Thursday, September 29, 2005

Selling the Sizzle

It's been a lot of fun watching the Mets play consistently winning baseball the past two weeks, and tonight's been no exception--they're up 7-0 over the Rockies as I type. But I had to turn the sound off because the Mets broadcasters were doing nothing but trying to sell tickets for 2006.

Fran Healey: Ralph, when's the last time you saw such a young, exciting Mets team?

Ralph Kiner: The 1968 Mets.

Ok, ok, I get it. This team is young and fun and, yes, full of potential, but let's not lay it on too thick, guys. We're still talking about a team that will certainly fall short of 85 wins. All these big expectations for the coming season remind me of '96 when manager Dallas Green predicted that the Mets would have three pitchers--Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher, and Paul Wilson--win 15 games each. (Note: They pitched a combined 5-12 in '96 and ten seasons later not one of those pitchers has won even a dozen games in one year.)

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