Ya Gotta Believe, especially when there’s almost no reason to.
That has to be the mantra of Mets fans this season, which begins Thursday against the Braves at Citi Field. Most pundits expect them to finish either last or next to last in the highly competitive five-team NL East. But with expectations at their lowest the Mets’ franchise has often found ways to rise up.
“My favorite year as a broadcaster was 1999,” said SNY play-by-play man Gary Cohen, whose first year with the team was 1989, three years after the Mets won their most recent World Series and one year after their painful NLCS loss to the Dodgers. “That 1999 season they won every manner of incredible game that you can fathom to squeak into the postseason and ultimately play two fascinating postseason series. As a fan or broadcaster of the team you tend to appreciate those years.
“Mets fans always talk about ’84. They had gone through seven straight horrible seasons and then all of a sudden there was a great young infusion of talent — (broadcast partners) Ronnie (Darling) and Keith (Hernandez) were a part of that — and they won 90 games out of nowhere and that led up to the World Series a few years later. Those are the years the Mets fans tend to relish and what they are waiting for.”
The Mets, who aren’t considered contenders, will have to depend on youth again this season. Two of the few established veterans that started last year with the team, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, have moved on to the Cardinals and Marlins, respectively. Lucas Duda will take over for Beltran in right field, and along with a now-healthy Ike Davis at first base, should give the Mets two potent lefty bats to join David Wright in the middle of the order.
“The strength of this team is going to be the offense, especially the two left-handed sluggers in the middle of the lineup, who look like they are ready to bust into the prime of their careers,” Cohen said. “Lucas Duda is looking like a star. I mean he’s never going to be a Gold Glover in right field, but he looks like a guy capable of hitting .300, hitting 40 home runs at some point in his career. So, I think those guys, when the season gets going, are going to be the focus of fans if they perform at the level they can. They can be in the equation.”
Expected Opening Day starter Johan Santana is another reason for Mets fans to be somewhat optimistic. The left-hander is scheduled to take the mound against Atlanta in his first start since the end of 2010. He missed the entire 2011 season following shoulder surgery.
The addition of another wild-card team in each league also will open up the competition and make winning the division more crucial since the two wild-card teams will play each other in a one-game playoff to reach the final eight.
“I think everyone understands that a lot of things have to go right for them to be a postseason team in 2012,” Cohen said. “But there’s plenty of talent in the building, it is a question of depth, it is a question if they can stay healthy and perform at a top level. Certainly, the underlying theme the Mets have had all spring is anything is possible and why not them.”