Loss And Losses: The Pain Of Being A Met Fan

With only seven weeks to Spring Training, a time usually spent in great anticipation of a brand new season, what can Mets fans hope for?  Not much, I'm afraid.

There will be quite a bit of hoopla over the 50th Anniversary of the team, which will provide a jarring reminder throughout the year that the glory days are long gone.  I am reminded of 1979, the 10th Anniversary of The Miracle Mets.  My friend Michael and I went to Old Timers' Day at Shea Stadium that year, but after watching Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones and the other 1969 stalwarts play a couple of ceremonial innings we left prior to the start of the "real" game.  We simply couldn't bear watching that dismal bunch, led by the likes of Willie Montanez, Richie Hebner and the detritus from the catastrophic Tom Seaver trade.  Similarly, while it will be fun to reminisce about the good old times, such as they were, it is hard to deny that 2012 will be yet another rebuilding year, although it still isn't clear what they are building towards.

Perhaps the most inspiring Met moment of 2012 will occur this month when R.A. Dickey climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I fear that for most of 2012 I will be mourning the loss of Jose Reyes.  As for most of the other Mets that were cut loose in 2011, not so much.  In any event, as we look to the new season, courtesy of The Apple, let's first say goodbye to those we "lost."