Train wrecks

On the way up to Vermont this past weekend, I got stuck in traffic due to an automobile fire. When we finally rounded the curve and saw the carnage, we were faced with a car engulfed in flames while a woman stood on the side of the road looking on forlornly as firefighters sprayed water on her car. This woman understands what it's like to be a Mets fan in 2009. With a big four of David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Delgado, a rotation anchored by ace Johan Santana, and a revamped bullpen led by Fransisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz, the Mets looked poised to get over the hump and win the NL East for the first time since 2006. Instead, not only did Beltran, Reyes, Delgado, and Putz go down to injury, so too did starters John Maine and Oliver Perez. Mets fans were forced to watch the likes of Tim Redding and Livan Hernandez try to battle against Major League lineups. What are we, the Washington Nationals? Sadly, there is no help, there is no magic fix that can overcome those kinds of losses. The team stayed in contention for a while, but has slowly faded once teams figured out they could stop throwing strikes to Wright and the Mets would never, ever score.

I could hide my head in the sand like I've been doing, dreaming of the day Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado come back, a day that may never come, or I could start looking for beacons of hope through the smoke and flames. For example, Fernando Nieve, coldly discarded by the Houston Astros, has been pitching admirably for the Mets, and more often than not gives the team a chance to win. So how did Nieve do last night when given a chance to earn the team a split with the division rival Braves? Ah fuck.