The Mets' angel, Doris from Rego Park

I've avoided posting about the Mets this year, for obvious reasons that unfortunately inspired this Manhattan Mini Storage subway poster. For a while, I was mentally composing a piece with the title, "Could Bernie Madoff be Good for the Mets?" I was thinking that the Wilpons might be forced to sell a controlling stake, which they may yet. I've blamed them for the team's woes, on no better theory than the buck stops at the top. But, then, I began to contemplate the devil you know versus the one you don't conundrum, especially if the latter is Mark Cuban. Next I fell back on an inversion of Tim Marchman's explanation of the Sports Illustrated cover curse: if a team that makes the cover is at the top of its game and has nowhere to go but down, then one that has suffered a series of disappointing seasons and is having cash flow problems because its owners are embroiled in a financial scandal can go nowhere but up. Try as I might, though, I couldn't convince myself. The Nationals have nowhere to go but up, too, and bid fair to relegate the Mets to the division cellar this year.


So, I was delighted to find, among the barrage of articles about lawsuits, emergency loans, possible fan desertion, and the seemingly endless psychodrama of Oliver Perez, this Times story about a faithful Mets fan who, alas, is no longer with us to share her opinions. As an exercise in metafandom (I guess that's what you would call being a fan of a fan), Don Rosler has written and recorded a song about her (clip above). Rest in peace, Doris, though I can't help but wonder what thoughts you'd have about the Mets of today. Somehow, I think, you'd find a reason for optimism.