Last night I attended the media hour before the Thurman Munson Dinner to benefit AHRC of New York. Among the many guest invited to the event were Mets Daniel Murphy and R.A. Dickey and a surprise guest that I chatted with, former Met Carlos Delgado.

In talking to Murphy he has to be the most optimistic person of Irish ancestry I’ve ever met.  As you can hear in this clip, Murphy feels the Mets can contend in the NL East and beyond.  He also speaks of the work he has to do in order to play 2^nd base this season and the fact that he has been working out with the cooperation of the fine weather in his hometown of Jacksonville Florida .

After Murphy, R.A. Dickey was made available to us for a Q & A session and of course R.A. was in fine form with thoughtful answers about his climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, his hope that Johan Santana can come back and reclaim his spot as Ace of the pitching staff and his pragmatic view of the upcoming season for the Mets in a very tough NL East as you can here is this clip and this clip.

After talking to both Dickey and Murphy, I thought about all the angst and anger of Mets fans over this off season towards ownership of the team. I thought about all those who say they won’t come out to Citi Field as they feel it’s a show of support of the Wilpon’s.  To those fans I say, I feel sorry for you. While talking to Dickey and to Murphy , the thought came to me that I can’t wait for the season to begin because I can’t wait to root for both these guys as they are more than worthy of positive support.

Murph is the guy who blocks out the negativity. When the media scrum dispersed from the group Q & A, I was lucky enough to hang around and got to talk to him one on one (I turned off the recorder because I just wanted to have casual conversation) and one topic we discussed was the negativity of the organization from a segment of the media and the fan base and does that negativity ever creep into the clubhouse. He told me it doesn’t because the manager, who I believe Murph has tremendous respect for, would never allow it and he also felt that the guys in the clubhouse are united in such a way that “woes is us” would never make it past the outside clubhouse door.

From Dickey I get a guy who is very confident in his ability and seems to have grown as a big league pitcher but the days of struggle are always in the forefront of his mind. Where Murph seems to be the half full guy, I wouldn’t say that Dickey is a glass half empty guy but more of a realist who has been around a while and knows the score.

A pleasant surprise of the evening was running into Carlos Delgado who looks in great shape (dare I say The best shape of his life?) and was quite gracious in giving me a portions of his time to talk about the Mets of the present and his experience as a Met and playing in New York in this clip.

When I was done talking to Murphy and Dickey I went over to the refreshment table to grab a bottle of water, it was there I met up with legendary  St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca, who was on hand to present an award to Chris Mullin at the dinner. Again I didn’t have my recorder on as my conversation with the Coach was more a casual deal than an interview.  He told me about having dinner with John Franco on Monday night and how happy he was that the Mets will honor him on June 3 with induction into the Mets Hall of Fame. It was easy to see the love and pride Carnesecca has for Franco, the coach then asked me if I thought Franco would get into Cooperstown, I was as diplomatic as could be in saying it would be very tough. I went on to tell the coach about my wedding day and how happy I was there was a TV in the limousine, as I’m seen and heard in our wedding video wanting to watch St. Johns-Auburn second round NCAA Tournament game.  Carnesecca laughed and then said “Jesus, you remember that game”? He then asked me to sit down with him and talk about basketball. That was quite an honor.

Posted under Uncategorized

Now that we have the holidays out of the way, we can now look forward to spring training for what should be quite the interesting Mets season.

Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue had an interesting post today on how bad will the Mets be in 2012? Of course the number one item on his list of things that will impact the season is the Skill Sets financial situation, something that will most likely overshadow what goes on, on the field but Simon also touches on the health and availability of Johan Santana, the hitting of Jason Bay and David Wright and where the offensive production lost from Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes will come from.

So my question to you my loyal readers, what is your expectation for the Mets this coming season? What is a realistic expectation of this team and what will be their standing in the NL East, a division that could be up for grabs if the reports of Prince Fielder signing with Washington are true. Can you see anything short of a last place finish in the division? Right now, I can’t.

Where do you see Johan Santana this season? For me, I’d be surprised if we see Santana pitch for the Mets before June.

What to do with David Wright? Wright is not a player, right now that could realistically bring back a treasure trove of young talent but what if he is invigorated by good health and more friendly dimensions of Citi Field and puts up a .300/.380/.500 line with 15-17 HR’s and 75-80 + RBI by the All-Star break, do you keep him and hope a new owner comes in with cash to re-sign him or is the lure of young robust baseball players to tempting to turn down in a trade?  I’m still undecided on this one but I am leaning towards a deal if the Mets get back a blue ribbon prospect or a young Major Leaguer under club control.

When I go to opening day at Citi Field, who else will be there? If you are a true blue Mets fan and having been going to Mets games your whole life I can’t see how now you decide to sit this season out. No one has a right to tell you how to spend your time or money but as Boggy said, “a hot dog at a ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz”. So true, I mean today when I left for work I had on a sweater, coat, scarf and wool hat. You know what? That sucks. I want to wear shorts and t-shirt and have a scorecard in my hand. I have made peace with myself that the Mets will not be very good this season to the point that 100 losses would not shock me. However, there is still a part of me that small sliver of Mets fan naivete` that still has me holding out hope that this season could be full of surprises and I want to be there to enjoy them.  I know all the die-hards will be out at Citi Field on Thursday April 5^th at 1:10PM, will you be there? If not tell me why not?

It’s funny the other teams I root for in other sports are playing at a level where they are contenders for championships in their respective leagues but it’s the Mets that are on my mind the most  and my biggest concern. Crazy shit eh?

Posted under Uncategorized

Well if it’s September it must be Mets Free Fall.  Just like white shoes and straw hats, the NY Mets go out of style come Labor Day.

The last three September’s have become Nightmare on 126^th St & Roosevelt as Freddy Skill Sets worst nightmare has come true, the lack of meaningful baseball games played in Flushing. It’s why the organization has had to pull gimmicks out it’s ass to find a way to coax fans to Citi Field. From 2009 to last night the Mets are 26-44 in the month that baseball fans pay the most attention to, the month when the teams that are ready to prove they are worthy World Series contenders, the month we used to look at once tickets went on sale and made sure we secured tickets to the Braves series, the Phillies series now we look forward to Cult Movie Night or Thumb Suckers Awareness Night or a Celebrations of the People of the Aleutian Islands .

So let’s bring everyone back from this year because it’s just a matter of time before Mike Pelfrey turns into Don Drysdale and David Wright will turn into George Brett and Johan Santana will be the first pitcher to ever comeback from shoulder surgery to win the Cy Young Award and Bobby Parnell will become a gritty, gutty closer by growing a Fu Manchu moustache, and of course Jose Reyes will resign and the Mets will add a Santeria High Priest to exorcise the demons out of Reyes’ hamstrings.

Now that the chase for .500 looks unattainable maybe we should root for more loses to get a better pick in the 2012 Entry Draft.

Posted under Uncategorized

I’m looking forward to getting out to Citi Field this evening to watch R.A Dickey battle Aaron Harang and the Pads as it’s been awhile since I’ve been out there. Between work, vacations and baseball coaching obligations (our season ended by the way with my team losing in the Championship Series 2 games to 1, we finished in 1^st place but giving up 4 and 5 out innings in the final round killed us) and the team on a long road trip, a trip to Flushing has been long overdue, I’m pumped up to get  out there tonight.

Seems the MSM is as usual a little late in picking up the fact that Mets fans really like this team. Better late than never I guess. One quote in this piece by Larry Brooks in the Post today made me smile when I read it, it comes from Ginger Turner:

“I don’t know why anyone would have thought our team would throw in the towel or give up,” Justin Turner told The Post. “That’s kind of a slap in the face to the guys who are here.

“Players get traded and players get hurt. That’s part of baseball. We’ve got 25 guys in here busting their butts to try to win games and who believe in ourselves and our team.”

Can’t you tell that Turner is new around here? Maybe it because the last two season the team has laid down and played dead but thankfully those days are gone. Did you see Terry Collins jumping up and down in the dugout the other night after Lucas Duda’ game winning single? That is passion.

Good news on Johan Santana as it “only” fatigue in the shoulder not anything structural that’s derailed is rehab from shoulder surgery.

Great story in the Times today (guess they had to make up for Jim Luttrells’ hack piece the other day) on Mike Baxter who will get a start in the outfield today. I love the part about Baxter organizing the purchase of championships rings for his Archbishop Molloy team and that legendary coach, Tom Curran still wears his every day. That is impressive.

Posted under Uncategorized

Two more days left of my vacation and another day at the Magic Kingdom, where I swear our family are the only Americans visiting Orlando this summer. The Brits seem to be the leading European visitors here with “Name Any Spanish Speaking Country Here” as the runner up.

I guess it’s good news that Johan Santana has “only” a fatigued shoulder and will be shut down for a while to build up strength. The question it seems is “what’s the rush”? Does it matter at this point if Santana pitches a game for the Mets this season? Hopefully, this latest set back shows that it’s better to look forward to February 2012 for Johan.

Speaking of pitching, Howard Megdal has a great piece today on Jon Niese and his strong season.

The Mets are having a luncheon today at Citi Field to honor Military vets of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. The Mets Alumni will be there including Tom Seaver, Ralph Kiner Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Ed Charles and Joe Pignatano. The Mets organization has really stepped up big time when it comes to honoring our military heroes and also involving the Mets Alumni this season. Great job.

That’s it for now, the next post will be from the Kranepool Society headquarters in Staten Island

Posted under Uncategorized

Blogging will be a bit spotty here next week as I’ll be heading down to Florida for a week of R & R, unlike the week I spent upstate in the woods camping this is a real vacation.

Lots of positives for the Mets organization last night as the club swept a four game series from the Red Legs for the first time ever, Johan Santana pitched in a rehab game in St Lonesome and his arm did not fall off, and Daniel Murphy is now 3^rd in the NL Batting race behind Ryan Braun and Jose Reyes. No Mets player has ever won a Batting Crown and the way Reyes is playing this season there is a very good shot that he will be the first. Who knows after that, maybe Zack Wheeler could be the first Mets pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 2013.

Speaking of Mets pitching phenoms, Matt Harvey was on the mound last night for Bingo against Harrisburg and Nats phenom, Bryce Harper. Harvey had a very strong showing and K’d the much hyped Bryce twice but the B-Mets went down in defeat 2-1 in 14 innings. Harvey went 7 innings and K’d 10 and walked only 2.

Sad news about Hideki Irabu taking his own life yesterday in California. As Mike Silva points out, Irabu’s downfall in coming to the U.S. to pitch was his insistence to pitch for the Highlanders. The San Diego Padres held his rights and after a contentious back and forth with Padres ownership, Irabu forced a  trade Irabu to the Bronx where the pitcher thought it would be just like in the movies. He soon found out the myth of the Bronx Bastards failed to mirror the reality of playing for an overheated blow hard  self-promoting owner, who didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.  Maybe Irabu life would have been different if he stayed in San Diego or Japan. We’ll never know but playing for the Highlanders did not improve his quality of life.    

Lost in the euphoria of the Mets four game sweep of the Red Legs and the fact they have been road warriors all season, is that the dreaded black uniform top and cap has been making many more appearance the last month or so than it did during the early part of the season.  I’ll never understand this fixation with the black jersey and hat when the Mets road greys are one of the best looking uniforms in all of baseball. Now that Sandy Alderson has put this organization in his vice-grip hands, I am begging him to order all the black uniforms gathered up for an end of the season bon fire at Citi Field. I sure this guy will bring the gasoline and matches.   

Posted under Uncategorized

You can look at the Mets reaching the .500 mark as nothing to celebrate, as .500 means you’ve reached a level of mediocrity. But if you look at the overall standings of the National League, that .500 mark is much more impressive, especially in the light of injuries and starting pitching rotation led by two neophytes, a philosopher, a reclamation project and a schizophrenic.  

Taking the Phuck Phaces out of the equation, and their NL and MLB leading 43-26 record, the Mets are a mere 5 games back of the SF Giants (39-29) for the second best record in the league. For those who feel it’s never too early to follow the NL Wild Card standings, the Mets are 3.5 games behind the Cardinals for the NL Wild Card spot.

All this without the two corner infielders who provide power, the Ace of the starting rotation and the Left Fielder (although 2 hits and an SB for Jason Bay maybe just maybe it’s the start of his renaissance) an emotional baseball mess, it’s quite impressive that the Mets are in the race for a post season berth. If anything comes as a positive so far this season is the culture of failure has been eradicated on the field and in the clubhouse. Maybe it will move to the owners level as well but that would take a giving the blind sight kind of miracle that doesn’t happen too often.   Like Rome, Flushing was built in a day.

Scott Kazmir has been released by the Angels, he can be picked up for the major league minimum. I don’t think a Mets reunion will happen but I could see the Highlanders signing him and assigning him to Scranton/Wilkes Barre because they are DES-PER-ATE for starting pitching.   

I wish the Mets would announce that the next time Johan Santana will pitch for the team in February 2012 in St. Lonesome.

Last night I had the honor of being a guest on the Seamheads Podcasting Network’s Fantasy Baseball Show on Blog Talk Radio it was a fast paced hour of great baseball talk a very worthy listen. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/seamheads/2011/06/16/highlight-reelseamheads-fantasy-baseball-show

Posted under Uncategorized

Don’t sleep in the subway, darling

Don’t stand in the pouring rain
Don’t sleep in the subway, darling
The night is long
Forget your foolish pride
Nothing is wrong
Now, you’re beside me again

So here we are arriving yet again for another Subway Series that has surpassed his expiration date a while ago.  As Mets fans, we have to endure anther three days of watching Luis Castillo drop a pop up and Rogers Clemens take off Mike Piazza’ head because we live in a city where the main stream media, both print and electronic have thrown in the towel on creativity and substance.

In reading some of these stories this morning about both teams you’d think the Highlanders were having some kind of special season, maybe they are in a negative kind of way. The Mets on the other hand are mocked because they have suffered a series of injuries that have forced the club to go with players summoned from their Triple A team in Buffalo. Why this is supposed to be embarrassing is beyond my comprehension, shouldn’t it be a positive that the club has lost Johan Santana and then Chris Young to shoulder surgery, Ike Davis to a sprained ankle, David Wright to a stress fracture in his back, Pedro Beato to tendonitis, and Angel Pagan to the chic aliment of sore oblique muscle and still play winning baseball (17-11) after a horrendous start of the season?  So the players that have been brought in to replace the injured have stepped up in such a way that the team is playing as good as any team in baseball. Isn’t the mark of a good team that they have guys who step up when other guys go down with injury?   

It’s ok to say that Terry Collins is doing a fine job as manager. It’s ok to say that slowly but surely Sandy Alderson is changing the culture of the organization. It’s ok to go to Citi Field and root for this team.

Are there any Mets fans who feel the Highlanders are “rivals” to the Mets? Because they’re not. The Highlanders are more of a nuisance than anything and their fans a very good source of comedy relief. Yesterday after the Mets win, I left the radio when the Sports Bloviator came on. I was in the midst of writing up a bunch of paper work so I left him on. Boy, am I glad I did. When he went to the phones, he took calls from Highlander fans in a rage over Joe Girardi taking out Bartolo Colon and replacing him with Mariano Rivera.  I cannot believe I just typed that last sentence and Francesa couldn’t believe these callers were saying these words of blasphemy.  

It’s the same attitude many Highlander fans have with Derek Jeter. Mets fans have a higher regard for Frank Taveras than the Highlander fan has for El Capitan. Why? Beats me, some things just can’t be explained.

Posted under Uncategorized

But The New York Rangers have the biggest, BALLS OF THEM ALL!!!

I am totally drained and hoarse from attending last night’s remarkable NY Rangers-Boston Bruins game at MSG. I haven’t been this exhausted from screaming at a sporting event since Johan Santana beat the Marlins on 9/27/08 to keep the Mets to keep their post season hopes alive.

The Rangers looked like the rigors of this playoff push combined with another back to back game would take its toll on the Blueshirts. When the score got to 3-0 Bruins, many of the MSG customers turned on the team with boos. I was very disappointed in the play of the team but I’m not a boo’er, I’m more of a sulker when things go bad and just slump in my seat. So there I slumped looking at my watch trying to figure what ferry to get to get me home in time to catch most of the UCONN-Butler game (from what I’ve read this morning, I didn’t miss much as both teams lived up to their canine nicknames) when Vinny Prospal scored for the Rangers to make it 3-1. I figured, if the Bruins score again to make it 4-1, I’ll head for the 1 train to South Ferry, but 7 minutes later Prospal scored again to cut the Boston lead to 1 goal.

Now all this time, in the row in front of us are four Bruins fans, three of them were respectful but one was just an out and out asshole, who stood after each Bruins goal with a beer in each hand proclaiming the Rangers wouldn’t make the post season. Now it’s one thing to come into enemy territory and root for your team, it’s another to act like an asshole and inflame the home team rooters, especially in the Blue Seats of MSG. As the Rangers started to score goal after goal, the Bruin fans slumped lower and lower into their seats. When the Brandon Dubinsky tied the score with three minutes and change left in the 3^rd period, the Garden exploded and after the Gooooo-aaaaaa-llllll song was sung, the section pointed at Mr. Bruin and gave him the ASSSSSSSSSSSSSS-HHHHHHHHHOOOOOLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE salute. When Michael Sauer scored the 4^th and game winning goal, well, all hell broke loose.

Two guys about 6’4 by 6’4 come running into the row I’m in and start screaming at the obnoxious Bruin fan whose beer muscles seemed have been deflated, Mr. Bruin then turned around and told the Ranger fan to fuck off, next you know fists were flying and Garden Security pounced on both guys. When order was finally restored, I turned to my son and told him, “Welcome to 1979”

John Tortorella said it in his post-game presser, “this team has balls” not just balls but big brass balls.

Posted under Uncategorized

So who do you believe Johan Santana and the Mets or the Bergen Record? Hard choice. See I’m skeptical of both of them.  

This past winter Carlos Beltran told a gaggle of Mets bloggers that he felt great his knee felt great and he couldn’t wait to get to training camp. How has that turned out so far?

The one problem that Sandy Alderson needs to fix right away is the leak that’s in the organization. Someone with enough juice on this team told Steve Popper and The Klap the bad news about Santana and they ran with this story. Now the player, pitching coach and GM are all calling BULLSHIT on this report. I call BULLSHIT as well.

One thing I do believe in all this is why the rush to get Santana back in the rotation? Where are the Mets going that Santana needs to accelerate his rehab? Why not just let him work on his rehab try to get that shoulder stronger and healthier and look towards 2012? Even then who knows what kind of pitcher Santana will be. His last two seasons have been halted by injury; his velocity has decreased on his fastball which affects his changeup greatly. With two full seasons and a buyout left in his contract, it would be best to point at 2012 for Johan’s return than this summer. This type of surgery is tough to come back from as we see with Mark Prior and Chen Ming- Wang who have not come close to getting back in the baseball swing of things. So maybe slow and steady is best for this race.

Posted under Uncategorized