Mets fans unite

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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Not the Worst Mets team ever

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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How does this decade remember the Mets?

So, the decade of the 2000's, the first of the new millenium comes to a close in about 2 weeks. 10 seasons of New York Mets baseball.

How does this decade remember the Mets?

Without commentary, let me give you a season-by-season statistical recap.
2000: 94-68, 1 game back, 2nd place, Wild Card winners, NLDS winners, NL Champions
2001: 82-80, 6 games back, 3rd place
2002: 75-86, 26 1/2 games back, last/5th place
2003: 66-95, 34 1/2 games back, last/5th place
2004: 71-91, 25 games back, 4th place
2005: 83-79, 7 games back, tied 3rd/4th places
2006: 97-65, Division winners by 12 games, NLDS winners
2007: 88-74, 1 game back, 2nd place
2008: 89-73, 3 games back, 2nd place
2009: 70-92, 23 games back, 4th place

a total record of 815-803 with 6 seasons above .500. 1 Division title, 1 Wild Card, 2 NLDS series victories, and 1 NL championship, in 2 playoff appearances. 4 seasons where they finished over 20 games back of the division lead. And the 2 collapses.

So how do historians and fans look back on the past 10 seasons of New York Mets baseball?
- positively (the above .500 total record and a Division title and an NL pennant in 2 playoff appearances)
- negatively (4 seasons in the toilet and 2 collapses)


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I have ideas

Let's retire some uniform numbers. I get the sense that there's no unanimous opinion on who is next (a lot say Piazza, but others think otherwise; some say Keith Hernandez, but not everyone agrees). What is the criteria for having ones uniform number retired? Think about that while I throw out this list, in no particular order:

• 31 - Mike Piazza


• 17 - Keith Hernandez


• 18 - Darryl Strawberry


• 36 - Jerry Koosman


• 8 - Gary Carter


• 16 - Doc Gooden

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So when is there enough Mets stuff at Citi Field?

Tonight we got our first glimpse of the new-look Citi Field, and I don't mean the ugly former-NY Giant 1905 uniforms that the Mets are wearing. Those jerseys are subject to another rant in another post. But we do get to see, on TV for most, in person for some, new pictures or murals of players and moments in Mets history, the championship banners on the OF wall, and new video screens showing live action for people in obstructed view seats.

First, I'd like to see some photos. MetsPolice.com will probably get them before RememberingShea does, and I'll link over there. Other sites as well.
Update: 8:28pm - Neil Best over at Newsday talks about the improvements in his blog.

But let me pose the question to my readers - how much do they need to put in for it to be "enough" for your tastes? Some will probably say it was never a problem, and that's fine. Some may never be satisfied, and that's fine too. Most will probably be somewhere in the middle. For me, I'd like to see what they did. In MetsBlog.com earlier today, Matt Cerrone talks a little bit about it but also is a bit of a skeptic.

do the Mets seem to be shying away from their traditional blue and orange... first, these pictures and the ones outside are all black and white, muting the vivid uniform we’ve come to know and love... second, if you notice, the blue and orange they do incorporate around the ballpark is actually the dark navy-blue and red-orange from the Citigroup color scheme...

I'd like to see some of the vinyl hangings on the concourses as well (like what was inside Shea, but I know there isn't as much dead space as there was in Shea) and some more visible Mets logos on the field. I'd also like to get a look at what they did put there, and maybe there's more than we've heard so far (pictures please!).

But again, the question to my loyal readers - how much is enough for you?


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Is Citi Field transitioning into a Mets-themed park?

Quietly hidden in the Mets press release for the ugly throwback jerseys is news of adding some Mets themes to Shea Citi Field.

In addition, the Mets have begun installation of photographic imagery of famous players and historic moments in team history on the Field and Promenade Levels as well as the display of team championship banners on the left field wall.

I guess the letter writing campaigns worked. It should be interesting to see.


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A lesson on Old Timer's Day

"I've always thought as a player...Bring in your stars of the past. It's important for the present players to see the tradition, the legacy, the tide from...grandfather to the father to the son. It's a good thing. It's healthy."

Al Leiter on YES talking about Old Timer's Day

Hear that Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon, and Dave Howard?

Read what was written yesterday in the NY Daily News.

A Numbers Game

I'll point to this post on MetsPolice.com this morning as inspiration on a topic that I've seen come up from time to time this season.

Retired Numbers

The Mets have retired 3 of their uniform numbers (I say it like that because they also retired the name "Shea" for the old beloved Stadium, and every team retired the Dodgers 42 for Jackie Robinson) - Casey Stengel, the original manager; Gil Hodges, an original player and the manager of the Miracle Mets of 40 years ago; Tom Seaver, "The Franchise", Hall of Fame pitcher from the Miracle Mets and the Ya Gotta Believe Mets of 1973.

But the Mets have had many great players that are worthy of having their numbers retired, haven't they?

In no particular order, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Jerry Koosman, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Mike Piazza, Bud Harrelson, and others.

Should they have their numbers retired? Who should be first on that list? Who else belongs on that list? Who's on that list that doesn't belong? All good questions.

There seems to be a fine line that the Mets have always walked around retiring numbers for the highest elite, and retiring numbers for any "star" from the club's history. The Mets have always been on the left side of that line. That's actually not a knock on the Wilpon regime (though there wasn't much history before Wilpon & Doubleday came on board in 1980). I think in this time of alienation, it may be a really good idea if they had a few of those numbers retired. That big outfield wall can support them all.

Thoughts? Everyone seems to have their own unique opinion on this topic.

This sickens me more than any other

Of all the "lack of Mets history" rants that I've gone on this year with the setup of Chez Amazin', this one sickens me more than any other.

From Metsblog.com comes this paragraph

This afternoon on WFAN, co-host Evan Roberts said, according to people he has talked to in the organization, the Mets do not have an Old-Timer’s Game, ‘because it’s too much work.’

What a poor excuse! But then again, the Wilpons are poor excuses for baseball owners. "too much work" just makes me sick.

So what if every living able-bodied former Mets player and coach descended on the site of the former Shea Stadium all at once and decided to play a pick-up baseball game using the base markings that are nicely laid out in the parking lot? You think the Wilpons would have them banished from the site? Or would the invite fans and charge admission to see it first-hand?

It's also good to know that the Mets Police are on this one too. Maybe metsgrrl.com can get a letter writing campaign going.

A pattern of bad behavior

I just want to elaborate on an opinion that I've shared with a few bloggers in the form of comments on posts. It's completely my opinion.

The Mets are in a bit of a tailspin, and I'm not surprised by it. This fits into a loose pattern, and I can only go by what I lived through as a fan starting with the 1987 season.

• After the Mets lost in the 1988 NLCS to the Dodgers, the team started to slide the next season. It was a series they should have won, and after it, things got really bad for a few seasons. It really wasn't until Bobby Valentine was hired as manager and Steve Phillips came in as GM before things turned around.



• After the Mets lost Game 1 of the 2000 World Series to the Yankees, the team started to slide the next season. They shouldn't have won the series, but they shouldn't have lost that first game either. They really really had a chance to win and let it get away. Then things got bad. It wasn't until Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph came in to save the franchise that things turned around.



• After the Mets lost Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS to the Cardinals, the team started to slide. We all remember the 7 game lead with 17 to play in 2007, and the bullpen collapse of 2008. This season is just the next paragraph in that story. Next season probably will be too, unless the Wilpons get smart and fire Omar and Jerry and their staffs in (or before) the off season.

You can pinpoint moments in 1988 (Kirk Gibson in game 4 of the NLCS), 2000 (mental mistakes that I have partially blocked out of my consciousness in game 1 of the WS), and 2006 (not scoring after the Chavez catch in game 7 of the NLCS).

You can see the parallels and patterns - sliding from 1989 to the "world team money could buy" in 1992 and rebounding around 1995/1996; sliding from 2001 to the Art Howe era ending in 2004 and rebounding in 2005; sliding from September 2007 into 2008 and falling in 2009.

It ain't pretty. I can see why Fred & Jeff Wilpon want to ignore this history, but they're doomed to repeat it.

More ideas for Citi Field

A follow-up to my post Re-built this Citi. This came from a friend of mine a while back.

12. Get a bar or bar & grill at Citi Field, one that's open to all fans after a game, and name it The Happy Recap. Make it a post-game destination, especially for those taking the train home (and not drinking and driving).

Re-Built this Citi

Of course the title of the post is a play on the name of this song from the group Starship from 1985.

The Mets are on a short road trip now, a longer one later in the month, and while they're away, I have some ideas on how Fred Wilpon & Co. can vandalize Chez Amazin' to make it work better for Mets fans, along with some other random thoughts about our new ballpark.

• Dave Howard did say the dark green seats came from the Polo Grounds. He lied about obstructed views, but we'll take his word on this. My dad didn't seem to remember that detail of the park where he went to see Willie Mays play in person back in the '50s (The Polo Grounds may have ever only been seen in black & white). I'm ok with that. The orange/blue/green/red scheme from Shea may not look that good at Citi Field.


• Did you know that in a hockey arena, it's impossible to see the ice-side of every piece of the boards when sitting in the stands, as well as the puck or players when played on the ice against the boards? Think about it. The nature of the boards and the fact that you're always behind one side of them creates a natural obstruction. And nobody seems to complain, because the only seats that can fix that are either suites below ice level with windows into the boards, or seats vertically above the ice surface, but not sticking out over it. don't look down.
  I bring that up because with seats in fair territory at Chez Amazin', it stands to reason that some parts of the outfield wall would not be visible below. We've never had a lot of fair territory seats before. From the bleachers at Shea, I could not see the LF wall. I didn't complain about it. Of course, when third base or home plate are obstructed from your LF seats, that is a problem.

Now to some things we can do to fix Chez Amazin'...

1. Get some mets logos along the walls. Use the different logos (our version of the interlocking NY, script Mets, baseball/skyline logo, mets.com). I've seen other ballparks put the team's logo(s) around the wall and/or behind home plate. Only one needs to be inview of the TV camera behind the batter.


2. I've said it before, the championship banners from the Shea outfield wall should be on the wall at Citi Field. There's no real reason that they aren't there.


3. And I've said this before too. The Shea scoreboard skyline should be in a place where it can be seen better from the seats, rather than being stuck BEHIND the CF scoreboard


4. Name the bridge after Gil Hodges. I heard Howie Rose say it on WFAN the other day, and I think I've read it on a few blogs. It doesn't take much to do


5. Name some concession stand or area in the promenade after Shea, or after something from Shea. Having the old HR apple is good, but we want more of Shea.


6. Mets colors are blue and orange. We need some blue. The foul poles are orange (just like at Shea, and the only orange ones in the league). The OF wall has the orange stripe. Add some blue. It came from the dodgers, so Mr. Wilpon should be ok with it. Blue can be somewhere inside the stadium. It doesn't need to be visible on the field of play.


7. Name the escalators on the RF side after top Mets right fielders (Strawberry, Art Shamsky, etc.), and do the same in LF and CF. Ya, take the Mookie Wilson escalator from behind the big scoreboard up to the Excelsior level and take the Tommie Agee escalator up to the Promenade to the seats under the out of town scoreboard.


8. Name the patio above the Rotunda after some Mets catchers (because it's behind home plate), or even better, name it Casey Stengel Plaza (like the street name outside somewhere). How about calling it Mike Piazza?


9. Hang banners of Mets logos and/or Mets players and/or Mets moments inside the stadium, like we had at Shea (like what was sold from Shea). They can hang from the ceilings and stay 7 or 8 feet above ground, especially in the field level concourse, and be out of the way. Other concourses too if height permits. Don't use the tacky black and white ones either. I'll sell back the one I bought for $3,000.


10. Name the part of flushing bay visible from the RF seats over the LF wall after Kevin McReynolds. McReynolds cove (like McCovey cove). OK, that was pushing it.


11. What about a Mets Shoe-polishing stand? That would be a start.


12. Get a bar or bar & grill at Citi Field, one that's open to all fans after a game, and name it The Happy Recap. Make it a post-game destination, especially for those taking the train home (and not drinking and driving).