Around here, New York Mets fans get their hopes up more often than the F train breaks down. We’re like dogs barking at the doorbell or bulls chasing a red cape. It’s just what we do.
It usually falls apart and comes to nothing, but so what? That never bothered a dog or a bull. We pick ourselves up, and when something good comes around again, hopes fly higher than the seagulls over Flushing Bay. Nonetheless, this time is different. This time there really is an intruder. This time, that matador is toast.
So in March and April 2012, when Kirk Nieuwenhuis made 19 starts and batted .