Met Musings And More

Could Reyes follow the sun?

2011-11-10T00:00:00.003-05:00

YouTube Video: The Beatles vacation in Miami, set to "I'll Follow The Sun" (From Beatles Anthology)

Well, that does seem to be the latest scuttlebutt, as he is meeting with the Marlins.

An AP/USA Today report discusses a full court treatment for Reyes, complete with a tour of the new stadium set to open next spring, and lunch on South Beach.

Will Reyes take his talents to South Beach? The report does suggest that the Marlins would most likely move All Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez to third if Reyes does sign with them. Also the article mentions the Marlins are looking at Mark Buehrle as well.

2011 Post Mortem

2011-10-01T21:46:00.007-04:00

Baseball-Reference.com 2011 New York Mets

Well, that...such as it was...was that.

Not much else to say. I mean did anyone honestly expect that much change in year one of the Sandy Alderson regime?

Alright, production out of Wright and Bay, Santana to appear at least once in 2011, Francisco Rodriguez to bounce back a bit, even with that vesting option hanging like a Sword of Damocles over the organization, and maybe a few more things that would have made another mediocre campaign more bearable than it had any right to be.

In any event, it was what it was. A 77 win season, 4th place finish, and a horizon that looks as murky and uncertain as it was when the season began.

Bright spots do include the rise of youngsters like Josh Turner and Jonathon Niese, but the other side of the coin is the fact that Citi Field's dimensions are going to change in 2012. Will whatever the changes are mean that finally David Wright's mind will be clear enough to perform well at his home ballpark on a consistent basis? Will Jason Bay finally be the offensive force the Mets thought they signed heading into the 2010 season? And will changes to make Citi be a more offensive friendly park mean pitchers have to pitch differently, which means a whole new set of headaches if it wasn't enough dealing with Wright's decline in the three seasons the park has been open.

And now to address the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Or will it be the 100 million dollar gorilla in the room? By the way, image courtesy of UltimateMets.com, the great Ultimate Mets Database site.

First, was it a bush and cheap way to "back into" a batting crown? Yes it was. Sure it's been done before, but that doesn't make it any less right.

Second, unless there is some sort of deal that is ready to be announced as soon as the World Series has ended, or somehow Reyes and the Mets feel that a new deal is inevitable, it does seem to be a pretty shoddy way for Reyes to have his final official on field moment to be dashing for the dugout as he is being lifted for a pinch runner. I was there, and the general response from the sparse crowd was a definite "What the?!"

Now, it is fair to say that he did come out alone after the game, but apparently it was at the prodding of Willie Harris, but at the same time, it was robbing fans of an in-game moment. Meaningless in the grand scheme of things of course, but at the same time there always is that "final at bat" or "final appearance" that is what part of that team and fan connection is all about. Put it this way, Carlos Beltran was able to have "that moment" during the last home game before the trade deadline. Reyes robbed the Met fans to give him his "sendoff." And it is yet another telling sign of Reyes' personality that can certainly rub people the wrong way.

Course, that is a moot point if Reyes returns for the 2012 season and beyond, but, no doubt it will add a little more rancor to the reaction if Reyes returns to Citi Field in a uniform other than a home Mets jersey.

All that being said, do I want the Mets to resign him? Now, it would be silly to say no as a Met fan. I mean going from Reyes to Ruben Tejada at short? Not to mention needing to replace what Reyes gave you at the top of the lineup? I'll agree with those that it may be easy to find the same type of player Reyes is, but with the Mets financial situation still looking as murkier as it did heading into this season, and the possibility of payroll being slashed even more, that player would be hard to come by.

Of course the flip side is, do you want Reyes and Wright to still be part of the franchise once they turn the financial corner one way or the other? Part of me says yes, especially watching both take down various All-Time Met leaders in offensive categories. But the other part of me wonders if turning the page from them is necessary at this point. So what I seem to be saying is that while I'll take Reyes back, I won't be all that heartbroken to see him sign elsewhere this winter.

Mets To Induct 4 80's Icons Into Their Hall

2010-01-19T19:41:00.004-05:00

The Mets announced this afternoon that Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Johnson and Frank Cashen (can't quickly come up with a good photo of Cashen at the moment) into their Hall of Fame. The foursome will be inducted into the currently under construction HOF and Museum at Citi Field. With the inductions, it will bring the Mets Hall of Fame number to 25.

Long time, no post!

2009-09-03T19:27:00.002-04:00

Yeah, long time, no post I know.
Well, I can put the blame on several factors including;
Met season going horrendously wrong,
Life going crazy during the summer,
And debating several other blogs to start with a Met theme.

Well, anyway, should get into some flow of consistency somewhat, but in the meantime, I will promote a “Blog Reading,” think of it like a coffee shop poetry slam type of thing only with Mets, and beer, at Two Boots Tavern in the Lower East Side.

It’s a pizza joint that blends Italian with Louisiana Cajun style. The place can be located at 384 Grand St. to be exact, between Norfolk and Suffolk in Manhattan. Greg Prince and Jason Fry of FaithAndFearInFlushing.com are the brains behind this “Amazin’ Tuesdays” thing that was going all summer long, and the last one will be held on Tuesday night, September 15th.

Anyway, also changed my email address here on the site, so shoot me an email at sjrmets@gmail.com

From the, better 6 months too late than never department, the Shea Goodbye Report

2009-05-06T19:56:00.002-04:00

September 28th, 2009. Over 56,000 fans packed into William A. Shea Municipal Stadium in Flushing, New York one last time to watch the New York Mets play the Florida Marlins. After 45 seasons, Shea Stadium was closing its doors. It was also a
day to celebrate the past 45 seasons of Met history, which included;

Seven trips to the postseason,

Four World Series, including three series clinching games, two by the Mets,

Seven NL Championship Series, including four series clinching games, three by the Mets,

Three NL Division Series, which includes twice the Mets clinching the series,

Three NL East Division championship clinching games by the Mets,

A postseason berth “tie” clincher in 1999,

Four CY Young award winning seasons,

Three Met Rookie of the Year award winning seasons,

And too numerous moments and great players to mention.

Walking around the parking lot, just off to the side of Gate E a couple of hours before the game, one could get a good sense about the mixture of feelings and emotions that were going to be flooding through the stadium. Wandering around the lot, with Citi Field’s Jackie Robinson Rotunda looming, almost ominously in the light drizzle and its unfinished state, as a backdrop; fans were in full force with tailgates, including an informal gathering of members of a Mets internet message forum, many ready to say their final regular season goodbyes to their “summer home.” “Yeah, I’ve been coming here for a long time.” Craig, a fan from Hempstead in his late 20s said. “Almost 30 years now!”

While some fans, like Craig were looking forward to what awaited them in 2009, some like Chris from New Hyde Park, didn’t seem quite ready; “I’m not happy with Citi Field, [Shea] was perfect! There are going to be less seats and all.” Also Julia, a Yonkers native who had been a fan since the Mets inception in 1962 wished that the new place could be “a bit more blue of course.”

Inside the stadium the sentiment was still the same. Because of the inclement weather, the Diamond Club’s Bar and Grill Room provided a nice spot for fans to hoist one more cold one before the game. Among them was a Port Jefferson native, Rob, who brought his 8-month year old son to witness the final game. “We’re kind of sad to see it go, obviously, I’m not happy to see Shea go, you have to accept it.”

Even people going back to the days the stadium first opened were gathered to say one more farewell, Phil from Orange County, who watched the stadium being built, echoed the sentiments many were feeling, “I saw the 1969 and 2000 World Series, it’s been a great run here.” Phil also brought up a connection between the stadium, the organization and its fans that he felt was different than what happens over in the Bronx; “It’s a real family feel and it’s a comfortable place. As a kid I grew up here, and as an adult my kids have grown up here. It’s a great family environment.”

From the other side of the age spectrum is Joe, a Middle Village native who was sporting his Howard Johnson throwback jersey for the game; “I think I am, ready to move on, but I’m going to miss this place. Nothing rocks more than Shea when there is a big game, and that’s what I’m going to miss the most, but hopefully we’ll make some new memories.

One thing that should be part of the Citi Field experience though, is the fan known as “Cow-Bell Man.” Eddie Boison, from the Bronx, has been patrolling the Shea Stadium aisles for 13 years now, with cow-bell in hand, and #15 (in honor of Carlos Beltran) jersey on. And Boison does seem ready for the move; “I plan to be there, I’m looking forward to it. We are going to have new memories there.”

Joe McDonald, of NYSportsDay.com and NY Sports Scene magazine was also at the game, covering the last game at Shea, doing what he has for around 125 times over the last four years, and hundreds more as a fan; “The first game I remember going to was September 24, 1982. The Mets won and essentially knocked the Phillies out of the playoffs race. I remember that day, because the ski caps they gave away that day are still at my parent’s house.”

McDonald also provided a glimpse of Shea that the general public didn’t know much about; “As a member of the media, the press elevator is the absolute worst. I sometimes think there’s a little hamster in a wheel running it!”

Much like 2007, the Mets headed into the matchup with the Florida Marlins needing a win to keep faint postseason hopes alive, with the Philadelphia Phillies clinching the NL East the day before. Johan Santana's three-hit complete game shutout and the Cubs' 7-3 win over Milwaukee meant that the two teams were in flat footed 89-72 tie for the Wild Card lead. Both teams won or lost, there would be a one game playoff at Shea on Monday the 29th. If either team won, and the other lost, the loser's season was done.

The game itself was nearly a microcosm of the 2008 Mets season.

After allowing one hit through the first five, Oliver Perez gave up three straight hits and a run to start the sixth. A second run would score after Perez was lifted for Joe Smith.

The Mets tied the game at two in the bottom of the inning on a two-run Carlos Beltran home run. In the 8th however, the Marlins retook the lead on a Wes Helms home run off of Scott Schoenweis, and Dan Uggla's home run off of Luis Ayala gave the game its final run.

It was around that time that the Brewers' Ryan Braun broke a 1-1 tie against the Cubs in the bottom of the 8th. CC Sabathia just gave up one hit in the top of the ninth to give the Brewers at least a tie for the Wild Card.

The Mets mounted a rally in the bottom of the eight, but weren't able to capitalize. With former Met farmhand Matt Lindstrom on the mound, the Mets went quietly in the ninth, with the final out of the the game, the season, and the stadium being Ryan Church flying out to centerfielder Cameron Maybin.

About a half hour later, and there was still a great crowd lingering for this, the “Shea Goodbye” ceremony got under way. For some reason part of this was setting up special multiple sided placard type signs featuring photos of past Mets and moments from Shea’s history in the outfield. And interestingly enough the signs were never referred to, or spotlighted during the ceremony.

Kicking off was footage of Billy Joel from his July concert at Shea playing a little “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” on the piano. This was followed by Mr. Met revealing a Citi Field Logo underneath the #1 on the countdown. This was met by a reaction of boos from the crowd, perhaps more so a release from watching another season end in bitter disappointment than reaction to the Mets new home’s rather plain and hideously designed logo.

Radio broadcaster Howie Rose was the Master of Ceremonies and gave a nice opening intro to the ceremony and noted that a few of the guests whom were invited couldn’t be there;

Outfielder Jim Hickman (1962-1966)
Pitcher Nolan Ryan (1966, 1968-1971)
Catcher Jerry Grote (1966-1977)
Pitcher Jon Matlack (1971-1977}
Infielder Hubie Brooks (1980-1984, 1991}
Catcher Todd Hundley (1990-1998)
Manager Davey Johnson (1984-1990}
Infielder Ray Knight (1984-1986} and
Outfielder Mookie Wilson (1980-1989}.

Next up would be several members of the Mets family through the years to gather behind the home plate area;

Long time employee Bob Mandt
Long time employee, the late Jim Plummer’s widow and son
Groundskeeper Pete Flynn
The stadium's namesake's children Kathy Shea Anfuso and Bill Shea Jr.
The Voice of the Mets, Bob Murphy’s widow, Joy
The manager of the 1969 World Champions, Gil Hodges’ widow, Joan and son Gil Hodges Jr.
Outfielder Tommie Agee’s (1968-1972} widow Maxine and Agee’s daughter Janelle
Mark and Mathew McGraw representing the late pitcher Tug McGraw (1965-1967, 1969-1974)
And longtime broadcaster, Ralph Kiner

Rose then proceeded to do a roll call of 43 ex-Mets invited back to make their ways from both bullpens to line up between first and third. Each Met came out in era specific throwback uniforms;

# 22 Pitcher Jack Fisher (1964-1967)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 33 Infielder Ron Hunt (1963-1966)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 15 Pitcher Al Jackson (1962-1965, 1968-1969}
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 25 Outfielder Frank Thomas (1962-1964)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 43 Pitcher Jim McAndrew (1968-1973}
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 27 Pitcher Craig Swan {1973-1984}
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 9 Outfielder George Theodore (1973-1974}
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 23 Infielder Doug Flynn (1977-1981)
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 5 Infielder Ed Charles (1967-1969}
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 24 Outfielder Art Shamsky (1968-1971}
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 11 Infielder Wayne Garrett (1969-1976)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 26 Outfielder Dave Kingman (1975-1977, 1981-1983)
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 17 Infielder Felix Millan (1973-1977)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 12 Catcher John Stearns (1975-1984}
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 15 Outfielder George Foster (1982-1986}
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 11 Infielder Tim Teufel (1986-1991}
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 9 Infielder Todd Zeile (2000-2001, 2004)
Uniform Style, current pinstriped button down

# 4 Outfielder Ron Swoboda (1965-1970)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

#16 Outfielder Lee Mazzilli (1976-1981, 1986-1989)
Uniform Style the early 1980s pullover with blue and orange sleeve and neck trim

# 6 Infielder Wally Backman (1980-1988)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 12 Pitcher Ron Darling (1983-1991)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 50 Pitcher Sid Fernandez (1984-1993)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 20 Infielder Howard Johnson (1985-1993)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping though still
wearing his snow white uniform pants, undergarments and cap from the game!

# 19 Pitcher Bob Ojeda (1986-1990)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 4 Infielder Robin Ventura (1999-2001)
Uniform Style, current pinstriped button down

# 22 Pitcher Al Leiter (1998-2004)
Uniform Style current pinstriped button down

# 7 Infielder Ed Kranepool (1962-1979)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down. Oddly enough, this appears to have
been the first time Kranepool has worn a uniform to a Met reunion that wasn’t his actual 1979 uniform top!

# 21 Outfielder Cleon Jones (1963, 1965-1975)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down Walking out of the, appropriately enough, left field bullpen, a few feet from where he caught the final out of the 1969 World Series.

# 3 Infielder Bud Harrelson (1965-1977)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 47 Pitcher Jesse Orosco (1979, 1981-1987)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 13 Infielder Edgardo Alfonzo (1995-2002)
Uniform Style current pinstriped button down

# 45 Pitcher John Franco (1990-2001, 2003-2004)
Uniform Style current pinstriped button down

# 10 Outfielder Rusty Staub (1972-1975, 1981-1985)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 4 Outfielder Len Dykstra (1985-1989)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 8 Catcher Gary Carter (1985-1989)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 36 Pitcher Jerry Koosman (1967-1978)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 8 Coach and Manager Yogi Berra (1965-1975)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 17 Infielder Keith Hernandez (1983-1989)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 18 Outfielder Darryl Strawberry (1983-1990)
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 16 Pitcher Dwight Gooden (1984-1994}
Uniform Style the mid 1980s pullover with the blue and orange piping

# 24 Outfielder Willie Mays (1972-1973)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down

# 31 Catcher Mike Piazza (1998-2005)
Uniform Style current pinstriped button down

# 41 Pitcher Tom Seaver (1967-1977, 1983)
Uniform Style the 1960s and 1970s button down.

Naturally the applauses got louder with each dignitary, with special applauses for first time returnees John Franco Dwight Gooden, and Mike Piazza. Al Leiter got a smattering of boos though, as he is now a broadcaster with the Yankees, and has in the past gave some harsh comments about the Mets.

For those who care about such things the Shea Stadium debut season of 1964 was represented with 5 players (Fisher, Hunt, Jackson, Thomas, and Kranepool).

The 1969 World Champions, whom will have their 40th anniversary in 2009, were represented with 11 players (Seaver, Koosman, Kranepool, Jones, Garrett, Harrelson, Shamsky, Swoboda, Charles, McAndrew and Jackson, who played in 9 games early that season), 1 coach (Berra) and representatives of two deceased players and the the deceased manager (Agee, McGraw and Hodges.

Seaver, Berra, Koosman, Kranepool, Jones, Garrett, Harrelson and McAndrew were joined by Staub, Theodore, Millan Mays and Swan (September call up that year) to make up the 13 representatives from the 1973 NL Champions.

The 1986 World Champions were represented by 14 players (Gooden, Strawberry, Hernandez, Carter, Johnson, Fernandez, Ojeda, Darling, Dysktra, Backman, Mazzilli, Orosco, Teufel and Foster (released in mid-season) and 1 coach (Harrelson).

That group, minus Foster and Orosco, also represents the 1988 NL East winning squad as well

The 1999 Wild Card Winners were represented with 5 players (Piazza, Franco, Ventura, Leiter, Alfonzo) with a 6th added in Zeile to represent the 2000 NL Champions.

Then a nice Shea retrospective video was played to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes' “it's Been A Long Time.” Then, with half of the procession from the third base line, and the other half down the first base line, each of the 43 Mets, led by Willie Mays “crossed the plate” for the last time. Some added some unique twists as opposed to the standard wave to the crowd;

Mays, Jackson, McAndrew and Shamsky gave the plate a touch with their fingers.

Theodore and Harrelson leapt onto the plate.

Jones recreated his 1969 World Series clinching final out catch.

Orosco did the same with his 1986 fists high in the air celebratory pose after recording the final out in the World Series.

Alfonzo did his customary pointing skyward.

Hernandez did his batting stance.

Seaver recreated his bowing to each section that he did to cap of his 1988 number retirement speech.

Tom Seaver then strolled to the mound, on which his exploits earned him the nickname "The Franchise," and proceeded to throw a ceremonial "final pitch" to future Hall of Fame backstop Mike Piazza. Before doing so, Seaver made sure to motion to the retired number # 14, honoring Gil Hodges.

Seaver and Piazza then proceed to walk towards centerfield while the PA system played Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" and The Beatles' "In My Life."

The two Met icons then waved one more time to the crowd before closing the centerfield gate and a final Shea Stadium pyrotechnic display went up, a final "thank you for your support" message from the PA announcer, one more playing of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" and with that, the lights at Shea Stadium were turned off for the final time.

Sorry about the deletion

2009-04-12T09:51:00.000-04:00

Thought I wasn't going to have much time to keep this up, but changed my mind about shutting this site down.

More updates to come...

Goodbye Duaner Sanchez

2009-03-11T19:36:00.001-04:00

On Tuesday the Mets parted ways with another member of the 2006 bullpen, as Duaner Sanchez was given his release.

The move, according to reports, is designed to help other members of the scrum fighting to make the 2009 Mets bullpen corps. Since the move was made before March 18th, the Mets are now obligated to pay 16.4% of his contract.

This ends a saga that began with a July 31st 2006 late night/early morning traffic accident where Sanchez’ shoulder was injured, forcing him to miss the remainder of a season in which he was outstanding as Billy Wagner’s setup man and the entire Met postseason run. He also missed the entire 2007 season. However, Sanchez showed up to 2008 spring training overweight, missing some velocity and wound up with a 4.32 ERA in 66 apperances.

Mets Release 2009 Promotional Schedule

2009-03-11T19:33:00.001-04:00

The Mets have posted their promotional schedule for 2009.
Some interesting items of note;

-Johan Santana Drawstring Bag, Sat. April 18th.
This is basically the Santana 57 uniform as a book bag. Should be nice for younger fans.

-Dunkin’ Donuts Gift Card, Sat. July 11th.
And once again, you will not be able to use it at Citi Field’s Dunkin’ Donuts stand!

-Citi Field Ballpark Replica, Sun. Aug. 23rd.
I’m looking forward to this as a collector of these stadium replicas. If it is anything like the Shea replicas that have been stadium giveaways in the past, then it should be a good pickup.

-Frankie Rodriguez Bobblehead, Sun Sep. 6th.
Only Bobblehead listed so far on the schedule. Should be a nice addition to anyone’s collection.

-There are 5 “Mr. Met Dashes” this season;
Saturday April 25th, Sunday May 31st, Sunday July 12th, Monday August 24th and Sunday September 6th.

-As well as a “Senior Stroll” slated for Wednesday May 13th.
And once again there are a slew of Community, Health Awareness, Heritage and

Theme dates on the schedule.

In May North Babylon, Lynbrook and Half Hollow Hills Little League have Community Nights.

Autism, Alzheimer and Epilepsy are the Health Awareness days.

Greek, Polish-American, Irish and Jewish are the Heritage days, and there is an Oktoberfest day on Friday October 2nd.

And Theme days will include;

Jackie Robinson Night (MLB’s annual Robinson tribute), D.A.R.E, PIX11 Weather Education Day with Mr. G & Linda Church, City Harvest Skip Lunch Fight Hunger Night, Fitness & Nutrition Education Day, Freedom Alliance Day, two Faith Days, Lutheran School Association Day, Brooklyn/Queens Catholic School Nights, two Employee Appreciation Nights, two Camp Days and Police & Firefighters.
The list of the dates can be found here:

Promotions: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/schedule/promotions.jsp?c_id=nym
and here:
Themes: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/schedule/themedates.jsp

Mets 2-0 as Spring Begins.

2009-02-26T20:03:00.001-05:00

The Mets got their 2009 spring started off to a fast start with back-to-back wins over Baltimore and Florida.

The Mets beat the Orioles in Fort Lauderdale 9-3 on Wednesday the 25th. Luis Castillo and Ryan Church were the big offensive stars of the game. Castillo went two for three, and drove in four runs; Church also went two for three and drove in three runs.

The Mets played their first game at Tradition Field on Thursday the 26th with a 9-0 thrashing of the Marlins. Jose Reyes hit two homeruns and drove in six, and Carlos also added a two-run shot. Pitching wise, Oliver Perez kicked off his spring with a two inning, three strikeout performances. Perez and the bullpen corps surrendered three hits on the afternoon.

The Mets will wrap up the month of February Friday afternoon, 1:10pm start, at Port St. Lucie against the Cardinals, and Saturday the 28th when they visit the Tigers in Lakeland. The Mets will kick off March on Sunday, back in Port St. Lucie against the Astros.

And that, would be that. Shea Stadium is no more.

2009-02-19T20:11:00.004-05:00

On October 28, 1961 ground was broken in a ceremony for what was then called Flushing Meadow Park Municipal Stadium.

On February 18th, 2009 the final piece of Shea Stadium fell.

Pictures from Gary Dunaier and can be found on Baseball-Fever.com

A view of the soon to be Citi Field parking lot. Taken from another
Baseball-Fever.com member, Oct251986

2009 Roster Watch # 1

2009-02-12T22:17:00.002-05:00

Taking a page from CranepoolForum.com's Edgy In DC here is a look at the projected Opening Day Roster, as of today, Feb. 12th.

Starting Pitchers
57 Johan Santana
46 Oliver Perez
34 Mike Pelfrey
33 John Maine
44 Tim Redding

In the Bullpen
75 Francisco Rodriguez
22 J.J. Putz
48 Sean Green
25 Pedro Feliciano
32 Carlos Muniz
50 Duaner Sanchez
43 Brian Stokes

Catchers
23 Brian Schneider
11 Ramon Castro

Infielders
21 Carlos Delgado
1 Luis Castillo
5 David Wright
7 Jose Reyes
12 Alex Cora

Outfielders
15 Carlos Beltran
19 Ryan Church
9 Marlon Anderson
28 Daniel Murphy
18 Jeremy Reed
17 Fernando Tatis

Belated salute to latest ex-Met to make the Hall

2009-02-12T21:49:00.003-05:00

What can one say about Rickey Henderson that hasn’t been said already, or by him?

The numbers speak for themselves, and the fine baseball reference website, Baseball-Reference.com has the newly minted Hall of Famer’s stats in all of their glory;

2,295 runs scored the most in the history of Major League Baseball.
3,055 hits, good for 21^st on the all time list.
2,190 walks, second only to Barry Bonds.
1,406 stolen bases, also an MLB record.
Led the league in stolen bases 12 times, and runs scored 5 times.
10 time All-Star, won the 1990 AL MVP, and member of two World Championship teams.

In short, Rickey Henderson is one of the all-time legends. He also has been the living embodiment of the classic country music tune, “I’ve Been Everywhere.” His major league timeline, courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com is as follows;

Drafted by the Oakland A’s, and the team that he will wear on his HOF plaque, in 1976, and makes his MLB debut on June, 24^th of 1979.
This first tour in Oakland, which featured his famous 1982 season where he set the standard for stolen bases in a single season with 130, came to an end on December 5^th in 1984 when he was part of a seven player deal to the New York Yankees.
Henderson’s first stay in New York lasted until June 21^st of 1989, when he was sent back to the A’s for three players.
By July of 1993, the A’s were in the midst of breaking up the “Bash Brothers” era squad, and sent Henderson on to the Toronto Blue Jays. With the Jays Henderson joins one of the best all-around offenses of the day, and helps the Jays win their second straight championship.
Henderson actually wound up going back to Oakland as a free agent that offseason! Signing a two year deal with the A’s on December 17^th.
1996 would bring Henderson to the NL for the first time, as he signed with the Padres in December of 1995, he would be a Padre until being traded to the Anaheim Angels on August 13^th, 1997.
Henderson became a free agent at the end of the 1997 season, and in January of 1998, he signed for the 4^th and final time in Oakland.
Henderson joined the Mets in December of 1998, and would stay until he was too much of a headache for the Mets to take, and was released on May 13^th 2000.
It wasn’t long though, May 19^th to be exact, that he was signed by another team, and he finished the season as a Seattle Mariner.
It would take until the middle of Spring Training of 2001 though for Henderson to find a home, and he was brought back by the Padres.
Henderson wound up signing for the 2002 season with the Boston Red Sox
And in July of 2003, Henderson signed up with his final Major League team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. His final game coming on September 19^th.

And that is not even taking in account his time in independent minor leagues, with the 2003 and 2004 Newark Bears and 2005 (at the age of 46) San Diego Surf Dawgs!

And for a final word, how about from Rickey himself! Here is a “Rickey Quote Quiz” courtesy of Jeff Blair, of Toronto’s The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com and try your hand on whether the story is true, false or conceivable;

1. Then free agent Rickey telephoned San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers one off-season and left the this message: "Kevin, this is Rickey. Calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play baseball."

True.

2. Rickey went up to John Olerud when the two were reunited as teammates with the Seattle Mariners in 2000 and said: "I played with a guy who had the same thing," referring to Olerud wearing his helmet in the field. Olerud had been teammates earlier with the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets.

False, according to both Henderson and Olerud through the years.

3. Cornered by reporters in the visitors clubhouse at the Rogers Centre in Toronto in 2005, Rickey, then with the Boston Red Sox, was asked about a bombshell article in Sports Illustrated that had just come out in which former major-leaguer Ken Caminiti claimed that 50 per cent of all major-leaguers used steroids. "Well, Rickey's not one of them, so that's 99 per cent right there."

False, Henderson’s quote is “so that’s 49 per cent right there.”

4. An internal in-season audit by the New York Yankees one year revealed that Rickey had not cashed a six-figure bonus cheque. When a then low-level club official named Brian Cashman asked Henderson whether there was a problem with the bank, Rickey responded, "No problem, I'm just waiting for the money-market rates to go up."

True.

5. After going to spring training with the Red Sox on a minor-league contract worth $350,000 if he made the major-league roster, Rickey complained publicly after making the team that he was underpaid. When assistant GM Mike Port reminded him he had signed a contract, Rickey responded with: "Oh, that? I cancelled that contract."

True.

6. When he was with the Padres, Rickey walked by the rest of the team's veterans to sit in the back of the bus. Told by Tony Gwynn that he could sit at the front because he had tenure, Rickey replied: "Ten? Rickey got 20 years in the big leagues!"

True.

7. After reaching base during a game against the Baltimore Orioles, Rickey looked at Orioles third baseman Floyd Rayford and held up two fingers. He then stole second and third.

Conceivable.

8. Rickey was on the toilet in the Oakland Athletics' clubhouse when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck before Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.

Conceivable.

9. Rickey walked more times to lead off an inning (796) than 70 other Hall of Famers had career walks.

False, the number is 50.

10. Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonilla watched the final outs of the Mets' elimination in the 1999 National League Championship Series from the bullpen

False, they were playing cards in the clubhouse.

Mets Give Fans Gift Of New Pen

2008-12-14T11:11:00.001-05:00

When the dust had settled from the Winter Meetings, the Mets ended up nearly overhauling their entire bullpen, considered a major culprit by many fans and media alike in the September collapses in 2007 and 2008.

First task that Omar Minaya needed to take care of was to get a closer to replace Billy Wagner, who will miss the entire 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery. The biggest reliever out there was Los Angeles of Anaheim Angel Francisco Rodriguez, who is coming off of a year when he broke the single season save record, and on December 9th, it was announced that the Mets inked him to a three-year deal, worth a reported $37 million.

Heading into the meetings, rumors were swirling about the Mets bullpen needs. Among the options bandied about were free agent Brian Fuentes of the Colorado Rockies, and trade possibilities such as Chad Cordero of the Washington Nationals and Huston Street, who became a Rockie this offseason in a trade with Oakland. The Mets would pull the trigger on a trade that would send the much maligned Aaron Heilman to Seattle for closer J.J. Putz. The trade, announced on the 10th, was part of a three-way deal that included the Seattle Mariners.

The Mets ended up sending Heilman, 2006 postseason hero outfielder Endy Chavez, often injured starter Jason Vargas, and minor leaguers Mike Carp, Ezequiel Carrera and Maikel Cleto to Seattle as well as sending submarine reliever Joe Smith to Cleveland and acquired Putz, pitcher Sean Green, and outfielder Jeremy Reed, all from Seattle.

Putz was the closer in Seattle, and word from Seattle seemed to indicate that would like to remain a closer, however due to Francisco Rodriguez’s status, and contract, Putz will be the eighth inning pitcher for the Mets in 2009. However, Putz was quoted by Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times as saying; “It’s a new challenge and I’m excited about it. I’m going to a new team that’s going to be very competitive. Francisco Rodriguez is a great closer, and with Sean Green going as well, we should have a great bullpen.”

The Mets would continue reconstituting the bullpen throughout the weekend, as they selected Rocky Cherry from Baltimore and Darren O’Day from the Angels organization in the Rule V draft on the 11th, and on the 12th traded Scott Schoeneweis to Arizona for pitcher Connor Robertson.

In other Met transaction news, earlier in the month, on December 3rd, the Mets announced the first round of spring training invites. Pitchers Adam Bostick, Nelson Figueroa and infielder Andy Green were re-signed to minor league contracts, and signed former Mariner and Dodger catcher Rene Rivera to a minor league contract. All four were invited to spring traning.

Cooperstown Class of 2009 Ballots Announced

2008-12-01T18:20:00.000-05:00

On December 8^th the results of the Veterans Committee elections for the 2009 Hall of Fame class will be announced. They, a 12-member voting committee including Hall of Famers, historians and media members, were given a list of 20 finalists comprised of 10 players whose careers started before 1943, and 10 players whose careers started after 1943, chosen the Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Just like the regular voting by the BBWAA in December, whomever gets 75% or more of the votes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this coming July.

Who is on the ballot? Lets take a look;

Pre 1943

Bill Dahlen, Wes Ferrell, Joe Gordon, Sherry Magee, Carl Mays,

Allie Reynolds, Vern Stephens, Mickey Vernon, Bucky Walters, Deacon White

Post 1943

Dick Allen, Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, Al Oliver,

Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, Luis Tiant, Joe Torre, Maury Wills

Met related people are Gil Hodges and Joe Torre; both played and managed the Mets. Hodges of course was an original Met first baseman in 1962, was traded to the Washington Senators in 1963 where he was named skipper, then traded back to New York and became the Mets manager from 1968 until his untimely passing before the 1972 season. Hodges of course though is on the ballot because of his success with the Boys of Summer era Dodgers, but will probably once again get support based on his time as a Met, and being the manager of the 1969 World Champs.

Same deal with Joe Torre, who joined the Mets in 1975 and played with them until his retirement as a player early in 1977 following a highly successful career with both the Braves and Cardinals. Torre would start a managing career that will ensure his enshrinement when he hangs it up as a Met in 1977 and skippered some miserable Met teams until 1981.

On December 1^st, the main course of Cooperstown, the BBWAA ballot was released; among the first timers is former Met, and virtual lock for first ballot enshrinement, the all time stolen base king Rickey Henderson. Henderson was a Met from 1999 through 2000, and has been an on-again, off-again instructor and coach in the organization in the last few years, culminating in a stint as first base coach and hitting instructor in 2007.

Clearly though, Henderson will be recognized as an Oakland Athletic. As it was there that he won his 1990 MVP, broke both the single season and all-time stolen base record, and first of his world titles in a run that spanned parts of 14 seasons and four different stints in Oakland! Also Henderson spent five seasons as a Yankee, half a season with the 1993 Champion Toronto Blue Jays, parts of three seasons as a San Diego Padres, half a season with the Anaheim Angels and Seattle Mariners, and spent his final two seasons as a Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodger respectively. The man was the definition of the song “I’ve Been Everywhere”!

Also on the ballot with Met ties are:

Jay Bell, who played mostly with the Bonds era Pirates and was a member of the 2001 Champion Arizona Diamonbacks, finished up his career in 2003 with the Mets.

David Cone, also a first timer burst onto the scene as a Met following an offseason of 1986-1987 trade from Kansas City. Blossoming as a starter in 1988, Cone was a key member of the Met staff, until being traded to Toronto in 1992. Following a successful career, which included parts of six seasons as a Yankee, Cone attempted a comeback with the Mets in 2003 that lasted five games.

Jesse Orosco, another first timer, and like Henderson wound up playing just about everywhere! Orosco is known for being the man on the mound to close out both the NLCS and World Series of 1986, as well as being brought in for Jerry Koosman in 1978. Orosco is also the current leader in all-time games pitched.

Mo Vaughn, MVP with the Red Sox in 1995, but became an example of wasteful baseball spending as an Angel and with the Mets. In what is considered by many to be one of the worst blunders the Mets have made, Vaughn was brought in before the 2002 season, wound up playing 139 games due to injuries, which would limit him to just 27 the next season to finish out his big league career. To this day ESPN analyst Steve Phillips gets ridiculed about this trade that he engineered as the GM of the Mets.

Joining Henderson, Bell, Cone and Orosco as first year candidates are Dan Plesac, Greg Vaughn, Mark Grace and Matt Williams.

On the ballot for the 15^th, and final try are Jim Rice, whom many experts feel will get in this year with Henderson, and Tommy John. If neither get in, they will be eligible for inclusion on future Veteran Committee ballots.

The rest of the ballot consists of Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, Ron Gant, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Lee Smith, and Alan Trammell.

The results are to be announced on January 12^th.

Baseball Awards Season Part 1

2008-11-25T15:35:00.003-05:00

Nothing says early winter like the announcements of the annual baseball awards! This year the Mets are only represented on the Gold Gloves and Silver Slugger squads. David Wright is the NL 3rd baseman on both and his second overall for both as he garnered both awards in 2007. Carlos Beltran made the Gold Glove NL or the third time, all consecutively.

Wright and Beltran are joined on the NL Gold Glove team with; Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres at 1st, the Reds Brandon Phillips and 2nd, Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies at shortstop, Nate McLouth of the Pirates and Shane Victorino of the Phillies in the outfield. The battery consists of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and the Padres Greg Maddux, who adds to his record of Gold Gloves won overall, which is now 18.

The AL Gold Glove squad consists of; Carlos Pena of the Rays at first, Red Sox Dustin Pedroia at second, Adrian Beltre of the Mariners at third, and Michael Young of the Rangers at short. The outfield consists of Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners, Grady Sizemore of the Indians and Torii Hunter of the Angels. Rounding out the squad are Joe Mauer of the Twins, behind the plate, and Mike Mussina, the now retired former Yankee pitcher.

Wright is joined on the Silver Slugger NL infield by Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, Chase Utley of the Phillies, and Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins. The Cardinals Ryan Ludwick, Brewers Ryan Braun, and former Rockie, now Athletic, Matt Holiday make up the outfield, with Braves catcher Brian McCann and Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano rounding out the squad.

The AL recipients are; Twins Justin Morneau at first, Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox at second, the Yankees are represented by third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter. Grady Sizemore of the Indians, Carlos Quentin of the White Sox and Josh Hamilton of the Rangers make up the outfield, with Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Orioles DH Aubrey Huff rounding out the squad.

Coaching Staff News

2008-10-26T16:40:00.001-04:00

On Thursday the Mets announced coaching changes for the upcoming season.
Returning will be both pitching coach Dan Warthen and hitting coach Howard Johnson, along with bench coach Sandy Alomar, Sr. and catching instructor Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Being reassigned within the organization will be both base coaches, Ken Oberkfell , Luis Aguayo and bullpen coach Guy Conti.
Razor Shines, who was the manager of the Phillies Class A Clearwater affiliate in 2008 has been brought onboard to replace Aguayo as the third base coach. And Randy Niemann returns from being the team’s rehabilitation coordinator the last two seasons to replace Conti as the bullpen coach.
No word as to who will replace Oberkfell as the first base coach.

Here is the Mets.com article on the moves.

Congrats Tampa Bay Rays

2008-10-20T18:02:00.002-04:00

In their 11th year of existence, the Tampa Bay Rays have made the World Series.
For comparison, here is the ranking of all MLB expansion teams ranked by fastest turnaround from first season to appearance in the World Series. The Rays are the 4th fastest.

4 years, Diamondbacks
First year, 1998
World Series, 2001, Won the World Series

5 years, Marlins
First year, 1993
World Series, 1997, Won the World Series

8 years, Mets
First year, 1962
World Series, 1969, Won the World Series

11 years, Rays
First year, 1998
World Series, 2008

12 years, Royals
First year, 1969
World Series, 1980

14 years, Piolts/Brewers
First year, 1969
World Series, 1982

15 years, Rockies
First year, 1993
World Series, 2007

16 years, Padres
First year, 1969
World Series, 1984

16 years, Blue Jays
First year, 1977
World Series, 1992, Won the World Series

41st year Angels
First year, 1961
World Series, 2002 Won the World Series

44th year Astros
First year, 1962
World Series, 2005

Teams still waiting for their first appearance in the World Series, Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, first year 1961, Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, first year 1969 and the Seattle Mariners, first year 1977.

Partial Plans at Citi Field for 2009?

2008-10-20T17:05:00.004-04:00

One of the controversies since the project that would become Citi Field was formally announced back in 2006 is how the Mets would handle non full season ticket plans, and single game availability in the new ball park. Things would escalate when the Mets announced that for the 2007 and the 2008 season ticket subscribers would have to buy the entire seasons just for a chance of getting seats for the 2009 season at Citi Field.

Now it looks like the Mets seem to have started to announce partial ticket plans in Citi Field. Last week letters were sent to ticket subscribers as part of playoff refunds, and part of their come on is that the subscriber could put down the money owned on partial plans that would be announced in November.

No specifics were mentioned in the letters, just that there would be a 40-game plan, and five 15-game plans. Further information should be known in November.

For those interested in a good forum discussion over the issues of Citi Field’s ticket pricing, and how the Mets have handled things, check out the Citi Field Seating/Ticket Pricing thread at Baseball-Fever.com. Caution, it is 145 pages long as of 6:00pm on October 20th.

Here is an image of the letter from the Mets/Shea Stadium Blog, Loge13.com

Mets renew with Flaship Radio Station

2008-10-20T16:44:00.002-04:00

Mets.com is reporting that the Mets have agreed to terms with Sports Radio WFAN, 660AM in New York City.
As part of the new deal, the Mets will for the first time, have all game broadcasts on FM radio at 92.3 HD3.

The previous deal expired at the end of the 2008 season, it was thought that the Mets would part ways, and that the Yankees would move from fellow CBS owned station, WCBS 880AM to WFAN.

There is no word at this time on the financial terms of the deal, or how long it would extend the partnership that would keep the Mets on the same 50,000 watt frequency that they have been on since 1988. They have been partners with WFAN since July of 1987, when the sports radio station started on 1050AM, they were with that frequency’s WHN country music format from 1983 to 1987.

Press Release on Mets.com link

Some baseball postseason minutiae.

2008-10-17T17:51:00.003-04:00

Congrats to the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2008 NL Champions.
Time for some interesting tidbits about the Phillies making it to the World Series;

This is the third decade in a row that the Phillies have won the NL Championship at least once during the decade (1980, 1983, and 1993), only the Yankees’ streak going back to the 1920s is longer.

The Phillies (1993, 2008) join the Yankees (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003) and the Marlins (1997, 2003) to win a league championship at least once in the last two decades.

When the Phillies made the NLCS, they joined the Mets, Yankees, Twins, Red Sox, and Athletics to make an LCS at least once since the 1970s.

The Mets, and Twins also made the very first NLCS and ALCS ever played in 1969.

The Cardinals, Braves and White Sox join the group as participants in at least one LCS in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

And the Mariners, Marlins and Indians make it an even dozen teams to participate in LCS play in the 1990s and 2000s.

All-Time Met Games By Position Leader Board Movement

2008-10-13T17:14:00.004-04:00

From the useless trivia to "amaze" your friends department, I bring to you the All-Time Met Leader Boards in Games Played By Position Movement in 2008!

Help with facts and figures from UltimateMets.com and Baseball-Reference.com

First Base: All-Time Leader, Ed Kranepool 1304

Active Leader, Carlos Delgado 433

Carlos Delgado played in 154 games at first this year, which brings his three year total to 433. If the Mets end up bringing him back, he is 20 games away from third place and John Olerud. Keith Hernandez's 854 second place finish seems pretty safe for a while.

Marlon Anderson's six games at first put his total at 32, which is good for 41st all time, Damion Easley also added four games to his two a year ago, which is good for a five way tie for 91st all time, and rounding out the 2008 First Basemen are; Fernando Tatis six gmes, Nick Evans 3 games, and Andy Phillips one game. Which brings the all-time Met First Base roster to 134.

Second Base: All-Time Leader, Wally Backman 680

Active Leader, Luis Castillo 131

Second was a problem for the Mets all year, as Luis Castillo battled both injuries and poor play both at the plate, and on the field. While the Mets probably will pursue other options, right now Luis Castillo is the Mets starting second baseman. And so his 81 games led the Mets all year, which brings his year and a half total to 131 games, good for 16th on the all-time list. Damion Easley was next in 2008 with 64 games, bringing his total to 103 and cracking the top 25. Argenis Reyes debuts on the list with 27 which is good for 54th all-time. Ramon Martinez with five and Marlon Anderson with one game (which adds to his 20 games in 2005), bumped up the total of all-time Met second basemen to 119.

Third Base: All-Time Leader, Howard Johnson 835

Active Leader, David Wright 700

There stands a very real possibility of a brand new All-Time Met third baseman next year. David Wright, with 159 games played in 2008, sits at 700 games played at the Hot Corner, good for third all-time. Ten more games and he passes Wayne Garrett, 136 games and he takes over possession from the current Met hitting coach, and Wright's mentor.

After being a source of frustration for much of the Mets first three decades, third base has settled into a model of consistency since the days of Howard Johnson. Put it this way, as the 1986 season was set to begin, the Mets had used 88 different third basemen in 24 seasons. In the 23 seasons since, the Mets added 50 more to that list, with Fernando Tatis (four games) becoming the 138th third baseman this year. Damion Easley also chipped in with one game, bringing his Met total games at third to three.

Short Stop: All-Time Leader, Bud Harrelson 1,281

Active Leader, Jose Reyes 708

Unlike Howard Johnson, Bud Harrelson is not hearing the footsteps of the active leader, despite Jose Reyes also being third all-time. Reyes' 159 games this year puts his total at 708, 199 games behind the guy he essentially replaced as the Mets' starter, Rey Ordonez, and 573 away from Harrelson. Reyes' understudy in 2008 was Damion Easley with eight games. Which was good to get into a three-way tie for 74th all-time, and raise the total of Met short stops to 102.

Left Field: All-Time Leader, Cleon Jones 794

Active Leader, Endy Chavez 134

The corner slots in the Met outfield have been horror shows in recent years, and left field in 2008 is a prime example of it. Arm injuries led regular Moises Alou to only play 13 games in the field all year and injuries also caused presumed fifth outfielder (behind starters Alou, Beltran, Ryan Church and fourth outfielder Endy Chavez) Angel Pagan to play 21 games out there. So the Mets filed the hole with veterans; Chavez, 54 games, Fernando Tatis, 51 games, Marlon Anderson, 25 games, Damion Easley, seven games, Trot Nixon, six games, Chris Aguila, six games, Brady Clark, two games and Andy Phillips, two games. As well the Mets relied on minor league call-ups, Daniel Murphy, 32 games, and Nick Evans, 28 games.

All told, they brought the Mets left field count to 219, the most out of any position, other than starting pitcher. Chavez bumped his Met total to 134 games, good 17th on the all-time leader board. Also Alou managed to crack the top 25 with 97 games played in left, and Tatis and Anderson finished up 35th and 36th on the all-time list as well.

Center Field: All-Time Leader, Mookie Wilson 907

Active Leader, Carlos Beltran

Center field has been a model of consistency for the Mets in recent years. Mostly thanks to Carlos Beltran, who has played 130 or more games every year since joining the Mets in 2005. This year Beltran added 158 games to his all-time total, which now puts him in third position, eight games from tying Tommie Agee for second all-time.

Endy Chavez put in 10 games in center in 2008, bringing his total to 59, good for a tie with Billy Cowan for 30th all-time, and Angel Pagan played two games in center, which brings the roster of centerfielders to 146.

Beltran also vaults into the top ten of outfield patrollers for the Mets. His 585 games in the outfield puts him ninth all-time. 100 more games played will move him into fifth all-time.

Right Field: All-Time Leader, Darryl Strawberry 1,062

Active Leader, Endy Chavez 130

Dealing with concussion related injuries all year limited Opening Day starter Ryan Church to only 83 games in right. Good to lead the team as Endy Chavez with 60, Fernando Tatis, 39, Trot Nixon, five, Brady Clark, two and Angel Pagan, one also patrolled right for the Mets in 2008, bringing the all-time total to 187.

Chavez's 60 brings his Met total to 130, which is good for 18th all-time, and Ryan Church's 83 games is good for a tie for 33rd all-time.

Chavez also brought his all-time games played in the outfield total to 307, which is good for 22nd on that all-time list.

Catcher: All-Time Leader, Jerry Grote 1,176

Active Leader, Ramon Castro 233

Injuries to both starter Brian Schneider and backup Ramon Castro led the Mets to shuffle five different backstops in and out of the lineup in 2008. Schneider, with 109, and Castro, with 47, still led with games played, as Robinson Cancel with 15, Raul Casanova with 13 and Gustavo Molina with two brought the all-time Met catcher roster to 76.

By virture of Castro being the backup catcher since 2005, and the only returning Met catcher heading into the 2008 season, Castro was the only one moving up on the rankings. His 47 bumped his total to 233, good for 11th all-time, and four away from sitting alone in the 10th all-time slot.

Scheinder's 109 places him 22nd all-time, and nine away from cracking the top 20.

Designated Hitter: All-Time Leader, Mike Piazza 34

Active Leader, Carlos Delgado 4

Carlos Delgado was slotted into the DH spot twice this season, doubling his Met career total and puts him in a three-way tie for sixth all time. Carlos Beltran and David Wright chipped in with a game apiece, both also doubling their career Met total, and Damion Easley and Moises Alou became the 31st and 32nd Met to be used as a regular season DH.

Starting Pitcher: All-Time Leader, Tom Seaver 395

Active Leader, Pedro Martinez 79

The Mets trotted out 11 different starting pitchers in 2008, bringing the all-time total to 229. Moving up on the all time list were Pedro Martinez with 20 starts to 23rd all time with 79, as well were John Maine with 25 starts and Oliver Perez with 34. Both are good for 26th and 27th respectively, Maine at 72 and Perez at 70. Also Mike Pelfrey added 32 games to his total of 49, which is good for 45th all-time.

Johan Santana led the newcomers with 34, which puts him in a three-way tie for 58th all-time.

Also chipping in with starts were Nelson Figueroa, six, Claudio Vargas, 4, Jonathon Niese, three, Brandon Knight, two, and Tony Armas and Brian Stokes with one start each.

Games Pitched, both starter and reliever:

All-Time Leader, John Franco 695

Active Leader, Aaron Heilman 305

Aaron Heilman is now tied with Dwight Gooden with 305 games played, good for seventh all-time, also Pedro Feliciano with 279 finished 2008 12th all-time, as well Billy Wagner finishes up with 181 games which is good for 28th all-time and rounding out the 2008 bullpen crew is Duaner Sanchez stands at 55th all-time with 115 games pitched. Pedro Martinez's 79 starts is good for 82nd all-time, John Maine places 91st with 73 games pitched, and Oliver Perez's 70 is good for 95th all-time.

Dodgers! Phillies! Red Sox! Rays! Oh My!

2008-10-13T14:51:00.001-04:00

Congrats to the LCS participants, Phillies, Dodgers, Rays and Red Sox for getting to the League Championship series, both of which got started late this week.

For noteworthiness, here are the former Mets (who have played at least one game as a Met) on each team's rosters and coaching staffs:

Phillies: None

Dodgers: Manager Joe Torre,

Jeff Kent, Chan Ho Park

Rays: Coach Tim Bogar, Coach Steve Henderson, Coach Don Zimmer,

Cliff Floyd, Chad Bradford, Danny Wheeler

Red Sox: Coach Dave Magadan,

Paul Byrd

Shea Stadium's Final Day

2008-10-13T14:50:00.000-04:00

Today is the day.

That is what the contract with the City of New York states. 15 days after the final event at William A. Shea Stadium, the Mets turn over the keys and the deconstruction process begins.

It is now 15 days since September 28th, 2008 and so after the seats, signage and other items have been removed for the Shea Memorabilia Sale, so begins the process of taking down Shea Stadium in favor of Citi Field's parking lot.

Quite a unique Circle of Life they have going on. Citi Field was created in Shea's parking lot, and now Shea will be turned into Citi Field's parking lot.

More Trouble for Burgos

2008-10-13T14:43:00.000-04:00

This has not been a good couple of months for Ambiorix Burgos.

In September he was charged with assault during a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in a Queens hotel, now he is sitting in a Dominican jail cell for the next three months for a fatal hit and run accident. Allegedly, one of the women he struck turned him down as a romantic interest.

Here is an AP story from Friday on the latest on the rehabbing Met

Mets' Burgos jailed for 3 months ahead of trial

By DIONISIO SOLDEVILA – 3 days ago

NAGUA, Dominican Republic (AP) — New York Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos will be jailed for three months while awaiting trial for a hit-and-run accident that killed two women.

The 24-year-old reliever told The Associated Press that a Dominican judge ordered him to remain behind bars Wednesday night out of concerns for his safety.

"I am going to come out of this fine because my conscience is clear, and I'm not worried this will affect my career because I haven't done anything," he said in the jailhouse interview.

Burgos is accused of abandoning the victims of the Sept. 30 accident and fleeing, charges that can carry six months to two years in prison. He disappeared after the accident but turned himself in Tuesday.

Prosecutor Raul Quiroz said an investigation could lead to additional charges in the deaths of Angely Fana, 29, and Josefina Minaya, 38. Fana's mother, Eudosia Ruane, has accused Burgos of intentionally running her daughter over because she refused to go out with him.

Witnesses say Burgos was the driver of the Hummer that struck the two women, according to police. But Burgos told AP Wednesday night he was sitting in the back seat of the truck, with his cousin at the wheel.

Burgos, who arrived at a packed courthouse under heavy security, said many people in this town are jealous of him and "exaggerate things" because he is the only Major League pitcher from Nagua.

"My son is innocent," Pablo Burgos said. "The issue is that here in Nagua there are a lot of people who want to hurt him."

Despite the order from judge Nicolasa Sabala, Burgos said he was confident he would get out of jail in time for an Oct. 23 court date in New York where he faces assault and harassment charges for allegedly throwing his girlfriend to the ground.

"I'll get out of here soon, and I'll also clear up what happened in New York," he said.

Burgos also faces an unrelated charge of illegal weapon possession and had recently been released after posting a $3,000 bond.

Burgos spent the past season on the disabled list following elbow ligament replacement. He pitched in the minors last month while on a rehabilitation assignment.

Lost Weekend

2008-09-15T18:05:00.001-04:00

To quote the Marvel Comics Superhero, The Thing, what a revolting development this turned out to be.

When the weekend began, the Mets stood three games up on the Phillies, as did the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Wild Card. But by the time a wild and wet weekend ended, the Phillies sit a game out of first place, and tied for the Wild Card. Oh, and as the Phillies sweep of the Brewers over the weekend was part of a continued slide of The Brew Crew, the Brewers promptly fired manager Ned Yost, and coach Ted Simmons, and installed third base coach Dale Svuem as the new skipper for the final two weeks of the regular season.

While the Phillies were sweeping the Brewers in Philadelphia, the Mets lost two out of three to the Braves at Shea. Jonathon Niese's splendid eight innings of shutout baseball performance Saturday night was one of the few bright spots of the weekend. Niese, in his second big league start, and first at home, scattered six hits, and struck out seven in route to his first win as the Mets came away with a 5-0 second game victory, after dropping the first game of a double header 3-2.

Sunday afternoon however, seemed like a microcosm of the Met season to date.

The Braves started early against Oliver Perez, and led 1-0, but the Mets tied it on David Wright's 30th homer of the season in the bottom of the first. In the third inning, Chipper Jones drove in his final run at Shea Stadium, the place where he named one of his sons after, with a double into center field. The Mets answered that with a two run shot by David Wright in the bottom of the inning to put the Mets up 3-2. The Mets then added what seemed to be an insurance run in the fourth as Perez scored on a wild play as Brave first baseman Casey Kotchman botched the relay throw from short on a seemingly inning ending double play off the bat of Daniel Murphy.

And what has been a problem all year long with the Mets, the offensive seemed to shut down as Perez's dash home would be the final run the Mets scored the rest of the afternoon. In the seventh, the Mets had second and third, with one man out and the red hot Carlos Delgado at bat. Delgado struck out, then the Braves put Carlos Beltran on, and Ryan Church struck out to get the Braves out of the jam.

In the top of the ninth, Luis Ayala, who had been pretty solid for the Mets since arriving from Washington, promptly gave up two singles, and then a home run to pinch hitter Greg Norton. Ayala then gave way to Pedro Feliciano, who was able to induce a ground out to the first batter he faced. But then Martin Prado walked, Chipper Jones singled, Gregor Blanco then doubled to drive Prado home. Feliciano then intentionally walked Omar Infante, so Brian Stokes could come in and face Corky Miller. Miller then drove in Jones on a sac fly to center, and the inning came to a merciful end when Cory Kotchman flew out to left.

The Mets then stranded two leadoff singles in the bottom frame, and that was all she wrote.

The Mets now head on the final road trip of 2008, playing in Washington for four, and then head to Atlanta for a weekend set to wrap up the week.

The Phillies will also be on the road this week, following an off day today, Monday, they'll be in Atlanta Tuesday through Thursday, and in Miami for the weekend.

NL East Division Magic Number Clinching Countdown

2008-09-10T22:46:00.005-04:00

NL East For Games Ending 9/10/2008

W L PCT GB Elimination Number

Mets 82-63 .566 - -

Phillies 79-67 .541 3.5 14

Marlins 74-72 .507 8.5 9

Also, congrats to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, Southern California AL West team for being the first team to enter the 2008 postseason.

With a 4-2 win over the Yankees, and a 8-7 Rangers loss to the Mariners, the Angels clinched their fourth division in five years, and fifth trip to the postseason in seven years, under skipper Mike Scioscia.

Mets Magic Number Countdown

2008-09-10T08:19:00.002-04:00

NL East For Games Ending 9/9/2008

W L PCT GB Elimination Number

Mets 81-63 .563 - -

Phillies 79-66 .545 2.5 16

Marlins 73-72 .503 8.5 10

Burgos in hot water

2008-09-09T17:05:00.002-04:00

MetBlog.com first reported a disturbing story coming out of Queens this afternoon, apparently Met reliever, currently rehabbing with the club, Ambiorix Burgos was arrested last night, and charged with “pummeling” his girlfriend.

From the NY Daily News’s Nicole Bode’s website story:

The 6'3", 244-pound pitcher was arrested around 11 p.m. Monday after
allegedly slamming his girlfriend up against the wall at the Holiday Inn on
114th St. and 37th Ave. He repeatedly punched her on the back, bit her and
slapped her, prosecutors said.
The woman - whose name was not immediately
released - called 911, but declined medical treatment, authorities said.

Burgos is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Queens Criminal Court on
assault and harassment charges. It was the first arrest for Burgos, 24, who
landed on the disabled list in August of last year when he needed surgery
on his right elbow and hasn't pitched in the majors since.

Burgos was traded from the Royals two years ago for pitcher Brian
Bannister. He had been pitching in the minors and was expected to rejoin the
Mets bullpen this month. The hurler makes $415,000 a year.

Sources said Burgos and his victim lived together intermittently, but had
no children.

The 24-year old Burgos’ Met career has been marred by wildness, and an injury suffered during the 2007 season. He had been pitching in the minors on rehab this summer, and was recently pitching in Port St. Lucie.

According to MetBlog.com, SNY’s Brendan Kuty reported that:

The Mets told reporters prior to today’s game that they are ‘very disturbed
by the allegations charged against Ambiorix Burgos.
The team said he was
not in New York for reasons related to the Mets, and they will continue to
monitor the situation as it progresses.

Shea Countdown: 12 More Games Left

2008-09-09T17:00:00.003-04:00

According to the Mets.com pressbox notes, Ron Darling will be your number remover tonight. Darling, now a broadcaster for the Mets’ SNY telecasts, wore the number 12 for the Mets from 1985 to 1989, sandwiched in-between 44 (1983-1984) and 15 (August 1989-1991). Number info comes from MBTN.net

Live Game Story 9/7/2008

2008-09-09T12:36:00.004-04:00

Live Game Story 9/7/2008
Mets-Phillies Game 2
6-3 Mets

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_09_07_phimlb_nynmlb_2&mode=wrap

After Hurricane Hannah wreaked havoc on Saturday, and Jamie Moyer wreaked havoc on the Mets bats on Sunday afternoon, things were looking rather bleak as my dad and I headed to Shea for the second game of the day-night doubleheader.

Thanks to a 3-0 win the night before, the Phillies were able to cut the Mets lead to a game in the NL East standings. Still, an air of postseason electricity enveloped the area, despite reports of the Shea faithful disappointing showing Friday, and Saturday. Perhaps Met fans are still reeling from the Great Collapse of 2007, and being behind early in both previous games, as well as the inclement weather would lead to a general sense of apprehension when it comes to getting too excited about prospects for Autumn baseball.

In any event, 54,980 still packed Shea on this night. A smattering of Philly fans were in attendance, perhaps persuaded by local broadcast and social network website campaigns to “invade” Shea the way their Citizens Bank Ballpark can be infested with Met fans during Met games down the Turnpike. It certainly was when I took a trip down to Philadelphia on Independence Day weekend this summer for a Met-Phillie tilt.

Being the first homestand of September, the fifth, and supposedly final edition (I have a sneaking suspicion there may be a special cover for the final regular season game at Shea, and Mets Magazine provides the NLDS program, should the Mets end up in the postseason) of the Mets Magazine was out, and being a collector I plucked down my five dollars and saw that Jose Reyes was gracing the cover. Reyes has now graced the cover at least once in each of his seasons at Shea, which goes back to his debut season of 2002, and this particular one, as the Mets have done since 2005, is the edition of Mets Magazine that would be split in both English and Spanish in every single story.

Before trudging to Loge Section 4, Row J, Seat 11 I wanted to enjoy a nice Sam Adams Summer Ale from the Mezzanine Level Sam Adams kiosk. Sadly I discovered that Summer Ale will no longer be served at Shea Stadium. See you in Citi Field I guess. They had changed the seasonal brew tap to Octoberfest, which is a good beer, but it did feel like a delicious reminder that summer was now over, and Fall, while not scientifically here until the 22nd, had now arrived.

While downing the beer, there was still time to do my usual walk around the stadium. Still not feeling the sense of impending doom for the ballpark, but certainly the knowledge that the times I’ll probably be back at Shea will be counted on one hand is a bit of a sobering thought.

After this game was over, the number of games remaining stands at 12. And to mark the occasion, the Mets trotted out retiring long-time scout Harry Minor, and long-time Met employee, and original Met, Al Jackson to pull the number 13 from the Lincoln-Mercury Countdown sign out in centerfield. Joan Hodges, the widow of the manager of the late 1969 World Champion Mets, Gil Hodges, had pulled the number in the afternoon game, appropriate since Gil’s number #14 is among the Mets retired numbers.

The game started off on the dreadful side, as Johan Santana, in what was one of the games the Mets signed him to win, gave up a one out hit and walk, which led to Ryan Howard singling in Chase Utley to give the Phillies the early lead for the third straight game. Philly fans in my area were in their glory as a sudden pall fell over the Met fans in the crowd.

But it would be no matter, for as soon as Santana got into trouble and handed the Phillies the lead, the inning ended, and the Mets were about to take their hacks at the Phillies ace and 12 game winner, Cole Hamels.

The fun started when Ryan Church reached on a one out single to left. Then David Wright reached first on a catcher interference play, which caused Phillie skipper Charlie Manuel to get tossed from the game, much to the delight of an awakening Shea throng.

Carlos Beltran then brought Church in on a single, then Carlos Delgado got his game started with a single that drove in both Wright and Beltran, and the Mets never looked back.

Delgado would blast two mammoth homers, the last of which had to be one of the longest in Shea’s history. Santana would also get back into a grove, giving up only three more hits and one run, Ryan Howard’s 40th homer of the season, the rest of his seven and a third innings of work.

Due to a cranky 65 year old that was driving me home, I had to leave the stadium during the top of the seventh, but I could still feel the electricity of the Shea atmosphere listening in the car driving back to Westchester, and watching Luis Ayala put the final touches of a 6-3 win (the Mets 80th of the season), putting the Mets ahead by two games in the NL East with 19 games left for both teams, and puts the Mets division clinching magic number at 18.

In all, not a bad night at the ballpark.

Yeah, yeah, I know...

2008-07-20T22:23:00.003-04:00

Well, Mets are back in a tie for first after one heck of a few weeks.

Big homestand starts this week. We shall see if there will be much fun to be had as Shea heads down its final two months of regular season baseball.

So did I miss anything recently?

2008-06-26T18:39:00.003-04:00

Yeah yeah, its been a while I know.

Working on some “At game stories” and a nice tribute to Mike Piazza.

Quick Bottom lines;

Its more of a disgrace what the Mets have been doing on the field than the way they’ve handled the Randolph sacking. Never mind that Randolph should have been let go in the offseason, but I get the feeling that the media in town is so Yankee-centric that no matter when, or how, they fired Randolph, they’d be called clueless and gutless for doing it.

Highly recommended documentary: Shea Goodbye.

Captures the essence of Shea Stadium, and what it has meant to the Mets. Too much of Chipper Jones, they could have mixed in some more opponents from all different eras, including AFL and NFL players. But overall it is a good video pickup. Extras include a This Week In Baseball segment on Tom Seaver’s first appearance as a Red at Shea (I would have done his return as a Met in ’83 or highlights of his number retirement speech in ’88), Seaver talking about his 19 strikeouts performance against the Padres, and various postseason moments and clinchers from all the years.

Should have something up over the weekend.

-Steve

NL All Star Game Voting Update

2008-05-28T18:33:00.003-04:00

Update # 1

Can't say this was unexpected the way things been going at Shea

1st Base, Lance Berkman of the Astros in a tight race with the Cardinals' Albert Pujols with the Cubs' Derek Lee not that far behind.

2nd Base, Chase Utley of the Phillies has this one all but wrapped up, and he actually leads all NLers. Luis Castillo shows up in the top 5.

3rd Base, Chipper Jones of the Braves by a little less than 100,000 votes over David Wright.

Short Stop, Marlins' Hanley Ramirez leads with Miguel Tejada of the Astros and Jose Reyes not too far behind.

Catcher, The Cubs' Geovany Soto leads over Brian McCann of the Braves.

Outfield, The Cubs' Alfonso Soriano, and Kosuke Fukudome, along with the Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. are your top vote getters with Carlos Beltran about 48,000 shy of the leaders, Matt Holliday of the Rockies is just below him.

Cool it Kid!

2008-05-28T17:54:00.003-04:00

Gary Carter showed once again why he is a shameless self-promoter who cares only about himself and his image.

Look, I have a tremendous amount of respect for The Kid as a player, and a Met, but as a person he comes off with a lack of self-awareness that can only be found on television comedies!

This latest example of him calling Mets PR guy Jay Horowitz to campaign for the managing job is the latest example of Carter’s “me-me-me” attitude. Okay, its one thing to actually do this, which is really unconscionable considering Willie Randolph doesn’t appear to be going anywhere according to the current Met spin, its another thing to go on the record with it!

This is a guy who openly campaigned for the job while Art Howe was still very much employed by the Mets, and refused to go to Double A because the Mets didn’t want to commit a better promotion to him, and resigned from the FSL team he was managing because he felt it was “beneath” him.

How Carter comes off anything more than a spoiled jerk at this point is beyond me.

I’m all for change right now, but not to someone who pretty much will backstab the guy who already has the job; that being said, I’m sure this would kill any chance Carter has of ever managing on the major league level, but you never know it seems.

RIP Geremi Gonzalez (SP 2006)

2008-05-26T12:38:00.002-04:00

Ex-Met Geremi Gonzalez exits this world in a very tragic way.

AP Story:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A government official in Venezuela says former major league pitcher Geremi Gonzalez is dead after being hit by lightning in the South American country.

Emergency management official Herman Bracho says the 33-year-old pitcher was at the beach in western Venezuela and was on a pier when lightning struck him on Sunday night.

Gonzalez started in the major leagues for the Chicago Cubs in 1997 and later played with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Boston Red Sox, the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers.

He last played in the major leagues in 2006 with the Toronto Blue Jays and also pitched last year for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.

Two years to the day of his last Met appearance.

First Met of the 2000s to die as well.

New Met action figure: Jose Reyes

2008-05-18T13:18:00.003-04:00

Jose Reyes should be running into your nearest toy store, and collectable stores this month.

As part of McFarlane’s Sports Picks: MLB Baseball Series 22 six inch action figure.

Reyes has already been done as a 3 inch figure that was exclusively sold at Shea Stadium in 2007.

McFarlane is known for chase variations featuring players with different teams, different uniforms and even uniforms featuring dirt stains, but I can not find any thing on a variation for Reyes at this time.

Yes, more please?

2008-05-18T11:14:00.001-04:00

Now that is more like it!

Johan Santana is still not the dominate pitcher of his Twin past, but he did pitch well enough to get the win. The Met offense did get a ton of lucky breaks to tie, and then take the lead in the 4^th, but the 7^th inning saw homeruns by Reyes and Wright, and Beltran scored on Delgado’s 9^th inning single off of Joba Chamberlain to get the game to its 7-4 finale.

I’d love to say that I hope this is the start of something big, but like all sports trends just can not be seen based on one day’s work. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, (Mets record this morning is 21-19, standing 2 games behind the first place Marlins, and 1 game in back of the Phillies) but I do hope the Mets do not undo all of yesterday’s positives with any kind of clunker against Chien-Ming Wang tonight, not to mention trusting Oliver Perez to buck his current trend of clunker starts.

Should be a fun night though, just put ESPN on mute and listen to the radio!

This is getting frustrating!

2008-05-15T23:58:00.002-04:00

This was supposed to be on SportsdayBlogs.com but for some reason Word Press, the website editor for them, doesn't seem to be allowing cookies to be set on my computer, but I worked on this rant too long to not let it out

Sorry about the cobwebs. Work, school, and a season that appears to be going downhill rapidly have taken my time away from blogging.

But I need to get this off my chest now. I’ll do some stuff Saturday, but right now I need to clear the head.

I’ve been a fan since 1985, when I was just 8 years old. Okay so the good times of the 1980s ended around 1991, but I always thought that something better would be lurking just over that horizon.

First it was misguided faith in Bobby “Fresno” Jones, Jason Jacome, Rico Brogna, Todd Hundley, Butch Husky, and the fact that Dallas Green had turned the Phillies into the 1980 champs, and built the 1984 Eastern Division winning Cubbies.

Then Generation K came. Alright, this was going to be this generation’s version of…well maybe not Seaver-Koosman-Matlack, but certainly the Mets’ answer to Glavine-Smoltz-Avery in terms of home grown (yes I know Smoltz was from the Tiger organization) trio of a dominant pitching staff.

Well when that fizzled, it did not deter my optimism much because, hey that Alfonzo sure has a sweet swing, and despite Ordonez’ severe lack of a bat, boy could he make those plays. Not to mention Hundley was coming into his own, and Bobby Valentine knew how to get the job done, so by 1997 you could make a case for brighter days were just around that bend.

Enter Mike Piazza! Funny, when I first heard that Mike Piazza had become a Florida Marlin, my first reaction was annoyance that it meant the Mets were now out of the Sheffield sweepstakes. Funny how things work. Needless to say, to borrow Reggie Jackson’s lines, the magnitude of Mike was part of a show of force, a show of power, Piazza helped to intimidate the opposition just because he was here.

And that did happen. 1998 through 2001 were good years. Horrific endings, but a fun time to be a Met fan, unfortunately this was happening just as I was wrapping up college, so I really couldn’t share that fun experience of the give-and-take with fellow Fairfield University students who were Yankee fans, or Red Sox fans, or whatever in terms of October play. Well, only briefly that October of 1998, but all that is stuff for a different entry.

Well, of course all that went up in smoke, literally it seemed by 2002. But you know what? There was this short stop rising through the ranks, set to debut pretty soon, and just behind him was this third base prospect. And man, that draft pick hurler that summer, oh you knew he’d be getting comparisons to Doc Gooden during his rise through the system.

So it seemed onward and upward, excelsior true believers as Stan Lee would say as the Mets headed into the mid-aughts, and despite the trade of Kazmir, good things were bound to happen on the horizon because Omar Minaya was going to be the McIllvaine of the Aughts. Well, if you believed certain members of the press coughWally Matthews and Tom Keegancough Omar really was the brains of the 99-00 Met front office, and he was frozen out by the “evil” Steve Phillips on the big decisions.

Well, in any event, 2006 arrived, but again, despite a Game 7 of the NLCS that felt like a band aid being ripped off a freshly deep wound, something seemed to be lurking around the horizon. Reyes and Wright would undoubtedly be the NL All Star Team’s left side of the infield for the next 10 years, Carlos Beltran would be putting up numbers that would put him in the conversation of great Met acquisitions, ala Piazza, Carter, Hernandez, etc. And look at what was coming through the system, Lastings Milledge was coming on, Mike Pelfrey and Phil Humber seemed poised to succeed where the Jose Valeras, Bobby Jones, Gen Ks, and Grant Roberts of the world had failed and the Scott Kazmirs and David Wests of the world never got to be at Shea.

So, where do we take it from here? That is what troubles me about the 2008 Mets. For the first time that I’ve been a fan of this team, I really do not see anything of great promise on that horizon. This coupled with seeing a team playing with such a malaise that having a collection of All-Stars can’t seem to help.

Funny, sounds quite like 1992 and 2002. But unlike those years, I’m not brimming with excitement about what could be coming from the horizon known as the Met minor league system. And that troubles me more than watching a team go through the motions of what looks to be nothing more than a 75-83 win season.