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June Was Important, July Is The Season
Filed Under (Uncategorized) by madmads86 at 9:05 PM on 07-02-2012
I know there is August and of course, the scary September for the New York Mets, but July looks like the month that can propel the Mets into contenders. June was a tough schedule, and there were plenty of down moments, but somehow, someway, these gritty, scrappy, never say die Mets went 15-13. It’s exactly what I said they had to do to keep a float and they did it.
The Mets have a six game homestand before the All Star break and the end of the first half. Before I get into these next 6 games and the rest of July, I have to comment on what the Mets have done so far this first half of the season. This team was written off by at least 80% of the so called baseball “experts.” They were written off by maybe 60% of their own fans, including me. Fans still are having a tough time believing in this team, as you can see with David Wright not getting enough votes to beat out a guy who has 6 home runs and nickame is Panda Bear.
David Wright is the National League MVP at the moment. Yes Kemp, Votto, Braun, McCutchen, Beltran and Ruiz are having fine years. But David Wright is in the biggest city, on a team branded to be the biggest losers since the 1962 Mets. He has had a struggling Ike Davis, a inconsistent Duda and a veteran Hairston protecting him all year. Wright use to have guys like Delgado, and Beltran protecting him. He was suppose to have Bay helping him out. But without legit help for most of the year, Wright is hitting .354 with a .447 OBP. He has 98 hits, 26 doubles and 9 home runs. Also has 50 RBI, 8 stolen bases, and his strike outs are down. The guy is flat out raking it. He is the MVP, without him, the Mets don’t contend, they don’t matter.
R.A Dickey is obviously the first half Cy Young and could contend for MVP if pitchers ever won that award again. Dickey is 12-1, with a 2.15 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. That’s incredible for a guy who has one pitch and has never been this dominant. He is also second in MLB in strike outs with 116 to Strausburgs 122. He has three complete games, two of them being shut outs. Their is nobody in the National League or American League that is pitching close to what he’s doing. I hope he keeps it up and wins the real Cy Young Award.
And if you can see where I am going, Terry Collins is the Manager of the Year so far. Just remember what I said about the Mets, and where experts and fans had them being. As much as the credit that Wright and Dickey get, Collins deserves much more. The guy has been a terrific manager for this ballclub in these rough times. It’s possible the Mets can falter and become irrelevant. But with Collins leading the way, I highly doubt that. They might not make the playoffs, but they will fight till that last day, I can guarantee that.
So July starts with a 6 game homestand, three with the Phillies and three with the Cubbies. The Mets must go 4-2 and take both series. Not just one. They need to take 2 out of 3 from the Phils, and need to take 2 out of 3 from the Cubbies for revenge from last week. The Mets play 24 games in July, 12 of them against the division. Six of those twelve, are against the first place nationals. So if the Mets want to become true contenders, they must go 14-10, 15-9 this month. It’s a lot to ask for a club with so many apparent flaws. But they have done great so far, they can continue it.
Remember Mets Fans, Ya Gotta Believe!!
