It's been a while. When I last posted, the 2024 season had barely begun for the Mets. After staggering out of the gate with 5 losses, the club righted the ship and pushed their record north of .500. At the time, I had hoped the team would compete for a playoff spot. That hope was eventually answered, but it took another couple of months of terrible baseball before things turned around for good. The payoff for Mets fans sticking with their club was one of the most enjoyable seasons in team history.
While the Mets endured their struggles, I went through some of my own, which is why you didn't hear from me for so many months. I've been through a lot physically over the last few years: three back operations, a neck operation, rotator cuff surgery, and a hip replacement. All that stuff sucked, but at least I knew what was going on. After that hip replacement last January, things seemed to go my way a bit. I was able to hike with my pups just about every day, including some more challenging treks that I hadn't been able to undertake for several years. I've been a physical person my whole life; regaining some of that meant a lot to me.
But my bubble of optimism was popped in a major way when I came down with the symptoms of a "mystery" illness that included severe joint pain and constant headaches. The joint pain put a serious crimp in my outdoor activities, but the ever-present headache put my writing effort on hold for all these months. My regular doctor has run a bunch of tests to no avail. I've been referred to an infectious disease specialist. I've undergone a CT Scan and then an MRI on my noggin. The latter was especially fun for me, a lifelong claustrophobic. All these months later, I still don't have a diagnosis. I'm going to see a neurologist next month.
I had hoped to get back to writing when the symptoms, particularly the headache, were relieved. But since the diagnosis still proves to be elusive, I will take a shot at returning to my beloved nerdy hobby of writing. We'll see how it goes, but I have some thoughts to share about the Mets, and I'm tired of waiting for medical science to figure out what's wrong with me.
That's enough about me for now. I'll be back with some thoughts on the Mets soon. For a preview, while I would love to see Pete Alonso return to the Mets, you're not going to read me trashing David Stearns in this space anytime soon. Stearns did a great job last season, turning the club back into a contender despite all the dead money clogging the books. I understand his reticence to commit long-term to an aging power hitter already showing signs of decline. I'd hate to see Pete go, but I'd hate it even more if I had to watch Alonso being booed by many of the same fans demanding his return if the Mets gave him a 5-year deal, and the decline continued.
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Welcome back
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mack
ReplyDeleteAre you coming back to Mack's Mets?
ReplyDeleteYes
ReplyDeleteWelcome back
ReplyDeleteThanks, John
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