Do you know what the difference is between a very good team and a dominating team is? The Mets right now are a very good team but they are not a dominating team, at least not yet. For them to be a dominating team, every facet of their game must be played at an extremely high level. The only thing keeping them from being a dominant team at the moment, I believe, is their closer Billy Wagner. Billy Wagner is a very good closer but currently he is not a dominating one. Consider that the Mets as of this evening, June 22, are 45 and 27 and are in first place by 10 full games over the second place Philadelphia Phillies. That’s very good but it still isn’t dominating. If this sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not, that is not my intent. In fact I am enjoying this year’s Mets and this season immensely. I enjoyed last season too when the Mets were a good team. Compared to the previous four seasons, last year’s Mets were a joy to watch as they finished above .500 for the first time since 2001. But this year is turning out to be something special. Something happened over the winter, the Mets went from good to very good. And now they are a smidgeon away from being a dominating team.
Let’s get into my New York Mets time machine to prove my point in regards to Mr. Wagner. I have set the controls for April 5th at around 9:45PM. In the top of the ninth with the Mets leading the Washington Nationals 4 to 3, Billy Wagner is on the mound attempting to close out the game and record his second save of the season. Ryan Zimmerman, the first batter to face Wagner, crushes a high fast ball into the loge section down the left field line to tie the game. The Mets go on to lose. Instead of a season record of 2 and 0, the Mets settle for 1 and 1, the last time they were at .500 this season. Let’s move forward to May 20th. The Mets behind Pedro Martinez are in complete control over the Yankees leading 4 to 0. In the 9th inning, Willie Randolph summons Billy Wagner even though it is not a save situation. Wagner completely implodes allowing the Yankees to score 4 runs and tie the game in front of a stunned crowd. The Mets went on to lose 5 to 4 in 10. Now instead of the Mets have a record of 27 and 15, they are 25 and 17 still very good. This game was not one of Billy’s blown saves since he entered the game with a 4 run lead. Let’s now move forward to last evening when the Mets played their brand of very good come from behind baseball as they take a 5 to 4 lead into the ninth inning. Wagner gets two quick outs then gives up two straight walks then a dribbler to Wright to load the bases. Billy works the next batter, Brandon Phillips, down to his last strike but the next pitch ends up in center field ten feet in front of Carlos Beltran. Two runs score and the Mets end up losing the game spoiling a nice comeback of their own and Jose Reyes hitting for the cycle. If the Mets had won last night in combination with the other two blown games, there record tonight would be a dominating 48 wins and 24 losses, a .667 percentage. Instead of a 10 game lead, they would be ahead of
Realistically, no one can be expected to be perfect. Even the great Mariano Rivera has blown a game or two this year, its how these games have been blown. It always seems that Wagner comes into a game where a save should be a sure thing. However, an easy save turns into a seat squirmer or a disaster. Wagner has four blown saves, one more than all of last year. In fairness it should be pointed out that only two of them resulted in losses. But he blew that Yankee game which was not a save situation therefore he is only responsible for three losses. By the way, the 1986 Mets after 72 games had a record of 51 and 21. Pretty dominating don’t you think.
The real point here is that the Mets are a very good team. And a very good team can absorb the kind of gut wrenching loss they suffered last evening. A very good team is capable of going wire to wire and winning their division to get into the playoffs. Once in the post season, it’s a crap shoot but a very good team is capable of winning the World Series. There is a very fine line between the very good and the dominating team. If Mr. Wagner with the help of Rick Peterson can uncover what is causing his erratic performance, the Mets could cross the threshold to domination.
Notes: I said after last night’s loss the Mets would come back. And so they did. Pedro Martinez won his 204th game. He hung in there with less than his usual good stuff only giving up two runs on a day when he seemed to be getting squeezed at the plate. David Wright with two home runs and chants of MVP raining down from the 46,000 plus fans sure helped to take the sting out of last night’s loss.
Now it’s on to
The Mets finish the month of June at home with a record of 4 and 8—not good home cookin’.
