Remembering Shea

Mets 2012 predictions

2012-01-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

The new year 2012 is upon us, and I have a few predictions for the Mets for this year.

I will not win the Banner Day competition, but I will have lots of fun creating a banner and participating. And that's what it's all about.
The Sterling Equities partners will no longer control the New York Mets (by year's end). They will not get enough investors to loan them money in exchange for usage of Mr. Met and a Citi Field parking space (which I heard is actually only good when Citi Field's lot is used as a park-and-ride lot). They will have to pay more money than they can afford in Bernie Madoff-related lawsuits. And other owners in MLB will force Bud Selig's hand over the liquidity issues and loans from MLB that they'll basically kick Fred Wilpon out of the club. Sterling Equities real estate will also crumble over the weight of what Fred Wilpon will owe (remember, separate from the Mets, they made money from Madoff that will have to be given back).
The 2013 MLB All Star Game will not be awarded to Citi Field. Same with the 2014 game or the 2015 game. It won't be awarded until new ownership is firmly in place, though I expect to see it as something thrown into the pot for a new owner (sort of like how the Astros deal had a condition on them moving to the AL West).
The Mets will have a bad product on the field in 2012. It won't be fun to watch. And attendance will dip, again. That will cause the Mets to lose $100 million in 2012. It's kind of the opposite of "it takes money to make money".
The most attended event at Citi Field will be a concert and not a sporting event.
The NHL Winter Classic will not be at Citi Field in 2012 (or probably, ever). Reason - it's not Yankee Stadium. We just have to live with it.
David Wright will be traded before the trade deadline.
Johan Santana will be healthy enough to have trade talks centered around him during the season until a season ending injury (though it'll be something freak and mis-handled, and not related to any of the other injuries he's had with the Mets).
R.A. Dickey will be the Mets representative at the All Star Game
Howie Rose will be paired with Jim Duquette on WFAN. It should be fun to listen to.

Happy 2012 Mets fans! Mets 2012, rejuvenated at 50!

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Can I audition for the vacant Mets radio gig?

2011-12-21T20:38:00.001-05:00

Let me start by saying that Wayne Hagin is a nice guy. I met him during Spring Training 2008, at the very beginning of his Mets broadcasting career. He did nothing wrong during his 4 seasons in Flushing. He was himself. He was a solid #2 guy in the Mets radio booth.

I use past tense because the reports strongly indicate that WFAN is not going to renew his contract in 2012. I've seen a wide list of actual candidates and fan suggestions. Let me throw out some opinions about these guys and the job in general.

Howie Rose is your #1 radio announcer. There is no replacing that. In the 50 year history of the New York Mets, they have always had a rotation of at least 2 play-by-play announcers (a list that includes ex-player and HOFer Ralph Kiner as a play-by-play man). Two of the announcers auditioning are basically analysts. That would be an interesting shift, though some fans would welcome having Howie Rose call all 9 innings.

Let me throw this out there. SNY is not going to allow the team of Gary (Cohen), Keith (Hernandez), Ron (Darling), and Kevin (Burkhardt) get broken up. So we're not going to see the reunion of Howie and Gary. And as much as I would like this pairing, I don't think we're going to see Howie Rose with Kevin Burkhardt together.

One rumor is that Chris Carlin of SNY is in the mix. Personally, I don't like him on TV, and I won't like him on the radio (though it would get him off of Mets pre/post game shows). But, he does have radio play-by-play experience calling Rutgers Football and Men's Basketball (I've never actually listened to him, so I have no idea if he's any good). I do think we're better off leaving him at SNY.

Billy Sample is in the mix. He had a short playing career, and has had a long resume as a broadcaster/writer (according to Wikipedia). I vaguely remember him on Atlanta Braves broadcasts on TBS and I know he's been with MLB.com. As good as he may be, I'm not sure how well he would fit in on Mets broadcasts.

WFAN's Ed Coleman is another candidate. I can live with him as a fill-in on the radio broadcasts, but he's much better suited to be WFAN's Mets beat reporter.

Jim Duquette is another candidate. This is an interesting choice, and the one I think is most likely to happen (based on no real information). He's an ex-GM. He's an ex-Met GM. He traded Scott Kazmir. After that, I stopped reading his bio. But to be fair, I think he was a lame-duck GM after Steve Phillips was fired and before Omar Minaya came in. He currently co-hosts a show on an MLB satellite radio channel (to which, I don't subscribe). He has no known playing career, but I've never thought an analyst serves much purpose on the radio because you don't have replay (ok, they can "spot trends"). There's a reason why a lot of baseball teams have gone with 2 play-by-play men on the radio. I think bringing him in would be an interesting change in direction for Mets radio. Imagine the stories of the Mets front office that he could tell.

I wonder if one of the SNY kid-casters is now old enough to take the job. No matter what, Mets radio broadcasts will be different in year 51.

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50 Years of the New York Mets

2011-11-16T20:38:00.001-05:00

There's something really weird about seeing Mets and 50 together. I've been joking for a couple of years now about "Mets 2012, rejuvenated at 50!" The Mets came up with "Fantastic at 50", with the emphasis on "fan". And I don't mean to offend those who have reached that milestone age. But it just seems so big to see Mets and 50 together.

(image courtesy of ESPNNY.com)

A few thoughts on all of the announcements from today's 50th anniversary kickoff.

I'm glad the Mets are celebrating their 50th anniversary season and that they're honoring the past. And we know they're listening to the fans because they heard us and brought back Banner Day. I say it should be when Houston comes to town (also celebrating their 50th anniversary season, or at least, Houston should be celebrating it). The Astros are in for a weekend at the end of August with 2 afternoon games. Perfect.

Bobbleheads - that's always cool. I say after Tom Seaver should be Gary Carter. But remember that any giveaway will have a sponsor's logo fixed on it. I have a Tom Seaver bobblehead. He has an orange Spring Training/BP jersey in this one, which was the style at the time that I won it at a game in Port St. Lucie.

I'm also looking forward to the new exhibits at the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum. Some days, that's one of the better parts of the ballpark experience.

Back in July, I had a better idea for honoring the past. It includes banners, retired numbers, and officially naming the area outside the stadium as "Casey Stengel Plaza".

And now, the uniform changes.

I've heard something about a new BP hat and jersey. Anything has to be better than what they've been wearing since 2005 (what I call the "anatomically incorrect" jersey because the black is the dominant color for numbering and lettering and the orange is mostly hidden). I think all of MLB's BP hats look ugly, but I saw a picture of the new one that has orange piping on the top that looks more Metsy. Rule of thumb, black, as a color on uniforms, should be used in outlining and drop shadows only (if that).

And then the Mets announced new jerseys to go along with a single cap. Back to the traditional Mets look without the black drop shadow and going solely with the all blue caps. I don't like the new snow white jersey as much. I don't know if it's the appearance that the blue is too dark, or the blue piping around the collar and alongside the buttons (or both). But I didn't like the snow white jersey when it had the drop shadow as much as the pinstripe.

The updated pinstripe home jerseys and gray road jerseys just look "right" to me. When I think about a Mets jersey, those are what I think of. The black jersey is still around as an occasional alternate jersey (maybe only on the road). The real sharp looking blue jersey introduced last year as part of Los Mets may make an appearance this year and could become "official" next year. Personally, I'd have that replace the black and snow white jerseys as a Sunday home/road/doubleheader alternate jersey.

Maybe the play on the field will get me this excited. When I first saw all of the posts on Facebook earlier today, I felt like a kid at Hanukkah starting to open my presents.

Overall, I think the Mets are on the right track with their 50th anniversary, but I also think there's more they can do (read my ideas for the Mets 50th that I linked to earlier for some of what I mean). It would be nice if they could actually be rejuvenated at 50 instead of just starting to rebuild.

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Game 7

2011-10-27T20:33:00.003-04:00

Editor's note: This is an updated version of a post that I wrote 2 years ago for the occasion of Game 7. This is also a kickoff to a feature for my blog that covers my 25 years as a Mets fan.

I have 2 distinct sets of memories of Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, which took place 25 years ago today. The first is of the first 7 innings, give or take a few pitches. It was the first time I sat down to watch a Mets game with an interest in watching it. The second is of the last 1 1/2 innings and some of the postgame show. I can almost recite that part of the TV broadcast word for word.

The first 7 innings I watched on TV live. I don't remember much about it since I haven't watched the replay/tape/DVD that often. I watched it for the first time about 10 years ago on Classic Sports or ESPN Classic or whatever it was called at the time. Watching the game then, there were a lot of little things that I remembered from the live broadcast (I couldn't even tell you what they were now). Things like Keith Hernandez shaking his head at the airplane flying overhead during his at bat in the 1st (I'm cheating and watching the DVD now). Lots of those "I remember that" moments for whatever portion of the game they showed then. It really was a good game, and not just a Mets romp, which I tend to forget.

Boy Shea got loud when the Mets woke up to tie the game in the 6th. Seemed to fit in with the 1986 Mets season. Mets fans really are the best, or were 25 years ago.

By my calculations, if the game started at 8pm (probably a few minutes after), then the end of the 7th was around 10:30pm. That would make sense. At 8 years old, on a school night, my bedtime was probably 10:30pm, and this baseball/Mets thing was a bit new and my parents didn't know what to do. My dad set up a tape in the VCR at some point before I had to go to bed, and the rest of the game I know from watching that tape over and over and over again.

I probably wore out that tape watching it so much. I probably memorized most of the spoken words from that part of the broadcast. You could feel the excitement in the air from watching on TV. The Mets had it in hand. Vin Scully was a poet at the microphone.

It's so noisy at Shea that you can't hear the airplanes.

High drive into deep right field. Evans back, at the wall. GONE!

Joe, you just lost your house.

And the Sox are down to their last strike, and this crowd is really ready to reach the heavens now.

A sidebar - the video tape, which is probably long gone, had the markings of a tape that had taped over, in that my dad may have taped the whole game, and taped something over the first about 2 1/2 hours. the tape did that speed-up thing that our VHS tapes did when coming out of a newer recording to the older recording on the tape. it did that just as Carter was grounding out to Spike Owen to end the 7th after the pitching change. I told you I memorized many things from the broadcast. I'll swear that it was Back to the Future taped over the first 7 innings, or however it was arranged, and I'll also swear that the same tape, after whatever post-game show NBC had that we taped was the Opening Day festivities from WOR. I do remember running home from school on Opening Day in 1987...oh hell, I'll save that one for next Opening Day. The tape is probably long gone to prove/disprove what I remember, but I have the important parts (Back to the Future, Game 7, and the Opening Day ceremony) on DVD.

When they get through the 9th, even though I've seen this at least 100 times in the past 25 years, I still feel the anticipation (not the type that I would have felt watching live or not knowing the outcome) of the Mets winning and the final out.

It's a bit weird for me to see Shea before the blue makeover was complete (it finished somewhere around 1987 or 1988, along with the new RF scoreboard screens). It's not quite the weirdly-colored Shea of the 60s and 70s, and not the all blue Shea with orange/blue/green/red seats that I knew for about 20 years. It's something in between.

Mets World Series Trivia - who were the 3 people in uniform for BOTH of the Mets World championships?

More trivia - 2 of the quotes are calls from the game (where a play was made). Can you put them both in context?

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The Dream Has Come True

2011-10-27T20:11:00.000-04:00

I have more audio, this time, from Game 7 of the 1986 World Series played 25 years ago tonight. I don't think I can take credit for having created these.

Knight's 7th inning Home Run (this one is a little grainy)

The final out

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Bottom of the 10th

2011-10-25T19:20:00.000-04:00

It's split into 4 audio clips. They're listed sequentially. It's the entire bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series from WHN radio with Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne.

I created these files some time before the 1999 season (I remember having recorded it from WFAN on Christmas night one year, when WFAN would basically put filler programming rather than expect someone to man the studio and phones on a holiday). The sound is a bit loud, but it's adjustable.

starting at Bottom of the 10th

starting at Kevin Mitchell's at-bat

starting at Mookie Wilson's at-bat

starting after the Wild Pitch

Merry Metsmas!

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Game 6

2011-10-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

Editor's note: This is an updated version of a post that I wrote 2 years ago for the occasion of Game 6. This is also a kickoff to a feature for my blog that covers my 25 years as a Mets fan.

It was 25 years ago today was the day that started it all for me. I'm talking about one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history. Game 6 of the '86 'Series. I have no recollection of any games from 1986 or before, except for the one I attended as a clueless kid in mid-September, before this game. I really don't remember anything from the first 9 1/2+ innings of the game either, aside from the video tape and DVD in much much later years. That bottom of the 10th is engrained in my memory though.

As an 8 1/2 year old with a future closer to the sciences than the arts, I remember that night as being the night we changed the clocks back to end Daylight Savings Time, and that I was even allowed to stay up well past midnight as my parents had friends over to watch the game. In fact, the nights of Game 6 of the World Series and ending DST coincided up until a couple years ago when both were pushed back. I thought I might get to be up to see 1am twice. I almost saw it once that night. Instead (and staying up that late at that time in my life was a pipe dream), I saw something much bigger and much more memorable.

I saw the greatest comeback in baseball history and it made me a fan forver. It made me a Mets fan forever. The bottom of the 10th is my flagship baseball moment. I have the audio of the bottom of the 10th from WHN (Mets) radio with Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne. Bob Murphy, forever the voice of the Mets, captured the hope and joy perfectly on radio. I'm listening now, with the DVD cued up for later today. An abbreviated transcript from Bob Murphy (in blue) and Gary Thorne (in orange):

Veteran relief right-hander Bob Stanley being brought on now by John McNamara. Stanley has pitched effectively in this World Series. He'll be pitching to Mookie Wilson. The Mets were down to their final strike. Ray Knight kept it going with a base hit.
...
Boston 5, New York 4. The first two batters up in the home 10th inning were retired. Three hits in a row. Gary Carter, a single to left. Kevin Mitchell, a single to left. Ray Knight with a two strike count, a single into Centerfield, scoring Gary Carter. Now, one more hit and the Mets, for the third time tonight, would have come from behind and tied this ballgame.
...
Bottom half of the 10th inning. Red Sox, one out away from a World's Championship. Stanley in the set position, the pitch. Foul ball, skidding off the bat handle, and again, the Mets are down to their last strike.
...
Stanley really anxious to get it overwith. He's getting the ball back and almost quick pitching. So Mookie will step out on him to slow him down a little bit. 2 balls and 2 strikes. Mets have only one strike left.
Stanley is ready. The pitch. Gets away! Gets away! Here comes Mitchell! Here comes Mitchell! Tie game! Tie game!
Unbelieveable, a wild pitch!
The game is tied 5 to 5. Mitchell comes in to score. Knight, the winning run is on second.
...
Mookie Wilson, still hoping to win it for New York. 3 and 2 the count. And the pitch by Stanley, and a ground ball trickling, it is a fair ball. Gets by Buckner. Rounding 3rd, Knight. The Mets will win the ballgame. The Mets win! They win!
Unbelieveable, the Red Sox in stunned disbelief!
A slow ground ball went right through the legs of Buckner, down the rightfield line. The Mets have won the ballgame. 3 runs in the bottom half of the 10th inning. 3 runs in the 10th inning. They were down to their final strike twice, in the bottom half of the 10th inning. They win the ballgame!

I won't go into the "why's", which are really from Boston's side. Or the "what if's". I just enjoy it. Bob Murphy's call of the 10th which I probably recorded one Christmas Day from WFAN when they would play the tape rather than have someone on air. I didn't know and probably couldn't have understood at the time that he was the guy hired to call Mets games 25 years earlier to work with the Hall of Fame player and Network-caliber broadcaster, getting his first chance in the World Series. Vin Scully's priceless work on NBC. I didn't know and probably couldn't have understood at the time that he used to call games in New York for a team that left nearly 30 years before. Or that he was a Hall of Famer who would still be going strong on a reduced schedule 23 years later. Or that Boston hadn't won in 67 years (at the time), and in numeric synergy, would win 18 years later breaking their drought of 86 years. It was just a magic moment that would make me a fan.

The story continues in 2 days (remember that the Mets only won Game 6 to tie the series, winning the right to play one more game, and that game would be rained out the next night).

Never Forget '69 has the transcript of the entire bottom of the 10th inning.

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My first Mets memory

2011-09-18T10:11:00.000-04:00

Editor's note: This is a preview for an off-season series that I am planning for my blog which covers my 25 years as a Mets fan (exactly half of their existence). This preview blog entry is meant to coincide with my first game.

I have exactly 3 memories from the Mets 1986 World Championship season. I will post about 2 of them later, maybe in late October. But my first memory of the Mets, a beginning of sorts, occured on this date 25 years ago (September 18, 1986). My father had actually pulled me out of school to take me to a Thursday afternoon game just a week or so after I had started the 3rd grade. I have no idea why he picked this game (and why not a weekend game or a summer game). I probably knew the basics of baseball from playing kickball in gym class and during recess at school. But I didn't know Major League Baseball or the New York Mets. I don't think I had any concept of what a magical season it had been or what "A September To Remember" was all about. And I don't think I had any knowledge or interest in the game the night before (at that madhouse called Shea). I really had a clean slate.

I don't remember much about this game. Rick Anderson pitched for the Mets (I had to look it up, years later, after the internet had been invented and populated with mass amounts of data that he went 5 innings to get the win, and a rookie pitcher by the name of Greg Maddux went 4 to take the loss). Howard Johnson hit a HR. 5 years ago, the great writer/blogger Greg Prince wrote about it as part of his Flashback Friday series that looked back on the 1986 season. He's older than I, has a better memory (certainly not the memory of an 8 1/2 year old from that season), and writes much better than I do, so please go read his recap of the game.

And the field looked like patch-work. Or as my dad called it, "green band-aids". I don't have pictures of this. I've seen the video highlight of HoJo's HR, and I honestly don't remember if my memory of the game is from the Mezzanine level near 1B because that's where I sat, or because that's which TV camera shot that HR in the lone highlight I've seen thus far.

I did find the video on YouTube this morning, as part of a larger collection of 1986 footage, and saw a few other highlights of the game. I really can say that I don't remember much about the game other than Anderson getting the win, HoJo hitting a HR, and the 5-0 score over the Cubs. And it was the day after they had clinched the division, which made it easy for me to find the game in the archives later on.

Just like in my new offseason series looking back at 25 years as a Mets fan, this game was sort of a start for me. I don't remember anything else from September. It's not like I recall watching the next game in which the Mets played. I don't remember any of NLCS against Houston as it happened. I have seen some of those games on DVD, Mets Classics, ESPN Classic, and MLB Network over the years. I don't remember most of the World Series either. None of the hype, nor watching any of the games. Until one Saturday night in late October...but that's for next time.

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5 years ago tonight

2011-09-18T09:03:00.000-04:00

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Wake me up when September ends

2011-09-05T18:24:00.002-04:00

I think I've reached the point in the season in which I can no longer make sense of the Mets. Actually, I think I passed that point a few weeks ago. I still think they will be a .500 team when it's all said and done...give or take only 1 or 2 games. But I've completely flip-flopped on an earlier assessment in which I likened this year's club to the 1997 team that was on its way up under a new regime. I no longer think that. I do, however, stand by my opinion (going on about 2 1/2 seasons now) that the Mets need to clean house and rebuild. I know I've said this before, but it means getting rid of anyone left over from the playoff bust of 2006, the collapses of 2007 and 2008, and the abysmal seasons of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Especially those with longer tenures with the Mets. Beltran was traded, as we expected he would be, and the team seemed to fall down. That shows me that there is no other clear leader on the club...definitely not David Wright. He needs to go. Jose Reyes is too injury-prone for a long-term deal. I wouldn't break the bank to re-sign him. I'm also thinking that a lot of prospects from the Mets farm system are turning into busts, or at least not living up to expectations. Pelfrey and Parnell are two that come to mind, who need to play very big roles on the Mets.

Whatever the case with how I would gut the team, Sandy Alderson is the GM and he and his staff will figure something out. I have faith in them, going to their first offseason after their first season (in some ways, I don't count last offseason when the first arrived from outside the organization). But it will take time. Even more key to the rebuilding of the Mets is the need for Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz and Jeff Wilpon to sell their entire collective holdings in the club. They are toxic owners and executives, even without their financial issues. The deal with David Einhorn fell through. I was hopeful that he would come rescue us, but somehow, I'm not surprised that the Wilpons were going to be stubborn about what they would give up in exchange for cheap cash.

At this point, just enjoy watching baseball for the sake of watching baseball because there's only a couple weeks of it left. And don't try to over-analyze it, because it will only frustrate whatever baseball we all have left. Let's wait until next year...again.

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The eternal joy of Bob Murphy

2011-08-03T08:17:00.000-04:00

Bob Murphy had a level of joy and optimism in his broadcasts. He was called a "homer" (rooting for the home team), but I don't think that's quite an accurate description. He was an eternal optimist when it came to the New York Mets. I'm sure it had evolved over time. Maybe it came with age. He was already 62 by the time I first heard him. Even older when I first started to understand who and what I was listening to.

But there was also a sense of joy in the success of the Mets, and in baseball in general. And there was just a way about him that probably had nothing to do with his rooting interests in the club. You hear it in the emphasis of certain words - "a HIGH fly ball hit DEEP to right field" on a call of a Mets homerun. Maybe that was his way of putting color in his painted word picture.

Outside of the 1986 World Series, he might be best remembered for a bit of frustration over a game ending with the Mets barely hanging on to win.

And my favorite sound byte of Bob Murphy. This from the first Spring Training broadcast in 1998. It was most likely the first time any of us had heard his voice since the end of the 1997 season, and this is a point when optimism and joy were at its peak in a season (especially after he gets through the advertisements).

With all due respect to Howie Rose and Gary Cohen, Bob Murphy was forever the voice of the Mets. It was 7 years ago that Mets fans lost Bob Murphy at the age of 79. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times remembered him at the time here.

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The Legacy of Carlos Beltran

2011-07-27T20:49:00.001-04:00

I posted this question on both the Remembering Shea and Mets Bloggers pages on facebook, so please weigh in there with your answer...

so it sounds like the Beltran deal is official. What is the legacy of Carlos Beltran, and where does he rank among the greatest Mets (or doesn't he)?

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Mets 2012 - Rejuvinated at 50

2011-07-25T08:11:00.000-04:00

Someone, a follower but non-diehard fan, asked me last night if the Mets were going to re-sign Jose Reyes. I told him that I honestly didn't know. I could see it going either way. I hope they do, and he has the ability to be a large force of the rebuilt Mets, but at the same time, he has the ability to go down to leg injuries every year that cuts into what he provides to the club. This year's (so far) was minor, and this year, he's showed potential, but one has to wonder. Now, he's not at the point of it being a joke like Fernando Martinez. But it's been a few years since Jose played the entire season healthy. All of that, especially over the past few seasons, makes me wary of throwing lots of money (assuming the Mets can afford it) at Reyes for many many years (though he should still be in the "prime" of his career 5 years from now and on the edge of it 2 years later). Omar Minaya would throw the money at Reyes and lock him up, which is what a lot of the vocal fans want. I don't mean to insult those fans by comparing their desire to what a clown like Omar Minaya would do. But Sandy Alderson is different, and I just don't know what he's going to do. I've said before that the best ballpark for Jose Reyes is Citi Field because of its wide open space. I'm waiting for him to go for 4 bases (you know it's going to be a play where a typically slower runner would end up with a triple). But who knows how much money will talk to Reyes in the offseason and make him leave NY. Or worse, moving to the Bronx.

The other realization I had, and thanks to Steve Popper at the Bergen (NJ) Record and NorthJersey.com was that the expected trade of Carlos Beltran means the end of the "core" group of Mets from the Omar Minaya era. I had also never thought of Beltran, Reyes, and Wright as being the core. I guess they were. Pedro and Delgado were there too. Beltran, when healthy, was something special. When healthy! But my thought here is that these are the last days of Carlos Beltran as a New York Met.

Now, Beltran is having a great year. An All-Star Season in fact (I think so anyway...didn't watch anything related to the game). He's a veteran who has some control on a trade. Ultimately, that may prove to be a bad thing for either side. Beltran really really doesn't want to play in the American League because of the fear of the DH. Coming into this season, I was ready to concede that Beltran was best suited as a DH for the Mets (for the amount of time that such a thing exists), but he proved me wrong. As far as 2012 and beyond is concerned, having a DH position to fall back on may be good. NL teams may not offer him as many years because of his knees (since they don't have the DH as a fallback). But in the near-term, I don't think it matters where Beltran goes. I'm sure he really doesn't want to leave the Mets (though I am sure he's not in the Mets future plans), but it's also pretty clear that the Mets will trade him in the next few days (they haven't yet already, have they? I'm taking a long time to write this post). If he has a chance to win, and a team and guarantee that he will play 6 days a week in the outfield, it shouldn't matter which league it's in. I know there's a comfort zone in the NL. Maybe that can come in handy with a team in the World Series.

One note on K-Rod. I knew Francisco Rodriguez would be traded. I just didn't expect it to happen during the All-Star Game. Too bad he wasn't having an All-Star season (think about it. How often does a player get traded mid-game and NOT need to get pulled).

David Wright's back. Hey, that's a double-pun. Wright had a big weekend with the bat (I still think he's un-clutch, but I'll give him a week or so to let the excitment of returning from a 2 month absense wear off), but I've heard more talk about his bad throwing mechanics, something I started noticing in 2009. Those things are hid a lot better by a good defensive first baseman (like Ike Davis or Keith Hernandez) because people tend to forget the cases when he gets the out. Wright is signed through next year, and there are no trade rumors. But that won't stop me from advocating trading Wright. Like Beltran and Reyes, and even more-so, Wright has been the "face of the franchise" since his arrival in 2004. And what have the Mets done over that time? I won't remind you, but it wasn't what we all had hoped they would do. I think he needs to wear the captian's "C" on his jersey, or he needs to be traded to a team that won't put the pressure on him. It should happen in the offseason...before the rumors of next year's trade deadline start distracting him.

I'm starting to wonder about Johan Santana. I can only remember him pitching one complete season with the Mets, that being his first in 2008. Maybe it was the new ballpark. Maybe Omar Minaya got damaged goods (and he hasn't led us to winning anything, though in that first year, he came pretty damn close to getting that chance). I would like to see how he comes back from this latest recovery, because the pitching staff will be better with him than without him. But the pitching staff is getting very weak. Even Mike Pelfrey should be considered a treadeable pitcher instead of a number 2 guy.

It's just about time to completely rebuild the organization, something I've advocated since 2009. Both the major league team and the farm system (think about the "talent" down on the farm - the oft-injured Fernando Martinez, the not-quite-closer Bobby Parnell (who blew a save on Sunday in the 8th), who else am I missing - more misses that hits down there). But at the same time, it's time for the Mets to get younger with Reyes being the veteran leader of the Mets Kids Club. Something, maybe, to look forward to next year in 2012. Mets 2012 - Rejuvinated at 50!

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An idea for the Mets 50th

2011-07-12T12:00:00.013-04:00

Here's an idea for the Mets' 50th anniversary season (next year). Celebrate every weekend homestand (pick a day game each weekend) with a countdown of the greatest Mets players over the first 50 seasons. And retire their numbers.

Think about it. Let the fans vote on it over the offseason. Now I realize that in some of these cases, the Mets need to bring these people and their families back to New York for their weekend, and everyone's schedules won't always line up. And you never know how good the weekend schedule will look in 2012 (with FOX 4pm starts, night home games, and the dreaded switch to a Sunday night game, and the Yankees series). But let's play this out on paper.

13 home weekends (I think that's actually part of the schedule formula, since there's 26 weeks in a season). Subtract the Yankees weekend, so 12 weekends. Let's countdown 8 players (9 through 2), and then declare Tom Seaver #1 on the list, and his number is already retired (maybe we'll figure out something to do with him later). This may include players already in the Mets Hall of Fame (jeez, I think it should), and should involve the same "team" in charge of selecting such players (which includes Howie Rose and Gary Cohen) along with the fan voting.

And let's make it a permanent part of Citi Field by unveiling a full colored, non-sponsored banner inside the stadium for each player (without a rank, since a current or future Met may move up that list). Other stadia have banners like this without any purpose. Even the Mets Spring Training home has them affixed to the inner-pillars on the concourse. Now that I think of it, get the company that did last off-season's colorization of Thomas J. White Stadium, Digital Domain (ok, it's actually now Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie) to do this work. Have Joe Petruccio design them. Maybe unveil two a week (one as part of the retired numbers group and one as part of a "favorite Mets" group).

All of this should be one of the many season-long 50th anniversary Mets promotions. Maybe on mid-week night games (once per week), the Mets would honor a favorite Met, an obscure Met (just for Howie Rose), or one of the non-Pennant winning Mets playoff teams (1988, 1999, 2006). Each with banners of their own in the rafters of Citi Field. I think there's 12 of these mid-week series. Then pick 4 games or full weekends in which to honor the 4 Mets NL Pennant winners (1969, 1973, 1986, 2000), to go along with the top 9 players-not-named-Seaver honored on their weekends. Hang a banner for each team and each manager among the 4 pennant winners.

Wait, there's synergy in numbers...ya, this will work. There's 12 non-Yankee weekends during a season, so pick a game each weekend in which to honor an NL Pennant-winning Mets team or one of the 9 greatest Mets (sorry Seaver, we know you're #1, but there's no room for you here) by retiring their number. Enshrine that player in the Mets Hall of Fame if necessary. Heck, each of these Pennant-winning teams should be in the HOF too.

And Let's hang the first banner - Tom Seaver's - on Opening Day.

And while we're at it, let's officially name the area outside the Rotunda as "Casey Stengel Plaza", with some sort of sign marking it as such. Casey Stengel Plaza was the name of one of the Shea Stadium access roads off 126th street near Gates D and E. There is absolutely no reason to have lost this distinction.

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Predictions for the Second Half

2011-07-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

Today, I look forward to the second "half" of the 2011 Mets season (of course, the All Star Game is the "half way mark" of a season even though it's about a week past the statistical half way point, but I digress)...

The 2011 Mets, even with Jose Reyes coming back and going back to being his old self, even with David Wright and Ike Davis coming back in August, and even with Johan Santana coming back by the end of next month as well, do not make the playoffs. This team that's gone on a run since late April to finally break and stay over .500 is going to keep September exciting, we'll applaud them when they are eliminated by the Nationals at Citi Field on their great effort, the best we've seen in some 5 years in Flushing, but they aren't going to the playoffs. At least not under the current structure.
I just mentioned that David Wright, Ike Davis, and Johan Santana will all come back during August. Wright probably early in the month (border-line July), Davis mid-month, and Santana late in the month. I think the team will suffer a lag when Wright comes back (what first baseman besides Ike Davis and Keith Hernandez can handle Wright's erratic throwing arm?) and go back below .500 for a bit. Ike Davis will breathe some life in the club and bring them back over when Davis hits one OVER the Shea Bridge. And Johan Santana finds his way back into the rotation very close to a time when the rosters could handle a 6-man rotation.
Without consideration for the trade deadline, the current 2011 payroll-Mets will not reach the playoffs (that includes bringing back the DL'd players into the starting lineup). But they'll be so damn close that in a future year, it would be really hard to trade the All-Star Right Fielder (and comeback player of the club) and their flamethrowing closer. And in 2011 when those trades are made (thinking of the future of course), it will bring the team down a little bit. Under some managers, that could spell doom. Under Terry Collins, that will keep them a 2 or 3 games above .500. And after 2009 and 2010, finishing at .500 is an accomplishment.

Now I mention the trade deadline and future years because of a rumored expansion to the playoff structure as soon as next year that would bring more teams into the playoffs, and make more medicore teams think they're in playoff contention, and redefine what it means to be a buyer and what it means to be a seller at the trade deadline. Coming into the final game before the break, the Mets are 7.5 games out of the NL Wild Card. Add one more Wild Card team, the Mets are suddenly 2.5 games behind a 3-way tie (with 2 of those teams also being tied for a division lead). That certainly would change the direction a team may go at the trade deadline.I still stand by my prediction of 83 wins. Even with all that's coming back, and all that the Mets are going to send away, and with all that Terry Collins has done, they still finish the season playing golf in October feeling good about 83 wins.Leave a comment or drop me a line at DyHrdMET [at] gmail [dot] com."Like" RememberingShea on Facebook (the function formerly known as "Becoming a Fan").Become a Networked Blog

Half Way Home

2011-06-30T21:54:00.000-04:00

By my count, the Mets are 41-40 over the first half of the season. It's really on par with my pre-season prediction. But given how the idea of being above .500 is a very recent revelation in Mets-land, I think 41-40 is pretty darn good.

Jose Reyes really needs to be the starting shortstop at the All-Star Game. 121 hits over 78 games (remember he missed a few games and he leads the league in hits), 15 triples (almost double the next player), he's tied for the MLB lead in batting average, and 2nd in the majors in SB and runs.

The injuries to David Wright and Ike Davis have certainly changed the face of the team (and I still blame Wright for Davis's injury). It sounds like Wright will the first of the two to return to the lineup. But I think I've already said that I like 3/4 of the infield that we've seen for most of the past month and a half - Turner at 3B, Reyes at SS, and Tejada at 2B, with Davis at 1B.

And in the outfield, is may be possible that Jason Bay is finally breaking out. Or not. We'll have to see. But he certainly looked good hitting the Mets' first grand slam since 1986 (ok, in almost 23 months). Angel Pagan is looking good, and I like Jason Pridie as a 4th OF. But who would have expected Carlos Beltran to lead the Mets in both HR and RBI, be 2nd in ABs (behind Reyes), and the most surprising stat for the most surprising Met of the first 3 months ... Carlos Beltran leads the Mets in Games Played.

Remember that with all of that, the Mets are still just a .500 club. The offense can break out like it did for 4 games in Texas and Detroit, and then it can go dormant, like I think it will when the Mets get back to Citi Field. Some of the individual numbers may be sustained, but long stretches of winning won't be with this club. They're just not there yet.

And then there's pitching. I'm not sure I sorted the stats correctly. Chris Young (out for the season) leads the club in ERA. Mike O'Connor is second. And the best of the current 5 man rotation is Dillon Gee in 6th (3.32 ERA). On another note, Francisco Rodriguez leads the club in appearances (somewhat ironic because everyone is watching him with that mark of games played he has this year). 20 saves in 41 wins. I actually don't know if that's normal or not.

Looking over wins-losses, it seems somewhat backwards. The "ace" and last year's biggest (good) surprise are both 4-7 (that's Pelfrey and Dickey). Niese and Capuano are hovering around the .500 mark (14-13 combined). And Gee really is another one who deserves at least a look at the All Star Game. For as good as the starters have looked, remember, they're just a .500 club.

And in the bullpen, it's been a bit of trial and error, and a bit of sense of "these are our guys". I said back in March that I liked that it was a lot of new guys. Manny Acosta is a waste (highest ERA of the current 25 man roster). But other than that, I think the Mets have a good rythym in the 'pen. But those things usually don't last. And it certainly took a while to get to this point.

I think what I'm trying to say is that there's been some good (Reyes, Gee, Beltran, Izzy, Beato, both of whom I have yet to mention), some bad, or at least not-as-good (Dickey, Pelfrey, Willie Harris), some lineup changes due to injury (Pagan was out, Bay was out, Chris Young is gone, Wright and Davis have been out), and good finds (like Turner).

And not to mention the change in culture brought in by Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins. I know some Mets fans have been very critical of Collins, but I think every one has to say that Collins has made a difference in the clubhouse.

41 down, 41 to go. And I still stand by my prediction of 83 wins (which actually means a slightly better 2nd half than 1st half). As hard as it is to see making a move to give up on the season, I think there will be an offer by a real contender (which I do not consider the Mets to be) for either Beltran or K-Rod that's just too good to pass up.

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Few and Far Between

2011-06-12T22:36:00.000-04:00

I'm back with enough thoughts on the Mets to exceed the limit of a facebook status. Let me go over a few items.

Justin Turner, Jose Reyes, and Dillon Gee need to be on the All-Star team. Reyes should be starting at SS for the National League. I think it's been a while since I said the Mets had 3 genuine All-Stars. Carlos Beltran is also worthy of at least being in the conversation as a reserve. I know it's somewhat of a popularity contest, and that most fans outside of New York have never heard of Turner or Gee, but these guys should at least be on the manager's radars for selecting reserves and pitchers. Gee has a shot at having 10 wins by the break, and remember, he didn't start the season in the majors and was out of the Mets rotation for a week or two. Lots of people could say that Turner has been keeping the Mets afloat while Wright and Davis have been out. More on him later. And what can I say about Reyes? He's such a dynamic player having a career year, leading the league in most offensive categories (except nose hair).
There was a fan movement about 9 days ago to show the Mets management and ownership (and the media) that fans want Jose Reyes to stay a Met. I absolutely support that effort (short of bloggers who become martyrs aside). I really hope Fred Wilpon and his new best friend got the message. Looking at Reyes's stats, I truly believe Citi Field is the best place for him, and the Mets certainly need a guy like Reyes at the top of their lineup. 3 steps back if they let Reyes go or trade him, and 3 bases forward (and rather quickly and matter-of-factly) if they can lock him up.
I really believe the Mets are better off without David Wright. Yes, you heard me right. Wright is wrong, at least for the Mets. And I blame Wright for Ike Davis's injury, but that's besides the point. I'm sure I've said this before, but if David Wright was the "face of the franchise" during these really bad years (from losing in the playoffs in 2006 through 2010), then what leadership has he provided? And I have to say, I like 3/4 of the Mets infield right now - Tejada at 2B, Reyes at SS, and Turner at 3B - and add back Ike Davis at 1B, and I like where this team is going. For Wright, this injury is giving the fans and management a chance to see what life without Wright can be like, and frankly, it's not so bad. It's even refreshing. And this injury is at least delaying the possible trade (or at least serious trade talk) involving Wright.
I also like the idea of a Duda-Pagan-Pridie outfield. I'll let you figure out what that all means.
I still do not consider the Mets a contender. A few weeks ago, I posted a thought on the facebook page for this blog that I saw a parallel to the 1997 Mets in this year's team (and I think this was after Wright and Davis were already down and out) - new management and a new direction, knowing it realistically will be a couple of years before it all pays off, and knowing that a few of the faces defining this year's club won't be around when it does pay off. I really do believe that Terry Collins has changed the tone in the Mets clubhouse. I think we heard that all the way back in Spring Training. He really was the right man for the job, despite what some people think about some of his on-field decisions. Maybe the Mets will live up to the phrase that I coined in 2009 - "Mets 2012. Rejuvinated at 50!"

And lastly, our thoughts are with Gary Carter as he begins to fight brain cancer. Go Kid!

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For Dana Brand

2011-05-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

Somewhere, up in heaven or in the great beyond (you know the place, I think it's next to "Iowa"), our blogging friend Dana Brand is talking about the new Mets co-owner with his late friend from Yale, Bart Giamatti. I would love to hear a Baseball Commissioner's take on the matter. I'm sure they're having a good discussion.

In case you hadn't heard the sad news yet, Dana Brand passed away suddenly on Wednesday at the young age of 56.

In the 8 or so hours since his wife posted the news on his facebook page, I've seen many kind words and posts from our fellow bloggers in my facebook newsfeed. I have to say that like most of you who have read is blog and/or his books, I'm a bit shaken right now. I've been going over many many different things I wanted to cover in this post. Afterall, Dana was an English professor, so I owe it to him to make this post sound coherent. I always felt like I could write a better sounding post after reading his blog, simply by osmosis (I'm talking about the difference between A- work and B work in my mind. I was never much more than that).

I had the pleasure of meeting Dana on a couple of occasions. All of them Mets-related, though we shared a few non-Mets connections as well. Dana taught at Hofstra University in the English Department. When I was a student at Hofstra from 1997 through 2000, I had a gentleman's agreement with the English Department that we respectfully keep distance from each other. I never held that against him, and I remember about a year ago sharing the blurb in the Hofstra Alumni magazine about his recent book (The Last Days Of Shea). And Dana was telling me at last year's GKR main event game in early October that he noticed in my facebook profile that I had attended the same Massachusetts prep/boarding school as his wife, though she was there many years before I was.

I remember having a nice conversation with Dana on that day last October, down in the party area at Citi Field behind the bullpens where the GKR group was selling their t-shirts. And then I had the pleasure of sitting with Dana and Greg Prince of Faith and Fear In Flushing fame in the outfield seats for a couple of innings. I felt a bit out of place sitting between two Mets fans whose Mets-life stories I had read. But it was fun.

As was the first time I got to meet Dana (and Greg and a few others for that matter). 2 years ago this August, during that dismal season of 2009 (how dismal, it was the day that it had been announced that Johan Santana would miss the remainder of the season), our paths crossed at one of FAFIF's Amazin' Tuesdays, when Dana was debuting his new book, The Last Days Of Shea. As part of the readings of the evening, Dana would read a few paragraphs for the audience at Two Boots in lower Manhattan.

I had been a reader of Dana's blog for a few months, and I'd like to think he read my blog too. When I introduced myself as "DyHrdMET", he knew who I was. I've always loved the discussions in the comments of a blog post, especially back then when I had time to participate and had a lot more to say. Dana brought copies of his book, and that was main reason why I made the trip from New Jersey. I remember being excited about a book about my beloved Shea. Thinking about it now, I kind of wish Dana could communicate from that "Iowa" place right now because he could tell all of us if all the ballparks from the past are up in that magical place too.

I heard Dana read that night. A few others too. I bought a copy of Dana's book. He said it was the first copy sold, and inscribed it so ("This is the first copy of this book sold - Dana A. Brand"). He also signed the book for me, with a personal inscription.

I'd seen Dana a few times. I think all of the other times at GKR events at Citi Field. His is one of the faces I would have been looking for when I attend the next "main event" this August. I remember seeing him pass by at the first GKR "main event" at Shea Stadium in 2008. I didn't know Dana at the time, but after meeting him, I remembered seeing him pass by me on his way to the field with his mother, in a wheelchair, and his family, while I was on line. Dana wrote about it in his book (The Last Days Of Shea). What a weekend that was.

I never got to tell Dana how much I enjoyed reading his 2 books (Mets Fan being the first one), but I certainly did. I'm almost done with the second one. I didn't start until after I had met him on that summer night 2 years ago, and of course, I had to read the books in order. The night that Dana debuted his second book, I got to hear him read a bit of it aloud. And I wish I could have his books on tape, read by him, because he had so much passion reading about the Mets and about Shea.

Thank you Dana for everything you've done in the Mets blogging and fan communities. We're all better off having known you.

I'll let Dana have the last words - two videos of Dana, both from Hofstra University, speaking about his books. It won't be the same without you.

Or if you can't see the embedded videos, you can go here and here.

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Cleaning House and the fate of Jose Reyes

2011-05-15T21:45:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying that there is an fan event, details here on facebook, whose sole purpose is to show anyone watching (i.e. management, television, other fans) that Mets fans want Jose Reyes to be a Met for a long time to come. I support the cause, but since it's a Friday night, I probably won't be out in Queens for the game (it's Friday June 3, the 7:10pm game against Atlanta; and it's a schlep from NJ for a weeknight game). The event is being organized by one of the most die-hard Mets fans I've ever met, Donna Bauer. According to the facebook event page, meet the group outside the rotunda before the game (4:30 to 6pm) and on the Shea Bridge in the top of the 5th.

Now, a lot has been written and spoken lately - really all speculation - about an upcoming fire sale of the Mets roster. Let me say this...I fully support it. In some ways, it's just wrong that a pro sports team in a major league based in New York has to go through with a fire sale, but in the case of the Mets, I think it's necessary. Not so much for the sake of shrinking the payroll, but more for the sake of cutting away the losers wearing Mets uniforms, as well as other players that just aren't practically part of the future of the organization.

There's still a handfull of "core players" leftover from the Mets teams that suffered through a playoff collapse in 2006 (I still say that not scoring in the bottom of the 6th in Game 7 against the Cardinals was a downward turning point for this franchise), the divsion-leading collapses of 2007 and 2008, and the utter failure of a season in 2009. I would trade away the leader of the pack - David Wright - as well as free agent-to-be Carlos Beltran. I would look to cut Francisco Rodriguez, even though he's preformed pretty well this year. I'd even look to trade Mike Pelfrey.

But there's one name that I left off that list. I know he's been injured in the past, but when he's on, he's explosive. This type of dynamic player just doesn't come around that often. That is Jose Reyes. Lots of people schooled in what the Mets are thinking have speculated that Jose Reyes will not even finish this season as a member of the New York Mets. He's a free agent looking to make big money this offseason, and it's money that the Mets just don't seem to have.

But if the Mets are hoping to compete in the future, they need their long-time catalyst. So why does everyone want to save him and not David Wright (Wright isn't even a free agent this offseason)? Well, let me draw this picture for you for Reyes, as just one example of "why". Lots of people have said that Citi Field is just too big. I think for Reyes, it's too small. I've noticed him legging out triples with ease at Citi Field (the way others get doubles). I think if the ballpark were a little bit bigger, Reyes would actually be able to turn 3rd and try for 4 bases a few times a season. With this Mets offense, Reyes needs to find a way to score on his own because guys like David Wright just aren't bringing him in very much.

And that leads me to the ~~loser~~ fan-annointed leader of this club, David Wright. The thought process is simple with him. He was the clutch guy and face of the team for all these bad years. And the word clutch should be in quotes because he just isn't. Maybe he's had undisclosed injuries (and I'll excuse what happened after he was beaned in the head 2 years ago) that have affected his play (throwing and hitting). Heck, it's widely thought that he has one now (caused by hustle, so it's not all bad, but we had to learn it from the manager's speculation almost 2 weeks after the fact, and not from the player saying i'm banged up and I need a day off). With Wright, and I think I've said this before, I say that the Mets have played bad with him, so they can play bad without him.

The end result of all this -- I think the Mets will dance around the bottom of contention until one of two things happens:

the Wilpons need money and have to start selling off players now (that would only work in the supposed case that another team takes on the salary for the remainder of the season, which I had kept hearing wasn't gonna happen). That goes along with a rumor I saw on facebook today about a Memorial Day sale in Flushing.
the Trade Deadline approaches and Sandy Alderson takes a reality check that the Mets are just short of serious contention, and it's time to start making trades for the sake of getting young players and draft picks in return for free agents that you won't be signing in the offseason because there's a need for new blood and less money to be spent. Now I know that there is some compensation for some types of free agents not being re-signed (though I don't know all the rules, nor do I know who on the Mets fits into that bucket), but making trades is better. It's kind of like being an organ donor. Especially if it's to a team that can beat the Yankees or Phillies.

But for now, let's try and send a message to management that while purging and rebuilding is a necessary step in making the Mets into winners again, it's important to keep the fans in the stands (they're having enough trouble with that with the current team as it is and the stadium layed out the way it is), and a big step into doing that is to keep Jose Reyes around for a long time (and I don't mean until this August).

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April in Metsville

2011-05-01T11:23:00.000-04:00

I'm giving this another shot, after last year's 5/6th attempt at a 27 game report (if you noticed, I never did the final one). This time, I'm using the pages in the calendar to write my monthly report.

The bookkeeping - the Mets are 11-16 over 27 games in April, in last place in the NL East 7.5 games out of first, in 14th place in the entire National League, and 25th overall in the Majors.

Looking over the game-by-game results, short of 3 and 6 game winning streaks, it just looks downright awful. They've also been swept in 2 doubleheaders, which happened to be on consecutive playing dates. They looked a bit streaky in April. Well, they were. 1 loss and 2 wins were not part of streaks of at least 2 games. In other words, for most of the month, they won some in a row, then lost some in a row, then won some in a row, and so on.

In the winning streaks, they looked like a really good team, the one that we all think they're capable of being, especially in the 6 game streak after Jason Bay returned to the lineup. But they had a lot of losses where they looked like a team that wanted to be broken up and sold off in pieces. In some ways, this streaky team isn't much different from what we saw last year.

But there's a few things very different from last year. Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins. Collins' managing style is very different from that of Jerry Manual. But will it work with this group of players (mostly the same core from last year)? I'm not sure. But that's in part, the players' problem. And together, Collins and Alderson have held players accountable more than I remember any Mets Manager and GM in recent years. They did a good job of not losing players during Spring Training moving to the Opening Day roster because of various contract clauses, then dumped players who underperformed after the season started. I love it. It's a bold statement...even if it's for fringe players.

So what's the next move? Or does the team turn it on again when they get home and we put off this discussion for another week? It's possible that this team really isn't as talented as we've been sold to believe. If the team has a .500 or worse May, I think it will be time for serious thought about trading off "talented" players.

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Writer's Block And Some Other Thoughts

2011-04-24T12:47:00.000-04:00

I realized that I haven't written very much on the blog in the last 6 months, outside of some news pieces about the NY Sports Emmys, some sound bytes, and my Spring Training trip. At work, I had a busy few months that started right after the season ended (thank goodness it wasn't during the season) and ended right before Spring Training started. And frankly, there wasn't a whole lot to say that hadn't already been said.

I also think I've had a case of writer's block for some time. Facebook has sort of ruined me in that respect. If you don't follow my blog on facebook, please do so. I post a lot of smaller items (small enough to fit into a facebook status update) there, that just wouldn't work as well as full blog posts that follow my style of blogging, and I've found there is more interaction on facebook. Of course, I like comments and dialogue on the posts written here as well (and as always, thank you all for reading/following my writings). I just noticed that I had exactly half as many posts in 2010 as I had in 2009 when there was so much more original thoughts to speak. At first, I looked at this as a sort of therapy for following the Mets. It's helped, but I think I need a little more. I'm actually getting a little bit of inspiration by sitting in my Shea seats watching Billy Joel Live At Shea Stadium for the first time (buy the DVD, CD, and/or BluRay, and the documentary).

The Mets were utter failures last season. Changes in the GM's office and the Manager and coaching staff were made. I really didn't know enough about those new guys (and still don't) to write anything insightful. With this blog, I like to write some sort of unique-ish feature article and commentary. You may realize this, but I don't post news, game previews, or game recaps. I leave that to the professionals who have the inside scoop, and to other blogs. Anyway, there just wasn't anything to write about that hasn't already been said, either by me or by someone else.

All that being said, we're in a new era of Mets baseball. It's the 50th season, and the first time since 2005 that there is new leadership at the top two levels (the "top two" being one and two levels below the owner, where the ownership is a whole separate issue). I like the overall change in direction that the Mets have made. These changes should have been made during or after the 2009 season. But they weren't, and maybe it will work out for the better.

But I started saying this in 2009, and I was thinking it a lot in the first 3 weeks of this season -- the Mets need to clean house and rebuild. Get rid of anyone who was around for the playoff failure of 2006, the collapse of 2007, and the redux of 2008. Those players in my mind are tagged as "losers". Since they didn't clean house going into 2009, and 2009 utterly sucked, I'll go and add on players from the 2009 Mets to that list. I don't have an exact number of players (I'm not big on research like that), but it involves some real core players. They need to go. What was that line about Ralph Kiner?

On June 4, 1953, Kiner was sent to the Chicago Cubs as part of a ten-player trade. This was largely due to continued salary disputes with Pirate general manager Branch Rickey, who reportedly told Kiner, "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you."
from Wikipedia

The Mets haven't won, and have been labeled "losers" with the likes of David Wright and Carlos Beltran leading the team. Quite an endorsement, isn't it? Cut 'em. I'll admit, I haven't been high on David Wright for a couple of years now, but this is more than just him. I was throwing around the idea of packaging up Wright and Mike Pelfrey in a trade and I wasn't exactly shot down on that one.

Sandy Alderson started going in the right direction over the offseason, but he needs to make the big jump. And this has nothing to do with the money problems that the Mets face. Every time the Mets have come close to success in their 49 years, there has been a moment where it fell apart, and within a few years, it was a very low point. I wrote about it in 2009. Nothing was fixed until the team brought in a new regime and cleaned house. That's been a pattern for most of the team's lifespan.

Now, since I started mulling this part over in my head, Jason Bay returned to the lineup, his head seems to be clear, and the Mets look like a different team. 3 wins in a row now. I think the expression is "break up the Mets". Well, that's what I've been thinking. I don't think a 3 game winning streak (or however long it winds up being) changes anything in the long run. But I also have to ask the question if this is a .500 team (which is in the neighborhood of what I had predicted) that just had a bad week and things will even out, or is this a really bad team that's currently in a short hot streak. The 2008 team that suffered the franchise's second collapse in as many seasons was a .500 team that had a good stretch, not long after the manager was fired. This year's team had a good stretch after a long lost player returned from a new short-term injury from Spring Training.

Well, it's April, so I don't really know the answers. That's why they play the games.

But looking long term, the biggest factors are whether or not Sandy Alderson will listen to what I have written here (I doubt he reads my blog, or at least would have the message passed to him, and it's not like I'm sending this out to him, but maybe he has similar ideas), and how the ownership situation will play out. I wrote back in my lone post from January what I thought of the Madoff-related lawsuit and boldly said that within a year (of that point) that the Wilpon family will no longer be in control of the Mets. I even followed it up with another realization on the matter.

Since that post, where I speculated that they would have a hard time selling off 25% of the club (now that's up to 49%) without giving up some control, which has played out, we learned that the Mets needed a loan from MLB (and tried to get a second loan) during the offseason just to make ends meet. That's just scary, especially for a New York team. And the lawsuit, which really really should be on the owners personally and not on the team, hasn't even been settled/judged, so that's just a huge wildcard. And now the Dodgers are in an even worse situation than the Mets are. How ironic! MLB has even had to step in and assume control of the Dodgers. I'm sure if Bud Selig and Frank McCourt (the Dodgers co-owner) were buddy-buddy like Selig and Fred Wilpon are, maybe it would play out differently. Bud Selig needs to do the same thing with the Mets that he did with the Dodgers, and that is to appoint someone to oversee anything that goes on with the ballclub. Maybe that's what Sandy Alderson is doing in Flushing. And he needs to step up and force out owners who are bad for the game, such as the two mentioned here. Unfortuately, the Mets will have been run completely into dire financial straits before that happens.

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49 years ago tonight

2011-04-11T20:21:00.000-04:00

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Mike Pelfrey

2011-04-11T19:33:00.002-04:00

Before the game goes too far (1 inning down into Pelfrey's 3rd start as I write this), here's my quick take on Mike Pelfrey.

He's pitched poorly in 2 starts, but it's only been 2 starts. If I'm a fan in the stands or in my recliner, I'm on the verge of booing Big Pelf and saying he needs help or that we should trade him and get something good in return. But if I'm someone inside the clubhouse, I can see much more closely exactly what he needs without getting down on him. We as Mets fans need him to turn it around...let's hope someone close to him can see what's wrong and fix him. Maybe it's just some home cooking.

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SNY wins some Emmys

2011-04-04T18:34:00.000-04:00

Announced last night on nyemmys.org...

SNY won for a feature on Mike Westhoff as part of their Jets coverage and for their coverage of the LeBron James signing last summer on SportsNite. Ray Lucas from the SNY Jets coverage won best analyst.

The "NY NY Sports Sports" commercials also won and SNY's "NY Sports Local" commercials won for best graphics.

And winning for DIRECTOR: LIVE OR LIVE TO TAPE - Bill Webb.

Congratulations to all the winners. You can see all of the Mets-related nominees here.

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83 Wins

2011-03-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

83 games is all I think the New York Mets will win this year. It is an improvement from last season. Furthermore, I think the Mets will fool us into thinking they are in contention for the NL Wild Card but ultimately, they won't appear in the postseason.

Let's look at what they're retaining from last year. Well, the team colors are still the same. No changes there. The orange and blue accounts for about 20 wins right there. But seriously. Josh Thole, Ike Davis, David Wright, and Jose Reyes are back playing on the infield dirt. I think they make up most of the core of the ballclub, and I have no worries about them. Jason Bay will eventually be back in left field, and Angel Pagan is back in center field. Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, and Jon Niese are back in the starting rotation. Bobby Parnell and Francisco Rodriquez are back in the bullpen. These guys here are pretty solid, but it's not the entire club.

The problem is, at least for the position players, I didn't list 8 of them, and there are a few holes. Carlos Beltran is listed as the right fielder, having moved over from center field very early in Spring Training. But that's only on paper. Personally, I didn't think Carlos Beltran would start the season on the active roster, and I give him a 50/50 shot to even play 100 games. He's also not in the long term plans for the Mets. This is a place where the Mets need to consider the right fielder of the future (beyond Beltran) at a point now, and platoon him with Beltran when such a time comes. I'm just not sure who that actually is. In the old days, the GM would just buy a young right fielder to fill this whole, but this is a new era in the Mets and they're going to grow a new Right Fielder instead. And now Bay is injured. Oy Bay!

There is also a hole at second base. I can't remember the last time there was a real permanent second baseman on the Mets. I guess Castillo when he first came aboard. But they were smart in dumping Luis Castillo this year (so were the Phillies). He also wasn't in the Mets' long term plans, and the way I saw it, the Mets would have a competition to start at second base this year, and if Castillo had won the job, they'd really have to do it again next year. Castillo wasn't standing out in the competition for the job this year, and I know he had some issues, and it was right to cut him. In theory, whoever won this job (Brad Eamus) should be the guy long term. Let's see how he plays.

To me, it seemed like very quietly, both the bench and bullpen were overhauled. I knew changes were made, but I don't think I realized it until I got down to Port St. Lucie myself how many little and quiet changes were made. Time will tell if the bench is improved, and the same with the bullpen. I happen to think that both are better than they were last year. With no offense intended toward the players, I see the bench being stronger if those assigned to the bench are kept out of the starting lineup on a regular basis. What I mean by that is that if Daniel Murphy has to make a lot of starts at 1B or 2B, it hurts the club. If Willie Harris or Scott Hairston have to make a lot of starts in the outfield, it weakens the dynamic of the bench. Harris and Hairston both deserved to make the club, and they're part of what makes it a good bench. But when the bench is called on to fill holes too often, it spells trouble.

In the bullpen, well, the Mets overworked their bullpen for many many years, so it's only natural to say that an almost 100% overhaul will yield a better product. Competition for spots during Spring Training also didn't hurt - it showed that there is some actual talent in the bullpen. I should also mention the two new arms in the starting rotation, both of whom impressed me in some of the starts I witnessed in person while I was down in Florida. Chris Capuano has a great pickoff move, and Chris Young has an interesting hook to his delivery hiding the ball behind his back (something I noticed on about the first or second pitch I saw in my first game this year).

I should mention about the roster selections a few things. I think Nick Evans deserved to make the club, and maybe it should have been at the expense of Daniel Murphy, who seems to be a klutz in the field. I like the selection of Blaine Boyer over Manny Acosta and Jason Isringhausen, and I like that Izzy hasn't left the club (yet), but Boyer earned it. And I like Mike Nickeas as the backup catcher over Ronnie Paulino. Hopefully all of Paulino's health issues can be resolved quickly, and I realize there was a reason why he was signed, but I like Nickeas on the club a little better.

Now to 83 wins. Why that number? With all of the improvements I've spoken of, why not improve last season's win total even more? Well, in my curve of improvement in wins, (or, if you dare to think about it, going the other direction), there is a bit of a plateau around a .500 record. Going from 69 wins to 79 wins isn't the same as 79 wins to 89 wins because 89 wins is serious playoff contention, and that's quite an improvement for a club that was below .500 the year before. I don't think the Mets made that much of an improvement from 79 wins, but they are a plus-.500 club, so 83 it is.

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My Last Day

2011-03-26T09:20:00.000-04:00

Mets practice, day 11, March 25, 2011

I think the new thing for me is to head over to Mets camp every morning at 9:30, watch whatever workouts/games/practices are going on at the back fields, try to snag autographs, and then plan my afternoon game around that, where I leave around 11:30am. Somehow, that seems to be more entertaining than being at another ballpark, watching the Mets take batting practice, and not signing autographs. Maybe it's only the Mets, but they're sucking some of the fun out of this experience.

I get in on Friday and see that there's only 1 field in use, on the minor league side of the complex, and that's where everyone is. It's the minor league intrasquad "game" that features Chris Young getting a start (instead of facing the division rival Marlins in Jupiter again) and Jason Isringhausen and Blaine Boyer fighting it out for a spot in the bullpen. The Mets press corps is there, plus a number of fans, and a few coaches.

It's somewhat interesting to see how this works. Mike Nickeas was held back from the big league game in order to catch for Young and get in some at bats. The other 3 starting pitchers (R.A. Dickey was away from the club) were used in bunting situations. And there was a pitching coach standing behind the mound, with 2 umpires calling the game. So it was somewhat official.

I saw fans talking to the different beat writers, and with each other. A few jabs at Mets Media Czar Jay Horwitz who had acted as a pinch runner slidning into home in a simulated game the day before, which had been caught on tape. Young looked really good in this game (and he signed autographs for the fans when he was done). He even hit a home run off of a minor league pitcher.

And then Carlos Beltran, our missing in action right fielder, made an appearance to be every third hitter in the game with a pinch runner after he reaches base. It's the closest to game action he had seen in a couple of weeks, and this became the "simulated" game he had been scheduled to appear in. It was more of a controlled game. He hit the ball pretty well. He ran the hits out more later in the game, and didn't play the field, but it's progress.

After that was all over, I decided to take another sick day rather than heading down to Jupiter to watch the Mets bench players compete against the Marlins. It just wasn't worth it.

And that ends my vacation.

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My Last Game

2011-03-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

Game 9, day 10, March 24, 2011 -- Cardinals vs. Mets @ Port St. Lucie

My last game in Port St. Lucie. Of course, it starts before 9:30 at Mets camp. The whole team was stretching. They split up. Really not much to see. Nothing to write home about. The only autograph I wanted was R.A. Dickey, who I had thought would be in Nashville for the birth of his son (not to knock him at all, it sounded like he left sometime after the workout on Thursday and of course had pitched on Wednesday, I just didn't know his schedule). One fan got to him before I could as he was moving to another practice field and I heard him say that he was working (which is true). Later, after I was outside the stadium, I heard from someone that he did stop and sign when he was done, but I had to step out a bit early to meet someone in front of the stadium before the gates opened.

I also just wanted to soak up the stadium atmosphere for my last day. MLB Network had a crew at the stadium for 30 Clubs in 30 Days covering the Mets, and there was a place for fans to create a video postcard from spring training. I declined. I don't look good on camera (and I'd almost rather have the backdrop of the stadium rather than their screen with palm trees).

In the stadium, batting practice was another quiet morning activity, except that David Wright was doing an interview for MLB Network by the Mets dugout. I'll have to catch that on TV. I decided to go around and take as many pictures as I could (I ended up stopping in the 9th with a full 2 GB memory stick). That's kind of what batting practice around the Grapefruit League (in most stadia for most teams) has become.

For the game itself, well, the Mets broke out. Lots of hits, a bunch of home runs (and the wind was blowing, but it doesn't help you hit the ball in the right spot), and an 8 run inning. Big win for the Mets.

And that's my last game in the stadium in Port St. Lucie. Look for more pictures in the coming days.

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Jerry

2011-03-23T20:41:00.006-04:00

Mets practice, day 9, March 23, 2011

This was hardly worth it. I did get to see the original projected Mets outfield (Bay, Beltran, Pagan) together as none of them were involved in the Mets game in Jupiter. A few pitchers were around as well. The 2 biggest names, David Wright and Jose Reyes, had the day completely off (or at least didn't have any workout and weren't involved in the game either). It was a quiet workout session. A little throwing. Some pitcher fielding practice. 2 pitchers hitting on the back field, and what sounded like the 3 outfielders hitting on the stadium field. No autographs. If I wasn't already in Port St. Lucie, it wouldn't have been worth it to stop by.

Game 8, day 9, March 23, 2011 -- Mets vs. Cardinals @ Jupiter

Because I stayed at Mets practice until after 11am, I didn't arrive in Jupiter at Roger Dean Stadium until noon, and the Mets were just finishing up batting practice. I've found that BP is hardly worth watching if you're interested in autographs, so I didn't mind coming in late (at least since there was something supposedly better to see back home).

The Mets didn't bring their 'A' lineup, so there weren't brand names there to sign autographs. I also don't double-dip (get multiples of the same player) if I can help it, so I was pretty much limited to trying to get Daniel Murphy (which I got) and Ike Davis (which I didn't get). Ike signed 2 or 3 autographs before the National Anthem, and then headed to the dugout after that. Terry Collins signed a few. Mookie Wilson did as well over by the Mets bullpen. I think Nick Evans signed some as well.

Let me say this about the day itself -- it was HOT. It felt like the hottest, most uncomfortable day so far. After 4 quick innings, about an hour's time, I was baked.

The game itself was another pitchers duel until the middle innings when the starting pitchers leave the game. R.A. Dickey for the Mets and Jake Westbrook for the Cards. St. Louis got to Dickey and Manny Acosta in the 6th and the Cardinals were on top for good. There was a home run late in the game from a Mets minor leaguer (I didn't actually see it since I spent about half of the final 5 innings hiding in the shade under the seating area of the ballpark).

After the game, no players were interested in signing autographs for us fans hanging out by the parking lot near the team busses. I did find out that Ike Davis is hanging out with bad influence Dave Racaniello, the same guy that I believe corrupted David Wright's head. That explains why Ike has the attitude of a 5th year player in his first full season with the Mets.

One other note from this game. Jerry Seinfeld, a really big Mets fan, was at the game. I managed to get this picture of him as he was leaving his seat at the end of the game. He was in the front row near the Mets dugout. He had done the same thing in Port St. Lucie on Monday.

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Practice

2011-03-22T21:51:00.003-04:00

Mets practice, day 8, March 22, 2011

I decided to head over to Mets camp in the morning while the team was playing 2 1/2 hours away in Lakeland against the Tigers. I had a ticket for the Nationals game in Viera against the Astros, but decided to blow that off. Doing the math, I probably could have seen what I wanted to see at Mets camp and still made it to Viera in plenty of time for first pitch, blowing of batting practice which has become less worth it to be there for.

Mets camp opens up at 9:30 every morning and today, it was just a group of 10 pitchers and 1 catcher working out as part of the major leaguers. Josh Thole was the catcher taking BP, and the 10 pitchers were throwing and doing some short drills. These are good days in which to get autographs. At this point, I'll just list them. The players came over at different points in their workout, and there may have been some more work going on from the inside cages.

Chris Capuano
D.J. Carrasco
Pat Misch
Bobby Parnell
Mike Pelfrey
Josh Thole

And by 11:30, they called it a day and security had kicked everyone out of the back fields. We could go around to the minor league complex entrance to get back in to watch the minor league game, but that involved moving your car. I decided to call it a sick day and bag it all.

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Meet the Mets

2011-03-22T21:24:00.002-04:00

Game 7, day 7, March 21, 2011 -- Braves vs. Mets @ Port St. Lucie

Monday was one of those interesting days. I get to the ballpark early (like 8:45am early). It's never too early to be at the ballpark. There are people who come to the player parking lot at 7am to try to get autographs of the players as they drive into work. Sometimes, those people will stay through until practice opens up at 9:30, and sometimes, they won't. On this particular day, I heard first-hand witness accounts of the departure of Oliver Perez. He arrived at the ballpark just after 8am (using a driver or car service), went inside, and by all media accounts, he was informed of his release shortly thereafter, his driver came back to pick him up (it didn't sound like he was in there for more than 15-20 minutes), and he was gone.

On to practice...there was stretching and then the group split up to throw and do some baserunning drills before splitting up even more to hit. Carlos Beltran was with the group for everything except the base running. No Earth-shattering revelations from being at practice. No autographs. But still better than sitting around the hotel room (or lobby).

Now for this game, I had been invited to something new this year at Digital Domain Park - an Amazin' Experience meet and greet lunch. It was open to Spring Training season ticket holders and New York/St. Lucie Mets Booster Club members for a small fee at your choice(s) of 2 games this spring. They brought the group to a small tent between the stadium and back fields, but in the area normally off-limits to us, gave us food, had an exclusive raffle for the booster club (as opposed to their raffle that's open to anyone who walks past the front of the stadium), and we could see a slighly different perspective of the ballpark.

If you know the complex in Port St. Lucie, you've seen the secondary practice field, the one with the wall dimensions set up like that of Citi Field, with an exit in the fence in CF that leads to the Mets' clubhouse in the area of the back fields that's off limits to fans (that's part of how they sneak away from us), and this is the area where this picnic was being held, and the bench players were doing some drill on that field with some of the coaches, so as they walked back to the clubhouse, we had access to stop them and ask for autographs. That group of players was pretty good about that. I was able to get Mookie Wilson's autograph and see up close (very up close) him wearing number 1. And I have to say that it's really good just to see Mookie back as a coach with the club, not just back in his number. The only other player that I snagged while stopping for the fans was Brad Emaus. I think there were one or two others who signed, but for various reasons, I didn't run over there.

Part of the meet and greet is that 2 Mets players are brought over to the group to sign autographs and take pictures. Nobody knows ahead of time who it will be (I had heard that Mike Pelfrey and R.A. Dickey were the players at the first event). This time, we got Mike Nickeas and Nick Evans. Not the same brand-names, but both of these guys couldn't have been nicer with the group. We even had them included in a group photo with the fans from the Meet and greet.

One thing we had to deal with was that this is an area right behind the LF fence and the Braves were taking batting practice on the main field while this was going on, and they had one or two players who were hitting some deep to left. At one point, we were basically in a shooting gallery (even to the point where fans and even a player almost got hit). But if was good for anyone who wanted baseballs.

And before it was all over, someone had noticed Johan Santana, our injured ace, working out in the covered bullpen that sits behind the 5-mound bullpen just outside of the stadium. For a few minutes, we were allowed to go over to watch him working on some pitching motion exercies and then some throwing. No autographs, but it was good to be able to see him working. He looked like someone who is NOT going to be out for the entire season, so let's put that debate to rest. Take a look at Santana's workout...

I've concluded that inside the stadium is a no-autograph zone. You try, but you may only succeed once every 4 or 5 games. For the game itself, Pelfrey struggled in the 4th, the Mets were down a touchdown to a field goal, and came back in the 9th to win it (our bench players beat your bench players).

After the game, I decided to try stalking players outside their parking lot rather than sitting in traffic trying to leave. I saw Jerry Seinfeld leave the park, Keith Hernandez sped by (I thought he had his own entrance/exit in both the parking lot and stadium, but I guess not), and a few players also drove by. Some kids did manage to chase down Jose Reyes in his car which was caught in some traffic exiting and he was ok signing for everyone there (I guess as long as traffic was stopped). I don't remember seeing that before.

Overall, not a bad day for autographs considering that I got absolutely nothing inside the stadium.

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Sunday is Autograph Fun Day

2011-03-20T18:17:00.001-04:00

Game 6, day 6, March 20, 2011 -- Mets vs. Marlins @ Jupiter

So I get myself moving to get to the ballpark early. There's nothing good in the Cardinals/Marlins team store. One of the sales clerks there said that the Marlins fans had bought up almost everything Marlins, and I could see that there was a ton of Cardinals stuff there. If you know Spring Training, something about that just doesn't add up. So I don't have a Marlins Spring Training 2011 shirt for my collection (I try to get one for every team that hosts me during my Spring Training tours, along with one or two Grapefruit League shirts).

And I'm at the ballpark early enough to watch the Mets and Buffalo Bisons taking batting practice. No place for them to hide. Except that they stay on the field and don't come over to the fans along the dugout or bullpen. If you know Roger Dean Stadium, it should be fairly easy to get an autograph, but the players need to do their part. This group of backups, reserves, and Buffalo players didn't do that. Instead, they had to hit or had to field. I need to pay closer attention to teams that sign during BP to see how they do it and still not miss work.

I did notice a few things which I posted on facebook. The radio voice of the Mets, Howie Rose, made a rare Spring Training appearance today, to call the game on WFAN. He's busy all winter calling Islanders games on TV, and somehow, the team always comes to nearby Sunrise to play the Florida Panthers on a weekend during Spring Training. So Howie was there. The other thing I saw was that Mookie Wilson, back with the club as first base coach, was wearing his familiar number 1. People were asking about that as early as Friday afternoon when Luis Castillo was cut. I don't know if he had switched for Saturday's game since he made the trip to Disney and I was in PSL.

Anyway, I really got to the ballpark to see very little. Right before the game, for the games in Jupiter, it's fairly easy to get autographs from players along the wall between the dugout and bullpen. Players are more willing to sign. I got a spot on the wall and the fans started calling out players and coaches. Terry Collins was the first, along with Justin Turner (new in the mix for 2B and with the club for this game). Josh Thole also made the trip even though I don't think he played (he was an extra catcher in the bullpen) and signed. Not bad. My best single-game collection based on numbers this year.

The game was a classic pitcher's duel, with new Met Chris Young going 6 shutout innings and the Mets giving him no support. Scoreless and in the hands of the bullpen in the 7th, things changed (I feel like I'm giving the game highlights on Mets Extra). Bobby Parnell let 2 runners on and got 1 out before being removed. Non-roster invitee Mike O'Connor came in and this was the turning point of the game. O'Connor basically put himself on the cut list giving up 2 inherited runners (giving Parnell the loss) and 3 of his own. Not helping matters was a botched run-down by Daniel Murphy, playing first base at the time. Murphy might really be a clutz in the field. I actually walked down to the shady area of the ballpark after O'Connor was pulled.

Mets lose, 5-0. I'm starting to see enough about the Mets that by Wednesday, I might have a prediction for the 2011 Mets.

After the game, I decided to head over to the gated area in the back of Roger Dean Stadium where the visiting players busses come in and out of the ballpark. Players will sometimes stop and sign there. For the Mets, that will draw a nice sized crowd. And it beats sitting in my car in traffic as the roads around the ballpark swell up when everyone leaves. Willie Harris stopped and signed for everyone, and with a bigger crowd, Chris Young signed for just about everyone too. Both seemed like real nice guys.

And I go home with 5 Mets autographs, and none of them are really "bad" especially considering the group that traveled with the club today.

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Saturday in the park

2011-03-20T17:54:00.001-04:00

Game 5, day 5, March 19, 2011 -- Nationals vs. Mets @ Port St. Lucie

No, it wasn't the 4th of July. Just a Saturday right around the official end of winter. And I was at the ballpark.

One clerical note - my dad went back home Saturday morning after spending the first 4 days of my vacation with me. It involved me missing going out to the back fields. Oh well.

I did walk into the park a little bit before 12 noon (I had to stop and schmooze with the people outside the stadium at the booster club table - I'm 0 for 2 winning in their raffle) and basically walked right into an autograph - Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez of the Nationals had come over to the Mets side and started signing. Someone of his stature can do that as a visiting player and still draw a crowd. And it wasn't so much of a crowd that I was able to figure out what was going on, make my way down to the rail and get the autograph with relative ease. But I was 0-for-Mets in the autograph department for the second straight day.

For the game, the Mets got on Jair Jurgens early for 4 runs, added on another 3 a few innings later, and had a big 7-0 lead going into the 7th. I should first note that Chris Capuano started for the Mets, a lefty in case you don't know his work, and he has a great pickoff move. Fooled a runner once and fooled me another time (in that he went home when I thought he was going to first, and I should note that I was watching from behind 3B).

Then the 7th...and Oliver Perez. He got booed coming in. It was already the 3rd time I've seen him pitch in 5 days in town. I don't remember any wind at the ballpark, and he did what we've called in the past 'Bad Ollie' after several games of 'Good Ollie'. But 'Bad Ollie' gave up 2 HRs, broke the shutout, and didn't settle down after that, and didn't make the inning. Boos got louder. Huge cheering for Terry Collins when he came out with the hook for Ollie. And right at that moment, I saw the Mets press corps (there is a picture on facebook of them together) dart towards the Mets clubhouse to start getting their Ollie quotes.

Then things settled down and the Mets won the game.

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Gym Class

2011-03-18T17:27:00.002-04:00

Game 4, day 4, March 18, 2011 -- Braves vs. Mets @ Port St. Lucie

Let's start on the back fields, where to my best player identification abilities (without being able to see a name/number under the warmup jacket), I saw Luis Castillo playing catch with Jose Reyes during "gym class". Not long after I left the back fields and not long after the team left the back fields to take batting practice inside, Luis Castillo was released from the Mets. I found out a short time later. I'll see if I can dig up a picture of Castillo from the morning.

"Gym Class", as I call it, today had the players leaving the main practice field after stretching and them splitting up into 2 other fields on the quadrangle to do various drills before the regular lineup went inside the stadium to take batting practice. There was a pitchers' drill where they practice backing up home plate and I think some old fashioned infield/outfield.

Chris Capuano signed a few but had to stop after signing for a kid (it was mostly little kids, which I am not) to go back to work. Scott Hairston signed a few in between fields, as some of the players were crossing through the fans (and a good number of fans there this morning).

Inside the stadium, batting practice, as it was, for the Braves and then pregame was a very boring time with decent music playing on the PA system. It almost turns into a social time talking about better days for autographs while trying to stake out position for right before the game, which is total pot luck because a ticket holder can come in at any point to take your space away from you. I was down on the corner by the Mets dugout and saw no action.

I have to say, and I even told Mary Lou this (and I don't know her last name or official title, but anyone who has spent time in PSL knows who she is, and for those that don't, she basically runs the stadium) that I just love the new pictures that are up in the ballpark this year. It's better than what they have at Citi Field. See below for some of the examples if you haven't made your way down to Digital Domain Park or at least seen pictures.

In the game, it was a tight game, and the Mets won 3-0. Jason Isringhausen got the win in relief, but I didn't think it was one of his better outings (but I'm no talent scout), DJ Carasco started on the mound and looked good, as did Braves starter Jair Jurgens, and Ollie Perez and Franky Rodriguez were part of the relief corps. Perez had a 4 pitch walk, but otherwise pitched a good inning, enough to keep him on the roster for another day (I hear he's making the trip to Disney World tomorrow to face the Braves again). K-Rod also pitched an inning and didn't blow me away. I missed seeing Wright's home run (not sure where I was, but I did spend some time talking to people, taking pictures, and staying in the shade and eating).

These are just a few of the new color imagery around the stadium. To see them all, you need to come here and see them in person.

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The Ugly Green Jerseys

2011-03-18T17:00:00.000-04:00

Game 3, day 3, March 17, 2011 -- Marlins vs. Cardinals @ Jupiter

The Cardinals honored St. Patrick's Day by wearing the ugliest green jerseys. Take a look...

What's up with the white under the arms and above the name plate? I like the idea of green jerseys, but there's no reason to remove the green.

For the fan experience, well, I stuck to the Marlins' side to try to get autographs (they're 10 times easier to get than the Cardinals players), snagged Gaby Sanchez and Logan "LoMo" Morrison, and listened to the stories of the bat boy/clubhouse attendant in Jupiter of players signing in there or one player's reaction to being cut (sort of like Ricky Vaughn in Major League when he was prank-cut). Greg Amsinger of MLB Network stopped by and shared some stories of the MLB Tonight crew (I think he was there for 30 Clubs in 30 Days for the Cardinals and Marlins). Mitch Williams is crazy.

For the game, the Marlins won, scoring late. I didn't notice much about either team. I wasn't there to scout.

Roger Dean Stadium added a really great Italian Ice to their menu this year (almost as good as the one in Port St. Lucie). They lacked something like that last year after the Sno Cones disappeared (on hot days, those things matter).

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Red Sox Traveling Nation

2011-03-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

Game 2, day 2, March 16, 2011 -- Red Sox vs. Braves @ Disney

Just a few things.

Red Sox did bring most of their regulars (I recognized most of their starting lineup, so that's how I quantify it) for the long road trip. Braves won coming from behind after giving up runs in a tie game in the middle innings (6th maybe).

First time I left Disney after a day game without any sunburn. I got lucky with some clouds and my seats were upstairs where the sun was to my back and the building was blocking it. I've joked that there are 2 suns in the sky at the ESPN/Disney Sports Complex.

No autographs. I had missed the Braves taking BP and there were just so many Red Sox fans on their side that it wasn't worth fighting my way down there.

There were so many Red Sox fans. I'd bet that today's attendance was one of the top 5 games at that ballpark since it opened (late March, 1997). Other guesses being the World Baseball Classic games in 2006 (of which, I saw two, and including a packed house, and don't remember that much of a crowd), the Rays regular season series there a few years ago (yes, it's the Rays, but it was regular season), and probably an appearance by the Yankees or Red Sox in the past.

So many damn Red Sox fans there. Red Sox nation travels. Someone should do a documentary on their fan base through Spring Training and some of the east coast road games (I've seen them invade Baltimore for a weekend). But they aren't the type of fans that you'd want to get away from (like some other teams). And during the 7th inning stretch, they sing "root root root for the Red Sox". Mets fans, we need to do that and sing "root root root for the Metsies". C'mon.

And the Sox fans went nuts seeing fan favorite-turned-broadcaster Nomar Garciaparra. He works for ESPN now and was calling the game with ex-Met broadcaster Dave O'Brien. They taped the game's opening segment from the packed left field berm area surrounded by Red Sox fans in a segment (which I could barely see over the crowd) that reminded me of the scene in Fever Pitch in which Jimmy Fallon's character was being interviewed on ESPN from Spring Training.

Anyway, no Mets for me today, and not much to tell other than seeing Red Sox Traveling Nation in person is impressive. I'm not saying they're more passionate than Mets fans as a whole, but they have to be right up there.

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Airplane and Baseball

2011-03-16T22:08:00.000-04:00

Game 1, day 1, March 15, 2011 -- Nationals vs. Mets @ Port St. Lucie

Just a few notes...

Mets went with their regular 8, except for Willie Harris in RF, in for the injured Carlos Beltran. Chris Young started on the mound. He didn’t overly impress me, but the numbers looked good. Castillo started at 2B and had a mental mistake not covering first on a potential inning-ending 3-2-4 double play. He caught the ball, but was well behind the back (and Harris was backing up down the RF line). The next batter grounded back to Davis at first, inning over, and no damage. Oliver Perez came in one batter into the 6th and did a decent job. The Mets ended up winning the game.

I had heard little bits that the autograph situation in Port St. Lucie was a little better than in years past, but still a "craps shoot". I ask because I ask every year when I first arrive at what is now Digital Domain Park. But there's a new regime in camp this year, so maybe things had improved. I still blame the old regimes for the downfall of Mets autographs in Spring Training. Anyway, the Mets were already out of sight when I entered the ballpark at 10 after 5 in the evening. So little hope there other than to stake out a spot, or decide to wander. Nothing interesting on the Nationals side. One or two players were just hanging out in the dugout, ignoring fans. I think they were players. They weren't in any type of uniform, but they looked athletic. Kids were shouting names and they didn't respond. Two or three players came out for interviews for some sort of TV. Josh Thole was one and Scott Hairston was the other. Both by the home plate side of the dugout where the angle is tough to really stand ground and reach over. I was on the other side when Thole was out signing and missed him. I hadn't left yet (out of frustration) when Hairston was out signing. Without pushing or shoving (per the usher's insistence, and my own rule), I was able to get one. OK, not a bad start to the short autograph collection season. I think we have Scott Hairston on our club - his brother Jerry, Jr., plays for Washington and was in the game too. Or do I have them mixed up? After my first crack at dinner (I hadn't eaten since breakfast at Newark Airport), I went to join my dad in our seats over on the terrace section right along the rail with the regular 3rd base seating (basically between the far end of the photo box and tarp on the left side and the home plate from the bullpen). Good place to take pictures when the Mets players come out to stretch right before gametime. And to my surprise, David Wright hears and acknowledges the calls of a few young fans nearby and comes to sign autographs. While he signed my program (first Wright autograph in several years), I asked him if they were continuing the bowling. I would have liked to watch, but he said "unfortunately", they were done, and since I had just arrived in town (really about 3 hours earlier), that math didn't add up. But we know he liked it and the fans seemed to like the idea of it.

And now it's late, and there's an early departure for game 2 at Disney on Wednesday.

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The Wilpons Are Victims

2011-03-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

I think I came to a realization today - the Madoff scheme did have an impact on the Mets operations. It gave the Mets owners the impression for many years that they had the money to first buy out Nelson Doubleday and then run the Mets. I think we're seeing that without those fake funds, they can't run the club.

In that way, Fred Wilpon, Saul Katz, Jeff Wilpon, and even the millions of Mets fans in the world are all victims. The Wilpons were victims of Bernie Madoff, but instead of losing their life savings or losing their charity fund, they're going to lose their ballclub.

Now, this doesn't impact how anyone should look at the Picard lawsuit. They should have to give back the money they "made" from Madoff. The problem is, they've invested it in the New York Mets, clawing from the, whatever it is, 5% they had in 1986 to the 99% of the club that they're cited as owning now. So they should have to ~~give back~~ sell off a portion of the club.

The problem is that the Wilpons aren't the ones coming out and saying this. Their names are getting dragged through the mud by the lawsuit and from all of the other dirt that the New York Times digs up and prints. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the current Mets owners, and I wish them enough harm to have to make them go away, and I'm not defending anything their lying asses have said or done. But they're victims. They're victims who still have money (well, I'm starting to wonder about that given how they're begging their Buddy Selig for cash after getting a loan, all since the end of last season).

With all that, the Wilpons have made some stupid decisions. Citi Field. Citi Field ticket prices. Obstructed views at Citi Field. Oliver Perez (wait, that was actually Omar Minaya). Omar Minaya (wait, he actually wasn't bad at first). The end of the 2007 season (wait, that was Willie Randolph's fault). The end of the 2008 season (wait, that was Jerry Manuel's fault). The 2009 season (ok, that was Omar's and the trainer's faults). The 2010 season (Jerry again). But the buck stops here.

Fred Wilpon needs to step up to the plate. I don't think he's going to admit that mistakes were made with Citi Field or with the past half decade, but he does need to man up and say that he lost a big source of revenue (at least on paper, being the profits from his million Madoff funds; and I mean "lost" in that he doesn't have these accounts any more giving him money), it's caused a lot of financial problems with the club (hence the loan last fall and the begging for more money now) and this is why he needs to sell of what really should be at least 60% of the ballclub. He needs to admit that if he has to pay back the money that he made of Madoff (the money he used to purchase in full and then run the Mets), then he would need to sell off the rest of the club (poetic justice). He needs to quit hiding around the fact that he's a victim and man up to both the truth and reality.

Otherwise we're all going to be vicitims of something.

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Ralph Kiner is still alive

2011-03-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it's always good to say this from early Spring Training broadcasts every year...Ralph Kiner is still alive. He's on with Kevin Burkhardt and Keith Hernandez on SNY calling today's game.

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Root, Root, Root for the Metsies

2011-02-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

A slightly modified version of the lyrics to the 7th inning stretch tradition that I'll be singing once again this year.

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the ~~home team~~ Metsies,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.

Lyrics from Wikipedia.

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Baseball has been asleep for a while, welcome, the game is coming back

2011-02-26T09:17:00.000-05:00

NOTE: this is what I'll call a "classic" post from 2 years ago.

Back when I was a bit younger (we'll call it the late '80s and early-mid '90s, a time when I wasn't quite a teenager), I remember running home from school on the day that Spring Training games finally began, or at least the day of the first broadcast on WFAN (for some reason, I had no, or chose not to use, a walkman). I would look forward to hearing the voices that I knew meant baseball for the first time after the long offseason.

On the eve of the fist Spring Training game, I bring you two treats.

First up is a 1 minute audio clip from the Mets first broadcast on WFAN from Spring Training 1998. I won't say any more, other than the voice is forver the voice of the Mets...

Second is about 6 1/2 minutes in length, coming from another 1998 Spring Training game. This one is most of half of an inning from a road game against St. Louis in Jupiter's inagural season. The play-by-play voice again belongs to Bob Murphy with Gary Cohen along side.

I invite any readers to submit or link to their own Spring Training audio and video from the 1980s and 1990s.

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SNY, Mets-related programming nominated for NY Emmys

2011-02-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Read it here!

Included in the list are programs related to Last Play at Shea, Jerry Seinfeld's visit to the Mets SNY booth, and both Howie Rose (for his Islanders work) and Gary Cohen nominated for best Play-by-Play.

Category	Program	Network
ENTERTAINMENT: NEWS	Mets Weekly: Last Play at Shea. April 24, 2010	SNY
ENTERTAINMENT: NEWS	Mets Weekly: Matthew Morrisson. May 29, 2010	SNY
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING	Kids Clubhouse. April 3, 2010.	SNY
SPORTS PROGRAMMING: PROGRAM SERIES	Mets Weekly. April 30, 2010	SNY
LIVE SPORTS EVENT: PROGRAM/SPECIAL	Mets on SNY: Jerry Seinfeld Visit. June 23, 2010	SNY
PROMOTION: SPORTS PROMO	Mets Opening Day Promo. March 15, 2010	SNY
PROMOTION: SPORTS PROMO	Mr. Met’s Ready. June 15, 2010	WPIX
ON-CAMERA TALENT: SPORTS PLAY-BY-PLAY	Gary Cohen	SNY
ON-CAMERA TALENT: SPORTS PLAY-BY-PLAY	Howie Rose	MSG+ (Islanders)
DIRECTOR: LIVE OR LIVE TO TAPE	Bill Webb. April 5, 2010	SNY

I think this is Gary's year...

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Meet the Mets

2011-02-15T07:47:00.000-05:00

MEET THE METS,
MEET THE METS,
step right up and greet the Mets!
Bring your kiddies,
bring your wife;
Guaranteed to have the time of your life
because the Mets are really sockin' the ball;
knockin' those home runs over the wall!
East side,
West side,
everybody's coming down
to meet the M-E-T-S Mets of New York town!

Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people on the streets,
where did they go? To MEET THE METS!
Oh, they're hollerin' and cheerin' and they're jumpin' in their seats,
where did they go? To MEET THE METS!
All the fans are true to the orange and blue,
so hurry up and come on down -
'cause we've got ourselves a ball club,
The Mets of New York town!
Give 'em a yell!
Give 'em a hand!
And let 'em know you're rootin' in the stand!

Meet the Mets ©1963 by Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz.

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Spring Training Starts on the First?

2011-02-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

Waitress:

Spring Training starts on the first. How do you think the Indians will do this year?

Customer 1:

It doesn't look too good.

Worker 1:

These guys don't look too fucking good.

Groundscrew 1 (subtitle):

They're shitty

Burn on big river. Burn on...

Quotes from the movie Major League. It's funny. You should own the DVD. Pitchers and Catchers report on Tuesday. Maybe we'll get that Willie Mays Hayes. And since when does Spring Training start on the "first"? Do they mean games or pitchers and catchers?

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Spring Training is right around the corner

2011-02-06T07:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's Super Bowl Sunday, and Pitchers and Catchers report in about a week. Before this short month is out, real (exhibition) baseball games will be played.

And with that, I have updated the Spring Training Schedule page to include all game times (it appeared I had been missing a few) and TV and Radio broadcasts from around the league (not just SNY, WPIX, and WFAN for those of you with MLB.TV and/or MLB Radio on the internet).

I'll be down in Port St. Lucie from March 15-26, following the Mets most days, but taking a few day trips when the Mets aren't playing in the I-95 corridor.

I'll be doing some sort of blogging and posting pictures while I'm down there. And as always, follow this site on Facebook to follow along with what's going on. I post a lot of information and jokes that are so short they aren't worth the effort of creating an entire blog post.

Hopefully by March, I'll start to have a good feeling about the 2011 Mets and the baseball season in general and I'll start posting more often. It's been a real quiet offseason.

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The Legacy of Fred Wilpon

2011-01-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all heard the Mets' latest news conference and/or read the growing number of articles from newspapers that are painting a picture of the Mets latest woes. But let me recap in my own words...

Mets owner, Fred Wilpon, a longtime friend of swindler Bernard Madoff, has found that he needs some money to help keep the Mets running as a first class organization. It's been widely reported that a mega-buck lawsuit has been filed against Mr. Wilpon in relation to the money he made investing with his friend.

Let me go on record and state this - I think within a year, the Wilpon family will no longer control the New York Mets. I really do think this lawsuit, and other Madoff-related business will result in the Wilpons needing to sell at least 50% of the Mets ballclub, and maybe closer to 100% of it. I can almost see Fred Wilpon walking out of the ballpark in tears of shame over this (if he hasn't already - remember, Wilpon and Son have kept saying that the Madoff business doesn't impact the Mets business, and somehow, trying to sell about 25% of the club to raise cash is some sort of impact).

Fred Wilpon, for 31 years, has had an owership stake in the New York Mets, purchasing a 5% share, along with Doubleday publishing, in 1980 from Joan Payson's heirs. Fred Wilpon worked his way up to 50% in the fall of 1986 when Doubleday publishing was sold (in a move that wasn't supposed to change anything about Mets' operations, and Nelson Doubleday, as a person, became co-owner, instead of being an owner through his company). In 2002, Wilpon bought out Nelson Doubleday to gain full control of the club and installed his son in a high-level position.

In that time, the Mets have never been able to sustain winning for long periods of time, usually falling down to very low lows after coming oh so close.

I never liked Fred or Jeff Wilpon. I'm sure Fred Wilpon is a fine man, and I'm sure he's a good real estate person (where he has built up his fortune). But he was never a good baseball man. His son is even worse at it (at least Fred has skills outside of the Mets). But I never thought of either of them as crooks (well, stealing our money for that brick thing they call a ballpark for what they call a "team", but that's not at issue here). They probably aren't crooks, Fred was just associated with one. But it's going to cost them billions and a legacy.

The Madoff scandal's effect on the Mets is going to be much worse than originally thought. And the way the Mets have been run, and how they have played over the past few years is going to make things much much worse for Wilpon and Son.

It was asked in the press conference on Friday (which you can read here) what you can get for your millions of dollars for a non-controlling piece of the ballclub. Like most of the answers, they seemed to me like they were all non-answers (I'll excuse the ones where they couldn't answer because of pending legal matters).

So why would you want to spend that kind of money to get in bed with the Wilpons here? I think the answer is to be able to gain a larger stake in the club, maybe a controlling stake. Aside from that, I can't see any upside, especially in this economy. It was already stated that the Wilpons have tried to sell off part of the club to raise cash to no avail. Of course, this whole thing is about them seeking help, but I think it will be tough. The price will drive down, or in order to get the money they need, they have to sell off more. This is why I think this will eventually lead to the Wilpons no longer being in control of the Mets within a year. Remember, they continually denied (lied?) that Madoff would have any effect on the Mets ballclub, and here we are.

I see the Wilpons in a position to have to sell more of the club to get what they want. Maybe they know it. Maybe they're denying it. Maybe that have a plan.

Now let me ask this...would you rather see a brand-name come in with a smaller piece of the club (say 25%) and then this person comes in to bail out the Wilpons again buying another 25% (or more), or would you rather see a silent partner come in, basically with cash?

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Bob Feller

2010-12-16T08:10:00.000-05:00

Bob Feller passed away yesterday. He was the senior (living) member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in a way, a face of the Cleveland Indians. So that brings me to my "Bob Feller" story. The end of the story is that I also caught a foul ball for the first time since playing in little league that day.

It was Spring Training, and I think it was 2005. The Indians were called Winter Haven, Florida, home at the time (they've since returned to Arizona, but Winter Haven is a whole other story), and I was making the rounds on my second annual Spring Training trip, trying to see all of the ballparks. It happened to work out where I could see the Mets on some long road trips, including against the Indians. But that's not the story.

For many years, Bob Feller was present at Indians Spring Training games (at least home games), in uniform, signing autographs over in the picnic area of the ballpark. So after watching BP and getting my usual pre-game player autograph(s), I decided to get on line to get the autograph of a Hall of Famer.

It's about 20 minutes before first pitch, and Mr. Feller has to stop what he was doing to head onto the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which was a custom at Indians Spring Training home games. And we all kept in line knowing that he would come back.

Somewhat typical of Florida, a freak little rain storm moved over central Florida about 15 minutes before game time. I'm next on line for Mr. Feller, and we all have to scramble for cover. The infield upper-level seating at that park is covered with room to set up a table behind the seating that's still under cover, and that's where the ballpark staff took him, and all of us. Those of us in line even tried to stay in line, while starting to get wet.

They try to set up, and the first few of us in line are also trying to help, including running to the concessions and bathrooms for paper towels to dry off the table for him. We eventually get that settled during what is now a poorly managed rain delay, and I get my autograph. I think it was $5 for an autographed poster with the money going to his museum (which I'll consider a good cause), and I also had a baseball on me for some reason and go that autographed as well (the poster was a present for my father, who I assume had seen him play more than I had).

And I got my autograph. My first Hall of Famer (I've added a couple others since then). The game got rained out. I've tried two other times to see a game in Winter Haven, also against the Mets, and only one time did the weather allow the 9th inning to happen. I headed off to another game that night in Lakeland (longtime home of the Tigers) and caught a foul ball. The picture of Mr. Feller was taken before the game in 2006 against the Mets entering the Indians team store.

And that's my Bob Feller story.

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Well-written Mets fan and blogger liked Shea Stadium

2010-11-06T15:42:00.000-04:00

Greg Prince ranked Shea 6th among the 34 Major League Ballparks that he's visited in his lifetime. He said so yesterday in his weekly ballpark review from his Flashback Friday ballpark review countdown.

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Guest Post - Review of The Last Play At Shea

2010-10-31T20:27:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: I have not seen The Last Play At Shea myself. I wasn't at the concerts at Shea in 2008, for which I regret not going, and I wasn't at Citi Field for the premiere of the movie in 2010, for which I regret not going. I've missed it in the theaters too, another regret. But I was lucky enough to be approached by my friend, let's call her "Coop", best known for her work on the Mets themed blog My Summer Family and her contributions to Metsmerized Online, asking if she could write a review of The Last Play At Shea for my blog. So here is Coop's review...

Let It Be

Those of who know The Coop know that she never hides her feelings, never minces her words and is never afraid to admit she's made a mistake. And here – thanks to DyHrdMet's generous offer to have me jump into the booth here at Remembering Shea from time to time a la Ralph Kiner – I have an admission for you all.

I never attended a music concert at Shea Stadium.

That may not be a big deal. After all, my father raised me on two things: music and the Mets, which shaped a lot of my personality today. When I was 7 years old, I was introduced to two of my true loves: the Mets and Duran Duran. Anyhow, my dad claims he never went to a rock concert at Shea Stadium either (well, as he claims, at least he doesn't "remember" – and if you "remember" it you really weren't there but that's besides the point).

However, I had plenty of opportunity to have done so. I was invited to see Bruce Springsteen in 2003, but I had just seen him at Giants Stadium so I passed. In 2008, when Billy Joel announced the last shows there, I was nonplussed. I am not a Billy Joel fan, but I don't dislike him. I probably know most of his songs, even lesser known quantities that weren't played on the radio. I wouldn't say that I was exactly dying to see him live. The so-called "Last Play at Shea" was horribly mismatched. Why get Billy Joel, a Yankee fan, to close out MY favorite baseball team's home? I thought they could do better, but I was proven wrong seeing this movie. Potentially, my biggest regret is never having seen a rock concert at Shea, but most importantly, not seeing Billy Joel due to my stubborn shortsightedness.

That's the backdrop.

So at this point I've seen the documentary Last Play at Shea twice. Those of you who are looking for a Mets documentary will be disappointed. Those of you looking for a documentary on rock concerts at Shea will be as well. While the backdrop of the movie was Billy Joel's last shows at Shea Stadium, there is a heavy concentration of Joel's career and lifespan, but that in and of itself isn't the movie. Those who are looking for a history of New York, how Shea Stadium came to be and how it tied in to how the Mets were born and how rock concerts became a mainstay of Shea Stadium…that is the story. So in effect, it's an obituary to a stadium we loved so much, a home that we probably can replay each nook and cranny in our mind's eye, and a place I took very much for granted even to this day.

No matter what your reasoning for seeing the film, whether it's to see old concert footage from the Beatles, or Billy Joel or seeing the great days of the Mets, I don't think you'll dislike it. There are many underlying themes here. I swear I will bring them all together.

One is the history lesson. Billy Joel called Shea Stadium where "New York meets Long Island." Literally, Shea was in New York City, but geographically, it was on Long Island. There are many historical and symbolic themes in the documentary.

One is Robert Moses, the man almost solely responsible for the landscape and infrastructure of Greater New York and Long Island specifically. No documentary about the Mets would be complete without a reference to Brooklyn Dodgers leaving town. However, the tie-in to Moses is that the Dodgers wanted clearance to build a stadium in Downtown Brooklyn; Moses declined, and offered them a plot in what we now know as Willets Point. As history has it, the Dodgers left for the West Coast. But Moses still wanted that stadium built. Bill Shea made a few phone calls and got a team to fill it, the team we know as the New York Metropolitans.

The other story is the real-life lesson. The element of irony here is that we all know Billy Joel as a kid from Levittown, the ‘burbs, which Moses was responsible for providing the infrastructure behind. In fact, I doubt anyone would disagree that if Billy Joel was just some kid from the Bronx, we wouldn't have all the art he created today. However, Joel was also uprooted from his family home in the Bronx due to a freeway Moses himself was responsible for building.

So like the landscape of greater New York, the Mets' birth and the root of who Billy Joel is, was indirectly and directly shaped by Robert Moses, the Power Broker himself.

As a result, the Mets themselves and Billy Joel's existence really paralleled one another. The Mets were new and coming into their own, and Billy Joel was making his mark as a musician in the ‘60s. The Mets were floundering in the ‘70s, and Joel was trying to get out of bad record deals. The Mets had a heyday in the ‘80s, and Joel became the pop star most of us know him to be.

What's more is that the Mets really tied into the history of New York City. I remember reading a while back that the reason why New York City fell into fiscal ruin in the ‘70s was years and years of Moses' policies of getting the blue collar and middle class out of the city and into the suburbs, yanking out that income that was pumped into the economy. When the Dodgers and Giants left in the ‘50s, that took out a lot of money out of the city's hands that was still very much felt in the ‘70s. Look at the Mets: they were broke, Shea was falling apart as was the team. New York City started to enjoy a renaissance with the greed-is-good and drugs-are-better era in the ‘80s, as did the Mets. Baseball became a stay of normalcy after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and then came full circle in 2008.

The main character of the Last Play at Shea was the last part of that title. This was a movie about how Shea Stadium meant to volumes of people, from Mets fans, to music fans, to Pete Flynn (the head groundskeeper at Shea who figures prominently in the film), to even musicians themselves. Gordon Sumner, aka Sting from the Police, reportedly decided on stage at Shea Stadium that he was leaving the band, that he wouldn't top it.

To those of us who were intimately involved with Shea Stadium, many of us would agree with Darryl Strawberry's sentiment, "It was a dump, but it was our dump." During the last concerts at Shea though, the idea that Robert Moses had to build the Colosseum of Rome in the middle of Flushing, Queens, certainly resonated. With the lights out, and the only thing illuminating were the screens in the background of Billy Joel's show and the lights in the corridors provided the backdrop of something that was lost. Shea Stadium WAS a work of art. Those who graced her fields were artists to an extent. All that time, I was certainly one that took it for granted. If anything, this picture was so lovely to see Shea again in all her glory.

One of my biggest regrets in life was to have never attended a rock concert at Shea Stadium. I do know that I have it better than most: some have never attended a playoff game, or a World Series game, or even the last baseball game ever at Shea Stadium. That, to me, is absolute music. When I find myself in times of trouble, as Paul McCartney sang to close out the park, Shea Stadium is what brings me back to my happy place. And I'm certain those of you who follow this site know that to be a fact.

Coop, thanks for writing this review

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The Dream Has Come True

2010-10-27T06:26:00.002-04:00

And following up on the very short post from 2 days ago, this is what I wrote a year ago today. So much joy in the voice of Bob Murphy. Next year, I'll watch the entire series on DVD.

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A little roller...

2010-10-25T12:01:00.002-04:00

24 years ago today. This is what I wrote last year. Next year on this date, I break out the DVD collection.

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The GM Search

2010-10-16T08:32:00.000-04:00

The Mets are looking for a new GM. I really haven't paid attention to this at all. I don't know who these guys are, or who is the best candidate. I've just quickly glanced at MetsBlog.com to see reports of various interviews. But here's an idea in this, blog post #401.

Have the candidates debate the issues. Get a panel of noted Mets fans, announcers, and beat writers asking questions of the potential GMs, set it in an open forum and show it on SNY and SNY.TV (heck, even on Mets.com), and let's see who comes out the best. Maybe it will keep the Wilpons from hiring the wrong guy when they find out that he folds under pressure and attacks a beat writer. The fans could gain confidence in the "winner" of the debate, assuming that he/she's the one given the job, or the fans could bypass the time of false hope if the "loser" of the debate is hired. It'll make for a good alternative to watching the Yankees and Phillies in the only baseball games being played next week.

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The season is over for the New York Mets

2010-10-03T18:19:00.000-04:00

For good or bad, the 2010 Mets season is officially over. There are no more games to be played. They lost more than they won. Again. It's time to do what some have been doing for a few weeks already, and that is to start to evaluate what went right and what went wrong over the past 6 months and the past 6 seasons.

It's also time to start looking at what potential changes need to be made, and included in that, what to do with the manager and general manager jobs. Then beyond that, what to do about the dead weight and the players (and coaches) whose contracts expire at the end of the season or who have options or arbitration coming that need to be decided on for 2011. Then there is the list of needs and the list of free agents and the players that are tradeable and what they could possibly get in return. Then there are the prospects that deserve at least a look in Spring Training, including some of those that may have had that opportunity during September Training.

And hopefully, most of that can be done in parallel and not in a particular order, aside from deciding the futures of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel (which we expect to hear about before Monday night, and if not that soon, within the week).

For me, I don't think it's right for either of them to be back next season. Neither is a bad person, but they've both made mistakes that led to the team's overall record not being as good as it could have been. Omar also made some mistakes in handing certain situations that have to go as black marks against him.

As a fan, I'm tired of inconsistent and losing baseball. It's not just this era (since 2005). In my 24 seasons following Mets baseball, it's been up then down and up then down, and so on, with the downs much longer than the ups. And it's all been without a championship team. If the Mets don't win it all next year, they will have gone exactly half of their existence without winning a World Series. I'm tired of trying to figure out what they need to do (aside from saying they need to make changes). I'm tired of hearing the same shtick (excuses and promises) over and over again from ownership. I'm tired of hearing things get reported about people's fate before those people hear it and before it becomes official. I'm tired of the heartbreak that happens during a season. I'm tired of looking at the hot stove league and seeing game-changing players that the Mets are just watching them go by while the Mets can only focus on one player at a time. I'm tired of seeing high prices for bad-view seats at Citi Field while there isn't wise spending of my money of the product.

For me, I think it's time for an overall change in direction for the Mets. And I've been saying it for some time. I'd like to change ownership, but maybe it's just the need for those in ownership to change how they behave. Get someone smart to run the baseball operations (I really don't know who that is), and leave that person alone and trust him to make the baseball decisions. ALL OF THEM. Get someone who can get the players motivated to play and to learn how to win. Get several of these players to manage at all different levels. I think that needs to be taught to a lot, if not all of the players on the club (both now and future). And leave these guys alone to do what they think best for making decisions for his club. If at any point it's clear that any of these guys aren't doing their jobs well, and that ownership doesn't trust them to do it right, fire them. Don't let them linger making the "wrong" decisions because that only hurts the club, sinking them deeper into a hole that ultimately has to be dug out of. And don't try to sugarcoat it. Be honest with the fans about what the plan is. Ownership may be signing the checks, but we supply part of the money used to back those checks. You don't want to lose us - you actually need to win us back.

I'm tired of not winning, and that needs to be fixed, before I get tired of going to games period. I'm tired of hearing how to fix this team. I'm tired of saying this every year. Just do it (yes, I know they can't actually do that today, and to some extent, they can't do it until the end of the World Series). Ownership should put a plan in place, execute it, and make us trust it. And remember. We're not stupid, so it has to be real. If you say that a few little things will fix it, I won't believe you. It didn't work after 2007. It didn't work after 2008. It didn't work after 2009. And after see how it failed, I see no reason why it should work after 2010. So don't try to sell it like that. To fix things, it will take some time.

If you're not sure of some of what I'm talking about, go back to the video tape of today's game to what Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Kevin Burkhardt, and Ralph Kiner said during the game today (especially the later innings).

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It was a Beautiful Day for Gary, Keith, and Ron

2010-10-03T11:00:00.001-04:00

I've been posting more on the Facebook page for this blog than I have on the actual blog. And I did it again last night, and again today with photos.

For those that don't follow the site on facebook, you should. In any event, here are my photos from the day. I couldn't see a way to embed a Facebook photo album as a slideshow on a webpage, but Webshots can do it.

Just to recap briefly. The weather was beautiful. The Mets won. And in between, I got to see some of the friends I've made over the past 2 seasons through the self-sustained social network of Mets fans known as blogging.

Gary Cohen and Ron Darling came out to sign autographs for the group. Mets catcher Josh Thole also came down to sign.
The GKR group had t-shirts, sweatshirts, and even sweatpants for sale (among a few other things), where I purchased two different shirts of the new neon GKR design (really cool - one in Mets blue and one in black with long sleeves).
They had their big raffle for a chance to win one of 100 gift baskets. I didn't win one this year, but I did last year and they're all pretty nice.
They had scratch off tickets where every ticket gives you something. I played several times and game home with things like a Seton Hall Men's Basketball prize pack (which is good because it went to a long time Seton Hall fan - and if you didn't know, Gary Cohen calls play-by-play for Seton Hall on the radio) and a key chain of the Shea Scoreboard Skyline (one of my favorite items from Shea). I also won a GKR cookbook.
We got to go onto the warning track for the National Anthem. That's always cool. I'd say I saw myself on the video screen except that it was hard to see it looking high up when you're that close (I was standing pretty close to CF).
Kevin Burkhardt was hanging around the party area, posing for pictures and signing a few autographs. His son celebrated a birthday by joining the group on the warning track and he's at the age where he can run around the party area and it looks cute. He even sold me on buying one more scratch off ticket. Lynn Cohen (the group's organizer) brought out a cake for him to the CF seats and had those of us in the area sing to him.

And this recap wouldn't be right if I didn't do these two things. First, go to GaryKeithAndRon.com or PitchInForAGoodCause.org, not only to see their recap, video and/or photos (which I'm sure will be there soon) from the day, but to take a look at what they do and buy merchandise. The other is to say a big THANK YOU to Lynn Cohen and the GKR elves (lots of helpers - that's what they're called on their t-shirts) for putting this together. Everything on Saturday was great. It's such a great way to end the season as a group. These are all Mets fans doing something good.

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Oliver Perez and what he does to keep busy during a game

2010-10-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

I want to share something funny with you that I noticed during the game today. I spent some time down in the Citi Field picnic area at the GKR event today. And this picnic area is situated right behind the 2 teams' bullpens. Right where, through 2 fences, the fans can see right into the back of the Mets bullpen. It doesn't quite translate onto film with the fences in the way, but it is visible.

Anyway, on more than one occasion during the game, and I forget if this was in between innings or during play (I doubt that it was the latter), I saw one Oliver Perez, in uniform as if he were an active player, get up, walk out of the little clubhouse-like structure in the bullpen, walk out the back of the bullpen itself (which I think a player would have to do in order to get to the clubhouse), and come around between the 2 fences into the tunnelish area between the back of the picnic area (where the tables are) and the front of the backside of the bullpens, and look at the fans that were looking back at him.

I couldn't see if there was any type of stretching and it didn't look like there was any type of medical work going on as he was alone. It was more like Ollie was an animal in the zoo poking its head out from underground to get sunlight and look at the people that are there to view it. He'd come out, I think maybe up to the fence for the picnic area. I don't think he was there for very long, and then he'd go back into the bullpen house where he and others from the bullpen club not doing anything would sit. And maybe 1 inning, maybe 2 innings later, he'd come out and do it again. I have no idea what he was doing out there.

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I'll be going to the game on Saturday

2010-10-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I will out at Citi Field as part of the Gary Keith and Ron (a.k.a. Pitch In For A Good Cause) group. By now, I shouldn't have to introduce you to them. It's a good group. A good cause that good Mets fans can rally around. Being with a group like this is a good way to end a season.

Anyway, follow me throughout the day at on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RememberingShea and my mobile pictures page.

You know what would be really cool? If the real Gary, Keith, and Ron wore t-shirts from the GKR collection.

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Thank You Fans

2010-09-30T22:18:00.001-04:00

I just saw a very brief commercial from the Mets saying "Thank You Fans". So let me pose a question everyone out there.

What is the best way for the Mets organization to really show its thanks to the fans for the 2010 season?

I'm thinking a commercial that airs after Mets pitching faced 10 batters in 1 inning late in a game isn't going to cut it.

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Bob Murphy Day

2010-09-25T15:06:00.000-04:00

I was 7 years ago today that we as Mets fans bit farewell to the voice of the Mets.

MLB.com has a tribute page up from when he passed away the following summer. It includes the pregame ceremony from before his final game.

It's worth watching. Find the item called "Mets pregame tribute to Bob Murphy" and click on the link next to it. I can't seem to mimic the scripting to link to the popup window directly. While you're there, check out the other links. A few of them still work.

Watch it. He tells a good story of his 42 seasons with the Mets. That may be worth including in the 50 year history of the New York Mets.

I still say SNY should rebroadcast these pregame ceremonies as winter/rain delay/filler programming like they do with Mets Yearbook.

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The End of the Baseball Season

2010-09-19T18:13:00.000-04:00

2 weeks left. For good or bad, the baseball season only has 2 weeks left in it. It doesn't matter how your team is doing, whether they've been out of it since mid-May, mid-July, mid-September, or if they're still in it. There's only 2 weeks left to watch regular season baseball. The 6 month journey is quickly coming to an end. One more home series. One more road series. 2 weeks left to say goodbye to the National Pastime. 2 weeks to find out if there may be joy in the season, or 2 weeks left to end the misery.

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Another Day, Another Mets Injury

2010-09-18T23:22:00.000-04:00

One point on today's game and Luis Hernandez's injury and home run. I was watching on TV and saw it live. I said to my dad that based on the pain he was in and the length of time that he was being looked at by the "trainer", that he had a broken bone in his foot.

Then why was he allowed to stay in the game to continue the at bat? He hit the home run, made it about 5 steps on adrenaline, and had a terrible limp the rest of the way around the bases. It was clear from there that he had to come out of the game. It was also a bit dramatic watching this kid limp around the bases hitting the home run with a broken foot.

When the trainers are looking at him, if they aren't convinced that he must be removed immediately, why not do a running test with him like they would have a possibly-injured pitcher throw a couple pitches?

The only thing that's changed since last year regarding injuries for the Mets has been luck.

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The Pulsipher of the Nation

2010-09-12T22:05:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I was approached by Frank Gray of MetsGazette.com to share my opinion in their weekly segment "The Pulsipher of the Nation" (named of course for the ex-Met prospect whose name sounds like "pulse").

Frank's question to me, and also to Matthew Falkenbury of The Daily Stache, was "Which Mets pitcher has performed like an Ace this season and why?". I'll put the disclaimer now that I basically had my answer written up when it was announced that Johan Santana was going to be shut down for the season with the tear and pending surgery.

Since I don't give short answers to questions (and I was asked to make it take more than 2 sentences), I wrote several paragraphs breaking down the 4 Mets main starting pitchers before coming to my conclusion.

Go read my answer as well as Matthew's here, in this week's edition of Mets Gazette's "Pulsipher of the Nation".

Thanks go out to Frank for the opportunity to share my opinion and put me in the company of some really good bloggers/Mets fans as guests in this segment.

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Is It Better To Have Won And Lost Than To Never Have Won At All?

2010-09-07T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is a comparison on being a fanatic of different teams in different sports in different seasons, looking at how they have brought joy and sorrow to me over the past almost quarter century. The title of the post it meant to ask the question - which is better to be a fan of? I am NOT here to start finding fault or solutions with the reasons for failure and losing.

My sports year is divided (with lots of overlap when you consider pre- and post-seasons, and the hot-stove action) between the New York Mets of MLB and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. For the color enabled browsers, I will draw out the comparisons using the colors that you saw in mentioning the names of the teams.

I am finishing my 24th full season, and next month, my 24th calendar year as a Mets fan. Over that time, I've had just a taste of the ultimate success when I was too young and too fresh to fully appreciate it, and a few fuller but shorter tastes even coming close. Most seasons have ended long before their time in ultimate failure with some good enough to have just a disappointing ending instead. Maybe the disappointing ending is the best I can ask for.

I am going into 13th full season as a full-time die-hard Devils fan, with about 5 or 6 seasons as a more casual Devils fan before it mixed in, and 1 season without the NHL entirely. Over that time, I've seen the Devils win 3 Stanley Cups, including 1 in person, 1 other Finals appearance, and make the playoffs all but 1 season since 1994. But most seasons have ended with great regular season success and failure in the playoffs.

Between the two sports and seasons, failure and success can be measured differently. If you think about it, any season that ends without the championship can be considered "failure", but it's all relative to the overall success of the team. For some teams, just being in the playoffs can be a "success". For others, not going far in the playoffs can be a "failure" even if they qualify every season. The success and failure for playoff teams not winning the championship is relative to how often they qualify for the playoffs. It should be noted that it is different between the two leagues on how many teams qualify for the post-season. After each takes the division winners (6 overall for both), MLB takes 2 wild card teams while the NHL takes 10. With the additional teams in the NHL, their playoff is 4 rounds compared to MLB's 3. But the playoff structure isn't necessarily the point here, rather a bridge between comparing apples and oranges.

In the 24 seasons that I have been a Mets fan, the Mets have made the post-season 4 times. I would call 3 of those post-seasons an ultimate failure based on the expectations of the club. I've written before about how I think each of those 3 failures sent the team into a downward spiral (and with the latest of them, I'm starting to see credible writers leaning towards that opinion as well). Only 1999 was a success, mostly because they were back from the abyss and just happy to be there - and they did make it back the next season. Like I mentioned earlier, most of my 24 seasons as a Mets fan have been an utter disappointment. Just using the .500 mark as a barometer, this could be the 11th season below .500 over that time. 2 others are known for the "collapses". 3 others had 2nd place finishes (before or without winning the Wild Card).

In 20 years of following the Devils (I'll draw that line in the fall of 1990), I've seen them miss the playoffs only once (with the league itself missing the playoffs one other time), but most of those seasons have ended in playoff disappointment. In that time, 18 playoff appearances and 10 first-round exits. The first couple were in the team's phase of being in the playoffs as a "success". 6 of those 10 were in seasons in which the Devils finished 1st of 2nd in their division (in fact, they've finished outside of the top 2 in the Atlantic Division only twice since the division was formed in 1993-94). 3 other times, they finished 1st in the Division and failed to make the Conference Finals (3rd round). But every season has been fun to watch, filled with hope and relative success, It has only been in the playoffs where constant success has eluded the team (relative to the regular season success).

So I ask the question. Which is better? To have won (a lot in the regular season) and lost (a lot in the playoffs) or to have never (or hardly) won at all?

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The 5/6 report - 27 games left

2010-09-03T19:41:00.000-04:00

Only 27 games left.

After 27 games, the Mets were 15-12, 1/2 game back.
After 54 games, the Mets were 27-27, 5 games back.
After 81 games, the Mets were 45-36, 3 games back.
After 108 games, the Mets were 54-54, 7.5 games back of Atlanta in the NL East and 8 games back in the Wild Card.
And now, after 135 games, 66-69, 12.5 games back of the Braves in the NL East and 10.5 games back in the Wild Card.

I'll keep it short and sweet. The Mets have no life in them right now. In the last 27 games, they were 3 under after alternating win and loss for most of that stretch. K-Rod went down for the year. Reyes got hurt again (not that he's injury prone or anything). I said back on August 1 that the Mets season was over, and despite people getting up on every win, the Mets have shown me nothing to contradict my statement. It's getting harder and harder to keep watching them. Changes need to be made, and maybe they've been decided on (with the decision kept quiet until October 4). One change won't make a difference. Changes need to be made at multiple levels during the off-season. I'll get to that another day.

The good news is that Spring Training starts in 6 months, and we get to do this all over again for the 50th time.

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The Word of the Day: "September Training"

2010-09-01T07:41:00.000-04:00

Last season, I invented a new vocabulary word - "September Training". I described it here last August.

Let me explain it again.

September Training is a combination of Spring Training, when teams use meaningless (exhibition) games to evaluate their player pool, and September callups, when the rosters expand beyond the 24 25 players allowed. It's the start of looking towards the new season with some younger players (I'll leave Omar's quote out of it for now).

This year's examples are Jenrry Mejia (as a starter), Fernando Martinez (if he's healthy), and Lucas Duda (and probably some others later on).

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Where I've been...

2010-08-31T07:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't written much lately. Since I found facebook as a tool for communication, I've been posting a lot of 1-liner statuses on Remembering Shea's facebook page (jokes and some commentary, along with some links including everything that I post here). But it's a lot of things that just seem like they're too small to post on the blog itself.

That being said, please head over there and "like" my page if you haven't already. I just saw something new on facebook where I can have a vanity URL for my page (I know they've had it for actual user accounts for a while).

So go visit me at http://www.facebook.com/RememberingShea. I do want to integrate the feed from the facebook page into the blog so that readers can see it all in one place.

Thanks for reading!

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2010: A Mets Odyssey

2010-08-23T12:39:00.001-04:00

No time in my day to comment on what was written (maybe later), but there is a good recap of the 2010 Mets season from the point of view of their off-field problems, courtesy of ESPN's Adam Rubin, which you can read here. Be sure to read his follow up article tomorrow on the 2011 Mets. Get your season ticket deposits in soon!

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Kiner's Korner

2010-08-20T21:08:00.002-04:00

There are rumors on the internet that our beloved show Kiner's Korner will return to public view beginning next Tuesday on SNY.TV under the name Kiner's Korner Revisited.

From Neil Best

Speaking of beloved New York sports figures, SNY is bringing back a baby boomer fixture with "Kiner’s Korner Revisited," set to debut Tuesday on SNY.TV.

The show will use surviving footage from Kiner's iconic postgame show as a starting point for discussions on past and present baseball topics with host Ted Berg.

Alas, little survives from the early years, but the nine episodes will feature interviews with Pete Rose, Bobby Valentine, Johnny Bench, Richie Ashburn, Ed Kranepool, Tommy Lasorda, Davey Johnson and Eric Davis.

I would print more, but I don't subscribe to Cablevision's IO TV service or Newsday newspaper. If anyone does and can help me out by copying and pasting the contents of that blog post to me, I would appreciate it.

I ~~would guess~~ see that old video tapes of Kiner's Korner would make up the content along with new discussions. I like this idea. And I vaguely remember a blogger (and I don't think it was me) suggesting that SNY should bring back Kiner's Korner. Well done to the idea man, and well done to SNY. Ralph won't be with us forever.

Another statement from another sports media columnist. Not really any more in terms of details, but I play fair. From Bob Raismann at the NY Daily News...

KINER'S KORNER CAUGHT IN WEB
Ralph Kiner has plenty more to give, especially when he's confined to "cameo" appearances on SportsNet New York's Mets telecasts.

So, starting Tuesday, Ralphie's invading the Internet. He's dusting off a classic, bringing "Kiner's Korner Revisted" to SNY.TV. Over the course of nine episodes, Kiner will ransack the Korner Vault withdrawing classic interviews (Pete Rose, Richie Ashburn, Davey Johnson, Ed Kranepool and others).

Kiner, and SNY.TV host Ted Berg, will also talk about current baseball issues - like Keith Hernandez's extremely heavy work load.

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Francisco Rodriguez and the MLBPA vs. the New York Mets

2010-08-18T22:29:00.001-04:00

As expected, the MLBPA (the union), filed a grievance against the Mets on behalf of disqualified Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez. Reading the report by Adam Rubin on ESPN New York.com, the contention is over WHEN and HOW K-Rod injured his thumb.

The Mets maintain Rodriguez tore a ligament in his right thumb during an altercation with his girlfriend's father at Citi Field last week. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said Tuesday that Rodriguez confessed to a team trainer that the injury occurred as a result of the incident.

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, and the union have been noncommittal about when the injury occurred. And a team source told ESPNNewYork.com on Wednesday that Rodriguez will claim he slipped, but not as a direct result of the incident.

Of course, both sides are saying that they believe that they are right (that's usually the case).

My message to all involved. Guys, don't fuck around. This is a legal case. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't always understand big words, but if this thing comes to trial, the injured thumb may come up as proof that K-Rod really did strike the grandfather of his children. In a court of law, and in probably just about everything else related to a legal case, the parties involved are sworn to tell the truth with sever consequences for lying. The truth will come out in court, and one of these sides will be very embarrassed. And before the stories start getting out of hand, there were supposedly witnesses. It's a bad spot to be in for a teammate or a teammate's family member. This grievance should sit in limbo until the legal matters are sorted out, and then we should see what really happened. Whichever side is found to be either lying or wrong about when/how the injury occurred is going to look mighty foolish once the truth comes out.

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The Mets have handled K-Rod correctly

2010-08-18T12:38:00.000-04:00

Here's my take on the developing K-Rod saga...

First a few facts (and I know that I'm leaving out the word allegedly)...

Last Wednesday after the game, in view of some players/families/children, he punched his father-in-law (or the father or his fiance or the father of his girlfriend, I'm not really sure what their relationship is). The man was removed via ambulance and K-Rod was held in custody at Citi Field until his arraignment the next day. I don't actually know how he pleaded. A court date is scheduled for September 14 (about 4 weeks later).
The Mets suspended him for 2 games, without pay, allowing time for the legal matters to sort out and allowing the Mets to replace him on the roster.
He returned to the club and clubhouse on Saturday, and was brought in to pitch the 9th with the Mets losing.
He complained of a problem in his thumb on Sunday and was examined on Monday. It turns out that he tore a ligament in his pitching/punching hand during the altercation. Surgery was recommended, and given the time to recover and where the Mets were in the season, it meant he would be out for the season.
K-Rod had the surgery on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Mets also placed K-Rod on the Disqualified List, where he will not receive pay or MLB service time until he is reinstated.
Word on the street is that the Mets are going to try to void or renegotiate the remainder of K-Rod's contract with the Mets because of this (which I'll get into my thoughts on it in a bit) and that the MLB Players Association will try to contest some of this (which I will also blast later).

For the most part, I actually think that the Mets have handled this correctly, save for Jerry Manuel not realizing that K-Rod would be inactive on the day in which he appeared in court, and for Omar to say anything.

You're looking at a couple of things. First, there is an unsettled legal matter. Second, there is an injury directly related to this incident (a claim which nobody has disputed). The injury is probably evidence, which makes it harder to defend K-Rod in the legal sense. Some of what will eventually happen with K-Rod will depend on how things go in court.

The Mets have every right to a) not pay him for time missed this season and b) renegotiate his contract after he is allowed to return. First off, it is hard to punish him for more than the 2 games from last week for being arrested. He did need time to get legal matters sorted out, and it's very justified that K-Rod could be suspended while that took place. After the trial, when the verdict is handed down, the Mets could act much more swiftly.

Now throw in the injury. K-Rod has made himself physically unable to play due to what's essentially committing a crime against another person. The result of the injury is that he won't be able to pitch again this season. In a way, the Mets catch a break with this because it means removing the distractions by fans and media that would have been caused by having him active with all this crap pending. Based on this, there is no reason why K-Rod should be paid for the time spent on the DL since it was a non-baseball (and illegal) activity that resulted in his inability to play. And I really don't see what the MLBPA could do about it without coming off looking like they condone his behavior.

As for the future...like I said earlier, some of it will depend on the outcome of the legal case against him. But something like this could take a mental toll on a person (aren't all players people?). He could come back from the injury and not be himself. He could go to prison for a period of time (and I guess if that happened, and dragged into next season, he wouldn't be reinstated until he is a free man). All of these are very just reasons why the Mets can and should either void or renegotiate his contract for next season (and why they shouldn't say anything else about his status for next season). Would you want the financial commitment to a player who can no longer perform his job after an injury sustained while committing a possible crime? I'm sure that the Mets wouldn't (and this isn't a knock at them being cheap for once), and they should do everything in their power to get out of such a situation.

A number of fans have been saying that they want the Mets to get rid of Oliver Perez and/or Luis Castillo (among others), crying that they can get rid of K-Rod. The two things are entirely different matters. If Ollie Perez broke a knee cap stealing a car next week, then we can talk about him.

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The Giants win the Pennant

2010-08-17T20:07:00.001-04:00

R.I.P. Bobby Thomson. Let me share a quick story about him.

My father grew up in the the '50s as a New York Giants fan in Passaic, New Jersey. Mostly a Willie Mays fan, he was a fan of the entire team and took joy in their victories, especially 1951 when he was 9 years old (not dissimilar to myself with the 1986 Mets).

Sometime in the late 1980s, after he had gotten me into baseball and collecting baseball cards (which was a fun hobby that I can tell you about another time), we went to a baseball card show, which we did lots of over the few years that I was collecting. And Bobby Thomson was signing. I don't know if we (and I mean my dad) knew this going in, or if it was a nice surprise for him. And we stood in his line, my dad paid whatever the fee was for his autograph (I'm assuming there was a fee - I was oblivious to some of these things), and the time came for "our" autograph.

My dad will probably deny what I'm about to say, saying that he was teaching me a little bit about baseball history by having me be the one to receive the autograph of someone who brought him great joy, but I'll say it - my dad used me to get an autograph of someone who hit an important home run from when he was my age (which seemed like it was 100 years earlier). I certainly did learn a bit of baseball history that day. I don't remember if I had heard about it prior (not everything sticks with you when you're 8 or 9 years old), but I certainly learned about Bobby Thomson, the New York Giants (a team before the Mets), and The Shot Heard 'Round the World that day.

I sort of remember Bobby himself, just being the nice humble man that he's always been made out to be. The autograph itself was on a gigantic posterized black and white photograph of the home run with the ball circled and an arrow pointing to it (it wasn't too easy to see without it as they didn't have 10 megapixles or color back in 1951). My autographed copy of it still exists somewhere. I don't remember throwing it out after moving out of my parents' house, but I have no idea where it is.

R.I.P. Bobby Thomson, one of the great former players around.

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Oh this can't be good

2010-08-16T18:24:00.000-04:00

According to MetsBlog.com, the Mets' troubled closer (TKO-Rod, K-Fraud, or simply K-Rod) tore a ligament in his thumb during an altercation last Wednesday night, surgery has been recommended, and he would then be out for the remainder of the season.

I guess this is actually now evidence in the assault case against him. But maybe, just maybe, the Mets can use this to cut ties with him after the season (and after his trial). He committed what I guess is considered a crime against another person, and at the same time, made himself physically unable to perform his job (aside from a possible prison term). Don't forget he's innocent until proven guilty. But he's committed acts that have hurt the team (remember they fired Tony Bernazard, K-Rod's old sparing partner, last year for what was essentially bad conduct). Now, voiding K-Rod's contract or suspending him without pay, cutting him, or other type of punishment against K-Rod (and placing him on the DL does not count) would need to be cleared by the MLBPA.

But if Freddy Coupon & Son really want to be cheap, they can open up a lot of room in their self-imposed salary cap (let's not argue on that point) by cutting ties with their troubled closer. It also shows that they're really paying attention and have some balls. So what if what they attempt to do gets blocked or goes into litigation. Don't be afraid. Just do it. Wake up. Just don't pin this on Adam Rubin like Omar Minaya did last year.

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2010 Mets Hall of Fame on SNY Spotlight

2010-08-15T13:05:00.000-04:00

This is a programming note courtesy of a commercial seen on SNY:

SNY Spotlight has a show featuring the 2010 Mets Hall of Fame this Thursday at 7pm. Runtime is 30 minutes. It will replay next Sunday at 5:30pm and the following night at 6:30pm as well as a week from Wednesday (8/25) at 1:30pm.

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Embarassing question

2010-08-13T08:12:00.000-04:00

a new poll - vote here, on the "Polls" tab, or on facebook.

Which Mets team, on the field and off, is/was it more embarrassing to be a fan of?online surveys

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Oliver Perez and Giving Up

2010-08-11T21:56:00.000-04:00

I read today on MetsBlog.com that Oliver Perez might start Saturday night's game. Of course I have a ticket for that game, but that's besides the point. This is what I read into that decision, if indeed it is made:

Oliver Perez is the pitcher exiled to the back of the bullpen (any farther back, he'd have to buy a ticket to enter Citi Field). The last resort. He wouldn't go to the minor leagues to work things out, and the Mets faked his injury just get him off the roster for a relatively brief time. No helping him.

So what does it say about the Mets' willingness to reach into the minor leagues if they do indeed choose Oliver Perez to start? Dillon Gee and Pat Misch are much better candidates. Are they afraid of making a roster move in the bullpen? I could name about 10 of them that I'd make just to solve the Saturday starter problem. This one doesn't even make sense.

So what does it say about the Mets' realistic hopes for the season if they are willing to consider the ultimate last resort as the spot-starter for the game on Saturday? I can see it. Most fans started giving up about 10 days ago.

At least I bought the ticket at the box office and didn't have to pay any fees.

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This and That

2010-08-06T19:42:00.001-04:00

A few observations while I enjoy being home and not being jet-lagged for the first time in a month.

the Braves are inducting Tom Glavine into the club's Hall of Fame. Let's put aside feelings towards him from his days as a Met and his last appearance in 2007. Let me make this observation. The Braves are also retiring his number 47. The Mets have inducted many former players, among others, into their Hall of Fame. How many of them have had numbers retired? I'm just saying...
SNY does a great job showing the old Mets Yearbooks as time fillers. But here's a new idea to throw into the mix (as an hour-long program). Replay old Mets pregame ceremonies. Wouldn't it be cool to see Tom Seaver's jersey retirement ceremony, the 40th Anniversary celebration, Bob Murphy Appreciation night, and so on? Shea Goodbye and the 1987 Opening Day ceremony with the world championship rings would be like the sweeps week specials.
I don't know when the new season of SNY's Beer Money will air. I don't know if I made the cut. I was filmed and won some money before a game in June.
I've decided on going to 2 more Mets game this year - next Saturday night (Aug 14) and the GKR Main Event (Oct 2). 6 games is enough for me with this club. I'll see them again in Spring Training.
Is it me, or are the new Mets commercials now sponsored? They're really good, but they look like they're sponsored by Citi. And I saw one for Xerox with Mr. Met.

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The 4/6 Report - A .500 Season

2010-08-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

I was thinking of what to write for the 4/6 Report (or 2/3 for those that don't know the math), so I decided to look back at first 3 1/6th of the season reports.

After 27 games, the Mets were 15-12, 1/2 game back.
After 54 games, the Mets were 27-27, 5 games back.
After 81 games, the Mets were 45-36, 3 games back.
And after 108 games, the Mets are 54-54, 7.5 games back of Atlanta in the NL East and 8 games back in the Wild Card.

I was thinking how quickly they've fallen in the past 27 games since the half-way mark (3/6) when they were 9 games over .500 to where they are now at .500. But then I saw that 54 games ago, after 1/3 of the season (or 2/6), they were also .500. Just as much as they rose, the fell. Those last 54 games have been a bit of a roller coaster. These last 27 games have been the downward slope, with the Mets falling fast.

With various activities going on for me over the last 27 games, I can't say that I've seen much of this happen live. I was told that Carlos Beltran came back after the All-Star Break. I think that disrupted the rhythm of the lineup and outfield from what had been working well. Luis Castillo came back at some point, aging the lineup in front of our eyes. Jason Bay ran into a wall in Los Angeles (I think during a game), and getting on the airplane to come home, the injury became a concussion. OK, that helped balance things out in the outfield with Beltran and Pagan, although I think Pagan should be the CF over Beltran right now. Some of the "ace" starting pitchers have hit a wall.

But I think the team has lost focus. Jerry Manuel may be managing like he knows that he's a lame duck manager. Maybe that's not the case, and he's just bad at managing. But he's lost the players. And the players are starting to lose the fans. I joked when I came up with the moniker "DyHrdMET" in 1997 that I'm a die hard Mets fan, and I have died hard with the club over the years. Imagine what I've seen in 13 1/2 years since then. I see it again.

While I was in Florida for Spring Training back in March, I came up with the number 75 for my prediction for the number of Mets wins. For a while, I thought I was way off. I'm starting to wonder. I won't consider myself wrong until the Mets hit 80 wins or 90 losses. 21-33 over the last third of the season is probably too low for this club, but if they give up, you never know, but 26-28 isn't.

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6 years ago today, we lost our voice

2010-08-03T19:32:00.000-04:00

I'm just re-posting what I wrote a year ago today about the 5 year anniversary of the passing of Bob Murphy, forever the voice of the Mets.

In addition to the posts that I linked to a year ago, Mets Gazette wrote about him today.

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Frank Cashen, GM

2010-08-01T08:22:00.000-04:00

On Mets Hall of Fame Induction Day, I go back into the Remembering Shea archives from this past January to a post that I wrote this winter...We Need Another Frank Cashen...I actually talk about a great article from the local newspaper in Port St. Lucie, Florida about Frank Cashen.

Must re-read.

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Mets fans unite

2010-07-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

Mets fans unite. Come together next Sunday to see the Mets honor Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Davey Johnson, and Frank Cashen. Forget about the troubles that Fred and Jeff Wilpon have brought on Mets fans with Citi Field (bad seats, high prices, expensive parking). Forget about the troubles of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel and the coaching staff with the current day Mets and the Mets teams of the past few seasons.

Come together to support the team's history, in a rare occurrence in which ownership chooses to honor it. We don't have Old Timer's Day. We no longer see the fan-favorite Banner Day. In the past 4 years, the Mets have honored milestone anniversaries for both of the team's championships. It's about damn time they did something beyond that.

I'll be there, bright and early, and probably jet-lagged from having just returned from England.

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Ollie or Takahashi?

2010-07-19T10:22:00.000-04:00

Given how Takahashi has pitched in his last few outings for the Mets, and given how Oliver Perez has pitched in his last few rehab assignments, which would you rather have as the Number 5 starter, and why?

I've read that the Mets are going to allow Ollie to rejoin the team, but he will pitch out of the bullpen, instead of trying to make another rehab start or sending him down to the minor leagues. But I have to think that Ollie would be better than Takahashi right now in the rotation.

And who would be demoted to make room? Is there really someone pitching worse than Ollie and Taki right now?

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The Only All-Star Game at Shea Stadium

2010-07-12T20:01:00.000-04:00

I asked my readers on facebook for an idea of what to write about as a feature for the All-Star Break. Something not related to the 2010 Mets, but still of interest. Last year, I posted something short about Gary Cohen called "Gary Cohen, Hockey Announcer". You get the idea. My friend Coop suggested that I write about the 1964 All-Star Game at Shea. Perfect.

So what do I know about it? From my Mets History classes, I know that the 1964 All-Star Game was played at Shea Stadium as part of the ballpark's first season, along with the 1964-65 World's Fair that was taking place next door. Ron Hunt was the first Met to start an All-Star Game (remember, it was only the 3rd year of the team's existence, and well, the Mets rosters of the 1960's overall were not filled by good players). I found out today that Casey Stengel was a coach for Walter Alston's NL squad.

I've never seen a highlight from this game. I've never seen a replay. Remember that it took place in a time in which there wasn't video tape of every game like there is now. Replays of live events from that era are pretty rare. MLB Network recently showed the 1965 All-Star Game. I wish that I could include a video clip of Ron Hunt getting hit by a pitch in the 1964 game (after all, that's one thing he was famous for as a Met). But that didn't happen. Hunt did go 1 for 3 with a strikeout playing second base.

Johnny Callison, Outfielder then with the Phillies hit what's know known as a "walk-off homerun". I highly doubt that Lindsey Nelson or Buddy Blattner used that term on the NBC telecast. Callison won the Game's MVP Award for his performance that day in front of 50,850 at Shea.

From Baseball-Almanac.com,

Red Sox ace Dick Radatz was on the mound and had already thrown two hitless innings. Willie Mays, in a tough at-bat, got the walk and then stole second. Orlando Cepeda followed with a soft looper to right field scoring Mays due to a bad Joe Pepitone throw to the plate. Two quick outs and a walk later, Johnny Callison hammered a fast ball into the right field stands scoring three runs, giving the Nationals their sixth win in seven games and finally evening up the series.

The winning HR went out towards the Subway in RF. Soon-to-be Hall of Fame Umpire Doug Harvey was officiating down the LF line.

Not much else has been written to tell the story. Nothing with pictures or video that I could find. Shea never hosted another All-Star Game for whatever reason. Citi Field is likely to receive the next game assigned (2013 I believe).

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Fixing the All-Star Game

2010-07-10T08:20:00.000-04:00

I was inspired by a post on Morgan Ensberg's Baseball IQ about how the "All-Star Game is Broken". So inspired in fact that I wrote a nice big comment. Morgan is asking for ideas from his readers on how to fix the game. (Morgan Ensberg for Commissioner?) Are you watching the game next week?

You're right that the All Star Game is broken. I think you left out a few players from your example, but no matter since you got your point across (and it seems like this happens every year). I'll give a few ideas, both big and small, on how to fix this (some seem contradictory to each other):

The fans today choose the starters, and in a way, influence the reserves (but position players only). The fans vote like it's a popularity contest rather than voting for the most deserving player at each position. They vote very early, and often. First, I'd let fans vote for pitchers. I don't know how many pitchers are taken for the game, say 11 or 12, and vote for 9 starters and 4 relievers. Second, start the voting later in the season. With online voting widely available in many forms, voting doesn't need to start in late April just a few weeks into the season like it did 20 years ago when fans had to go to the games to vote. The internet changed that whole model. April is too early to figure out if a player is great. Start voting on Memorial Day. Third, get rid of the rule where every team should be included. It dilutes the product on the field.

Fourth and biggest, I'd take it out of the fans' hands and give the vote to the sports writers and baseball broadcasters. It kills the marketing of the ASG, so I see it as somewhat controversial, but give it to the people most capable of determining who deserves to be an All Star. In the end, it will make for a better game, one worthy of letting the winner determine who's league has home field in the World Series (and if you don't go with change #4, then remove the implications of winning). Maybe we can let the fans have a say to influence tiebreakers (but see also changes #1 and 3). I'll go a step further and say that the new class of voters also selects the manager and maybe even coaches (still mostly being other managers).

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Mike Pelfrey, All Star Snub

2010-07-04T22:14:00.000-04:00

A few things that I wrote on facebook earlier today after the All-~~Farce~~ Star Game. Discuss...

Mike Pelfrey deserved to be an All Star, and was snubbed. Putting aside the part where he's scheduled to pitch on the last day before the break and can't pitch in the All-Star Game itself, he deserves to be on the NL pitching staff. Now I thought there was a new rule that starting pitchers pitching on the last day before the break couldn't be added to the roster. Even without that stupid rule in place (if I didn't make it up), select players based on merit, so they can be introduced on the field before the game with everyone else, and then make them ineligible because they pitched on the Sunday, selecting another player in their place. Douche move not to include Pelfrey simply because he will pitch on Sunday. What if it rains between now and then?

On the matter of Charlie Manuel, I thought there was a rule that a manager couldn't manage the All-Star Game 2 years in a row, which Charlie Manuel is going to do. Now I'm not advocating Jerry Manuel to be managing, though he would like all the pitching changes, but the the game has become a farce.

One other thing I never understood was why the fans don't vote for pitchers. MLB can make a rule that after the top vote-getters are announced that a taxi squad could be announced with it to replace any pitcher actually pitching on the Sunday before the game (or choosing not to work in the ASG).

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The 3/6th report - 81 down, 81 to go

2010-07-04T08:55:00.000-04:00

What a roller-coaster ride it's been so far through the first 81 games. The Mets are 45-36, 3 games back of Atlanta, and leading the LA Dodgers for the Wild Card by 1/2 game. The numbers most curious to me are the home/road splits. The Mets are 28-12 at ~~Shea Stadium~~ Citi Field and 17-24 on the road. The winning percentages actually come out to nice fractions - 5/9 overall (.556 winning percentage) and 7/10 at home (.700), and on the road is not a nice fraction with a .416).

I still think the Mets true identity is a team that plays almost like a champion at home and can't find their way on the road. I have to think that at least one of two things accounts for this - Citi Field truly is a unique ballpark built for the Mets and the Mets are conditioned to win there and only there - and/or the manager of the Mets only knows how to manage the Mets in a "home" game and can't quite figure it out in a "road" game.

On to the players of the first half of the season. Coming into the season, I don't think most knew what to expect from the Mets 2 best starting pitchers - Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese - or the thought that those would be the 2 best starting pitchers. The Mets have a good crop of in-season callups from Buffalo as well - Ike Davis, Chris Carter, Ruben Tejada, R.A. Dickey - to go with the homegrown core of the team (Wright, Reyes, Pelfrey, Niese).

There's a few players from past years that seem to be "missing". Carlos Beltran, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo. I almost think that the Mets could do without at least 3 of these guys and bringing any one back would be a big disruption to something going well.

Let me ask a question in jest. The Mets are playing well in an 9 game home stretch. Name 2 things that can disrupt it. Answers - one of those "missing" players returns, or the homestand ends.

The biggest concerns for me for the 2nd half of the season are Johan Santana, the bullpen, and the return of the injured players. Yes, you heard me right. I'm concerned about Johan Santana. He hasn't recovered from his offseason surgery. He has the mentality of an ace, but doesn't have the physical abilities, at least this season, to back it up. The bullpen is weak and overused. The overuse is on Jerry Manuel's shoulders. Something's wrong with the Mets closer. Maybe he isn't being pitched enough, or in the right spots, but he's paid to get guys out and just isn't able to. This will be 2008 all over again when Jerry Manuel ran the bullpen into the ground and cost the Mets a playoff berth. And the aforementioned injured players, older, rusty, and/or overpaid, coming back could disrupt what the Mets already have. Think about where you, as a fan, would want those players inserted into the lineup and starting or bullpen rotations.

For the 2nd half, well, I think my March prediction of 75 wins might be a bit short, but I don't see 85 wins happening. I expect a deja vu of 2008 (which I admit is better than a deja vu of 2009), and I expect the Mets to miss the playoffs again.

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Can't close the door

2010-07-03T19:54:00.000-04:00

My facebook news feed is lighting up with comparisons of K-Rod to Benitez. Fair comparisons at this point. I saw this one and remember telling a few people of it 2 months ago. It also reminds me of the 2008 Mets, where the bullpen made fans sick. In total fairness, blame for those comparisons should be split between the manager and his misuse of the 'pen and those pitchers.

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Stat of the Day

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

Through July 1, 2010, almost half way into the season...

the Mets have 20 saves, tied for 13th in the Majors.
Washington has 24 saves, tied for 3rd in the Majors.

the Mets have 44 wins and Washington has 35.

Let's do the math. 20 of 44 wins (45%) were saved for NY compared to 24 of 35 (68%) for the Nats. 9 more wins and 4 fewer saves for the Mets compared to Washington.

Make of it what you will...

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Former Met broadcaster passes away

2010-06-29T21:38:00.000-04:00

From BallparkDigest.com comes the news of the passing of former Met broadcaster Lorn Brown. The Chicago Tribune covers his career the best. Click the links above to read more on his career.

Lorn Brown called Mets games on television in 1982, sharing Mets broadcasting duties with Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner (of course) and radio broadcaster Steve LaMar. He was first hired into MLB by Bill Veeck in 1976 to work alongside Harry Caray on White Sox broadcasts.

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The Big Mid-Season Test

2010-06-28T11:46:00.000-04:00

We're almost at MLB's mid-season point. A few more games to officially reach 81 played. And the Mets are facing their latest big test. 7 games on the road for a team that's 15-20 on the road, and that includes 6 straight wins on the last road trip against the 2 worst teams in the American League. Are the Mets a changed team, after the removal of both John Maine and Oliver Perez from the rotation last month, or are the Mets still the same team that wins a lot at home and loses a lot on the road?

These next 7 games, against 2 teams within their division that are also below them in the standings will show me what the 2010 Mets are all about. The Mets are 0-4 on the road against Florida (I know these 3 games are in San Juan, not the normal Florida road-trip the Mets usually enjoy with their Florida fan base) and 1-1 in Washington this year. These are teams they should beat (though the matchup against Strasburg should be interesting).

Personally, I think the trip to Baltimore and Cleveland was an anomaly. Had they played their normal .333 winning percentage on that part of the trip, the Mets would be .314 on the road (11-24 record) and 39-36 overall (.520 winning percentage), 4.5 games behind Atlanta in 3rd place.

But maybe they take 2 in San Juan and 3 in Washington and prove me wrong going into the half-way mark (Saturday's game is game #81). Then it could be a fun summer in New York. If not, we'll be hearing cries to overpay for Cliff Lee, fire Jerry Manuel, and rush Carlos Beltran back to the lineup.

2010 New York Mets, it's your pitch!

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Beer Money

2010-06-26T09:19:00.000-04:00

Thursday night, I was at the Mets game against Detroit. Thanks to the tickets I had, I had access to the Caesars Club on the fancy-named Excelsior level at Citi Field. During Batting Practice, I decided to wander the entire Excelsior level since it's not something I have access to all the time (don't get me started on that). Within a minute of entering through the glass doors into the secure area of the concourse, I was approached by a producer for SNY's Beer Money and asked if I wanted to play the game and possibly appear in the upcoming season. I decided 'what the heck' and agreed to play.

After a bit of paperwork and choosing to play the standard game (3 questions) instead of the 'Beer Run' game (name 10 people who...), and choosing Mets questions over others, they had to setup to tape me. Now, I'm thinking during this time "don't have (co-host) Chris Carlin be the one to interview me". Ya, that's bad to think, but I'd rather have the female co-host. I learned a little while later that there were 2 new co-hosts (the Beer Money facebook page mentions 2 new co-hosts for this season. But I got the female co-host...Amber Wilson (on the Beer Money page, you can see photos of her with other contestants from Thursday night's game, but not me). I decided to take a few photos of the crew (these are the only ones that weren't blurry) to prove that I played the game in case I don't make it to air. The two guys at the concession stand in the photo on the left were part of the 4 person crew.

Anyway, on to the game. After a few attempts and finding good light for video on the Excelsior concourse, we moved down to the bottom of the steps next to the camera well on the 1B side, on the last aisle (going towards home plate) before the start of the press box (I think the video control room was next to us). Plenty of light there and we got started.

For the sake of suspense, I won't give the answers to the questions which I was asked, but only to say that (after an amount of thought unintentionally proportional to the monetary value of the answer) I got them all correct. I'll have to paraphrase the questions because I don't remember the exact wording...

for $10: What 1986 Mets reliever retired after the 2003 season (she may have said "1986 Mets lefty reliever")?
for $20: Who was the Mets Opening Day catcher in 2007 and 2008?
for $100: Who was the Mets Opening Day third baseman in 1962?

You can try to answer the questions in the comments, but I promise you that no more money will be transferred.

After it was done, and I signed to say that I received money, they told me that these shoots (and they did others at Citi Field and elsewhere in the city the night before, according to facebook) would air in late July or August, and that there was not a guarantee that my turn would air. I think the producer said that they shoot 12 people and air 7, or something like that. So we shall see. I'll post updates here and on facebook as I find out more about the show airing.

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Not the Worst Mets team ever

2010-06-23T07:32:00.000-04:00

It's still (or it's only) June. And we've learned one thing already. This Mets team will be no worse than the worst Mets team ever. Good going guys!

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Pardon the dust

2010-06-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

Pardon me while I test and change a few things on the blog's layout. Blogger.com, the host for blogs at "blogspot.com" (a Google product) has implemented a new template designer that has easily allowed me to redesign the blog in a way that I was trying to do by hand.

Let me know what you think. The biggest thing I need to work on is the right sidebar.

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One quick note

2010-06-18T07:33:00.002-04:00

it's very possible that I launch a redesign of my site this weekend. in the meantime, you can hit Remembering Shea's wall on facebook and join the group heckling me over my 75 win predicition.

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Perfect Games

2010-06-13T07:36:00.000-04:00

Looking over the record book on Wikipedia a few weeks ago after the near Perfect Game in Detroit, I noticed that yesterday, June 12, was the 130th anniversary of the first ever Perfect Game in Major League Baseball history, involving 2 teams that haven't existed in over 125 years. There have only been 2 occurrences in which 2 or more perfect games were thrown within a calendar year - the first two 5 days apart 130 year ago, and 3 going back to last July 23.

Someday Mets fans...Someday...

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Baltimore and Washington

2010-06-09T07:13:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, as noted on this site's facebook page, I took a baseball road trip to Baltimore and Washington to see each stadium for the first time in person. I had my father with me, and we met my cousin and his 6 year old son in Washington on Sunday.

click to read on...

Let me start in Baltimore with a few pointers since there's probably at least a few of you with plans to head down for the weekend series against the Mets this weekend.

Baltimore

This was a weekend series against the Red Sox, and their traveling nation, so the attendance was a bit larger than what the O's would normally get for a Saturday night game. It wasn't full, but it was at least half of the 40,000 fans wearing Red Sox shirts, jerseys, and/or hats. I'm sure it will be similar this week with the Yankees in town and next weekend with the Mets visiting.

As it was, I could see over to the local bar behind the left field side of the ballpark and it was packed with people. So was Eutaw Street along right field and center field inside the ballpark in front of the warehouse.

A few points now for the Shea Faithful making the trip.

Take mass transit. You may be staying in a hotel right near the ballpark, within walking distance, and if so, this doesn't apply to you. Take mass transit. We asked at our hotel how much parking would be at the ballpark, and the guy at the desk said $30. He pointed us to a light rail station about 2 miles away that delivers you right behind the warehouse. About a 15-20 minute ride. If you're driving in, or staying outside of the ballpark area, it's worth looking for a light rail station and parking there. Trains run well past the end of a night game. It looked like lots of Sox fans were staying at a hotel near both the BWI Airport and BWI light rail station.
The park opens at 5pm for a 7pm game (it may have been 5:05pm for a 7:05pm game). When I use the term "the park opens", I actually mean the gates at Eutaw Street, to allow you to watch the O's take batting practice from the outfield seats or from above the RF scoreboard. Of course, you can look at the O's team store and sample the bar and club in the Warehouse, but you're restricted to being in front of the warehouse at this point. If it's a hot afternoon or morning, those places are air conditioned. Boog's BBQ is also stationed out there.

The rest of the ballpark opens up at 5:30, with people crowding around those gates from Eutaw Street well before then. The visiting team starts hitting around 5:30 as well. I didn't get to see what autographs by the dugout and foul lines is like once you're in the park.

Aside from the brickwork, I thought the rest of the stadium was sort of plain. It looks like it functions well. There appeared to be a very wide variety of food choices, and very wide concourses. But there was nothing fancy. I guess I expected to see more brickwork inside. Not much marking the Orioles either. Light poles outside the ballpark had color picture of the players (like outside Citi Field). Inside, it was smaller pictures of players on orange backgrounds and a Southwest Airlines logo. Not much else (aside from team stores and team store kiosks). I went out to a few seating areas and all of the views looked good. That's probably more important than the ascetics anyway. The field level and upper level were pretty much the same.

What I did find was the middle level, equal to but better than Citi Field's Excelsior Level. We actually had our tickets on this level (seating sections in the 200s). Otherwise, I never would have known what was inside the doors.

The entire 200s level concourse (I don't know the official name) was an air conditioned corridor with access to suites, seats, small bars, fancier concessions, lounging and table seating, and a whole collection of Orioles memorabilia. Did I mention the air conditioning? The door I came in at had color photos of the members of the Orioles Hall of Fame. There were plaques out on Eutaw Street for all to see, and the rest of the O's history was in here. They had something for each O's Gold Glove, MVP, and Cy Young award. Many photos. Both World Series trophies. Framed retired jerseys, a collection of each style of O's jersey since they moved there in 1954. Team photos with stats framed for each O's team. Each different O's logo plastered to the wall, including the years that it was in use. And it was open to anyone with a ticket in the 200s section or suites. It was like a giant club area, but better because it wasn't small. Think of a nice airport terminal lounge. Of course there were televisions tuned to the game and scoreboard.

The tickets we had were out in left field in a section (not sure if there were more than one) designated as "All you can eat". The seating section itself was sort of like the Left Field landing at Citi Field, except without the big restaurant and club in the way, and those in the left field seats were allowed in. The food selection wasn't great (hot dogs as the only "meal", but with soda, popcorn, nachos, and ice cream), but the price of the all you can eat was included in the ticket. Making a few trips into the air conditioning to get free sodas and ice cream cups on a hot muggy night was well worth it.

If you're picking out seats, you may want to consider the 200s level, and maybe even the All You Can Eat section.

After the game (actually, during the bottom of the 9th), it was an easy walk to the light rail, fight our way on, 4 stops, and we're back at my car ready to find the hotel.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards is worth seeing at least once in your life.

Washington
This is one of the newer parks (3rd season) in the majors, and it shows. It's of the design model that has open space, wide concourses, and concourses where you can watch the action (both on monitors at the concessions and turning around to see with your own eyes). There is a great amount of space at the outfield entrance where most patrons will enter from the Metro (subway) station, which is a block away.

There is a good right field picnic area (and a second level in right field that looked like more of the same) and some stuff for the kids (which was good for my cousin and his 6 year old son with us for the day) and lots of variety in the concessions. good sight lines and lots of Nationals memorabilia around the park (especially Strasburg #37 shirts and jerseys - I missed his debut by one game).

I don't think I ever noticed the Red Porch or 2nd deck in RF with the scoreboard watching on TV. Red Porch is a 2 level bar with a view from center field. The 2nd level RF deck (I don't know its official name) goes from just past center over to first base before the 2nd level becomes club access. I never made it up to the third deck because of time constraints.

The Nats do have some sense of Washington baseball history, honoring the Senators AL Champions with flags on top of the scoreboard and honoring a few players with statues near the outfield gate (pictured is the one for Josh Gibson of the Negro Leagues). The statues try to capture the player in motion.

They also have something similar to the Mets with posting the lineup using large baseball cards, except that in the Nats' case, it's in the outfield, out in the bright sunshine.

The game itself was a good game, pitcher's duel until Matt Caps blew the save in the top of the 9th, and after we left (both my cousin and I had good 4 1/2 hour drives home after the game), Cincinnati blew their lead in the bottom of the 9th and won it in the 10th.

Here is my full photo album from the trip.

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The two-sixth report

2010-06-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

The Mets have played 54 games in this 2010 baseball season. That is exactly 2/6ths of a regulation season.

The Mets are 27-27, 5 games back of Atlanta for first place in the NL East, currently in 4th place. They're also 4 full games back of San Diego for the Wild Card lead.

Going back to the 1/6th report, they had a semi-bad 27 game stretch, going 12-15 to balance out the 15-12 that came before it. The Mets are 19-9 at home, and 8-18 on the road. That's quite a difference. They're home for 6 games before going back on the road. I won't count over the entire schedule, but I think they play 81 games at home and 81 games away from it (unless you're the Phillies and Blue Jays). A month ago, I looked at who the Mets had played, thinking that they beat bad teams and lost to teams better than they are. 9 teams in the NL are better than the Mets, and 6 aren't. I don't know how much all that means.

It strikes me that this team does not have what it would take to realistically contend with other teams in their division. The pitching staff has been erratic. Guys in the bullpen who got off to great starts aren't pitching as well, and they're also getting overworked. The starting staff became better by subtraction when Oliver Perez was demoted to count his money in solitude and John Maine came up with an injury to get out of the rotation. The starting rotation as it stands now is enough to get by, but the way Jerry Manuel uses his bullpen leads me to think that we'll see flashbacks to the end of the 2008 season (also managed by Jerry Manuel) with the bullpen failing to hold leads, etc. It was that way in the Mets' 57th game, even after a stellar 8 innings from our first ace.

There isn't much of a bench. We have a good backup catcher (who expected me to say that 2 months ago). But beyond that, it doesn't seem very useful. Alex Cora is a rock stepping in on the infield, I don't think I've noticed Chris Carter lately, and there's a few guys just keeping the physical dugout bench from flying away. The starting 8 finally seems consistent. Some days they can't do squat, but they're all in it together, and other days they can all hit the ball.

If that part of the team can get back to its 2008 level, and Jerry Manuel can stop his over-reliance on the bullpen and push his starters more, then maybe, just maybe, we'll have some interest come September.

As far as cutting ties with anyone mid-season, I just don't see Jeff Wilpon paying anyone off to go away. That includes Oliver Perez, Jerry Manuel, Dan Warthen, and Omar Minaya. And that type of mindset in the higher up reaches of the team is going to ultimately hurt the club in both the short and long term.

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The Perfect Game

2010-06-03T23:08:00.002-04:00

looking over some stats related to Perfect Games, since we almost had one last night...this is an unprecedented time in MLB modern day history regarding perfect games. had Galarraga gotten the call, it would have been the 3rd perfect game this year (when only 365 days ago, the standard was to go years between prefect games), and the 3rd consecutive Perfect Game to (relatively) smash the record for shortest time between Perfect Games.

With all that, this may be the time...there may be hope for a Mets no hitter after all.

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Not Quite Perfect

2010-06-02T22:14:00.002-04:00

Weird. Nice effort of what someone called a 28 out Perfect Game. But it also evoked memories of memories of Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series.

From the Cleveland Indians TV broadcast tonight on SportsTime Ohio

...And now he is facing Jason Donald. The only man who stands between Galarraga and Major League Baseball history...

oh if they only knew what would happen 3 pitches later.

The Detroit broadcaster on Fox Sports Detroit actually said "he's out" before having to correct himself (and having to correct himself many times over).

Jim Joyce blew the call. I've heard for many years that umpires listen for the ball in the glove at first while looking for the runner's foot on the bag. The last play was a soft toss to first, and maybe there wasn't any sound to go by. It was caught (by the pitcher covering) in the top webbing of his glove. That's no excuse. Maybe it's something for Major League Baseball and the umpires to consider fixing how umpires make calls like this. Too many blown calls in MLB this year. But I don't think replay should be in the future.

Both teams' broadcasters were in agreement that Jim Joyce blew the call, had replays, and were just down. You could hear it in the Tigers broadcasters. The Cleveland broadcasters did correctly predict the scene after the game. For me, I've never seen a bench-clearing argument with an umpire like what happened after the Tigers game with the near perfect game. Detroit's broadcasters were getting on the Tigers for the scene. I can't blame them. Jim Leyland should have argued until he got tossed defending his pitcher after the play.

Just imagine if this had been a Mets pitcher...

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Jerry or Ollie?

2010-06-01T15:06:00.003-04:00

Who is it more important for the Mets to cut ties with right now?Market Research

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Mets refinancing $375 million in debt

2010-05-31T14:01:00.000-04:00

I don't quite know what it all means, but from Biz of Baseball (scroll down).

Ever since it was revealed that Mets owner Fred Wilpon was a client of Bernie Madoff there has been speculation surrounding the financial well being of his baseball franchise. Those concerns should be alleviated with the news that the Mets recently refinanced $375 million of debt. LWIB Daniel Kaplan reported for the SportsBusiness Journal, "The New York Mets holding company is close to refinancing $375 million of debt, sources said, underscoring that despite the team’s troubles at the gate and concerns about the franchise’s owners, the Wilpon family, having lost money in the Bernie Madoff investment scandal, the club continues to perform well financially.

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The Ballad of Oliver Perez

2010-05-31T13:51:00.001-04:00

From the facebook version of this site, an idea I broached earlier this morning....

Ollie refused another "rehab" assignment. at this point, there's 2 options left: 1) someone should whack him in the leg to get him on the DL, or 2) just cut bait. this guy has isn't doing himself any favors by refusing or by pitching, so make a deal to pay him less to not pitch and be off the roster now so he's a fr...ee agent than he would make not pitching but being on the roster for the next season and a half.

thoughts?

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Vote Early, Vote Often

2010-05-28T19:19:00.000-04:00

Inspired by this post at TheRopolitans.com...

I stopped voting for the All-Star Game and for the most part, stopped watching the game all together. Early/mid April is too early in the season to even start to think about All Star Game voting. With the internet and other ways of mass voting that are easier than heading out to the ballpark, you don't need to lay out the ballot boxes and start the voting until probably now (think about how it used to be 20 years ago). And of course there is the farce of the winner's World Series getting more home games in November than the loser's (ok, that's a double farce). It was done to make the players take it seriously.

As Andrew Vazzano leads me to with the stats and votes, what gets the fans to take it seriously? It's a popularity contest among the fans, the game is a joke, and viewer numbers are down.

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