Yes I have this song on my iPod and this one and this one

Sad news today hearing that Davy Jones of The Monkees has passed away of a heart attack at the age of 66. In 1966 I was 8 years old when The Monkees were formed as a band and a TV show, and I was a huge fan. Back then Top 40 radio was the rage and WABC with their All American’s and WMCA “Good Guys” (I’ve talked about this before but I wanted one of those yellow Good Guy sweatshirts soooooooo badly) bringing a an explosion of music from the Beatles, Stones and the British Invasion and James Brown, The Supremes with Motown, then here come four prefabricate guys from central casting, thrown together with a few pop songs and guess what? They were a huge success.

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Don’t forget today starting at 10AM and running until 11:59PM tomorrow night, you can buy your Mets tickets via a special Mets Bloggers pre-sale.

Just go to mets.com/blogs and use the special pre-sale code:HODGES and get a head start on the securing tickets for games this season at Citi Field.

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I will be guest tonight along with Howard Megdal on The Kult of Mets Personalities podcast on Blog Talk Radio. Tune in for the live broadcast at 8PM

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Yesterday was the day that always has the Mets PR department breakout in a cold sweat, the day the Three Schmendricks show up at St. Lonesome. For the past three springs, I’ve pleaded with Freddy, Jeffey and Uncle Saul to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE refrain from giving a state of the organization address because it always ends badly.

Freddy Skill Sets has turned into the uncle we fear will fuck up a family function.  When asked about his finances, Freddy reaches into his pockets to show he has a fin or two to his name and proclaims himself solvent. He then proclaims “Yeah get used to me I’m gonna be here awhile” and with that the phones in the Mets ticket office at Citi Field go silent.

If Freddy’s presser wasn’t depressing enough, along came the word that Jeffey Skill Sets had gotten in touch with his inner Vera Wang and fancied himself as a t shirt designer with his Underdog t-shirt. Now I’m not against t-shirts for a cause but the one that Jeffey came up was a disgrace, cheap and childish but it did match his footy pj’s.

My idea for t-shirt for the team would be a fist holding Phillies, Marlins, Nationals and Braves players in it with the word BEWARE in blue underneath it, a nice macho, more testosterone than Ryan Braun’ urine, manly t-shirt. Not some bullshit cartoon superhero that would have gotten his ass kicked by Crusader Rabbit, Mighty Mouse and Courageous Cat, all superior cartoon animal super heroes.   

I asked the question yesterday on Twitter , which player would have the balls to step up and call bullshit on that shirt? I’m proud to say David Wright showed cojones to voice his displeasure with the whole underdog label.

Speaking of t-shirts this is the kind of t-shirt I love and thinking of getting one.

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I had the opportunity to sit down with the newest inductee to the New York Mets Hall of Fame, John Franco, before his appearance at the Citi Bank branch at Madison Ave and 42 Street in Manhattan. Franco was there to promote the Citi Mets ticket pre-sale which is available to all Citi credit and debit card holders. The pre-sale is ongoing until 11:59 PM tomorrow.

I’d like to that Marc Sausa of Citi bank and Danielle Parrillo and Shannon Forde of the Mets for setting me up with the opportunity to speak with Franco

Click here for my conversation with John Franco.

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That is the patch the Mets will wear this season in remembrance of Gary Carter. I’d still like to see all uniform personnel wear CARTER 8 uni tops for a game and auction them off for charity

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a Mets fan who feels Terry Collins is being a hard ass to Ruben Tejada for not getting to camp early and then complain that the team isn’t very good.

Collins is stressing to his team that they have to work harder than anyone else and be  focused better than anyone else if they are to succeed this season. You can see from the early interviews of TC down in St. Lonesome that he wants his team to stick it up all the naysayer’s asses and show that the Mets are a winning baseball team.

The maturation of Matt Harvey continues to be an early training camp story line. As Josh Thole has raved about Harvey’s pitch repertoire, the manager and coaches, especially Wally Backman, have raved about his willingness to get their advice on what he needs to do to reach the big league level. Sandy Alderson is on the record as saying Harvey will not break camp with the Mets but Harvey is determined to make that a difficult decision, it’s hard to get giddy over Matt Harvey.

Same for Jeurys Familia who along with Harvey was profiled in the NY Daily News today as two guys who are competing for a job in the big leagues but have grown close as teammates and hope to join the big league club together at some point this season.

It’s so early in spring training but from reading stories about the mood of the camp and camaraderie  of the players, the Mets are staring to give me a feeling that they could be baseball version of the New York Rangers.

If Jason Bay struggles against right handed pitching as he did last season, the more reason to root for Kirk Nieuwenhuis to make the team as a platoon partner for Bay in LF. No one in the front office will say it but I bet the leash on Bay is short this season especially if he struggles against rhp.

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The New York Mets have released their Promotional Schedule for the 2012 Season:

April 5   Magnetic Schedule (SNY)             ATL         1:10 p.m.

April 7   Texting Gloves (Verizon)              ATL         1:10 p.m.

April 21 Shopping Bag (Natural Balance) SF           1:10 p.m.

April 22 Tom Seaver Bobblehead (Citi)    SF           1:10 p.m.

April 22 Mr. Met Dash    SF           1:10 p.m.

April 25 Mr. Met Window Cling (Xerox)  MIA       7:10 p.m.

May 4    Collector’s Cup (Premio)               ARZ        7:10 p.m.

May 6    Drawstring Bag (MLB Network) ARZ        1:10 p.m.

May 6    Mr. Met Dash    ARZ        1:10 p.m.

May 26 Rusty Staub Bobblehead (GEICO)             SD           1:10 p.m.

May 27 Banner Day         SD           1:10 p.m.

June 2   Visor (Nathan’s)               STL         4:10 p.m.

June 3   Hall of Fame Induction + Cap (Citi)            STL         1:10 p.m.

June 4   Senior Stroll        STL         1:10 p.m.

June 17 Keith Hernandez Bobblehead (Gold’s Horseradish)          CIN         1:10 p.m.

June 17 Mr. Met Dash    CIN         1:10 p.m.

June 22 Cap trade (Chevrolet)* NYY        7:10 p.m.

June 23 Cap trade (Chevrolet)* NYY        7:15 p.m.

June 24 Cap trade (Chevrolet)* NYY        1:10 p.m.

July 7     Mini-bat (GEICO)             CHC        4:10 p.m.

July 8     Mr. Met Poster (Xerox)                CHC        1:10 p.m.

July 8     Mr. Met Dash    CHC        1:10 p.m.

July 21   Edgardo Alfonzo Bobblehead (Verizon) LAD        1:10 p.m.

July 22   T-shirt (Subway)               LAD        1:10 p.m.

July 24   Gift Card (Dunkin’ Donuts)           WSH      7:10 p.m.

August 11            Travel Case (Delta Air Lines)        ATL         7:10 p.m.

August 12            Tote Bag (Toyota)            ATL         1:10 p.m.

August 12            Mr. Met Dash    ATL         1:10 p.m.

August 25            Mike Piazza Bobblehead               HOU      1:10 p.m.

August 26            Mr. Met Dash    HOU      1:10 p.m.

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The New York Mets have teamed up with some of your favorite Mets blogs to offer our readers a special ticket pre sale this Wednesday February 29^th starting at 10 AM and concluding on Thursday March 1^st at 11:59PM

To get in on this special pre-sale, just logon to Mets.com/blogs, click  on the BUY TICKETS button and enter the special pre-sale code: HODGES

Tickets for opening day against the Atlanta Braves on April 5^th and the Subway Series for June 22-24 are included in this pre-sale

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Last night I had the pleasure of joining Brian Sullivan of Fan Sports Podcasts to talk about the New York Mets. Brian and I discuss the off season moves, what the upcoming season will look like, minor league baseball in NYC and much more.

Click here to listen to the podcast and to get the MP3 download as well.

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There was outrage yesterday from Mets fans as clips of the team executives and manger Terry Collins boarded a helicopter to take them to Miami to catch the Knicks-Heat game.  It was the equivalent of seeing your neighbor who you know is collecting SSI disability, drive a brand new Mercedes-Benz into their drvieway.

I’m not so much outraged that the Mets rented the helicopter for their hoops junket; I’m annoyed that they had the vessel land on one of the complex practice fields. Couldn’t they have gone to an air/heliport to do this?   

Our day as Mets fans would not be complete without some more legal mumbo-jumbo on the Skill Sets court case. Am I the only one worn out about all this court talk? Doesn’t it seem that Judge Rakoff is looking for his 15 minutes of fame, or his own court room TV show?

Johan Santana threw another bullpen session and so far so good on his comeback as he has felt fine the day after each of these sessions. I’m still not ready to say I’m optimistic of his being on the mound opening day because I’m a Mets fan, the glass is always half-empty.

Last night Mets stats man Ben Baumer, lost in the championship round of MLB Networks Baseball IQ trivia game show to Shane Demmitt of the LA Angles. Baumer did a great job in this competition as he won $35,000 for the Welcome Back Veterans charity.  I was really looking forward to this show when it was first announced, but after watching a couple of episodes I lost interest. The set was so dark and dreary looking and the contestants had the personality of Wonder Bread. The host was Matt Vasgersian who loved belittling the Mets every time Baumer was a contestant and is one of these doofus’s you run into in life who think their hip, cool and funny when in reality they’re just asshats. 

The Mets and Citi are teaming up to hold tickets pre-sale this Monday and Tuesday February 27 and 28 for Citi credit and debit card holders. In addition newly inducted Mets Hall of Famer John Franco will be appearing at two CitiBank branches in Manhattan and at the Mets Clubhouse store. Here is a release from the Mets with all the info:

As part of a series of events with the Mets Alumni Association Presented by Citi, Mets all-time saves leader John Franco will make several appearances in New York City February 27 to promote the presale and meet with fans.  Franco, who will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame June 3, will be joined by Mr. Met.  They will visit the following locations:

·         10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Citibank flagship branch in Union Square (52 East 14th Street)

·         12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Citibank branch on 42nd Street and Madison (330 Madison Avenue)

·         2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – New York Mets Clubhouse Shop (11 West 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues)

 Additionally, all Citi customers who use their credit or debit card will receive a special 10% discount on all merchandise, excluding tickets, at the Mets Clubhouse Shop on 11 West 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues only, for the duration of the two-day promotion.

“We congratulate John Franco on his upcoming induction into the Mets Hall of Fame and are excited that he and Mr. Met will be joining us to kick-off this wonderful promotion for Mets fans and Citi customers,” Brown said.

A limited number of tickets for Opening Day (April 5 against the Atlanta Braves) and Subway Series games (June 22–24) will be available in this presale.  Each Citi cardholder is limited to a maximum of eight tickets per game, subject to availability.

Tickets are available online only, but fans with any questions regarding the presale can call the Mets Ticket Services team at (718) 507-TIXX for assistance. Single game tickets go on sale to the general public Monday, March 5 at 10:00 a.m. online at Mets.com and by phone at (718) 507-TIXX. For complete ticketing information, visit Mets.com.

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