Today is holiday here at The Eddie Kranepool Society as we celebrate the birthday of Edward Emil Kranepool our favorite Mets player of all time.

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With the Eddie Kranepool Society World Headquarters (my basement) under some renovations (nothing better than waking up on your day off to the sounds of jackhammers attacking your basement floor) and some family issues that have come up the last couple of days, I haven’t had time to post on the site, I hope to have some stuff up tomorrow

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WHEW!!!! Where to start? I feel like a detective arriving at a crime scene, who found the body? Any witnesses? Ok, start canvassing the area.

I hadn’t have time to post since Wednesday morning as I’ve had a whirl wind couple of days.

Wednesday I was granted a media credential. Yes you read that right, a MEDIA credential. Never in a million years did I ever think I would walk into Shea Stadium/Citi Field press entrance and say to the receptionist “Good afternoon, I’m Steve Keane of the Eddie Kranepool Society” and have her reply “Hi Mr. Keane here is your credential, the managers press conference will be starting in few minutes, go right in to the interview room”.

It was great to have a nice showing of the Mets Blogger-ratzi as Caryn Rose, Kerel Cooper, Ed Marcus, Mike Sliva, Joe Janish and Rob Castellano on Wednesday as we were welcome to attend Terry Collins pre game press conference. The only stipulation was we weren’t allowed to ask questions which was fine as the media assigned to cover this game does this for a living and have deadlines to meet, believe me it was a kick just having the main stream media looking at us with that “ there goes the neighborhood look.

After the quickie presser, we were led out to the field to watch batting practice. It was a bit awkward at times, I’m standing right in front of R.A. Dickey and I’m like should I say hello? Ask him how his cracked nail is? What are you reading these days?  We were allowed to go into the dugout so as I entered, standing at the bat rack is Daniel Murphy, again I have to restrain myself from going all fanboy there. From attending events over the winter at Citi Field, I’ve learn (a) don’t wear any Mets gear, which is tough when three quarters of your wardrobe has either Mets or and interlocking blue and orange NY and (b) be prepared with good questions. I’m not there to swoon; I’m there to get as much information as I can. I have to say, I let my guard down for a moment though, as Josh Thole was strolling to the dugout, I was standing right at the steps as he came right next to me and I blurted out “Hey Josh how’s it goin”? And Thole put his hand out for handshake and replied “doin’ great how are you”?  I kind of felt, oh no did I break protocol? Then I thought,” Well I’ll say I made a rookie mistake” on me not Thole.  I then composed myself and went back in to investigative mode and canvassed the area for info and I got some good stuff.

Many of the folks I talked to were very surprised of course by the awful start of the season the team has had but what they found more shocking was the venom spewed by some of the fan base. A lot of the talk was about, it’s fine to boo and be pissed off by the early play of the team but the level of nastiness towards the Mets by Mets fans is unprecedented.  A few people I talked to could not believe the hate coming from what Mets fans were in the Citi Field stands.  Look, no one would say any Mets fan is wrong for being angry and disillusioned by this awful start, but some of the remarks I’ve heard on opening day and talk radio and on Twitter and Facebook have been a bit outlandish.  There is no question that the Mets have found more ways to beat themselves and have given away too many games and this start of the season has sucked more than any of us imagined but what was your best case scenario for the team before opening day? I felt, give me 82-84 wins and be in the hunt for the Wild Card spot as my best possible. Did anyone think this team was better than the Phillies or Braves? I didn’t think so.

Again please don’t take this as any excuse for the horrendous play in the field by this Mets team.  This opening home stand has been a embarrassment and every single player on this team needs to step up his game and step up fast. I’d even include the manager in that as well. I feel for Terry Collins in the fact that from talking to guys who spent all of spring training covering this team in St. Lonesome, there was more hands on instruction done in that camp than the last two put together. Collins main goal was to tighten up the fundamentals that have been lacking with the big league team and in the minor league system for years. As pissed off as you are as a Mets fan over the recent piss poor play, it’s nothing like the angst the manager is going through.  So far TC has been composed and has his player’s backs but another few games of this bullshit and I’m sure Mount Collins will erupt.

What I’d take the manger to task over and this is not earth shattering as it’s seems to be the overwhelming consensus, is not walking Troy Tulowitzki with 1^st base open and 2 outs.  In hind sight, I think Collins would love a mulligan there. What has me the most annoyed is that Tulo was never made uncomfortable in the batters box at any time in this four game series. I don’t say throw at his head but for Christ sake couldn’t someone on the pitching staff step up and dust him? This bothers me because when I first met Collins over the winter my first question was will you change the culture of this team letting the opposition come into your home ball park and do whatever they want with you. I gave him my opinion that the past couple of years the Mets have a rep for being soft and when punched they never punched back. Collins told me I wasn’t wrong in my assessment and it was something he said he would change. He even pointed out that if he had been the manager when Chase Utley took out Ruben Tejada last year, he would have led the charge out of the dugout to confront Utley.   First at bat tonight I’d like to see Larry Jones eat some Georgia clay just to send a message.

Someone in the Mets P.R. department needs to tell Collins to cease and desist with the we played hard or how proud he is that the team battled back those replies have to stop like yesterday. We have heard the Rich Kotie/Art Howe/Willie Randolph refrain more time than we ever need to hear again. When Sandy Alderson took over and hired Collins for the job, the mantra was that honesty and transparency would be  the bedrock of the new management team, well it’s time to live up to the new company motto and stop with the we battled back, tried hard line of horseshit because playing hard shouldn’t be rewarded it’s to be expected.  

Another topic of conversation around the dugout was what will be of Jose Reyes? Will he be traded mid-season if the team is out of contention? If he stays, will the Mets sign him to a long term deal? How is long is too long and how much money is too much money for the Mets? Of a bunch of us discussing this no one had a definitive answer or solution. Many of us feel, the lack of money will be a bullshit excuse. If the Skill Sets plead lack of funds then that is a flat out lie. If it’s years on the contract that would be more of a reasonable topic of debate.

As far as the Skill Sets legal woes go, word on the street is the players couldn’t give a shit about their problems as long as there are sufficient funds to cash their checks. The day the bank shouts out “insufficient funds” then they’ll care.

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Lot’s of news today about the new and improved ticket prices the Mets have announced. Yesterday afternoon, Dave The Shyster held a conference call with Mets bloggers to explain what a great deal the Mets were laying out for their fans as far as ticket prices go for 2011. As usual, yours truly was not invited to this event as I have found out from some very good sources that I have as much chance of being invited to a bloggers event at Citi Field as Keith Olbermann has of being the keynote speaker at the Tea Party Convention. From what I hear, the ownership hates the tone of this site and my way of expressing my opinions of the way the team is operated. When I heard this I was beaming with pride. Throughout the years that I have been posting opinion on this site, nine years now, I have been approached by numerous entities asking me to join their websites and to have The Eddie Kranepool Society join a more established network. But there was also a provision that I’d have to have each post reviewed and edited and in no way could I use any profanity. How can you write about the Mets the last few years and not use the word “Fuck”? Any way, I’ve always declined the invites. 

I write this blog out of love of the NY Mets and of baseball, the same way I love doing THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN and now as a host of BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE BASEBALL TALK on Blog Talk Radio. As for an empty suit like David Howard, it’s probably better we never meet up as I might pull a  Muhammad Ali  and do to him what Ali did to Ernie Terrell in 1967 when he kept landing body blows and said “What’s my blog fool, what’s my blog”?

Believe me when I tell you, I’m writing this post to answer all the e-mails and phone calls I get asking me why I don’t get invited to this events. Whether I get invited or not at least I know that the Skill Sets know who I am and I’m a thorn in their side and I wear that as a badge of honor.

I find it quite amusing that the Mets are announcing these new and improved ticket prices, what other choice did they have? The team played in front of ten’s of thousands of empty seats and during the month of September, closed the concession stands in the Promenade Level.  The team still has not admitted (nor the Highlanders as well) the short sight ness of making the seats behind home plate, Club Seats for folks who could not give a shit about the Mets. Guys in suits and chicks named Buffy don’t root, root root for the home team. I’m far from envious of these people by the way as I had access to a suite at Shea and (are you sitting down for this one) and at Highlander Stadium (are you still sitting? I also was a guest in the Late Bronx Robber Barons suite and office as one of my brothers did business with the Highlanders. The only way he’d let me go with him was on the condition that I wear no Mets clothing and I don’t cheer the opposition. If I did the penalty would be a severe ass kicking. My brother I’m scared of. David Howard ? Uhhhh not so much! )  and I hated watching games from that venue. My wife got tickets this year for a game on my birthday in the Caesar Club. The only time I went in the Club was to enter my seats and to go home. I still miss my Upper Deck Box seats in Section 701 at Shea but now I look for tickets in Section 513 of the Promenade Reserved Infield. There is nothing better than sitting in the sun at baseball game in your shorts, t-shirt and flip flops not in a suit and tie.

There is a reason places like Citizens Bank Park, AT&T and the holy shrines of Fenway and Wrigley, Camden Yards and most of the new ballparks are outstanding places to watch baseball games, there are no club seats behind home plate.

If you want to make a splash and make a real improvement at your ball park, tear out the Club Seats and put real honest to goodness baseball seats there and open them up to real fans and lo and behold you got yourself a real honest to goodness home field advantage.

I know myself and Dave Howard and The Skill Sets will never be pals and that’s cool as I’m not here to be their friend, I’m here to help them turn the experience of going to see the baseball team I love, into one that makes people excited to make a return trip. I guess the lowering of ticket prices is a start, maybe a retraining of the ushers and concession workers to get them to drop the Correction Officer attitude they portray, would work well too and last but not least, give Mets fans a team they can be proud to root for. Do that and maybe the Skill Sets and me will go for a beer after the World Series parade. Now that would be a great summit meeting.

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The fans have spoken and the man they want to run the baseball operations for the New York Mets is Howard Megdal. Howard’s message of LOGIC, TRANSPARENCY  AND PASSION has stuck a cord in the heart of Mets fans. All three facets of Howard’s campaign is the bedrock of what being a Mets fan is all about.

Tomorrow evening at 6:15PM Howard will accept the Mets fans nomination for GM with an acceptance speech at Citi Field, Parking Lot E. After the speech, Howard will present his impressive resume to Jeff and Fred Wilpon and hopefully they will realize that there is only one man to lead this organization out of the malaise it is in that has injured the heart and soul of every Mets fan and that man is Howard Megdal.

Here is the press release detailing Howard’s primary sweep and I would like to thank the readers of The Eddie Kranepool Society for voting 82 % in favor of Megdal to be the next General Manager of the New York Mets.

After receiving thousands of votes over the course of 18 grueling primaries at blogs dedicated to the Mets around the Internet, Howard Megdal will graciously accept the nomination of New York Mets fans to be the next General Manager at 6:15 PM Thursday night in Parking Lot E at Citi Field.

Megdal won every primary he entered, with a vote share of 65 percent or greater in 17 of the 18 contests, and averaged a vote share of greater than 74 percent. Considering that Metsblog currently rates the fan confidence rating in the team at 9 percent, there can be no greater sign that Fred and Jeff Wilpon are listening to the wishes of the fans than by making Howard Megdal the next General Manager of the New York Mets.

“I have been honored and humbled to be chosen by so many fans, motivated by my pillars of LOGIC, TRANSPARENCY and PASSION as guideposts for this baseball team’s future in 2011 and beyond,” Megdal said. “I look forward to speaking with the Wilpons, earning the job that so many fans want me to have, and drying forever my daughter’s baseball-related tears.”

After Megdal concludes his speech detailing his vision for the future of the New York Mets, he will submit his resume to Fred and Jeff Wilpon. T-shirts will be available, and Megdal will answer questions from the press or fans before doing what he loves most—going to watch a Mets game with his wife and daughter.

Howard Megdal writes about and analyzes the team for SNY.tv and Capital New York, has covered it for The New York Observer, and knows the personnel and players, both on the field and off. He write three columns a week for New York Baseball Digest, four pieces for SB Nation New York, and a poem summarizing every single game for AmazinAvenue.com.  He also has a wider-range view of the league and a network of contacts, contributes columns to outlets like ESPN.com and The New York Times, and regularly writes for MLBTradeRumors.com. You can follow him on Twitter @howardmegdal.

He has lived and loved the Mets since he was six years old. When he was 13 years old, his school Principal forced Megdal to spend the day in his office, since the school had declared Phillies Hat Day, and he refused to remove his Starter pinstriped Mets cap. Had he agreed to remove the Mets hat, he would have been set free. But that was too high a price to pay.

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Ladies and Gentlemen I am proud to announce that Howard Medal has accepted the call of duty and will run for General Manager of the New York Mets. The Eddie Kranepool Society whole hardheartedly supports Mr. Megdal’ candidacy for this very important office, please read this press release from Megdal Headquarters:

On Monday, June 14 at 11 AM, Howard Megdal, writer for SNY.tv, MLBTradeRumors.com, New York Baseball Digest, and Poet Laureate of Amazin’ Avenue, will reveal his decision concerning an electoral campaign to become the next General Manager of the New York Mets. Mr. Megdal will make a statement and take questions from the media.

The event will begin promptly at 11 AM on the fourth floor of the Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway (at 45^th Street). At the conclusion of the event, lunch will not be served.

Megdal, 30, would be making his first-ever run for General Manager of the New York Mets. His career-to-date has included a wealth of relevant experience, however, including writing about the team for the New York Observer, authoring a definitive profile of Cowbellman, and finding several different rhyme schemes for the phrase “Big Pelf”.

Megdal also understands the fan perspective. He is also a Mets partial season ticket holder, attended David Cone’s 19 strikeout game on October 6, 1991, and served one day as a political prisoner over his love for the New York Mets during Phillies Hat Day at Beck Middle School in Cherry Hill, NJ.

WHAT: Announcement/Media Availability by Howard Megdal

WHEN: MONDAY, JUNE 14, 11 AM

WHERE: New York Marriott Marquis, Fourth Floor

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Rough one last night in San Diego. Kevin Corria connected twice to Jerry Hariston Jr in the end zone for 2 TD’s and David Eckstein kicked two extra points to lead the Padres over the Mets 18-6. Adrian Gonzalez had a big night of defense as he sacked Raul Valdes and Ryota Igarashi in the end zone for safeties. The Mets scored on a Jose Reyes punt return but the 2pt conversion failed.  

If I’m Ollie Perez or Scott Boras I’d welcome a trip to Buffalo as to not have to face the media and a very angry fan base when the Mets get back to NYC to open a three game series with the Fish on Friday. I’d love to get a press pass for the Friday game just to ask Ollie on question:

“Oliver? Steve Keane from the Eddie Kranepool Society” How does it feel that Mets front office, players and fan base are so disgusted by your selfishness that they would rather see you hogtied with an athletic cup shoved in your mouth stuffed in the trunk of a car parked on Fountain Avenue in East New York Brooklyn”

Ollie: “Brooklyn? Shit I don’t want to go to Buffalo what makes you think I want to go to Brooklyn”

Hey while you’re watching Big Pelf lose 1-0 to the Padres tonight how about joining me on THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN as I open the phone lines to the listeners tonight to talk Mets and all things baseball at 10PM ET on Blog Talk Radio. The call in number is (646) 727-2465. No hands waves or being told You’re Lawst on this show, we’re caller friendly

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We pause our Mets coverage here at The Eddie Kranepool Society to focus on my new female crush. Ms. Cheryl  Bernard of Canada.  Not only is Ms. Bernardt a gorgeous female from the  Great White North  she is also a kick-ass Curler, unlike that choking American dog John Shuster, who found his sorry Curling ass on the pine yesterday as the U.S Men’s Curling team defeated France 4-3. But I digress back to the lovely Cheryl.

Ms. Bernard is the Skip of the Canadian team as in Skipper as in Main Babe in Charge and she takes her job very very seriously. Last night she was brilliant in leading her Canadian team to victory over the hotties from Denmark.  This match was so good and entertaining that I stayed with it while my Celtics were running roughshod over the Blazers.

I can’t  get enough Curling or of Cheryl Bernard (wink, wink)

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Join Steve Keane and Joe McDonald tonight at 9PM ET for another edition of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL. We will dissect the latest snubs by Bengi Molina and Joel Pineiro of the Mets and we will discuss which way the Mets will turn to solidify their starting pitching and a front line catcher. We will look at which Mets prospects could rise from a spring training to make the final 25 man roster and a host of other Mets and baseball news,

You can join in as well with comments and question by calling in at (646) 595-4462.

If you can’t join us live you can download the podcast at The Eddie Kranepool Society, BlogTalkRadio or at our PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL site.

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I guess you can say I’m suffering from spring training burn out as I can not wait for the season to start in 9 days.

 

A must read is Matt Cerrone’s piece on his tour of $iti Field and it looks as if after all the bitching and moaning over the name and price of tickets and all the other minutia that myself and others have spewed all winter we can enjoy the fact that we have a first class ballpark to call our own that will be very different for our Shea experience.

 

I’m curious to know where you guys stand on the new studio team of Chris Carlin and Bobby Ojeda?. For me I’d say it’s a huge upgrade over Snoozeoff and Boardwalk Lee. I like Carlin. I always thought he was a good listen on WFAN and he did a good job covering the New York Football Giants as he has a jolly good personality. As for Bobby-O , he has star potential. I met Ojeda a few years ago when he was the pitching coach in Brooklyn and he knows baseball, is very opinionated and is funny as hell. The post game banter between Ojeda and Mex will be Must See TV mark my words.

 

Speaking of Keith Hernandez, he and Ron Darling will be handling the play by play for tonight’s Mets-Nats game on SNY. No Gary and no Burkhardt. I hope someone has their finger on the dump button.

 

And speaking of Gary Cohen, he has advanced to the Mets Greatest Announcers Championship Round at Amazin’ Avenue’ against Bob Murphy. Talk about your tough decisions. I had to put a lot of thought into whom I was voting for. So I went and did what I always do when I have a big decision to make, I went for a slice of pizza and a Manhattan Special. When I got back to my office, I went to my keyboard and made my choice. I am proud to announce that The Eddie Kranepool Society has backed Gary Cohen and will vote for him as the greatest announcer in Mets history. I think what swayed me was the fact I’m wearing my “It’s Outta Here” t-shirt today.

 

 

 

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