Break-Up letter

I feel this is kind of rushed.  Its 8:31 right now as I’m writing this.  The score is 7-0.  Dan Uggla has hit his second home run in as many innings.  The Marlins have hit their 4th home run of the game, their third of the inning.  The Marlins hadn’t had a lefty hit a home run yet, until tonight.

This feels like a morning after article and I’m sure in the interest of fairness I should wait till the morning to write this but I can’t help it.  This feels like it needs to be said so I’ll say it.

Ollie, you and the Mets need to break up.  Immediately.

I dont want to wait till morning to say something I’ve been keeping to myself for the last few weeks.  To be honest, this is tough for me.  I’ve been one of Oliver Perez’s biggest supporters.  When the Mets signed him to that 3 year 36 million dollar deal, I defended the Mets.  I said that he was a lefty with tremendous stuff.  I would repeat Johan Santana’s proclamation that he had the best stuff on the staff.  I mean, the great Johan said that.  He knew something about pitching.  He had to know something that us couch experts didn’t know.

But I began to break down when I heard how out of shape he came into the season after the Mets gave him that contract.  During the worst season in recent Met fan history he epitomized the Mets: fat, lazy, and full of cash.

In fact, this has been the classic break up.  Think about Ollie’s symptoms:

1. He’s unstable.  The running joke for Met fans/broadcasters has always been the question upon entering the ballpark: What Ollie will show up?  Good Ollie or Bad Ollie?

2. He has something that makes him unlikeable. (sometimes with the mate, its his/her family or friends, but with Ollie its definitely its his contract.)

3. He was attractive at one point but nowadays that cuteness has wore off with the reasons stated above.

Look at Ollie’s 2004 season with Pittsburgh and you’ll see why people see so much potential in this guy.  This is his season in 2004 at the age of 22:

12-10, 2.98 ERA in 239 K’s in 196 IP, with only 81 BB’s, 2 CG’s and 1 SHO.  That’s an 11 K/ per 9!!!!

So the talent has always been there, but he never made it materialize in the last 6 years.  In fact, when the Mets got him just two years later, he was the throw in on a Roberto Hernandez deal.  Think about it, he was the throw in.

I’ll remember the good times we had.  I’ll fondly remember him coming out and throwing a heck of a game 7.  I’ll remember the biggest reaction I’ve ever seen from him coming from that Endy Chavez catch.  I”ll remember the days showing up to the park, knowing it was an Oliver Perez start and thinking “oh boy”, and then I’d see him be dominant over 6 innings.

But I’ll also think to the games like tonight where he just had no command and no fight.  When there were times I’d show up to the park for an Oliver Perez start and think “oh no” and see the whole game fall apart for him by the third inning.  I’ll remember him getting beat because he had portions of the night where he couldn’t throw a strike.  Where he just seemed to never care either way.  The Mets fired Willie Randolph because it always seemed like he didn’t care, but watch Oliver Perez after a start good or bad.  Its the same expression.  It just makes you upset.

So now what?  Well, we tell him to pack his bags because he’s not wanted here anymore.  We demote him to Triple A.  We let him go.  We toss him.  Its not that he isn’t skilled and he is young enough to resurrect his career so this does have the makings of it coming back to haunt the Mets.  But he’s not going to go anywhere on this team.  There’s nothing on this team that can fix whatever is messing him up time and time again.  This relationship isn’t working out.

I thought that I should take a break, take a walk, and get some dinner.  Two hours after starting this I still feel the same way.  Its over Ollie.  Its not just the aftermath of that ugly loss.  Its just the fact that this was the kind of loss that makes you say enough is enough.

Its over Ollie.  The Mets gave it a shot, but its over.  He needs to go.