Gettin' Around

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:22:32 -0400

My top-five power ranking of the Mets, coming into tonight’s action, as featured on Beerleaguer:

David Wright - No April struggles this season means bad news for the rest of the league; hitting .400 vs. lefties.
Jose Reyes - With a big series against the Nats, he’s beginning to turn the corner and show that fire that he lost at the middle of ‘07.
Johan Santana - While traditionally a slow-starter, given the state of the rotation, it’s imperative that the Mets win his starts.
Carlos Beltran - Taking a more prominent leadership role with players like Reyes; 3rd in NL with seven doubles.
Joe Smith - Baffling hitters with his unique delivery — hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last five appearances.

For a series preview, check out my interview with Tom Goyne of Balls, Sticks, and Stuff on MetsBlog.

Happy Friday, everyone. Tonight should be a doozy.

brooklynmutt: Shea Stadium: The Board Game This is too...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:27:00 -0400

Shea Stadium: The Board Game

This is too great for words check it out. -Pete

For larger view click the pic.

Via metstradamus

Obviously we get bored on off-days.

(via soupsoup) Well done, Hot Foot.

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:25:00 -0400

(via soupsoup)

Well done, Hot Foot.

thegreenfieldsofthemind: this picture was taken at tradition...

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:19:00 -0400

thegreenfieldsofthemind:

this picture was taken at tradition field during a saturday afternoon game in March. we took this picture not because it was a Met we knew but because the guy was gracious enough to scoop up dirt off the field because some kid asked him to. another kid repeated the request. then another. all in all this player’s hands got dirty that day not from throwing a baseball, but from putting some dirt into ziploc baggies for a bunch of fans.

he had a warm-up jacket on the whole time so we could not see the name on the back of his jersey but as soon as we had internet access, a quick google told us the Dirt Scooper with the bushy eyebrows and great smile was Nelson Figueroa, a journey man of sorts with a story that made it impossible not to root for him.

the last time I cried over the mets, it was september and anger and even an irrational sense of betrayal, was the source of those tears. Friday night I cried for a different reason.

way to go figgy - even though you are one bad start away from the minors again, for one friday night you made a lot of fans remember why they keep coming back.

Great story. Makes him an even easier person to root for.

Mets All-Time HR Leaders (Updated)

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:18:00 -0400

After today’s first inning solo home run by David Wright, the 100th of his career, he took sole possession of ninth place on the Mets all-time list:

Darryl Strawberry - 252
Mike Piazza - 220
Howard Johnson - 192
Dave Kingman - 154
Todd Hundley - 124
Kevin McReynolds - 122
Edgardo Alfonzo - 120
Ed Kranepool - 118
David Wright - 100
George Foster - 99

bmroberts: The Mets’ pitching is the equivalent of having Billy Joel as your designated driver. ...

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:26:00 -0400

bmroberts:

The Mets’ pitching is the equivalent of having Billy Joel as your designated driver. You never know what you’re going to get.

Banter!

Bad idea: having Oliver Perez on your fantasy team if you are also a Mets fan. It makes him even more frustrating to watch. He is the roulette wheel of fantasy baseball.

Gotta love the new “in-the-box” camera angle on SNY....

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:44:49 -0400

Gotta love the new “in-the-box” camera angle on SNY. Very cool.

This Afternoon's Lineup, Minus Reyes

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:43:20 -0400

Same as yesterday, with the exception of Ollie:

Pagan
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Delgado
Church
Easley
Schneider
Perez

However, Santana’s full quote was as follows: “If they boo, that’s fine. That’s the...

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:50:00 -0400

However, Santana’s full quote was as follows:

“If they boo, that’s fine. That’s the history they have from not being so good, I guess. I’ve seen it before, it’s not the first time I’ve seen that happen to a home player. We are not perfect. We are gonna make mistakes sometimes. It’s just how you react to it and how you bounce back. I know a lot of people are expecting a lot from me and I am trying to exceed all those expectations. If the fans feel that way, they can feel the way they want. We are trying to do our job here and please a lot of people, but we are not perfect.”

"If they boo, that’s fine. That’s the history they have from not being so good, I guess."

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:47:00 -0400

“If they boo, that’s fine. That’s the history they have from not being so good, I guess.”

- Johan Santana, after today’s game, with a quote that is bound to be picked apart by the “Wally” Matthews and Chris Russo’s of the world.

Huh?

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:37:00 -0400

I was pretty embarassed to hear fans booing when Johan Santana was pulled in the 7th inning today. I’m still not sure if they were actually booing Santana or booing the pitching change with two outs. I’d like to think we aren’t as fickle as to boo Johan in his first Shea Stadium start, but with the increased negativity of some members of this fanbase of late, anything is possible.

This Afternoon's Lineup (minus Reyes)

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:53:15 -0400

Pagan
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Delgado
Church
Easley
Schneider
Santana

Soup on Mets Weekly

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:50:13 -0400

soupsoup:

Catch yours truly on Mets Weekly at noon today on SNY, thats 625 on DirectTV, check SNY.tv for your local SNY channel.

Go, Soup!

MetsGeek's Interview With BP's Will Carroll

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:15:00 -0400

MetsGeek's Interview With BP's Will Carroll

Brooklyn-born Nelson Figueroa celebrates his first Mets win.

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:09:35 -0400

Brooklyn-born Nelson Figueroa celebrates his first Mets win.

Great cover. Hat-tip to Hot Foot.

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:33:48 -0400

Great cover.

Hat-tip to Hot Foot.

Baseball & Me, the Free-Agent Fan

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:36:00 -0400

peterwknox:

I was born into a Soccer family. There are approximately 68 years of soccer playing amongst my father, brother, and me. If you throw in watching, following, and experiencing soccer, it’d stand for the collective years of our lives. My mom was the quintessential soccer mom, with the car pool of kids in the minivan on their way to practice with water bottles and orange slices. When Dad was the coach, it was just soccer, all the time. And we loved it.

Needless to say, there wasn’t much love/recognition of baseball growing up. I vaguely recall being a part of the Pittsburgh Pirate’s “Knot Hole Gang” and going with the family to Reading Phillies minor league group events, but the experience was focused on the activity of attending a game. Rarely was the tv ever tuned to that night’s Phillies game.

I can remember Schilling, Dykstra, and Krut from my schooling years, but beyond that, I was blissfully unaware of any baseball happening. As I aged, fell in love with football, I began to appreciate baseball, but not understand or follow it. It had a hard time holding my attention and the 162 games with random start times on random days was too much to handle for an adolescent with part time jobs, schoolwork, sports, and friends that weren’t into baseball either.

College, was in Maryland, and while I could suddenly appreciate watching a baseball game with a cooler and a bag of seeds, I wasn’t dumb enough to get roped into the Orioles or the returning Nationals, much less even inspired enough to try to watch a Phillies game. However, I did start paying attention to the playoffs and was completely aware of the inherent magic in Boston’s comeback over the Yankees to go on and win the series in 2004. I might not have been a fan of any particular team, having never followed one in any capacity, but I knew I wasn’t a Yankees fan.

[It should be noted, here, that it was during HS and college that my support for the Philadelphia Eagles solidified into a lifelong dedication to being a die-hard fan. I LOVE football and I LOVE the Eagles. There’s no parsing that bond I have with those men in green during those 16 all-important, all-encompassing games each fall. I’ve given hundreds of dollars and years of my life to caring for, thinking about, cheering on, and giving back to my tragic team. But this post isn’t about football, it’s about baseball.]

Flash forward to graduation and my move to New York. I entered into a regular 9-5 and suddenly found myself in a city that breathed baseball for nine months out of every year. A city where I could drink before, during, and after a game, and take a ½ hour train ride home high off the stadium energy only to do it all over again the next day. A world without homework where I could watch Baseball Tonight, check ESPN regularly, and read coverage in the free dailies. I’d sit at home with my roommate, an avid baseball fan, who would explain the nuances and strategies of the game I had overlooked for all these years. Finally I had the time and interest to be a baseball fan.

Now there are people who say that since I came from Philadelphia I must support the Phillies. There would be no better way to kill a blossoming interest in baseball than to decide to follow a team from another city. There would be no games on tv, no coverage in the papers, no one to watch games with, no chance to stop by the stadium on a nice day, and no incentive whatsoever to maintain such forced fandom! It would kill my interest before it took hold.

The summer of 2006, I weighed my options coming to the season late. I knew I couldn’t sign up with the Yankees; that felt like something that you either had to be born into (like privileged spoiled kids), or lack enough self-esteem that you’d jump onto the bandwagon of the winningist team in baseball. I was neither, and frankly couldn’t subscribe to the Yankee philosophy of big money conformism. The Mets, on the other hand, seemed to represent my borough of choice, Queens, and came off as just good guys. The kind of guys I’d like to get a slice and a beer with on a Thursday night. The happy go lucky (occasionally loveable losers) upbeat boys in blue and orange and black and white. At this point I had been to both Yankee Stadium and Shea and the choice was clear. In March of 2007, prior to Spring Training, I bought a Mets hat and declared myself a fan.

(a picture I took last fall)

Yes, this is only my second season as a Mets fan, but it’s something I’m working to earn, like that ‘New Yorker’ label. There will be those that say if you weren’t born here, if you weren’t born into it, then you can never be it. I can’t apologize for where my parents decided to raise me, and I wouldn’t change my childhood for anything, but they left the baseball fan slot wide open for me, and I’ve been able to chose, as an adult, where I want to live and for whom I want to cheer. And watching last night’s game, in a bar, there was never one moment when I felt remorse for those in my hometown frustrated by the final call at home plate. I was too happy celebrating already.

lovepuppy: Beer and Chucks. Can’t wait for my game in...

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:34:04 -0400

lovepuppy:

Beer and Chucks.

Can’t wait for my game in May.

Angel Pagan plays hero in extras.

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:57:18 -0400

Angel Pagan plays hero in extras.

Stat Corner: Adam Eaton, Met-Killer

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 08:02:00 -0400

Just a heads up about this evening’s game: Adam Eaton may suck against everybody else, but in seven career starts vs. the Mets, he is 5-0 with a 2.68 ERA. He was 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four starts against the Mets last season.