Mets Mess: Reyes Wins Batting Title As Another Disappointing Season Ends

This article first appeared on Blogcritics.

No New York Mets player ever won a batting title before. No Mets pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter. No Mets player has ever been the league's Most Valuable Player. Okay, you get the idea. In a less than thrilling season, the notion that one of our guys would capture the batting crown was something to keep fans going. It even brought fans to Citi Field on the last day of the season.


They wanted to see Jose Reyes compete against Milwaukee's Ryan Braun for the batting title. Some people brought their kids because they wanted them to remember the moment. Others, thinking this could be Reyes' last game as a Met, wanted to be there to appreciate his talents for one last time. All that mattered little when Reyes led off the bottom of the first inning, bunted for a base hit, and then was pulled for a pinch runner.

Did Reyes pull his hamstring? Did something happen to him? The crowd didn't wait to find out and started booing. We found out later that Reyes pulled himself from the game, with the hit guaranteeing him a .337 average and making it almost impossible for Braun to catch him unless Braun went 3 for 4 that evening. Braun actually went 0-4, so it now this stands out as poor sportsmanship for Reyes to have backed into the title that way.

Fans booed Reyes during what is possibly his last game at Citi Field. Long-time Mets fans were annoyed with Reyes' selfish attitude, putting his personal record ahead of the good of the team. Although manager Terry Collins supported Reyes and the decision, it is clear that such a move is at best tacky and at worst emblematic of Reyes' disrespect for Mets fans and the organization that he has called home for the last nine years.

After the game when asked about the unhappy fans, Reyes said, "I don't care what people think. A lot of people told me, 'Don't play today.'"

Okay, so Jose doesn't care what the fans think. That will go over in New York as well as instant pizza and frozen bagels. We Mets fans are passionate about our team and our city. We support our players and respect them, but we want the same from them. It has always seemed the Reyes is a total player. His uniform is always dirty after a game. He throws himself completely into a game, and we have come to appreciate that dedication, so I guess when we saw this completely unexpected cop-out we were more hurt than angry, although many expressed themselves vehemently when they booed.

Some have argued that the 77-85 Mets had nothing on the line in this game. They were just playing out the schedule, and that made it okay for Reyes to take an early shower. Things would be different if this were a game deciding a playoff spot. This would matter more if this game mattered more.

I am sorry, but every game (every inning) counts. It is not about the contest having meaning because the game is more important than anything else. You know the old saying, "It's not if you win or lose but how you play the game." Well, that is applicable here. Jose made a tremendous mistake and manager Terry Collins should have told him "No!" He should have said, "The hell with the batting title. Get out there and play your nine innings and give these fans what they paid for."

Unfortunately, this was not to be. Once again, Mets fans, stung by the Bernie Madoff scandal and injuries galore, had to endure yet another slap to the face. In the old days that might have sparked a duel, but the way we Mets fans are feeling now, we are better off just turning the other cheek and walking away.

Jose Reyes won a batting title; so what? Truthfully, I'd rather he hit .235 and see the Mets were going into the Wild Card series. The batting title is little comfort for a horrible year that has followed other horrible ones. Reyes will no doubt take the money and run - all the way to another team as far as he can go.
So Mets fans, we can once again say, "Wait until next year." It seems that is what we always say. Now we can languish in our winter of discontent, watching other teams make bold moves, and we can be secure in the notion that the Mets are going to cut payroll. GM Sandy Alderson is giving Mets fans about as much hope as those people who jumped off the Titanic without life vests. Wait until next year? What's the point when all we can hope for is another lost season?

Though my blood still runs orange and blue, I am exhausted after this season. I feel depleted; I feel like all Mets fans are the equivalent of the Biblical Job. How much more can we take until we break?

Photo Credits - Daily News

Japanese Tsunami: I'm Gonna Build Me an Ark

Article first published as Japanese Tsunami: I'm Gonna Build Me an Ark on Blogcritics.

The reaction to the earthquake in Japan and the horrific tsunami it spawned has been swift and, as should be expected, covered widely by the media. It was quite easy last evening to find reports on television about the story, even on small local stations. Turning to the PC, I got more of the same. It's a story that is necessary and compelling to report, and it makes us all worry a bit when we think of the power of nature. Sometimes, I think we take that for granted.
This morning as I made my usual quick trip to the supermarket, I was in the dairy aisle getting milk and juice. This is when I overheard two guys who had brought in handtrucks filled with new cartons of milk to replenish the supply. They were talking about the tsunami. "You see that wave in Japan washing everything away, man?"

The other guy stopped puitting milk on the shelf, tipped back his cap, and sighed, "Yeah, I'm gonna build me an ark."

They started laughing and went back to their work, but I started thinking about it. We take for granted how the milk will always be on the shelf, as well as everything else we need. We turn on the taps and the water comes out clean to drink. I go home, turn on my computer, and I can connect to the world. It's all so easy, so simple, and yet so frighteningly fragile, as this disaster in Japan clearly demonstrates.

I took down the old trusty Bible from my shelf and turned to Genesis. Noah must have been a great guy because he got a warning. He went out to build an ark because, according to the story, God was ready to smite the people and the earth but Noah had found "favor" with the Lord. Lucky guy, huh?

In Genesis 6:15 God gave Noah specific instructions: "This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high." The "cubit" was an ancient measurement, and since Noah couldn't rush out to Home Depot to get the wood measured and cut for him, he had to use the basic length of a cord that covered the distance between his elbow to the end of his middle finger, meaning a cubit changed with each person depending on his arm length. I then looked up cubit and the Merriam-Webster definition indicated that it equals about 18 inches in length.

I figured out that Noah's boat would be much too big for my family and me. Even if we took the dog, we would need a much smaller size. Maybe around 150 cubits by 25 cubit by 25 cubits. Unlike Noah, I could go down to Home Depot, get all my wood, use my power tools, and - wait a minute. What am I doing? Noah had found favor with the Lord. He had been told in advance, so there was a plan for him. When it was all over his boat came to rest and life went on for him and his family because that was what God wanted.

We might not be so lucky, right? In fact, in a flood that devastating, the world as we know it would be gone. There would be no more apps for my iPhone; hey, it wouldn't even work. There would be no store with stocked milk, no gas for the car (well, that would be washed away at this point), no daily newspaper or grande cappucino to drink with it. We would just have each other and have to start over from scratch.

I realized why Noah brought all those animals. They were not just being saved to keep each species going; they would also be a food source. The cows gave milk; the chickens gave eggs, and so on. Yes, I would have to build the ark to the original specifications and get animals - lots of them. Neighborhood cats and dogs, maybe that squirrel that destroys our pumpkins every Halloween, that raccoon I see up near the train tracks, and so on. I know this is a poor lot of creatures to take, but short of raiding the Bronx Zoo before the flood comes, what am I to do?

Maybe nothing. I sat here staring out the window and figured I would have to take what God has wrought just like everyone else. He didn't warn me or anyone in my family. I wouldn't be favored and probably wouldn't survive. It might be worse to be the only people on a ruined planet, fending for ourselves after all had been swamped and drowned. Yeah, I guess that would be the way it was meant to be.

Later in the morning I went out to the garage to get something. Stacked against the wall was all the wood I had bought last year to build a new shed but never got around to it. I forgot I had bought it. I picked up my tape measure from the workbench and measured my elbow to the tip of my middle finger. It was almost nineteen inches. I picked up my hammer, stared at the wood, and touched it with my hand. "Three hundred cubits, by fifty cubits, by thirty cubits." Hmm.

Photo credits:
Map - CBS News.com
Flood - Guardian.co.uk