Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

The comeback attempts of Sammy Sosa and Paul Wilson are intertwined by the moment in Mets history that they share in common. While Sosa is having success in his comeback attempt with the Rangers, Paul Wilson's bid to return from injury to the Reds was halted by news of his release the other day. Paul Wilson is a lesson to the likes of Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber and Joe Smith, that things don't always work out as they planned. They can go awfully well for awhile, to the point where you think you're invincible, only to shatter in an instant or two. Baseball life can be extraordinarily frustrating when great expectations are unfulfilled and Wilson is the poster child for that. Let's go back to Wilson's rookie season, 1996, his only season with the Mets, and remember how bright the future was for the trio of Wilson, a collegiate No. 1 pick, Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher. It was May 3 at Wrigley Field and the Mets were facing the Cubs in the first of three games.

If you're concerned about the Mets spring training performance thusfar (and I'm always one to get concerned too quickly), keep this in mind: * In 1963, the Mets went 15-12 in spring training. They went 51-111 in the regular season. * In 1986, the Mets went 13-13 in spring training. They went 108-54 in the regular season. * The Mets were also a sub .500 spring team in 1987, 1989 and 1999. They went a combined 65 games over .500 in the regular season. There is no proof that spring training performance translates into regular season performance. I'm back to posting regularly, so for those that have been checking every day, wondering when I'd post next, you can rest assured that we'll get back to the usual stories and other minutiae.