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MOHEGAN LAKE, N.Y. The New York Mets kick off the 2012 season Thursday at home against the Atlanta Braves with far lower expectations than their crosstown rivals.
But dire predictions aren't getting in the way of some of the Mets faithful in Yorktown and Cortlandt who feel "you gotta believe."
"They have a chance to be better," Zachary Cohen, 9, of Yorktown said after taking some cuts in a batting cage at the Yorktown Golf and Baseball Center on Lexington Avenue.
Mario Rojas of Yorktown, who works at the batting cages, has been a Mets fan for 13 years and has two sons who share his allegiance, and two more sons who bleed Yankees pinstripes.
"Last season wasn't good," Rojas said. "We hope this season will be better. We have good pitching. I think we need a second baseman."
At Modell's at the Cortlandt Town Center, assistant manager Eli Garcia said baseball fever is slowly starting, as Mets fans seek out jerseys of third baseman David Wright.
"Once Opening Day comes around, that's when it will start sinking in," Garcia said, noting that Mets and Yankees items sell equally.
However, as a Mets fan himself, Garcia isn't very optimistic about the Mets being a contender.
"I don't think this is their year," he said. "There's so much going on with them, and they lost a couple of key players. I always root for them to do well. The stadium is phenomenal."
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