My Rant: The Last Straw With my friends and fellow Mets fans I am always the one known for being too supportive with struggling Mets, I think booing players in no shape or form will help players perform better, But I can’t wait to witness Victor Zambrano’s next start at home, I will get much satisfaction with the sweet serenade of gleeful booing which awaits him.
What does booing really do?
KazMat is a perfect example of how booing will serve no purpose. Omar, the man that resurrected our franchise, has been stuck with Kazmat and his ridiculous salary. It was reported all summer that the Mets were actively trying to deal Kazmat, even offering to pay the majority of his contract, but even the great Omar couldn’t pull it off. The only thing booing Kazmat does is tell management that the fans are not satisfied with his play on the field. But the situation with the amount of money he is getting paid gives the Mets brass no room to maneuver. It would be unheard-of for an organization to have a 10 million dollar man ride the pine. I think it is easy to say, that no matter how much money a ballplayer is making he all in all doesn’t want to “suck”, nobody wants to suck. I feel that we should boo when we see players not giving an all out effort. Throughout Kazmat’s time with the Mets, he has always has put forth effort, he gives it all that he’s got, the problem is he hasn’t got much. Point of notice: - Switched from his natural fielding position (no complains)
- Worked extensively on improving defense (anyone seen his newly added backhand, keeping count, 2 so far)
- His willingness to sacrifice his body for the team(that nasty double-plays where he showed no regard for the charging baserunner)
- The most electrifying play of the year (I am not ashamed to admit it but I was jumping up and down like I was at the track when Kaz was rounding the bases for his record-setting inside-the-parker)
We cannot forget the type of pressure it is for ballplayers to play in New York, the media and fan pressure has been known for folding up players like origami. I see booing hasn’t worked so far, how about we throw Kazmat a changeup and give him a standing “O” for his return home. O, sorry for all that Kazmat stuff, lets get down to the real nitty gritty. I don’t want to call it “magic” but has anyone noticed who that nasty flamethrower named Julio. It can’t be that guy we traded Benson for can it? I know Rick Peterson is a good pitching coach, but if he can put a guy like Julio together he will then raise to another level. I say we can use Julio and Kazmat as measuring sticks to see why Zambrano has to go.
Julio’s limited time with Rick Petersons has made him seem like a new man, Zambrano now has almost 2 years with the magician and still can’t pull himself together. All last year I felt that if they took out Zambrano and Ishii earlier in the year and placed Seo and Heilman the Mets would have ended the Braves silly streak. Zambrano doesn’t seem poised on the mound, he exudes no form of emotion. His inability to focus causes him to walk batters and offer up “fatties” to profession hitters that deposit those mistakes in the seats. Zambrano is going to be 31 this year, his best season was when he went 11-7 with a 4.12 ERA, at best in his career he has been mediocre. He is an old dog, and everyone knows that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, especially if he was traded for Scott Kazmir. I think what it comes down to is pressure and Zambrano’s inability to adjust. Cliché: “baseball is a game of adjustments”, if Zambrano chooses not to change his approach he will surely continue on his gloomy path to failure. It is easy to say that Zambrano is not a New York kind of guy, he felt the pressure from the moment he arrived (Kazmir), but New York is New York, its either you make it or you don’t. I am not talking about baseball alone but life in the big apple all together. I personally see Zambrano as a guy who has not shown any effort to pull himself together. As I said before, nobody wants to “suck”, but Zambrano chooses not to change. Maybe it’s just me but he looks as if he doesn’t care, when he gave up that grandslam today he had no expression on his face. I know many ballplayers don’t ware their heart on their sleeve, but I can’t bare to look at his bland bewildered face anymore. All in all I wish Zambrano luck, but pretty soon he will start to hamper the team, the mindset of most of the players will be a feeling that they are going to lose whenever Zambrano pitches. Today after he gave up that grandslam I went and washed my car, I didn’t want to waste my time with watching the rest of the game. And lets give KAZMAT some home luvin. |
