Address to Reluctant Mets Fans

My fellow Mets fans, Tonight we gather not in triumph, nor in joy. Rather, we have assembled out of necessity, driven by the need to combat a deep-seated evil. Tonight we must make choices that will not sit well with any of us. Tonight we must make choices between unpalatable courses of action. Tonight we must do what many of us, in all honor, once swore we would not. These are not easy times. We have been bested on the field of battle and outmaneuvered in the arena of ideas. Our fires have been banked, damped by misfortune and miscalculation. For now, our yesterdays are brighter than our tomorrows. We may mourn that we have come to this pass, yet we stand here nonetheless. And here, stand we must. We have proven unfit to play a role in the combat about to unfold before us. Yet this harsh judgment, however impartial its verdict, must not lead us to reject our larger calling, or to turn aside from our unhappy duty. We are bystanders, yet our voices must be heard. We are re...