For Mets fans, despair -- then hope

A week has passed since the Kansas City Royals defeated the Mets in the World Series.

Being an avid Mets fan has made the days after very difficult. Not only am I in mourning (maybe Hallmark should develop a line of sympathy cards to send to fans whose teams have lost), but I also have to console friends and family, some of whom are grief-stricken.

The worst is my 11-year-old grandson, Drew, of Port Washington, who is totally devoted to the Mets and declared at age 5 that he was "a fan for life." He's angry.

"Don't talk to me about it!" he barks.

Trying to avoid any references to the Series, he has stopped tuning in to ESPN and MLB networks. Usually a daily reader of the sports pages, he has abandoned them, too. Who knows how long he'll stay this way?

My wife, Louise, presents a different picture. Her only interest in sports derives from the fact that many family members have favorite teams. She hates to see us depressed. But it's clear she was paying close attention to the Series -- and that she is also hurting over how the Mets "gave away" some of the games to Kansas City.

"It's not so much that they lost," she says, "but the way they lost. Their relievers are awful, their fielding stinks. They're like the Mets of old, always doing something stupid so that they lose."

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One of my daughters, Sari, Drew's mom, insists the Mets remind her of borderline personality types who endear themselves at first but then pull the rug out from under and turn against you. "They don't deserve to win," she says.

My friend Don from Rockville Centre laments the fact that the Royals won at Citi Field. "I feel violated to see those guys celebrating on our field," he growls, "sticking it to us."

My daughter Deborah, also from Port Washington, is one of the most committed Mets fans I know. She thought she'd recover from that addiction when she moved to Chicago several years ago, but became hooked once more after she returned to Long Island about two years ago. The loss hurt bad. But her powers of recovery were quite remarkable. After so many late-night games, she was finally able to get some sleep. Little more than a day after the Series loss, she already had an upbeat narrative.

"They gave away two games," she says, "and don't forget they were ahead in all five of them." And yes, the Royals were a very good team and maybe the Mets had overachieved, i.e., "advanced too much, too quickly."

On the plus side, she says her husband, Tim, who for years barely tolerated her Mets mania, was also swept up by their magical year and seems prepared to sign on as a fan. Whether this is merely a gesture of support or an enduring affiliation, only time will tell.

Then Deborah launches into the refrain well known to baseball fans -- "Wait until next year." She ticks off names of players to keep and those who need to elevate their games. In particular, she says catcher Travis d'Arnaud "has got to throw out runners."

She notes that because the Mets extended their run all the way into November, the long wait for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training is shorter.

Finally, she reminds me whom the Mets play to open the 2016 season -- the Royals in Kansas City!

Revenge is just months away.

Reader Richard Skolnik lives in Rockville Centre.