An Open Letter To The New York Mets

Hey Mets. Hey. How're we doing? (Dumb question. You clinched the NL East for the first time since 2006 this weekend. We're all doing pretty fantastic.)

It's probably pretty dumb to be writing a letter thanking you for this 2015 season before the playoffs have even started -- because, knowing you, you could bomb and lose the first three games of the NLDS and that'll be it -- but it's been a long road to this point. A very long road. So I'm going to take advantage of the positivity right now and just go for it.

I've been a fan of yours for the vast majority of my life and, for the vast majority of that time, I've regretted it. There were playoff berths in 1999, 2000 and 2006 (and a trip to the World Series in 2000!)... but that's it. I was so young in '99 and '00 that all I remember is Roger Clemens throwing a splintered bat at Mike Piazza (I still hate him for that).

It's like my brother and I already knew what the future held for our respective teams.

And any good memories from 2006 were completely wiped away by the agony of 2007 and 2008. Remember that, guys?

As a kid, I was fairly content to root for a bad team. I wasn't all that invested. But in 2007 and 2008, I was old enough to be invested and, quite frankly, horrified. I was embarrassed to call myself a Mets fan. That embarrassment endured for years. I have an extensive collection of shirseys from the players of my childhood, but stopped collecting them as my discontent grew. Digging into that pile of t-shirts is like opening a weird time capsule.

A small sample.

When people asked me which baseball team I root for, I answered with, "the Mets, unfortunately." When I moved away from New York to go to college, games were no longer easily accessible and I happily grew more detached. The only thing that kept me invested, honestly, was RA Dickey. But I despised the way the organization treated him, even when he won the Cy Young Award in 2012, and very nearly called it quits when he was traded after that season. (I cried. And I'll always harbor a touch of bitterness about that trade. Sorry.)

I tried to abandon ship. I really did. I hated everything about the Mets franchise and wanted out. I was tired of suffering with no payout, and I went so far as to say "I'm done being a Mets fan." That didn't last, though, and I still found myself getting angry at boneheaded organizational moves, disappointed at losing seasons and attached to the all too likable players taking the field every night. And, yeah, I was bummed when most of them got traded too.

But then 2015 happened. Jacob deGrom was the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year and Juan Lagares was a 2014 Gold Glove winner, and spring training left me with some unprecedented optimism. And that 11-game winning streak at the beginning of the season! Wow! The Mets were the best team in baseball! But this was a .500 team by the All Star break, and things weren't looking much better all through July. Everyone was injured, David Wright with a back condition that many athletes never come back from, and I was fully expecting the Mets to pull a Mets. I'd thrown in the towel and expected absolutely nothing from this season.

But suddenly, the team that was notorious for never making moves... actually made some moves! The roster needed some big bats, so some big bats were acquired. Guys recovered from their injuries and returned to the lineup. Promising prospects were brought up. And the most mind-blowing thing? Everyone was doing what was expected of them. Hitters were hitting. Pitchers were throwing gems. And I had absolutely no idea how to handle the idea that games were suddenly meaningful because the playoffs were an actual possibility. I downloaded the ESPN app just so I could get game updates sent directly to my phone and found myself checking it obsessively. I low-key started keeping an eye on the magic number when it was in the 40s, and started an actual countdown when it reached 10.

It was so great going into work yesterday and getting to cross off 3, 2 and 1. SO GREAT.

It doesn't hurt that the 2015 team is obnoxiously likable, y'know. I mean, just the pitching staff would've been enough to have me hook, line and sinker. The Dark Knight? Thor? deGnome? Bartolo? Check please. I love all of them. But there does not seem to be a bad human being on this team. How did you do that?! How did you do any of this?! How did that bungled Wilmer Flores situation leave us with a folk hero? Where did the rally parakeet come from (and, pray tell, how did it match Yoenis Cespedes's sleeve)? How has this team swept the Nationals TWICE this season, the second time with three late-inning come-from-behind wins? How have Mets fans turned every ballpark around the country into a home ballpark? (Seriously, where did all these fans come from? Was everyone just hibernating because they were as embarrassed as I was?)

I got to be one of those "away" Mets fans when they came to Denver to play the Rockies!

So, even if this season does amount to nothing, I just want to say thanks. Thanks for giving us diehards this beautiful, shining season that feels like lightning in a bottle. It has been more fun than I can even put into words. Who knew that stressing over games with playoff implications was so enjoyable?! Thanks for giving me a team full of wonderful men, and wonderful baseball players, who could win and do it with complete class. Thanks for giving me a team I can be proud of.

Now I don't root for "the Mets, unfortunately." I root for the Mets.

The east is ours. Ya gotta believe. Amazin' again 2015.

Let's keep it rolling.

Five Things That Made Me Happy This Week (And One Confession)

Guys, this has been A Week. You know it's not a good sign when your Monday blog post starts off with you complaining about how tired you are. I spent the whole week stressed at work and didn't go to sleep early enough on a single night (shame on me). Throw in some dreary weather and car repairs, and I am 250% over it. All of it. Come to me, weekend.

Needless to say, I didn't feel inspired (or energized) enough to write what was on my editorial calendar for this week. So in what's become sort of a tradition on these "blah" sort of weeks, I've decided to dust off this old post idea and chat about some things that made me happy!

Five Things That Made Me Happy This Week (And One Confession)

1. My car repairs weren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be! Last week on a rainy day, I went to turn my lights on and nothing happened. I'd had this exact problem almost exactly a year ago, and my mechanic had to replace the whole switch in there. It took several days and several hundred dollars and so much stress, I can't even tell you. So to have no headlights again within a year had me on the verge of crying, I was so frustrated. But lo and behold, the problem ended up being dead lightbulbs. That's it. First of all, how the heck do both headlights die simultaneously? And second of all, this is the first time in the two-year history of my ownership of Buzz that I took him to the mechanic expecting the worst and escaping with something minor. Usually it's the complete opposite; I go in for an oil change and find out he needs new brakes. But this time I had Buzz back later that same morning, saving me hours (and potentially days) of stressing about it. [praise hands emoji]

2. Last Saturday I hosted a (very belated) Passover Seder for a few of my (non-Jewish) friends. I hadn't been planning on celebrating this year, but they requested a Seder. And this same group of people celebrated Chanukah with me back in December. I have non-Jewish friends who go out of their way to celebrate my holidays with me. That is the most amazing thing. (I also cooked everything myself, did so successfully and had everything ready with 10 minutes to spare. Whaaaaat.)

3. Also last Saturday, a TV special on the Miracle on Ice reunion aired. I've been basically dying for footage of the reunion since the moment it ended (over two months ago, omg), and now we FINALLY have some! I also scrounged up a radio show that did a broadcast about the reunion, which has some great audio from the ceremony. So I'm no longer left to reminisce with just my memories, and I can share the joy of what actually happened with whoever wants to experience it! (I may or may not have watched the special and listened to the radio show like three or four times apiece. Don't judge me.)

4. My boss has a lot of faith in me. Which is sometimes kind of terrifying, because sometimes she thinks I'm capable of doing things that I'm not so sure I'm capable of. But it's pretty cool to work for someone who tells me that I'm smart and capable... even if that comes after throwing me into a task that I have no real idea how to tackle.

5. THE METS. Guys. I've been a lifelong fan of this historically terrible team. But right now they have the best record in the entire MLB. They swept a 10-game homestand for the first time in franchise history. They tied the 1986 World Series-winning team with the best start in franchise history. They won 11 games in a row for the first time since 1990. And they've done all of this despite a laundry list of injured players (David Wright included). Holy. What is going on? Who are these people? What has happened to this team that used to roll over and die? Where have all these haters come from? Are there going to be bandwagon fans?

I haven't been this excited about the Mets since 2012, when we had Dickey Day instead of Harvey Day.

And my confession: I literally don't know how to handle rooting for a team that's good. LOL. I got more and more emotional the longer the winning streak went on. I've been tweeting and posting on Tumblr about the Mets nonstop because suddenly it's exciting to be a fan! I can finally be proud of my team! And I'm sorry but I cannot shut up about it! I'm finally excited about watching games because losing isn't all but guaranteed! And even if the Mets are down a few runs, they actually fight back! WOW. All of this is unprecedented. I kid you not. I'm used to being utterly embarrassed by this franchise. I need to get used to this whole "winning" thing. In the meantime I might be really annoying. My apologies. (But of course, I miss all games in the 11-game winning streak, but as soon as I can watch a game, they lose 6-1 to the Yankees. Of course. Of course.)

Hope everyone had a lovely week! :)

Ya Gotta Believe

Well, this is the last day of the Around the Horn linkup. :( I'm pretty bummed about it. I really like having an excuse to talk about baseball. I vote for more sports linkups in the future! Make it happen, blog world!

Anyway, today's prompt is favorite team and a World Series prediction. Unfortunately, I have a very simple answer for that.

Favorite team: Mets.
World Series prediction: Mets.

Remember that time I went to a game and there was a walk-off home run to get the love of my life off the hook for a loss? [praise hands emoji]

BUT let me explain. Well, there's really no explanation for why I'm a Mets fan. That was an accident. My mom is a Mets fan and my dad is a Yankees fan, and when my brother and I were little, he decided to be a Yankees fan. So I decided to be a Mets fan just to make things fair. But really, there's nothing fair about being a Mets fan when you're a kid watching the Yankees win a fistful of World Series rings. (I do, however, have the world's biggest underdog complex, so I wouldn't know what to do with one championship. And apparently fans with low expectations are the happiest. So maybe the Mets and I are a match made in sports heaven even though I really kind of hate them a lot. Go figure.)

The Mets have been pretty terrible for the majority of my life, minus their one World Series appearance in 2000. They lost. To the Yankees. We don't talk about it. Wanna know what else we don't talk about?

It was a very, very dark time.

But an unwritten rule of Mets fandom? Blind, unrelenting, absurd optimism.

See, back in 1973, Tug McGraw screamed "ya gotta believe!" during a locker room speech that sparked a run to the division title. Tack that onto the "Amazin' Mets" of 1969, and at the beginning of every season it's all, "this year is our year!!!!" and "ya gotta believe!!!!" and "amazin' again [insert year]!!!!!" That usually lasts no more than a couple of weeks, because… well, it's the Mets. Let's be real.

But with opening day creeping closer… dare I say that I'm legitimately optimistic about this season? Their record is nothing out of this world (currently 13-10), but all of the wins have felt phenomenal and none of the losses have felt ominous. Plus they've absolutely crushed the Yankees twice in the last few days. Plus they're currently ahead of all other teams in the NL East. Plus…

Who is this team and what have they done with the Mets?

So, hey, amazin' again 2015! And here's an unrelated picture I took of R.A. Dickey back in the good ol' days, because #tbt (and because I love him).

Things That Make Me Charlie White Happy (And Things That Really Don't)

This week beat me, guys. Between (extremely expensive) car problems, all sorts of stressful madness at work, and then another round of (extremely expensive) car problems, by the time Saturday afternoon rolled around I was trying not to burst into tears in the lobby of the auto shop. Granted, if each of these things had happened one at a time, I wouldn't have been nearly as overwhelmed. But all together? Ha, no thanks.

Basically, I've been a giant grumpy ball of stress for the better part of a week now. But I don't want to be a grumpy ball of stress. I want to be Charlie White happy.

Charlie has to be the happiest person on the face of the planet. I mean, look at him. He always has that smile on his face. He's like sunshine condensed into a human being. How do you do that? How are you that happy all the time?

If you're looking at me for an answer... well, I don't have one. But I compiled a list of things that made me Charlie White happy this week, because there are bright spots even on the days in which you spend three hours sitting at the mechanic while your car is being worked on. Siiiigh.

+Free cookies at work. Free stuff is great. Free food is greater. Free junk food is the greatest. I think that's something we can all agree on.

+People offering to help out when I'm carless (before I can even ask). For some reason, I find asking for a ride to be incredibly awkward. Actually, I find asking for favors in general to be incredibly awkward. Maybe the people in my life know this, because I had more ride offers than I know what to do with, and I'm so grateful! Not just that I didn't have to ask, but that people want to help me in my hour day(s) of need. :)

+Going to lunch with a friend and (finally!) hearing his Sochi stories. I do love me some good behind-the-scenes Olympic tales! And it doesn't hurt that the friend in question is an A+ human being.

+Treating myself. I couldn't even remember the last time I bought something frivolous for myself before last weekend. But I randomly decided to treat myself to a couple of books and a movie, and that was an excellent life choice. Especially when the movie showed up at my apartment with this!

+Going to sleep earlier than I thought I'd be able to. *heavenly chorus*

+People complimenting my blog. Seriously, if you want to make me really happy (and simultaneously kind of uncomfortable), talk to me about my blog.

+Getting Buzz back from the mechanic a day earlier than expected. YES. The cost also wasn't quite as high as the worst case scenario I was given, so that was a smidgen of relief as well.

+Having amazing friends who make me feel better about all the suck, from clear across the country. There is honestly nothing like getting texts that say a) "do I have to come kill someone for you?" and b) "we'll take good care of you if you ever need a vacation away from it all." Are they not the greatest? :)

+Crossing an item off my Olympic bucket list. LOOK, I can name every Olympic host city by year! (Don't judge.)

Now, you'll have to take my word for it that I didn't cheat. I didn't study, either. I just randomly decided to see how many I could remember (because that's where my mind goes when it's idle, apparently), and realized I was there. Woohoo!

+Spring has finally sprung in Colorado. I say this with extreme reservation, as it snowed on Wednesday morning. But it's supposed to be 80 degrees today, so we can call that spring, right?

+Going to see the Rockies play the Mets. I've been wanting to go to a Rockies game for, like, a year now. So when the Mets finally came to town, the situation was too perfect for me to pass up! I got to watch baseball, break out my R.A. Dickey shirt, eat a hotdog, and enjoy the flawless weather with some friends.

It was oddly comforting. I mean, it's a stadium I've never been to, friends I've never been to a game with and have only known for a couple of months, and a Mets roster that I'm like 90% unfamiliar with. But cheering for Murph and Duda and Wright felt like a little slice of home, like all the Mets games I've gone to at Citi with friends I've known for my entire life. It was also kind of fun having a sense of camaraderie with all the other Mets fans there. We share the same struggle. All the Mets jerseys I saw, with the exception of David Wright and Matt Harvey, are players that are no longer on the team -- Reyes, Davis, Delgado, Martinez, Piazza, Dykstra. We live in the past because... uh... who the heck is our present??? (Serious question.)

The game itself was crazy entertaining (and crazy long -- three hours and 46 minutes!) and the Mets... lost. On a walk-off home run. After blowing a six-run lead in the third inning. Wompppp. But any game in which the Mets score 10 runs is a good one, especially since they lost the previous two games to the Rockies by a combined 17-7. And hey, the Mets losing is the kind of suck I know to expect and have learned how to handle. So if I had to be there to see a loss, it was a hell of a loss to see. At least they kept things interesting for all three hours and 46 minutes!

Looking back on all this stuff makes me realize that, despite all the craptastic stuff, this week was pretty awesome. Maybe this Charlie White happy thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hmmmm. I'm onto you, Charlie. Let's see if I can keep this optimism going as I drive a car with headlights and blinkers that don't work for the next few days. Siiiiigh.

Wishing you all a Charlie White happy week, friends!

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