Mind of a NY Mets fan: I don’t want this offseason to end

Loving the New York Mets is practically part of my DNA. Even people I haven’t seen in decades know it. Years ago, I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen since junior high, and his first question was, “You still like the Mets?” Another time, I popped into a corner store across from my best friend’s old house, and the guy behind the counter—who hadn’t seen me in 15 years—wryly asked, “How are the Mets doing?” So what I’m about to say may shock you: I don’t want this offseason to end.

Hear me out

You read that right—I do not want this offseason to end. The reason? It’s been too fun. Ever since that December evening when the Mets signed Juan Soto, it felt like the start of something special. Mets fans strolled down the virtual streets of Twitter (I refuse to call it X) like we owned the place. Bitter Yankees, Braves, and Phillies fans tried to rain on our parade to no avail. Polar Bear Pete back in Queens where he belongs. The team selling out spring training merch. And to top it off, our newest stud, Soto, going yard during his first at-bat. It’s been a blast being a Mets fan these last few months.

But there’s one thing that could mess it all up: a bad season. And yes, I’m the one who told Mets fans that it’s okay to be happy. But with the injury bug creeping through the rotation, feels like the ghosts of bad seasons’ past are gearing up for another visit. I guess old fatalistic habits do die hard.

A New Hope

“For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” When Oscar Wilde wrote this, I doubt he had baseball—or the New York Mets—in mind, but his words still ring true. As Mets fans, we are all dreamers. We saw what this team could be before the world did.

And despite my nerves, I am excited for the 2025 season to get underway—the security of knowing I’ll have something to watch when I get home from work four nights a week, at least for the next six months. The joy of getting to the ballpark on game day. And, of course, winning. I do expect this team to win—and win a lot. I’m just not in such a rush for this Mets offseason honeymoon to end. What can I say? “Yes: I am a dreamer.”