Early this spring I spent $400 on a new DVD player from Sony.  I was told that the reason it was so expensive was because it was very good and far superior to the other DVD players on the market.  As a loyal consumer of Sony products, I decided that I would support Sony, pay the extra money and look forward to enjoying a superior product. 

However, the DVD player stinks.  It is unpredictable in its functionality; at times it appears to mock me with its failure to operate properly, and many of the features that I paid extra for quite simply do not work. 

While my new DVD player is not a person, it also seems to have a tangible "I-don't-give-a-shit" attitude.

Accordingly, I brought the machine back to the Sony store and voiced my displeasure.  To my surprise I was told to shut up and support the brand name.  Then the store manager called me a piece of shit. 

Wow! 

If this story seems unbelievable it's probably because it isn't true.  After all, no respectable organization would ever treat its customers with such disdain, except, of course, the New York Mets baseball club.  Because that is precisely what the Mets did this week.  They called their fans a piece of shit - literally!

At some point you have to consider the possibility that the Mets don't particularly like their fans. 

However, before we explore recent events - such as the new Mets Manager, Jerry Manuel, calling Met fans pieces of shit, lets look at where this organization has been and, on a macro level, let's consider the monumental F*ck You's that the New York Mets organization has thrown at their fans during my life (starting in 1970):

1971: Nolan Ryan (along with Don Rose, Francisco Estrada, and Leroy Stanton) is traded to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.
1975: Dave Kingman hits 36 homeruns while striking out 153 times and batting .231. It is rumored that he literally told a 12 year old fan to f*ck off when asked for an autograph after he struck out in batting practice before a game.  That's right, he batted .231.
1976: Tug McGraw is traded to the Phillies for Del Unser.
1976: Rusty Staub is traded to the Tigers for Mickey Lolich.  Staub went on to start for the AL All-Star team and finish 3rd in MVP voting the following year.  I can't remember what Mickey Lolich did with the Mets.
1977: Tom Seaver, the most important Met in the history of the franchise is traded to the Reds for Pat Zachery, Doug Flynn and Steve Henderson.
1979: After winning their last 6 games of the year, the Mets avoid a 100 loss season.  They did lose 99 games and for good measure they also had a tie - WTF?
1982-86: By bringing in Loyola College alumnus, Frank Cashen, the Mets become a contender in the 1980s.  In fact, they do everything right and create one of the most talented and charismatic teams in MLB history, culminating in a miraculous World Series Championship in 1986.

Winning a World Series, especially in such dramatic fashion and from such a dominant team (108 regular season wins) seems fantastic and, by every measure, it was.  However, ensuing incomprehensible moves and events lead me to believe that the Mets grew tired of screwing their fans in a conventional way - After all, wouldn't it be far more interesting and painful to give them a taste of greatness before flushing it all away?  Well that's what they did - post-haste.
1987: Mets refuse to sign 1986 World Series MVP Ray Knight.
1989: Two fan favorites and two centerfielders, Dykstra and Mookie are traded for Juan Samuel - a second baseman with no bat.  Dykstra goes to the conference rival Phillies and leads them to the World Series.  How in the world can you trade Lenny Dykstra?   For Samuel?  To the Phillies? And lose Mookie in the same trade just for good measure?  Huh?
1989: Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter are all but cut from the team.
The 1990s:

Strawberry- gone; Gooden - gone; Cone - gone (Cone is traded for porn star impersonator and certified a-hole Jeff Kent); Backman - gone; McDowell - gone; Orosco - gone; Fernandez - gone; Davey Johnson - gone; Mel Stottlemyre - gone; even Mets Broadcaster, Tim McCarver -gone; Mets uniform -gone (replaced with 8 or 9 variations of black); Mets hat - almost gone (They have a black one now too).  

In case you are keeping track of all of this: During the 1990s, the Mets got rid of all of their players, dismissed their winning manager and pitching coach; lost their TV announcer and changed their hats and uniforms.  If that wasn't enough, their best players (Gooden, Strawberry and Cone (along with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre) went on to win a bunch of World Series Rings with the Yankees, and Lenny Dykstra led the conference rival Phillies to a World Series.  

But the 1990s are not just grotesque for whom the Mets abandoned, take a look at who they brought in: Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Tommy Herr, Eddie Murray, Willie Randolph and Hubie Brooks - none of those guys were Mets!  I thought Met fans were supposed to hate Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman and Tommy Herr. WTF?

And this list doesn't include the laundry list of losers that were traipsed before the fans.  Consider Kent, John Franco, Todd Hundley; Lance Johnson, Bernard Gilkey, Butch Huskey, Rey Ordonez, Pete Shoureck, Carlos Baerga, Jeremy Burnitz, blah blah blah...

And what about Future Night at Shea?

If after 1997, you remained a Met fan, you are either a masochist or a moron.  This organization is not like the Jets or the Cubs or, until recently, the Red Sox - in other words, these are likeable teams that try hard, but don't succeed.  The Mets seem to like sticking a thumb in the eye of their fans - which is why I cannot understand how they have any fans.

I've read about women who stay in abusive relationships and I wonder why.  Well, as it turns out there is a psychological affliction called battered wife syndrome that traps these poor souls in these horrendous relationships.  Here is a brief synopsis - see if this doesn't apply to Mets fans:

"Battered Person Syndrome" In lay terms, this is a reference to any person who, because of constant and severe abuse by a partner, becomes depressed and unable to take any independent action that would allow him or her to escape the abuse. The condition explains why abused people often do not seek assistance from others, fight their abuser, or leave the abusive situation. Sufferers have low self-esteem, and often believe that the abuse is their fault. Such persons usually refuse to press criminal charges against their abuser, and refuse all offers of help, often becoming aggressive or abusive to others who attempt to offer assistance. Often sufferers will even seek out their very abuser for comfort shortly after an incident of abuse.

This is text book - I won't do the lifting here, but it takes very little effort to apply each of the components of Battered Person Syndrome to the Mets and their pathetic fans, but I digress.

Let's fast forward to Fathers Day 2008. 

Willie Randolph is hanging on to his job by a thread. The Mets are underachieving and vultures are circling.  Considering that the Mets, for all the drama, had a decent run of series wins over the past few weeks and the upcoming schedule had a holiday double header (at home) followed by a West Coast road trip, it made sense that Willie would get one last shot to turn things around.  Perhaps the All Star Break would be a time for assessment and, if need be, action.  At the very least, if he could get on that plane, he'd have an opportunity to escape to the West Coast for a chance to build something positive.  After all, why would an organization take a man away from his family on Fathers Day and then send him to California if they were going to fire him - that would be cruel and unusual in addition to making no tactical sense. 

Well, we all know what happened.  The Mets let Willie manage the double header against Texas and fly out that night to California for a three game series against the Angels and a West Coast road trip to follow.  The Mets split the double header with Texas and actually win the first game against the Angels.  After the post game press conference, the Mets fire Randolph over the phone at Midnight.  Huh?

If you don't live in New York, you may not appreciate how revered Willie Randolph is around here.  The guy has been a beacon of hard work, success, dedication and humility since 1974.  He had a borderline Hall of Fame career with the Yanks; closed out his playing career with the Mets; he was on the coaching staff for all four of the recent Yankee Championships and has been the Manager of the Mets for 4 years.  If nothing else, the guy deserves some courtesy and some respect.  But he was with the Mets, so he should have known to expect none of that.

On Tuesday, June 17^th, after Randolph is canned over the phone while 3,000 miles from home, bench coach, Jerry Manuel, is named at the Mets new "interim" manager- whatever that is supposed to mean.

Over the next 7 days (leading up to today), the Mets have given us the following:

1.       A losing record (3-4);
2.       A crybaby temper tantrum from Jose Reyes;
3.       A threat to cut Reyes with a knife by Manuel;
4.       A reference to Reyes as a girl by Manuel;
5.       An 11-0 loss to the worst team in baseball;
6.       The ejection of Manuel from a game for arguing balls and strikes (the Mets were losing 5-0 in the fourth); and
7.       A game losing grand-slam given up by Santana to the opposing American League pitcher (the first time this has happened in almost 40 years).

So here is where the Mets stand on June 25, 2008:

During their farewell season in Shea Stadium, the Mets raise ticket prices by 20% to help pay for the highest payroll in the National League.  Today the Mets are in second to last place and seem to be sinking fast.  They are loaded with underachieving, overpaid stars who just don't seem to care.  (Exhibit A is Carlos Delgado: Making $16,000,000.00 this year, he is batting .230 with 11 HRs).

With all of this, the fans are rightly complaining. 

How do the Mets respond to the fans who were charged an additional 20% for tickets to a disgraceful performance?  New interim manager, Jerry Manuel, dismisses them and calls them fertilizer.  In case you didn't know, fertilizer is made from shit.

Let's Go Mets!!!!