The Mets almost always pass the first test. They won another house opener on Friday, a 10-3 rout Citi Field on the sun-bathed Arizona Diamondbacks. This is their 61st season and 40th time they have won home games.
This corresponds to the Mets’ winning percentage of .656 in their annual promotion to New York fans. The win percentage in all other games is 0.479. First impressions don’t always hold.
But this time things might really be different. The Mets hold the record for best in the major leagues, 6-2. They’re missing a two-time Cy Young Award winner, injured Jacob deGrom, still beginners have a 1.32 earned run average. They lost two days of outfielders to the Covid-19 casualty list on Friday and still beat the poor Diamondbacks.
“Today is a great day to be the New York Met,” said Francisco Lindor, who hadn’t had enough great days last year in his tough first season with the team. Lindor threw three runs on Friday, walked twice, stole a base and slammed his second and third home runs of the season. His third homer in 2021 didn’t arrive until May 15, and he had a well under 200 batting average by June.
For the Mets and their fans, Friday was a chance to believe in how the organization could be at its best. mets finally honored Tom SeaverHe passed away in 2020 with the statue he deserved years ago: a 10-foot-tall monument by The Franchise. Think now and forever of all the parents and grandparents who might cite the mechanics of a master as the definition of drop and drive.
The statue by William Behrends stands near the entrance to the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the grand entrance to the basketball court that Fred Wilpon built. Hit the Wilpons all you want, ignoring the Mets’ history when the stadium opened in 2009, but they realized that respect for Robinson would exceed team loyalty.
Evocative of Ebbets Field, the images inside the rotunda are a powerful and lasting reminder of the most important person in baseball history. Over 75th anniversary of Robinson’s debut Brooklyn scored the first points of the day with a player for him, Robinson Canó.
Wearing the size 42 as all players do once a year to mark the moment when the color line drops, Canó is a troubled torchbearer. returning this season after being suspended for one year for another failed test for performance-enhancing drugs. But the Mets were delighted to have him on the roster on Friday when Mark Canha and Brandon Nimmo were unavailable.
Despite being said to be asymptomatic, both players have tested positive for coronavirus – as did bench coach Glenn Sherlock. Canha is fully infused and empowered and Nimmo has not disclosed her status. A player may return earlier than 10 days with two negative PCR tests, but vaccinated players are usually cleared to return faster than unvaccinated.
“Leave baseball, it’s just a part of life in the 2020s,” said manager Buck Showalter.
Without Canha and Nimmo, Showalter gave Jeff McNeil his third start in left court and placed Canó in second place. Travis Jankowski, who starred at Stony Brook University ten years ago, got his start in midfield and has singles out three times. Starling Marte got her usual start right and did it all: a steal, a homer, two singles and three runs.
The Mets signed Marte for four years and $78 million as part of Steven A. Cohen’s pre-lockout expenses. It was a lot of money for a 33-year-old actor who relied on his legs and was once suspended for performance-enhancing drugs, but it was now in line with Cohen’s mission to win.
The Mets’ opening-day squad was the oldest of the majors with an average age of 31.3, but they play with a youthful spirit; Marte, who loves cartoons, wears a sparkly Mickey Mouse pendant. She looks excited with her new surroundings.
“We always help each other,” Marte said through a translator. “After a hit, a guy will come and point at me, or I will point to someone else. But it’s really special to have guys with such different experience levels to be able to contribute and be willing to help each other.”
Marte, who finished last season with Oakland, wasn’t the only 33-year-old to fall into the cost-cutting A team Flushing. Starter Chris Bassitt took six strong hits on Friday and won for the second time this season.
For old-timers, it reminded me of the shooting streak of Seaver’s final opening performance in New York: a six-shot dash against the Philadelphia Phillies to kick off the 1983 season. That season ended badly for the Mets, who finished last and then lost Seaver to the Chicago White Sox when they failed to protect him in the free agency compensation draft.
Now the biggest Met is at home – forever, with bronze, a throwback to the team’s glory days in an afternoon that promised more to come.