In praise of steroid cheats.

Mike Lupica likes the Mets, the Red Sox, the Jets, Jimmy Connors, Dancing with the Stars, and David Ortiz. Not all of them are steroid cheats, but some of them are steroid cheats:

"The last man standing in Terry Collins’ starting rotation, at least the one he started with, is 43 years old. So much then, at least for now, for all those big young arms that were going to steamroll their way with big stuff through the National League for years to come. For the last time: You want to make the baseball gods laugh? Tell them about all your plans for young starting pitchers."

You use those words "last time" quite often. I don't think you know what those words mean.


"So Collins’ starting rotation, led by Bartolo Colon, now has Robert Gsellman in it, Seth Lugo, Gabriel Ynoa. Who had them in their fantasy leagues before the start of the season? I keep waiting for Tim Tebow to get a start."

I'm waiting for Tim Conway to get a start. Dorf on Pitching.


"Lucas Duda is back playing first base for the Mets, which means that Collins is working with half the infield that he took north from Port St. Lucie. An indispensable part of that infield is suddenly T.J. Rivera, a 27-year old out of Lehman High, Bronx, N.Y."

The only good player the Mets lost to injury was deGrom. Neil Walker, too, I suppose.

All the other injuries were blessings in disguise. Collins didn't have to deal with the drama of benching Wright or moving the Dark Knight to the bullpen.

The Mets' patchwork rotation is not much different than every other team's. The Mets used 12 starting pitchers while the Yankees used 9, the Nationals used 10, and the Red Sox used 10.


"You know he might not make it and the Mets might not make it. But it was just the other day that they were 60-62 and now here they are, with no Matt Harvey and no Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz with a sore left shoulder and even Noah Syndergaard with strep throat at the worst possible time. And, oh by the way, if you can name all of the relief pitchers that Collins keeps running out there, you have a chance to win some valuable prizes."

If you can identify one player in the Phillies starting lineup, I'll give you $1 million.

So that's the problem with the Collins praise, and the Mets' undying underdog narrative (oddly endorsed by Dan Rather, of all people): Outside of the Nationals, the NL East is abysmal. Cespedes probably gets paid more than the entire Phillies' roster and could probably win 85 games in this division single-handedly.


"You know how many Mets fans are always looking to jump Collins first chance they get, who want him gone. You know there is a loud, angry chorus who will never forgive him for not bringing in Jeurys Familia to pitch the top of the 9th in Game 5 against the Royals. So Mets fans like that are probably thrilled at the suggestion that somehow Collins is supposed to be fighting to keep his job.

Only that’s not the story here, or the headline, or a fair take on this particular Mets season. No. The story is the job Collins has done to keep his team fighting. If you can’t see that, you’ve been watching the wrong movie."

That's talk radio nonsense following a sweep by the Braves. Collins isn't going to get fired, but guess what? The Mets underachieved this year.


The hypocrisy of Lupica is revealed when he praises Colon and Ortiz:

"I have thought for so much of the second half of the season that his teammate, Mookie Betts, was the MVP of the American League.

I believe it is Ortiz now, hitting the way he did in the postseason the last time the Red Sox won it all, three years ago.

So the Stadium says goodbye now.

Or maybe good riddance."

Good riddance, cheater. Don't let a 95-MPH fastball hit you in the butt on the way out.

As for the farewell tour nonsense, I'm not understanding it at all. Maybe if he'd played for the Yankees for 10 years or something like that.


As for this particular observation, this is standard. "Game of the Year" was proclaimed by many sources:

"That game the Mets played against the Phillies the other night, tied by Jose Reyes with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th and then won with a 3-run shot by Bat Flip Cabrera, was one of the great regular season wins the Mets have ever had.

Once again, the problem here is the part about "against the Phillies."

It was a crazy comeback while the Mets are in a playoff race in September ... but the opponent was the Phillies' AAA roster.