If the 2008 season goes anything like the first week of spring training my laptop may explode. Some thoughts after one week of workouts:

Johan Santana looks so good that I’m scared. This is my over forty years of Mets Fandom kicking in again as I can never be happy and accept that a guy on my team is better than anyone else.  Santana has come in to St. Lonesome and seems to have fit like he’s been here for years. So far the dispatches out of St. Lonesome claim that he is the real deal with a plus-plus fastball and a Hall of Fame change up and the scuttlebutt is he should have NL batters on a string like a puppeteer. WOW and he’s ours.  It’s not just the media who is impressed but when a guy like Carlos Beltran, who acts as the child who is seen but not heard, comes out with bold statement and a big middle finger to Jimmy Rollins telling the baseball world that the” Mets are the team to beat” it just shows how big a move getting Santana was.

I’m glad Billy Wagner has spoken up and put Willie Randolph on notice that he will no longer pitch in 5 run blow outs and wants to be used like every other closer in baseball for three outs at the end of the game. Randolph as we all know, screwed up the bullpen rotation down the stretch last year by pitching that turd Guillermo Mota and yanking Pedro Feliciano at the mere sight of a right handed hitter. I’ve said it time and again we mere mortals think it’s pure bullshit that guys in the pen need to have their role etched in stone but the bottom line is they do and hopefully Willie Randolph realizes this.

While we are on the bullpen, an area of the organization that had more question marks than The Riddlers jacket, it looks like it could emerge as a big strength. The major area, the back end of Feliciano, Dirty Sanchez, Heilman and Wags is looking like it’s in 2006 form (please Dirty no cab rides in South Beach this year). That leaves four jobs left. RHP Jorge Sosa and LHP Scott Schoeneweis should grab two of them. RHP Matt Wise could grab one so that leaves one job to fought for by Joe Smith, Carlos Muniz, Joe Smith , Brian Stokes, Andy Cavazo, Nate Field and Rule V’er Steve Register. Righties all of them.

Most guys of my generation hate the handshake ritual of Jose Reyes. Not me I always got a kick out it but it seems that Reyes will fore go his “routine” and act like a grown up. Maybe someday I’ll act like a grown up too.

Poor Freddy Skill Sets. The guy has been a recluse the last year or two and when he comes out to get a little sun and fresh air the jackals descend on him.  When asked what he considers a successful season, he says “nothing short of a World Series will do” it becomes a huge headline. What is he supposed to say?

Back to Willie Randolph between Billy Wags, Gary Carter and to some extent Freddy Skill Sets the bulls eye is on the skippers back. Wags let it be known how he feels the pen pecking order should go. Carter all but pleaded for the first base coaching job that went to Rickey Henderson and now to Tom Nieto (can you imagine Camera Carter and Willie co-existing? Think of the post game press conference as Kid would want his own after Randolph’s ) Freddy Skill Sets claims jobs are safe but we know that if the Mets get off to a slow start Willie’s head will be on the chopping block.

Not only has Petey looked impressive physically he has gotten his swagger back as well, declaring he is the best drug free pitcher of the last 10 years. Muy bueno Petey!

D-Wright looks to have listened to the words of wisdom of Keith Hernandez as he will cut down on his during the season appearances which is a good thing. Next Mex will show him the advantages of the dry martini.

$270,000 worth of jewelry? Someone has to explain to me why a man needs $270,000 worth of jewelry? Fucking mind boggling.

I am so sick and tired of the bullshit stories on steroids and HGH that the media is foisting down our throats. I wish they would treat pedophiles with the “cut your balls off “mentality like they do to players caught with PED’s. There is still no proof that any of these substances   make anyone better and can we stop with calling them “cheaters”.  Does a guy who goes for Lasik surgery have an advantage by making his eye sight better? Is Tommy John surgery a performance enhancer?  Athletes are the most gullible people on earth. If you told a ball player that if he made a hat out aluminum foil and wore it to bed he would run faster or throw harder, Alcoa stock would sky rocket.

One thing on Andy Pettitte. At least he knows he is an accepted member of the Highlander Gangsta Posse . As Dumbo, Mo and Captain Phony Fuck were front and center for his Jimmy Swaggart presser. How would you like to be Alex Rodriguez knowing that Captain Phony Fuck would never do that for him.     

There is cold. There is very cold. There is unbelievable cold and then you have what we experienced on Saturday which is HOLY FUCK IT”S COLD!!!!!!!!!! Fella’s , you know how women always say that men have it easy when it comes to peeing as  “we can just whip it out” and pee anywhere ? Well let me tell you something ladies, when the temps are hovering near below zero, the last thing I want to do it expose King Richard to those elements. He’s been to good to me over the years to let him catch a cold. 

We get to our camp site in the mountains of Otsego County by going up a road covered in ice and snow. The temperature according to the read out on the car dash is 3 degrees! The cabin that housed 21 boys and 9 adults took about five hours of feeding the wood burning stove just to bring the temps up enough to remove our jackets (here is what I wore on Saturday. A short sleeve t-shirt, then a thermal long sleeve shirt, then over that a turtle neck shirt, then over that a heavy weight METS sweatshirt, then on top of that a fleece pullover, then my down jacket and gloves and a knit Mets hat. On my feet, a pair of athletic socks then long wool socks and plastic lined in my Timberland shoes. Oh and my long johns and jeans yeah that’s HOLY FUCK IT”S COLD!!!!!!!!!!!)

But Sunday we traveled through the freezing rain and ice to get to the Hall of Fame. I have been to the Hall three other times, all in the summer. The best time I was there was for Tom Seaver’ induction day sixteen years ago. You couldn’t walk on Main St it was jammed paced with Mets fans. It’s what I envision heaven to be like and it was hot but it was well worth standing in the sun to hear The Franchise make his induction speech.

Even on a cold rainy winter day there was a lot of activity at the Hall. Lot’s of Highlander fans and Mets fans but they were more Red Sox fans than anything. One word of caution to the supporters of the Old Town Team. It very nice that your team is on the nice run but please don’t forget where you guys came from as you are starting to become the evil twin of your worst enemy.

Not much changes in the Hall. They have a section that has lockers from every team in baseball and artifacts of recent vintage. The Mets display has Carlos Delgado’s bat from his 400^th HR., the batting helmet that Mike Piazza wore when he broke the HR record for catchers, Robin Ventura bat from his two Grand Slams game. and the game ball from Tom Glavines 300^th win autographed by Glavine and Paul LoDuca. There is also the Mets jersey belonging to Jerry Koosman in the World Series wing that he wore wining two game of the 1969 World Series. Of course The Franchise has his own separate display plus of course his plaque. Speaking of the Hall of Fame plaques, if you have never been to the HOF the room where the plaques are is the most solemn area in the museum. Starting at the first induction class of 1936, you go year by year and read the plaques like you were performing the baseball version of the Stations of the Cross. They should sell a baseball equivalent of rosary beads in the gift shop just to hold as you read all the plaques.

The only draw back to going to the HOF in the winter is it’s hard to stroll down Main St and check out all the baseball memorabilia stores in the freezing rain. It is so much more enjoyable to leisurely walk the main drag in the summer time. So it was great to hear my son tell me as much as he enjoyed the trip with his troop and being with his friends he’d love to go back in summer by ourselves so he can look at each and every exhibit there and hit all the stores. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Now after all that cold and ice and snow, we wake up on Monday moring ready to go home and it’s 50 degrees outside. Yes 50 DEGREES! and as we drove hom eit got warmer and warmer from all those clothes I wore on Saturday I was down to a Mr. Mets t-shirt and jeans by the time we hit the Ulster County rest stop on the Thruway. Now it was baseball weather!!!!!

Even with Johan Santana on the property, Petey is still the man that everyone wants to hear from. As we see today all the NY press were hanging on every word:

On Johan Santana as a teammate:

 “I’m extremely happy to have Johan over here,” Martinez said after tossing a baseball on a back field with bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello. “I can breathe. It’s like a big glass of cold water when you’re thirsty. That’s how bad we wanted Johan. I’m glad he’s on our side. He’s somebody that now everybody can rely on. Actually, he’s somebody I love to be around. He’s a great person. I’m really proud to have him here. I can’t wait to give him a big hug and say, ‘Hey, we’re together now - one from the left side, the other from the right side.’”  

WOW he sounds like a Mets fan! It is an incredible 1-2 pinch we have as Petey looks to be healthy and ready to have a big 2008 season.

On the Collapse:

 We have to get ready for the whole season,” he said. “The whole season includes those 15 or 20 games left in the season. We failed because we got tired and at the end of the year. We didn’t know how to mentally prepare.” On target as we will see with Billy Wagner I’m glad to see guys calling it like it is the team and the manager got lazy and over confident down the stretch and as they say those who do not learn from history and doomed to repeat it.  On Jimmy Rollins:  You have to go out and prove it,” Martinez said. “We have to make Jimmy swallow his tongue. And he almost did. He almost did. I’m glad he was able to predict that and do that. And you know what? He lived up to the numbers. He was the one who actually hurt this team when he played against them. He played the game the way he should have. I can live with that.”  If you asked the Mets players privately I bet the all admire what Rollins did. You can hate the Phillies but you have to admire a guy like Rollins who put a big bulls eye on his back and not only was correct in his statement but wins the MVP as well. On starting opening day: As for Opening Day, Martinez said he doesn’t care which pitcher Willie Randolph anoints the starter. The bottom line is that if the Mets go straight through their rotation, the pitcher who starts Game 2 of the season at Florida could get the home opener, although Randolph said it’s possible the Mets instead will use only four starters early on and take advantage of off-days.  Hey as long as it’s not Brian Lawrence who cares?     Looks like our favorite shakedown artist Queens City Councilman Hiram Monserrate is at it again. The city wants to get into the area where the auto body shops across from Shea –known as The Iron Triangle-and take over the property to build hotels and a convention center on the grounds. Before you cry for the poor chop shop owners there let me tell you that all of those business have been cited for various environmental violations and refuse to answer to the charges so hold your tears. But you can ask the question of where does Councilman Monserrate go to get his oil changed?   Oh and lets’ not forget about the hustlers in the South Bronx as they jack up the Highlanders for dead presidents.

Some times you just have to leave shit alone, why does everything have to be beautified. The Yuppies are fucking up Williamsburg just like they did Alphabet City. Gentrifying boutique bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!   So Jane Fonda said the C-Word big deal. She’s been called that so much, she thought that segment of the Vagina Monologues was named after her.   No blogging this weekend as I am going on a camping trip to Cooperstown for the next 3 days. That’s right camping. Sleeping in a tent in the bitter cold as I am muy macho!!!! (Ha! As soon as I get the slightest fucking chill I’ll be at the Ramada)

I’m not going to take up too much space here talking about MF Clemens but when all this PED bullshit broke I held off judgment because I like to see some evidence before I hang someone. After watching yesterdays’ Congressional hearings I’m ready to construct the gallows. Brain McNamee may be a liar, cheat and all around scumbag but watching him yesterday sit at that table before a bunch of clueless politicians and be as cool, calm and collected as he could be and then backed by the testimony of Andy Petite and Chuck Knoblach and add in the desperation sacrifice that MF Clemens did of Mrs. MF Clemens well it’s time to take a for baseball and baseball fans to take a broken bat and throttle Clemens. But at this point what does all this mean besides the fact that Clemens is a liar?

Enough MF Clemens lets talk Mets.

Dirty Sanchez looks to be ready to go and make it back as a main cog in the Mets bullpen. One thing it looks as if Sanchez learned a lesson about work habits and conditioning after getting thrown out of camp by Willie Randolph last spring.

Mr. Met makes an appearance on The Colbert Report plus Stephen shaves his “ Writers strike beard”  

First there was the Phillie Phanatic and now there is the Phillie Phallic

Check the SPORTSTALKNY show from last night. There were some great interviews but for Mets fans listen to Tim Harkness the first Mets batter at Shea and the Great Ron Swoboda gives his memories of his days at Shea.

I hope all of you can join us tonight on SPORTSTALKNY at a special time of 8PM EST as we spend 3 hours of reminiscing of YOUR experiences at Shea and Highlander Stadium. We want you to call in (631) 615-4799 or join in the chat room with your memories of summers past at NYC ball parks which will be replaced by brand new pleasure palaces in 2009.We will have guests such as Ron Swoboda, Tim Harkness (first Mets batter at Shea) Jim Abbott Don Maynard (former NY Giants and Jets player) Chuck Wepner (The Bayone Bleeder) and some surprise.  

With pitchers and catchers just 2 days away what better way to kick off spring training than to join us tonight on SPORTSTALKNY at USTREAMTV at 8 PM  

The one thing helping me during this recent wave of cold weather here in NYC (even though this winter has not been as cold as recent years, I have never felt the cold so much in my life as I have this winter. I guess that’s the one drawback of losing 90 pounds. In winters past I had lots of insulation) is the return of baseball stories in the morning papers. The only problem with the dispatches today is they are mostly of the Highlander variety and of course the steroids panic. Oh and today’s douche bag d’ jour John Rocker checks in with his tale of needles in the ass. I am sick of this story but I’ll watch MF Clemens do his tap dance for Congressman Assclown tomorrow. Unless someone gets hauled out in handcuffs tomorrow (picture Brain McNamee screaming “Don’t Tas Me Bro” to Capital police) it’s a total waste of time and money.

The Mets signed Tony Armas Jr to a minor league deal. After about five years of rumors of signing Armas they Mets finally get him at his highest point of suckitude.

 One concern for the coming season is the age of some key players. The Mets have seven players on the back end of 30 years of age (Billy Wagner 37, Petey 37, Scott Schoenweis 35, Carlos Delgado 36, Damion Easley 39) and two guys past 40 (El Duque 40-60 yrs old and Moises Alou 42 with Fred Sanford’s legs) We know that these seven will break down during the season and as you get older it’s harder to bounce back (believe me it is. I’ve been playing basketball again and my legs have felt like two lead weights) so the depth of this team will be very important.

I really like Carlos Beltran. He is a fabulous center fielder and a great hitter, in fact I think he may be the most under rated player on the Mets (if someone making $20 mil a year can be underrated) but as the dawn of spring is upon us he is already starting with his health percentages:

“I don’t feel 100 percent, but I hope to be by the start of the season,” Beltran said. “I couldn’t play anymore like that. I didn’t feel pain as much as I did weakness.
“I just want to be 100 percent and to be able to do a lot more.”
 

Beltran had both knees cleaned out this off season and is still recuperating but the fact that the doesn’t feel 100% puts him with the the other 99 % of the human race. Who walks around feeling 100% healthy?

20 years of the Mets training at Port St. Lonesome, which is like 600 in NY years.

Tim Marchman writes today on whom would you rate higher John Maine or Ollie Perez?  Read the story to find out Marchman’s pick but I think it’s really close although I kind of favor Perez as I think with all the talk of who will pitch the first Mets no hitter, I’d put my money on Ollie. I just think he needs maturity (as does Maine) to turn into a first class starting pitcher and that’s what’s exciting with this Mets staff of 2008 it has the potential to be dominant.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the big leagues, high school, college or little league; most players are very protective of their “number”. In MLB, when a player is traded from one team to another, players have paid whatever the market would bear to obtain their “number” if it’s being used by a new teammate. Some times a case of beer or a watch is the going rate for a number switch. Other times a player will just relinquish the digit as a sign of team harmony. But however it’s obtained uniform numbers mean a lot. So it is appropriate that Jon Springer and Mathew Silverman have written a book , METS BY THE NUMBERS (skyhorse publishing) that not only lists every number and every player who wore those numbers but it also tells the history of the New York Mets while doing it.

As Mets fans we all know 14, 37, 41 and 42 are retired by the team but do we know who wore those numbers for the Mets before they became immortalized? (14 was Gil Hodges number with the Mets as a player in 1962 and he was given in back in 1968 when he became manager only Casey Stengel wore 37, Gordon Richardson wore 41 in 1965 and pitched in a combined no hitter in spring training as we learn in the books forward written by the great Howie Rose, and of course 42 is retired for Jackie Robinson but last worn by Butch Huskey) Of course my favorite all time Met, Edward Emil Kranepool was and is known as 7 (the Mets should really do the right thing here and retire my man’s #7 in fact I think one of my pet projects this year is to raise hell over this over site. The Mets could have a day for Steady Eddie, now that Shea is on its farewell tour. Jose Reyes could play Phil Bourque to Kranepools Phil Esposito and switch to # 77 and Mex’s 17 and Kooz 36 should be retired as well) but what I didn’t know and learned in this book is that Eddie wore #21 but gave it up to Warren Spahn when Spahn joined the team in 1965. Always the consummate teammate was Ed Kranepool. The chapters of the book go from 1-50 and covers every Met who wore those numbers. Then there is chapter #51-99 The High Numbers and #00-0 which covers coaches and the whacky 99 Turk Wendell and my favorite chapter #5, 7, 15, 17, 18 The Jeff McKnightmare. If there is a player who sums up what the New York Mets are all about its Jeff McKnight. This morning it was 11 degrees with a minus real fucking cold wind chill factor but as I sat on the slow boat to Manhattan (a/k/a Staten Island Ferry) this morning reading METS BY THE NUMBERS all I thought about was this week pitchers and catcher will report to St. Lonesome, we have an ACE of the pitching staff and pretty soon I’ll be wearing shorts, t-shirts and flop flops. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Lot’s of minutia in my head time to let it flow:

Cincinnatti Red Legs signed  Craig Wilson and I guess I should be pissed but between the after glow of the Santana deal and the fact that I think Omar is going to wait until the end of spring training to fill the 25th spot on the roster I will restrain myself from spewing venom towards Minaya. Signing an ace pitcher buy alot of good cheer from me. but I think Omar well wait and see who gets cut from teams and make a wise move to add a right handed bat to back up Delgado and  Church.

SIGNING OFF-R.I.P. Karl Ehrhardt a/k/a THE SIGN MAN. This guy was a fixture at Shea during the 60’s and 70’s but when the team went from bad to awful in the late 70’s early 80’s SIGN MAN wasn’t to be found. The guy did get a lot of TV exposure though as Ch9 always had their cameras on him. 

Here’s the difference between D-Wright and Derek Jeter. Wright is a real leader and Jeter is a phony. A phony who is worshiped by the biased ass holes also known as the New York media. Wright is a leader because he would never throw a teammate under the bus as Jeter did to Alex Rodriguez and Wright is a stand up guy. When was the last time you heard anything of substance out of Jeter? If he’s not hawking jalopy’s for Ford or and awful tasting sports drink (Vitamim Water is the offical drink of the Eddie Kranpool Society) he’s showing off his $200 a pair line of footwear. Wright? After his team tanked night after night stood up and took it even though he was playing at an MVP level. In the off season the kid was every where answering question about the greatest collapse in baseball history. When Rodriguez needed someone to stand with hin as the imbeciles at Highlander Stadium booed and booed Capt Phony Fuck never stepped up. D- Wright would never let that happen to a teammate. NEVER!

Dear WFAN,

I have listen to caller after caller try to name the Eli to Tyree catch the will live forever in Giants fans hearts and minds. Now I know it’s slow down in the basement in Astoria but baseball season is around the corner and we know that baseball IS THE CITY’S GAME,   so let me help you out on what to call the play. THE BEST FUCKING THROW AND CATCH IN NY FOOTBALL GIANTS HISTORY Thank you.

Look, I don’t get this whole fascination over cock fighting (just typing the words cock fighting makes me shudder as that term gives me an awful image in my mind ) and I guess as Petey says it his “culture” but then again at some point don’t you realize that your “culture” needs to be a bit refined?  But what can the Mets or MLB do to Petey? Not a damn thing that’s what. As long as Brett Myers gets to pitch every fifth day for the Phillies after smacking his wife in the face, it kind of tough to get worked up over a couple of rooster’s dukeing it out.

Ryan Church avoided arbitration and signed up for 2008 for $2 mil. That leaves Ollie Perez as the lone hold out. The Mets have not gone to an arbitration hearing in sixteen years so it seems that if the Mets break that streak it will be more about Perez and Scott Boras than Omar and Mets management. In fact after watching Alex Rodriguez dump Boras like a bad habit maybe Perez should think about that before he does something he regrets.  Boras has asked for $6.5 mil and the Mets have countered with $4.75mil Ollie take the middle at $5.5 mil and be happy.