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Underachieving Mets aren't boasting anymore

Wallace Matthews

March 4, 2008

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Last year, the Mets were so confident about assuming their rightful place atop the baseball world, they adopted the marketing slogan "Your Season Has Come."

The slogan was presumptuous at best, arrogant and .irritating at worst. And by the time the 2007 Mets completed the most ignominious regular-season collapse in the history of sports, it had become an .embarrassment.

So this year, wisely, the Mets' marketing department has put a kibosh on the slogan factory. Or, at least, they aren't telling us yet what the official theme of the 2008 season will be.

In the interest of being helpful, we humbly offer the following suggestions, all of which would look equally fabulous .emblazoned on the top of the home dugout:

Wallace Matthews E-mail | Recent columns

For those who can't help but remember last year's boast: "This Time We Mean It."

For those troubled by the Mets' relative inactivity during the offseason: "One Year Older. One Year Wiser. One Win Better?"

For those who believe all has been cured by the acquisition of Johan Santana: "We're Gonna Change Our Evil Ways."

For those who subscribe to the "baseball is a crapshoot" school of thought (and occasionally buy a lottery ticket): "Hey, Ya Never Know!"

For those who are old enough to remember both the '86 Mets and Agent 86, Maxwell Smart: "Missed It By That Much ... "

For those who want to stick it right back in the face of Jimmy Rollins: "The Team to Beat in the NL East, Again and Again and Again ... "

For those who don't take any of this too seriously and wish to put it in its proper perspective: "Hey, It's Only a Game."

For those who want to pay dual homage to the final season at Shea Stadium and the final days of the Willets Point Iron Triangle: "Welcome to the Junkyard."

For those who wish to send a greeting to the never-ending stream of passengers leaving from and arriving at LaGuardia Airport: "Welcome to Flyover Country."

For those already looking ahead to 2009: "The Grass Will Be Greener at Citi Field."

For those who remember when the Mets truly were a young, up-and-coming ballclub with a slogan to match: "Bring Your Old Man to See Our Old Men."

For those who are dragging their feet on paying this year's 20 percent price increase: "Your Season Is Gone."

For those who insist on hearing truth from their favorite team, no matter how brutal or insulting it may be: "Our Team. Our Time. Your Money."

For those who take comfort in small favors and persist in viewing the Mets as the little brother in town: "At Least We're Not the Yankees."

And for those who wish to remain eternally optimistic while channeling the spirit of the Brooklyn Dodgers, there's always "Wait Till Next Year," a truly evergreen slogan if ever there was one.

There's no sense in going with something as boastful and contemptuous of the realities of baseball as last year's slogan, because right now, it is tough to read how good this Mets team is going to be. Aside from Santana, Jose Reyes and David Wright, the roster is aging and lacks depth. Have we seen the best of Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez and Billy Wagner? Probably so, and it hasn't been good enough.

So far, this incarnation of the Mets, this $145-million boondoggle, hasn't been nearly as good as it was supposed to be, and you get the feeling that if they don't get to the World Series this year, their window is slamming shut on their fingers. By next year, along with a new ballpark, you'll probably see a new leftfielder, a new first baseman, a couple of new starting pitchers and perhaps a new closer, even though the old one still would have another season left on his contract.

You also might see a new manager and/or a new GM.

If they don't get it done this year, the Wilpons might as well start tearing down the roster along with the old stadium.

For their own self-esteem, the players must pretend the end of last season never happened, but that doesn't mean you have to, or should. It happened, all right, and most of the culprits are back.

It wasn't like the Yankees, who had to scrap and scramble to make the playoffs, only to come up empty in the first round. These Mets, with nothing between them and the finish line, tripped over a pebble in their path and couldn't get back up. Can the addition of Santana, who can help out only once every five days, really cure all that ailed the 2007 Mets, the failures of heart and discipline and character?

I know, I know, it's too early for such pessimism before a game has been played, a pitch has been thrown. But that's been the problem with these Mets all along. It's always too early to criticize, too early to question, too early to panic. Except, of course, when it's too late.

So for those of you who just can't forget 2007 and can't bear to suffer through a similar 2008, we offer one last slogan .suggestion: "Wake Me Up When September Ends."