No matter how ugly it got or who was or wasn’t in the lineup for the Phillies, the Mets won 2 out of 3, plain and simple. As I like to say, that game had Mets written all over it.

Aaron Heilman is giving me heart palpitations. He now has given up 2 runs in each of his three outings. Also the Mets had many opportunities to score runs and put the game away but didn’t. Never the less, the Mets are now 4-4 and at least are headed in the right direction.

It was good to see Scott Schoeneweis perform so well. I hope the cheering continues for him. In fact, I wish the cheering would continue for the whole team. I can’t help but wonder how much pressure we, as fans, are pouring on the Mets. You may argue that we have the right to do so because of the exorbitant prices we pay at the gate and concession stands. Also because of what they did to us last September, why shouldn’t we boo? It’s hard for me to argue but at least I can ask the questions—what is our investment in this team? Do we want them to succeed or do we simply enjoy the act of tormenting and ridiculing? I think someone like Joe Benigno has an inherent trait in enjoying misery. He is always complaining, always seeing the glass half empty. As if his world rests on what the Mets/Jets do on any given day. Unfortunately, he speaks for many Mets fans.

Take money out of the equation. Just because ball players make huge dollars doesn’t mean they can never have slumps. How do you think the Mets would respond to unconditional support? Do you think they would relax knowing that when they fail the fans would still be cheering? Do you think in that paradigm they might perform even better in the clutch? Maybe all the booing, since last season, is the reason why the Mets have played better on the road than at Shea.

The old adage in baseball says that as a batter, if you fail 7 out of 10 times the Hall of Fame beckons. A great baseball team still may lose 60 to 70 games in a single season. There never has been an undefeated baseball team in history. If you read the ticket stub carefully you will not see any print stating that a win is guaranteed. Baseball really is a game of futility and failure even for the winners.

Suppose you are a player in another organization with talent and eligible for free agency. You think about playing for the Mets but in doing so you list the pluses and minuses. I hate to say it but we Mets fans would likely make the minuses list.

If any Mets player reads this, here’s what I want them to know. We love you guys. We root for you to win. Our booing and bad manors really say more about us than it does about you. Understand that we are nothing more than an extension of your frustration. I’ve heard many a Mets player say, when asked about the fans, that they don’t let the booing bother them. They just go out and do the best they can to win. I hope that’s true. I would hate to believe that I was partly responsible for their failure. The Mets are 4-4. It hasn’t been the most stellar of beginnings. But it’s only been 8 games. We need to collectively lighten up, myself included.