Saturday, March 29, 2008

Opening Day is Just A Day Away!

Wow - Monday kicks off the 2008 Mets season. I am stunned when I look back and think about the last year for me, personally, since the last time the Mets played an Opening Day. A lot of ups and downs, tons of twists and turns, and more change than you could imagine possible in a year. My wife and I did just about everything you could do in a year. We got a second dog, got pregnant, adopted out said second dog after she relentlessly fought with first dog, sold a house, changed jobs, moved to New Jersey, lived in a hotel for a month, bought a house, and gave birth to our little Mets fan. Somehow in that time period we also managed to squeeze in a planned trip to Mexico and an unplanned trip to Iowa.

And now here we are. Somehow this blog survived through it all (barely), and we're staring straight-faced, just hours away from Jose Reyes stepping into the batters box to start the new season, with none other than Johan Santana making the Opening Day start. My first season back in the Northeast, and the Mets' last at Shea. Spectacular.

There's been a lot of dismay expressed by Mets fans lately, over El Duque and Fernando Tatis making the roster over Ruben Gotay and Mike Pelfrey, respectively, and to that I say this: A March where our biggest gripes are the identities of the fifth starter and the sixth infielder is a very fine month indeed. So Gotay is now a Brave? Meh. Could that "come back to bite us," as many fans and reportedly one Met expressed? Perhaps. But not every Met that goes to the Braves is Matt Franco. Some of them are Todd Pratt. And Pelfrey needs to grow a pair before he can pitch every fifth with the big club.

Is the team perfect? No. But perfect is what the New England Patriots were. At least before my son was born during halftime on February 3rd.

Lets Go Mets!