The First Ted's Quote of the Year

Hey!!! There was some actual news yesterday!!!

As we were learning of the Shaun Marcum signing and I was inspired to question the knowledge the rest of the NL East has on our Mets rotation, I decided to text my Phillie Friend Ted to tell him what I thought of the Michael Bourn rumors.

A warning to all of you: Some of the symbols that replace letters may be inappropriate for young readers...

Me: I think Michael Bourn seriously may become a Met. This is a move I endorsed weeks ago so I so hope they follow through even though its another lefty.

Ted: I don't really care
It'd be better for me if he didn't
But in general there is a lot of other shit that concerns me way more

Me: I can tell you as a friend you *$^@#ing asshole. I could give two &%$# when u send me phillies stuff
%$#& u haha

Ted: Honestly it's the braves and the Nats division.  We're both looking up

Me: I don't expect to win the division

Ted: So who cares if we're even with you or better there is no prize for 3rd
That's my logic

Me: I only care in the season starting. And enjoying 162 games.
Your logic allows for less fun no matter what happens

Ted: My standards are higher based on recent successful years.  Do we return to relevance or fall further from it.
That's the unfortunate story line of our upcoming season
Our team is in a tough year age wise

Me: (Nothing to do with standards. everything to do with loving baseball.) You could easily win the division, btw. But probably Nats. And u are one of wild cards. I fully believe in what I see on paper from ur team.
And u will probably do a better job bouncing back from nagging age injuries.

Ted: Hopefully.

Me: Ur the phillies. U finished 3rd and almost squeezed ur way back in, then in offseason made nice moves.

Ted: It's just the Nats are good and Young

Me: Yep. They prob take division.
But I'd bet on you in playoffs.

Ted: But the other teams made better ones

Me: Justin upton is sick

Ted: Yeah

Me: We could have packaged something. There's was bull

Ted: And I bet he makes inconsistent BJ much better
Not to mention heyward

Me: Yeah oh $%#& that's right!!!!!
The braves
They both make each other better. Including better lineup

Ted: And thats what I'm saying.  The braves are %&$#ing scary

Me: Both uptons protected better

Ted: So sign Bourn...I still think we're both kind of in trouble

Me: Creepin' and crawlin' like a sniper in the null...

YEAH...MORE. STAR. WARS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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The Most Competitive Balance Ever and the Random Song of the Day

It seems all these teams are pretty well matched, right? Every time you think one team is better than the other, the other team takes it to game 5. There are a lot of things right and wrong with the 2nd Wild Card, but maybe that crazy buffoon of a commissioner saw all this coming. Records don't matter as much anymore except for home field advantage, so might as well make every team feel if they take advantage of an opportunity, they can do anything. It makes for more fun. We seem to have entered a Competitive Golden Age in baseball, helped along by the 1-game Wild Card. While this time around, the experience won out in the Division Series, with the Yankees, the Tigers, the Giants and the Cardinals moving ahead. It didn't matter that the Redbirds were 7 games behind the Braves and wouldn't have made it by even a sliver without the 2nd Wild Card. We all knew they are as good as any team out there, including the New Age Nationals, who looked defeated by their inexperience in the end.

For teams like the Mets, we know they CAN be competitive. Talent is clearly an issue, but the bottom line is they need to execute. And they need to execute in the 2nd half, and when they have the chance to put the foot on the neck of the competition.


My freshman roommate, Ted, who is a big-time Phillies fan, texted me this morning:

Ted: The ALCS starts tonight? 
       
     Wow. 
       
     That's cruel.

Me: Yep. Crazy, right? But Yanks deserve to NOT work. I hope it's not 
    Cards Yanks...

Ted: I agree. Although, I must admit, I've disliked Yankee teams in the 
     past more than this team.
       
     Translation for some reason I don't totally hate this Yankee team
       
     I don't think they are as good and for some reason that's endearing
       
     Like PH for a-rod and winning because of it, benching arod and his 
     replacement gets a key RBI...Raul...and I finally realized how good 
     Jeter really is...

     I like these things...what's wrong with me

Me: Oh, I agree with all you just said, but that doesn't change the fact 
    I think that franchise needs to feel disappointment more

Ted: Agreed

Me: I think those fans should feel what the National fans felt last 
    night, you know.

Ted: Go tigers, I'm just saying if the yanks do win...it won't upset me 
     very much.

Me: You don't live in New York. "Tings ah back to noormool."

    If they win, they will say.

    With Competitive Balance the way it is, I don't think they should 
    come out on top this year, though if they do, they will probably 
    have earned it.

Here's the Random Song of the Day.

LET'S. GO. METS.

 

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The Duda Abode

You know that feeling you've gotten this 2nd half, and many times in your Met fandom, that they were yet again going to squander a 0-out RISP opportunity? I got that feeling when The Duda was up in the 7th last night. Having the game a few minutes behind on the DVR, I found my finger on top of those two forward triangles, ready to push past the next round of commercials. It wasn't even like the idea of The Duda swinging and missing a low breaking pitch was perturbing me all that much. I've been almost conditioned to believe that's what would happen. Of course I had visions of a home run that would turn the game around, but those are only natural as a fan. Foul after foul after foul after foul, the Atlanta crowd going crazy, as juiced as they've been all year with it being Chipper Jones Night in the land of Georgia. Those home run visions didn't go away, but neither did that swing and miss image.

And then, on the 9th pitch...

It happened.

"He did it!" I exclaimed.

"He actually got a mistake and he CRUSHED IT!"

Tim Hudson, who was dealing all night, left a sinker up, and The Duda took full advantage. THAT'S the way you win a ballgame.

Of course, I naturally thought this might only set up a vintage Braves-'gainst-Mets-bullpen-blown loss where the man of the evening is the 3-run-home-run hero or something along those lines. When Larry came up with no one on and 2 out in the 8th, those fears were pacified some.

And so, the bullpen, including Bobby Parnell with the save, looked solid in locking down a late-season "Let's ruin their plans for making a run at the division lead" win.

Jon Niese was fantastic this year. I got very picky at certain times about his performances, and at certain times we still saw the big inning that can ail him. But Jon Niese definitely turned that metaphorical corner a good amount of us said he should turn. He will be a solid rotation piece for years to come. He was real sharp last night and literally, literally, made one mistake, which Freddie Freeman absolutely crushed. I applaud Niese's effort in the first year after signing the extension, and I look forward to even more growth in 2013. 

It's hard to figure out what we have in The Duda. You first think he can be a great hitter who will run into 30 to 40 baseballs that go traveling far distances every year, then you think he's never going to adjust to opponents' adjustments because his confidence is too low. THEN, he has an at bat like that against one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Who knows what the future has in store between our favorite ball club and The Lumberjack?

But for one night, at least...

The Duda Abode.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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And the Braves Return the Favor.

Can't waste too much time on this one. Gotta get going to the Night with Ike Davis (hope to see many of you there.)

Shout-out to Bergino Baseball Clubhouse who didn't believe for one second the whole year that Bobby Parnell had turned the corner ("He's a stiff!!")

At least we got trade bait.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.