Be Cool

It's frustrating. You can't even blame this loss entirely on Victor Zambrano. The weasel greased himself into another start I'm sure, even after making a throwing error and screwing up a sac bunt attempt. The problem is, he's not the only problem. He's not the only one stranding runners and making throwing errors. He's certainly not the one striking out eight times in the last seven days. The Mets seem to be having a teamwide meltdown, and something has to be done to stop it. I, as always, have a suggestion.

We have at least one thing going for us this Thursday in Florida: Kris Benson, who seems to be every inch the stud the Mets front office made him out to be last year. It is my hope his confidence on the mound will seep into the psyches of the rest of the guys on the field, and in the dugout.

I think the lesson our guys could learn from Kris is to stay cool. Throwing errors happen, balls get booted, overanxious batters swing wildly at bad pitches, or at first pitches in crucial late game situations with the bases loaded, grounding into rally-killing inning-ending double plays when just a little patience working the count might be the right approach (YES I AM TALKING TO YOU JOSE REYES). Patience does not neuter aggresion; it merely directs it.

The bottom line here boys is that you've all gotten yourselves overly amped up, and when that happens, you lose the mental game. And when you lose the mental game, everything turns to crap.

As the great Stephen Sondheim once wrote:

Boy, boy, crazy boy,
Get cool, boy!
Got a rocket in your pocket,
Keep coolly cool, boy!
Don't get hot,
'Cause man, you got
Some high times ahead.

Now, take a deep breath, and exhale the memory of the last seven days from your minds, and go play the game you love.