Mets' Flight To Dreaded Syracuse Grounded On Tarmac For Three Hours, Of Course

The New York Mets took some heat from star pitcher Noah Syndergaard for scheduling an inexplicable workout in Syracuse between the end of spring training in St. Lucie, Florida, and their regular season opener in Washington, D.C. The trip necessitated a three-hour bus ride to Sarasota, and then a late flight to Syracuse, and then a one-day workout in Syracuse, and then a quick turnaround for Thursday’s game. Syndergaard called the schedule “not a smart idea,” and questioned whether it’s the kind of thing championship teams do. And that was all before the team’s plane got stuck on the tarmac in Sarasota for more than three hours:

“Lots of guys pissed off” while stuck on a grounded airplane ahead of a deeply unpopular detour to upstate New York just days ahead of the opener sounds like a really fantastic way to start off a baseball season. Syndergaard, for his part, used the occasion to fire up a Twitter AMA, where his answers were positively bursting with the enthusiasm of a man stuck on an airport tarmac indefinitely due to a mechanical problem:

Not to worry, Mets fans: This answer is not meant to reflect Syndergaard’s feelings about his current employer. Syndergaard is a sworn enemy of Mr. Met, and has the usual, correct opinion of Mike Francesa. When asked directly about his employer, Syndergaard showed the appropriate level of enthusiasm and loyalty:

Had he softened at all on the prospect of flying to dreary-ass Syracuse, where the temperature when the team finally lands will be a balmy and positively spring-like 27 degrees Fahrenheit?

To be fair, no one who is leaving sunny Florida for a work trip to the frozen north is especially happy about it, whether or not they happen to play for the New York Mets. And Syndergaard’s sour mood certainly wasn’t reserved for work matters:

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, in the end. Syndergaard gave Mets fans a glimpse of light from the end of this dark tunnel: