Mets/Yankees/ MLB 2015
What does everyone think for final records? I will take Mets 84-80 and the Yanks 82-82...very chalk prediction but I think it may be accurate.
spring is coming Sounds about right. The Mets could be even better if the young bats like D'Arnaud, Lagares, and Flores take the next step along with Wright and Granderson having bounce back years. The pitching is stacked.
Metsman The MLB season is 162 games, not 164, so your predictions can't possibly turn out to be accurate (-;
I say the Mets win 84, the Yanks lose 84... and neither make the playoffs.
ianimal I would be thrilled to see the Mets win 84, however I am going super optimistic and saying they will win 86 games, and Wright will bounce back.
LAS Even with all the pitching, the Mets are still counting on a lot of ifs to break their way.
The 1971 Orioles had four 20-game winners and led the league in ERA, but to win 101 games and get to the World Series they also led the league in on-base percentage, team batting average, and runs scored.
Having gold glove winners at center, short, and third, backing up those pitchers didn't hurt either.
Don't think the Mets have all that yet. It may be optimistic, but 84 wins sounds about right for the Mets.
Andy Loigu 
Evergreen'69 Being a life long Yankee fan I am hoping that Sabathia, Tanaka, and Pineda come through with credible seasons. I am being totally optimistic and full of wishful thinking for an 89 win season and a wild card berth.
MK The Yankees win 90 games n win a Wild card birth.... They then lose in the first round as Arod is suspended again for his actions in a love triangle involving 2other men.... Mets win 90 games and lose in the league championship series....
Mr. Tone 79 wins for the Yanks. 85 for the Mets. With Arod Teixeira, Beltran all near the end and a very fragile pitching staff, it's not looking good for the Yanks. One strength they do have is a very good 'pen on paper. To save what, IDK.
MeisterNJ The Yanks would need an MVP season from Jacoby Ellsbury, and a Cy Young season from Tanaka ... and some heroics from other sources as well, if they want to get back into the playoffs.
How does Brian Cashman still have a job? He depleted their farm system and has a bunch of 35+ players. You would think he is on the hot seat this year.
Because he beat the Mets in the '01 WS. That and Papa Stein isn't around anymore.
Where did he deplete the farm system? He's actually been building it up recently. They haven't traded any top prospects other than Jesus Montero and they got a top young player back for him. Now, a bunch of their better prospects have gotten hurt or they have stalled recently, but that happens. And many of those 35+ players Cashman was against signing originally and got overruled (Arod specifically, after he opted out). I have nothing against Cash. He's done the org well.
Actually it was 2000.
The Yankees rank at the bottom with their system. They're where the Mets were with their system when Minaya was in charge.
The Yankees are an injury to a starting pitcher away from a pretty bad season, by their standards.
But, I didn't think the O's would win all the games they did last year, with the rotation they threw out there. There are always pleasant surprises and disappointments. That's baseball.
Besides, the Yankees always are a mover and shaker at July 31 deadline time, when they have a need and are sticking close.
Spring is the time everyone has optimism, and that's how it should be.
After the 95 season, Baseball America honored the Mets for having the best farm system in baseball.
The Yankees won the WS four of the next five years, with Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera, who played in Triple-A in 94 and 95, at the heart of their success.
Not saying they have a Jeter or Rivera now, but you get my drift ... that ranking of farm systems sometimes does not translate into major league championships.
On WFAN Evan Roberts said the Mets are counting on three guys to hit the way they did three years ago.
He also said Curtis Granderson is average, at best, in the outfield defensively, and should go to left.
In that case, is Cuddyer a plus RIGHT fielder? Too bad it isn't the American League, where one of them could DH.
Cuddyer and David Wright both were born in Norfolk, Va. ... home of my favorite Triple-A ballpark (sorry, IronPigs).
Cuddyer has a .279 career batting average, and has hit for a cycle in the majors, just like ... should I say it? Why not? Alex Ochoa (sorry, guys).
Roberts also said, rather than look for a big $$$$ star, they should look for some solid guys who can come off the bench.
I know you guys hate Alex Ochoa, but the Angels traded for him in 2002 and won the WS. You need no-ego bench guys with some big league experience and ability, who don't grumble about not starting. Getting a drama queen hurts more than it helps.
Alex just played in the wrong era. It wasn't me, it was some Mets front office guy on Ed Coleman's post-game show on FAN, who said in 96 (after his cycle) that Alex Ochoa would make the fans forget about Darryl Strawberry.
Some other people were comparing him to Clemente.
Worst thing they could have done to the guy. Alex was just saying he was glad to be in the major leagues and he hoped he could prove he belongs, that's all he said.
One thing I learned about Alex that made me like him, he watched lots of movies and quoted lines from Bull Durham and Major League pretty often when he was adjusting to life in the majors. He also watched Mr. Baseball and ended up turning down a St. Louis Cardinals offer to go to Japan ... just to get to play every day.
This guy rates the Yankees the fourth best defensive team in baseball, the O's are second (Manny Machado returns (-:)
Guess the Mets' pitchers will have to strike everybody out.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/109253898/top-10-mlb-defenses-for-2015
4th best defensively? I wouldn't have guessed that high. They will have plus defenders in Gardner, Ellsbury, Teixeira, Gregorious, and Headley. Guess that's enough. McCann is ok/avg and we'll see what Drew does at 2b. Beltran won't be a gold glover in RF.
As for the Mets, since Harvey has an innings limit in a season he's coming off surgery and Syndegaard (too lazy on a Sunday to go checking the spelling) hasn't had a chance to show what he can do yet ...
how about if the Mets start the season with a six-man rotation? Sooner or later, someone will get dropped from either ineffectiveness or injury, and they'll have their five-man unit in place and Harvey will have saved some innings for "meaningful September baseball" .... IF all those best-case scenarios work out for the Mets.
I don't see the "national media" really buying into the Mets. They seem to be giving the Yankees a better shot, probably because the AL East does not have a can't- miss team and the Yankees have a better track record.
Harvey is going to get extra rest throughout the season so if they make it to October he can pitch.
A six-man rotation, at least to start out, may work for the Mets.
The Nationals may have cheated themselves out of a World Series with the way they handled Strasberg a couple of years ago.
So, putting on my O's GM hat, who do you want for Dillon Gee? Manny Machado is not available and we lost Markakis to the Braves ... Daniel Murphy would be a nice fit in our lineup, but I guess you guys are depending on him to be the next Dave Cash (a really, really good hitting and fielding second baseman with the Pirates and Phillies 40 years back).
The games will be played, the players will get paid nicely, they will have fun getting paid to play a game as their job......I predict they will do just fine.
sports almanacSomeone once said baseball must be a great game, because it survives the people who run it.
For the Mets, I think it will go something like this;
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/a-prank-on-the-mets-but-sny-isnt-laughing/
TU Hate to break it to you TU but the Mets are in better position to contend than the Yankees. They've never had this much pitching before. And good pitching will take you places.
Metsman, if you are a lifelong Mets fan like myself, you know that this team will raise your hopes and expectations, and before the season ends, have you question your sanity for rooting for them in the first place.
I'll always be a Mets fan, just one who has lowered his expectations to avoid disappointment.
Let's face it, if Wright and Granderson can come close to their previous seasons the Mets have an excellent chance to win the NL East. Without their bats, you will see many 2-1 and 3-2 games with the Mets on the losing end. With that said, Lets Go Mets!
mike l TU in years past I would agree, but barring a bunch of injuries they should contend. They won 79 games with last years squad. On paper this years team is much improved. I like their chances for a wild card spot.
Some old guy perspective, the Chicago White Sox had the best rotation in the American League for most of the 60s, and starters finished games in those days, but didn't back it up with enough runs to win a pennant.
The Mets will be very interesting, but all you can do is watch ... and hope.
Metsman, I love your optimism. Let's hope they are competitive and make a run for the playoffs.
Lets see if the Mets match this, this year ...
In 1974, as they roared back from eight games out to catch the Red Sox, the Orioles won five consecutive complete-game shutouts, from September 2 to 6 ... three of them were by a 1-0 score.
They were Ross Grimsley 1-0 over the Red Sox
Mike Cuellar 1-0 over the Red Sox
Jim Palmer 6-0 over the Red Sox
Dave McNally 2-0 over the Indians
Mike Cuellar 1-0 over the Indians.
Somewhere, Baltimore native Babe Ruth was smiling.
The bullpen could have gone on vacation to Bermuda.
You act like I said they're winning it all. They will compete unless they have a ton of injuries. Not sure why you're down on Wright. The guy messed up his shoulder and missed 2 months of the season. He says he's healthy now so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Granderson was misused. Terry Collins was a moron batting him leadoff for 210 at bats. If he had him batting 5th or 6th all season, he would have driven in over 90 runs. Yeah his batting average was low for the season, but he was hardly the reason they weren't good. You knew going in he was not the savior of the team. Cuddyer will give them 15-20 HR and 70-80 RBI's and batting .260-.270. That is solid. But Collins will probably throw him out there too much without rest and get him hurt. They don't need a team of superstars in the lineup. They just need the lineup to be balanced. And that's why you play the games. Look at the superstars the Angels have in their lineup and they haven't won anything. Pitching, defense, and timely hitting is what wins. And I'll call it now, they'll struggle out of the gate and Collins will get fired, then the new manager will turn it around.
No, I'm acting like you said you like their chances for a wild card spot (-;
"Pitching, defense, and timely hitting is what wins."
I agree. And since the Mets are average to below-average defensively and woeful in the timely hitting department, you think the pitching is going to overcome that?
The Mets will need LOTS OF INNINGS from their starters, because their bullpen, while it looks promising, is unproven ... especially if you are talking "meaningful September baseball."
Do they have five guys who will all go 200-plus quality innings, without breaking down somewhere along the line? That's what they need.
And, I've got a feeling the Mets will play lots of those 13, 14, 15-inning games, where they have a chance to win, leave the guy on, have another chance to win, leave the guy on ....
What are you talking about Andy? The Royals had an unproven bullpen till 2014. They went to the World Series. If the lineup is healthy, they will score.
I'm sticking with 84 wins for the Mets, which is an improvement ... the Royals are young and really athletic, great on defense.
The Royals used to be the symbol of small-market mediocrity ... they built through the farm system and that only works in a Midwest town where the fans and media are patient.
Certainly, before they succeed, EVERYBODY is unproven ...
Ianimal the Phillies and Braves are bad, the Mets should beat up on them. The Dodgers and Pirates both had the worst NL defenses last year and still made the playoffs. It's not about who has the best defense but whether you are making the plays when they matter. If you go by position the Mets were 3rd in least amount of errors at SS with Flores and Tejada last year. Do I care about that number? No. I care about how many runs the errors give up that cost the team not the total errors. I care about runs scoring because a double play couldn't get turned. Those 2 things are what need to be looked at. We already know Lagares will catch everything. So the defense isn't as bad as you think.
Andy if you look at the Royals defense, it's 10th in the AL last year. So obviously they made the plays when they mattered.
The Pirates had a terrible defense statistically... primarily due to 25 errors in 95 games by El Toro at 3rd base. They were mostly throwing errors, so moving him to 1st base this season should help out greatly in that respect.
But beyond that number, they have probably one of the top 3 defensive outfields in all of baseball between Cutch, Marte and Polanco who got to a lot of fly balls that most outfields wouldn't have, saving the team a lot of runs over the course of the season, so that number is kind of misleading when used to rank best defenses. Just like with the Royals... they're ranked 10th in the AL from an errors standpoint, but if you saw them in the playoffs... well, I would say they are one of maybe two teams with a better OF than the Buccos.
The Pirates pitching was also statistically slightly better than the Mets (pretty much dead even, though) and their hitting/scoring was top 10 in the majors. The Mets were 28th in batting and 22nd in runs scored. You aren't going to make the playoffs that way.
Um, Royals bullpen was pretty good before 2014 Metsman. Soria was one of the best relievers in baseball for years, Holland set him up and then succeeded him in 2013. Collins and Crow were very good. I'd say it was more proven then unproven. And don't start with the 'making plays when they mattered'. You can't prove it one way or another. Just an abstract statement that 'seems' to make your argument with no facts. Royals were a great defense. If you get to more balls, you're going to have more errors. Jeter didn't have many errors (11) last year. Andrelton Simmons had 14. Who ya taking?
I saw the Pirates beat the Mets in person last year and was very impressed with the Buccos' outfield defense. They definitely pass "the eyeball test."
Now, if the Mets had made the moves San Diego did to amp up their outfield, well, that would be a different story.
If you make the routine plays you don't need flashy leather out there. Murphy is a perfect example. He is one of the worst at 2B, but he doesn't kill you and he has a good bat. Are you going to give up 40 doubles a season and around a .300 average for someone else who is an acrobat and hits .230? No you're not.
Ah, the National League, where you can't make a defensive liability a DH.
Not being able to turn two may cost the Mets enough games to miss out on the playoffs.
In 2007 and 08 it only took one game.
By the way, former Mets manager Davey Johnson was a pretty flashy fielding second baseman back in the day for the Orioles, in the pre-DH days ... and he also hit. Same goes for Bobby Grich, who eventually replaced him.
How did the O's farm system keep coming up with those guys?
Again though Andy it depends on what happens after a double play isn't turned. If no runs score because of it then who cares. Murphy doesn't always turn them nicely, but he gets the job done. Most likely he will be gone after this year and replaced by Dilson Herrera who is projected by some to be an all star one day. But I guess you take projections with a grain of salt. Top prospects don't always pan out. I think the one good thing about Alderson's regime, is that they seem to know how to pick prospects and make good trades for them. That seemed to be lacking after Frank Cashen left. Reyes and Wright are the only two I can think of that came up through the organization since then that were really good.
The O's used to come up with them magically. Grich and Reggie leave as free agents, they call up Rich Dauer and Eddie Murray and just keep winning.
I tried to call Ed Randall's Talkin' Baseball on WFAN this morning because they had Phil Pepe on, talking about old Yankees days, and he talked about how Reggie Jackson gave him a pair of pants and it puzzled him over why they had a number 9 written on the inside. They were talking about Yankees who wore number 9, like Maris and Nettles, yada, yada, maybe Reggie got it from one of them, yada, yada.
Reggie wore number 9 with the A's and Orioles before he became a Yankee. They kept me on hold through three other callers, and an update, and then I got cut off when another guest came on.
So I posted it here. I feel better now.
A decade ago, before RNJ had the FM signal for night-time broadcasting, Harlin Jeffries and I were doing a sports-talk show but it only lasted one summer before RNJ management gave up on it. The whole idea was that people would not have to be kept on hold a long time, plus, we could also talk about local topics a New York station would never talk about.
The official reason for the "give up" was that we did not get many calls, of course, I would counter that they didn't work very hard at promoting it.
Local shows in the Lehigh Valley don't get many callers, but many people don't want to call, they just want to know what is going on.
To keep it current, you've got to turn those double plays!
I covered Phillies games when they had Larry Bowa and Dave Cash ... the pitchers were constantly getting out of trouble by getting the double play ... and Tug kept saving one-run wins.
Talk about getting something out of your farm system ... in addition to Bowa, they called up Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Bob Boone ... made brilliant trades for Carlton, Cash, Maddox, McGraw (they had prospects other teams wanted) ... and a hideous franchise was quickly transformed into a three-time East Division winner.
If there is some modern metric that says double plays are not necessary, that you can get two strikeouts in today's game instead, I say phooey.
http://metsblog.com/metsblog/terry-collins-spoke-to-the-media-on-sunday-and-heres-what-we-learned/
Yeah lets use the guy with a left fielders arm in RF.... Great idea Terry...
Well, if each of the starting pitchers strikes out 300 batters, it won't be a problem.
Won't need to worry about turning the double play, either.
Sandy Koufax
x 5 = Mets pennant
PLAY BALL!!! Spring training games start today.
Spring has arrived, the weathermen be damned... I'll keep telling myself that as I'm shoveling snow and slush all week, lol.
A little bit of trivia as we shovel that snow and slush.
Harmon Killebrew led the majors in homers in back-to-back seasons in 1963 and 64.
The next guy to accomplish that feat was just in high school at the time.
Who was that guy?
Ianimal got it. Sound the fanfare...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p2Gh3uFCJ4
You can't draw too many conclusions from the first game in spring training, but the Phillies led those NEVER-SAY-DIE Yankees 5-1 today with two out in the ninth, and blew it.
Sounds about right for the Phillies.
El Toro hits a three-run bomb in his first AB of the spring... that is a good omen for the Buccos.
ianimal, does El Torro have that nickname because of his glove? Ole!!!!!!
Phillies better not have any D1 schools on their schedule this season:
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/25086549/phillies-lose-to-division-ii-college-team
Dice-K Matsuzaka's very first spring training pitch in America was lined into center for a single by some guy from Boston University.
Wish I could remember the dude's name, would make a good trivia question.
Theo Epstein was probably in his box, thinking, I posted $50 mil for this?
Haha ianimal. Just change his name to El Matador. He could use one of those hideous red gloves like many Phillies players have used over the years and just wave at the horsehide as it rolls by. Ole !!!!!
Any significance to David Wright "reading the riot act" to Syndergaard the other day in the clubhouse?
Does this signify a change in the Mets' "culture." It's an intangible thing, but it is a big stepping stone toward becoming a winner.
I think it's pretty funny that Bobby Parnell threw Syndergaards lunch in the trash. lol
Sounds like "bullying" and "hazing" to me. Parnell should be suspended like that Richie Incognito guy...
They're showing each A-Rod at bat on Sports Center now.
Is this over-hype, or what?
I am a total Yankee fan, but I feel this might be the mets year, :( I'm saying Yankee 79
85 Mets, lets go NY
saak The Dodgers are looking to trade Andre Ethier, who would be an every day outfielder with the Mets.
I'd love to see the Orioles get him, but the Mets have pitching they can trade.
If the Mets are serious about contending, this is a trade they would make.
Andy, he's basically the same kind of player Cuddyer is. Where you gonna play him anyway? The OF is full.
You have Lagares, Cuddyer, and Granderson. What's Ethier going to be... a 4th outfielder? He also had a bad year last year. So how does he improve the team?
What's wrong with having an experienced professional hitter as a fourth outfielder?
Are Lagares, Cuddyer, and Granderson going to play all 162?
I could see Lagares, he's young enough.
Oh yes, you have former IronPig John Mayberry Jr.
He could play against some leftys and hit an occasional mistake out of the park, but is he really your fourth outfielder?
And you've been saying Alex Ochoa is a bum all these years?
Hey if the Dodgers want to eat his salary, I'd take him as a 4th outfielder. But from what I've heard he wants to start and he's a whiney little byatch.
Ochoa wasn't making big bucks, nor was he a starter. He was a prototypical 4th outfielder.
Yeah, he's got a ring.
Well, the O's could use someone like Ethier right now, he would LOVE Camden Yards and he'd get the playing op he wants, so I'm glad the Mets are passing on him.
Terry Collins is clueless... I would love to know why he's batting Granderson leadoff today... Hopefully this guy gets fired this year.
I wouldn't worry about where a guy is in the order on March 8, maybe he just wants the Grandyman to get a lot of at bats.
To me, as an "outsider," it has always seemed that Collins gets the Mets off to a good start and has them near the top of the standings until the All-Star Break, after which the team would run out of gas and hit the wall.
The hope is that they have more staying-power this year. Contending teams crank it up to the next level in August and September.
Anyway, regarding lineups, Earl Weaver used to have some odd ones in the early going, but I never worried about it, because they invariably were right there in the mix come September.
Earl used to have Ken Singleton batting leadoff in spring games all the time ... and he was a big slow guy (by MLB standards anyway) who would bat fourth or fifth during the regular season.
Oftentimes, he'd have lefty hitters bat against lefty pitchers, just to see if they could hit a big league lefty. If they couldn't, well, he knew he'd have to be a platoon guy.
I remember a spring game where Ken Griffey Jr. hit three home runs, batting leadoff, don't think anyone really cared that there was nobody on base each time.
The games don't count yet.
The Wilpon's just settled that lawsuit with the pregnant woman they fired. Guess the money for a lefty reliever that they need went to her.... Cheap bastards...
And it begins.... Down goes Zack Wheeler.... Another Tommy John surgery most likely for a Mets pitcher...
Damn, I was way too optimistic when I said the 4th of July. Maybe deGrom's arm will be able to hold out that long, though.
I guess it's good they kept Gee. If he can be a 3.50 to 3.75 ERA pitcher then losing Wheeler doesn't hurt as much.
Wilpons are probably happy that insurance will be paying their salaries this season.
Anyone who pitches for the Mets with an ERA over 3.00 will need some level of hitting support.
It's 1968 all over again. Year of the Pitcher II
Leo Mazzone the former Atlanta Braves pitching coach from all those Glavine, Smoltz, Maddox years ... was on FAN the other day ...
he said it was crazy that Harvey was throwing 99 mph in his first spring game back, like, what's he trying to prove?
I'm always going back to examples from like 40 years ago, but I remember when the Orioles were all excited about facing Steve Carlton in a spring game, because they'd heard he has the greatest slider in the sport.
Carlton never threw it all day. He didn't talk to the media in those days, but if he did, he probably would have said, why should I throw it? It's just spring training. From what Tim McCarver told me, the slider puts a lot of strain on the elbow.
Mets are going to use Harvey like a rented mule as much as they can because Boras is his agent and they know he won't be around past 5 years. And they should. Need to extract value out of their investment while he's there.
Remember when the Brewers had Sabathia and started him every fourth day as they made a drive for a playoff spot.
http://metsblog.com/metsblog/terry-collins-has-yet-to-decide-on-who-will-bat-leadoff/
I can't take any more of this buffoons comments... If Lagares isn't leading off then who will?! If he puts Granderson there then he is the biggest idiot in MLB. The lineup should be
Lagares
Murphy
Wright
Duda
Cuddyer
Granderson
D'Arnaud
Flores
Pitcher
You don't need to be a genius to see that is the logical lineup most days. But Terry is a moron and of course it won't be like that. I really hope he gets fired before Memorial Day... They could have had Joe Maddon as a manager and decided to keep this bonehead midget who has never won anywhere he's managed....
From the hotstove thread a couple weeks ago, my optimum Mets lineup was:
Lagares (R)
Murphy (L)
Wright (R)
Duda (L)
Cuddyer (R)
Granderson (L)
d'Arnaud (R)
Tejada/Flores (R)
Looks like we're in complete agreement, Metsman... both on what the lineup should be and the mental capacity of Terry Collins.
I agree that's probably the best the Mets could do for an everyday lineup.
If Duda hits for a good average, he may be hitting third against right-handers a lot.
I just remember that Boog Powell batted third against a lot of rightys, fourth or fifth against most leftys.
If Duda becomes Boog Powell, you have yourself a good player.
Boog belongs in the beer drinkers' Hall of Fame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fZuEAm77A
Nah Duda is an Adam Dunn type. He'll hit like .250 and hopefully hit 25-30 HRs. I can't see him ever hitting for average.
Poor Metsman is true fan, the kind who professes an obligation to root, root, root for the home team, but has also been (understandably) driven to curse the moment his favorite franchise first saw the light of day. Maybe there is a Mets fans' support group that can save guys from losing 5-to-10 years off their life because of the angst that being a Mets fan brings.
I recall coming home on a bus trip from Shea Stadium in 2003, the silence being broken by a kid's voice, asking, "Dad, why do we root for the Mets?"
The difference between the Mets and the Third Reich is that after WWII, a lot of the Nazis apologized for their crimes against humanity, but the Wilpons have remained obstreperously mute on the subject.
At least, in America, we have the right to choose to give our lives to lackluster sports franchises. Some fans are even able to walk away and not even care anymore, imagine that.
Spiro Agnew used to be real good at throwing those big words around.
I actually have this memory of the Mets with a Spiro Agnew connection ...
On the day the Mets beat Cincinnati in the 1973 playoffs, the political corruption in Maryland ended Agnew's political career ...
a good friend who was a die-hard Mets fan (still is, God bless him) ...called me at the newspaper and said,
"Agnew resigns and the Mets win the pennant. DOUBLE HEADER."
Didn't use the headline, didn't want the Republicans getting mad at me, a lot of the advertisers were Republicans.
If you'll bear with me, I have a real good Spiro Agnew story from 1968 ...
I've always been a Republican, although you'd never know it from a lot of the stuff I've posted the last few years ...
We "young Republicans" in Ocean County attended a make-believe convention in Point Pleasant that year. In one day, we did the caucus meeting, floor debates, vote, the whole nine-yards. I chose to be a delegate from Maryland (which should not surprise any of you who have been reading my baseball posts) and really got into the action with my big mouth.
Anyway, the "convention" nominated Richard Nixon for President, but was split between Rockefeller and Reagan for Vice President. After awhile, the kids were getting tired and wanted to go home.
I raised my hand, was recognized by the chair, and as a delegate from Maryland, got up and made a stirring off-the-cuff speech nominating "our favorite son" Spiro Agnew for Vice President. When I finished, the chairman says to me, "Well done, I can't even believe you know who he is."
By a voice vote, the "convention" unanimously voted Spiro Agnew for Vice President and everybody went home.
On the bus, our adult "chaperone" says to me. "Spiro Agnew? That's never going to happen."
You can rearrange the letters in Spiro Agnew to form the words "grow a penis"... I'm not sure if the elder Agnews had this in mind when they named him, but it IS rather appropriate for a conversation about the Wilpons.
Amazing how it all connects.
After all, they don't call them the Amazing Mets for nothing.
Well, the "old school wisdom" has always been that the team who "puts it together" is the team that will win.
So, really, everybody has a shot. The O's won the pennant in 83 on an extra-inning homer by Tito Landrum. Who knew from Tito Landrum when the season started?
According to ESPN the Phillies may soon be trading Chase Utley to the Angels for an infield prospect and pitching prospect.
Phils may as well get whatever they can for him and not delay about it.
If Utley has one more good injury-free year left in him, he could have a happy year as a halo. The DH option is there for him, too.
Need a few more teams for my Fantasy baseball league. No commitment, totally just for fun...
https://yho.com/mlb?...4b9fae44b28fcb7
Bryan_NC 
jt 16 It's an odd numbered year, the Giants haven't won in odd numbered years.
Not since 1954, anyway, sey hey.
Bryan, just a heads-up... this is where your link led:
The invitation link that you provided is for an invalid league! You may have typed the league ID incorrectly, or the league may no longer exist. If you'd like, you can join one of our other leagues below.
Thanks ian. Hopefully this one works...
https://yho.com/mlb?l=90555&k=e9516107cffbecc6&ikey=54b9fae44b28fcb7
Is Dan Murphy going to be healthy this season, or chronically injured?
The Mets are counting on having his bat on a roster that has precious few players who will hit over .250 and drive in some baserunners, and they've been playing him out of position (he's really a corner IF) in order to give him regular at bats.
He'd be sorely missed if he's on the DL ... needs to be on a team like the Orioles where he could be a DH.
The Mets and their fan base need to do whatever they can, to get back into the good graces of the baseball Gods,
that's for sure.
What people can't stand about Mets fans is the cultivation of preemptive hubris where they strutted around like champions before the team actually won anything ... this was pretty evident when they were spending money on people like Pedro, Johan, Jayson Bay (should I go on?) They were a dynasty that never happened.
Say what you want about fans of the Yankees, but at least they earned the right to swagger by actually winning championships ... the front running fans were just part of the deal.
Bay was the only Pirate to win Rookie of the Year, am I right about that, ianimal?
All the great players they've had and he's the only one I can think of.
Remember when the Mets got Glavine ... Mr. Consistency ...
I knew some really, really obnoxious Mets fans at the time ... people who would flat out question your intelligence for not being a Mets fan. And here's the thing, I never initiated any conversation with them .. I tried to avoid them at all times ... I was ready to get a restraining order, it was so bad.
People who definitely did not simply live and let live ... that's for sure.
Yes, I hope Murphy will be OK, there's a lot to like about him, one of those guys who is good for the image of the game.
The best thing the Mets could do for the pen is get a lot of innings from the starters ... on a consistent basis. Nothing hurts a team through the summer months more than an overworked bullpen.
Heard a good conversation on FAN yesterday when a fan called and said that Harvey will be the next Seaver for the Mets.
Yes, that is something the Mets need. Francesa agreed that Harvey could be all that, and that what Seaver did when he arrived on the Mets was change the culture ... Seaver had no tolerance for losing ... and Mike sees Harvey having the same impact on this group of Mets.
The Mets certainly are interesting this spring, I'll give them that.
Miller Park will be offering nachos on a stick this season, along with some other artery clogging goodness.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12554423/milwaukee-brewers-offering-deep-fried-nachos-stick-ballpark
Calico696 Milwaukee already has all those great sausages.
They have good sausages in Allentown, and that's just Triple-A ...guess they figure when you call a team IronPigs you've got to have some good pork products. I can just imagine what they are like in Milwaukee.
You want something artery clogging, try the Schmittyburger in Philly.
I'll stick with those Baltimore crab cakes, thank you.
I'll throw a trivia question out there .... in another thread about online damage to people's reputation, as the discussion went on (and on) a small college baseball player came up and the question was raised ... what opportunity is he being denied if he gets kicked off a small-college team? I put together a list of colleges where a lot of Orioles' players came from that are not exactly known as big-time baseball schools.
One of them was Hofstra. The guy who played at Hofstra was a first round draft pick by the Mets, who later played with Montreal and then won a World Series championship ring with the Orioles. He now is quite well known for being a broadcaster.
Shouldn't be hard, with the hints I just gave.
The answer is Ken Singleton, a true New Yorker the O's were lucky enough to get in a trade. He still lives in Baltimore now, though, likes it there.
What the heck, he's a former Met, they traded him to get Rusty Staub.
He's an example that you don't have to play at a "big name" college to get drafted and make it into the big leagues.
I don't watch the Yankees that much, but I've been told Singleton often talks about his days with Earl Weaver and that I'd enjoy hearing his stories.
Baseball broadcasting does give storytellers an opportunity to shine ... Ralph Kiner is a great example of that.
A scout named Lee Seras who works for the Reds spoke to my son's club team over the winter and he said the same thing. It doesn't matter if you're playing division I or III. Scouts will find you if you have the talent. Joe McEwing and Adam Riggs played for CCM. They both made it the show.
I remember Adam Riggs well, did a nice interview with him in 1999 ...
followed his career when he played in Japan.
Of course our own Cole Kimball made the big leagues out of Centenary. He's sort of out of sight, out of mind right now, but he did make it and posted impressive numbers for the short time he was able to pitch.
It was really great getting to know Cole and his family. I vividly remember watching him pitch a game for Centenary at Diamond Nation (they've never had a true home field) and the scouts had their radar guns to see how hard he was throwing (it was upper 90s).
When I asked Cole, did you know there were scouts with radar guns?
Cole replied, "yeah, I was really trying to bring it, trying to throw it from my shoes."
Hope he's able to make it back. I saw him coaching a Diamond Jacks team down at Diamond Nation over the winter.
Terry Collins must be trying to get fired. He's batting Lagares 9th... He is the worst manager in the game... Granderson IS NOT A LEADOFF HITTER YOU BUFFOON..... I've never had a manager piss me off more than this guy.
Cole may be in the Atlantic League again, so that would be a good reason to catch a couple of games in Bridgewater this summer.
They've got a team playing in Sussex this year, after a few years' absence, but that league would be a step down for Cole.
They used to have a good Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League summer team playing in Sussex (a long list of major leaguers have played in the ACBL) and I'd like to see the new owner of that ballpark bring that league back. You see more local guys in a league like that ... seemed like everybody on the NJ Cardinals was from either Florida or Southern California.
Cole pitched for a summer collegiate team called The Toms River Black Sox and I've spoken with fans in Ocean County who remember him well.
While I don't go crazy over stuff managers do in spring training, I agree that Lagares needs lots of at bats and would be leading off in these games if I was the manager.
He's the future, for crying out loud. I saw the Mets misuse Alex Ochoa, batting him sixth and telling him to hit home runs, just because all the steroid guys were hitting them. Don't go ruining another prospect, OK?
Collins is not Tony LaRussa. Just stick with your best conventional lineup, Terry. Leave the experimental stuff to those "guru" guys.
TRIVIA!
Who was the first man to play in the World Series with four different teams?
As a hint, he was a leadoff hitter for the Phillies when Metsman was a cute little infant.
Clyde's probably busy, I thought he'd know the trivia answer ...
Lonnie Smith. He was with the 80 Phillies, 82 Cardinals, 85 Royals and 91 Braves.
With all the player movement in the last two decades, there may be someone else who has done it since, but Lonnie definitely was the first ... it got a lot of media attention.
Mets are looking good this Spring. deGrom looked like he was in mid-season form on Saturday. Granderson looks like a new hitter. Wright is hitting for power. Duda is turning it on since coming back from the oblique. Cuddyer looks solid. Only guy not hitting is D'Arnaud.
MeisterNJ, it's not quite April yet. Let Metsman have his pipe dreams until Wednesday. THEN piss in his corn flakes (-;
OMG you guys are ridiculous... Most cuts have been made. You're seeing pitchers throw 80-90 pitches and lineups as they would be come opening day. They'll be competitive with the pitching alone.
Ridiculous? How can you determine anything when EVERYONE 'looks great'? Most regulars are spending the balance of the spring trying not to pull an oblique. It's too hard to wade through all the BS to make any real conclusions.
I'm just saying guys are looking good. What's wrong with that? Did I say they'd win it all? No! Granderson isn't going to hit .475 all season.... LOL... I'm just remarking about some of the hitters approaches. Maybe you should jump down Keith Hernandez's throat too while you're at it. He's impressed with Lagares so far.
I didn't think I'd be available for Opening Day, but my plans have changed and it looks like I'll be around next Monday after all. Anybody interested?
ESPN's Opening Day afternoon schedule is kind of disappointing for our area (Yankees at 1, Mets at 4) since we would have had the games locally anyway; it would have been nice to get a couple out-of-market games on top of those two. I'll be able to watch the Yanks game, grab some lunch and a couple brews if anyone's interested. But, I need to get home by 4 for the Pirates game...
I am interested. Are you talking about a venue where the game is available, if so which one?
The O's open on the road this year, so I could join you guys if I don't have a high school baseball/softball assignment that day.
I've been to almost every O's home opener for the past 50 years ... opening day is great in person.
In 1975 I went to the O's home opener during the day and the Phillies' home opener at night ... that was a blast, even though they both lost, to the Red Sox and Cardinals.
I usually go to the Yankees home opener with my family. My wife buys the tickets as a birthday gift to me but this year is different. My wife had shoulder surgery last week and cannot sit in a stadium seat for long enough for a game. We decided to bite the bullet and buy two really comfy recliners to replace our couch instead of game tickets. I will be watching YES from the comfy chair all year. I have never been to the Long Valley Brew Pub but pass it on my way to work each night. Let's get a consensus and pick a place to enjoy the game...........
A couple of instances, historically, where a great spring training meant something;
The 1993 Phillies --- I forget the record but the Phils had an outstanding record in the spring, but nobody cared because they finished last the year before and there was nothing about their roster that made anybody think this year would be any different. What happened? They started out 8-1, led the NL East wire to wire with a roster full of rejects from other teams, went worst to first and then won the NLCS over the heavily favored Braves. They lost the WS when Joe Carter homered off "Wild Thing" Mitch Williams.
The 1969 Orioles, in Earl Weaver's first spring training, went 19-5 --- they went on to win 109 in 69, a mere 108 in 70 and 101 in 1971. That set an AL record for wins in a three-year period. They played close to .600 baseball for the next 15 years and Weaver went to the Hall of Fame, even though, as Jim Palmer often said, "the only thing Earl knows about pitching is that he couldn't hit it when he played."
Earl said, after the O's lost the 1969 regular season opener to the Red Sox in extra innings, "I guess, now, the only person who will remember that we went 19-5 down in Florida will be me."
I still remember, Earl, R.I.P
Some of that group are no longer with us, Mark Belanger, Paul Blair, Mike Cuellar, Moe Drabowsky, Elrod Hendricks, Dave May, Dave McNally... all of whom gave me lots of happy memories in my teens and 20s.
Here's a story about Moe Drabowsky you guys would enjoy.
They just don't have nutty guys like this in the game anymore ...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2480037
Tap House Grill has Le Fin du Monde on draught. I say we go there as long as they have TVs; I've never been there.
There's only going to be the Yankee game, so it's not like we need a huge number of televisions unless someone knows a place that has MLB Extra Innings. There's a free preview of it next week on DirecTV, but I don't know if that applies to commercial establishments.
Tap House is fine with me. I've never been there either. Where is it? Related to Morris Tap and Grill?
It's on 57 in Mansfield where the Bensi used to be. They have another location in Wayne, but they aren't affiliated with Morris Tap and Grill as far as I know.
http://taphousenj.com
Tap House sounds good to me, too. I liked Bensi when they were there, remember going to a big HL get together there.
Back to those Mets, good starts have not been the problem for them the last several years, it has been their dreadful finishes in August and September.
Can they do it over the long haul? That is the ponderable ... the season is 162 games and it takes contributions from 25 guys, or even more ...
Mets sign Lagares to a 4-year extension through 2019... odd move for the Wilpons, in that it appears to be intelligent.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/12598620/juan-lagares-new-york-mets-reach-contract-extension
Oh wow! I heard they're trying to lock Duda up too. This is good news. Shows some good faith by ownership.
Tap House Grill has Le Fin du Monde on draught. I say we go there as long as they have TVs; I've never been there.
There's only going to be the Yankee game, so it's not like we need a huge number of televisions unless someone knows a place that has MLB Extra Innings. There's a free preview of it next week on DirecTV, but I don't know if that applies to commercial establishments.
ianimal
When is this? They have tv's
Clyde Potts Monday, Opening Day, at lunch time.. say 12:30. Hope you can make it, Clyde... it's been way too long. Probably just about a year to the day, lol.
tap house looks good. nice menu and beer selection. i should be there around 1 unless work gets in the way.
yes, last opening day w/MeisterNJ if I am not mistaken? Mets game is @ 4:05, Yanks are @ 1:05.
Nice, guys. It'll be fun to catch up with you two and meet MK and anyone else who can make it.
Andy, I didn't deliberately leave you out. I had just forgotten the earlier posts. I look forward to meeting you, too, if you can make it.
Can you guys stand a girl meeting up? I'm thinking of taking a vacation day or a 1/2 day on Monday for opening day.
I have MLB 14 The Show for my PS4. Is this year's version significantly different from last year's that it would justify buying it?
I beat the Nationals 4-2. Cuddyer and Granderson both made errors though. Lol... Harvey pitched 7 shutout innings and I finished with Mejia and Parnell.
I haven't bought a baseball game in a few years. I'm more of a CoD and Need for Speed guy.
I crossed paths with Calico when I was at a sports bar to watch the Ravens and she was watching the Eagles.
The networks have all these females (most of them young) covering all the major sports these days, so as they said back in the 70s ...
you've come a long way, baby, to get where you've got to today.
That was in an ad jingle, where a bunch of Madison Avenue men were trying to get women hooked on cigarettes ... yeesh.
Although I don't use the word 'baby' in reference to women, too demeaning.
By the way, when I did the Hackettstown football broadcasts and the Tigers screwed up, rather than make a parent upset and point out which player missed the tackle, I would just say yeeesh .. it's probably on a lot of people's tapes of the broadcasts (if they saved the losses). It kind of became my line when Hackettstown had a tough season.
Trying not to overdo the use of the term YEESH, I'd often say an opposing running back was "making people miss" ... it's hard to be diplomatic. None of those backs are on any NFL rosters now, by the way.
MK lol... They won 79 games last year with a mediocre lineup and no Harvey. I expect a shot at the wild card this year.
Oh, shit... Enter the "expectation", which is even more delusional than "hope" for Mets fans. This isn't going to end well. I hope you don't own a dog (-;
Hey my prediction of .500 baseball last year was only off by 3 games. You and MeisterNJ thought they'd win like 70.
If Harvey wins 20 and de Grom wins 20, that's 40 wins.
They still need another 50 or so to make the playoffs.
It will be interesting. They'll need to turn those double plays, play good defense all around, and a lot of games will be decided by the quality of the bullpen.
Also, somebody in that lineup will need to produce an MVP-worthy season and carry the team through some stretches.
I have an 8am tee time Monday morning in PA. I'll try to get to Tap House as close to 1pm as I can, but I might be half an hour late or so.
No need to rush.
Baseball games take a long time, especially Yankees games.
Yeesh.
Plans changed... and unfortunately they've changed again. I won't be able to make up to Tap House at all. Sorry.
Metsman, it says 1B the L is for batting Lefty. BUT it also says Guddyer is playing 1B
They keep changing the damn lineup. It is Granderson, Wright, Duda, Cuddyer, Murphy, Lagares, D' Arnaud, Flores, Colon.... Why?! is Terry drunk or something...
It's just mind boggling to me why you wouldn't start with Lagares as your leadoff hitter. Granderson should be batting 6th.
They haven't even thrown first pitch and he's got fans in an uproar. The fans are going nuts on Metsblog.
Tanaka got shelled. Colon will probably get beat down too. They should hang a hot dog in front of him and see if that helps him pitch better...
Well....a crappy opener for the Yanks. It was great meeting Meister and MK and great seeing Andy, ianimal and Clyde Potts. Good food, good beer and good conversation. :-)
Colon will probably get beat down too. They should hang a hot dog in front of him and see if that helps him pitch better...
Metsman
If Mets don't hit the ball it doesn't matter anyway. Colon is not pitching that bad.
Apparently Mejia has a sore elbow. Not good... Buddy Carlyle closed it out for a 3-1 win.
Well, enjoy the win.
Alejandro DeAza, Steve Pearce and Ryan Flaherty went deep, Travis Snider got three hits and the O's bullpen held the lead.
O's win. Ya can't win them all if you don't win the first one.
deGrom and Harvey going next 2 games. They need to change this stupid lineup. Wright is not a 2 hitter. I hate Collins...
deGrom and Harvey going next 2 games. They need to change this stupid lineup. Wright is not a 2 hitter. I hate Collins...
Metsman
So a line-up change would make their record TODAY, better than it is after ONE game? Aaron Rodgers just called and told me to tell you R-E-L-A-X lol
It's not that, fans just hate the guy. He makes stupid decisions. Even the announcers call him out on it.
Where Wright hits the rest of the season will be determined by how he performs.
Still 161 games to go.
Think the Red Sox still want to trade for Hamels, after that ugly opening outing?
Well, he's pitched some Opening Day stinkers before, even in years the Phillies won the division.
And it's not like Terry Collins has a proven track record of being a winner and taking his teams to the playoffs. In fact, some people blame him for a very good Astros team NOT making the playoffs during the three years he managed them in the mid-90s. The Mets organization is just filled with complete ineptitude from the owners to the training staff. The worst organization in baseball, if not the entire sporting world.
I won't argue that ianimal. I mean how does he get a longer tenure than Willie Randolph who was 1 game from the World Series in 2006?! Willie got 3+ years and this joker is on season 5! Willie didn't have a losing record either. Not saying Willie was a good manager, but usually when you have a winning record you stay put.
What they did to Willie was horrible, one of the multiple reasons that franchise has bad karma.
That said, I'm sure glad I'm not a Yankees' season ticket holder right now. LOL
OMG... Now they're doing this pitcher batting 8th crap... It doesn't work why bother.... How many times did Tony Larussa pull that move and it did nothing... SMDH...
I'm quite sure the Mets will have a winning record on Memorial Day.
Labor Day I'm not too sure about, though.
Meanwhile, the Orioles are in first place ... 2-0 ... same record as Hackettstown (-;
I don't think they will be if they're going to experiment with lineups like this... Stick with what worked in the Spring and go from there... It's just mind boggling how they would have guys bat where they should in the Spring and then totally change the program. Who does that... Meet the Mets....
If the pitching is as good as advertised, they'll win a lot of games in spite of all that.
Colon could be a real plus ... you just wonder when the breakdown will come.
My long term concern about the Mets is how many innings will Harvey and deGrom be able to throw? To win 90 games or so, they'll need the starters to really be healthy workhorses.
Maybe, they could have easily lost 1-0 on Monday had Desmond not made 2 errors.
Colon either pitches a gem or gets shelled. There's no in between.
I think what really wears on pitchers are those innings where they throw 25-30 pitches. If a pitcher is economical it shouldn't matter how many innings are thrown. I think that's why Wheeler had to get Tommy John. It was common place for him to throw 20+ pitch innings.
How long is Collins going to stick with Granderson leading off... He led off for 2 months last year and did horrible. I didn't realize he was being paid just to walk... It even seems like he looks for walks with men on base...
Jennry Mejia of the Mets suspended 80 games for doping... looks like he'll have plenty of time to rest that elbow. I wonder if he has to finish his stint on the 15-day DL before he can start serving the suspension...
Yeah I'm pissed about that too. No point in using him as closer when he comes back. He's ineligible for the playoffs if they make it. That's a stupid rule. Why even let him back this year then...
"Why even let him back this year then..."
Because he was given an 80-game suspension with 156 games left in the season?
DL and suspension can be concurrent.
Um, Metsman, because the Mets need everything they can get to actually make the playoffs? You said that like the Mets are a lock for Oct or something.
LOL, MNJ... as if Mejia is going to be the only Met ineligible for the playoffs this season. The only difference is that the rest of them will be ineligible due to the team's record (-;
I was being hypothetical about them making it. You have to play the games first. I'm saying you can't use him as closer because someone else has to be able to do it if they do make the playoffs. Hopefully Parnell is good to go soon and can take it back over.
But, first they have to MAKE the playoffs. If Mejia is your best closer, he gives your team the best chance to win close games and it would be pretty stupid not to use him for the last 75 games of the regular season just because he won't be able to play in the postseason.
Parnell is the big hope, unless they can make a deal with somebody.
They could have used Parnell as a setup if he came back strong.
Gotta go cover softball ... the girls usually toss complete games there. Length of games usually isn't an issue.
I agree with Ian's above post.
The Phillies got Sparky Lyle, for example, after the trade deadline ... he wasn't eligible for the playoffs but he helped them get there.
It was 1980 ... Phillies won the World Series.
Whew... Melancon almost blew a 5-1 lead in the ninth, but the Buccos hang on to deal the Tigers their first loss of the season, 5 to 4, and pull to within a game of .500. Late inning April baseball is always interesting, especially the bullpens. You never know what you're going to get out of anyone, lol.
The Sparky Lyle post, to clarify, the 80 Phillies got him in September, after the Aug. 31 roster deadline ... to help them make the playoffs.
In the playoffs and WS, they relied on Tug McGraw and Ron Reed out of the pen ... and got their first WS championship in history.
Yeah, comparing Mejia to a guy like Sparky Lyle, who won a Cy Young and was a dependable reliever for over a decade, is an insult to Sparky.
You go with your best and play to win ... Sparky was a case of a guy who helped the Phillies even though he knew he wouldn't be in the post season.
He pitched in 10 games, all in September, to a 1.93 ERA ... going from blue pinstripes to red ... Gossage had become the Yankees' guy and was making 2-3 inning saves the likes of which we never see these days. Sparky had a "falling out" with Steinbrenner and the Phillies were happy to grab him.
Mejia wasn't good for them last year anyway. He had close to a 4.00 ERA. Jeurys Familia may be the closer of the future. We shall see.
Parnell is one guy in the bullpen who could be able to return to form as a relatively dominant closer. Familia is another who might be able to step into the closer's role. Are you telling me that everyone else in the bullpen is also better than Mejia? Montero, Torres x 2, Blevins and Gilmartin? You'd really rather have any of them over Mejia in any role whatsoever?
I hope the Wilpons really are dumb enough to cut this guy loose and the Pirates can somehow scoop him up. We'll throw in Melancon and a bag of balls, lol.
I'm not saying don't use Mejia, just don't use him to close if Familia is doing a good job.
Enough Mets talk. How about them Yanks coming back against the O's? Grand slam for Drew? If Drew is anything close to what he was a couple years ago, Yanks got a bargain.
Yanks got a bargain... to go with their 7 or 8 guys who are ridiculously overpaid.
At the end of the season, they're still going to be the non-playoff team with the $215M payroll that has to pay an extra $26M for the "luxury" of not making the playoffs, lol.
Probably true, ianimal. I think the pitching will be ok outside of Sabathia. Tanaka is throwing pretty well, all considering. Will take some time for him to find his groove. Eovaldi shows promise and Pineda looked good. I thought they should have signed McCarthy. Bullpen is a strength as is the defense.
Metsman, if you need some trendy new Mets gear.. here is where all the biggest Mets fans are shopping these days:
http://www.mcssl.com/store/0315a2415439453abefd5ceb8f13f8
And so it begins... Wright out probably at least 2 weeks with a bad hammy and Cuddyer gets hit on the hand. This team has the worst luck...
Worst luck? History says Wright will get hurt. He does quite often. Is it bad luck if it's a common occurrence?
At this point in his career he needs to tone down his aggressiveness. They need his bat. He can't be overdoing it on the bases and in the field.
Mike Golic (ESPN's Mike & Mike) had this GREAT idea this morning. On the evening when The Dark Knight aka Matt Harvey pitches, the Mets should project in the sky the Mets logo. Like Gotham city did when there was a need for Batman. It would show over the entire city. People would look up and know "Harvey is pitching" The Mets could also wear their black jerseys.
Unlike Batman, (which wasn't real, Clyde (-; ), the Mets can't project an image onto the sky. Images need a "screen" of some sort to be projected onto. It might work if the sky is really overcast, but not on a clear night.
It would be pretty cool. Project it onto the Empire State building or something. And when he isn't pitching, replace it with a get rid of the Wilpons banner the other 4 days.
Holy hundred-miles-per-hour heater!
Meanwhile ...
Those Phillies look like 100 losses just waiting to happen.
O's got their licks in on that Yankees' pitching. Teixeira did not exactly get a warm welcome in his old home town.
Golic (or was it Francesa?) had a great idea regarding when A-Rod catches Willie Mays on the all-time homer list at 660. The Yankees are not promoting it with much gusto (he's only about five A-Bombs away) and the chat is that they don't want to pay the multi-million dollar bonus that is supposedly written into his crazy contract.
Golic (or Mike's On ... so many Mikes talking into mics these days) said A-Rod should offer the bonus to a charity. Then, the Yankees would look really bad if they refuse to pay it.
Ah, where would baseball be without Yankees' Soap Opera?
Darrin We all make mistakes. Some worse than others. I'm good with Pete Rose being back as an analyst. There needs to be room in the world for forgiveness.
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/2435097-pete-rose-to-join-fox-sports-as-baseball-analyst?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial
maja He would have long been forgiven, had he not LIED for 20+ years. Then tells the truth all to sell his book.
I like Pete's shoe commercial ... you can't be in the hall. Pete: "not even at home?"
Pretty awesome start for the Mets. One game ahead of the Braves in the loss column with five months and two weeks to go.
Back in 66, when I was 16, the O's started 12-1.
Liked the way they finished, four-game sweep of the Dodgers in the WS.
It's how you finish, that people will remember. It's just fanatics like me who remember 12-1 starts.
The Braves had a 13-0 start once, ended up nowhere.
How's this for a statistical oddity? Oakland has scored 24 more runs than they've allowed, yet they have a 6-7 record.
That Oakland stat goes back to the old "the team that puts it together" bromide.
I liked the George Burns line in the 1977 movie where he played God, appearing in the form of an old man to John Denver at a food market ...
"I don't do miracles anymore, too flashy. My last miracle was the 1969 Mets."
It will all come down to how they hit in August and September, if the Mets are playing meaningful games that late into the season.
I'm going to follow how they manage the starters' and relivers' innings.
I go back to those 70s Orioles teams that had ridiculous things like four 20-game winners in the same year, five consecutive complete-game shutouts during a September pennant stretch ... starters going over 300 innings in a season ... in 1974 with just an eight-man staff, they had a lefty reliever, Don Hood, go a month and five days without getting into a game!
The game is quite different today.
Players now get paid astronomically more than players in the old days. So they get coddled now because of that investment.
If they play .500 the rest of the way, they will finish eight games above .500, so a good start certainly matters.
I told you they'd have a winning record on Memorial Day, I have more respect for Collins than the Mets fans do. He's always gotten the Mets off to good starts and this year he's got a better team. He had a seven-game win streak in 2010 with a team that was nowhere near as good as this one.
Look up my post from a week ago.
In 1970 the Orioles won 17 in a row in September and October, when it REALLY matters.
In 1971 the O's won 11 in a row in September. It was the longest win streak ever by a defending World Series champion.
There goes Andy, with the old ancient history again (-;
Went back and checked, the Mets had an eight-game win streak early in 2010.
It also included wins against the Phillies and Braves, but the Phillies were two-time defending NL champs at that time. Not the train wreck they are now.
Can't give Collins the credit for that win streak in 2010, he wasn't the manager yet.
But he was in 2012, when the Mets were 46-40 at the All Star Break.
This is a great start, but (that b-word) the Mets have had good starts before, and recently.
Speaking of bad words, how about that 77 f-bomb rant to the media by the Cincinnati manager? Oh, brother.
The difference is they didn't have this kind of pitching in the past, so they can sustain this success now.
The Mets are 12-3.
The 1966 Orioles were 12-3.
The Mets are for real, if they don't screw it up.
I'm truly happy for long-suffering Mets fans but miserable in the knowledge that this may also be a source of happiness and increased profit for those vile Wilpons.
Well, I'm sure you know from your own team sports experience, we have people we like and don't like in any organization, but we have to live and work together for a common cause.
Whenever I post something positive about the Mets this season, I have to add that disclaimer "if they don't screw it up," because we are talking about a franchise with a long history of organizational incompetence.
Thanks for helping the O's out today.
We'll do the same for you when we play the Nationals.
When hockey ends, I'll actually start watching this stuff.
Yay. I knew if the Patriots would ever have to play in Baltimore, in good weather, the Ravens would beat em.
Flacco had three TD tosses today, Brady only had one. Baltimore 18 Boston 7.
OOPS ...
that was today's Orioles' game ... my bad.
The Sussex County Miners have their minor league schedule up on their website.
Nice to see a team playing in that Skylands Park again after it was dormant for a few years.
I'll start a thread on it soon enough.
where is all the smacktalk today? real quiet once the "BEST TEAM IN NY" loses 2/3.
get real.
YanksFan What smack talk are you referring to? I don't recall reading all that much Mets on Yankees smack talk going on leading up to this series.
Besides, just because a lesser team was able to win two out of three games at home, is that supposed to actually mean anything? I mean stuff like that happens all the time. The Yanks would have had to sweep to get any bragging rights out of that series.
ianimal, he/she is just your typical Yankee fan who brags about the 27 World Chips, while only being old enough to enjoy 4 maybe 5 of those. But they somehow seem to forget: in 1971 when they were 21 back, and 15 back a year earlier. Or when the Yankees finished 20 back in both 1991 and 1992. In 1990, they finished 21 games back. In 1989 they were 14 ¹/₂ games removed from first place. Kind of like Cowboy fans who think football started with the Superbowl.
There was no competitive balance prior to the draft in 1965. I don't want to hear all this 27 championships crap when they bought all the good players to win those 20 championships in the 20's to the early 60's. The Mets system is loaded, so they will be better over the long haul.
Just saying in general. It's not directed at anyone specific, just Yankee fans who like to brag about the championships.
Clyde, I remember some of those years very well. I suffered through the Wayne Tolleson, Len Sakata, Pasqua and Pagliarulo, Mel Hall, and Kevin Maas years. Yankee stadium was not a nice place in the 80's. I'll never forget witnessing a newly paroled inmate in ~83 running down the street next to the stadium yelling 'I'm free, I'm free'.
Metsman, put a sock in it because if the Mess had anywhere near the number of championships you would be bragging about them. Last time I checked, they still count.
And before anyone annoints the Mets better, let's just let them actually win more games than the Yanks, shall we? Could be the case. Now they only have to do it. Even then, the Yanks don't get the benefit of beating up on the Phils who are the worst team in the league. No creampuffs in the AL East.
Yanksfan, settle down. It's April.
haha... I'd be realistic enough to admit that buying all the good players in the old days is why they won. They probably had 10 HOFers on all those old teams at one time.
Had a good deal to do with it, no doubt, but the Dodgers, Giants, and Cards were no slouches in that era either. It's ok, I know Mets fans need to rationalize and diminish the Yanks accomplishments just to make themselves feel better and forget their inferiority complex.
The Yankees have also been around for like 100 years or so. The Mets have been around half that time.
I liked Josh Beckett's line when he pitched at Yankee Stadium in the 2003 series.
He was asked how it felt to pitch on the same field where Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, and Mickey Mantle played.
His answer: "I'm glad I don't have to pitch to those guys."
Clyde would remember Ron Swoboda ... he was on WFAN on Sunday and was asked if Matt Harvey would be the Mets' next Tom Seaver.
Well, he seems to have the same ability, boda said, but he still has to do it for the next 15 years.
By the way, I saw the wisecrack about Alex Ochoa.
If your son had the exact same career, you would be very proud, and would have every right to be.
So... let's play armchair orthopedist... how long (in 2 week increments) do you think Tanaka will be on the shelf for the Yankees? I'm going 8-10 weeks. I just don't think there's any way he comes back in a month like they are hoping.
I would say 8 weeks is a good estimate. A month of rest. Couple weeks of throwing on the side, two week rehab assignment. The real question, is what is the over/under on TJS? I say two starts after all that.
Ron Swoboda made on of the greatest catches not only in baseball history, but WS history. He also was the weekend sportscaster for CBS 2
Not only the catch, but when he made it.
He robbed Brooks Robinson of the go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning of game four.
Instead of the series being tied at 2-2 and being assured of finishing off in Baltimore for games six and/or seven ...
the Mets went ahead 3-1 and wrapped it up in five the next day at Shea.
I had tickets for game 7.
By the way, Gil Hodges was a fantastic manager. R.I.P.
In the American League, Gil managed the Washington Senators, a team with very little talent.
In a three-year period from 1965-67, when the O's hammered the Yankees time after time ... the Senators gave the Orioles fits ... one-run games, extra-inning games ... in 65 the Senators were a true spoiler ... beat the O's six straight times in August.
At the end of the month the O's were eight games behind the Twins in the AL standings (no divisions yet) ... and even though they made a September run they didn't catch them.
Hodges already had their number before 69.
Seems the Mets still have the O's number. With a win tonight, they can set a record for the longest winning streak for a National League team over an AL team in interleague play at 8 games in a row.
Gadfly Colon has beaten the O's with seven different teams --- that's some sort of record.
http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/05/05/pedro-martinez-book-jeff-wilpon-forced-pitch-injured?xid=aol_home&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl38%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D1047092960
Jeff Wilpon is pond scum...
Just an FYI for anyone that parks their car at Yankee stadium. I paid for my parking after I got there. Which is what I've done for years. Then upon exit I was told I needed pay again. After a quick google search this appears to be common. I paid with a credit card so I'm going to be fine but I wanted to make sure anyone else is warned.
http://nypost.com/2014/08/10/fans-forced-to-pay-twice-at-yankee-stadium-parking-garage/
I just go there when I have a chance to go on a bus trip or someone else is willing to drive.
Colon continues to amaze ... he's pitching the way RA Dickey did for the Mets in 2012, when he won 20 and was simply baffling.
Something to be said for older pitchers who are able to reinvent themselves.
You don't have to throw it 100 MPH to win .... just ask Armando Benitez. Love bringing names onto this thread that nobody else brings up (-:
Has he truly been amazing or just taken advantage of a favorable schedule? He's only faced one team who's above .500 (the Nats) and they're only 17-15, but he did beat them, to his credit. His other starts have been against the O's (W), the Marlins (1-1), the Braves (2-0) and the Phillies (W)... none of whom are off to a very good start.
Although, to be fair... other than the Mets, Cards and Dodgers, pretty much everyone in the league is right around .500 except for the Phillies, Brew Crew and Rockies, who are all atrocious. Maybe he'll get lucky and face the Phillies in every series they have against the Mets.
His next start is versus the Brewers, LOL... he should cruise to 7-1.
What's amazing about Colon is the control he's had ... his walks to innings pitched ratio has been incredible.
Not that I expect it to continue much longer, but his pinpoint command has been something to behold.
Dickey went to the Blue Jays and became an average pitcher again ... nothing is forever in sports.
Josh Harrison has really come back to Earth this season, hasn't he ianimal? And then some. He's not this bad, but he wasn't as good as the 2014 version, either.
Harrison came into this, his fifth MLB season, with a .282 batting average in over 1,000 at bats ... which is what he will probably be over the next five years, if he's able to stay in the majors that long.
I like him in the field, and he can play a lot of positions, so he's a good guy for a club to have.
He was hitting .208 as late as May 5th last year, albeit in primarily a fill-in role (and he was batting .277 on May 11th, if I'm to be completely honest, lol).
Yeah, he's definitely been slumping, but I have faith that he'll pick it up soon. Cutch is only hitting .223 and was as low as .185 a week ago, but I fully expect him to turn it on as well. Even so, they're only a game under .500 at 15-16... they were 12-19 last year after 31 games. Better a strong finish than a fast start. What date do you think they pass the Mets in the standings? (-;
Would not expect a heck of a lot from Granderson the rest of the season ... .257 career average and he hasn't batted .300 in a major league season since 2007 when he led the league with 23 triples for Detroit.
He's not getting any younger and they test for steroids now. Players don't suddenly improve at age 35 anymore.
Watching Chris Davis strike out time after time is really bumming me out, even though he puts it out of the yard when he does make contact.
Ok... Time to clean house with the Mets coaching staff. Warthen and Long are the only ones worth keeping. Long only because he was just hired.
Well, the Phillies fired their manager in 1983 when they were in first place... they ended up in the World Series, where they lost to better Orioles' pitching.
That was the year Jim Palmer became the first (he may still be the only) pitcher to win World Series games in three different decades.
If there is someone else who did that, I'm not aware of who it is. It would be after Palmer.
Roger Clemens came immediately to mind, because I remember him winning with the Yankees in '99 and '00. But he didn't get a "W" in the '86 series against the Mets. The Sox bullpen blew the 3-0 lead he took into the 9th of Game 4.
No one else jumps out at me...
Al Nipper started game four, relieved by Crawford and Stanley. Our TV buddy Ron Darling was the winning pitcher in that one.
In game six, Clemens left with a 3-2 lead after pitching seven innings.
In came Calvin Schiraldi ... and that set up Bob Murphy's famous call ...
GETS BY BUCKNER.
I hope Metsman is old enough to actually remember it, I was 36 ... I was rooting for Davy Johnson and the Mets --- Mookie was a favorite of mine in those days.
Frank Cashen built that team, another Baltimore connection.
You are correct, Andy... not sure what I was remembering, lol. But, the point is that Clemens didn't do it and I'm pretty sure no one else has either.
Here's some footage of how "big league" Tampa is ... everybody loves Raymond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAi0kv2s7yg
For those who take the view that a decade, century, or millennium starts with the year "1" (there not being a year "0"), Whitey Ford won world series games in three decades also - the ones ending in 1950, 1960, and 1970.
jd2 
kb2755 You're really reaching there, pal.
If you want to think Whitey won WS games in three decades, go ahead, but I don't recognize it.
He had a great record for consecutive shutout innings in the World Series, but he only won series games in the 50s and 60s.
Not reaching; I didn't make this up, but it IS the way I look at it.
Jim Palmer makes it either way.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines "decade" as follows:
"a period of ten years; esp., in the Gregorian calendar a) officially, a ten-year period beginning with the year 1, as 1921-1930, 1931-1940, etc. b) in common usage, a ten-year period beginning with the year 0, as in 1920-1929, 1930-1939, etc...."
Here's one Palmer still holds, youngest to pitch a complete-game WS shutout, he was 20 when he beat the Dodgers 6-0 in game two in 1966.
That turns out to be Sandy Koufax's last game before he retired.
Funny story about that --- at a dinner attended by lots of baseball people, Davy Johnson told everyone he was the last guy to get a hit off Koufax.
When Koufax spoke, he said, "when Davy got a hit off me, I knew it was time to retire."
That same night, Koufax, getting the question great pitchers always get asked, was asked who was the toughest hitter you ever faced?
He answered Bob Uecker and everybody laughed. But Uecker hit three of his 14 career home runs off Koufax. Go figure.
From the amusing old quotes from over 40 years ago file ...
After Brooks Robinson won the World Series MVP award in 1970 and won a new Dodge Charger in the bargain, Pete Rose said, "If we knew he wanted a new car that bad, I'd have bought him one myself."
Johnny Bench said, "It must have a real big glove compartment."
Modern sportswriters and fans are obsessed with predicting the future, but in the "who knew" department from my storehouse of memories from over 50 years of being an Orioles fan ...
most serious fans know the 1971 O's had four 20-game winners, the first such group since 1920 and it has never been duplicated since ... and it won't be any time soon with all the five-man rotations and pitch counts, etc.
Palmer, McNally and Cuellar all had won 20 before, but Pat Dobson, before 1971, had pitched four seasons and was 25-35. On June 15 in 71 he was 3-4. Then, he won his next 12 starts ... who knew?
By the way, the only Oriole rookie to ever be 5-0 after his first five starts, was not Jim Palmer.
It was Ben McDonald, who nobody remembers now, except me. In his first 15 starts he allowed two or less runs 11 times.
The only Oriole rookie to pitch shutouts in his first two starts and three whitewashes in a row in his rookie season, was not Jim Palmer.
It was Tom Phoebus, the guy they traded four years later, to get Pat Dobson.
At the time, this know it all 20-year old, did not like the trade.
David Wright may be done. He was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis. It's the same thing that forced Don Mattingly to retire.
MNJ, since you called him out two weeks ago, JHay is 21 for 46 and has his BA up to .261. Of course, it hasn't translated into the standings as they were 5-6 over those 11 games. Too bad they don't get to play the Mets more often (-;
If not for the Phillies, the Mets would be below .500 right now.
JHay is a good player ... they all have their ups and downs. It's Major League Baseball.
Well, if they keep beating the Phillies, Marlins, and Braves that will keep them in the hunt.
Yes, it will.
The six-man rotation is something Ron Darling advocated in March.
You've got a bunch of young guys and one very old guy, who probably would not hold up if you asked each of them to go 200 innings this year.
Familia, who has the same birthday I do, except he's a lot younger, is holding up real well in the pen. He's about the same size I was at his age, too.
The Mets biggest concern is, they are running out of games with the Phillies. LOL
It sounds like they think they can manage Wright's condition. If he can come back and produce then that will be huge. D'Arnaud is probably going to be back in a week.
I certainly give you karma points for being optimistic, especially after that AWFUL weekend they had in Pittsburgh ... not a heck of a lot to take away from that.
At least, when the Orioles lost to Pittsburgh's best teams, they made it a competitive seven-game World Series!
Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Houston leading their respective divisions in the American League... hooray for the little guys. HOU and TB have the 2nd and 3rd lowest salaries, respectively and KC is right in the middle of the pack this year, but spent a long time down at the bottom of the list.
The Mets are spending $13M less than the Royals, lol... who would have ever thought they'd see that day come?
It's a joke. They think all their answers are in the minors. You can't play that way in NY. They have a core of team controlled pitching. They should be looking to add now. I knew Cuddyer was just a fill-in till Conforto is ready, but what if he doesn't pan out?! They'll have wasted 2 years of those pitchers cheap years waiting for a kid to develop.
I was just talking to a friend about the Mets... Other than a couple of good trades to bring in Wheeler, Syndergaard, and D'Arnaud; what has Sandy Alderson done? He wasted money on bad free agents and none of his draft picks have even sniffed the Major Leagues yet. Harvey, deGrom, and Matz were Omar's picks as well as the entire home grown roster.
Have the Mets ever had a GOOD GM? Frank Cashen had his moments in building the '86 team, but he bungled it by dismantling the team back into mediocrity. Steve Phillips had a good move or two in between sexual harassment lawsuits, but overall was a bust. Duquette, Minaya, Alderson... all lousy.
Minaya had an eye for talent though. I think too much pressure was put on him and not enough on Alderson.
Minaya did alright with the young pitchers. Too bad he isn't around to reap the rewards.
Metsman, you say too much pressure was put on Minaya... and what, you and the rest of the fan base are not doing the same to Alderson? Which is it?
I mean pressure by ownership. They demanded to win under Minaya but Alderson has no pressure put on him
So beating the drum to win now doesn't trickle down from ownership to Alderson? Right, because fan pressure never has any influence in NY.
The trades that brought in Wheeler, Syndergaard, and D'Arnaud were cases of the Mets getting prospects for past-their-prime veterans ... good trades on the Mets' part ... the Orioles used to steal rising players the same way back in the "old days."
Best example was getting Ken Singleton (who was a star there for the next 10 years and a big part of two pennant winners) for Dave McNally, who pitched about two more months and had to call it a career because his arm had nothing left to give.
GMs should beware giving up prospects for guys who can 'help us win now.'
The Phillies once traded a prospect named Ryne Sandberg ... who went to the Hall of Fame.
MNJ Yankee ownership listens to the fans and they invest in the team. Mets ownership likes to fill spots with cheap players. If David Wright has to retire, they'll just throw Flores there. They won't go out and get a star. So far that guy is another Jeff Franceour. Swings at everything and sometimes gets lucky and crushes one.
D'Arnaud was a Phillies prospect, saw him play in Class A for the Blue Claws ...
he got thrown into trades for Roy Halladay and then for R.A. Dickey ... that's some pretty good pitchers!!!
Dickey was amazing with the Mets ... like he came from a different planet!
Metsman brought up Alex Ochoa on the Hackettstown baseball thread ... since today is the Tigers' day, I felt it would be better to post this here ...
verbatim from the Mets' press notes in 1996 ... let us just HOPE AND PRAY that someone on this Hackettstown team gets the same write up from a major league team in the future.
"Ochoa's arm, considered the strongest and most accurate in the minors among outfielders at the time of the trade, changes the game for an opposing third base coach. Now that he has joined the short list of Mets who have hit for the cycle, the Mets are excited that his bat is becoming just as dangerous a weapon as his arm. He shows the ability to go the other way."
So what did the Mets do? They started telling him to pull the dang ball and hit home runs. Screwed him up, totally. Fortunately, he survived the experience and had a nice career, both in the states and in Japan, where he hit for another cycle.... only guy to do it in both places.
I thought I was all done with defending him, but Metsman could not resist bringing him up last night.
Buccos raised the Jolly Roger for the 7th straight time last night, blowing out the Friars 11-5. 1/2 a game behind the Cubbies and 1-1/2 behind the Mets in the "ridiculously premature" wild card race, but still 6 games back of those damned Redbirds. Should be an interesting summer once again...
Yeah well Andy the Mets front office in the mid 90's screwed a lot of things up. Ochoa was a nice 4th outfielder. Could certainly use that now with the crappy bench they have.
The kind of coaching he got made a big difference, as it probably does with most players. I always wished the Orioles would have kept him, because their outfield defense was awful in the years they were not winning. Bonilla put up numbers, but he was a pain in the butt and left after a year and a half.
Larry Bigbie, Jack Cust (sorry, Jack), Luis Matos, Fernando Tatis, on and on, they had a bunch of guys in the outfield who could not catch a fly ball unless it was hit right at them. Watching them in the outfield reminded me of fishing, stand in the same spot for three hours and not catch anything.
On a good day, it looked like they had three turtles in the outfield. On most days, they looked like three tree stumps.
When Markakis came, oh my God, somebody with a decent arm who can catch a fly ball. Glory Hallelujah.
Josh Harrison has indeed picked it up ianimal. And Burnett is pitching awesome. Exciting team. I'm rooting for them. Hoping to catch a game at PNC next month. I'll see if it works out.
Pirates have a dynamic outfield, too.
Hey, we all like the Pirates.
AMERICA'S TEAM
Oh, sorry, somebody already uses that.
Andrew Miller on the disabled list for the Yankees -- tough break, he was doing great as their closer.
Clancy As evidenced by today's game, the 8th inning could be a problem now, instead of a strength.
@MeisterNJ
unfortunatly the Somalian pirates have nothing to do with those romantic movie pirates that are the heroes most of the time. They are nothing but murderers and criminals.
Sry for Offtopic
Shane How about this cyber-crime investigation involving the Cardinals?
Baseball in the 21st century.
Used to be the only things that got stolen were bases and opponents' signs.
Someone will give Gee a shot. Pitching coaches are like women who pursue bad men, they always think "I can fix his problem."
Flacco just threw his second TD pass against the Eagles.
Baltimore 12
Philadelphia 0
Ooops, that's a baseball score -- third inning.
Do they have a mercy rule in interleague play?
Flacco threw three TDs against Philadelphia last night.
Philly only managed one field goal.
The only team that won in the NL East yesterday and last night was the Phillies.
Thanks to the inconsistent play of the teams ahead of them, they are still "in it" if they get hot, LOL
Sports talk hosts make statements like that to get people calling and saying, "you're nuts."
Great for ratings.
Mets need to find a way to win on the road. They kick ass at home but are abysmal outside of Citifield.
What is likely to happen in the second half of the season is ... they'll start winning more on the road and losing more at home.
The 84-85 wins we talked about at the start of the season looks like that is what they are.
Whether that is good for first or second in the division depends on Washington.
As for where the Yankees are, better than expected. Don't think anyone expected A-Rod to be putting up the numbers he's been getting. Still have the whole second half of the season to go.
Age is working against Colon and A-Rod, as the season gets into the long hot summer.
The Mets have a below average defense and anemic team batting average (12th in NL). They will not win many games the rest of the way even with a good pitching staff. Alderson, in his robotic way, will say when Murph and Wright return the team will bounce back. Looking beyond their rookie contracts, they will never be able to sign all of those outstanding young arms. I'm no GM, but does it make sense to trade one of them for a good hitter in return?
They have an inept offense and the only player who impresses me on defense is the centerfielder.
Puts a big burden on a pitching staff that is talented, but quite young. They haven't been through a big league pennant race and they don't have the requisite support.
A deal for a solid hitter would certainly help, but this is the post-steroid era. There are not very many potent hitters available and the few there are (like Frazier at Cincinnati), would cost a VERY HIGH PRICE.
On the radio I heard a fan say the Mets should trade deGrom and Niese for Mike Trout.
I still don't think the Angels would make that deal. For deGrom and Harvey? Maybe.
Agree with your point Andy about the pressure placed on the young pitching staff. Paying Granderson and Wright the big $$$ will preclude them from either trading or signing a big time hitter. Wilpon's are still hurting post Madoff scandal.
Of course the Mets would not trade both deGrom and Harvey, but that's an example of what it would take to bring a true star to Queens.
They are between a rock and a hard place.
Here ya' go, from 51 years ago today, Jim Bunning's final three outs of the Father's Day perfect game at Shea Stadium ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNEG_gw1HYI
By the way, for the first time I heard John Sterling call a homer by Brett Gardner, on my car radio ... it was pretty good...
"Gardner PLANTS ONE into the right field seats ..."
the Angels would be out of their mind to trade Trout for anyone at all.
lol @ someone thinking the Mets would be able to swing that.
BaseballMan I never thought the Mets could swing such a deal, just brought it into the discussion to show how difficult it is to acquire a star player.
Cincinnati traded Frank Robinson for an all-star pitcher and regretted it later.
Tejada is there best defensive infielder and the Mets play him at 3B. Make him the everyday SS, move Flores to 3B. We don't know if Wright will come back.
Break up the Phillies ... what an awesome offense ... for one night in Yankee Stadium anyway (-;
Even though I knew that early win streak was an illusion, I still didn't expect the Mets to go on any six-game losing streaks with all the pitching they have.
Their offensive and defensive shortcomings have come home to roost. The pitchers have no margin for error --- tough way to pitch.
And Alex Ochoa would never have allowed a catcher to score from second on a single ... sorry.
Reminded me of a game when Alex O was with Cincinnati and Mike Piazza got the stop sign at third in a 1-0 game ... Gary Cohen said "you only go one base at a time when Alex Ochoa is out there."
If they want to change things up, then it's time to move Granderson out of the leadoff spot. He has 11 HR. What good are those homeruns when he's hitting solo shots... They are better off using Tejada at leadoff than Granderson. There's only a 9 point separation in their OBP. Tejada has shown even though he's been inconsistent as a Met, that he does have a good eye at the plate. And with all of the injuries he's going to play. Time to shake things up.
Granderson is definitely miscast in that role.
Where have you gone, Don Buford? He'd been a career journeyman to that point, but the first thing Earl Weaver did when the O's made him the manager was put Buford in the leadoff spot and leave him there.
Three straight pennants (with over 300 total wins) followed immediately.
There should be someone like that in the Mets' organization, if they are smart enough to identify him and develop him.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=bufordo01
It's sad that 4 years later they still haven't managed to bring in a leadoff hitter when Reyes left.
Unfortunately, Alderson has proven he lacks the deal breaker skills in pressure situations like the Mets are in now! Trading Beltran and Dickey were no brainers since they were not going to resign them. They did receive good prospects in Wheeler, d'Arnaud, and Syndergaard but any good GM would have landed these players. Let Reyes walk away to free agency. How about the year Justin Turner is having with Dodgers (10 / 35 / .323 avg)? Better make some moves soon since the team is sinking.
Justin Turner was a good player in the Orioles' minor league system.
Glad to see him start achieving in the major leagues.
The ability is there, in anybody who reaches the majors, sometimes it takes a good coach to take it to the next level.
Hate to keep bringing up Alex O, I know you guys are sick of it, but he was good everywhere but the Mets ... sometimes I really wonder what the Mets do with their players to make them underachieve.
Alex Ochoa's career high in RBI was 58. I don't see, looking at his career stats, how he was good everywhere but with the Mets. Actually, his average stats with the Mets were about the same as every other team he played for. Every MLB team has their busts, and I really don't think the Mets tell their top prospects "Ok, go out there and give me 90%". Let's not forget that Ochoa was drafted by the Orioles, either.
Go back and look at those stats, how many at bats did Alex have in that 58-RBI season? Pretty darn good RBIs to at bats ratio, right? Pretty good bat off the bench?
Look at the 99 and 2000 seasons, and add up the at bats, then add up the RBIs and batting average, and on-base percentages.
In 2002 as the July 31 deadline approached, the Angels were in a close race with the A's for the AL West lead and were neck and neck with the Red Sox for the AL Wild Card lead, and they traded for Alex Ochoa at the deadline.
They didn't trade at the deadline for anybody who was on the Mets that year, but I'm sure they were thankful to them for taking Mo Vaughn off their hands.
How about Steven Matz... Now if only he could swing a bat every day for the Mets...
Some numbers for you ... in 99 and 2000 put together Alex O had 521 at bats (a normal season for an every-day player) with 21 homers and 98 RBIs.
In 99 his on-base percentage was .404, in 2000 it was .378 ... better plate discipline than he had when the Mets were telling him to hit home runs.
In August and September of 2002, in the heat of a pennant race with the Angels, his on-base % was .373 ... and the Angels loved his defense so much they put him in the field in the late innings, each time they had a lead, in every playoff and World Series win.
Yes, I know he was an Orioles draft pick, saw him play in the minors several times and he was awesome... the "five tools" were on display big time although most of his homers came on first-pitch fastballs ... wish the O's had kept him, he would have been a useful player for them.
One of the all-time under-appreciated players, by the "average" fan. The Angels knew about him at trade deadline time, though. He's got a ring.
Zombo 
skippy You're always welcome here, Skippy. This thread does not always have to be opinion, it can just be sharing info, memories, asking questions.
Since Steven Matz is such a multi-talented guy, maybe he could play the outfield for the Mets on days he doesn't pitch ... if he bats higher than .260 he's improving the offense. He wouldn't be hurting the defense, either.
Just to illustrate the point I made about Alex Ochoa yesterday ... right now Lucas Duda has 33 RBIs with 266 at bats on the current season.
With his 58 RBIs in 244 at bats in 2000, Alex O had a better at bats to RBIs ratio.
Seriously, if he was 28 years old right now, he'd be batting third and playing every day for the Mets.
He wasn't named in the Mitchell Report or in Kirk Radomsky's book, and the criticism of the Mitchell Report was that it focused on the New York teams so much, since guys doing "business" in NY were the main sources.
Also, he grew up in Miami, and surely would have showed up in Jose Canseco's books, because Jose's main turf was that area. Alex never complained about lack of playing time, he had a reputation for being very accepting of his circumstances, he never displayed the kind of ego which fits the profile of the steroid users.
And, he played in Japan for five years after winning the ring with the halos, and they throw you in jail for illegal drug use over there. Players are warned about that before they go there to play.
Also, Alex's dad was a very well respected physician in the Miami area back then and he was the type of guy who would NOT recommend steroids.
And Alex called it a career at age 36. That's the age a lot of guys got involved in steroids to extend their careers and add to their "legacy." Alex had a desire to go into coaching and help younger players, and he's done that.
I also do not suspect David Wright of being a user, for a similar reason. His dad was a Narcotics Officer in the Norfolk Police Force.
Both guys had very good fatherly influence, which made them good people.
LOL
What's with all these people suddenly quitting? Sandberg? The Angels' GM?
Terry Collins is about to blow a fuse ... he should call one of those mental health hot lines.
Almost at the halfway mark and the Mets are 40-39, with one of the best starting rotations the sport has ever seen.
The forecasts we started the thread with are looking pretty much on target.
Can they hit enough to help the pitchers win?
Can they hit, period?????????
Speaking of hitting, Gardner has had a good first half with the Yanks ... yes, players can improve their hitting without steroids. It's about learning from experience.
'One of the best rotations the sport has ever seen'?? Huh? Hasn't even been half a season. How about we let it play out a little more before making statements like that, shall we? What have they accomplished? ZERO. There's at least half a dozen Yankee rotations that have been better. Heck, there's been better Met rotations. Even your Orioles have had better rotations.
That's a very odd statement out of you Andy. Are you channeling your inner John Sterling?
You're right in that as a team the Mets haven't proved zilch yet, but you can't fault the pitchers they are throwing out there.
You're also right in that we have not seen what they will do in a real pennant race, something the Mets have not experienced for a few years.
Anyway, we haven't done any trivia for awhile. For 15 minutes of fame, who was the first guy to have a 50-stolen base season, and a 40-homer season (not in the same year)? He's in the Hall of Fame.
I think what Andy means is that there is so much upside that they could end being an all time great rotation.
First off, the answer to that trivia question was Ryne Sandberg.
Yes, Metsman, potentially that is an all-time great rotation and they have shown enough to convince me the ability and mental toughness are there.
What they remind me of, historically, is the 1960 Orioles, just when I first got interested. They had a group of five pitchers, called the Kiddie Korps, who were the talk of all baseball and a young bunch of position player prospects who were called the Baby Birds. They made a run at the great Yankees but fell short and 90-plus wins in three of the next five seasons also fell short at a time when there were no divisions or wild cards.
They didn't win the title until they traded the most successful one of those Kiddie Korps pitchers for Frank Robinson. By the end of the decade they had a team in place that won over 100 games three years in a row and won another World Series, but that was a unique team that had the best offense in the league as well as the best pitching, (and four gold glove winners) and it took a lot of moves that worked out to build that team.
Long story short, the Mets still have a lot of work to do. They could start by accepting the best offer they can get by July 31 for Niese, one of the AL East teams could use him, but the O's won't give you Machado or Adam Jones for him, I can tell you that.
The Mets scored a run. THE METS SCORED A RUN!!!
Unfortunately, deGrom gave one up, so they'll need to score at least two for the win. Not sure if that's possible (-;
It's amazing how anemic they are without Wright and D'Arnaud. Both of them carried the team in the first week and a half before they went down. And without them Duda is swinging at everything. Cuddyer is a bust. Didn't think he'd be this bad. Granderson leading off makes no sense. He's the only one hitting. How many of his solo shots could have led to more runs scored batting 5th...
The Buccos just scored 22 runs on 50 hits in a three game sweep of the Motown Meowmeows. That's about three WEEKS of production for the
Amazins (-;
I saw something at a minor league game tonight that you never see at a Mets game...
a walk-off two-run homer! A big LOL
Metsman, let's pretend we're GMs ... what do you want to give us for Delmon Young?
He gets on and drives in runs more often than most of the guys you've got.
He's been in the playoffs the last six years, if you don't want him in the playoffs with the Mets this year, you can't say I didn't offer to help.
Mets are hardly in a position to turn down a major league bat.
Holy crap... not only is Dick Enberg still alive, but he's doing the play by play for the SD Padres. He and Merlin Olsen were my favorite NFL broadcast team growing up. He has to be in his 80s... I bet he could probably platoon in the outfield for the Mets, lol.
Vin Scully is still doing his thing for the Dodgers ... he's an inspiration to golden oldies like me, who sometimes feel like we're being left out of opportunities because of our age.
Andy, the Mets are in a position to turn down a beer league glove. Delmon Young would be terrible for the Mets. He's a lead statue in the OF. Gets on base? A .~.320 OBP is not good. And after the tenth time a single turns into a double, think the young pitchers would be happy? Terrible idea. Take your black and orange tinted glasses off.
Just trying to improve my team, many a champion has been built by fleecing other teams (-;
One thing the Mets and O's both deserve credit for is the way they have built steady bullpens on the cheap.
In today's game, with so few complete games being pitched, the bullpen is so-o-o-o important.
Where would the Mets be without Familia's 23 saves (a career high) ... proud to share a birthday with him ... he's the same height and weight I was at that age ... should have been working on pitching instead of shooting free throws I suppose ... aah, what could have been (-;
Familia has been a pleasant surprise. He deserves to be in the All-Star game with DeGrom.
Strongly agree.
I know Metsman will be pulling for the O's this weekend, when the Nationals come to town ... we'll try to give you some help.
We'll be as ready for Bryce Harper and his crew as we were back in 1814, when the British Navy tried to attack our harbor. If we didn't win that one, we'd all be paying our taxes to the queen and singing Britania Rules the Waves ... and we'd all be playing soccer and cricket (OH, GOD) ... that was a big win.
Oh, yes, how silly of me to think the Mets could use Delmon Young, when they already have Bobby Bonilla ....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Andy, no way we would be under Britain's thumb one way or another in 1814, 1914, or 2015. And nobody in Britain pays taxes to the Queen anymore. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the Mets do, but no one else.
It's been announced Mets rookie pitching sensation Steven Matz is out for several weeks with a lat injury .The Wilpon curse begun in November 1986 strikes again . Why they kept the training staff from the 2009 season when the whole team went on the DL is beyond me . Head trainer Ray Ramirez must have some pics of Met owners in compromising positions .
A psychic did tell me, a few years ago, that she saw "a dark cloud over Shea Stadium."
Maybe they should have built Citi Field in Long Island? Jersey? Guess right next to the old Shea Stadium is too close.
Seems like that "dark cloud" still sits over that team, even with the impressive pitchers they've got.
Anyway, other teams have injuries, too.
Nothing that catastrophic ...
how's this? As the July 31 trade deadline approaches, the Wilpons tell Sandy ...
we don't need to trade for a hitter ... we've got Nieuwenhuis!!
Yeah... A guy they released then brought back and before yesterday was batting below .100... I'd be happy with just promoting Conforto. He looks like he's going to be a star.
Remember at the start of this thread when many (including me) had the Mets finishing with more wins than the Yanks? Season is far from over, but it's looking to be way off.
Way off? The Yankees currently hold a 1-1/2 game "lead" over the Mets. That can disappear in a heartbeat. Just ask Calico's Redbirds... they had a 9-game lead over the Pirates exactly 14 days ago. It's down to 2.5 after an amazing weekend of extra inning walkoff comebacks in the 'Burgh.
53-35 at the break for the Buccos... hopefully, they make a move before the trade deadline, though. JHay is out for at least seven weeks after thumb surgery and they need a spark in the lineup. Kang is doing ok, but an extended stretch with him and Mercer manning the left side will eventually lead to a detrimental impact on runs scored, I think. Of course, if they can maintain a team ERA of 2.86, they won't need to score all that many runs...
I was looking at team quality, not just record ian. Yanks look healthy, fairly balanced, and have the twin towers in the 'pen. Are they going deep into the playoffs? Most likely not with poor defense (mostly Gregorious, Headley, and Beltran being the culprits) and not much in the way of starting pitching after Tanaka and Pineda. That's where I'm coming from. Even if the records were currently reversed I'd be saying this.
Fair enough, I guess, but I see it differently. I see a team that has had a handful of guys who've been playing way over their heads and yet even the last place team in their division is still within striking distance of them. Someone in that division is going to get hot in the second half and run away with it. My guess is that it'll be a team with a bird on its cap.
Also, as far as Mets versus Yankees, don't forget that the Mets have the Braves, Marlins and Phillies in their unbalanced schedule. The Yanks may be a better team, but the Mets can rack up a lot more easy wins. Philadelphia is MINUS 160 in run differential after 80-some games, LOL.
The team with the bird on its cap finishes the regular season schedule in October at home against the team with blue and white pinstripes.
If they stay close it could be interesting.
The AL East could be decided by who makes a good trade this month.
Overheard a lot of "bickering" between O's and Nats fans over the weekend, but it wasn't as nasty as what goes on between Mets and Yankees fans. Even though the O's lost two of the three, the trip was still enjoyable.
Baltimore is the undisputed champion of crabcakes. Nothing anywhere else even comes close (-;
The other team with a bird on its cap finishes on the road against Tampa Bay... directly after a 4-game set at Camden Yards versus the O's, which directly follows a 9-game homestand versus the Sox, Yanks and Rays. It's all going to be right there for whomever wants it the most.
One problem with your theory ianimal, there are no easy Met wins. And no, that didn't escape me. One more difference: Yanks will spend money go out and get a helpful piece of the puzzle. Mets will troll the bargain bin and get another old DH to play the OF....
True MeisterNJ. I think I'd crap my pants if the Mets actually brought in a legit player before the deadline.
Last I heard, Delmon Young is still available (-;
You do have some interleague games coming up where you could still use him as a DH and then you could use him as a pinch hitter in all those 1-1 games going extra innings. If he gives you a walk-off shot and the Mets scratch their way into the playoffs, it would be worth it.
It would be cool to see Jake deGrom and Matt Harvey start at DH when the Mets visit Camden Yards .. but use a pinch runner when they get on base ... I can just hear the calls on The Fan now, if one of those guys got hurt running the bases while in the game as a DH ... oh, the pain, bro.
Ha. I guess you have a point there. Perhaps "easy opponents" would have been a better choice of words (-;
The Yanks will spend money, of that there isn't any doubt... how helpful the puzzle piece(s) turn(s) out to be remains to be seen.
I still have faith that the Mets finish with a better record. How about a little wager? Loser picks up the winner's bar tab at Opening Day next April?
I heard Nationals fans proudly talking about how Harper is the youngest player in the All-Star Game for the third straight year ... that is pretty amazing when you think about it.
So many players under 25 were selected this year ... yup, no old guys on steroids holding them back is a big part of the reason ... although nobody would have held back a Trout or a Harper.
A-Rod may slump in the second half, hit the old proverbial 'wall' after missing all of last year, keeping him at DH helps minimize the wear and tear a bit. He's on pace for a real good season, but not the totally ridiculous numbers he was getting a few years ago, which prompted the Yankees to sign him to this albatross of a contract.
Sounds good, MNJ... we should probably set some ground rules, though. Wouldn't want someone to take advantage and order Highland Park 18 or PvW 23 all afternoon (-;
Let's say three (four?) pints and an entrée. Acceptable?
Good for the Todd-Father (Todd Frazier) of Toms River winning the Home Run Derby.
Why couldn't somebody from TR do that when I was sports editor of the Ocean County Times 40 years ago? Coulda had an expenses-paid trip to the All-Star Game (-;
My inner John Sterling ...
A CLOUT -- FOR TROUT!!
A-n-n-n-d the American League takes a 1-0 lead.
Mets acquire Uribe and Johnson in a trade. Upgraded yes, but when your batting Mayberry Jr and Campbell 4 and 5 in the batting order it does not take much to upgrade this team. Conforto brought up should be a plus. Only one way to go when your team BA is .233 and last in the NL in runs scored.
No-hitter for Cole Hamels today, first guy since Koufax to no-hit the Cubs.
Is he worth the Yankees' best prospects? Or will the Yanks keep Sabathia in the rotation and keep their fingers crossed?
I certainly hope that the Yankees don't fall for the ridiculous asking price for Cole Hamels. I also think that Adam Warren in place of Sabathia in the rotation is also called for. Unless you get a good deal for at least a 2 or 3 grade pitcher I wouldn't want to give up too much. Of course since no one is paying me for my non-existent general manager skills its just an opinion....LOL.
So far the Mets trade and calling up Conforto have added a spark. Hopefully it stays that way and we get meaningful baseball through September.
Metsman, I think it's giving Mess Fans a false sense of hope. Uribe and Johnson swing and miss far too much and two games is not a good barometer. Conforto looks pretty good and it remains to be seen if pitchers adjust what he will do. He's not really an impact bat, more of an average rather than power guy. Still better than Cuddyer.
Yeah but those 2 are improvements. So we'll take it. Conforto will probably be their 3 hitter eventually.
The expectations for Conforto reminds me of guess who?
Remember, AO hit for the cycle two weeks after his call-up.
An interesting stat, the Mets are 34-5 in games they have scored four or more runs.
They need the bullpen to hold up, because they go to it game after game.
That's where this Mets team is different from the Orioles of 74, who won the AL East division after falling eight games behind the Red Sox on AUGUST 29.
They had a four-man rotation that produced complete game after complete game down the stretch. Three different starters went into the 11th, 12th, 14th inning (Ross Grimsley against the Yankees) in some of their September games, they won a 17-inning 1-0 game with six games left in the season. Boog Powell drove in the winning run.
Right now, thanks to Washington's troubles, the Mets still have a shot. The Nats will get a lift when some of their injured players return.
As for the Yankees, I can see them wanting to hold onto their prospects because their lineup has a lot of age. Right now, Hamels looks like a good fit for the Dodgers, who need another starting pitcher pretty badly.
The O's need to get Bud Norris out of their rotation --- he's killed them --- but I doubt they have the prospects to land Hamels, they don't seem to be involved in any trade action, just like they sat by and did nothing when they lost Cruz and Markakis to free agency last off season.
Orioles farm system is barren, especially after ruining Bundy and jerking Gausman around. At least they didnt' screw up Machado.
Can you imagine the Dodgers adding Hamels's $23.5M salary to a payroll that's already north of $270M? That's just mind-boggling...
They're spenders in LA LA land.
Pirates are looking real good ... and that includes their pitching!
The Orioles haven't had a farm system worth getting excited about since the early 90s.
Tulo to the Blue Jays, Pap to the Nats, Hamels lands in Texas, Mets fail to load CarGo onto their sinking ship, the Bucs bring prodigal son Aramis home, Dodgers look to be acquiring Latos and Alex Wood to bolster their rotation. Busy week so far, still about 28 hours till the deadline tomorrow afternoon at 4:00..
What fun.
The Mets will probably be very glad, next year, that they backed out of trading away Wheeler.
The scene last night, with Wilmer Flores crying on the field and Collins having no clue what was going on when everyone in the stadium (including the broadcasters) knew ... was totally bizarre.
I know there is no crying in baseball, but Don Baylor (who has never been accused of being a sissy) cried and was really shaken in 1976 when he had to come out of a game in the middle of an inning, because the O's had just traded him for Reggie Jackson.
They didn't have social media back then, but the rotary phones worked, and the GM had the intelligence to let Earl Weaver know what was going on!
Metsman, I needed a vessel for my "CarGo" metaphor, so I used the one that most often comes to mind when thinking of the Mets (-;
Besides, they're only two games out from your point of view. For me, they're 6 games behind the Yankees in the loss column and are gonna wind up costing me lunch and drinks, lol.
Crazy events transpiring at CitiField today ... it is never over until the last man is out in baseball, even with the Mets pitching staff.
Blown 7-1 lead and now they are in another rain delay, with the Mets due up in the bottom of the ninth ... trailing 8-7.
The 62 Mets had a lot of games like this, they had one of the worst bullpens of all time.
Meanwhile, Drew Storen is unhappy in Washington, because he has been "demoted" to eighth-inning setup duty, after getting Paps from the Phillies.
He's got a chance to be on a pennant winner ... Cole Kimball would love to be in his spot .... hey, Drew Storen --- no crying in baseball --- you are the envy of every pitcher who never got a shot in the major leagues --- shut up and do your job.
My inner Chris Christie coming out LOL
A Cespedes for the rest of us !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfMmCf5-ds&list=RDLbfMmCf5-ds#t=37
Great deal! Hopefully Wright gets healthy and produces when he is back. D'Arnaud is back in tonight's lineup.
I have to say that I am living large so far. My beloved Yankees are in first 6 games ahead and my darling Cardinals are enjoying a 5 game lead. :-)
If I was a betting man, I'd have more faith in the Cardinals.
Starting to wonder, which Met will take the called third strike that ends their playoff series with the Cardinals this time .... Duda, Granderson?
Just finished reading The Matheny Manifesto by Mike Matheny.
Those old catchers make great managers, Joe Torre, Mike Matheny, Yogi Berra (he managed the Yankees to a pennant in 64 and Mets to a pennant back in 73, and neither one came easy. In each case, the team collapsed after he left).
Matheny has a lot to say about youth baseball that I could share whenever some local parent starts popping off on a thread, complaining about coaches, etc. He said, "I've always said I would only coach a team of orphans, because the biggest problem in youth sports today is the parents."
Collins is a jackass... Just read that he's going to platoon Cespedes with Lagares. Alderson didn't bring him here to platoon...
Cespedes won't platoon if Collins wants to win.
He has the ability to play all three outfield positions, and probably will.
With his cannon arm, he should play right full time, move Grandy to left or center.
I'm thinking it will be mostly a late inning defensive platoon to protect a lead with the range and fielding of gold glove CF Lagares and not his arm which may need TJ surgery in the off season .
Late inning lead, it should be Lagares in center and Cespedes in right.
Glad this came up, late innings defense is important in baseball.
It was Alex Ochoa's role with the 2002 Angels, who traded for him at the deadline and won the World Series. Their only deadline deal, the final ingredient.
MNJ, those six games in the loss column have been whittled down to two... it ain't over yet!
Let's go, Mets! (Except for this weekend against the Bucs...drop two out of three and then go on a 12-game winning streak, please (-; )
Won't concern myself, either way, until the last couple weeks of the season. Lots of baseball left.
I have a great headline for The Onion, Sports: DeGrom, Syndergaard Behind Schedule for Tommy John Surgery.
ianimal how can you call yourself a Mets fan when you want the Pirates to win?! I don't get people that have 2 teams...
I'm only rooting for the Mets because of my bet with MNJ whether the Mets or Yanks finish with a better record. I'm a Pirates fan. There is no 2nd team... I'm done with the Wilpons and have been for three years or so. I started my baseball fan life as a Pirates fan and only left due to the inability to watch them on TV on a regular basis and the emergence of one Dwight Eugene Gooden in 1984. Gooden's long gone and modern technology allows me to watch every baseball game every night if I so choose. The Wilpons have no hold on me and they were a lot easier to quit than cigarettes are, lol.
When it comes to football and hockey, I completely agree about not being able to root for a second team, even a little bit... although baseball is a "pastime" where it would almost be permissible, for all the reasons George Carlin so humorously enumerated (-;
Hey, I'm on the Pirates' bandwagon, too. I've visited the city and I like it. The Pirates fans I've met over the years are much nicer than the Mets fans I've known.
Each fan has his/her uniquely personal experiences.
Bandwagon? I was a Pirates fan the last time they won anything in 1979. When I ditched the Wilpons in 2013 and went back to rooting for the Pirates, they hadn't been to the playoffs in 20 years. What bandwagon did I jump on?
I was also a Mets fan for three years before THEY won anything. What bandwagon did I jump on then? I also kept rooting for them through some mighty thin times between 1986 and 2013. Wins and losses had nothing to do with any of it. I just finally had enough of the Wilpons and the Pirates were the logical choice from my youth. No more and no less than that.
Figures I'll be in the 'Burgh and Pirates will be playing in Flushing this weekend. Never seems to work out for me to see a game.
The Pirates have been good this decade. Would you honesty have started rooting for them again if they sucked?
In 2010, they were 57-105; n 2011, they were 72-90; in 2012, they were 79-83. Are those the good years you're talking about? Or, the last two where they scratched and clawed their way to a wild card berth? Believe me, if I were going to play "front-runner", I would have aimed a little higher (-;
But, I suppose if there was a "Gooden" moment that lured me back, it was when McCutchen went 107-31-96-20-.327 for my fantasy team in 2012. That was probably the impetus. He's been my guy ever since. If I hadn't reconnected with the Pirates, I probably would have just quit watching baseball regularly altogether.
Well whatever. The Wilpon's allowed Sandy to make moves and kind of quieted the crowds. If you want to hold a grudge that's on you.
I've moved on. I'm happy for Mets fans that they are having this unexpected success this year and I hope they finish ahead of the Yankees. Other than that, I have no more emotional attachment to the team. They're kind of like an ex who you parted on relatively good terms with. No hard feelings but no desire to get back together either (-;
Until 2007 the Pirates had ownership that made the Wilpons look like the Steinbrenners , not a bandwagon many would jump on . I think it's kind of cool that Mets' minor league outfielder Brandon Nimmo works out in Florida with Andrew McCutchen in the off-season . Unless you count weekend crowds the fans still haven't come back to Citifield . And if they make the playoffs and go deep into them then fail to at least make an honest effort to resign Cespedes , the fan backlash against ownership could return real fast .
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/83559/farm-report-nimmo-finds-st-lucie
If you look at the Yankees' and Mets' attendance figures going back 40 years, you'll see that New York is a real front-running town ... and, can you blame them?
Who wants to pay money to suffer?
As for baseball on the field, I always wait to see who gets to 81 wins first. That usually is the team that wins the division.
Only a handful of teams that come to the top of my head got to 81 first but did not win during the years I've been watching ... 1962 Dodgers, 1964 Phillies, 1969 Cubs, 1978 Red Sox and the Mets of 2007 and 08. There may have been another here or there, but those are the ones I remember, the most dramatic falls from grace.
Old Gent At this point of the season, as marvelous as the Mets' pitchers have been, all they have accomplished is to be leading a very mediocre division.
I look back longingly to the days when only the regular season champions of the American and National leagues went to the World Series --- the only "playoff games" broke ties --- such as in 1951, when THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT.
On this date in 1966, with the Orioles leading the AL by 13 1/2 games, we were starting to look forward to the World Series coming to Baltimore for the first time.
Let's see if the Mets' dynamic pitchers repeat what the Orioles did in the 1966 WS --
the Dodgers scored two runs in the first game and never touched home again. Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker, and Dave McNally pitched complete-game shutouts in the next three games to blow LA into oblivion.
As Archie Bunker (no relation to Wally) would sing, "Those were the da-a-a-ys."
Hope they still are underachieving when the O's have three games with them in Sept.
I'm afraid by then they'll be the hottest team in baseball...you know how it goes in the big leagues.
Just turned on the Pirates game to watch Parnell on a comebacker make a perfect throw to second for the start of a double play only for the throw to go between both Flores and Murphy into CF. only the Mets
The Nationals are in a similar spot to where the Orioles found themselves in 1974.
Those O's were in even a worse spot, an alarming 63-65 on Aug. 29 and eight games behind the Red Sox. Where did it go wrong this year?
But, wait ... the O's promptly won 10 in a row (including 5 consecutive complete-game shutouts) and on Sept. 8 they were one game out!
They ended up 91-71 and won the AL East by two games.
You never know with an underachieving team. It can turn around quick, you've just got to keep playing it out.
And the 76 Pirates ... they fell short but put a whopper of a scare into the Phillies that year.
On Aug. 26 they trailed the Phillies by 15 (fifteen!) games.
On Sept. 17 they trailed the Phillies by THREE ... and the Philly media was bringing up the choke of 64 .... here we go again ... all that negative stuff... and it was getting into their heads... you could tell they were irritated by all the questions.
Well, the Phillies responded positively, went 12-2 the rest of the way and held off the Pirates' charge, but it was a wild September. Things can change in a hurry in MLB.
The Cardinals lost a game... hallelujah. The Pirates are now only 4 games back in the loss column, with the 2nd best record in the NL and the 3rd best record in the majors... and the Cubbies nipping at our heels for the #1 Wild Card. Crazy race it's turning out to be...
Back together with Jimmy Rollins in Dodgertown.
Last night was the way the O's have been winning a lot of games these last four seasons...including playoff games ... fall behind early but the guys in the pen keep it close until the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air arrive at the 11th hour.
I see the Mets are going to give their young starting pitchers some rest now ... back in the "old days" when the O's had two days off in the same week, Weaver would still go to Palmer every fourth day ... he'd skip other guys and he was protective of McNally but Palmer made his 39-40 starts and won 20 year after year. Finished with 3,948 innings, 211 complete games!
In 71, the year of the four 20-game winners, 71 of those 80 wins were complete games.
Different game today --- a consolation for the Mets, Washington is over-reliant on its pen, too. Used to be that the guys in the pen were just the guys who were not good enough to start.
It really boggles my mind that some people prefer Uribe over Wright at 3B.... Uribe is batting .177 as a Met. Don’t let a few homeruns fool you… As they ease Wright back in Uribe should get starts. Uribe is not an everyday player anymore. He would be a nice weapon off the bench.
"It really boggles my mind that some people prefer Uribe over Wright at 3B.... "
Some people prefer veggie patties over a big, bloody hamburger. There are lots of weirdos out there, Metsman... try not to let them get to you (-;
Uribe is the kind of guy every team should have ... never thought he'd be an everyday player, but he can come through in a big spot.
Mets made some good trade deadline moves ... now that he's got some people to go to, Collins does not seem to be a "dumb" manager anymore.
Wright will get a chance to play, if he produces, he'll keep playing. He's still assured a spot on the All-Time Mets Team, no matter what happens this year. Right now, it's just all about the team making the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade.
If the Mets win the division, I can see Collins getting Manager of the Year.
Wouldn't that be a hoot?
I know who's NOT going to be NLMOY... Donnie Baseball.
With the addition of Utley, their current payroll has to be over $300M (adjusted annually) and I think the Gigantes will ultimately be the team going to the playoffs out of the NL West.
If the Buccos can catch the Redbirds, I think Clint Hurdle would be deserving. If they don't catch them, even Matheny will be in the running with the injuries they've had to deal with all year.
How 'bout those Metsies last night? They look downright unstoppable when they play a AA team like the one in Philly. Eight home runs and seven doubles...
Now, deGrom giving up seven runs on eight hits and three walks in 2-2/3 to that lineup? Hopefully for Mets fans, it was just a blip and not a sign that he's starting to wear down. The wind *was* blowing out... and it's not like that's a park where you need the extra help. I think he'll bounce back when he starts against Boston at home.
If the Nats don't make a move, the Mets will probably skip a start for deGrom. It didn't hurt them when they skipped a start for Harvey.
If David Wright was a Yankee and hit a homer in his first at bat after missing most of the season on the DL, could you imagine all the hullabaloo ... great moment in Yankee history, etc. etc. the legendary David Wright, etc.
How do the Yankees' fans feel about Posada getting his number retired? Ah, the great lineage of Yankees' catchers, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Thurman Munson ... Posada? Might as well retire Rick Cerone's number, while you're at it.
Certainly, Posada had a marvelous career, but he didn't put up Piazza stats, and the Yankees already have some Hall of Fame catchers who have had their numbers retired.
The Mets go a game up on the Yankees. Methinks the worm has turned...
Interesting factoid... the Pirates are 21-29 against their own division (5-7 vs CHC, 6-7 vs STL, 4-9 vs CIN (?!?) & 6-6 vs MIL) but 55-20 versus everyone else. Too bad for them they'll be playing a divisional opponent first in the playoffs, whether it's the one game WC playoff or they win the division and play the winner of STL and CHC. At least they won't have to play the Reds (-;
The Yankees have gone into a collective hitting slump.
Now I'll believe A-Rod has stopped doing the roids, because he is playing the way you would expect a normal 40-year old to play.
As for the NL central, this confirms the concern I had back when I was saying I didn't like the two wild cards ... you've got the three best teams in the league in the same division.
It would not be fair to the Pirates for them to finish with the second best record in the league and have to play a wild card one-game playoff.
Before the mid-90s the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs all were in the NL East, before they created a Central Division and wild card.
Where would the Mets be if it were that way now? In fact, they'd be even worse, because they would not have made the mid-season deals they did to improve the lineup. They wouldn't have spent the $$$ if they were a dozen games behind the Cardinals.
Andy, seriously? Comparing Posada to Cerone is a little harsh. Posada was a five time All Star, 5 time Silver Slugger, 3d in the 2003 MVP vote, tenth all time in home runs hit by catchers (while catching) , 5 World Series appearances, with three World Series wins...
This Yankee fan thinks the honor is very justified.
yankeefan Possibly sour grapes? Here's your Orioles all time list of catchers...
5. Rick Dempsey. He was a .233 lifetime hitter who hit just 75 homers in 12 seasons with the Orioles. But if nothing else, his longevity and his legacy as the 1983 World Series most valuable player cement his place on this list.
4. Ramon Hernandez. He spent only three years with the Orioles, but one of them was his fabulous 2006 season, when he hit 23 homers and drove in 91 RBI, the latter mark a franchise record for a catcher.
3. Mickey Tettleton. He also spent only three years with the Orioles and didn't start more than 85 games behind the plate in any of them, but he stands as the last Orioles catcher to appear in an all-star game (1989).
2. Gus Triandos. The only three time all-star catcher in franchise history (1957, 1958, 1959), he also has the only 30-homer season (1958) by an Orioles catcher. He was also immortalized in a memorable scene in Season 1 of "The Wire" (which I would link to here if it didn't violate our decency standards).
1. Chris Hoiles. He spent all of his 10-year career with the Orioles (though much of the time was spent at DH), and his 1993 season (29 homers, 82 RBI, .310 BA, 1.001 OPS)ranks as one of the best offensive seasons by any Oriole, regardless of position.
By Dave Sheinin | May 27, 2009; 11:45 AM ET
In the old days, the Pirates could have had the second-best record in the league and not made the playoffs at all. That's exactly what happened to both the Mets and Yankees in 1985 (and probably numerous other teams during that era when there was no division series, only the LCS).
The one game Wild Card is a step up from that, but a step back from the 1 wild card days where you were ensured a 5-game series.
What a great game by the Mets yesterday! Jon Niese has another poor start but they didn't give up and beat the Nats 8-5. This series could determine the division if the Mets win it. It'll be awfully tough if the Nats are 6 or 7 games back at this point to be able to overcome the Mets.
Tough, but not impossible. Bigger division leads have been blown even later in the season, the Mets still need to win the games (the old bromide) one game at a time.
Certainly, the reasons they are in the great spot they are in, are making the mid season deals to improve their position-player depth, and the bullpen has been reliable (a hiccup here and there just like any other team but amazingly resilient).
Nobody should be surprised by how strong the starting pitching has been, everybody knew they had that when the season started, but they actually score runs now. Cespedes is hitting the way Frank Robinson did back in the day.
The Nats certainly had their chances to get Cespedes, they probably did not think the Mets would make that move ... shame on the Nats if they thought that way.
The Nats really messed themselves up at the deadline, dealing for a closer (when they already had one of the best closers around) and making Storen unhappy (ah, the fragile ego of the modern pro athlete) by making him the 8th inning guy. That cost them some games in August. Storen wasn't the same guy.
The Nats counted on Denard Span coming back from injury, but he's hurt again.
The Mets were HOPING David Wright would come back strong, but traded for Uribe to make sure they had a third baseman with a good bat. Another good mid-season Mets deal --- now both are contributing on the field and in the clubhouse-- perhaps the biggest shocker of all -- the Mets actually spent some $$$ to improve themselves.
Plus, Terry Collins deserves Manager of the Year. He kept their heads above water all summer.
You had Metsman until MoY, Andy.
Cerrone? Really Andy? Some stats of Cerone vs. Posada:
Hr's 59-275
RBI 436-1065
# of seasons w/ Yankee: 7-17
rings: 0-4
C'mon.
I was being facetious when I said you might as well retire Cerone's number.
If we were at the Tap House you would have seen that.
Actually, the best Orioles' catcher of all time was Jack Dunn's babe, Babe Ruth, even though he threw left handed.
He was a catcher and pitcher when the O's signed him out of St. Mary's Industrial School in 1914. Back then there were no affiliated minor league teams, the teams signed and paid their own players and made a profit by selling them to the big league teams. The Babe was catching when he wasn't pitching, something you'll never see in high level baseball anymore.
In response to an earlier post, I'm beyond any 'sour grapes' anymore. I'm a senior citizen and I have enough memories of Orioles' glory in their old ballpark to last the rest of my days.
Which leads to Andy Etchebarren. His number's been retired because he wore number eight before Cal Ripken did, LOL.
He did catch in five League Championship Series, four World Series, and has two World Series championship rings. He was able to do that, despite a .235 career batting average, because he was a marvelous defensive catcher. Jim Palmer would agree with me.
In the 1973 ALCS, with the O's facing elimination against those great early 70s Oakland A's ... he hit a grand slam in the seventh inning and the O's won 5-4. However, since Catfish shut them down the next day, only people like me remember it.
He later coached for the O's in another League Championship Series, and was the acting manager after Davey Johnson got tossed following that Jeffrey Maier play.
Rick Dempsey was probably the most popular O's catcher ... he's got a ring and gave us a lot of thrills ... a real gamer who we do appreciate ... he didn't get to play much with the Yankees in his mid 20s because they had this guy named Munson ... RIP.
There are so many O's - Yankees connections in history, probably the reason Babe did not curse them.
Yeah I'd say Joe Maddon will win it having righted the ship for the Cubs his first season. Even Terry can't mess up what the Mets have going right now. If Joe Maddon were here they'd probably have a 10 game lead.
At this point, my vote for NL MoY would probably go to Mike Matheny.
His ace Wainwright goes down in April and three position players in the opening day lineup (Holliday, Jon Jay and Matt Adams) have all spent significant time on the DL, with Holliday having only played in 63 games this year, Jay 61 and Adams 43.
Even with all that adversity, the team is still on pace to win 105 or more games this season. You have to give the manager a lot of credit. He should get it for winning that many games alone; the circumstances only solidify the choice.
I'd be happy for Joe Maddon, because he's an old Lafayette guy.
I'm amazed the Mets' fans dislike Collins so much. Maybe it takes a person who is not emotionally connected to them to appreciate what he's been doing.
I thought Gil Hodges was a great manager, too, even when he was with the Washington Senators. They may have been in the 'second division' (a term that goes back to the 10-team league, regular season champ goes to the WS days) ... but his teams always played the O's like it was the 7th game of the World Series.
When he got guys like Seaver and Koosman, Ryan and McGraw ... look at what he did.
Yeah, before there were wild cards and all these divisions, when the O's won 97 games but missed out on the series, we'd say, well, at least we were in the first division. Players on the first division teams got a share of the series money, and if your league won, they got a little bit more. You also got more if you finished second instead of third or fourth, so games did mean something down the stretch, just not the same way they do now.
By the way, some guys named Gentile, Robinson, Powell, Lee May, Reggie (in his one season with us), Bronx native Ken Singleton, Ripken, Murray .... had better offensive seasons than Chris Hoiles ever did. Adam Jones has been marvelously consistent, too.
Well, Reggie didn't show up until May (he was holding out for a long-term contract), so he WOULD HAVE had over 30 homers and 100 RBIs ... well, when he finally did grace us with his presence, I was there giving him a standing ovation. Better late than never, right, Reggie old buddy? Hope you enjoyed your years with George and Billy. At least you had Paul Blair with you there in the 'Bronx Zoo' when you needed a friend.
The Magic is back ... wasn't that the slogan for the Mets a few years ago?
Different game than what I used to watch ... take the starter out after 100 pitches and watch the bullpen implode.
By the way, who needs Matt Harvey? LOL
Put him in the freezer for the winter.
I know, that's not fair --- that was a "Little League Grand Slam" but Cespedes made up for it later.
From what I've seen on ESPN, that clubhouse is a fun place these days.
Tonight's game, for the Nationals, is a MUST WIN. The season has reached that point for them. If they get swept and the Mets leave DC with a seven-game lead, it would take an improbable collapse of 1964 Phillies and 2007 Mets proportions for that final head-to-head series to mean anything.
Pitching tonight for the Nationals will be Stephen Strasburg and a cast of thousands.
Sounds like one of those old epic movies, doesn't it?
The I-man made a good case for Matheny for Manager of the Year.
Since baseball has gone down the road of the NHL and NBA and the real season is the playoffs, they should give the team with the best record SOMETHING.
I mean, people don't give the New York Rangers any credit for winning the President's Trophy, but I do. I think it is meaningful. Since baseball has devalued the regular season somewhat (from this old timer's point of view) there should be something that goes into the historical record of awards for the team that accumulated the most wins.
I think he was referring to Harvey, but we'll need Metsman to clarify.
I've been thinking, the more I've seen of him, that Cespedes was kind of a nonchalant hot dog in the field, and last night could have been really costly.
Unfortunately for the Nats, they didn't have Cole Kimball in the pen to pitch that seventh inning (I'm referring to the pre-injury Kimball of 2011) ... I don't blame Cole for not getting on these boards, he does not need or deserve all the snarky stuff, but he did have a lot of these Nationals players as teammates both in the bigs, and coming up in the minors. I'd love to know what he's thinking when he watches those games, he knows those guys better than we do.
He's good on radio, I've seen that first hand at WNTI. He'd be a terrific radio or TV analyst for that team.
Listening on the radio last night, they didn't mention this, but it is a topic of discussion on the Mets' board this morning - did that ball hit a sprinkler cap, causing it to bounce past Yoenis?
Reggie Voter Looking at the replay on mlb.com, I don't think it did. It took a wicked hop, but it looked like it was bouncing on the grass.
The Mets won anyway.
Yoenis should thank his lucky stars he did not step on something the way Mickey Mantle did over 60 years ago. Until then the Mick was young and healthy as a horse. After running onto a drain pipe opening, he struggled with chronic leg injuries the rest of his career.
Still had a fantastic Hall of Fame career, but had to endure a lot of tribulation and pain.
Did Collins make the right move putting Kelly Johnson up there to pinch hit?
"Good luck charm" Kelly Johnson, who got to the playoffs last year with the Orioles after coming over in a mid-season deal.
It's OK to say he's a good manager, nobody will hold it against you.
Of course, it isn't hard to be a good manager when you've got dependable guys like Clippard and Familia shutting the door for you.
The Nationals' bullpen was hideous in that series.
Back in February Mr. Tone said the Mets will win 90 games and then lose in the NLCS ... that prediction is looking pretty good right now.
The rest of us had the Mets winning in the 84-86 games range. Who knew that would be all it takes to win the NL Least?
Yeah Andy, but Mr. Tone also had Arod getting suspended for being in a male love triangle. That's looking unlikely, if only because that's not something you can be suspended for.
Problem with Feb predictions is that you never know what will happen with trades and the Mets have made some good ones.
Amazing how Collins is such a good manager all of a sudden.
Any manager could manage the Mets right now. They're so deep now it's almost impossible to F up.
Well, I think Collins is pretty good. We haven't been in that clubhouse and dugout every day.
I remember 30 years ago when some Giants fans I worked with said they'd never win with Phil Sims at quarterback.
Recently read a blog that predicted the Mets would be the next great dynasty.
OK, count down the magic number, clinch the division, and we'll see what is next.
I don't know if dynasties can be predicted. You just appreciate them after they happen.
Pretty much. Just going .500 over the last 20 games would give them 91 wins.
Good midseason trades really made them a quality team, with some balance.
Can't say enough about Familia. He came into the season with six saves for his career. Never had a regular closer role and was a starter in the minors.
Something I've been saying for many years: teams are foolish when they trade good players or spend a lot of money looking for a closer. You can develop them in your own farm system. What better example could I give you than Mariano Rivera?
He might not even be the closer if Mejia didn't get a second PED suspension. How things work out is sometimes Amazin' !
There's that word that applied to the Mets from the very beginning -- AMAZIN.
For one thing, the Mets have changed the way I look at the interleague schedule every spring.
The last few years, as a lifelong Orioles' fan, I've always said --- those @#%&* Yankees get six games with the stinking rotten Mets while we have to play the Nationals six times.
Now, I won't be looking at the schedules that way.
I know the I-man will point out the O's have a horrible interleague record against the Mets, but they only played them every three years and for two decades the O's were equally stinking and rotten. I remember them almost getting no-hit by R.A. Dickey.
The O's pitcher that night?
Jake Arrieta!
Rich Sorry, they didn't :) I was looking at tonight's game with the Marlins. It's now 82-61 Mets and 61-82 Marlins.
The Marlins have been playing spoiler. They've dealt the Nationals some losses that have helped the Mets build their lead.
Looking at the long list of Yankees retired numbers, just wondering when they will retire the numbers of Alfonso Soriano, Yangervis Solarte, Nick Swisher?
Have to add an LOL so people won't think I'm being serious.
The point is, how many numbers are they going to retire? What's the cutoff?
Right after the Birds retire the numbers for Brady Anderson, Chris Hoiles, and Armando Benitez. When the Orioles win another 21 championships, they may have a number retirement problem as well.
The next one who would be worthy might be Adam Jones, he's still borderline but at least he's been an All-Star and gold glove winner a few times. Been in the playoffs, too.
Know who should get his number retired right now? Ken Singleton. He was a great Oriole, on a WS winner -- if Reggie had stayed they would have won a couple more. Paul Blair is also someone they should seriously consider (he also won two rings as a Yankee after winning two as a bird) I've never seen a better defensive centerfielder and I've seen Mays.
We're different people, Meister. When I was a kid I had the option of becoming a Yankees' fan, but when I saw they had those 20 World Series championships (after 1962) I decided I'd give my heart to a team that didn't have any yet. That's why 1966 was so great --- it was their first ever and I was there to see it. Holy Cow -- the St. Louis Browns (in feathers) won a World Series.
Old timers told me that in the Babe Ruth days, everybody in Baltimore was a Yankees' fan. When I was 20, I actually spoke with people who had seen Babe play!
Good one.
Yeah, the O's have been selective in retiring numbers. Right now Chris Davis is wearing the number 19 Dave McNally wore. McNally was pretty darn good, look him up. Boog Powell's number hasn't been retired either. Look up his numbers, and he's been MVP. McNally won 20 or more four straight seasons, in 68 he won 22 with a 1.95 ERA ... in 69 he won 17 straight decisions ... and he pitched shutouts in WS (1966) and ALCS (1969) games. ... and Chris Davis is wearing his number right now.
Guess that's part of the criteria in retiring a number ... I see someone wearing #19 and right away I'm thinking, how can somebody be wearing Dave McNally's number? Jonathan Schoop is wearing Blair's old number six and it makes me cringe. Will Schoop ever win eight gold gloves in nine years?
The shame of it is, the young experts never saw these guys play. There is so much more to players than just the numbers you see on a sheet of paper or computer screen.
Andy, on the flip side, the computer screen can show that there's so much LESS to a supposed 'great' player. The days of the poor defensive guys with empty batting averages being hyped till no end are over.
You're right, but Boog was good in the field.
He remained the first baseman after the AL put in the DH.
The O's got Tommy Davis for that job.
My God, I'm old -- I remember American League baseball without a DH.
Blair is a guy who had to be seen, because his stats don't wow anybody.
His 69 season was his best with the bat -- in 70 he took a pitch right in the face, and even though he saw a hypnotist, he never hit real well against right handers since that day. In spite of that, he batted .474 in the 1970 World Series.
Paulie also was a great bunter, in critical situations. How many guys do we remember for the way they could bunt?
Mets have a 3-1/2 game lead over the Yanks with 12 of their final 19 at home (3 ea. vs. MIA, NYY, ATL and WSH) and the 7 road games in Cincinnati (4) and Philly (3).
The Yanks finish up with 12 on the road (3 ea. vs. Rays, Mets, Jays and O's) and 8 at The Stadium (4 versus each of the Footwarmers).
I'd be feeling pretty confident if I didn't know better, lol.
If the Mets clinch the division as early as it appears they will, they'll be resting those awesome pitchers.
Could be a factor in the great Mets vs. Yankees race.
Hopefully, they'll still be battling LAD for home-field in the NLDS.
The overall edge in pitching might go to the Mets, but I'm pretty sure they'd rather face Kershaw and Greinke in Flushing than at the Ravine...
Kershaw's ERA at home is 1.41; 2.82 on the road. Greinke's road ERA is a fantastic 1.83, but an even better 1.41 at Chavez.
If they let the Dodgers take the #2 seed, they could very easily be flying east down 2-0 and facing elimination.
I think every win is going to count, even if they lock up the East early.
You don't rest them Andy, you just shorten the starts. That's already the plan for Harvey. They still have to be sharp for the playoffs.
Well, shortening the starts makes it tougher to give Clippard and Familia a lead.
They'll just have to keep scoring 10 runs every night. Did we ever think we'd be saying that back in June and July?
You only worry about shortening Harvey's starts. They skipped a start for Syndergaard and intend to do so for deGrom. Niese and Colon can throw till their arms fall off.
If the Mets do indeed have to go to LA for the first two playoff games, they can look to the 1966 O's for inspiration.
The pundits all thought the O's would go 0-2 in Dodger Stadium against Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.
But it was the O's coming home 2-0 and they swept the Dodgers, pitching three straight shutouts (and Palmer was just a rookie). They only used four pitchers in the entire series.
By the way, they did have television and radio in those days. And my dad had a car, so I could see game four in person. If there had been social media in those days, I really would have had something to "tweet" about. LOL
Yeah.
The Beatles put out some good ones in those days.
And the James Bond 007 movies were pretty good, too.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Russians Are Coming were two of the funniest movies ever made. Check them out if you get a chance.
See now this is where I think Terry Collins is a bad manager... He's sitting Granderson and Murphy again against a lefty. Is he really going to do that in the playoffs... Cmon... If the idea is to keep these guys fresh then I'm fine with it, but you can't do that in the postseason. If he does and they lose the first round because of those moves then he deserves to be fired. He's just not a good in-game manager. He motivates, but his decision making is poor.
I'm sure Grandy and Murph will be in there for all the post-season action.
Your complaint reads like pre-emptive second guessing. LOL
Right now they have a nice, cushy eight-game lead.
I think I've seen It's a MMMMad World. That's the one that ended with the palm trees in a big W, right? Yes, very funny. Didn't realize it was that old.
That's the one. In my teen years, my overnight visits to Baltimore often included seeing a movie at the old cinema on Belair Road and a ballgame (or a doubleheader -- they had more of them back then) at old Memorial Stadium.
I rarely went to the inner harbor back then -- wasn't much going on.
Times change.
Does anyone know of any website to watch live Mets games? I have only been able to find pay ones.
Darrin - firstrowsports has all the MLB and NFL games . But first you must download spam blocking software . I recommend adblockplus .
Yeah, the Yankees pounded those guys out of the pen last night. You'd think these amazing starters could at least take the game to a save situation for Familia? What did Harvey throw last night, about 77 pitches?
The Mets are having trouble getting that Magic Number to go down, the Nationals are not cooperating -- perhaps the Orioles can help you with that, since they visit DC the next three nights.
The O's have fading hopes for an AL wild card right now, it would take a miracle, but they'll still come to play.
Historically, the 1964 Phillies lost 10 games in a row, starting Sept. 21, when they had a six-game lead.
Four of those games were to the Braves ---
although what is different is ... those Braves had guys named Aaron, Torre, Matthews and Spahn (all are in the Hall of Fame now) ... and they played in Milwaukee.
Still, makes for a good Today in History thing-ie, and I'm old enough to remember it. I still have my 1964 Phillies World Series ticket, in the same place where I have my ticket for Game Seven of the 1969 World Series (-;
I figured someday they'd be worth more than the 10 dollar refund!
Imagine if you would have taken that $20 and bought shares of IBM with it. The two shares you bought in 1969 @ $5 each would now be 40 shares at $145 or $5,800. Even better, the 4 you could have gotten at $2.50 in 1964 would now be 240 shares or $35,000. Sorry to ruin your day (-;
I've done OK with investments... I've listened to some good advice ... I'm holding onto some sports stuff mainly for the sentimental value.
Imagine if I started thinking, if only I'd invested all the money I've spent at Dunkin Donuts over my adult years, how much would that have added to my portfolio?
I'd be richer than Trump and slimmer than Christie LOL ... I might be running for President? No, probably not, my opinions are too wishy washy for today's generation. Somebody would direct something to me at a debate and I'd stand there and say, this is true, you've got a good point, I'll consider that.
What politician ever does THAT???
Or, imagine if I'd never gone to the movies ... the money I could have invested.
Well, we've got to enjoy our lives, we only get one shot at it. (-;
The O's helped the Mets out, big time, the last couple of nights.
Manny Machado hit a homer that hasn't landed yet. (-;
Pirates clinched a playoff berth last night, but are still 4 games back of the Cardinals with 10 to play. They are going to need to not only sweep the 3 games from St. Louis, but also win 6 out of the other 7 games as well, if they want to miraculously win the division. Not very likely...
Second best record in all of baseball and their reward is likely going to be having to face Jake Arrieta in a 1-game playoff. Some prize, lol...
I'd be shocked if an NL central team doesn't win it this year. I don't see the Mets getting passed the NLCS. These young pitchers are wearing out.
With some help from Machado (playing third the way Brooks used to play it) and Matt Wieters and the O's bullpen, which, unlike the Nationals, is somewhat reliable.
I'm with Ian on the playoff seedings.
Since the very beginning of this wild card era, I've always maintained that the five playoff teams in each league should be seeded according to record, regardless of divisions.
Using 1980 as an example --- here are the records of the five teams that would have been in the AL playoffs that year if they had this year's playoff structure.
Yankees 103 wins AL East champ
Orioles 100 wins -- top AL wild card
Kansas City 97 wins Central division champ
Oakland 83 wins West division champ
Milwaukee (in the AL in those days) 86 wins, second wild card.
You'd have the O's with 100 wins and the league's second best record, playing a one-game playoff with a team that was 14 games behind them...
when the one-game playoff really should be A's at Milwaukee.
What happens if you are in a real tough division? You may not win as many due to the fact that you play within your own division more often but are a better team that the second wild card. Just throwing this out there.
We have Pittsburgh and the Cubs playing in the toughest division and still most likely finishing with better records than the winner of two lesser divisions.
Neither lost a game to the Mets all season.
You often have "competitive balance" in a division because everybody is mediocre and everybody is losing to the good teams from the other divisions.
We just saw the Mets lose two of three to the Yankees and the Nats lose three in a row to the Orioles --- small sample but it could be indicative of the AL East being a better division -- both NL East "contenders" are lucky they didn't play Toronto in September!
Oh yeah, the Mets lost two of three to the Red Sox earlier this month ... at Citi Field ... and the Red Sox are out of the running in the AL East.
The Pirates are 64-22 (0.744 win %) against the rest of the majors, but only 29-38 within their own division. If they would have beaten up on Milwaukee and Cincinnati like they *should* have, they would probably be at 100 wins already... instead they went 15-20 with 3 games left versus the Reds. They'll have no one to blame but themselves if they finish behind St. Louis and have to take the loser bracket path through the playoffs.
Over 162 games, everyone will look back over games they "should have" won, that's baseball.
The last "true" pennant races were in 1968 ... when each league was 10 teams with no divisions. You played each of your division rivals nine times ... a perfectly balanced 162-game schedule which was the same for everybody.
OK, they wanted divisions, because who wants to go see a 10th place team?
From 69 until expansion, you played your five division rivals 18 times each, the six teams in the other division 12 teams each. Still pretty much balanced and every one in your division played the same schedule you did.
But then the greedy owners thought they would make more $$$ and threw in a third division, wild cards, and interleague play ... the schedules have been an un-even nightmare ever since. Now we have an odd number (15) of teams in each league.
It just keeps getting worse, in this old timer's view.
In 1988 the mets beat up all year on the dodgers and then lost in the playoffs
in 2006 the dodgers beat up on the mets all year and the mets one in the playoffs, the regular season means nothing, the whole thing changes in the post season, period
I remember a season over 30 years ago when the Dodgers went 11-1 against the Phillies and then lost to them in the playoffs.
The playoffs have become a season unto itself. I always watch, regardless of who is playing.
On talent and upside, yes, but they are short on big-game playoff experience and they are now at the point where they have thrown more innings in a season than they have ever done before. They may be arm weary, and, on the other side of the coin ... extended rest may make them rusty.
The addition of some bats actually picked up the team, as the pitchers started giving up more runs.
The buildup of innings didn't hurt the young pitchers on the 66 Orioles, and they got some rest because the O's clinched early, but the post-season did not extend as deep into October then as it does now. That 66 series ended on October 9.
We'll see ... nothing is a sure thing ... it will be fun to watch.
I don't hold much on experience. Look at the Royals. They made it to the World Series with youth. These pitchers all got rest this month too. Matz hasn't thrown a lot this year either.
I'll gladly put Cole, Liriano and Burnett (or Happ, even - he's pitched extremely well the last two months... 6-2, 2.28 ERA) up against Harvey, de Grom and Syndergaard in a 7-game set. I just hope Pittsburgh doesn't have to put ANY of them up against Arrieta in a 1-game elimination... especially after last night.
Six games left. If the Bucs win them all, they can't do any worse than a tie for first in the division. Hopefully, the Bravos can step up and take one out of three at home versus STL. Carlos Martinez is done for the season for the Redbirds... huge loss... he probably would have been one of their top 3 in the postseason rotation with Wacha and Lackey; now it will likely be Lance Lynn or Jaime Garcia (probably Garcia, Lynn has been getting lit up in September).
Burnett's second half numbers have been bad. Not to mention he doesn't pitch deep into games. Cole and Liriano might match up with deGrom and Harvey, but after that you have question marks. A game 3 and 4 would heavily favor the Mets. The Pirates don't have anyone as good as Matz for game 4.
Burnett was pitching hurt for quite a while before they finally put him on the shelf for the month of August. In his four starts since coming off the DL, he has only given up a total of 9 earned runs and has pitched a little deeper in each outing. He went 6 full and only gave up 2 runs to a good hitting Cubs team last night.
Given his intention to retire at the end of this year and the extra incentive that gives him, I wouldn't have any problem putting the ball in his hand in any situation. It would be kind of cool to see him face off versus Harvey: "Batman" versus "The Dark Knight", lol...
As for Game 4 of a 7-game series, I would pitch Cole, and then I'd give him the ball again in Game 7... why mess around?
Although, I suppose if they went to a 4-man rotation, JA Happ has been pitching as well as anyone. Like I said before, 6-2 w/ a 2.28 ERA over the last two months since joining the Buccos. He held the Mets to one run in 5-1/3 in his one appearance against them.
And you know what the Pirates DO have that the Mets don't? The best bullpen in baseball... about a full point lower in ERA. 23 fewer runs allowed in almost 60 more innings pitched.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/split/128
The Mets need those guys to give them seven quality innings, every game, or else the "soft underbelly" of that bullpen will be left exposed.
I'm not sold on that team defensively, either.
Poor Metsman must be so perplexed, why aren't we enthusiastically rooting for his Mets?
I've been to CitiField and it's a brutal trip, not fun ... no home town feeling with that team. They might as well be the Seattle Mariners or San Diego Padres.
They have Addison Reed pitch the 7th, Clippard the 8th, and Familia the 9th. I am comfortable with those 3. All 3 have had good seasons for the Mets. Reed has yet to give up a run.
metsman is a real metsfan, and thats all we need to know, thanks metsman, i assume the rest of you are not fans of pittsburg, or the cubs or the cards, but your all yankee fans, us mets fans are not saying we will win, we are happy we made it, and what we are saying is with our pitching we have a shot, i dont care who you match up against us, one through four we are the best, period, so we will see in the meantime, if your a yankees fan talking about the mets i guess you think your team stinks and has no chance
I agree that the Yankees stink and have no chance... but I'm definitely not a Yankee fan. Why would you assume I'm not a Pittsburgh (Pittsburg is in Kansas) fan? Is it the Jolly Roger in the outline of Pennsylvania with the words "Raise it" inside that led you to that assumption? (-;
I hope to get to see that play out, Metsman. Holding onto home field advantage over the Dodgers will go a long way to getting the Mets to the NLCS. The Buccos have a much tougher road unless they pull off an all-time miracle and run the table against the Cardinals and Reds.
I'm an Orioles fan.
Sometimes I'm afraid I go on too much with recollections of their glory days (probably because it is nice to think about a time when I was young ;-) ... BUT,
I guess there are people who haven't read all that stuff.
Metsman once accused me of being a Yankee fan. I was upset with the Mets after they blew a game to the Yanks and did not help the Orioles out (at the time the game mattered to the O's) ... he thought I was a Yankees' fan laughing at his Mets.
I said probably, not positively, and only cause its usually the case, having said that i have nothing against the O's in fact one of my favorites is big Boog Powell
I can drop names because I've worked in the media a lot of years and had access.
Boog looked at me and said, "You're a big guy, and I don't say that to many people."
I remember a time the Yankees fans hated the Orioles for being so good.
Guess they had gotten used to dominating the American League and didn't like seeing somebody else win three straight pennants.
Andy, if you are on Facebook look up Fritz Peterson's page. Lot of interesting stuff on there going back to the 60s and early 70s. A lot of names from the past and many stories. Plenty of old Oriorle names on there too.
I actually teared up a bit when the Mets clinched on Saturday , after all it's been 9 years and I didn't expect it this year , wild card maybe . Nationals self destructing was completely unexpected , but I hope they keep the status quo going forward . Kudos to Matt Harvey for throwing the agent advised pitch count out the window !
MNJ, Mets are three games up on the Yankees with five to play. I could be popping the cork on the Older Viscosity as early as Friday (-;
The Yanks finish with three games in Baltimore ...
this one is looking good for the Mets.
For you, been there, done that Metsman. If you need another out of me, sure, why not.
Yes, not looking good for me ianimal. It is the Mets we're talking about, so there's always hope.
On to the playoffs ... meanwhile, if the Phillies lose today, they will have their first 100-loss season since 1961.
As a guy who remembers that season, including the 23-game losing streak which lasted through most of August that year, that's of interest to me.
While Maris and Mantle were chasing the Babe's record, the Phillies were suffering in obscurity.
Fortunately, I got to cover the Phillies when they had a couple of 100-win seasons in the 70s. Talk about your ups and downs.
HOLY CRAP! Looks like CC won't be available for the playoffs. Not that I really expect them to get past tomorrow night anyway.
So it isn't that CC sucks, it's that CC is drunk!
http://newjersey.news12.com/yankees-say-cc-sabathia-is-checking-into-alcohol-rehabilitation-center-1.10925315
So, what did CC do that he needs to enter rehab right this minute? Domestic violence would be my guess... I doubt it was the incident in Toronto.
Some trivia .. who is the only pitcher to win over 100 games as a Yankee and over 100 games as an Oriole?
I know the Orioles have not retired his # yet (probably still mad at him for leaving as a free agent) and I don't think the Yankees have either, because he wasn't there for any WS championships.
But, if you put his numbers for the two teams together, you've got a HOF pitcher.
Roywhite Time for post-season honors (prior to playoffs starting) here are my selections.
Feel free to post yours --
NL MVP -- Bryce Harper, Nationals
AL MVP -- Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
NL Rookie of the Year -- Kris Bryant, Cubs
AL Rookie of the Year --Carlos Correa, Astros
NL Cy Young -- Zack Greinke, Dodgers
AL Cy Young -- Dallas Keuchel, Astros
NL Mgr. of the Year -- Mike Matheny, Cardinals
AL Mgr. of the Year -- Jeff Banister, Rangers
NL Comeback Player -- Jaime Garcia, Cardinals
AL Comeback Player -- Manny Machado, Orioles
Can't find too much fault with that list, Andy. I'd probably replace Greinke with Arrieta and Banister with AJ Hinch. Lindor has a solid case for RoY too, but Correa is definitely a worthy choice.
I would go with David Price as AL Cy Young, just because he was more consistent. Keuchel was undeniably amazing at home but his road numbers were 5-8 with a 3.77 ERA. If you can only pitch great in one ballpark, you shouldn't be the Cy Young winner IMO.
I also give AL Comebacker to (swallow the bile rising in my throat) A-Roid. Doing what he did at 40 is a lot more impressive than what Machado did at 23. I don't even know if someone that young should even be considered for the award.
Boog Powell won it at age 24, only an O's fan my age could be expected to remember that. Boog said, I hope I'm never eligible for that award again.
I didn't pick A-Rod because his time away from the game was his own doing.
Matt Harvey missed a mandatory meeting today and WFAN is all over it.
But Machado isn't even in the running for it, now that I actually looked, lol. The other two finalists are Prince Fielder and Kendrys Morales.
And I assume that Boog had had a "superstar" season that he was returning to after a bad year? Machado's best season before this one was .282 with 14 HRs and 71 RBI... he's not on a "comeback", he's "just getting there in the first place" (-;
Here are Manny's numbers for anybody who is interested. He missed half of last season with injuries, played a full season the year before that.
He actually had more base hits in 2013, improved his power and run production this year to career highs.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/31097/manny-machado
Boog had a super season in 64, then had a bad wrist injury that limited him in 65, then bounced back with a superstar season in 66.
Again, the criteria for these awards are purposely vague, so people can argue about them. That's what makes it so interesting.
That's the part of the puzzle that Machado is missing... the previous establishment of him as a superstar. He had a phenomenal year in 2015 and if he gets hurt next year, he'll certainly be eligible in 2017... but not this year (-;
He had 51 doubles in 2013. This year he hit fewer doubles, more homers.
Well, as a fan who follows the team every day, I appreciated his comeback.
Funny, as a fast-pitch softball player (once I realized the NBA did not need me) I went from being a singles-hitting shortstop in my late 20s to being a slugging first baseman in my 30s. Lifting a lot of weights in the gym helped with that. I rehabbed a shoulder injury, but even though I gained power, I couldn't throw worth a s*** anymore and had to switch positions.
I still remember a ball I hit when I was 36 ... I could not tell if it was fair or foul because it sailed way beyond the foul pole (at a field in Rahway) and was so high it just disappeared in the sunlight.
I hear people yelling, run, damn it, "don't stand there and admire it like you're Reggie." ... a black guy who was a dear friend yelled the Reggie thing.
So I trotted around the bases and asked the guy who scored ahead of me, where did that thing land? He says, Piscataway.
My own comeback story (-; It's all about hitting it good.
Hot corner Great song, old ex-jocks like us can really relate ... there might have been 10 people watching that game who were not playing in it ... you might say I was a 'late bloomer' when it came to hitting homers.
I remember meeting a guy in Rahway who said he worked at the prison ... when I asked if the inmates played ball, he said, yeah, but they don't play any road games ... and then proceeded to laugh at his own joke.... a very sick, scary laugh.
ANYWAY -- looking forward to a great pitching duel tonight. Yes, we traded Arrieta for Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman. That one may get the Mets off the hook for trading Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi (at least Fregosi was an AL All-Star in his better days).
Question for the Met heads --- why is Syndergaard starting game two? Most of what I know about the Mets is from talk radio and this thread, because I haven't watched many of their games start to finish, but I do know that Noah (right!) has been much better at home than on the road.
I can just see an update to the old Cosby routine --- NOAH, you will pitch in the playoffs at Dodger Stadium against Greinke --- response, RIGHT
Has Brian McCann submitted a formal complaint about the unwritten rules CarGo broke by hitting a home run and running around the bases? I'm impressed that Gomez was able to resist the urge to laugh right in his face as he crossed home plate; I probably would have if I were in that situation, lol. Although, given the Houston bullpen's track record, I may have waited until after the game was over (-;
I just sent a White Castle 30-pack Crave Case to Jake Arrieta at PNC Park... hopefully, he's dumb enough to eat it. It might be our only shot, lol
Denny McLain used to drink a dozen coca colas on the days he pitched, and he's the last ever 30-game winner ... although his life really went down the crapper a few years later.
Jim Palmer used to eat a stack of pancakes over a foot high, on days he pitched. If I can find a picture (Baltimore papers ran them often) I'll post it here.
Guess he had good metabolism and burned it off -- maybe that's how he pitched so many complete games ;-)
OK, there's the picture, and he beat Koufax that day.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/thetoydepartment/2009/06/through_the_looking_glass_1.html
Speaking of White Castle, is it me or does Harvey look like he stopped there after rehab every day or what?
Ha. It's all good. I didn't expect them to win the game, so I wasn't all that disappointed. There was that brief glimmer of hope in the 6th when they loaded the bases that Buctober magic was in the air, but Marte couldn't get it done.
It was essentially over when Cole gave up a run in the first. I went in knowing that he was going to have to match zeroes with Arrieta and he didn't even put up the first one. Oh, well... at least they plunked him. I just wish Watson would have aimed for the beard instead of the hip. You can let one go; the pitch under Cervelli's chin. But then he hits someone else up high like that? Not in the National League... you've got to step into that batter's box yourself. But with all due respect, he pitched well enough to win, although there were a lot more hard-hit balls against him than usual... they just didn't find the holes.
The Cubs are now going to have to face their own punishment as a wild card team. A 5-game series against the Cards and Arrieta's most likely only going to be able to start once in Game 3.
Well, it is no fun to say "I told you so," but when they first came out with this two wild cards in each league system, I was afraid this would happen.
The team with the second best record in the NL is out of the playoffs after just one game.
Don't take this as being anti Mets, Mr. Met (otherwise known as Metsman) ... it is consistent with what I've advocated all along, regardless of what teams may be involved.
The five playoff teams should have been seeded according to record -- the one-game playoff (since the moguls insisted on having one for "drama" and TV ratings) should have been Mets at Dodgers.
Everybody knew the rules going in, Andy. I don't advocate them changing the rules the way you say. You want to be guaranteed a 5-game series? Win your division.
Nintendo is releasing a new version of "Punch Out" for its upcoming 30th anniversary, lol.
But hilarious memes aside, I can't stand this guy; I hope they cut him in the offseason. I'm sure he can get a job as an impersonator at Serpico conventions...
I love great pitching! Good games the last two nights. I'm looking forward the Cubs/Cards on Friday. Go Cards!
Yeah, Gatorade buckets and water coolers take a lot of abuse.
As long as the pitchers don't hit them with their pitching hand.
Yeah, I'm an old fossil from a time when the team with the best record in each league went to the World Series. Yes, that ship sailed a long time ago.
In 1966 the World Series ended on Oct. 9, in 1968 it ended on Oct. 10, even though it went seven games. It's all about the almighty dollar, but I'll still enjoy the playoffs.
Setting myself up for disappointment, but now that the Pirates lost, my heart is saying "Go Cubbies."
The odds of the Cubs actually winning the WS are probably about as good as the odds of finding a good crab cake in Northern New Jersey.
Andy, I could argue had the Mets had Cespedes, Wright, Addison Reed, Tyler Clippard, etc... the whole season, that they could have won over 100 games. The format is fine.
ianimal, I think I saw the Jolly Roger attached to that ball that Schwarber hit into the Allegheny and resides at the bottom..... That was a bomb.
I think it may have actually made it across Point State Park and into the Menongahela, lol.
Absolutely Andy, go Cubs!
But they don't stand a chance, unless the goat thing really works. :)
The format is what it is.
We'll see how Metsman feels next October, if the Mets have the second best record in the league but lose the one-game playoff.
Of course, that probably won't happen, because the NL East is putrid. Can't see any of those teams winning 100 next year, other than the Mets (if they re-sign Cespedes).
Sorry to see Lagares has become a "scrub." That's what happens when a big bat comes to your team in a trade. Kudos to Granderson, nobody wanted him leading off, but he seems to have adjusted very well to the role and it has been a big part of the Mets' success -- that's a real pro.
Just the ramblings of a senile old man. But, I'm not old enough to have seen the Cubs' last WS championship. Go, Cubbies!!! If the Red Sox could win, so can the lovable Cubbies (as long as they stay away from my garbage cans).
Andy, Conforto looks like he'll be a star playing every day. So worst case they go with Grandy in center and Conforto and Cuddyer on the corners next year. Lagares can come in for defense and get spot starts against lefties. I'd like to see them make a move for a good SS in the offseason.
Granderson in CF would be a defensive disaster , he doesn't have the range or the arm at this point in his career , he's barely adequate in RF. Remember Lagares has been playing with a hurt elbow all year long . Of course if they don't resign Cespedes they can go after a free agent CF or they may get fed up with Harvey's diva behavior and trade him for a big bat . Moving Conforto to CF might be an option also , he certainly has the arm .
Cespy's agent is Jay Z's Roc Nation who got Robinson Cano the big money from Seattle . So it's almost a sure bet he is gone to the highest bidder . As far as Harvey goes missing practice the other day may just be the tip of the iceberg . Rumors of the rest of the team hating him abound , including boy scout pitcher Jacob deGrom refusing to give an interview if Harvey is in the same room . On the lighter side Granderson hazes Met rookies buying them super hero underroos to wear walking back from the stadium in Cincinnati to the hotel after clinching the division title .
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=13756490
Jacob deGrom and wife
https://www.coldwellbanker.com/hfa/pitcher-jacob-degrom-home-is-his-happy-place
I can tell by Conforto's approach at the plate that he will be a good major league player. Lagares is a 4th outfielder at this point. He has no plate discipline.
So Lagares now is what Alex Ochoa was with the Angels. And the Angels traded for him two hours before the July 31 deadline--- the only in-season trade they made in 2002 --- they wanted him for that exact role.
Metsman called Alex a scrub three years ago and I've never forgotten that.
Nobody who makes the majors ever deserves to be called a scrub.
They all were the best player on their high school team, except for Joe Garagiola.
Garagiola was a high school teammate of Yogi Berra, played in the majors with the Pirates and Cardinals ... probably some other teams, too.
I've seen lots of best players on their high school team who never made the majors --- or even the affiliated minors.
We'll wait and see about Conforto --- he'll have his struggles and growing pains --- they all do at that level. Not every prospect becomes Mike Trout or Derek Jeter. Billy Beane was a great prospect. Alex O batted .294 in his first season as a Met and Kirk Radomsky's book and the Mitchell Report never mentioned him. That's a GOOD thing. Baseball America RAVED about Domonic Brown as he progressed through the minors.
Marvelous pitching by deGrom tonight ... Collins made the right choice in naming him the game one starter.
Cuddyer wasn't exactly stellar in left, he's lucky deGrom kept his cool and pitched out of jams that his inability to catch a fly ball created.
It's a good thing they pushed him to 117 pitches, I think that's what he ended up throwing. If they had lifted him earlier, those guys who are supposed to set up for Familia might have blown it.
Familia is unreal out of the pen, with that 93 mph slider. He's Rivera-like right now. Not saying he will do it for over 600 career saves or anything like that, but right now he's up there with the best in the game.
I can't believe that the Jays are down 0-2. You don't want to be down 0-2 in a short series, that's for sure.
Great jobs by Lackey and deGrom last night.
Lackey won game 7 of the WS for the Angels in 2002, he's been there.
deGrom's great effort, I'm sure, has given the Mets a shot of confidence, something they needed on the road.
You never know how someone will perform in the playoffs, until he's actually in the game. Syndergaard and Harvey could be great in the next two games, or they could be awful. We'll have to wait and see.
The older I get and the more I see, I'm less prone to make bold predictions.
So, does Utley get suspended for the rest of the series? If not, I think the Mets have to respond in some way. If this were hockey, you'd have Harvey bean him and then have Duda punch him in the face a dozen times when he gets to first base. Unfortunately, this is baseball.
Two game suspension for Utley, pending appeal. I'd say it's appropriate... at least it's something, anyway.
If Tejada didn't break his leg would there have been any suspension? While I agree that the takeout slide needs to be eliminated from the game, what he did was within the rules.
Just got back from Baltimore, had about three and a half hours to listen to sports talk radio, most of it out of Philly.
Those Philly fans still love Chase Utley. Matt Harvey has hit Utley with pitches before, ho-hum, just another day at the ballpark -- Chase will take his base
(I'm a poet and don't know it) ...
and there won't be any incident.
I'm sure there will be some kind of rule change or written clarification during the off-season, there usually is when someone gets hurt. Baseball has so many "unwritten rules" .... maybe they can do it like hockey, you have different categories of penalties based on severity minor ... double minor ... major ... misconduct, etc.
How about two innings in the penalty box for roughing?
That "tackle" at second base was nothing compared to the stuff Don Baylor used to do breaking up double plays--- that was our nostalgic topic of conversation on Saturday night in "Charm City." --- he would have made a great linebacker or safety for the Colts. There was a reason he got hit by pitches so many times. Hitting him with a pitch was like throwing at a brick wall.
I am a Yankees fan. That said, I have no issue with the Mets really. It's just that I have a bet with a young (24 year old) Mets fan that if they make it to the WS I have to buy two tickets and go with him. I'm looking out for my bottom line, it's gonna cost me a fortune. Thank goodness there is still another round after this if they make it past Dem Bums. ;-)
I hope you lose Calico. You'll pay thru the nose, but you'll have a lot of fun! I'm going to tomorrow's game.
My boy (the 24 year old) is at the game tonight. I'm glad he's having a good time. I just hope they go down before the WS. :-)
I almost find myself rooting for the Mets ... but how could I not root for the Cubbies if they move on.
Mets vs. Cubs would be a matchup of cursed franchises --- and somebody will actually win. And, obviously, someone will lose.
The mental health crisis hotline will be fully staffed and standing by.
Meister, I love how that picture has his hand cut off so that you cannot see that he went for a slide AFTER the bag!!!!!!!!!
True, but is it still any worse than Wright or Murphy? Look at Wright, he's not even facing the base.
The pictures don't show when they started their slides. Utley was passed the base already.
Correct metsman, exactly what I was going to say. Your pictures show aftermath of a collision.
Utley charged full speed and made it look like he was sliding, watch the video, you can even see him side step out toward Tejada so he hits him. Why would you go away from the base and toward a person you are directly looking at?
These guys have nothing on Don Baylor.
Back in 2006 I remember a play when David Wright,against the Braves, went so far out of the baseline to hit the second baseman, it was actually funny. Everybody in the office laughed about it. It was the farthest away from the bag I can ever remember a runner sliding.
He was farther away than the middle picture of the three in the box that appeared here three hours ago.
They all do it.
Metsman sees the world through orange and blue glasses, what can I say?
The Mets players, themselves, have moved past this.
Wouldn't it be ironic if they signed Utley during the off season?
Guillermo Mota became a Met, after all the issues Piazza had with him --- you never know in baseball.
I have no problem with the take out slide, but Utley was airborne not on the ground. I saw a video of Don Baylor diving into a SS. Yes, he's a scumbag too. He was a garbage manager too... If you slide before the bag and come up a little bit into the fielder, I am ok with that. I watched Daniel Murphy get taken out in 2011 and he tore his MCL. I didn't think the runner did anything wrong in that instance. Murphy didn't get out of the way. Tejada was way off the bag when Utley tackled him. His body hit Tejada before it touched the ground. Please share any footage you have of Wright going airborne into someone...
I wonder if there are photos somewhere of Moto and Piazza popping each other's back-ne whiteheads. It would probably look similar to this...
Did anybody watch the Blue Jays game today?
It was C-R-A-Z-Y ... and there was an umpire's call and subsequent review that was beyond belief.
I caught the last couple of innings of the Toronto game, including Texas' three straight errors and Bautista's home run, and the benches clearing, and the police.
The crowd noise was so continuously loud that it was hard to hear the announcers at any time.
Bautista's epic bat flip was the second greatest all-time, trailing only this one...
http://i.imgur.com/HBMRd3B.gifv
Great games last night. The Jays sure had some highlight reel fielding plays for sure.
Daniel Murphy had a really memorable series, his market price will rise now.
He'd look real nice in orange and black feathers, where he could DH in Camden Yards --- perfect place for him.
That series with the Bums (as the newspapers called them in Brooklyn) reminds me of the 1969 rock opera Hair (give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair ...)
The hippies of that era must love watching deGrom and "Thor" Syndergaard.
Mets - Cubs! Where is that black cat? (Look that one up on You Tube since I'm the only guy here who would actually remember it). I'm sure the old timers in the media world will bring up that funny piece of Mets-Cubs history.
Daniel Murphy was phenomenal last night. Hats off to the Mets! I guess Donnie Baseball will be kicked to the curb.
Daniel Murphy sucks... just ask Clyde Potts (-;
Mattingly probably pointed out to Ethier that he was a dope for catching the foul ball and letting Murphy score in the 4th.
I was impressed with the way de Grom scuffled and scratched for every out when he obviously didn't have his "lights out" stuff consistently. Syndergaard was huge too. But they both need to visit the barber; they look like half a hair metal cover band, lol.
Tip the cap to the Mets. Go Cubs. And I think Thor and deGrom look more Hanson than Hair Metal Band.....
I remember Johnny Damon stealing an uncovered third base for the Yankees in the 2009 World Series against the Phillies. I'm sure Meister remembers that play, too.
I also recall a right field play on a foul ball similar to that Ethier play last night ... in Triple A ... the Norfolk Tides pitcher was Paul Wilson and the right fielder was my old buddy Alex Ochoa.
Alex caught it and the runner at third did not try to score. Wilson went on to win a 5-0 shutout over the Richmond Braves.
Great game, LETS GO METS!!!!
Would love nothing more for the mets to be in the series for my wife's birthday, she has been a die hard fan since birth, even has mets license plates!!
Keith Hernandez was on Mike and Mike --- the obvious observation was the Mets have the overall edge in starting pitching and the Cubs have the edge at bat.
What was interesting was Keith saying the wind at Wrigley Field will play a big role... if it blows out, it is advantage Cubs, if it blows in, it is advantage Mets. We'll see what The Baseball Gods decide.
Jake Arrieta is the WHO KNEW? of the century. When he was an Oriole, he had a losing record with an ERA well over 5.
Jason Hammel also struggled as an Oriole. When he left as a free agent, nobody in Baltimore lamented that he was leaving.
Now, I'll be rooting for those guys again. I've never seen the Cubs win a World Series ... I've seen the Mets win it twice ... I was a big Mookie Wilson fan in 86. The Red Sox were a hated division rival in 86 --- I rooted for the Mets in that WS.
Not sure how the Cubs hitters have the edge. They finished neck and neck this season offensively and that was with the Mets having a AAA lineup till July.
Just telling you what Keith Hernandez said ... and he sees the Mets a LOT.
I'm no expert on the National League, since the team I follow the most is in the other league, but I'd say the Cubs have a very consistent offense.
The Mets fattened up their offensive stats against those bad pitching staffs in the NL East (and that includes that woeful Nationals bullpen), who the Cubs did not play against as often.
I must say Ian is taking the Pirates' misfortune well ... this was the best Pirates team since 1979 (everyone remembers Stargell but they also had a lot of good pitching), the Pirates should still be playing.
I give the hitting edge to the Cubs as well. Obviously, pitching goes to the Mets... should be a fun series.
Andy, if the Steelers were 1-4 instead of 3-2, I'd be a lot more disappointed with the way the Bucs season ended. Life goes on...
I can dig it ... life goes on and it is too short to get upset over this stuff.
And there is always another season. The Ravens have helped me turn the page many times, following miserable Orioles seasons... of which there have been plenty.
I think it all really came into perspective for me in 1972 ... first in the spring, Gil Hodges died ... he led the Mets to their 1969 WS title against the Orioles.
Then, there was waking up to the news that Roberto Clemente died ... he did it all in leading the Pirates to their 1971 WS title against the Orioles.
They were the "enemy," who kept us from the ultimate glory, but I was so sorry to see those guys go, because I really respected them. Someone once said at a funeral I attended, "God takes the really good ones young, to get our attention."
Awesome outing by Harvey. Murphy?! What can you say? He is killing it in the post season.
I'm going to start rooting for the Mets because every other team I root for loses.
Calico, your Yankees and Cardinals have been the two most successful franchises in the history of baseball.
Once in awhile, other teams also win. Even the Orioles (the former St. Louis Browns) managed, somehow, to win the World Series three times and play in six of them.
Happy birthday Yoenis Cespedes.
Andy - I wasn't speaking about that. I was speaking about the teams I root for when my teams are out. I always seem to back the wrong horse.
they ought to show the games on regular tv , we dont get tbs and have no way to watch the games
how can MLB allow this to happen?
BrotherDog dont get espn either, there are many, many of us who do not have access to tbs or espn,
why is it so limited? we ought to be able to watch the playoiffs, correct?
Anyone without cable access to these games can go to firstrowsports online . But only after downloading free anti-spamming software like adblockplus .
http://www.firstrows.eu/us/baseball
thanks zombo, that site didnt work for me, i clicked in the baseball link but there were no streams to choose, appreciate you trying to help me out, thank you
Are you still using dial up ? I can always get a link there to work for me even when I was using 1.5 speed from Century Link . The trick is to hit the expansion box as soon as you see it in the lower right hand corner to expand the picture and wipe out the ads .
thx zombo; i have dsl, but maybe i tried it after the game was already over?? what time did it end? there was nothing on the screen like you describe, no expansion box, although i'm not sure what you mean when say that, so i cooud be wrong, they claimed to have 7 links streamed, just click on one of links in the list, but there were none.
anyways, MLB should be ashamed of themselves for signing a deal that cuts out most of the country from watching the baseball playoffs.
if you don't have cable , or if you have only basic cable that doesn't get the TBS channel you are SOL, and that's prevents you from being able to watch the games.
i'm thinking playoffs should be on regular tv, am i wrong?
MLB sucks, comcast sucks, TBS sucks, big business sucks, Ted Turner sucks, they all suck big time, not happy with any of them, and now with mega beer merger you can kiss goodbye to competitive prices for the biggest selling beers out there. (yes, they suck too)
but; 'Let's Go Mets!!'
thx for listening . . . . . . .
The biggest selling beers are like sex in a canoe...because they're f*&$ing close to water.
If you want to watch it that bad then upgrade. There are plans that aren't expensive where you can get TBS. TBS has always been on basic cable.
metsman - no it's not, it's been sucked away, not part of basic,
there are lots of baseball fan who don't get cable at all, what does MLB expect them to do?
Exactly ianimal.
BD - Do you really think MLB gives a rat's ass? They are laughing all the way to the bank.
"there are lots of baseball fan who don't get cable at all, what does MLB expect them to do?"
Get cable?
But, to your point... the NFL has a policy whereby (take tonight for instance), if the local market team is playing in a game only available on cable (the Giants on ESPN), that the game must be aired on a local broadcast network (in this case, Channel 11).
Sorry, Calico... I buttonhooked you, lol.
I do think that BDog has a point in that regard... a local team should have the broadcast simulcast on a local channel if the game is only available on cable.
I absolutely agree where the local teams are involved.
I guess BD has to wait for the WS to see anymore baseball this season. Of course he could go to a friend's house or a bar.
bars? they have tvs in bars now? that's a really good idea!!
and yes, i guess that's what i was trying to say all along, home team, local team in the playoffs and your only shot is to watch it on TBS. sad, very sad for the National pastime
to go over to a friends house i would have to find a friend who is also a mets fan, not easy in yankee territory, maybe if i bring the beer they can be a fan for a few hours?? you think?
i'm hoping that MLB hears about this from a lot of people,
Yeah, you would think Channel 11 would want to carry these Mets games ... as far as I can tell, interest in the Mets is at its highest since about 1988, when I first came to this area.
I grew up listening to baseball on the radio ... Orioles games on WBAL's night-time signal which is real strong in South Jersey.
Josh Lewin (now a Mets play-by-play guy) did a talk show on WBAL 20 years ago and he had me convinced he was a real down-to-earth Baltimore guy ...he worked with former Colts linebacker Stan White (Stan has stayed loyal to Charm City) now whenever I hear Josh do the Mets, he's such a homer!!
You had me fooled, Josh. You had me thinking you were Baltimore through and through.
What fascinates me is how these young starting pitchers have remained so dominant deep into October -- nobody is talking about innings limits anymore -- they're young and they are going for it.
The "x-factor" has always been that bullpen, because the starters rarely go more than seven innings. But, the bullpen has been reliable through this whole run. Leads are in good hands when they come in.
I wonder how Metsman is going to feel when Terry Collins and the Wilpons are shown celebrating on TV and getting praised by the adoring media for being so brilliant. (-;
Super Bowl III taught me not to bet on professional sports.
You could have made a lot of money if you said, when the Yankees led the Red Sox 3-0 in the 2004 ALCS --- that the Red Sox would win.
I really enjoyed that, walked around wearing a Red Sox cap that whole off-season, but I digress.
If this is to be the year the Cubs end their long-time curse --- it would require something even more epic --- coming back against these guys the Mets have on the mound.
Not very likely.
World Series tickets for Citifield sold out already according to mets.com . Standing room only tickets that sold for $140 apiece are now going for $600 each on Stub Hub - legalized scalping . I imagine those will sell out quickly even at that price after the Mets clinch .
I'm so glad the Orioles were in the World Series when tickets were 10 bucks ... they were raised to 25 dollars in 1983.
Tells you something about how long ago they were in the series.
Tried to buy seven line tickets, they had a $250 special for the games....I was on the site since 1pm, virtual waiting room since 1:50, got on immediately at 2 when they were suppose to become available and they were already sold out.
I love how the Stub Hub link Zombo posted says Game 3 "if necessary"... only long-suffering Mets fans can figure that their team would find a way to lose a 7-game series in only two games (-;
It says the same thing for game one at KC . But at least in that one they spelled series right and not seres .
http://www.stubhub.com/kansas-city-royals-tickets-royals-vs-tbd-10-27-2015/event/9373665/
Maybe the "if necessary" clause is more related to the fact that neither team has actually advanced yet... the same are available for Toronto (and presumably Chicago, too)
http://www.stubhub.com/toronto-blue-jays-tickets-blue-jays-vs-tbd-10-27-2015/event/9373804/
I believe "game 3" refers to the 3rd game at that stadium. Since each team will play 2games home the 3rd home game might not be necessary
Darwin Toronto is now 4-0 in elimination games. There's still a lot of work to do to get to 6-0 and advance, but I wouldn't count them out just yet.
Homers six post-season game in a row!!! Time to change the name to the New York Murphs!
Metsman and Zombo, the loyalists, good things come to those who wait.
Enjoy the World Series, it's something you'll always remember.
I usually pull for the AL but the last two times (86 and 2000) the Metropolitans got there, I pulled for the Mets because they played teams I hated.
Older and wiser now, I try not to be a "hater" anymore.
Which way will my heart tell me to go? I'll have to sleep on it. Hope it's a seven-game series, thanks Mike Trout, for helping the AL get home field. He was a part of this(-;
I always hate to see the season end ... means winter is coming.
Looks like Joe Madden's new goat carries the curse. Well done Mets!
Murphy is unbelievable!
Well.....I guess my little buddy Cody is getting his free World Series ticket. *&^%$#@!
darluggh A trivia question since the Mets have a few days to chill before they play again ---
who pitched against the Mets in both the 86 and 00 series? -- he's the main reason I rooted for the Mets in both of them -- not exactly one of the "gentlemen" of the game.
Oh my gracious, goodness gracious -- IT'S ROGER CLEMENS!!
That scene with Piazza and the broken bat was too bizarre. He didn't just throw at sluggers like Piazza, either.
A reserve infielder on the Orioles got a double off him, on a day nobody else was hitting him, and he clapped his hands at second base and shouted to his own dugout, let's go, guys ... same way Granderson does all the time.
Next time up, Clemens hit him ... a reserve infielder who was batting .200 ...
Don Mattingly must be singing that old 1981 Billy Joel song...
Movin on is a chance that you have to take any time you try to stay - together
Say a word out of line
And you find
That the friends you had are gone forever.
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will be just now and then.
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it is time for goodbye again.
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby
World Series Game 1 tonight! Lets go Mets!
Too bad I have to take my son to an 8pm game at Diamond Nation. My phone better pick up their wifi so I can stream the game!
It's worth the overages Metsman!
Game streaming through xfinity was about 3-4 gigs a game for me when we were watching on my laptop from camp in PA.
LETS GO METS!
Ah, what ever happened to the inexpensive transistor radio with an ear plug?
Those were the days.
When I'm watching a live game I don't want to look away for a second --- or else a screaming foul ball may be right on top of me --- dig?
There's netting to protect me while I watch the World Series on my phone. Plus I have good peripheral vision.
Metsman, drop the boy off at Diamond Nation and go watch the game at Longhorn Steakhouse down the road. I'm sure he'll understand.
"Metsman, drop the boy off at Diamond Nation and go watch the game at Longhorn Steakhouse down the road. I'm sure he'll understand."
That's what I say. What is this world coming to? My parents never sat at games. They had sh*t to do.
Personally, I think it's great that Metsman takes such an interest in his son's games. But, this is Game 1 of the World Series and the Mets haven't had a WS Game 1 since the kid was in diapers, probably. And it's Diamond Nation, not the State Championship or anything.
I'll be in Flemington tonight, too, covering girls' volleyball.
Woo hoo.
Fortunately, those games don't take three hours, so I'll still be able to see at least four or five innings --- the bullpens will probably end up deciding this series, anyway.
I was 7 the last time they won and have no memory of it unfortunately.
If you watched him play you'd understand why. His coach thinks he can play division 1 ball. He hits for power and average to all fields, has a cannon for an arm, and is a defensive wiz in the outfield. The only thing he is missing is speed. He's only got average speed.
Metsman,
On your phone, go to "settings", the "cellular", then scroll down to the app you want to use. You probably have the settings so that it won't work on cellular data. Turn it on for that app and you should be good to go. This is for iPhones, but it's probably similar for other smartphones.
Lets go Mets!
I stayed up for all 14 innings ... the Mets have a history, going way back, with long extra inning games.
It's fun to watch two "small market" teams in the series. LOL
http://nypost.com/2015/10/28/royals-catchers-mystery-shinguard-substance-raises-questions/
Legal or not?
Who cares about that... How about these pitchers wake up... Harvey and deGrom have not been good in this World Series.
Yeah pretty much Andy. Series should be 1-1 though. Your closer has to get the job done.
Read a New York Times piece about the "controversy" of a catcher having pine tar on his shin guards.
Collins said he had no issue with it, he said catchers have pine tar on their shin guards all the time and they don't use it to doctor up the ball.
Non story.
The Mets can win these games only if their pitchers are un-hittable. Granderson can't reach third base or home; Lagares can't reach home, his elbow is shot; Cespedes can't raise his glove hand above his shoulder. As soon as the opposition starts getting base hits, it becomes a merry-go-round.
The Mets' infield isn't exactly loaded with gold glovers, either.
KC has good team speed, to boot.
Interesting, historically, that KC was the Yankees' Triple-A team way back when.
Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford played there.
My boy Cody is going to the game tomorrow night on my dime. $600 for a standing room ticket. I hope the Mets win tomorrow for his sake. Otherwise, let's go Royals!
Some World Series trivia --
who is the only pitcher to start game one of the World Series four years in a row?
Yes, Whitey Ford, in 1961 against Cincinnati, in 1962 against San Francisco, 1963 against Sandy Koufax and the LA Dodgers and in 1964 against St. Louis.
Bob Gibson did not start the 64 series opener because the Cards needed him to beat the Mets on the last day of the regular season. They could have thrown the guy who pitched batting practice out there and beaten the 64 Mets. LOL
What's pretty cool is the warm up music Noah Syndergaard uses at Citifield during his pregame warm up - The Game of Thrones Theme .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdQ3JDLlmPI
Metsman, always with his hand out. Voting for Bernie Sanders? Haha.
Anyone catch Cowherd's interview with Dykstra? Unbelievable. He claims to have hired a Private Investigation team to dig up dirt on umpires so he would get favorable calls. He's delusional.
You only bought the kid one ticket? Kinda sucks, going to a ball game all by yourself.
How did that whole thing start anyway? I'm going to go out on a limb and assume it started with you confidently proclaiming that there was no way in hell the Mets were going to make it to the World Series. Am I close?
OK, let's keep the politics out of it. When you're no longer young and invincible, you may start considering the Dems, too.
And that's coming from a lifetime registered Republican.
Someone called Francesa yesterday, saying David Wright should not be in the starting lineup.
Francesa replied with a WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
The guy is the captain, face of the franchise ... NO WAY he's not starting.
"You only bought the kid one ticket? Kinda sucks, going to a ball game all by yourself."
He's not going by himself. He is going with one friend and meeting up with some others at the stadium. They all have standing room tickets.
Andy, you interject sports into EVERYTHING and every thread (including politics, btw), so to tell someone what keep out of a thread shouldn't be your domain, no?
Lighthearted jab at Metsman. He's been angling to get drinks, dinner, and now tix.
I def try and stay out of the political stuff. Not worth it and doesn't accomplish anything.
In 83 I got a standing room ticket in Philly for 25 bucks ...
after walking around The Vet a couple of times, I slipped into an empty seat among the Orioles' wives.
They said I'd be OK there as long as I was yelling for the O's ... when Eddie Murray hit a bomb, I let out a yell that could probably be heard in Neshaminy and did a funky dance.
Got my $25 worth!
MeisterNJ is just whining because the Yankees are sitting at home watching.
Who the hell is going to play in place of Wright? Uribe? He hit like .200 for the Mets. Some fans are morons.
And Francesa always gets the moronic calls.
People in need of a life, I suppose.
Not at all Metsman.
re: moron fans...you're one and the same person who was calling for Collins and Alderson to be fired in May and June, and second guessed every move in April, right? ........On the way to a World Series. Is there a way to post a mirror on here?
Enjoy the postseason no matter the outcome. Heck of a season for the Mets.
Go Royals.
Yeah well, everyone was in shock that ownership allowed these trades in July. Without them they wouldn't be where they are.
Yup, I'm going Royals, too ... even tho they eliminated the O's last year.
I already made my feelings known about the whole cockamamie playoff structure, no need to repeat myself.
By "old school" standards, the Royals are legit.
The Mets won their division. No matter how far back you go , winning your division puts the team in the playoffs.
Suggesting that the Mets are not legit because they won fewer games than other NL teams is wrong thinking. Several times since 1969 has a team made the playoffs with fewer wins than other teams.
1973 NL The Mets again made the playoffs with 82 wins but four teams from the west division had 82 or more wins.
1972 AL Detroit had 86 wins while Chicago in the west had 87.
1974 your love affair Pirates had 88 wins while three teams from the west had 88 or more wins.
1978 AL KC had 92 wins and three East had more wins
etc etc etc
are all those teams not legit? There is nothing new in a divisional league to see a team with fewer wins make the playoffs. And I'm sure if you went back before divisional playoffs that there will be many examples of teams with better records not making the World Series.
CBGB Nice acknowledgement, grudgingly, Metsman.
Amazing how much better a manager Collins is with a couple more real bats in the lineup, isn't it? Been saying for a couple years that you need a little patience and the Mets will be good. I expected them to be good in 2016. A bit ahead of schedule due to the trade acquisitions. Seems all of the good young teams are a year ahead with the Astros and Cubs also serious contenders now.
Metsman was barking about Collins' managing when it really was about a talent deficient lineup. Can't make filet mignon out of hamburger. Trading Harvey should net them another good bat and they will be even better. Certainly better than the Yanks.
From 1930-1968 thirteen teams with better records didn't make the World Series because they finished in second including a few teams with 100+ wins.
CBGB, from 1930-1968, there was only one "playoff team" from each league and the two leagues didn't play against each other in the regular season. So, while it's possible that two teams in the American League may have had a better record than the National League champion, it's apples and oranges.
The ALCS and NLCS didn't come about until the leagues split into two divisions each in 1969.
The worst team in baseball usually has a lot more wins than the best team in football. Why don't they get to play in the Super Bowl? (-;
Collins is a good motivator. That's his strength. He makes some questionable moves at times in games.
Comparing sports rules from back then to sports rules now never works out . For example just using the current MLB wildcard system in the 80s the second place Mets and Yankees teams of the 80s would have at least made the playoffs a few more times . With the system in place in 2000 the 87 win Yankees division winners beat the 94 win wildcard Mets in the World Series . In the NFL the 2011 the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks won their weak division and made the playoffs despite other non-playoff teams in the NFC with better records . The only absolute that holds true be it the present or the past , if you want to be assured of a playoff position - WIN YOUR DIVISION !
Sorry CBGB . The first sentence in your OP and I missed it . That's what comes from following too many sites .
Stirred up a real hornets' nest, didn't I? Old-school baseball purist from a long past generation that I am?
While I'm at it, what the h*** was Cincinnati doing in the West Division back in 73 while the Cubs and Cardinals were in the EAST? The NLCS that year should have been Reds-Dodgers.
The balanced schedules and symmetry of the game all went to hell in those years.
No wonder a whole generation of kids grew up not knowing their geography!
By golly, I should have a syndicated sports talk show, I'd get those phones ringing with people queue-ing up and champing at the bit to argue with sweet and innocent little old me (-;
Nice win by the Mets. I liked how Thor made a statement on the first pitch and then later told reporters that if the Royals had a problem then come see him on the mound.
I liked how Fox kept going back to showing Moustakas in the dugout screaming at Syndergaard after the pitch. A blind person could have read his lips. I counted four f-bombs, three "pussy"s and at least two "bitch"s. Matz should groove him one under the chin tonight.
If someone throws at David Wright, you'd be saying the same things Moustakas was saying. You'd be saying the same things you said about Utley.
The 'message pitch' was thrown for the simple fact KC won the first two games.
It wasn't 'retaliation' for anything dirty.
Just wondering, is Harvey going to throw at the first hitter tomorrow night?
Is that the way the Mets roll?
Beat the Mets.....Beat the Mets.....Come on out and Beat the Mets.....I am a Met Fan....Terry Collins needs to go......
maxsky This song is dedicated to Noah Class Sin Dergaard. KC was not intimidated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TZ6xrPMwK0
Time to put up or shut up. The Mets have their three studs lined up with the team's collective back against the wall. Start posting those zeroes, or schedule yourself a tee time.
"KC was not intimidated"
Funny... they lost that game 9-3 as I recall. There was nothing wrong with that pitch. I'm sure Nolan or Tom Terrific would tell you the same thing. It was high and inside, but not AT his head. If he hadn't moved a muscle, the ball still wouldn't have hit him. It was just up in his eyes... a message pitch, as you say.
What curse Andy? The Mets have the pitching to be back again. The Royals were just relentless. They wanted it more.
The curse that got put on them at the end of the 86 series ... doomed to decades of futility.
The reason I never buy into the Mets.
As much as Daniel Murphy was the media and fan darling during the first two rounds of playoffs, the World Series exposed the flaws in his game. Same with Cespedes- two hot months (which were crucial in getting them into the playoffs)- and then a month and a half of little production is what Cespedes is.
I don't hear the "Sign Murphy" cries that we did just two weeks ago. And, would you sign Cespedes looking at his whole body of work and boatload of money he wants?
Big changes ahead for the Mets, they still need to upgrade the offense in the off season, or the offensive offense they exhibited the first half and part of the second half of 2015 season, with several hitters hovering around .200 in their lineup (remember until late July, this was a putrid offensive team) will return.
The Rhyme Animal I'll take Murphy -- he'd be a good DH for the O's.
He'd have a good year at Camden Yards without ever having to touch a glove.
He was like Michael Jackson in the NL. Wore a glove on one hand for no reason. LOL
By golly, I should have a syndicated sports talk show
You wouldn't be the first to make a career of saying stupid things just to get a reaction.
What curse? All any realistic fan wanted in 2015 was to contend for a playoff spot and the team over achieved beyond it's talent level , but all the weaknesses eventually came to light . Horrible pen , lousy middle infield defense , a catcher who can't throw out Grandma Moses , and a nitwit manager who incompetently mismanaged games 4 and 5 . A team with some glaring weaknesses , but not as bad as the Cubs or Nationals who must really be cursed .
You can have Murphy , who has never hit more than 14 HRs in a season , and the Mets will gladly take the draft pick from the birds after they make the one year qualifying offer.
I hear you Zombo.... Collins is a bad manager. Sad thing is he'll probably get an extension. Let Murphy, Cespedes, and Clippard walk. They're not worth the money. Flores should be the second baseman and Conforto will be the everyday left fielder. If Lagares is healthy I still like him in CF. It's a young team for the most part. They should get better.
It really isn't fun to have some knowledge of supernatural phenomena ... people don't listen to you anyway ...
and sometimes I see things I don't want to see ... about things much, much more serious than baseball ...
you can't tell people things they don't want to hear.
Anyway, at a "rational level," if the Mets want to get back to the series next year, they need to start in spring training with FUNDAMENTALS. Is Gary Poyer available to be an instructor next spring ... for a nice one-month trip to Florida?
Enough said, I've got work to do.
The Orioles left Memorial Stadium (they've never reached the series at Camden Yards) ... yeah, could be a curse there... Jeffrey Mayer.... But, they haven't had a team for the past two decades that's really been good enough to win.
No miracle comebacks here. Greatest moment in Mets history remains intact.... an error.
When I saw Hosmer break for home, there was a brief instant where I thought about deGrom in Game 6. Then I saw Duda's throw...
I half-laughed, half-grunted and immediately selected The Walking Dead from my DVR menu. Even though that play only tied the game, I knew it was over... as did everyone else, I'm sure.
I'd say the greatest moment in Mets' history was Ron Swoboda's catch to rob Brooks Robinson of a game-winning RBI in 1969. You knew, after that, the Mets were going to win the series.
Giving credit where it is due, those 69 Mets were marvelous and deserved to win that series. Y'all are too young to remember it.
The Orioles came back to win the next year, just like KC did this year.
If anyone wants to have a serious conversation about the reasons for the Mets' curse, feel free to email me ... we can talk without snarky interruptions.
Lets see now , one team last won the World Series in 1983 and haven't even sniffed a return since. But of course it is due to a lack of talent.
Another team hasn't won the World Series since 1986 but have been in it twice since. But THEY are cursed , that's why.
Oy vey , give me a break ( from this stupid prattle )
Juan Lagares needs Tommy John surgery on his elbow. Also the Mets feel that he is out of shape. If he addresses both of those, we will probably see him back in 2017.
Cespedes is history and hopefully so is Murphy.
The Mets should really think about moving Granderson to left field and Conforto to right. Grandy cannot reach third base or home plate from mid right field. My son's college team has a right fielder that throws mid-90s from right field on a line to third base. The Mets have Grandy who bounces it to second.
Not sure where but they need to find a center fielder.
Hopefully one of the young pups can play shortstop.
With all of the camps and showcases that I have been to over the last few years, there have been more than a few catchers with pop times well under 2, that can run 60s under 7 seconds, and hit the ball too. How a guy like d'Arnaud bubbles up to the major leagues is hard to figure. He is a light hitting catcher that can't run well, block well or throw to second.
All very valid concerns.
By the way, the Red Sox lost WS game sevens in 1946, 67, 75, and 86 (did I miss any?) ... after all that, the folks in New England were not just happy they got there.
The Red Sox curse transferred over to the Mets due to events that happened at Shea Stadium following game seven in 1986.
The Baseball Gods hold grudges for a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng time.
I'm just the messenger, that's all.
Reggie just because you see catchers at showcases doing that, doesn't mean they translate to the major leagues. D'Arnaud hit 12 HR and 41 RBI in only 68 games. That's pretty damn good. A full season of him and Conforto makes this still a good lineup even after letting Murphy and Cespedes walk.
Couldn't agree more, Metsman. D'Arnaud is a good hitter (+++ at catcher) and he's not a bad backstop.
28 HRs and 98 RBI prorated over 162 games? I'd take that kind of "light-hitting" at any position, but especially behind the plate,
My Fiance's adult son decided to get a Mets World Champs 2015 tattoo last week. The picture of it has now gone viral and we've had calls from network TV, so he is getting his 15 minutes of fame:
http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2015/11/amazin_fail_mets_fan_got_a_2015_world_series_tatto.html
He has no regerts, ianimal:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Fan-Tattoos-Mets-World-Series-Champs-2015-Mets-Lose-Kansas-City-Royals-339606712.html
CraftBeerBob CraftBeerBob, first he's my fiance's son, and second, he is definitely one of a kind, but more power to him - he has a great attitude of the whole thing.
His footwork is horrible, he can't reach second base accurately, is terrible at blocking the ball, they said last night that Mets catchers haven't thrown out a runner since September. They said today that the Royals were told to run at will on him.
If next year he hits 20 home runs, 80 rbi and .283, we will all be thankful, but let's be real, he isn't going to. Besides which he is injury prone and is unlikely to play a full year.
Give the guy a little time. Does he even have a season's worth of games under his belt? Mets just went to the World Series, demolished two teams on the way, and right away Zombo and Metsman are beating the Fire Collins drum, the catcher has to go, and Cespedes and Murphy can't leave fast enough. Jeez. Mets lost to a better team. Period. Enjoy the successful season for a minute.
And Zombo can wait at least another day or two until he starts the re-sign EY Jr write in campaign.
d'Naud is great at calling pitches , got really good at blocking the plate , and can hit . But he can't stay healthy or throw out anyone . So I'd trade him , Duda , and Lagares to the Pirates for Andrew McCutchen . Sounds like a fair trade to me .
Are d'Arnaud and Duda a significant upgrade over Cervelli and Alvarez? I don't think so. So you're talking about trading Lagares for Cutch. LOL.
Well you praised d'Naud not me . And what catcher plays 162 games ?
28 HRs and 98 RBI prorated over 162 games? I'd take that kind of "light-hitting" at any position, but especially behind the plate,
ianimal ianimal ✉
7 hours ago
I said I would take him, I didn't say I would give up McCutchen. I wouldn't even give up Gregory Polanco. What do you say to Sean Rodriguez and a slightly damaged Gatorade cooler?
If the Mets want Cutch, the Pirates should just say, give us Harvey.
And that would be the end of that.
ianimal are you kidding me.... If D'Arnaud played 130 games like Cervelli there would be no comparison.
Cutch is one of my favorite players --- does not hurt that we share the same birthday.
The Pirates have had some of the best outfielders to ever play the game, and Cutch has joined that special group.
He's the same age Frank Robinson was when Cincy traded him to the O's ... most of you know what that trade did for the birds.
Cutch should be a lifetime Pirate --- if his health holds up, he'll have five or six more quality seasons.
Meanwhile, if the Mets want to give up on Lagares, I think the O's would be interested ... even though the birds don't have a lot to offer. Someone would have to scout their farm system.
If Juan gets healthy he could be an everyday right fielder (we have Adam Jones winning gold gloves in center) or he could be a platoon/fourth outfielder type of guy.
Buck might just give him a shot at the leadoff hitter job.
We went to a Pirates game a few weeks back while we were in Pittsburgh, it was a Sunday night game.
To say that there were 20,000 McCutchen jerseys and shirts would be a very low estimate. There were at least 6 or 7 in every single row. We couldn't believe it except to see it!
The guy is more popular than Tom Seaver was here. They would be hunted down and tortured by the masses if they dealt him.
By the way, Pittsburgh is a really fun city and that is a really cool stadium, we took a boat over from the hotel, it was a really nice night. 100% more fun than driving to and parking at Shea/Citi.
I liked Pittsburgh, too, when I visited.
The fans were a lot more pleasant than they are in the Eastern Megalopolis cities, and what surprised me was all the classy, cultural activity that goes on there.
Grew up with the impression that the city is all blue collar hard hat types ... and don't get me wrong, those kinds of people belong, too.
In a lot of ways, I found Pittsburgh to be a smaller version of Manhattan and cleaner and much friendlier.
"If D'Arnaud played 130 games like Cervelli there would be no comparison."
You are most probably correct. The question is, would the Pirates have to sign him to a 3-year deal to get 130 games out of him?
Also, d'Arnaud put up essentially the same numbers in 67 games last year that he did in 108 games the year before. Did he get that much better or was it a fluke? I think he's got good potential and a lot more upside than Cervelli, but the jury is still out. And in Cervelli's defense, he didn't hit for a lot of power but a catcher that hits around .300 with a .370 OBP isn't anything to sneeze at either.
Out of all the "Rust Belt" cities, Pittsburgh has done probably the best job of transitioning to a "post-industrial" economy. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been instrumental in that regard and I believe is the largest employer in the region. I love it out there... can't wait to take the boy to baseball and football games when he gets a little older.
I'll always remember D'Arnaud as the guy who got traded for two Cy Young winners ... going from the Phillies to Toronto for Roy Halladay ... from Toronto to the Mets for R.A. Dickey.
In the season after which the Phillies traded him, he played for my hometown Lakewood Blue Claws and tore up the Class A South Atlantic League with a mighty .255 batting average.
He also played for Las Vegas with two different organizations --- Toronto and the Mets.
There ya go, that's what I think of when you mention Travis D'Arnaud.
Well if you can't spell Travis d'Naud right it's no wonder you believe in old woman stupidstition curses .
Speaking of spells ...
go ahead and google Jack Rogers Red Sox traveling secretary. This isn't the first time I've posted it, I remember posting it in 2012 and Metsman accused me of being a Yankees fan ... I've been badgering you with stories about the 1966 to 83 Orioles ever since, to prove I am NOT a Yankees fan.
This curse has a definitive beginning ... the Mets were cursed at the conclusion of the 1986 World Series because of the despicable action of a fan. Long after game 7 had concluded, as the dejected Red Sox traveling contingent walked across the field toward the team bus beyond the outfield, the aforementioned moron threw a beer bottle that hit Rogers in the head and knocked him to the ground, bleeding. Some news reports said it was a soda can, others said it was a bottle. What really outraged the Baseball Gods was the two NYC policemen who stood there, laughing. At that moment the Baseball Gods turned their backs on the Mets and ordained they shall suffer decades (plural) of futility.
I learned about this curse in 1997. Now, I thought, after all the heroism of the NYC police in 2001, and the good things the Mets did in the aftermath of 9/11, that this curse would change ... but look at all the things that have happened to the Mets since then, and their great gut-wrenching heartbreaks that have happened at home -- Beltran's called third strike in 2006 --- Glavine's pathetic start on the last day of 2007 --- the ceremonial closing of Shea in 2008 spoiled by the stinking Marlins eliminating the Mets that day -- and now the mad dash to home plate and Lucas Duda's pathetic throw. And Syndergaard (I don't care if I spelled it right) being hailed a hero for throwing at someone's head.
OK ... believe whatever you want to believe. Live and let live, and all that.
Good luck next year.
WHO can't spell Travis d'Arnaud?: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/darnatr01.shtml
Perhaps the Elias Sports Bureau can confirm that the Mets are the only team to ever have a pitcher - catcher battery, with both guys' last names starting with ...
a lower case d.
Maybe Francesa knows ... he knows everything, right?
They also had den Dekker in CF at one point, so they had little "d" up the middle...
I've been told that the article in the name is not really part of the last name. In other words, when you write it last name first, it should be written as so: "Dekker, Matt den".
In the original Dutch, anyway.
When your team loses the WS, you have to put up with stuff like the following ...
aah, if the Mets were in the AL East, they might not have had 90 wins because they would not have had all those games with the Phillies, Braves, Marlins .... had they made the playoffs at all they would have been in the anything-can-happen one-game playoff ...
and if they had won, they would have played Kansas City. Luck of the draw.
Bye Bye Metsies in the ALDS.
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