BEFORE the home opener, Willie Randolph mentioned how difficult it had been to sleep. He likened the experience to Christmas Eve.
For the Mets, it turned out, Christmas came a day late. But since it involved the joyous present of beating the Phillies, Randolph’s team will not complain. For a change, ho-ho-ho in April in New York had nothing to do with Eliot Spitzer.
In a season of retrospective in Flushing, Philadelphia did an imitation of the ’62 Mets (yes, we know Shea Stadium did not open until 1964). The Phillies jammed six walks, four errors and a wild pitch into the first three innings. They all but begged the Mets to finally beat them, and the Mets finally obliged.
However, put an asterisk next to this 8-2 Mets victory. Due to a sprained ankle Jimmy Rollins did not play and, for all intents and purposes, neither did the rest of the Phillies. Eric Bruntlett replaced Rollins and played shortstop as well as Mike Piazza used to play first at Shea. Rollins did not miss a game last year, and his first absence this season served as visual affirmation for his 2007 NL MVP. Without him, the Phillies imitated the Mets of late last year, lacking confidence and excellence.
The Mets had lost nine straight to the Phillies, previously defeating them last June 30 when Philadelphia was forced to start the overmatched J.A. Happ in his lone major league game. He was promptly returned to the minors and is as likely to reappear any time soon as Carl Pavano.
The next day the Phillies began their dominance over the Mets with Kyle Kendrick defeating Mike Pelfrey. That was the matchup again last night, and the Mets could take solace in Pelfrey’s winning five innings.
But is this enough to completely flush Philadelphia’s sense of superiority: beating the Rollins-less Phillies?
Those Mets fans who endured fits of cold rain and horrendous baseball until the eighth inning booed Pedro Feliciano when he loaded the bases with two outs. This despite a six-run lead. It spoke to the discomfort and distrust aimed toward the 2008 Mets, especially when the opponent is the Phillies.
This is a real rivalry now, and the Mets need to change the context, and as pleasant as the outcome was in Game 2 of Shea’s final season, the Mets did not completely alter the tenor with this win.
What haunted the Mets last season and again early this year is a feeling they lack a relentless spirit. They jab, but they do not knock out opponents. That absence of killer instinct brought historic embarrassment last season when the Phillie team they could not put away ultimately did the tortoise-and-hare thing at the finish line.
The home-opening loss to Philadelphia repeated the theme as the Mets wasted chances against the reeling Jamie Moyer. And last night they produced just one run in the first despite three walks and one error, and no runs in the second despite Kendrick walking the bases full again. It took Bruntlett going all “Bad News Bears” for the Mets to finally pounce in the third for six runs. Even in victory, Randolph noted, “We have to do a better job when we have a team on the ropes.”
And before the game, David Wright said of team-wide killer instinct: “It is kind of like a muscle. You have to work it out to be able to truly flex it. We had it in 2006 (when they led the NL East for all but one day). In ’06 we got a team down and we piled on and piled on. We have to reacquire that ability to bury teams.”
The Mets have 155 games left to regain that aura. That includes 16 more against the Phillies, beginning with a rubber match tonight. John Maine faces Adam Eaton, generally dreadful, but for some reason a Mets killer. It is not even tax day, but it sure would be elevating for the Mets to win a series over Philadelphia – Rollins in the lineup or not.
Because the Mets are playing against the backdrop of how last season ended and how the Phillies have dominated them and how perilous their manager’s job will become if they cannot reverse the first two issues. These are the elephants in the room, whether the 2008 Mets like it or not.