The good folks over at Baseball Prospectus have set up, in conjunction with the New York Mets, a Baseball Prospectus Day at Citi Field on Saturday June 2 as the Mets take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

 The day will consist of a meet and greet with some of the fine writers at BP and the opportunity to participate in a Q & A session with Mets GM Sandy Alderson, along with a ticket to the game (sitting in the area by the Home Run Apple I guess section 140 or 141) and a $15 coupon that can be used towards the purchase of a Baseball Prospectus Premium subscription or a subscription renewal. You get all this for the reasonable price of $45.01.

All the festivities get started at 2PM and game time is set for 4:10PM

Baseball Prospectus has authorized me to give away 2 free tickets to this event, so let’s have a little contest to give away the tickets. The first two readers who e mail me at sinymets@aol.com with the correct answer to the following question will win a ticket. 2 tickets 2 winners, got it? Okay here we go:

Give me the name of the pitcher who holds the NY Mets record for the most innings pitched in a game in a relief role.

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What a terrific day it was yesterday at the New York Mets 50^th Anniversary Conference at Hofstra University. A big tip of my Mets cap goes to Greg Prince who work very hard to make the 3 day conference a huge success, and in the words of Yogi Berra, “made this day necessary” Dana Brand would be so proud of the conference and of you Greg.

I came away with this thought on the way home from Hofstra last night, the Skill Sets may hold the papers to the team, but it’s Mets fan who are the real owners and for that the whole Mets organization should be thankful.

It’s always fun to meet up with the Mets Blogger-ratzi at events like this especially my blogger panel teammates, John Coppinger and Taryn Cooper, as well as Shannon, Kerel, Michael, and the Mathews Callan and Artus . Let’s Go Mets!!!!!

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For some reason I had a problem getting the site to load but seems like we are good to go now, so let me put up a late day stream of Mets consciousness:

The 50^th Anniversary of the New York Mets conference on now in Day 2 at Hofstra University and from hanging out on Twitter it looks like it’s been a success and a lot of fun, a true tribute to Dana Brand. I will be out at Hofstra tomorrow and I will join a panel discussion with Taryn Cooper and John Coppinger with Greg Prince as our moderator.

As we all know the Mets played a solid 1-9 “homegrown” lineup yesterday for the first time since September 19^th 1971, a 5-2 Mets win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium. The lineup for that game was:

Teddy Martinez 2B

Bud Harrelson SS

John “The Hamer” Milner LF

Ed Kranepool 1B

Mike Jorgensen CF

Ken Singleton RF

Duffy Dyer C

Jerry Koosman P

Interesting as well about that home grown lineup was having three homegrown New Yorkers in there as well, Kranepool of the Bronx, Jorgensen of Bayside Queens and Singleton of Mt. Vernon.

It’s real early in the season but a positive sign for this team is that they are 5-1 in 1 run games and 7-1 in games of 2 runs or less, only good teams mange that kind of record.

Here’s your line up for tonight as the Mets start Chris Schwinden in Big Pelfs rotation spot against LHP Drew Pomeranz

 Kirk Nieuwenhuis – CF

Ruben Tejada – SS

Daniel Murphy – 2B

David Wright – 3B

Scott Hairston – LF

Lucas Duda – RF

Zach Lutz – 1B

Mike Nickeas – C

Chris Schwinden – RHP

So Ike Davis sits against Pomeranz a neophyte big leaguer, very interesting move by Terry Collins

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I started this blog back in 2001, when I first bought a computer that had this hook up to my phone line and came with a disk for something called America Online where you could get e-mail and access to the World Wide Web.  I started reading websites by people who were basically fans.  The web was dominated by Red Sox sites and the only real Mets site was Bryan Hoch’s Mets Online  (I wonder how many Highlander fans know that the MLB Highlander beat writer is a Mets fan) which was more a message board type with some good articles by Hoch thrown in for discussion.

After reading these sites and a few others I thought maybe I could start up something that covered the everyday goings on of the NY Mets. So I opened up a Blogger account and The Eddie Kranepool Society was born.  I had no idea who would read this site and I figured I’ll do it for a season and if no one other than family and friends read it I’ll just move on.  During that first summer I took a week off to vacation up at Cape Cod, so I didn’t write for the week and never checked my e mail, how could I ? There was no Wi-Fi nor did I have a laptop, I barley had a cell phone (where is my old flip phone from T-Mobile by the way?)  so it was a chillaxing vacation.

When I returned home and went on my computer and dialed up my AOL account I saw there were a lot of emails from folks who were reading the site every day and were concerned about what happened to me and why wasn’t I writing about the Mets?  To say I was surprised by this would be a huge understatement. So instead of unpacking from vacation, I wrote a post explaining my disappearance to which I received e mails that these folks were relieved that I was ok and still writing. It took me awhile to comprehend that I connected with a segment of Mets fans who shared my passion for the team.

One of the folks who corresponded with me was a man by the name of Dana Brand.  All I knew about Mr. Brand was he was about the same age as me, we both shared a great passion for the Mets and we both took brown bag lunches with a frozen can of soda wrapped in tin foil to games at Shea Stadium. Then I found out that Mr. Brand was Dr. Brand, he received his doctorate from Yale in American Literature and was totally freaked out. How was this man, a scholar, not only reading my blog but he loved how I wrote. Huh?

I got to meet Dana at a book launch party he had for his book Mets Fan in which he gave me a mention which of course really had me thinking he’d mistaken me and my work for someone else. When I arrived at the party and introduced myself, Dana gave me a vice like handshake and a big smile and said “I am so glad you could make it, I’ve been really looking forward to meeting you” again I thought, does he know who I am? We sat and talked for a while as other guests arrived (take a look at this picture from the book launch, it’s the Mets bloggers version of the Cavern Club) and the passion and enthusiasm that Dana had for the Mets was dazzling. One of the subjects he was most excited about was a conference he was in the midst of putting together to commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of the New York Mets. He explained to me that this was going a real big event that will cover everything and anything Mets related for the past 50 seasons. I told him that this sound great and something I would definitely look to attend and that point Dana stopped me in mid-sentence and said “attend? I want you to be part of it” “What? What the hell am I going to do”? I was shocked to say the least and every time we’d meet up at Shea or Citi Field (I’ve mentioned how we were like two grumpy old yentas complaining about Citi Field) he’d remind me about the conference. His enthusiasm for the event was contagious.

The 50^th Anniversary of the New York Mets Conference will finally become a reality next weekend (Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 26^th, 27^th and 28^th of April) and as excited, anxious and proud to be a participant (myself, Taryn “ Gall For All Seasons” Cooper, John “Metstrdamus” Coppinger and Greg “Faith and Fear In Flushing” Prince will be panelists in a Q & A session titled Fielding Questions: The Passion of the Bloggers) there will be some sorrow in knowing that Dana will not be there with us.

As you all know, Dana passed away just about one year ago at the all too, too young age of 56 but I know that all the participants and folks who come out to the conference will make this as much a celebration of the contribution that Dana made to Mets fandom as it will be for the team he loved. Every team would call itself fortunate to have a fan like Dana Brand.

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3-0 is wonderful but I’m not ready to get jiggy with it just yet.  Put aside that the last three days were the best we’ve seen in Flushing in a while there were some subtle changes that I saw with this Mets team the first three games of 2012 that could make this season better than most of us thought.

When Kirk Nieuwenhuis made his Major League debut on Saturday, the Mets fielded a starting nine that was composed of seven home grown players. The only two “outsiders” were Jason Bay (who was a homegrown put once removed so I won’t count him here) and Robert Allen Dickey (a review of his outstanding book will be posted here soon) everyone else were born and raised, New York Mets.

Think back Mets fans to years of when there weren’t any “growing up Mets” in the everyday lineup, just a bunch of mercenary’s who came to Flushing for the Maddoff greenbacks. Winning? Who cares about winning just make sure that big seven figure check is in my hands the 15^th and 30^th of the month. It was that way of building a team that resulted in losing ways and the fan base having a hard time rooting for the Mets. Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez were as hated as any Mets player not named Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilia or Richie Hebner. Carlos Beltran, one of the best players to ever wear a Mets uniform, was never embraced by the fan base, some still held a grudge that he contacted the Bronx Bastards before signing a Mets contract on the bottom line and others just never cottoned to the right fielder because he made his bones in Kansas City and Houston. He wasn’t an authentic Met.

You’ve seen how many Mets fans were upset over Jose Reyes leaving the Mets to join the Fish and their Commie-loving manager Ozzie “Little El Jefe” Guillen, as the crying was over the Reyes being a Met his whole baseball life.  That’s why this 2012 Mets team is the kind of team we’ve always wanted, players who have come up the minor leagues ranks together, a team that truly likes one and other and is cohesive bunch with an all for one, one for all mindset.

I know there are some who feel the word “chemistry” is not just over used but meaningless when it comes to sports teams, and I totally disagree with that mindset. The fact that the majority of this Mets team has rode buses together, shared some really bad fast food at all hours of the night and grew up in the system is not something to discard. Think of how it felt to be Kirk Nieuwenhuis, you’re called up to the big leagues, your dream come true and sure your nervous but when you walk into the clubhouse there are so many familiar faces, guys who’ve played with in the minors who you know and trust will make your transition from prospect to big leaguer so much smoother than if there were a bunch of grizzled red ass vets (ask Gregg Jefferies or Lastings Milledge what that was like) who see you as a threat to their jobs.

It’s why this Mets team will be one of the easiest Mets teams to root for in awhile. Of course we know as great as a 3-0 record is, they could drop 2 of the nest three or 4 of the next 6, but watching this team play these three games and how they interact together as a team, the bad stretches that every team goes through in a grueling 162 season may not be as catastrophic as in years past, because these Mets have each other’s backs.

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Very interesting news coming from the Mets yesterday and today. First the team seems to be on the verge of locking up Jon Niese for the next 5 years, that will reward the lefty pitcher during his arbitration eligible years and buy back a year of his free agency eligibility.  This quite a progressive and proactive move by the Mets front office, something not seen in these parts in many ,many years.

Some reports have the deal at 5 years and $28mil, the 5 years is a big commitment to a pitcher who has suffered from fatigue and injury issues in his brief major league career but it speaks to the high esteem the front office holds Neise in.

During the winter there were rumbles that the Mets put Niese’ name out on the trade market (at the same time Billy Beane made it known that Gio Gonzalez was available in trade and of course the deal was made with the Nationals) that wasn’t an indication that the Mets were looking to rid themselves of the young lefty as some Mets fans jumped to that conclusion, it was more to see what was out there in trade for his valuable services as the Mets front office is trying very hard to add depth to the farm system.

Tying up Niese seems like a smart move by Sandy Alderson. As we see in this column by Mark Simon of ESPN, Niese put up some very impressive numbers involving K/9IP, BB/9IP and HR/9IP, add to that he is 25 years old and left-handed,  it’s hard for even the most jaded Mets fan to go against the front office in this move.   

Seems like the verbal kick in the ass that Mike Peflrey received last week when it was reported the club discussed however informally about giving Big Pelf his release,  has now made its way to Jason Bay as Mike Puma reports there has been some talk about Bay becoming a platoon player if he continues to struggle at the plate.  This should show Mets fans that last year’s getting to know segment of Sandy Alderson’ reign as Mets baseball boss is over and now we are entering the “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem” phase of rebuilding the Mets.

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Baseball Bloggers Alliance founding father and Cardinal blogger par excellence Daniel Shoptaw was kind enough to invite myself and other Mets bloggers in the BBA to participate in his Playing Pepper series.

Besides myself the Mets bloggers interviewed for this series were Paul of Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff, Kerel Cooper of On The Black, Jon Preser of The Shea Faithful, Jeff Yurcan of Metsprospectus, Freddy Vasquez of Mets Hot Corner, Jon Lewin of Subway Squawkers, and AC of Mets Public Record.

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David Brooks has an op-ed piece in today’s NY Times trying to explain to those not of our Blue and Orange persuasion, that once you hitch your fan wagon to the New York Mets, you’re hooked for life.  This paragraph really does sum up what we as Mets fans believe:

So I’ll die a Mets fan, exaggerating their potential, excusing their deficiencies. This week, in Florida, I even detected new virtues in the team. In the early days, the Mets were lovable losers, then miraculous winners, then, in the 2000s, big-spending disappointments. Now they are young and frisky, enthusiastic and charming. I’ll enjoy following this team and exaggerating its promise. I have no choice but to love the Mets. Just as I have no choice but to hate the Phillies.

Brooks is totally on target about this edition of the Mets, they’re an easy bunch to root for.

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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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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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