Kranepool Society :: A New York Mets Blog
A daily account of the trials and tribulations of the New York Mets. Contact me at sinymets@aol.com
Tonight on the Kult of Mets Personalities Podcast our guest will be none other than Ed Kranepool. We will be on live at 8:30PM ET on Blog Talk Radio. We will talk about David Wright taking Ed’s spot as the Mets all-time hits leader and get his take on the season and what he thinks is needed to get the Mets back on winning track.
Ron Darling has a guest column in today’s NY Daily News about Mets Sr. Director of Media Relations Shannon Forde and her fight with Stage IV breast cancer and information on the fund raiser on her behalf. Check out Hope Shines For Shannon for all the details of this great event
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Last night on the Kult of Mets Personalities we discussed Ike Davis trade rumors and what the Mets front office needs to do in the off season to get this team back on the winning ways
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Sorry NY Highlander fans you lost your right to bitch and moan about bad umpire calls 16 years ago
So Chipper Jones will sit out todays finale at Citi Field, I guess even Jones is suffering from Chipper-Fatigue as much as we are but what is Ruben Tejada suffering from?
Tejada is sitting out again today and I’m not buying Terry Collins line of “he’s tired” either, Tejada has to be nursing some sort of injury that the Mets are not letting on.
I’m still trying to figure out the reasoning behind having Jureys Familia warm up then sit for an hour then warm-up again to come into to pitch and guess what? He had no commanded of his pitches and got behind and threw fastballs right down the middle of the plate. Who didn’t see that coming?
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Last night on the Kult of Mets Personalities we were happy to have Howard Megdal join us as a guest.
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I’ve join forces with the gang at Kiner’s Korner for the weekly Kult of Mets Personalities Podacst
The” Ol’ Perfeser” knew how to hold a presser
I’m really starting to feel sorry for Terry Collins. No matter how he tries to construct a lineup, he can’t find a 1-8 that can provide any offensive punch. He tries to match right vs. left and vice versa, he tries to move the parts around in different slots of the lineup and still nothing works.
If I have an issue with Collins it’s in his post-game press conference after losses which are coming at a rapid pace this second half, when he talks about competing, repeating the mantra “we have to compete”. Why settle for being competitive, why not say we need to find ways to win and find players who are winning ballplayers because right now the Mets are devoid of such animal.
Collins last night spoke of finding out who is willing to give his all to winning baseball games and who is here to just get a couple of hits, throw 6 innings and be happy with personal achievement. This is the fourth straight season I’ve heard this late season lament. The problem is the Mets are a passive bunch. The one time a player shows any kind of fight, he’s ridiculed.
Last night Jordany Valdespin batted for Scott Hairston in the 8th inning with 2 on and 2 out and the Mets down 2-1. Valdespin hitting a little roller, runs down first base and seeing it’s going to be a foot race between him and Rockies first baseman Tyler Covin, decided to dive head first into the bag, something that is not encouraged, and was out by an eyelash. Valdespin jumped up and got in umpire Adrian Johnson’s grill even though the replay proved Johnson’ call correct, it was good to see a Mets player upset enough to go nose to nose with a man in blue.
Sure, Valdespin head first slide into first base wasn’t the smartest move but if you listened to Gary Cohen, you’d have thought it was a pre-meditated plan by Vladespin. I’m a big Cohen fan, he’s one of the best play by play men around, but his treatment of Valdespin is over the top. I understand that Valdespin is not the most like player in the Mets organization, I’ve yet to meet anyone connected with the team that has a nice thing to say about JV1 but I’ve never heard Cohen go after players who have been under performers like Jason Bay. In fact, bring Bay’s name up to anyone in the organization and they start every conversation with “what a great guy…..” in fact I would have like to have heard Cohen take Ike Davis to task for his lousy at bat in the 8th inning where he struck out and looked badly doing so.
There is nothing better than listening to Bobby Ojeda go off on the SNY post-game show. Ojeda pulls no punches and tells the truth is not afraid to hurt some feelings of either players or coaches. SNY is missing the boat by not giving Ojeda and Ray Lucas a show on the network.
Isn’t it time to just shut Johan Santana down for the season? Let him take this MRI and then put him on the 60 day DL so you free up a spot on the 40 man for Collin McHugh.
Let’s play guess the lineup, here is the lineup I’d use for tonight’s game:
Tejada
Murphy
Wright
Davis
Hairston
Baxter
Valdespin
Shoppach
Young
As this Mets season drags on, it’s not the wins and losses that matter but individual performances are the focus as the front office and fans try to determine who on this year’s team is worth keeping around to draw the franchise out of the loses abyss they’ve been swallowed up in. Last night Jon Niese put on a pitching display that shows he’s a solution and not a problem.
Niese had outstanding command of his cutter last night, his most effective pitch, to strike out seven Nats and not walk anyone. Not only that but more importantly Niese went 7 1/3 innings to bring his innings pitched for the season to 152, just 5.1 innings off his total for 2011 and 21.2 innings off his mark in 2010. If Niese has a flaw in his game its consistency and stamina so his outings are now must see as the Mets need Niese to this season strong.
I would think the prudent decision to make on Johan Santana is to shut him down for the rest of the season. Is he hurt or just fatigued or just good old fashion infective? I have no idea but I do know sending him out for more starts makes no sense at all. For all the paralysis by analysis, maybe the problem is Santana is just out of gas? Have the Mets doctors sign him off as having fatigue and place him on the 60 DL, this way you free a spot for RHP Collin McHugh, who certainly deserves a call up and would be a more interesting watch that seeing Jeremy Hefner again.
By the way, Santana has no trade value whatsoever between uncharted territory with his type of shoulder surgery and the $31 million price tag that he drags around with him. Scouts saying that Santana could be taken in a deal are just taking Andy Martino for the fool that he is.
Mike Baxter is definitely part of the solution and not the problem. Baxter is what he is, a solid fourth outfielder and a terrific lefty bat off the bench. A gamer as I like to say.
Justin Turner gets another start today at second base and I am very puzzled about the love Terry Collins has for Turner of late.
Do the Mets have a rep around the league as soft? First we had R.A. Dickey and his bracelet troubles that should have gotten Terry Collins thrown out of the game, because as soon as Jim Joyce said there was an edict from the Commissioner’s office about bracelets, jewelry any other minutia that were against the rules, Collins should have told Joyce to stick his hand up his ass and pull out the memo. Add to that any Mets opponent that wears anything other than a baseball uniform, Collins needs to call time and have the object removed.
Then the other night, Davey Johnson pulled a ball breaker move by having Umps check Santana’s glove and have a gold emblem removed or blocked out on his glove. I’d have told Davey “no problem but tell your boy Zimmerman he’s getting the first pitch if his next at bat right in the ribs”. At some point, the have to stop being the games mud room.
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Mets Minutia
Every year we brace ourselves here in NYC when September 11th shows up on our calendar. For many of us the events of that day never leave our minds and for some it’s a reminder of how that day has changed the way we live our lives , it’s also the day that we have to argue should the Mets wear first responders caps during the game or not. To tell you the truth, I’m tired of the argument in fact it just goes to show you what a mess the Mets organization is that they can’t even figure out how to do something so simple and admirable as wearing the caps of the FDNY, NYPD and PAPD could be and how beholden they are to the Commissioner for keeping the Wilpon’s in business that they won’t make waves and not dare MLB to punish them for wearing the caps. What is even sadder is that I expect this from the Mets as they are good at rolling over and playing dead. It’s a sad commentary on this organization that by not showing any defiance’s over this issue is just business as usual in Flushing.
My friend and podcasting colleague Mike Silva, made a bet with Highlander windbag announcer Michael Kay that the Mets would win 60+ games this season. Kay said the Mets were so bad that 60 wins would be a stretch. So Silva bet Kay that if the Mets win 60 games, Kay would have to wear and be photographed in a Mets jersey. If Sliva were to lose the wager, he would have to write a column on how great an announcer/talk show host Kay is, which by the way is like trying to write a column on how classy the Kardashian’s are. So the Mets have gone above and beyond the 60 win mark which means Kay must pay his debt but wait it seems that Kay is ready to add to his impressive character traits of insufferable, incompetent, uniformed and downright annoying to listen to with tag of being a welsher , in fact Mike Silva has reached out to Kay to be a guest on our Sunday night podcast, so far Kay has not responded to the request. My advice to Kay is honor your bet or as soon as Silva gives the word, I’ll go Dog The Bounty Hunter on your ass.
The NY Times has published an editorial on R.A. Dickey and his amazing 2012 season.
Andy McCullough has a piece about the possibility of trading Jon Niese over the winter. Now before you overreact, read the article then think for a moment……….it’s not a bad idea.
Chipper Jones reflects on playing in NYC and the high level of respect he has for the town. He also mentions some of his favorite moments here as well, quite surprising. Sorry I can’t be a Chipper hater.