Another old cliche, one with enduring universiality in almost every major sport, is that a good offense wins big crowds and a good defense
wins championships. This fact was made very evident in the 1997 World
Series as the Marlins dominated the offensively-rich, yet
pitching-mediocre Indians. Although our pitching staff performed well
last year, we are at this moment in much the same state as the Indians-
a strong lineup but with a shaky rotation. Questions linger: Will Leiter
lose the control and command he had last year and revert back to his
days as an overpowering but under-controlled pitcher? Can Rick Reed makehimself into the All-Star he was in the first half of last year? Will
Bobby Jones ever be anything more than mediocre? Is there a reason why
Japanese pitchers aren't prevalent in MLB? All these questions, plus the
relative age of the Mets ace bring this team's hopes on hold.   

    Thus far in spring training, Leiter has had impressive stuff and,
working with Sandy Koufax, has continued to improve his mechanics.
Leiter hopes that like his counter-part, his fellow southpaw with
occasional control-problems, he can end his career with an amazing bang-
with a string of seasons paralleling no other run in MLB pitching
history. Then again, perhaps Leiter doesn't want to emulate Koufax who
had several mediocre seasons in the majors and then 5 outstanding
seasons- sacrificing his arm and body through those spectacular
campaigns.   

    And what of Jones? Shall I curse the name of Steve Phillips everyday
I see Jones still in a Met uniform? Well, Stevie-boy, maybe you'll wise
up and trade this guy, or maybe we'll wise up and realize the wisdom of
your conviction in Jones. Then again, maybe no one will wise-up and
Jones will continue to have mediocre years winning as many as he loses
with an ERA of 4.30 or so.

    Now to the great flops of baseball. The great disaster of an
experiment gone wrong, a trend gone awry: the flocking of Japanese
pitchers to the MLB. Perhaps there was a certain amount of wisdom in the
Japenese baseball association's decade-long reluctance to allow their
players to go West. Perhaps they always knew that their baseball wasn't
on par with the MLB, that only embarrassment would come with the
appearance of Japanese pitchers in the MLB. The once mighty Hideo Nomo, so highly touted, the supposed vanguard of a new era of internationalismin baseball, has turned into an immeasurable flop. He has frustrated 3 different managers in as many years with his wildness. Every outing of his must make Bobby Valentine lose another handful of hair. I think that Nomo should use his new contract to buy Mets fans barrel-fulls of
Rolaids to battle the upset stomachs he causes almost every time he
pitches. And then there is Yoshii who was better than average last year
(although, not to his discredit, to a losing record) but continues to be
pounded without mercy in spring training. Self-admittedly, he states
that his control is simply not there this year-- is the Nomo-syndrome
contagious?