Having been a Mets' fan since 1968, I've seen this team cycle through the good, bad, and everything in-between. The franchise has faced everything from ruling the town to being on the verge of complete irrelevance; fans have been feted by the likes of Gooden, Strawberry, Mex & Kid and been subjected to the likes of (Ron) Hodges, Youngblood, (Leo) Foster & (George) Foster. Throughout my tenure as a fan(atic), I've always looked for that ray of hope breaking through the otherwise darkened room...and it's taken me a long time this off-season, one that proved uneventful unless you were a legal analyst, to try to find something positive to focus on, Met-related in nature.
Sure, it's the 50th anniversary of the team; yes, they play in a lovely ballpark (that's finally Met-like in appearance, if you will) and one that now features dimensions more in-line with producing excitement from the batter's box; certainly, the start of baseball season coincides with lovelier weather across the nation (although, living in SoCal, it's not that much of a difference for me); Johan Santana is (possibly, fingers crossed) about to come back from a devastating injury; and finally, the team is going to release five bobble-heads that are worth purchasing on ebay (although, if they look as bad as the Tom Seaver-bobble that we've all seen online, I may have to change my mind). That might have been enough for me in 1979, 2 years after "the Franchise" was traded, and my teenage mind grasped at anything that might get me through another longish season; it's not enough in 2012, when we have anything at our disposal we could possibly want or need via that lovely invention called the internet.
Just think- it used to be that I had to wait 2 weeks to find a copy of the latest Baseball America in order to find out the results of a months-old worth of minor league statistics- that's only ONCE BA started publishing. Prior to that, all we had available was "Baseball Digest" (itself months old in stats, etc) and "Sporting News" which believe it or not used to be the best source for all-around sports-related info in the known universe. Now, we have sites like this one, thanks to Mack Ade, where you can get not only all the info on the Mets minor leaguers before, during and after games are played, but you can also read all about players still in high school or college, before the draft even happens!! THAT, my friends, is progress at its' best!!! And therein lies my "ray of hope"...the Mets young players, those already in the bigs, those not far away, and those still of the "potential prospect" status.
It seems like a long, long, LONG time ago that the names "Wilpon," "Doubleday" and "Cashen" first found their way into the vocabulary of Mets' fans; if memory serves, the first time I actually felt true enthusiasm, backed by statistics and not merely hope, for the sea of young Met players to come was in 1983, a few years after Cashen had taken over. Names like Gooden and Dykstra offered hope at Lynchburg; in fact, my best bud, Jon, was at the Mets game in '83 when the Lynchburg Mets took the field prior to the major league game that day, and featured Mark Carreon and Lenny Dykstra in the outfield and one Dwight (not yet "Doc") Gooden on the mound.
The '83 team in Jackson featured a very interesting roster including Billy Beane (now GM of the A's and basis of the book/movie "Moneyball"), Terry Blocker (top prospect who never made it), John Gibbons (became an MLB Manager and was a catcher who never met his potential), Ed Hearn (Kid's back-up in '86, traded for David Cone in '87 and is a survivor of multiple kidney transplants and various other life-threatening ailments), Kevin Mitchell (super-sub on the '86 champs and future MVP w/the Giants), Al Pedrique (no-hit infielder who was replaced by Wally Backman as manager of the D-Backs), Herm Winningham (one of 4 traded for Gary "Kid" Carter), Rick Anderson (current Twins pitching coach and also part of the Cone trade), Roger McDowell (whacky reliever on '86 champs and current Braves' pitching coach) and, of course, Calvin Schiraldi (traded for Bobby Ojeda and one of the goats of the '86 World Series as a member of the Red Sox) - and that's just from ONE MINOR LEAGUE TEAM!! So it's no exaggeration that the real set-up for the '86 championship began to truly take shape in '83 (the year the team also acquired one Keith Hernandez for, you guessed it, relatively young talent).
Now, as I look at the (40-man) major league roster of the 2012 New York Mets, the names that stand out to me are Pedro Beato, Robert Carson, Dillon Gee, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, Mike Pelfrey, Josh Thole, Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy, Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis - all home-grown players, all with something to prove in 2012, for vastly different reasons. For Beato, it's that he can either become a starter by going to AAA or can remain in the bullpen in the big leagues; for Carson, it's proving he can be the 2nd lefty in the bullpen and swing between starting and long relief; for Gee, it's that the first half of 2011 can be replicated and the second half can be forgotten; for Niese, it's showing once and for all that he is an effective and dominating member of the rotation; for Parnell, it's harnessing his 100+mph heater in order to remain in the bigs; for Pelfrey, it's proving that his first round draft status wasn't a wasted effort; for Thole, it's proving he has what it takes behind the plate to grow into a solid, defensive catcher while showing more offense; for Davis, it's returning to health and re-establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the order; for Murphy, it's not getting hurt while keeping that bat in the line-up and making the transition to second base; for Tejada, it's replacing perennial all-star Reyes at short and proving his growth as a hitter wasn't an illusion; for Duda, it's proving his many nay-sayers wrong as his bat becomes a force of nature; and, for Nieuwenhuis, it's both staying healthy and proving that his bat and size can be positives as the fifth outfielder on the team, for now. That's a LOT to prove, but also a LOT to be HOPEFUL about, and we've only touched on the major league roster!!
Now I'm NOT suggesting that the above-mentioned group can stand up to the mid-80's core of talent; however, when you add in names like Jeurys Familia, Jenrry Mejia, Wilmer Flores, Reese Havens, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz, Jordany Valdespin, Juan Lagares and Cesar Puello from the 40-Man Roster, not to mention top prospects Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Fullmer, Philip Evans, Darin Gorski, Matt den Dekker, Juan Urbina, Gilbert Gomez and Cory Vaughn, you start to realize where, indeed, my new hope springs from.
Let's sum this up- I'm watching 12 players on the major league team, and an additional 19 minor leaguers, a total of 29 potential major league players. Even if only 33% of those 19 make it to the show, we're still looking at 6 more talented, homegrown players to add to the mix. Hasn't happened since approximately '83 - here's hoping lightning strikes again.
PS - I went an ENTIRE POST without mentioning anything about Madoff, the judge's response today, the first game of spring OR my disdain for the Wilpons - see- it really IS a new day!!!
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