For as much as I tend to bitch and moan about the detachment and inducement to isolation that social media too often provides, I’m guilty of occasional lapses in my otherwise declared policy. After I was blessed with an invite by a high school friend and Mets season ticket holder to my first (and, thankfully, only) pandemic-shortened day/night doubleheader back in summer 2021 I was inspired enough by the experience (a sweep, briefly keeping them in playoff contention) I wanted to share my enviable photos with the world, so I joined up with a couple of online Mets fandom groups. They were genuinely supportive and even, to the extent that such a detached experience can provide, friendly. And considering scant few of anyone in my lamentally limited IRL loves the team as much as I do, if nothing else it provided me with what I thought was a safe haven to express my feelings about the team. 
During the regular season, and especially during the post-season, it’s a welcome resource for games that actually count. And yes, I do still love me the exhibition season, as I’ve previously posted of late–even the arrival of pitchers and catchers is a national holiday. The early start to actual games that began last Friday afternoon now provides a wonderful white noise soundtrack to working afternoons and occasionally early evenings, and I do try to pay attention to anything of consequence that might be happening when it comes to players returning from injuries or when they make their debuts wearing new uniforms. But when it comes to actual statistics or game results, that’s where I draw the line.
That’s apparently anything but the case for a surprising plurality of members who literally live and die with every single game, at-bat and pitch regardless of consequence. To some of these passionistas, especially the more frequent posters, absolutely nothing but a perfect game and a home run in every at bat, as well as a 199-0 record (that’s 162 regular season, 11 post-season and an average of 26 exhibition games) will suffice. And if one dares call them out on their behavior, they are defended by a less vocal populance that shares their degree of impatience.
And after a winter of discontent that was capped off by the Mets’ failure to resign franchise home run leader Pete Alonso what the BALTIMORE SUN’s Matt Weyrich reported on Saturday sent the whiners and lamenters into an overdrive of frustration and despair:
The Orioles started to empty their bench in the sixth inning of their Grapefruit League opener against the New York Yankees on Friday. Most of the club’s starting position players opted to take a seat for the afternoon, but Alonso decided he wanted on more at-bat. He made it count. Alonso blasted his first home run in an Orioles uniform, taking Yankees minor leaguer Bradley Hanner deep to left field with for a two-run homer that landed on the concourse at Ed Smith Stadium. The first baseman finished 1-for-3 and drove in Baltimore’s only runs in a 2-0 victory over New York.
For these uberfans, there was at least a silver lining with the fact that the Yankees lost. The next best thing to a Mets victory is a Yankee defeat. But the very next day the Bronx Bombers were making news that once again ignited an outpouring of grief, per CLUTCH POINTS’ Alex House:
Well, that was quick. New York Yankees superstar and three-time American League MVP Award winner Aaron Judge looked to be in mid-season form during his spring training debut, as he crushed two home runs against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon. Judge lined out to center field in his first bat, but he quickly found his groove. The superstar right fielder launched a two-run 420-foot bomb to deep center in the third inning to give New York a 5-2 lead. He then put on an encore performance for the crowd at George M. Steinbrenner Field and hit a two-run homer down the left field line in the fourth.
And with the Mets dropping their own Grapefruit League opener at home to the moribund Marlins while Judge was crushing pitches from otherwise obscure hurlers, this made Sunday’s “Subway” Series matchup in Tampa take on an outsized and wholly unrealistic level of importance. Not since the days of a young George Steinbrenner threatening fines and roster cuts for anyone who embarassed him in such pre-season tilts–especially before interleague play first appeared in the regular season–had I seen so much emotion invested in something so thoroughly meaningless.
So when I saw the anointing of someone named J.T. Schwartz as the Mets’ future savior, I was simultaneously intrigued and revolted at once. Schwartz powered a three-run home run against Yankee non-roster mopper-upper Brandon Beck in the eighth inning that proved to be the game-winner as the Mets broke their one-game losing streak with a 6-4, temporarily restoring them to kingpins of the Big Apple. I even chimed in with a timely “May the Schwartz be with us”, resisting any temptation to make an observation that he may be filling the void left by Harrison Bader as the team’s resident Jewish hero. I didn’t bother to check his heritage, and considering how he batted .203 last season in his fifth minor league season split between Single A St. Lucie and Double A Binghamton I’m still not believing he’s likely to actually see the light of Citi Field any time soon.
But if one gets a glance at the deep dive that MACK’S METS posted two springs ago, one might have concluded that the Mets may indeed have Alonso walk because they believed Schwartz could be his replacement:
JT came out of UCLA where he brought home a Pac-12 batting title in his junior year in 2021…Schwartz played the majority of the 2023 season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies where he found his mojo, slashing .302/.383/.437 and playing outstanding defense as their starting first baseman. JT missed over two months with a quad injury, but upon his return in July, Schwartz was one of the most productive hitters in a very talented Binghamton lineup, batting .348 with a .921 OPS over his last 39 regular season games. This prospect rarely strikes out and has the kind of swing that translates to higher levels.
This may be proof positive why fans rarely become scouts and that those that think they can should stick to their day jobs, mundane though they may be.
It was a nice moment for Schwartz and I actually got more likes from my snark than I typically get. And as of now, he’s hit exactly as many home runs in 2026 as Alonso and they both trail Judge by one. Not that any of them will ever actually count. So forgive me if I’m refusing to label him the second coming of the Polar Bear, or even Dave Schneck. I just can’t go there, and I sure wish those that are otherwise blowing up my feed would have a similar come-to-Jesus moment.
I mean, let’s at least see how he does in March.
Courage…