I'm sure I'm just starving for baseball, but I am really looking forward to watching the Mets play ball.  Since we are not talking 1986, which was a year after knocking on the door, and coming in as legitimate contenders and delivering on those great expectations, we can only be pleasantly surprised this year.  Nobody is expecting a disaster, like a 65 win season.  We will be five games on either side of .500, and if it's the good side, bonus.  It probably won't, but it simply won't hurt nearly as much as the last few years, now that we've washed all hopes of a flag from our minds.

It will be a year of hoping Davie can bloody up Goliath, and I'll be rooting for the Mets to dash the great expectations of our friends down I-95.  I think seeing Ike, Daniel Murphy, and Pagan having good years would be the yard stick for this season.  Murphy,  If he can be adequate with the glove, and strong with the bat as he was years ago, can be a source of pride for fans.  For Ike, it's still really early career wise, so a down tick would not be that bad, and if he is steady or better, then the future ('12 and beyond) starts to look bright.  And if some of the younger options at 2nd pan out, cake.

From the hill, how great would it be if Dillon Gee pitches well, as well as Henjry (I know it's wrong but it just reminds me of Goodfellas)?  Home-growns and no-names, fighting like mad against the pre-crowned champions, if nothing else, this year is better than what we've seen recently, expecting contention and getting frustration the last three.

We are not the Pirates, and you just never know.  That will pass for optimism for now.