Remember my whole thing about how I’m not bothering to react to other writers’ columns this year because the glut of stupid, negative articles written about the Mets aren’t even worth our time? Go read this one. It’s so bad it deserves pity traffic.

I wanted to write a lengthier response, but truth is my back hurts and I can’t even muster up the strength. This guy is faulting Jose Reyes for getting called out on a mistake at third base. It was a blown call. It’s the umpire’s fault. Since Reyes was safe, of course he should’ve gone for third base. Since it was a great throw by Rick Ankiel, of course Reyes had to slide. Since… oh, whatever.

I’ll add this: Van Riper writes that “top leadoff men eventually learn the major league strike zone and walk 100 times a a year,” but only one leadoff man has walked at least 100 times in the past three seasons: Chone Figgins in 2009. And Figgins kinda sucks now. He’s had a .329 OBP since then, actually.

The only leadoff man you’ll find who managed two straight years walking at a clip like that anytime recently was Grady Sizemore, then he broke. Not many guys consistently walk 100 times a year, and the ones who do are mostly big-time power types. That’s part of why Rickey Henderson was so exceptional, and why it’s so unfair to compare any leadoff hitter — including Reyes — to Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of the game.

Anyway, the rest is standard blame-Mighty-Casey dreck. Jose Reyes has not let the Mets down. The Mets have let Jose Reyes down, in countless ways.