Professional Chokers

As Alex Rodriguez popped up to seemingly end game 1 of the subway series, the Mets thought nothing could go wrong.

The ball looked to be a routine catch for Luis Castillo. Rodriquez slammed his bat to the ground and Yankee fans were getting ready to head for the exits at the new Yankee Stadium.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Castillo dropped the ball, bringing home Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira (already on base at the time) giving the Yankees a 9-8 win.

This was just another pitiful chapter for Mets, who have found ways to break fans hearts the past three seasons.

Blowing a seven game lead with just 17 games to go in 2007, the New York Mets orchestrated one of the biggest collapses in major league baseball history.

Then in 2008, the Mets collapsed again, losing the division and wildcard births on the last day at Shea Stadium, in front of a sold out crowd.

This year has brought Mets fans much of the same misery. When Ryan Church missed third base as the winning run, which instead resulted in a loss earlier this season, fans thought nothing could match that.

Blowing two straight games in late innings to the Phillies and Castillo's error last night, gave Church his match.

As a Mets fan, I find it hard to even sit through a game right now. For the past three seasons the Mets have lacked the consistency of being able to put games away. Even with the addition of Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets have still lost nine games when tied or winning going into the 8th inning this season, despite K-Rod being 16 for 16 in save situations before last night.

The lack of fundamentals on this team is something I've never seen before. Whether it's missing bases, dropping routine plays, misplaying balls or balks, their fundamentals look more like a little league team then a professional.

It's not time to start blaming Jerry Manuel, but something needs to change.

Omar Minaya has tried to establish a winning ball club, but instead hes built a team of mostly Latinos that lack the edge to win a championship. He has built a team that looks good on paper, but just doesn't win. They are missing the "killer instinct". With the exception of a few stand outs (K-Rod, Johan), I don't really see much of a competitive ego on this team. Even David Wright and Jose Reyes, seem to falter when the Mets need them most. In order for this team to do anything this season, Jerry needs to find a way to "fire up the troops".

Injuries have been rough on the Mets this year, giving the team some optimism, if they can keep themselves in the division hunt till August. By that time, they will have a healthy Carlos Delgado, J.J. Putz, Billy Wanger, and if all goes right an improved Oliver Perez. This will solve not only the home run problems (the Mets are currently ranked 29 in dingers), but will give them arguably the best 7th,8th,9th inning combination in baseball. The Mets are not a bad team, they have the talent, it's just a matter of if they can play with a competitive edge.

I think mentally, ever since they collapsed two seasons ago, they have lacked the confidence to win games.

The Mets have been given the reputation by the rest of the league as chokers, publicly by rival pitcher Cole Hamels. After all the things that have happened the past three seasons, I think it's fair to say the Mets are the biggest chokers in any professional sport.

Back to the game, a few things really bothered me.

For one, the Yankees reaction was ridiculous. For them to come out and commend A-Rod like he actually did something was foolish. If anyone, Tex should of been commended for hustling even when the game looked to be over.

Two, what was Ryan Church doing? Church, was coming in full charge at a ball that was all Castillo's. I am not here to try and play the blame game, Castillo blew it, but Church running in could definitely cause a distraction.

Lastly, why did Castillo throw to second? What good is going to happen from throwing the ball to second? Even if A-Rod turns first, Tex would have scored before the tag anyway. It made no sense at all.

For Mets fans everywhere, we can enjoy being the laughing stock of baseball until we figure out how to win games. For now, we can only hope things turn around for what should have been a promising season.