Dana Brand's Mets Fan Blog

Tom Glavine’s career appears to be over.  The Braves have released him before giving him a chance to show what he could do after his rehab starts.  This does not look like a classy move and I commend Chipper Jones and John Smoltz for expressing their criticisms of it.  Somebody may sign him, I suppose.  I would rather the Mets didn’t, although Atlanta’s treatment of Glavine makes me consider the option in ways that I wouldn’t have before.

 I just want to take a moment to do something that most Mets fans haven’t felt inclined to do in recent years.  I want to tip my hat to Tom Glavine.  It is true that this man gave us the single most disappointing meltdown pitching performance in Mets history and followed it up by saying the dumbest thing any Met has ever said about his play (I was devastated by Glavine’s remarks about the final game of the 2007 season, I wasn’t merely disappointed.)   I don’t have to tell Mets fans that he has competition in both of these categories and the fact that he wins both of them is really something.

I also don’t think that he should ever have been on our team.  I think it is a bad idea to sign a former nemesis because he’s had contract troubles with our main division rivals.  Tom Glavine wanted to be a Brave and by all rights, he should have spent those five years with them and not with us.

But he spent those years with us.  And although people have a hard time remembering it because of his last game, he pitched pretty well for the Mets, and he gave us some great games and some solid, inspiring, paternal leadership.  I will never forget the last game of the 2007 season, but I will also always remember the shutout he pitched against the Dodgers in the 2006 NLDS and the exhilarating opening game of the 2006 NLCS against the Cardinals.  His 300th win was a thrill too.  And whenever I watch my tape of the 2006 clubhouse after the clinching (perhaps the best Mets moment of the century so far) I see how important Tom Glavine was to that team that lifted us up so high. 

Thanks, Tom.  It was real.

The Mets have the flu.  Have you heard?  It’s probably the swine flu.  They were 19-9 in May.  But May is over.  It’s June and they’re gonna die. They just lost two really bad games to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Nothing like this has ever happened before in all the annals of recorded history.

Beltran is probably out for the season.  And so is Reyes.  And Omir Santos is not really Johnny Bench and Gary Sheffield is not really Gary Sheffield.  Putz is no good.  I hear Bobby Valentine may be available soon.  That’s a relief because Jerry Manuel’s no good.  Look at what just happened.

It’s just like last year.  The bullpen gives games away.  And even Santana now has an ERA around 2 or something.  Wright is 2 for 22?  The bum.  Nobody has hit a home run since the days of Dave Kingman.

The Phillies are pulling ahead.  They’re two games up on us now.  Omar has to do something.  He needs to trade some of our minor leaguers and backup guys for a first-base or outfield-playing slugger.  That’s the ticket. 

We have no time to lose.  If we wait too much longer we’ll be so far behind the Phillies we’ll never catch up.  You have to remember that we’re going to play the Phillies and the Yankees in succession.  How can we beat them if we have NO OFFENSE AT ALL!  

There’s a flu going around all right.  But it’s not in the stomach.  It’s in the head.