As Pedro Martinez jogged off the field at Shea Stadium after yesterday’s workout, there were fans yelling for him. The Mets said there were more than 13,000 fans in the seats, an indicator of the level of excitement for this year.
And today, this year starts.
For the first time in three years, the Mets open the season at home, as Tom Glavine faces the Nationals and right-hander Livan Hernandez at sold-out Shea. With their $100 million-plus payroll and their caravan of stars – Martinez and Glavine are accompanied by Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Cliff Floyd, Jose Reyes and Billy Wagner – the Mets should contend for the playoffs and the NL East title.
But they have to prove they are ready to be a top-level club.
“Right now we’re phenomenal on paper,” Wright said yesterday. “There’s a difference between having the tools and having the pieces and fitting that together.”
It’s the proper caution. Although the Mets won 12 more games last year than they did in 2004 and added Delgado, Wagner and Paul Lo Duca in the offseason, it’s hard to know for sure if Willie Randolph’s group is truly ready to win.
Glavine, a veteran of 11 playoff teams, was asked if the atmosphere around the Mets is similar to his previous division-winning clubs with the Braves.
“Looking at this team and looking at some of the teams that I was on in Atlanta, I can’t say that there were any teams in Atlanta that were any more talented than this team overall,” the 40-year-old left-hander said.
“There might have been some different areas that were stronger than others, whether it be your starting rotation or your bullpen or your everyday lineup, whatever it is.
“But the thing that we always had over there was we just expected to win. And it really didn’t matter how everybody else evaluated our talent. We in the end just felt like we were going to find a way to win, and that’s something that obviously we have to do here.
“Can you have that Day One? I don’t know. I think we all have expectations of going out there and winning, but to a certain degree, I think we also have to prove that to ourselves, and the more we go out there and play well and establish that in our own minds, then I think the better off we’re going to be.”
The Mets have not won the World Series since 1986, have not won the division since 1988 and have not made the playoffs since 2000 when they went to the Fall Classic as the NL wild card and lost to the Yankees in the Subway Series.
“I really feel, barring some serious injuries, that we’re the team to beat,” Lo Duca said. “And I think we need to look at it that way. I’d rather be the team gunned for than the team not being predicted to win.”
The Mets are being gunned for this year. Yesterday’s workout was an initial indicator of the excitement around the club. Today will be the initial indicator of the club itself.
– Additional reporting by Michael Morrissey.
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NATIONALS at METS – 1:10 p.m.; TV: SNY, ESPN; Radio: WFAN 660
Weather forecast: 53; Few showers, 30% chance of rain
Nationals lineup
HR RBI AVG.
1. Brandon Watson, CF 1 5 .175
2. Jose Vidro, 2B 7 32 .275
3. Jose Guillen, RF 24 76 .283
4. Nick Johnson, 1B 15 74 .289
5. Alfonso Soriano, LF 36 104 .268
6. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B 0 6 .397
7. Royce Clayton, SS 2 44 .270
8. Brian Schneider, C 10 44 .268
9. Livan Hernandez, P 15-10 3.98
Mets lineup
HR RBI AVG.
1. Jose Reyes, SS 7 58 .273
2. Paul Lo Duca, C 6 57 .283
3. Carlos Beltran, CF 16 78 .266
4. Carlos Delgado, 1B 33 115 .301
5. David Wright, 3B 27 102 .306
6. Cliff Floyd, LF 34 98 .273
7. Xavier Nady, RF 13 43 .261
8. Anderson Hernandez, 2B 0 0 .056
9. Tom Glavine, P 13-13 3.53
(2005 Statistics)