIRE!” and “TOUGHNESS!”
All any of us are saying is play correctly. Take everyone out on a slide to second. Run EVERY damn ball. Don’t party like rock stars if you are going to show up less then 100%. Pretty freakin easy. Again, talent is king but plenty of talented teams never win. They are soft mentally.
Nice job. I completely agree. It’s almost disrespectful to the Phillies that we attribute so much of their winning to things like grit and heart. They are winning because they have worked hard and through player development, trades and FA they have produced the most talented team in the NL. That is all. Take half of that talent away and all the grit in the world could not make them a winner.
Seeing people debating over whether it’s grit or swagger or hustle or heart or the edge or whatever is like being a modern day scientist listening to a bunch of 17th century alchemists debating the exact nature of phlogiston.
Actually, I take that back. Such a comparison would be an insult to the believers in phlogiston.