Banner Day 2013 was fun. I entered 2 banners, which I posted on Saturday, neither of which was selected as a finalist, which I think I'll learn to accept. Seriously though, I don't disagree with the finalists. There were a lot of great banners. Almost 100 of them, down from nearly 300 last year. Everyone who came out under the threatening skies of springtime did a great job, and there was a small contingent of fans down the foul lines and with cameras in the upper reaches of the stadium taking pictures (see my photo album).
Now, my banner didn't fare well in the parade or in the stadium afterwards. And this is part of what I call the "science" of Banner Day. I had 2 banners, both roughly 22x28, both basically a thin poster board (one was packaged as poster board that came in a package of 3, the other on paper of a similar context, but from the printer at Staples). But they weren't exactly the same size. The paper from Staples was slightly bigger, and I was using the packaging from the poster board as a cover. It was skin tight to the poster board, so the slightly larger paper didn't fit. So thought number 1, either trim down the larger banner to fit the covering better, or find a larger covering. Of course, I was really only concerned with the covering because of the rain. The covering ripped a bit because of trying to jam in the larger banner, and I placed it down in a puddle by my seat by accident, with the exposed corner down, and it got wet.
That was just a small problem after the parade. The poser board wasn't very sturdy. It's good for doing something on an easel, and the brand that I used has an invisible grid which helped me line things up, which was good (except it was really hard to see, even up close, to take advantage of). The printed paper was basically the same context. It was easy to hold up with two hands, but it was hard to commit to giving two hands to my banners (even the two packaged together), so how do I try to roll it or hold it with one hand to work a camera in the other? I did have two extra sets of hands for the parade to help me show off both banners. And then it was windy. The banners, when out of the covering, were really hard to contain in the wind. Either it would try to escape my hands, or it would blow right into my body and cling to me. Next time, I definitely wouldn't use this material. Maybe if I secure it to a larger more sturdy poster board (last year, I used a foam poster board that needed two people to carry that might work here). I had thought about that, but just didn't have time to make it happen. There needs to be an all-(reasonable) weather parade test for the banner(s) to make sure they stand up to anything. I didn't see anyone else having that sort of problem.
Next, in the design of the banner. All of my banners have been made with drawings or tracings on printer paper that are cut out and assembled onto the poster board. I've done that because it gives me the ability to have a do-over in case of problems in the drawing, and in the case of last year's banner, I didn't know exactly how it would lay out until I had made all of the pieces. I could have everything there, move it around, and then decide on a final layout. Also, since I like tracing off the computer screen, i need a medium that fits on my computer screen, and printer paper, or pieces of printer paper work, while a large poster board wouldn't. I don't think that's a bad way of doing it, but looking at most of the other banners, they have computer printouts, bedsheets, and more sturdy things. I need to figure that out for next year.
And the last thing. The winner had a moving part. The banner had Shea Stadium next to Citi Field with the Shea Home Run Apple in the middle, and the apple was controlled to go up and down.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Banner number 2
Okay, and now on to Banner number 2.
This banner idea and design has evolved from something inspired by Casey Stengel and Harry Caray to something that helps promote what I feel will be a hidden theme in Banner Day this year - the All-Star Game at Citi Field taking place sometime in July. The first evolution of this banner came from a "thing" that I've been doing at Mets games since 2009. It has origins that date all the way back to September 28, 2008, for the final game at Shea Stadium, when the Mets were hanging on by a thread and needing the Cubs to beat Milwaukee on the final day of the season to extend the Mets season and to extend the life of Shea Stadium by just a little bit.
We hit the 7th inning stretch of the Mets game needing help from the Cubbies, and I decided to get clever and invoke a little help from the baseball Gods by calling on Harry Caray's famous alteration of one of the lines in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", where he would show how he really felt and sing "Root, Root, Root for the Cubbies" (instead of rooting for the "home team"). On that day, it didn't work. Both games seemed to implode on us at right about the same moment. But somewhere that offseason, I came up with a Casey Stengel-Mets-inspired version of what Harry Caray famously had done for years - "Root, Root, Root for the Metsies". I would love for that to catch on, and I decided this offseason that it had possibilities as a banner idea. A friend of mine, when I saw his banner from last year hanging in his basement, helped me to realize that you can't over do it on the banner because you only have a few seconds to impress the judges, and what I had last year was really complex to look at. Even the first banner I designed for this year I thought would be too complex for a short display for judging, and this second idea would work a whole lot better.
So the banner was going to center around the lyrics "Let us root, root, root for the Mesties/If they don't win it's a shame!", with the Mets script logo expanded to say "Metsies". That element is in the final banner with one alteration that I'll get to in a bit. But the minimum space that I had to work with (22" x 28") was gigantic compared to what I was trying to do. And I started seeing possibilities after I started playing around with different large hand-printed words on the space that I could go all the way and include all of the lyrics to "Take me out to the Ballgame", complete with my "Metsies" alternate lyric.
I started spacing it out, and then it hit me. This year, Citi Field is hosting the All-Star Game. It wasn't formally announced as a theme, but I could see it in some of the online banner submissions (including the eventual winner) and thought it would earn me a lot more points if I included the All-Star Game in mine. And I got clever, replacing some more lyrics from the song with All-Star Game references. It's not the "ballgame", it's the "All-Star Game", with different All-Star Game logos used instead of just showing the words. And it's not a shame if the Metsies or home team doesn't "win". In the All-Star Game, it's a shame if they don't "play".
I really started to like where this was headed. I could see the different pieces coming together (literally, based on how I create everything hand-drawn or traced on printer paper and tape/glue it to the posterboard once I have the layout I want and can easily remove/replace any mistakes). But I still had some more space to fill. Then Matt Harvey was pitching this past Tuesday night. And he was dominant. Nearly perfect. I don't think it fits the definition of "imperfect", but darn near close to that. And I thought, I had to get Matt Harvey into my banner. But how? The brain clicked on again, and the last piece of the banner was born. The left side features what is meant to resemble a lineup card, but not for any single game. Rather, it shows the 18 different Mets who have started an All-Star Game, going from Ron Hunt in 1964 to David Wright in 2010. After seeing Matt Harvey pitch on TV Tuesday night, and seeing what he's accomplished already this year, I had no doubt in my mind that Matt Harvey should at least get consideration for starting the All-Star Game in his home ballpark. Hence, the final entry in that lineup card, in a different color so it stands out, and with question marks after the year "2013" since it's what he's working towards.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
This banner idea and design has evolved from something inspired by Casey Stengel and Harry Caray to something that helps promote what I feel will be a hidden theme in Banner Day this year - the All-Star Game at Citi Field taking place sometime in July. The first evolution of this banner came from a "thing" that I've been doing at Mets games since 2009. It has origins that date all the way back to September 28, 2008, for the final game at Shea Stadium, when the Mets were hanging on by a thread and needing the Cubs to beat Milwaukee on the final day of the season to extend the Mets season and to extend the life of Shea Stadium by just a little bit.
We hit the 7th inning stretch of the Mets game needing help from the Cubbies, and I decided to get clever and invoke a little help from the baseball Gods by calling on Harry Caray's famous alteration of one of the lines in "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", where he would show how he really felt and sing "Root, Root, Root for the Cubbies" (instead of rooting for the "home team"). On that day, it didn't work. Both games seemed to implode on us at right about the same moment. But somewhere that offseason, I came up with a Casey Stengel-Mets-inspired version of what Harry Caray famously had done for years - "Root, Root, Root for the Metsies". I would love for that to catch on, and I decided this offseason that it had possibilities as a banner idea. A friend of mine, when I saw his banner from last year hanging in his basement, helped me to realize that you can't over do it on the banner because you only have a few seconds to impress the judges, and what I had last year was really complex to look at. Even the first banner I designed for this year I thought would be too complex for a short display for judging, and this second idea would work a whole lot better.
So the banner was going to center around the lyrics "Let us root, root, root for the Mesties/If they don't win it's a shame!", with the Mets script logo expanded to say "Metsies". That element is in the final banner with one alteration that I'll get to in a bit. But the minimum space that I had to work with (22" x 28") was gigantic compared to what I was trying to do. And I started seeing possibilities after I started playing around with different large hand-printed words on the space that I could go all the way and include all of the lyrics to "Take me out to the Ballgame", complete with my "Metsies" alternate lyric.
I started spacing it out, and then it hit me. This year, Citi Field is hosting the All-Star Game. It wasn't formally announced as a theme, but I could see it in some of the online banner submissions (including the eventual winner) and thought it would earn me a lot more points if I included the All-Star Game in mine. And I got clever, replacing some more lyrics from the song with All-Star Game references. It's not the "ballgame", it's the "All-Star Game", with different All-Star Game logos used instead of just showing the words. And it's not a shame if the Metsies or home team doesn't "win". In the All-Star Game, it's a shame if they don't "play".
I really started to like where this was headed. I could see the different pieces coming together (literally, based on how I create everything hand-drawn or traced on printer paper and tape/glue it to the posterboard once I have the layout I want and can easily remove/replace any mistakes). But I still had some more space to fill. Then Matt Harvey was pitching this past Tuesday night. And he was dominant. Nearly perfect. I don't think it fits the definition of "imperfect", but darn near close to that. And I thought, I had to get Matt Harvey into my banner. But how? The brain clicked on again, and the last piece of the banner was born. The left side features what is meant to resemble a lineup card, but not for any single game. Rather, it shows the 18 different Mets who have started an All-Star Game, going from Ron Hunt in 1964 to David Wright in 2010. After seeing Matt Harvey pitch on TV Tuesday night, and seeing what he's accomplished already this year, I had no doubt in my mind that Matt Harvey should at least get consideration for starting the All-Star Game in his home ballpark. Hence, the final entry in that lineup card, in a different color so it stands out, and with question marks after the year "2013" since it's what he's working towards.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Banner number 1
Banner Day 2013 is upon us. Thanks to the Mets for bringing it back. Last year was lots of fun watching about 300 banners marching around the Citi Field warning track and in front of the judges. I took part in it with a banner that I thought was going to win the entire contest, and I was blown away with the work that everyone else did. I am still very proud of my banner, but I can see how it wasn't as good as many many others out there.
And that brings us to Banner Day 2013. During the offseason, I had come up with another killer idea that I started sketching out with paper and pencil with the intent that this banner would march with me in the parade. The Mets hadn't even announced Banner Day 2013 yet. And then, during the winter, I had a second idea for a banner for 2013, and I spend some time sketching that one out as well, and trying to figure out which one to work on. Of course, we went through the whole exercise of Banner Day being announced, the game being moved to Sunday Night Baseball, and the fans voting on a new date. The plan for me was to start working for real once I got home from my Spring Training vacation for the last 10 days of March, moving towards a May 11 date. Still trying to figure out which design to execute, the Mets came out with an idea that there would be an online contest for Banner Day 2 weeks before the Banner Day parade. So I said, "good, now I can do both banners!", and the clock was ticking.
So this is a post about the first banner, which was the first idea I had, and the banner that I thought would be too busy to be judged properly in the parade. It actually came out better than I had expected.
The idea was simple. Take a parody of "Hollywood Squares", the old TV game show from the 1960s and revived again in the 1980s where 9 celebrities are aligned in a tic-tac-toe board, and the two contestants are playing a complex game of tic-tac-toe, where the celebrities are asked questions, and the contestant has to determine if the celebrity's answer is correct or not in order to win the square. The parody would be a Mets version, of course, called "Citi Field Squares", because "Citi Field Squares" has the same verbal rhythm as "Hollywood Squares" does, and it allowed me to bring out 9 of the greatest New York Mets.
The layout for the logo on top of course starts with the Citi Field logo, this one redrawn from a picture of the logo on top of the CF scoreboard, and continues with the word "Squares", redrawn from the logo of the 1980s version of the show, but changed from gold to blue to match the Mets color scheme, contrasting with the orange in the word "Field". The gameboard is designed like the gameboard from the TV show, where a gold/orange border is lit up around each square, which I replicated here, and each celebrity would sit at a little desk which has a name plate lit up on the bottom and a display for either "X" or "O" in front. I tried to replicate that, but in the TV show, those were white or gold-looking colors on a black background and that was a little too hard to draw, so it became black text on a white background. And the desk was represented poorly (I'm not afraid to criticize my own work) as just a square outline on top of it, but with an orange "X" or blue "O", as to represent Mets colors again.
The real part that should stand out is how each Mets "celebrity" was represented. Instead of trying to draw/copy their likeness to the game board, I decided to go with their respective retired numbers as the background. Of course, only 3 of them are actually retired by the Mets, but I took that design and adapted what 6 other retired numbers would look like. If you look real hard, you should notice that the black dropshadow is missing from the numbers (it's still there in the numbers on the Citi Field wall today, which the Mets should fix) to be more correct, except in the case of Mike Piazza, the only one of those Mets who spent their entire Mets career (or even close to it) wearing the drop shadow jersey. In hindsight, I might have been able to doctor up something for the players from the 1986 team with the larger blue/orange piping that went down the side of their jerseys.
And of course, let the debates begin about which 9 Mets I chose. But that isn't necessarily the point. Now look at the placement of the "X"s and "O"s on the game board. It's set up with "Tom Seaver for the win" (or "Tom Seaver for the block"), as they might say in the TV version.
In the online contest, I was hopeful that it would do well with the judges. I really really liked how it came out. And the whole thing was the different players and borders and logos taped on to a piece of standard size printer paper (8 1/2" x 11"). Since it was an online contest, with a maximum file size of only 2MB, I didn't need to go large with it. There were only 21 entrys in the online contest, including mine. 5 of them were just people uploading pictures of themselves with their banner at last year's parade. I consider them invalid entrys. So I was one out of only 16, with 4 being selected as finalists. A 1 in 4 chance of moving on, and it didn't happen. I don't disagree with any of the banners that were chosen.
What you see pictured is an enlarged version of the scanned image which I am marching with in the parade.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
And that brings us to Banner Day 2013. During the offseason, I had come up with another killer idea that I started sketching out with paper and pencil with the intent that this banner would march with me in the parade. The Mets hadn't even announced Banner Day 2013 yet. And then, during the winter, I had a second idea for a banner for 2013, and I spend some time sketching that one out as well, and trying to figure out which one to work on. Of course, we went through the whole exercise of Banner Day being announced, the game being moved to Sunday Night Baseball, and the fans voting on a new date. The plan for me was to start working for real once I got home from my Spring Training vacation for the last 10 days of March, moving towards a May 11 date. Still trying to figure out which design to execute, the Mets came out with an idea that there would be an online contest for Banner Day 2 weeks before the Banner Day parade. So I said, "good, now I can do both banners!", and the clock was ticking.
So this is a post about the first banner, which was the first idea I had, and the banner that I thought would be too busy to be judged properly in the parade. It actually came out better than I had expected.
The idea was simple. Take a parody of "Hollywood Squares", the old TV game show from the 1960s and revived again in the 1980s where 9 celebrities are aligned in a tic-tac-toe board, and the two contestants are playing a complex game of tic-tac-toe, where the celebrities are asked questions, and the contestant has to determine if the celebrity's answer is correct or not in order to win the square. The parody would be a Mets version, of course, called "Citi Field Squares", because "Citi Field Squares" has the same verbal rhythm as "Hollywood Squares" does, and it allowed me to bring out 9 of the greatest New York Mets.
The layout for the logo on top of course starts with the Citi Field logo, this one redrawn from a picture of the logo on top of the CF scoreboard, and continues with the word "Squares", redrawn from the logo of the 1980s version of the show, but changed from gold to blue to match the Mets color scheme, contrasting with the orange in the word "Field". The gameboard is designed like the gameboard from the TV show, where a gold/orange border is lit up around each square, which I replicated here, and each celebrity would sit at a little desk which has a name plate lit up on the bottom and a display for either "X" or "O" in front. I tried to replicate that, but in the TV show, those were white or gold-looking colors on a black background and that was a little too hard to draw, so it became black text on a white background. And the desk was represented poorly (I'm not afraid to criticize my own work) as just a square outline on top of it, but with an orange "X" or blue "O", as to represent Mets colors again.
The real part that should stand out is how each Mets "celebrity" was represented. Instead of trying to draw/copy their likeness to the game board, I decided to go with their respective retired numbers as the background. Of course, only 3 of them are actually retired by the Mets, but I took that design and adapted what 6 other retired numbers would look like. If you look real hard, you should notice that the black dropshadow is missing from the numbers (it's still there in the numbers on the Citi Field wall today, which the Mets should fix) to be more correct, except in the case of Mike Piazza, the only one of those Mets who spent their entire Mets career (or even close to it) wearing the drop shadow jersey. In hindsight, I might have been able to doctor up something for the players from the 1986 team with the larger blue/orange piping that went down the side of their jerseys.
And of course, let the debates begin about which 9 Mets I chose. But that isn't necessarily the point. Now look at the placement of the "X"s and "O"s on the game board. It's set up with "Tom Seaver for the win" (or "Tom Seaver for the block"), as they might say in the TV version.
In the online contest, I was hopeful that it would do well with the judges. I really really liked how it came out. And the whole thing was the different players and borders and logos taped on to a piece of standard size printer paper (8 1/2" x 11"). Since it was an online contest, with a maximum file size of only 2MB, I didn't need to go large with it. There were only 21 entrys in the online contest, including mine. 5 of them were just people uploading pictures of themselves with their banner at last year's parade. I consider them invalid entrys. So I was one out of only 16, with 4 being selected as finalists. A 1 in 4 chance of moving on, and it didn't happen. I don't disagree with any of the banners that were chosen.
What you see pictured is an enlarged version of the scanned image which I am marching with in the parade.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Sunday, March 31, 2013
And it all begins tomorrow
Happy Opening Day. I'm beginning my 5th baseball season with this blog (hard to believe) and the 5th season at Citi Field (also hard to believe), and I'm pretty much recycling some of my special posts (but they still have meaning, such as an anniversary).
This one I'm taking from my Opening Day post from last year, where I shared a few Opening Day memories. I will except the very short story and sound bytes from Opening Day 1998, which is hard to believe was 15 years ago today.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
This one I'm taking from my Opening Day post from last year, where I shared a few Opening Day memories. I will except the very short story and sound bytes from Opening Day 1998, which is hard to believe was 15 years ago today.
I remember cutting class during my sophomore year in college to watch Opening Day 1998 (like 2003, also a March 31 opener, and line 2007, against the Phillies) when Bobby Jones started for the Mets.
Here's how the game started.
And this is how that game ended.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Prediction Time
It's Opening Night eve day, or something. The first game is a little more than 48 hours away. How's that? And it's prediction time. I saw 8 Mets games in Spring Training in person, and watched and listened to parts of several others while I was at work (on weekdays) and home (weekends). So I have no idea what I'm talking about.
I posted this on facebook the other day (before news about Santana came out) - ...I want to go on the record and guess that the Mets will come away with 74 wins in 2013. I also clarified it a bit saying that if EVERYTHING breaks right for the Mets, 82 or 83 is going to happen. But I think they're already on the edge of not having EVERYTHING break right. And then we learned that Santana, our former ace, is likely done for the season, bringing an end to his Mets contract, but might also be done as a big league pitcher. I'm not going to get into that here, but it's an example of things not breaking right for the Mets.
So let me try to quantify my 74 win prediction. I am also going to attempt to understand who made the Mets roster, having seen a couple of tweets in the past couple days.
The infield is the most solid piece of the ballclub. Ike Davis at first has been there for a couple of years now, he seems to be healthy, and he can hit for power. Daniel Murphy might be the weakest link of the 4 at 2B. He finally got some big league exhibition game action late in the spring, so I wonder a bit if he's really ready to start the season on top of his game. And I still think he's learning how to play 2B, which makes him the weakest link of the 4 on the infield. Tejada is a solid player at short, especially once we get rid of the images of Jose Reyes out of our heads. And then there's Captain America at 3B. Wright's one that I worry about a bit, only because he was injured, and I get the sense that he's going to try to play through an injury in an effort to lead the club while possibly making things worse. I never followed up on this rumor, but I heard 3rd hand that he did that once already this spring when he went to join team USA and then had to miss the end of the WBC and almost missed the end of spring training. I question things in his head more than things in his game. Valdespin has earned a spot as a fill in and off the bench. I liked Zach Lutz playing at 3B while Wright was at the WBC and then out injured. I'm not as high on Justin Turner as most people seem to be.
Catching is a complete makeover. John Buck seems like a solid major league guy. From what I saw of Anthony Recker, he doesn't scare me. The Mets kept 2 other catchers around for most of the spring (d'Arnaud and Powell, who will be at AAA Las Vegas) which tells me that there's depth there. d'Arnaud would be the regular catcher if Buck were to be injured, and I think he's the real thing. I hope the Mets don't ruin him like they've ruined other prospects.
Outfield has been the butt of jokes during the offseason. You know - the Mets can solve their outfielder problems by moving the fences in at Citi Field again to Little League depth (and they won't need any outfielders). It looks like Marlon Byrd has won a job in the OF. I was an advocate of that after my first game in Port St. Lucie. Mike Baxter is a solid defensive player at the corners. Lucas Duda is a good DH (oh wait, we don't have that in the NL). I was also impressed by Colin Cowgill and it looks like he's won a job. I really really liked the defense of Matt den Dekker, but everyone kept saying that he isn't hitting, and now he's on the minor league DL with a broken wrist (which occurred trying to make a play). With Cowgill, Byrd, and Baxter covering CF and RF, I'm not worrying a lot. It's LF that is the biggest remaining hole. Duda just isn't the guy. Baxter could play it in some alignments, but the Mets seem to have a lineup vs. Lefties and a different one vs. Righties. Valdespin can fill a hole, but he's not an every day player either.
And on the mound. The Mets lost Santana, likely for the season, but it was starting to get to the point that we didn't even know what we'd get anyway. It's almost better to remove that uncertainty. Niese is the best of the remaining pitchers (that sounds bad - he earned that Opening Day start). I don't think he's going to be what Santana was in his best years, at least not in 2013 he won't, but he's going to be the best pitcher going into the season. Matt Harvey also impressed me, and it sounds like he will be the number 2 starter. We don't quite know as much what we're going to get from him, but I really like the potential. And I gave him a fist bump as he walked off the field after a start in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago. Dillon Gee coming back from an injury is the number 3 starter. I think he can be solid. The key for these 3 guys is to go deep into ballgames and give the bullpen a rest. Marcum seems to have earned a spot in the rotation (or a spot on the DL, we'll see), Jeremy Hefner can be a solid number 5 starter. But if something breaks wrong here, like one of these guys going down, and Marcum may start that way, I don't know if there's depth. They say Zack Wheeler has the stuff, but I've also heard that he won't be rushed up to the big leagues. I'd rather play towards the future than the present anyway (though it's somewhat surprising that Matt Harvey isn't going back down for a bit more seasoning).
The bullpen seems to be the biggest mystery about the 2013 Mets coming into Opening Day. I think that's because a lot of these guys are unknown to us. Bobby Parnell will be the closer while Frankie Francisco recovers from whatever it is that's kept him out this spring. I haven't liked a Mets closer in a long time. Parnell is no different. I saw guys like Edgin, Lyon, Rice, Atchison, Hawkins, Burke, and Familia during the spring. None of them really blew me away. But they might be the biggest key to the 2013 season. That bridge from what could be solid starting pitching to what people hope is a solid closer. They're also the guys to eat innings when the starters can't go 7. And if past history is any indication, that will happen a lot. But at the same time, I like that there has been almost a complete overhaul of the Mets bullpen from last year. Something new might be better than what we know and didn't really like.
Of course, none of us know if a freak or fluke injury could take down an important player during the season, or if someone just struggles. There could always be players on the New York-to-Las Vegas shuttle during the season to fill new holes. And maybe there's a trade to bring in a closer or a left fielder during the year. A lot of things could break one way or the other. A week ago, I really wasn't sure if Wright or Murphy would be ready for Opening Day, but it looks like they will be. But maybe Marcum won't be. Santana clearly won't be. And those little things can make a difference.
If they had everyone, including Santana and Francisco, maybe, just maybe, they could have won 82 or 83 games. If things really really break down during the year, they could even reach 100 losses. I think the answer will be in the middle - at 74 wins.
Let's Go Mets! And Happy Opening Day!
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
I posted this on facebook the other day (before news about Santana came out) - ...I want to go on the record and guess that the Mets will come away with 74 wins in 2013. I also clarified it a bit saying that if EVERYTHING breaks right for the Mets, 82 or 83 is going to happen. But I think they're already on the edge of not having EVERYTHING break right. And then we learned that Santana, our former ace, is likely done for the season, bringing an end to his Mets contract, but might also be done as a big league pitcher. I'm not going to get into that here, but it's an example of things not breaking right for the Mets.
So let me try to quantify my 74 win prediction. I am also going to attempt to understand who made the Mets roster, having seen a couple of tweets in the past couple days.
The infield is the most solid piece of the ballclub. Ike Davis at first has been there for a couple of years now, he seems to be healthy, and he can hit for power. Daniel Murphy might be the weakest link of the 4 at 2B. He finally got some big league exhibition game action late in the spring, so I wonder a bit if he's really ready to start the season on top of his game. And I still think he's learning how to play 2B, which makes him the weakest link of the 4 on the infield. Tejada is a solid player at short, especially once we get rid of the images of Jose Reyes out of our heads. And then there's Captain America at 3B. Wright's one that I worry about a bit, only because he was injured, and I get the sense that he's going to try to play through an injury in an effort to lead the club while possibly making things worse. I never followed up on this rumor, but I heard 3rd hand that he did that once already this spring when he went to join team USA and then had to miss the end of the WBC and almost missed the end of spring training. I question things in his head more than things in his game. Valdespin has earned a spot as a fill in and off the bench. I liked Zach Lutz playing at 3B while Wright was at the WBC and then out injured. I'm not as high on Justin Turner as most people seem to be.
Catching is a complete makeover. John Buck seems like a solid major league guy. From what I saw of Anthony Recker, he doesn't scare me. The Mets kept 2 other catchers around for most of the spring (d'Arnaud and Powell, who will be at AAA Las Vegas) which tells me that there's depth there. d'Arnaud would be the regular catcher if Buck were to be injured, and I think he's the real thing. I hope the Mets don't ruin him like they've ruined other prospects.
Outfield has been the butt of jokes during the offseason. You know - the Mets can solve their outfielder problems by moving the fences in at Citi Field again to Little League depth (and they won't need any outfielders). It looks like Marlon Byrd has won a job in the OF. I was an advocate of that after my first game in Port St. Lucie. Mike Baxter is a solid defensive player at the corners. Lucas Duda is a good DH (oh wait, we don't have that in the NL). I was also impressed by Colin Cowgill and it looks like he's won a job. I really really liked the defense of Matt den Dekker, but everyone kept saying that he isn't hitting, and now he's on the minor league DL with a broken wrist (which occurred trying to make a play). With Cowgill, Byrd, and Baxter covering CF and RF, I'm not worrying a lot. It's LF that is the biggest remaining hole. Duda just isn't the guy. Baxter could play it in some alignments, but the Mets seem to have a lineup vs. Lefties and a different one vs. Righties. Valdespin can fill a hole, but he's not an every day player either.
And on the mound. The Mets lost Santana, likely for the season, but it was starting to get to the point that we didn't even know what we'd get anyway. It's almost better to remove that uncertainty. Niese is the best of the remaining pitchers (that sounds bad - he earned that Opening Day start). I don't think he's going to be what Santana was in his best years, at least not in 2013 he won't, but he's going to be the best pitcher going into the season. Matt Harvey also impressed me, and it sounds like he will be the number 2 starter. We don't quite know as much what we're going to get from him, but I really like the potential. And I gave him a fist bump as he walked off the field after a start in Jupiter a couple of weeks ago. Dillon Gee coming back from an injury is the number 3 starter. I think he can be solid. The key for these 3 guys is to go deep into ballgames and give the bullpen a rest. Marcum seems to have earned a spot in the rotation (or a spot on the DL, we'll see), Jeremy Hefner can be a solid number 5 starter. But if something breaks wrong here, like one of these guys going down, and Marcum may start that way, I don't know if there's depth. They say Zack Wheeler has the stuff, but I've also heard that he won't be rushed up to the big leagues. I'd rather play towards the future than the present anyway (though it's somewhat surprising that Matt Harvey isn't going back down for a bit more seasoning).
The bullpen seems to be the biggest mystery about the 2013 Mets coming into Opening Day. I think that's because a lot of these guys are unknown to us. Bobby Parnell will be the closer while Frankie Francisco recovers from whatever it is that's kept him out this spring. I haven't liked a Mets closer in a long time. Parnell is no different. I saw guys like Edgin, Lyon, Rice, Atchison, Hawkins, Burke, and Familia during the spring. None of them really blew me away. But they might be the biggest key to the 2013 season. That bridge from what could be solid starting pitching to what people hope is a solid closer. They're also the guys to eat innings when the starters can't go 7. And if past history is any indication, that will happen a lot. But at the same time, I like that there has been almost a complete overhaul of the Mets bullpen from last year. Something new might be better than what we know and didn't really like.
Of course, none of us know if a freak or fluke injury could take down an important player during the season, or if someone just struggles. There could always be players on the New York-to-Las Vegas shuttle during the season to fill new holes. And maybe there's a trade to bring in a closer or a left fielder during the year. A lot of things could break one way or the other. A week ago, I really wasn't sure if Wright or Murphy would be ready for Opening Day, but it looks like they will be. But maybe Marcum won't be. Santana clearly won't be. And those little things can make a difference.
If they had everyone, including Santana and Francisco, maybe, just maybe, they could have won 82 or 83 games. If things really really break down during the year, they could even reach 100 losses. I think the answer will be in the middle - at 74 wins.
Let's Go Mets! And Happy Opening Day!
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Spring Training 2013 - Day 13
Day 13 - March 18, 2013 - Mets-Cardinals @ Jupiter
One final day in Florida. One final day with the Mets. I pressed my luck by heading out to Tradition Field before my final game with the Mets in Jupiter (located conveniently on the way to Palm Beach International Airport). I was up early, all packed, so there was nothing stopping me from heading to the Mets back fields for one last attempt to get autographs, or even a glimpse of "Captain America", David Wright. And I'll tell ya, I'm a glutton for punishment, because a lot of times, there is just nothing to see back there, and even fewer autograph opportunities. I did see Johan Santana running with his teammates, but then he ducked inside not paying any attention to the fans. Just once, I'd love to see what they're doing when they're in there.
After saying a few goodbyes and taking a few last looks around the back fields, I headed down to Jupiter for the game (already too late to catch the end of batting practice). Jupiter is a nice ballpark, and seemingly, a good one in which to grab autographs (especially for the visiting team). I'll touch more on the ballpark in a minute. Before the game, I did manage to get Jordany Valdespin and Mets coach (and '86 Met) Tim Teufel before the game. I think I saw a few more players signing, but I don't like to push through crowds anymore. It's not my thing.
Matt Harvey pitched this game. I think he's ready for the season as well. I think he's the 2nd best pitcher with the Mets right now (behind Niese). He held the Cardinals down and pitched I think into the 6th. One of the nice things about the ballpark in Jupiter is the space behind the LF bullpen (down the foul line) and in front of the bleachers where fans can go to watch the game and maybe grab a long foul ball, where there is a spot in the corner where you're just feet from the foul line, and where players from 3B dugout have to walk past in order to reach their clubhouse. As he was leaving the field after pitching, and after getting a few fist bumps from his teammates in the bullpen, I did give Matt Harvey a fist bump before he disappeared into the Mets clubhouse.
This is Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, a northern suburb of West Palm Beach. The ballpark, located in a fancyish corner ballpark next to some shops and some expensive homes, was named for a local car dealer, Roger Dean. It was built for the 1998 Spring Training season as a new home for the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos, all part of the great Spring Training migration of '98. The Marlins and Expos (now the Nationals) swapped Spring Training locations in 2003 when Jeffrey Loria abandoned the Expos in order to buy the Marlins (who had come into the league in 1993 and found Viera as a suitable location, about 200 miles north of their regular season home in the Miami area). The Cardinals had been kicked out of St. Petersburg, their long-time home shared with, at different times, both the Mets and Yankees, when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays came into existence and claimed St. Petersburg as their exclusive domain (the Rays playing regular season games at Tropicana Field and holding Spring Training at Al Lang Field on the waterfront until a few years ago). The Expos had previously shared a stadium in West Palm Beach with the Braves (who moved to the new Disney Wide World of Sports complex at the same time). There is one inner concourse, at street level, with concessions that extends from behind the LF bullpen to behind the RF bullpen. The middle portion of it is covered by the press box and suites, providing the only real shade in the park. The rest is open to the elements. Both LF (covered) and RF (exposed) at the ends of the concourses have picnic seating (out of view of the field). The bullpens are down the foul lines with fans being able to stand right behind the LF bullpen and even get autographs between innings and a small berm behind the RF bullpen (which is restricted to berm ticket holders, but those fans can still get autographs). Next to the LF bullpen is also a standing room and handicap seating area that can be an easy place for foul balls. There is bleacher seating behind the LF bullpen over the visitor's clubhouse and a covered air conditioned party deck behind the RF bullpen. There is an inner concourse/walkway with standing room only tickets that wraps from just past 3B around to the RF party deck. When it's not crowded, you can stand and watch the game from the walkway. There is seating in front of it going down to the field and seating behind it between 3B and 1B. The barrier between seating and field is only about 3ft high, so it's real easy to be face-to-face with the players to get autographs on the OF sides of the dugouts. The dugouts also extend back into the seating area with the outer corners open to both the elements and the fans, so that is also a good place for autographs (where the players have to reach up to where the fans are because of how the dugout steps down from field level and where the fans are already a few steps up from it). There is also a large team store behind home plate on the street-level concourse, accessible from inside the ballpark on game days and from outside at other times.
I mentioned that this is a two-team complex (Cardinals and Marlins). Each team has their own clubhouse, training facility, player parking lot, and set of practice fields, and even their own dugout inside the ballpark. The Marlins occupy the LF side of the ballpark, going down about 2 blocks beyond the stadium walls with their practice fields, and have a clubhouse building behind the LF wall. They use the LF bullpen and 3B dugout for their games. The Cardinals occupy the RF side of the ballpark, with basically the same setup including a clubhouse behind the RF wall. They use the RF bullpen and 1B dugout for their games. The visiting teams (when there is one - these 2 teams probably play each other 6 times during spring training where neither team involved in the game is traveling) use the open dugout/bullpen and a small clubhouse behind the LF wall (with the buses parked back there). The team store is always set up to have merchandise for both teams, and the souvenir carts on the concourse are set up for the home team only. Each team has their own gameday program for the spring (and I believe both are on sale for games involving both home teams). The Cardinals tend to draw lots of fans from the midwest to their games (a sea of red down the RF line before games looking for autographs) and the Marlins don't really draw as much. Roger Dean Stadium had been one of the better ballparks in the Grapefruit League in its earlier days (not that it's old or outdated in any way), but in 15 years, especially the past 4 or 5 years, it's been passed by other ballparks, though I can't think of anything that can be improved there.
After the game, a small number of fans will try to grab players from the visiting team as they get on the bus, or into their own cars, behind the LF fence at the corner of the ballpark complex. Players tend to sign there too (since they're not working at this point in the day). I did grab my final 2 autographs of the spring in Bobby Parnell and Zach Lutz. And then it was on to the airport, and back home to get myself ready for baseball season to start for real.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
One final day in Florida. One final day with the Mets. I pressed my luck by heading out to Tradition Field before my final game with the Mets in Jupiter (located conveniently on the way to Palm Beach International Airport). I was up early, all packed, so there was nothing stopping me from heading to the Mets back fields for one last attempt to get autographs, or even a glimpse of "Captain America", David Wright. And I'll tell ya, I'm a glutton for punishment, because a lot of times, there is just nothing to see back there, and even fewer autograph opportunities. I did see Johan Santana running with his teammates, but then he ducked inside not paying any attention to the fans. Just once, I'd love to see what they're doing when they're in there.
After saying a few goodbyes and taking a few last looks around the back fields, I headed down to Jupiter for the game (already too late to catch the end of batting practice). Jupiter is a nice ballpark, and seemingly, a good one in which to grab autographs (especially for the visiting team). I'll touch more on the ballpark in a minute. Before the game, I did manage to get Jordany Valdespin and Mets coach (and '86 Met) Tim Teufel before the game. I think I saw a few more players signing, but I don't like to push through crowds anymore. It's not my thing.
Matt Harvey pitched this game. I think he's ready for the season as well. I think he's the 2nd best pitcher with the Mets right now (behind Niese). He held the Cardinals down and pitched I think into the 6th. One of the nice things about the ballpark in Jupiter is the space behind the LF bullpen (down the foul line) and in front of the bleachers where fans can go to watch the game and maybe grab a long foul ball, where there is a spot in the corner where you're just feet from the foul line, and where players from 3B dugout have to walk past in order to reach their clubhouse. As he was leaving the field after pitching, and after getting a few fist bumps from his teammates in the bullpen, I did give Matt Harvey a fist bump before he disappeared into the Mets clubhouse.
This is Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, a northern suburb of West Palm Beach. The ballpark, located in a fancyish corner ballpark next to some shops and some expensive homes, was named for a local car dealer, Roger Dean. It was built for the 1998 Spring Training season as a new home for the St. Louis Cardinals and Montreal Expos, all part of the great Spring Training migration of '98. The Marlins and Expos (now the Nationals) swapped Spring Training locations in 2003 when Jeffrey Loria abandoned the Expos in order to buy the Marlins (who had come into the league in 1993 and found Viera as a suitable location, about 200 miles north of their regular season home in the Miami area). The Cardinals had been kicked out of St. Petersburg, their long-time home shared with, at different times, both the Mets and Yankees, when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays came into existence and claimed St. Petersburg as their exclusive domain (the Rays playing regular season games at Tropicana Field and holding Spring Training at Al Lang Field on the waterfront until a few years ago). The Expos had previously shared a stadium in West Palm Beach with the Braves (who moved to the new Disney Wide World of Sports complex at the same time). There is one inner concourse, at street level, with concessions that extends from behind the LF bullpen to behind the RF bullpen. The middle portion of it is covered by the press box and suites, providing the only real shade in the park. The rest is open to the elements. Both LF (covered) and RF (exposed) at the ends of the concourses have picnic seating (out of view of the field). The bullpens are down the foul lines with fans being able to stand right behind the LF bullpen and even get autographs between innings and a small berm behind the RF bullpen (which is restricted to berm ticket holders, but those fans can still get autographs). Next to the LF bullpen is also a standing room and handicap seating area that can be an easy place for foul balls. There is bleacher seating behind the LF bullpen over the visitor's clubhouse and a covered air conditioned party deck behind the RF bullpen. There is an inner concourse/walkway with standing room only tickets that wraps from just past 3B around to the RF party deck. When it's not crowded, you can stand and watch the game from the walkway. There is seating in front of it going down to the field and seating behind it between 3B and 1B. The barrier between seating and field is only about 3ft high, so it's real easy to be face-to-face with the players to get autographs on the OF sides of the dugouts. The dugouts also extend back into the seating area with the outer corners open to both the elements and the fans, so that is also a good place for autographs (where the players have to reach up to where the fans are because of how the dugout steps down from field level and where the fans are already a few steps up from it). There is also a large team store behind home plate on the street-level concourse, accessible from inside the ballpark on game days and from outside at other times.
I mentioned that this is a two-team complex (Cardinals and Marlins). Each team has their own clubhouse, training facility, player parking lot, and set of practice fields, and even their own dugout inside the ballpark. The Marlins occupy the LF side of the ballpark, going down about 2 blocks beyond the stadium walls with their practice fields, and have a clubhouse building behind the LF wall. They use the LF bullpen and 3B dugout for their games. The Cardinals occupy the RF side of the ballpark, with basically the same setup including a clubhouse behind the RF wall. They use the RF bullpen and 1B dugout for their games. The visiting teams (when there is one - these 2 teams probably play each other 6 times during spring training where neither team involved in the game is traveling) use the open dugout/bullpen and a small clubhouse behind the LF wall (with the buses parked back there). The team store is always set up to have merchandise for both teams, and the souvenir carts on the concourse are set up for the home team only. Each team has their own gameday program for the spring (and I believe both are on sale for games involving both home teams). The Cardinals tend to draw lots of fans from the midwest to their games (a sea of red down the RF line before games looking for autographs) and the Marlins don't really draw as much. Roger Dean Stadium had been one of the better ballparks in the Grapefruit League in its earlier days (not that it's old or outdated in any way), but in 15 years, especially the past 4 or 5 years, it's been passed by other ballparks, though I can't think of anything that can be improved there.
After the game, a small number of fans will try to grab players from the visiting team as they get on the bus, or into their own cars, behind the LF fence at the corner of the ballpark complex. Players tend to sign there too (since they're not working at this point in the day). I did grab my final 2 autographs of the spring in Bobby Parnell and Zach Lutz. And then it was on to the airport, and back home to get myself ready for baseball season to start for real.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Spring Training 2013 - Day 12
Day 12 - March 17, 2013 - Mets-Braves @ Port St. Lucie
Final home game in my Spring Training 2013 adventure. And it was St. Patrick's Day. In the morning, I was on the back fields, as per usual. Today, there was a treat. The team had a later-than-normal start. I actually got to see the whole team stretch before they broke up to do drills and hitting on different fields. That used to be the norm, but this year, they've been starting before 9:30 when the fans are allowed inside. And of course, there really wasn't much to see and no real autograph opportunities to get.
In to the stadium one final time, I headed down to the hidden corner of the ballpark that I found on Saturday (down the LF terrace seating past the bullpen, and around the corner to the back of the clubhouse where there is a small set of steps that takes you down to field level and hidden from the ballpark). I had seen that there was another morning picnic, which means that there's a better chance of players lingering on in the back after the Mets complete BP. With the Mets, sometimes, we just have to cling to things like that in order to get autographs. I did manage to get Pedro Feliciano and Jeremy Hefner in that corner (maybe I'll remember this for 2014). And we were this close to a Johan Santana autograph. He was signing and taking pictures with the fans at the picnic, came over towards the steps to talk to another group (this is an area just past the top of the LF upper terrace and just past the back entrance to the clubhouse). And we waited, with the stairs getting a bit more crowded. And a beer spilled down from up top, and Johan went inside. And that was it.
The big attraction was that TV host Regis Philbin was there to throw out the first pitch. And he came out of the Mets dugout to warm up on the field and was holding court for the fans, even posing for a few photos. Like the Mets, Regis had a green version of the Mets BP jersey and hat for St. Patrick's Day. Regis did his thing, even staying with Terry Collins as an honorary coach for the first two innings. And Jon Niese did his thing warming up for Opening Day. The Mets lost, but the results don't count. Niese pitched well.
After the game, I did grab an autograph from fan favorite Mets broadcaster Howie Rose. Howie has a new book out, but I don't have it yet in order to have it signed.
And it was Sunday in Spring Training. That means Bowling Night!! Which meant dinner at Duffy's first (like we need an excuse to eat at Duffy's). Players sometimes come into Duffy's to watch a game on one of the TVs. Jon Niese did, hanging with friends at a table watching his Ohio State game. And these are the candid times when they don't mind signing autographs for us fans. And after dinner, it was my first chance to see bowling night in person. The bowling alley, located at SuperPlay USA (which is attached to Duffy's Sports Bar, all just across the street and around the circle from some fan favorite hotels) is just about a 20 minute walk from the ballpark complex. Bowling started early, around 6pm. By the 4th week of it, a smaller group of players comes out (none of the "big boys - Wright, Santana, Ike, Tejada, Niese, Gee - were there). It was the coaching staff, GM, and Jeff Wilpon, a lot of the younger players, and even a couple of players' families and some of the ballpark staff from Tradition Field bowling. Even Al Jackson and his wife came out to watch. Bowling night is a good time, not just to hang out with friends watching the Mets, but to get autographs and pictures and interact with them in ways otherwise not seen at the ballpark. There was lots of it. And lots of autographs to be had.
I don't normally get autographs on a baseball or a baseball card or anything like that. I'm usually a simple person, going for a simple collection of autographs in the game program. But during my last game at Tradition Field, I got the lead ballpark entertainment person (you know, it's minor league, so they're entertaining the fans between most innings with trivia and prizes or throwing things into the crowd) to hook me up with one of the frisbees they were throwing around. So I decided to be a little different with Bowling night and get the inside of the frisbee autographed. I filled it up with a lot of the players and Mets personnel I had been missing (I was trying really hard to avoid duplicate autographs, and for most of these Mets, it's not worth the trouble to get them again).
LaTroy Hawkins, Travis d'Arnaud, Rob Carson, Colin Cowgill, Sandy Alderson, Brandon Hicks, Al Jackson, Scott Atchison, and Shaun Marcum. Other players like Mike Baxter, Jeremy Hefner, and Anthony Recker were also there. And even ex-Met Josh Thole made an appearance at the bowling alley, surprising both fans and Mets players/coaches. He didn't stay long, but he was certainly greeted warmly by both fans and his friends on the Mets.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Final home game in my Spring Training 2013 adventure. And it was St. Patrick's Day. In the morning, I was on the back fields, as per usual. Today, there was a treat. The team had a later-than-normal start. I actually got to see the whole team stretch before they broke up to do drills and hitting on different fields. That used to be the norm, but this year, they've been starting before 9:30 when the fans are allowed inside. And of course, there really wasn't much to see and no real autograph opportunities to get.
In to the stadium one final time, I headed down to the hidden corner of the ballpark that I found on Saturday (down the LF terrace seating past the bullpen, and around the corner to the back of the clubhouse where there is a small set of steps that takes you down to field level and hidden from the ballpark). I had seen that there was another morning picnic, which means that there's a better chance of players lingering on in the back after the Mets complete BP. With the Mets, sometimes, we just have to cling to things like that in order to get autographs. I did manage to get Pedro Feliciano and Jeremy Hefner in that corner (maybe I'll remember this for 2014). And we were this close to a Johan Santana autograph. He was signing and taking pictures with the fans at the picnic, came over towards the steps to talk to another group (this is an area just past the top of the LF upper terrace and just past the back entrance to the clubhouse). And we waited, with the stairs getting a bit more crowded. And a beer spilled down from up top, and Johan went inside. And that was it.
The big attraction was that TV host Regis Philbin was there to throw out the first pitch. And he came out of the Mets dugout to warm up on the field and was holding court for the fans, even posing for a few photos. Like the Mets, Regis had a green version of the Mets BP jersey and hat for St. Patrick's Day. Regis did his thing, even staying with Terry Collins as an honorary coach for the first two innings. And Jon Niese did his thing warming up for Opening Day. The Mets lost, but the results don't count. Niese pitched well.
After the game, I did grab an autograph from fan favorite Mets broadcaster Howie Rose. Howie has a new book out, but I don't have it yet in order to have it signed.
And it was Sunday in Spring Training. That means Bowling Night!! Which meant dinner at Duffy's first (like we need an excuse to eat at Duffy's). Players sometimes come into Duffy's to watch a game on one of the TVs. Jon Niese did, hanging with friends at a table watching his Ohio State game. And these are the candid times when they don't mind signing autographs for us fans. And after dinner, it was my first chance to see bowling night in person. The bowling alley, located at SuperPlay USA (which is attached to Duffy's Sports Bar, all just across the street and around the circle from some fan favorite hotels) is just about a 20 minute walk from the ballpark complex. Bowling started early, around 6pm. By the 4th week of it, a smaller group of players comes out (none of the "big boys - Wright, Santana, Ike, Tejada, Niese, Gee - were there). It was the coaching staff, GM, and Jeff Wilpon, a lot of the younger players, and even a couple of players' families and some of the ballpark staff from Tradition Field bowling. Even Al Jackson and his wife came out to watch. Bowling night is a good time, not just to hang out with friends watching the Mets, but to get autographs and pictures and interact with them in ways otherwise not seen at the ballpark. There was lots of it. And lots of autographs to be had.
I don't normally get autographs on a baseball or a baseball card or anything like that. I'm usually a simple person, going for a simple collection of autographs in the game program. But during my last game at Tradition Field, I got the lead ballpark entertainment person (you know, it's minor league, so they're entertaining the fans between most innings with trivia and prizes or throwing things into the crowd) to hook me up with one of the frisbees they were throwing around. So I decided to be a little different with Bowling night and get the inside of the frisbee autographed. I filled it up with a lot of the players and Mets personnel I had been missing (I was trying really hard to avoid duplicate autographs, and for most of these Mets, it's not worth the trouble to get them again).
LaTroy Hawkins, Travis d'Arnaud, Rob Carson, Colin Cowgill, Sandy Alderson, Brandon Hicks, Al Jackson, Scott Atchison, and Shaun Marcum. Other players like Mike Baxter, Jeremy Hefner, and Anthony Recker were also there. And even ex-Met Josh Thole made an appearance at the bowling alley, surprising both fans and Mets players/coaches. He didn't stay long, but he was certainly greeted warmly by both fans and his friends on the Mets.
Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com. Your comments will fall into a moderation queue.
"Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").
Become a Networked Blog
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)