They Will Never Let You Quit

The ninth inning was a model of the Mets season. It started off with a quick out. But it got interesting after that. There was a wild pitch after a couple of hits, a couple of ill-timed walks, a long at-bat resulting in a pop out and it all eventually resulted in a Mets victory. Some were preparing to throw in the towel. Accept this as another blown save from Frank Francisco. Luckily, it never came to that.

This season, and especially the recent stretch of alternating series sweeps, has tested the Mets. Interleague plate is going to be tough no matter what, yet the Mets have swept the Rays and Orioles. However, both of the sweeps have come right after the Mets have been swept, first by the Yankees and then by the Reds. Both times the Mets were swept people questioned whether we had witnessed the downturn of the season. On the other hand, with both sweeps, the Mets have shown people they can fight with the big boys.

One way to look at the alternating sweeps as inconsistency. Another way to look at the sweeps is as resiliency. I see them as resiliency. The Mets are not going to beat every team in the league and they don't have to. The ability to come back from tough losses is not something every young team has. It is awesome that this team has it. If Kirk Nieuwenhuis strikes out a few times in one game, he will come back the next day and get two hits. If the defense decides to disappear behind Bobby Parnell for like a week, next time he'll strike out the side and wait for the his infielders to come back from the dead.

This team fights. They don't get too down after losses and they don't let one series win mean they've proven themselves for the season. Terry Collins deserves credit for sticking with his guns and not letting this team get ahead of itself. He doesn't give up when a reliever has a rough game or two or three and he gives every young player the opportunity to succeed.

These players never quit, therefore the fans cannot quit. Even when the team seems to have hit rock bottom they pop back up and are back on their game in the blink of an eye. It makes the season interesting and fun.

Let's Go Mets!