I completely understand if you don’t want to read this. It was painful to write. But, as I have done since 2006, I felt it was my duty to review 2009, a most forgettable season.
70 wins and 92 losses is not what Mets fans expected back on April 6th, the day the 2009 season began. It is especially disappointing considering the Mets addressed their bullpen woes from a year ago by acquiring both J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez as setup man and closer. After that first game in Cincinnati ended and the Mets behind Johan Santana came away the victor, hope was running high. But when that first road trip ended at 3-3, some doubt became apparent as the Mets returned home to open brand new Citi Field.
It was a three year wait for the new ballpark whose construction began in earnest in late summer of 2006, the last time the Mets made the playoffs. After the hoopla and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown, the first of a series of omens occurred that gave pause.
Mike Pelfrey was on the mound to face San Diego batter Jody Garrut, the first batter in Citi Field history. The left handed hitting Garrut pulled a drive down the right field line for a home run to inaugurate Citi Field. At that moment I began to wonder. Could this be a sign that perhaps this year may not go the way we had hoped.
Later that game, Pelfrey stumbled and fell off the mound in comical fashion. In the end, ex-Met Heath Bell recorded the save for San Diego spoiling the party.
The Mets picked up their first Citi Field victory two nights later but lost the series to the Padres. The Mets split their first home stand and left for the road with a 6-6 record. At the end of April the Mets were an unimpressive 9-12. Mets fans were wondering what was wrong.
One thing that was wrong was Oliver Perez. The Mets resigned Perez to a three year 36 million dollar contract. The lefty showed up to spring training after the WBC out of shape. He struggled through the month of April and was put on the disabled list in early May with tendinitis in his left knee. Also, Tim Redding, who was signed as a free agent, was out since spring training with shoulder tendonitis.
Things were looking up however as the Mets won seven in a row at the beginning of May. Heading to the west coast the Mets found themselves in first place a game ahead of the Phillies. Another omen occurred during the plane ride to San Francisco when Jose Reyes suffered some sort of injury to his calf. He had to be scratched from the lineup the next day. What happened on that plane is still a mystery.
Alex Cora filled in at short as the Mets took the first three of four games against the Giants. The Mets were shut out by Matt Cain in the final game. Jose Reyes missed the entire series.
Another problem was fast becoming apparent. Already out of action, Carlos Delgado went on the disabled list with soreness in his right hip, the same soreness that caused him to miss time in 2008. Alex Cora, the Mets primary infield backup, also went on the DL. He tore a tendon in his right thumb sliding into second during the last game at San Francisco. Injuries were becoming alarming and beginning to mount.
Yet another omen of things to come occurred the next evening in Los Angeles. Reyes would miss his fifth consecutive game and now Delgado and Cora were not available either. But the real story of this game occurred in extra innings when the Mets made another dubious statement.
With the score tied in the 11th inning, Ryan Church scored the go ahead run with two outs. Ah, but it turns out the former Mets right fielder never touched third base. The Dodgers won the appeal and the run did not count. On a throwing error in the bottom of the 11th, the Dodgers won the game 3-2.
Jose Reyes returned to the lineup the next day, the same day that Carlos Delgado had surgery to repair his ailing hip. Delgado’s recovery was set to last ten weeks, but Delgado would not return the rest of the season.
In Reyes’s second at bat, he felt something pull in his right hamstring while running to first. Reyes left the game and like Delgaod, was not seen the rest of the season. Of course at the time, the Mets and their fans did not know the injury was so devastating. Reyes was eventually put on the disabled list and will now, some four months later, undergo surgery to clean out scar tissue that’s been causing him pain.
After the Dodgers swept the series, the Mets were off to Boston for the first inter-league meeting of the season. Based on the injuries to key players and poor play in Los Angeles, most felt the Red Sox would mop the floor with the Mets. Surprisingly, the Mets won the series winning two of three including an incredible game on Saturday evening, the 23rd of May.
With the Mets down to their last strike trailing by one run, Omir Santos hit a ball that appeared to be a two run homer as it hit off the top of the Green Monster. At first, it was called a double. But after a 10 minute review by the umpires, the call was overturned and the Mets took the lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. A spectacular play by Luis Castillo saved the game for the Mets who held on to win. The game was one of the few highlights of the season. The Mets went on to win five of seven ending the month of May.
On May 31st, the Mets were 28-21, one half game behind the Phillies. The Mets finished the month of May with a record of 19-9. Even with Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado out of the lineup, there was still reason to believe the Mets would contend for the division title. After all, it was assumed those players would be coming back.
But the Mets got off to a bad start in June. They traveled to Pittsburgh where the Pirates swept three games of a rain shortened series with Mets injuries continuing to mount. Ryan Church was placed on the DL with a sore right hamstring. Angel Pagan was placed on the DL with a groin pull. Carlos Beltran and John Maine missed time with severe stomach flu. Gary Sheffield was listed day to day with a sore hamstring. But the biggest news was that J.J. Putz needed surgery for bone spurs in his right elbow and would miss two months of the season.
The off season plan had been that J.J. Putz, a successful closer with Seattle, would set up former Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. The formula worked a number of times but Putz began to be vulnerable giving up big hits in key situations. He had complained of discomfort for a while but the Mets encouraged him to pitch through the pain. Eventually the pain was too much and the surgery became necessary. Unfortunately, like Delgado and Reyes, Putz never returned either.
After the Pirates sweep, the Mets managed a 3-3 record over the next six games before they traveled to the new Yankee Stadium for the first game of the 2009 Subway Series.
Perhaps this was the game that defined the Mets season. The Mets were without two of their core star players. It was becoming obvious that the Mets were starting to struggle.
On a rainy Friday evening, June 12th, the Mets and Yankees played a see-saw affair with the Yankees getting off to an early 1-0 lead. The Mets went ahead 2-1 in the third but in the bottom half the Yankees went ahead 3-2. The Mets scored four in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead but the Yanks scored one in their half and three in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead. With single runs in the 7th and 8th, the Mets took a one run lead into the bottom of the ninth. Francisco Rodriguez had not blown a save all season but got into trouble when Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira reached base. With two on and two out, K-Rod was able to get A-Rod to pop up to second base. But Luis Castillo dropped the popup. Jeter scored the tying run and Mark Teixeira who busted it from first base scored the winning run. It was the most devastating Mets loss in ages. The Mets showed some character the next day and won but it was the only game of the season in which they defeated the Yankees.
Oh, did I mention that John Maine was now on the DL too. He went down with shoulder fatigue. Mets players were dropping like flies. And to add injury to insult, Carlos Beltran was suffering from a sore right knee. It was discovered that he had a severe bruise in the knee and on June 22nd, Beltran was placed on the disabled list. Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and now Beltran were all out of the Mets lineup. The sole core player left was David Wright while healthy, had been struggling with his power all season long.
Wright’s average was high, at times above .350, but his power numbers had dropped significantly. Were the huge dimensions of Citi Field in his head? If that was true, then they were affecting his abilities on the road as well.
Everything the Mets did right in May they undid in June. The Mets finished the month with a 9-18 record. Certainly the injuries were the cause of the problem but poor fundamental play also contributed. At the end of the month the Mets had dropped to two games below .500, were in third place, but still only three games back.
In early July, the Mets were swept in a three game set at Philadelphia. Afterwards they managed a 3-3 record at Citi Field heading into the All Star Break. At the break the Mets had sunk to fourth place 6.5 games back of Philly with a record of 42-45.
On the injury front, Fernando Martinez who came up and played admirably in place of Church and Beltran was placed on the disabled list in July with inflammation in his knee. Pitcher Fernando Nieve, who pitched marvelously covering for Oliver Perez, tore a muscle in this right thigh running to first base on July 18th and is placed on the 60 day DL. Gary Sheffield was put on the DL as well with that nagging hamstring injury. It seemed the Mets had more players on the DL than on the team.
On a positive note, Omar Minaya made a trade that could turn out to be a good one. He swapped outfielder Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur from Atlanta. Both outfielders were struggling and Church apparently wore out his welcome mat with manager Jerry Manuel. Francoeur played wonderfully for the Mets while Church played about the same for the Braves.
Back on the field, the Mets played well against Colorado at Citi Field, winning three of four, to end the month of July. However, the Mets would need a remarkable final two months of the season to make a run at the playoffs, a seemingly improbable feat.
It was hoped that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran would have returned shortly after the All Star break. That did not happen. In fact at the beginning of August, they still were not back and neither was Carlos Delgado. On August 4th, Luis Castillo fell down the dugout stairs at Citi Field and had to leave the game with a sprained ankle. You just could not make this stuff up. With all the injuries and misfortune, some were beginning to wonder if Citi Field had been constructed on consecrated ground perhaps upsetting a few ghosts.
The next day, August 5th, young pitcher Jonathan Neise who showed so much promise, completely tore his hamstring from the bone and collapsed on the mound. He had just stretched at first covering the bag and came up limping. Insisting on taking a warm up pitch, Neise fell to the ground ending his season and heading for surgery.
On the field, the Mets were playing dreadfully. They lost nine of the first twelve games of August. Then on August 15th, the face of the franchise, David Wright, was drilled in the helmet by a Matt Cain fastball. It was the first time in the third baseman’s career he went on the disabled list.
Alex Cora, who played so gallantly with a torn tendon in his right thumb, had to call it quits in the middle of the month because he needed surgery on both thumbs. On August 24th, Jeff Francouer tore a ligament in his thumb but continued to play. The icing on the cake occurred the next day when it was revealed that ace pitcher Johan Santana would need season ending surgery on his pitching elbow to clean out bone chips. Not enough bad news? Oliver Perez also would get surgery on his patella tendon.
Not surprisingly, the Mets finished August 10-19. Carlos Beltran and David Wright finally did return to action but with the pitching staff made up mostly of youngsters and retreads the Mets could just not compete to even be a decent spoiler. They did take two of three against the Marlins in September to at least get some payback from the previous two seasons. The losses for Florida virtually eliminated them from wild card contention. Another positive, though a small one, was the Mets played 1.000 ball in October sweeping the Astros to end the season.
All in all, it was a season to forget completely. Unfortunately there are so many questions going into 2010, it’s hard to have a positive outlook.
On Monday, the day after the season, Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, and David Howard appeared on Mike Francesa’s radio program for an hour and a half. They said all the right things. They did not use injuries as an excuse. But of course the injuries were a big part of what went wrong in 2009. Collectively, Mets players were on the DL for over 1400 days, far more than any other team. Plus, injuries were to key players, not just to backups. The starting rotation envisioned at the beginning of the season was nowhere to be seen at the end. Give Mike Pelfrey credit. At least he was around for most of the year only missing some time in April. Unfortunately, his performance was not what it was a year ago.
The Mets have much to figure out over the off season. They must do something to change the dynamic of the Mets. Fans are fed up. They will not be breaking the gates down to get in next season. Mets fans watched the cross town rivals inaugurate their new ballpark with a championship season. Mets fans want the same. They will be watching closely over the winter.
