Miguel Batista, optimist. (Trafford Publishing)

Poets are generally more partial crushing depression rather than irrational exuberance, but Mets right-hander and crafter of rhyming verse Miguel Batista is a notable exception.

Much like the Man from Nantucket, Batista can't help but view the world through the prism of his own good fortune. How else to take his recent comments, which stand in brave defiance of not only widespread opinion but also basic facts?

"I believe this team is way, way better than what it’s been playing. And regardless of the fact what other people might think, October is not here yet. We’ll see at the end of the season....
"Right now [the Nats are] playing good baseball, but I don’t believe they’re a better team than us. They’re playing great baseball. But better team? I believe we’re the better team. We just have to play as we’re supposed to. Every team goes through a bad stretch, from the greatest to the worst....We just have to believe how good we are and just go out there and perform. I believe we are the best team in baseball. We just have to play like one." (D.C. Sports Bog)

Emphasis mine; soaring mania his.

Sure, Batista's probably just playing the rah-rah role for his team (losers of six in a row!), but he could've done that without, you know, saying things at odds with objective truths.

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