11 days until pitchers and catchers

Yesterday I hopped over to Mid-Town Manhattan (where miraculously  there was no snow on the ground when I left about four inches of the white stuff on my walkway in Staten Island) to attend a meeting of the Casey Stengel Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR). It was there that I met up with Dana Brand who was one of the guest speakers at the event.

As I greeted Dana I asked him “So are you ready for pitchers and catchers” ? He gave me that look you give the dentist when he says “would you like Novocain or gas”?  Dana was not the only Mets fan in attendance that had that same queasy feeling bout the 2010 Mets season.

I never thought it could happen but the Wilpon’s have now displaced the Dolan’s of MSG as the worst owners of a NYC franchise.  I thought I despised Jeffey Skill Sets more than most but after talking to the Mets fans yesterday, I see I have competition.

By this time in the winter, as a baseball fan ,Super Bowl Sunday signals the home stretch of winter and knowing that spring training is around the corner. Usually for Mets fans we start to think of April and opening day, and opening day is usually cold. But we never cared about the cold. We wore Mets sweatshirts under our Mets jackets and figured our Mets gloves and the knit Mets hat we got last season on Fan Apprecitaion Day would shied us from the elements. We were just happy to have a ticket and a seat to root for our favorite baseball team. But from what I’ve read and heard from Mets fans this winter,  I have a feeling opening day at $iti Field will not be a hot ticket, in fact I figure the longer you hold out the better your chance to get a prime seat for below cost.

Where and when did this all go wrong? I’m starting to think the demolition of Shea Stadium will become our Curse of the Bambino, or Billy Goat.

When a team opens a new ballpark, the fan base is usually fired up about the new home and the great amenities so you’d think as Mets fans we’d be happy about all there is at $iti Field. But the more I talk to Mets fans and the more I think about it, maybe we should have stayed at Shea. Shea was a pitchers park and no one screamed to pull in it’s fences. But after one season at $tit, the cry is, “the outfield fence is too high” “the ball doesn’t carry” “the fences need to come in” what we’re really saying is “this place sucks, we want our Shea Stadium back”. Face it Mets fans we hate change and we hate $iti Field.

Now I ‘d say it’s mostly us old timey Mets fans that hate change and I know I’m of that crowd, it surprises me that I’m like that with the Mets as I embrace progress with everything else in my world. I guess I need one small part of the old world to stay with me. I still want pinstripe unis with no name on the back and blue caps with and orange NY. I want organ music instead of ear splitting pop shit, and this from a guy who still listens to Black Sabbath albums with the volume on 10 but at a baseball game I want to here the Mexican Hat dance played on a Thomas organ. I don’t want to be told to “Clap my hands” I’m not a idiot I know when to clap and when to cheer and when to say “AH SHIT!!”. I want my teams National League heritage to be displayed and educate fans of where we came from how our lineage evolved from the days of John McGraw and Mel Ott and Carl Hubble to Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays along with Zack Wheat and Joe Medwick and Dolph Camli and Jackie Ribinson and Duke Synder. NYC was always an NL town until now that the Wilpon’s let that distinction slip away and for that they should be ashamed of themselves.

Jeff Wilpon has not only surpassed Jim Dolan as the most spoil son of a rich man in NY sports but he is close to reaching M. Donald Grant status as a franchise killer. But we shouldn’t put the blame all on young Jeffey, I put  90% of the fiasco that is now the NY Mets on Fred Wilpon. Freddy has the power to tell sonny boy, “I’m sorry but you are in way over your head here my boy, it’s time for me to find a real baseball man to run this franchise and bring it back to respectability and to being a championship baseball team”. If Fred Wilpon does not step up and do what is right for the NY Mets franchise, he will become as hated here as much as Walter O’Malley. The only difference is Mets fans might be wishing he move himself and team someplace else.

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  13 days until pitchers and catchers

Last night’s hour long PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL show, went by in a flash thanks our own Yankee-Doodle, Michael calling in and Matt Silverman coming on to talk about the ’69 Mets. Some of the topics I wanted to get to in the opening of the show got pushed back as I went on a bit of a Fernando Martinez rant, so I guess I’ll touch on those here.

By the way I got to see F-Mart’s AB last night with the bases loaded and two out in the Dominican Republic v. Venezuela Caribbean World Series game. Martinez did not get a hit in the AB but it was an impressive turn at the plate that lasted 10 pitches until he hit a foul pop that was caught by the Venezuelan right fielder.

I’m not anti-Fernando in any way; I just want the kid to stop acing like he’s a 27 year old journeyman who has never gotten a chance and be the 20 year old who plays so well this spring that he beats out Angel Pagan to be Carlos Beltran’s understudy.

Looks like me and Orlando Hudson have something in common; we both will never play second base for the Mets. So after all the debate about second base for the Mets what’s done is done, Luis Castillo is the Mets second baseman for better or worse till death due us part (or until Reese Havens can prove he can play at the big league level) for 2010.

What is the under/over on how many times Gary Cohen or Howie Rose say “Just out of the reach of Castillo, for a base hit” this season? Let’s set the number at 75.

The last place in the world I thought I’d ever see the name Municipal Credit Union would be on a ball park marquee.  I wonder if those of us with accounts at MCU will get a discount on Cyclones tickets.

I’m very happy for Nelly Figs and his great performance the other day for DR in the Caribbean Series but it wasn’t like he was pitching against the Phillies or Highlanders, it was against Mexico and 45 year old  270 lb Vinny Castila, The Big Fajita!

Maybe things are not as bleak for the Mets as we think. FOX has the Amazin’s scheduled for broadcast 8 times this coming season and one of the games is a prime timer versus the Bronx Bastards.

Maple Street Press is coming out with it’s Mets Annual in a few weeks and there will be a section on the Mets Blogosphere, that will include yours truly.

Matt Silverman is putting out a revised paperback version of his book “100 Things Mets Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” 

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Join us tonight for another episode of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL at 9PM ET on BlogTalk Radio. Our guest will be Matthew Silverman, co-editor of the book THE MIRACLE HAS LANDED: The Amazin’ Story of How the 1969 Mets Shocked the World (Maple Street Press in association with SABR) a very detailed chronicle of the 1969 World Champion New York Mets.  

If you can’t join us live you can here the podcast here at the Kranepool Society or on BlogTalk Radio and our PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL site.

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Every story you read about Fernando Martinez focuses on his potential. Since he signed with the Mets at the age of 16, we heard about the great potential that this young man has. He has the potential to hit for power, run like the wind, hit for average, tons and tons of potential. Well you know what potential means? It means you haven’t done a damn thing yet. You could do some great things or you may be another in a long  line of Mets prospects on the junk heap.

Ina story on MLB.com, Jesse Sanchez talks to F-Mart about his play so far the winter, where he is currently playing for the Dominican Republic rep Escogido where after  a slow start, Martinez has played well.  I thought that this quote though was a little too cocky for a guy who still has a lot to prove:

“I know I’m a big league player, and I can perform at a high level,” Martinez said. “It’s in my hands, so I have to keep working hard and maybe earn a spot. Maybe I make it to the big leagues with the Mets or maybe another team, but I know I can do it. I just have to keep working and waiting for my opportunity.”

I want to like this kid and I would love to see him finally live up to the hype and come back to the Mets and make a big contribution to the team’s future. But the bottom line is, this season is make or break for him, a young man of 20 years old just cannot keep breaking down the way he does. At first I thought that he was so young and the strain on his body of playing professional baseball and the natural progression of his physical growth were colliding and causing his injuries but I am starting to think it may be more a lack of dedication to the craft that has caused him not to be a hard worker or take the time to train and be physically fit.

Martinez claims he is a big leaguer and he knows he needs to work hard to get back to major leagues but as we’ve seen with the four years he has been in the organization, talk is cheap.

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 16 days until pitchers and catchers

I’m a bit cranky this morning so bare with me. Last night I had to run to my local Walgreens’s on Hylan Blvd to pick up a prescription and I got stuck on the checkout line behind Staten Island Chuck who was buying hair gel and a bottle of Brut cologne. Chuck was hoping to get a part on Jersey Shore after his cameo today at the SI Zoo (by the way Chuck didn’t see his shadow so it will be an early spring )

Then this morning, the Dunkin Donuts I stop at every morning on Chambers St has changed up the counter personnel and I’m not very happy about that. My two Hindu Princesses are no longer at this location (seems the guy who owns the Chamber St DD has a few of them around the city and has moved my two favorite ladies further uptown) and have been replaced with a couple of Latina’s with bad attitudes. My order is not complicated, XL coffee just milk, and I use a DD debit card to pay for it and NO I don’t want any fucking donuts with that!!!!!   

Reading that Jose Reyes is ready for take off, takes a bit of the edge off the JJ Putz allegations of ineptness in the Mets front office from yesterday, and I was enjoying Kevin Kernan’s article until I got to this paragraph:

  Mets GM Omar Minaya watched Reyes work out last week and was thrilled. Executive VP David Howard was at yesterday’s session, and after watching Reyes blaze down the exact same kind of track that is used in Olympic races, noted, “Mets fans have forgotten how good he is.”

This fucking David Howard is turning into the reincarnation of M. Donald Grant. Why is the Executive of Business Operation watching a workout of a player? Shouldn’t Omar and John Rico and Wayne Krivisy and Jerry Manuel, be the guys making the evaluation of Reyes along with Ray Ramirez and his staff? What’s next for David Howard, overseeing the chop meat at the Shake Shack? No Shyster Dave, we have not forgotten how good Reyes is. Dumb ass !

This isn’t hard. Players play. Coaches coach. Owners own. Fans bitch. VP of Business Ops handles the clubs business. What Howard should be doing is busting the balls of the guy who owns SpongeTech

Jarrod Washburn has taken out a restraining order against the Mets from ever contacting him.

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Bobby Valentine was at an event at the Japan Society in Manhattan last week and as always with Bobby V, gave some provocative answers during a Q & A session. When asked about a return to manage the Mets BV had this to say:

 Valentine fielded questions about managing the Metsagain (“It’s not as though you don’t go back to the girl that dumped you, but it takes a little while, it takes a little convincing . . .”) and what the Mets need to do to be successful in the 2010 season (“They need to stay healthy, but I like their talent.”)

So Bobby wants to be wooed a bit by the Mets, if that’s the case Freddy Skill Sets should be jumping in limo with Jay Horowitz driving, with flowers, chocolates and champagne, ready to pitch his best woo.

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You’re a Mets fan, and even with the underwhelming personnel moves this off season the  front office has made and the anger you have about this bunch of underachievers, you looked at the calendar today as see February 1 and you know that in17 days, pitchers and catchers will report to Port St. Lonesome.

You try to look beyond the fact the team has holes on the defensive end and the pitching staff can with either be solid or shit but you’re a Mets fan, you know that miracles can happen. But then, you read a story like this where J.J. Putz, the former Mets reliever now bullpen fodder for the Chicago White Sox, tells about his season with the Mets. A disclaimer Mets fans the following excerpts are graphic and may not be suitable for all readers. If you suffer from high blood pressure, night sweats and have heard voices in your head, proceed with caution.

Putz claims he was damaged goods when he arrived in NY via Seattle but (this is where it gets upsetting) he was never given a physical exam by the Mets. Here is what went down as per Putz:

  When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets,” said Putz. “I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality. It was bugging me all through April, and in May I got an injection. It just got to the point where I couldn’t pitch. I couldn’t throw strikes, my velocity was way down.”

So the Mariners sent a player not fit to pitch to the Mets probably realizing that the inept Mets front office would never notice. Do you get the impression that the rest of MLB thinks, the whole Mets front office fell off a turnip truck?

Now, as bad as that declaration by Putz was, it gets even worse as we see here in a statement that will be dissected and maybe, just maybe be what’s needed to be a   cleansing of the Mets front office of incompetence and give this organization the high colonic it needs. This is Exhibit A that the New York Mets organization is run by a bunch of fucking liars:

 Being hurt is never fun, especially when you go to a team like New York, where the expectation level is so high, and you’re not able to do what you know you can do. (The Mets) gave up a lot to get me, so it was disappointing and frustrating.”

Especially when the Mets told Putz not to talk about being hurt with the media.

“I knew that I wasn’t right. I wasn’t healthy. The toughest part was having to face the media and tell them that you feel fine, even though you know there’s something wrong and they don’t want you telling them that you’re banged up.”

There you have it. You can’t believe anything you hear out of Mets managment. What little shred of credibility the Mets front office had is gone now. Now you know why Carlos Beltran went outside the organization to get his knee fixed and you know why no free agents want to come to Flushing. $iti Field might as well be in Chernobyl, it’s that toxic.

What’s the over/under when Jason Bay’s knee blows out? 40 games?

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I have seen the future and it is covered in numbers, charts and trending lines and it will change the way we follow the game of baseball.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to a presentation by Bloomberg Sports in conjunction with MLB.com of their new baseball statistical analytical tool. This new technology will not only change how fantasy baseball aficionados compete in Fantasy Baseball Leagues but it will change the way you follow your favorite team.

Bloomberg Sports has two different applications, one for fantasy baseball and the other that gives MLB front offices more information on players than you  could possibly imagine,  we were given a preview to both.

Fantasy Baseball Kit

Former NYC Deputy Mayor and now President of Bloomberg LP, Dan Doctoroff,  lead off the impressive presentation of this product by comparing what Bloomberg has done for the way folks in the financial industry receive data that’s how baseball fans and fantasy players will get all the info they need about every player in MLB to field the strongest fantasy team they can. Now I’m not a hard core fantasy player but even if I didn’t play, as someone who craves as much baseball info I can get, this site will do that and more.

The stats are easy to look up and with the ability to find just about every statistic you need to make your draft choice is just a click, click, click away. Say your in Round 9 of your draft (by the way this tool works with just about every on-line sports sites that run Fantasy leagues, Yahoo, ESPN, CBSports etc. with a pull down tab for easy access) and you want to find a decent utility man who has a good OBA some power and can play some outfield as well as infield, you can customize the Draft Kit to give you a list of players who meet that criteria.

The players are displayed on the screen like baseball cards, as you click on the player, his whole baseball life is at your fingertips. Not just statistics but any news item that mentions that player. All news and stats come to in real-time.

Not only is this site a fountain of baseball information, it is ascetically appealing. Easy to read color charts and player trending graphs are so vibrant and easy to follow.

Along with The Draft Kit there is also an In-Season Tool that is sold separately that gives you real-time news, content, and scores from all MLB teams as well as content written by the Bloomberg Sports staff of which Jonah Kerri is the lead writer, with more top quality baseball writers coming on board soon. You can follow every player on your team in real-time as stats are updated after every at bat. As Mike Silva said to me as we watched the presentation, “It’s like day trading for fantasy baseball fans” Well said.

If you purchase just the Draft Tool Kit is will cost you $19.95. If you buy the In-Season Tools that will cost you $24.95 but if you buy both the both Bloomberg Sports is bundling both for a cost of $24.95. Not only do you get the Draft-Kit and In-Season Tools but you also get the Premium content for the Bloomberg Sports writing staff headed by Jonah Kerri. A worthwhile investment in my opinion if you’re a big time fantasy baseball player and or a hardcore baseball fan.

Pro Application

If the Draft Kit/Draft Tool site wasn’t intense enough, after a delicious lunch, the Bloomberg Sports team of Bo Moon and Stephen Orban, put the presentation into overdrive as we got to see what has been pitched to all 30 MLB teams to help there front office’s work a lot more efficiently.

The Pro App was the one most of the bloggers in attendance were drooling over. It had every stat and parcel of player information you could think of (One of the most asked questions to the Bloomberg staff was about adding more intense sabermetic formulas to the app and they said that will be done, hopefully by next year.) including service time Rule 5 eligibility and options to minor leagues. Also Pitch F/X, pitch counts and pitcher/batter tendencies. Examples were of what certain pitchers throw in different counts and what pitches they go to certain batters. In one way this could be a boon to managers making in game decisions or a bane of their existence as the second guessing could be overwhelming (this info in the hands of bloggers could be like a third world country obtaining a Nuclear weapon) in fact, it was told to us that as much as some teams have bought the program and have embraced it, many felt the facts and figures were “overwhelming” I tried to see which category our beloved Metropolitans fell, but mum was the word.

As much as I was impressed by this product and I was more impressed by the presentation and the hospitality by the Bloomberg Sports and MLB.com staff. They are first rate people with a first rate product.

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