I’m exhausted. After sitting through last nights game, then heading home and getting to bed about four hours before I needed to get up to go to work, I’m going to need three XL Dunkin’ Dounts coffee’s to get through the work day.

My day at Citi Field started out with a great surprise. As we were walking from the car to the front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Ed Kranepool. Yes, THE Ed Kranepool, my FME (Favorite Met Ever). He was with a bunch of people and was busy distributing tickets to them when I went over to say hello. I reminded him that we met at a luncheon at Gallagher’s for the 69 Champs and that I run this blog named after him, he started laughing and said “Oh now I remember you” we just chatted for a minute or two before we shook hands and bid each other well.  That was my “Let It Be” moment as a Mets fan. Just when I wonder is all this worth it, as I get more and more aggravated with the ownership, front office and manager and question why I actually give a shit about this team, I hear that song in my head:

When I find myself in times of trouble,

Eddie Kranepool comes to me,

Speaking words of wisdom,

Let it be, let it be.

After my Kranepool encounter, we then took a stroll through the Mets Museum. This was just my third trip to Citi Field this season (now that my baseball season has come to a close with a second round ousting in the playoffs, I hope to make a few more trips this summer to Flushing) but the first time I had the time to go a look around the Hall of Fame. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. I love the fact that the two World Series trophies are on displayed for us, the great unwashed, to look at and enjoy instead of the days at Shea when the swells in the suites and Diamond Club, the folks who have zero attachment to them, had them in plain view. I also like how the plaques are made just like the one’s in Cooperstown. The display of Mets uniforms of the past is a treat as well and the baseballs from the first and last games at the Polo Grounds and Shea Stadium scream of our history. I don’t say this too many times but bravo Mets management on putting together a great place for Mets fans to relive and learn Mets history.

A few thoughts on last night’s game:

This team is madding. How does Johan Santana go from throwing batting practice in the first inning to morphing back into an Ace from innings 2-5?    

We sat in seats last night that allowed us access to the Caesars Club, as my wife said we needed to splurge since it was my birthday. Our seats were great, section 326 between third and home, but I’m just not cut out to be among the people who frequent that area. We may have been the only ones in the section actually watching the action on the field.  I was not impressed with the surroundings of the Cesar’s Club either. The furnishings look like the came off the set of Mad Men, with the couches and coffee tables that looked just like the furniture in my living room when I celebrated my 6^th birthday in 1964. One very nice feature though was the air conditioning which was welcome relief on a stifling night.

I also grew weary of telling all the “Johnny Come Lately” Mets fans that life story of Mike Hessman.

I’m sure Jerry Manuel has all sorts of facts and figures in his binder that he keeps in the dugout. I am also sure that on one of those pages there shows Pedro Feliciano gets pounded by right handed hitters to the tune of .333/.446/.405 and that Raul Valdes, even though he’s a lefty, has success versus righties  .206/.322/.284 so why was Feliciano left to face El Hombre? I can accept not walking Pujols but why not go with Valdes? It’s your nightly “Gangsta’ Jerry’s Head Scratcher of the Game”.

I have really, really REALLY had enough of Luis Castillo.

Jason Fry has a great post on the events of last night game in D.C. and the fact as Mets fans we are on the edge of our seats when the Mets have a late inning lead. Part of it is our paranoia over the bullpen but the bulk of our fear is the way Jerry Manuel misuses his relief core. I also find it hysterical that some of the comments on that post are chastising fans for calling our the managerial flaws of Jerry Manuel with the simplistic refrain old “hey the team is winning he must be doing something right”  but the don’t list what those “right things”. Folks the Mets are winning in spite of Manuel, it helps that D-Wright has found his game elite game and Angel Pagan has matured and that Big Pelf, Jon Niese, Ike Davis and even Ruben Tejada have mature and given this team the shot of young blood we have been craving.

By the way Manuel should be fired for even thinking of replacing Ruben Tejada at second base with Luis Castillo when Castillo comes back. Even I don’t think Manuel believes that but it’s more like another of “Jerry’s Games” to force the front office to make a move, like he did with Ollie P and John Maine, remember he is a Gangsta’

Believe it or not the Washington Nationals are on the verge of signing El Duque. I guess Luis Tiant ask for too much money.

The first primary is complete and Howard Megdal received 65 % approval vote at Amazin’ Avenue and 68 % approval at NY Baseball Digest. Proving that Met want what Howard has pledged to deliver LOGIC, TRANSPARENSY, and PASSION .  Next weeks primary is set and your voting places are at the AabFab Metsgrrl site and at Mets Minor League Blog. It’s your constitutional duty as a Mets fan to vote and remember id Howard were the Mets GM today, Ruben Tejada would play every day and Oliver Perez would be his baseball Ambassador to Mexico.

I have no baseball games this weekend so I am watching this great Germany-Argentina World Cup match then Mets-Strasburg then off to Lend Me A Tenor on Broadway. Life is Good.

Unfortunately last night, Doug Glanville had a family emergency to tend to and had to cancel his appearance with me on This Call To The Bullpen but we are both working on finding another day for Doug to come on the program to talk about his book The Game From Where I Stand (Henry Holt/Times Books) and we hope to have that hashed out in a few days. So I had to decide, cancel the show or just go on and rant for an hour and the hour rant won out. So if you want to hear me talk about Jerry Manuel, playing games that count in Puerto Rico, Bobby Valentine and Wally Backman, then check out last nights This Call To The Bullpen.

don’t forget to check out the THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN shop at Cafe Press

It’s game like last night that stirs the demons of my Mets soul. I want nothing more than to stand on Broadway decked out in every piece of Met clothing I own and celebrate the ticker tape parade that no other city in the world gives to his championship sports teams. What has me conflicted is, if that happens, then Jerry Manuel will be the Mets manager for a minimum of three more years. Last nights game showed just about ever deficiency in Manuel’ game. Stephen Hanks of Mets Merized Online lays each and every flaw (save maybe for number one and the author agrees that my be picking at nits as well) from not running for Rod Barajas and even the pinch hitting for Ruben Tejeda but the big one for me was using Frankie Rodriguez in the 8th inning last which goes with Manuel’ “throw a reliever against the wall and see what sticks” bullpen management.

We are starting to get inundated with Cliff Lee rumors, not just every day but just about every hour. I don’t think there is a Mets fan out there who doesn’t want Lee on the team, as his presence alone will make the Phuck Phaces and Squaws go “GULP”. But at what price would you pay for this rental Ace? At this point there is no way you can trade Angel Pagan. Saying that, when Carlos Beltran does come back, Beltran is THE CENTERFIELDER and he is the centerfielder until he shows he physically can’t play the position any longer. However, Beltran will not be out there day after day so Pagan gets say two days a week in CF, then another couple in the corners with more time in RF. Beltran is not a corner outfield and there is a huge difference between playing CF from playing a corner outfield spot as we saw with the horrific collision between Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran back in San Diego a few years ago. Pagan has played corner outfield so the transition is easier for him.

The price on Roy Oswalt may not be too high but Drayton McClain is an Al Davis clone. He wants to shed payroll but he hates to part with his good ol’ boys like Oswalt and Lance Berkman, even when both player say it’s best for the organization to trade both of them.

The most intriguing move would be to get Carlos Zambrano as the Cubs would move the high strung Z and take players non grata, Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. The problem is when all the contracts change hands it could cost the Mets $18 mil for Z . Ted Lilly is attractive as well after pitching a great game last night so there are some options for the Mets (Jeffey Skill Sets and John Ricco that is I still say Ricco is running the baseball ops with Jeffey and Omar has been relegated to high paid scout)

How did you feel about Jerry Seinfeld in the booth with Gary and Keith? The best part about Seinfeld in the booth is he’s an honest to goodness Mets fan. He wasn’t there to plug a movie (looking at you Kevin James) or a TV show, he was there as a Mets fan.

I thought his line to Keith when Jose Reyes hit his home run was classic:

  ”Yes! Jose Reyes cruising around third. Keith Hernandez is not liking this. Always whining about the Reyes homers. I love ‘em! Always love a homer no matter who hits it … Boom! You have got to love this.”

Seinfeld may have gone a bit overboard gushing over Gary Cohen, to the point where it seemed Cohen was getting a bit embarrassed but he was correct when he said that Gary, Keith and Ron (and don’t forget the Great Kevin Burkhardt as well) form the best announcing team in sports.

Too me the line of the night is when he talked about Lady GaGa and how they cleaned up his suite after she soiled it with her presences:

 “Everything’s fine. We brought the bedbug dog in. What’s his name? Rusty, the beagle? Now everything’s clean.”

That made me laugh out loud.

Too bad they didn’t  take calls in the booth as I’m sure Uncle Leo would have dialed

Every casual Mets fan can rattle off the names of great pitchers in Mets history, Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Gooden, Darling, but the die hard Mets fan has guys that when they  here the nam,e one of those cartoon clouds form over their head with reminisces of terrific performance of the past. The mention of their name is usually followed with the refrain “What ever happened to that guy”?

Don Cardwell was one of them, a journeyman who pitched for three full and part of a fourth season for the Mets back in the late 60’s and was on the ’69 World Champion team as a spot/starter long reliever. Cardwell was better than his record and was one of those guys who when called upon either won a game for you or at worse kept the team in a game.

Ron Taylor was another ‘69er who was key in the pen and today is a physician in his naïve Toronto and works for the Blue Jays.  His problem was he was overshadowed by a young, brash fellow reliever, Frank (Tug) McGraw

George Stone came to the Mets with Felix Milan in one of the most underrated deals in Mets history (Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry were shipped to Atlanta) and went 12-3 in 1973 and his misuse by Yogi Berra in the 1973 World Series still bothers me to this day. 

Rick Reed, Skip Lockwood, Craig Swan, Bruce Berenyi, Bill Pulshiper, Izzy and Neil Allen are guys who I think about now and then, about the contribution to the Mets teams they played or how some like Reed came out of nowhere or Stone who had the year of his life in 1973 or Lockwood an very underrated reliever or poor Puls’ one of the Titanic Trio along with Izzy and Paul Wilson, the ill fated Generation K. Craig Swan the Ace of some bad pitching staff of the late 70’s. Berenyi, a June 15^th pick up in 1984 when the Mets were starting to turn things around and became pennant contenders. All these guys forever etched in my Mets fan memory of players. Now we have one more pitcher who I can add to that list, R.A. Dickey.

If the Mets go on to win a seat at the post season table, R.A. Dickey will have played a major role. Dickey is the kind of pitcher I’ve always wanted the Mets to have. He looks like a guy right out of Bull Durham. The long hair, three day stubble, the southern drawl, a real dirtbag and I say that with the utmost affection. Sometimes a guy starts to realize he has nothing to lose anymore and stops listening to others and just goes out and does things the way he wants, and it works, you just have to root like hell for him. I even like the fact that he knows Jerry Manuel wanted no part of him on the team and Dickey saying, He could care less what Manuel thinks as he doesn’t pitch for Manuel he pitches for himself and the team.

Who knows maybe in the year 2020 at Old Timers Day, R.A. Dickey will be welcomed with a huge ovation as he’s introduced or maybe he will be a guy that pops in my head when I see a homeless guy with a cap pulled down to his eyes and stubble on his face bringing cans and bottles in for nickel deposit and say “I wonder what ever happened to R.A. Dickey.”

Whatever happens, it’s a joy to watch this Mets team play. As we head toward the end of June, that Mets are a mere ½ game out of first place. Let the summer fun begin!

The Mets wrapped up a fine weekend in Baltimore with a three game sweep in front of a friendly crowd of Mets fans who made the trip down I-95 to Camden Yards, I’d love to get on the Orioles but I feel for ex-Met Juan Samuel and recently axed manager Dave Trembley because my youth baseball team is having an Oriole-like season so I just want to say misery lovers company fellas’

It’s games like today that show the huge step that Big Pelf has made this season. Last yer he would have fell apart as his command was off and he just did not look very comfortable on the mound but Pelfrey proved how important the mental side of pitching is. There are days when your physical tools are on auto-pilot and then there are days like to day where you physically misfire but you have enough savvy to make adjustments and keep yourself and your team afloat. Sure we all love those 3 hit 10K shutouts but sometimes watching a guy keep his team in a game on brains is a real museum piece as well.

I’m usually not one to vote for the All-Star Game but after the surge that David Wright is on I feel it’s my duty as a Mets fan to stuff the ballot box. David Wright deserves to be the starting 3^rd baseman for the National League in Anaheim.

  I always point to the death of Hodges on April 2,  1972 as one of the two darkest days (the other was June 15, 1977 and is you don’t know what happened on that date you are reading the wrong blog asshole) and the day the promise of the Mets organization died.

I also remember as an 8 year old Mets fan/Brooklyn gutter snipe, going to Hodges wake with my firends and our dads. We wore our baseball uniforms and walked past the resting Hodges and just cried like it was a family member, HELL he was a family member.

As Mets fans we bask in the fact that Hodges was not just the man that led the Mets from misfits to champions but he was also one of us, as he lived with his born and bred  Brooklynite wife Joan in Mill Basin, It’s a shame that Mets ownership doesn’t put together a campaign to get Gil Hodges into Cooperstown where he belongs.

Dear Mike Francesa,

Kiss my Blue and Orange Ass! In fact you can kiss the ass of every Mets fan as WE ARE ALL PROUD of Mike Pelfrey. From the time Big Pelf was drafted out of Wichita State in the 1^st round of the 2005 amature draft to his  rise in 2006 through the Mets minor league system we have waited for him to mature and become one of the top starting pitchers in MLB and this year looks like his coronation.

Since his May 1^st loss to the Phillies, Big Pelf has been money going 4-0 with two ND’s. with wins over the Highlanders and the Phuck Phaces.

After the misery of last season and with this seasons soap opera of Ollie Perez and waiting for Carlos Beltran to put his right foot in front of his left foot and to root that this Mets team stops the roller coaster and takes off like rocket in an all of a sudden winnable division , you can’t fault Mets fans for daydreaming that the sight of Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana will join the tandems of Seaver/Koosman, and Gooden/Darling in the pantheon of Mets dominating one-two punches.

That’s the biggest drawback with Manuel, look how long it took him realize the GMJ stinks and that Angel Pagan was more than capable of being the everyday CF’er? He still hasn’t figured out how to use Jenry Mejia all he knows is the young arm should be here and not in Buffalo starting. Manuel also has this mental block about whoever plays 2^nd base must bat 2^nd in the lineup. He also forced fed Jose Reyes into third hole with disastrous results and finally put Jose back where he belongs in the 1 hole and low and behold, Reyes has responded. For reason known only to Manuel, he trots out Jeff Francoeur every single game with his unsightly .218/.278/.364 hitting line. How does Omar or even Jeffey Skill Sets sit by and let Manuel play this automatic out every single game? FREE THE ANIMAL JERRY I’M BEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGING YOU!!!!

The Mets should still be riding the wave of the last home stand as you head into Milwaukee that fields a dead team in a dead ball park with not just your Ace but one of the top pitchers in baseball who pitches a gem but comes away with nothing. That sucks as did Jerry Manuel’s decisions last night.

The Mets will be wearing NEW YORK CUBANS uni’s tonight as a salute to the Negro Leagues. The Mets wore these once before I believe and I love these uni’s. I wish they would make a third jersey like these instead of those ugly ass black ones.

Here we go again. Just when it looked like the season was slipping away the message out of $iti Field is “not so fast my pessimistic Mets fan” this could be the start of an exciting summer.

I want to dance up and down and shoot middle fingers at the rest of the NL but I can’t because this team still has needs and I’m not confident that ownership will provide it.

It’s safe to assume that Jeffey Skill Sets is calling all the shots around here that Omar Minaya not only is under a gag order when it comes to speaking in public but his ability to make baseball moves has been clamped down as well. In a way Omar and Oliver Perez have a lot in common both have been rendered insignificant.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying this recent run of winning and solid baseball being played by the Mets but as Bobby Valentine says “you’re only as good as your next day starting pitcher” so today we’re in good shape with Big Pelf and tomorrow Johan Santana against the Brewski’s looks great as well, but when does the clock strike twelve on R.A. Dickey and the mystery fifth starter (playing the role of Jon Niese this weekend will be Fernando Nieve)?

At this point as much as I feel, along with what looks like the majority of Mets fans, that Jenry Mejia should have been working on his starting pitcher apprenticeship in the minors, at this point now let him stay with the big club as a reliever. Mejia seems to be settling in role of late inning man and the rest of the pen has been solid now that Igarashi is back so adding a solid starting pitcher should be paramount to management to go out and get.

So who is out there? As much as Roy Oswalt would be a huge acquisition between the money and cost in personnel and trying to get a deal done with Drayton McClain is almost impossible, I doubt that Oswalt will be Queens bound. Cliff Lee as a rental could be cost prohibitive as well.  If the front office could land Kevin Millwood, Mark Buehrle, or even Jake Westbrook it make a huge difference in solidifying the rotation and sending a message to the players and fan base that there is a real commitment to winning.