FLUSHING Down The Toilet

The New York Mets are in major, major, major trouble. To start the season I thought maybe the Mets were just getting a slow start. But when the season is rounding May going into June and a World Series winning team is below .500, there is a huge problem. Perhaps the hitting is slumping, the pitchers are still tight, the defense hasn't taken enough ground balls, or the bullpen just isn't there, but whatever the problems are, it has to be a team effort. I will side with Billy Wagner here; players have to stick around after the game and leave as a team. Even something like that can be fixed, but where is the spark, this team's personality that launched them onto the cover of Sports Illustrated a year ago? I don't see as much joking, giggling in the dugout, or homerun handshakes. That aspect alone was a weapon in this young team's gameplan. Now all I see is complaining, groaning, and disunity. But with that, there is no hitting, it is just too inconsistent. Their catalysts Wright and Reyes are hitting in the .270s, Beltran has improved to .256, Schneider has fallen off now hitting a mere .266 to his .300 mark before he went on the disabled list. For Keith Hernandez's sake, Oliver Perez, that inconsistent pitcher who is costing New York more games than he's winning, is hitting better then slugger Carlos Delgado. Now the best time to break out of this misery and to get back onto the basepath is tonight against the Florida Marlins. The Mets have to prove right here that the Marlins are not a first place team, and promise their fans that they were only kidding the first quarter of the year.