Making sure the fans keep their brown paper bags at home is what it’s all about right now for the Mets.
Terry Collins’ team hasn’t won many games, but Collins has shown the kind of fight needed if the Mets are to be relevant ever again. Turning the 16th game of the season into an October battle was a calculated risk for Collins on Sunday, but it was something that had to be done, and something that wasn’t done in years past.
Changing the losing culture is not easy to do. Collins deserves praise. He already has closed the clubhouse doors and has had a team meeting. He will pull out all the stops to try to win a game. That’s how precious victory is to him.
That’s the first step the Mets must take. By using Chris Capuano and R.A. Dickey in relief Sunday in Atlanta and by shaking up the lineup to come away with a 3-2 win over the Braves to snap a seven-game losing streak, Collins sent the message that the Boys Club the Mets became under their previous manager and general manager will no longer be tolerated.
As the last-place Mets begin the Battle for the 2012 top draft pick this week at Citi Field against the last-place Astros and last-place Diamondbacks, learning how to win is the challenge here. Collins made it clear yesterday in a conversation with The Post that winning is the top priority and that he is not afraid to ruffle some feathers along the way.
“I know maybe a couple of the relievers are not necessarily happy,” Collins said of his move to use the two starters in relief, “but it’s about the ballclub first and foremost.”
In past years, it was about getting laughs in the post-game press conference on SNY. Things are changing, slowly. Dickey even volunteered to start Sunday, Collins noted, with Capuano backing him up.
That is the spirit Collins is trying to instill. Buck Showalter is attempting do the same in Baltimore, a team that has lost eight straight after opening the season 6-1. That’s what Joe Girardi is doing with the much more talented Yankees.
Understanding the sacrifices and focus it takes to win at the major-league level is the first challenge. And, by the way, last week Collins didn’t have a team meeting to rip into his players. He had a team meeting to try to get them to realize they’ve made some improvements, but there is still much work to do, so do not become deflated.
“We had to have that game Sunday, especially after last week being so tough,” Collins admitted. “The reason I had that meeting, it was misleading to say I was yelling and screaming, I was not. I basically told the players, ‘Look, we have to get better at doing some things, but we are getting guys in scoring position, we are leading in games, continue to do that stuff, we’re doing a lot of things right. Do not give up. Do not throw your hands up in the air and say, ‘Woe is me. Been here, done that before.’
“Continue to push forward. Let’s just do things a little bit better and we’ll come out on top. It was misconstrued like I ripped their butts, but that was not true. I sensed that a little bit of the air was coming out of them, like, ‘Oh, gosh, here we go again.’ That’s why I had to say something.”
And do something.
Yes, the Mets have many alarming problems. Their ERA is an atrocious 5.26. No pitching staff has allowed more runs than the Mets’ 83.
Offensively, they scored only five runs in the three-game series against the Braves. Angel Pagan is hitting .169. David Wright was 0-for-Atlanta. The Mets were 21st in batting average (.238), 22nd in on-base percentage (.310) and 25th in home runs (nine). The Yankees have hit 27 home runs.
If the Mets don’t at least understand how to fight, they’ve got no chance.