With a bad start, you have to wonder if we’ve seen this movie before. Or, why I refuse to give into baseball dread.
By: Hank Kalet
I’m trying to keep in mind that the season is just three days old, but three games and three losses are a lot to take for a season for which there were a lot of hopes.
The Mets are 0-3. Aside from opening day which ended with an ugly outing by closer Braden Looper they have looked awful. Yes, Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran (the team’s future) have been hitting, and Pedro Martinez, after a shaky first, turned in a dominating five innings. But the bullpen has been terrible, Mike Cameron and Kris Benson are both hurt and Felix Heredia has a roster spot. Heredia should not be allowed to pitch for any team that considers itself big league.
But 0-3 does not mean 0-162 or even 52-110. This team, which is in transition, will have its good stretches and bad stretches, and General Manager Omar Minaya is likely to make a couple of useful moves. I still think it will finish above .500 and probably win about 85 games. Baseball is a long season not something anyone might know if all they did was listen to the sports talk shows or read the New York tabloids. Ugliness in April does not always mean a meaningless August or September.
For now, though, I’m not having a good time.

