Keidel: Mets Fans Bailing On Cespedes? Really? Already?
By Jason Keidel
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I get it.
The ball banged into the glove and squirted out. Then he fanned at crunch time in the ninth, with runners perilously close to home.
And suddenly we have a revolution, or revulsion. Mets fans are already lamenting the deal that got Yoenis Cespedes back in the fold, making it rain on the enigmatic outfielder with three years and $75 million.
An error in the field and another at the plate forms a flashback to his solemn World Series, which seemed to suck the air out of the good ship Cespedes. We're so quick to forget he almost singlehandedly carried the Mets to the playoffs last year.
Just a few months ago, we had an incurable case of Cespedes fever. He could have run for police commissioner, mayor, or governor and won. He was the most popular, singular, and impactful acquisition since Mike Piazza.
Now he's toxic. A coddled athlete who took his first paycheck and dashed to the exotic car dealer, buying a conga line of futuristic rides. His morning commute became a de facto runway for his fleet.
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There are two things you must remember if you're going to keep your blood pressure at bay.
First, signing Cespedes means tolerating his vast eccentricities. For every cluster of homers he hits, you'll wince at a bobbled fly ball, wayward throw, or premature, spastic home run trot on a ball that lands well before the warning track.
Second, it's one game!
Our perceptions run sour when our athletes act in ways we can't condone or control. We want them to play with the fury and fervor of Mickey Mantle and act with the low-key regularity of Derek Jeter. As of yet, we have not produced the perfect hybrid of player and person. So with Cespedes you get the epic talent and more baggage than Newark Airport.
Perhaps what made this all the more baleful was the ballclub that beat the Mets on Opening Day. Just when you've smoothed the scabs from last November, the very team that beat you in the World Series did it again. And the Royals vanquished Matt Harvey -- again -- to do it.
But one day does not a season make. Nine innings are not a referendum on these Mets. They're still the envy of baseball, with a conveyer belt of young, blessed arms that run five deep into the rotation.
And you may recall you were frothing for a deal to get done with Cespedes. Despite his flaws, he was too talented to let sail down I-95 to the hated Nationals. Speaking of Washington, it offered more years and dollars, yet Cespedes couldn't leave after taking that tasty bite of the Big Apple. If he doesn't get kudos for that, he should.
We embrace characters in New York. A long list of goofballs and divas have crawled their way up the back page and into our hearts, from Joe Namath to Reggie Jackson to Lawrence Taylor. It takes a certain kind of hide to bask in Broadway's glow without burning in its glare.
Cespedes hasn't reached the orbit of those icons and iconoclasts. We all know the zero-sum goal of the Mets this season. Canyon of Heroes or bust. It will take more than one game for him to prove he can get them there. And a lot more than one game to prove he can't.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
