Rieber: Mets fans cautiously optimistic about '10

If optimism abounds on Opening Day, what about the day before Opening Day?

The Mets gave their die-hardest fans a chance to watch a sun-splashed workout at Citi Field Sunday before the season opens Monday against the Marlins. About 5,000 or so fans spread out in the lower level and were treated to batting practice and on-field interviews with key players on the giant scoreboard.

David Wright made the fans happy when he answered the inescapable "any predictions?" question with the uber-optimistic "how about 100 wins?"

Uh, how about 81? That's what many "experts," including this one, are predicting for the 2010 Mets, who are short on pitching and health and long on question marks.

A great season for the Mets would be winning the NL East; a very good season would be winning the wild card; a good season would be 85 wins while breaking in youngsters Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis and Fernando Martinez and going into 2011 as a true threat to the Phillies; a bad season would be a repeat of 2009.

But there's no reason for you to listen to the "experts," including this one. We freely admit the prediction part of the game is not our strong suit. Proof? We thought last year's Mets were going to be a playoff team, not fall to a 70-92 season.

So we set out Sunday to find some true experts - note the lack of quotation marks - outside Citi Field. We walked over to the newly refurbished entrance to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, over by the exit for the subway and LIRR, to seek out the opinions of some Mets fans.

The Mets - who did so many things wrong in Year One of Citi Field - finally have gotten the outside of the building right. Now, when you come out of the train station, you are greeted by the original Home Run Apple, resplendent in all of its papier-mâché, high school home ec class project glory.

We went to The Apple to talk to you, the Mets fan. We figured the season-ticket holders who gave up a gorgeous Easter Sunday to watch BP must be the optimistic kind, right? Most clearly were, because not even the appearances of Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez during the workout brought boos, although manager Jerry Manuel got a few when he was announced.

(The most boos, by the way, were for Smithtown's Frank Catalanotto when he revealed he grew up as a Yankees fan. Welcome to Queens, Frank.)

The first fans we found near The Apple were Donald Shortell, 63, of Wantagh and his nephew, Chris Shortell, 38, of Valley Stream. Partial season-ticket holders who you'd expect to see the world through orange-and-blue-colored glasses.

But Donald and Chris told it like it is - not like they'd like it to be. They've already voted for this team with their checkbooks, and they are hoping for the best, but . . .

"I think the pitching staff still needs a lot of work," Donald said.

"I think they'd be lucky to get out of third place," Chris said. "They didn't do enough in the offseason."

There you have it. We could give you stats and charts and graphs and quotes, and none of it would sum things up as well as these two legitimate experts did.

Maybe that's why the cheers from Sunday might not last that long into 2010. The players know that.

Jeff Francoeur was asked how he thinks fans will greet the team Monday, when optimism could start to be replaced by reality.

"I would imagine it'll be a great reception to start off," he said. "After the first pitch, it could be different."