Thorsday Throwdown

The look in Noah Syndergaard's eye was palpable. He was a man on a mission. Livid with his performance up until that point of the season, the man nicknamed Thor was clean-shaven and had his hair down, his "man bun" a point of contention with some fans on Twitter throughout the first few starts. The offense had been putrid against the rebuilding Reds, so Thor was going to have to take all matters into his own hands.

Brad Penner/ USA Today Sports
Photo via nytimes.com

I got a chance to watch this gem at the Barnwood Restaurant in Catskill, NY. This was only the second game all season I was able to watch live, the other one a gem from Steven Matz against the Phillies. So far, I've been able to see two Mets pitchers at the top of their games, this most recent one with Noah at the top on both sides of the ball. Only a handful of players in the history of baseball have homered in a 1-0 shutout, and Noah was the first time anyone has since 1983.

Sometimes, the best pitch you are going to get as a batter is that first one. The pitcher sometimes lollygags it over, especially against the opposing mound thrower. Syndergaard's track record with power should provide an example that you cannot just casually toss a fastball in and expect it to be the first strike of the at bat. The home run was monstrous as well, carrying a few rows deep over the original Great Wall of Flushing.

Why the Mets cannot coincide the pitching turnaround of the last few games with some run support is not necessarily beyond me because...well...we've seen this story play out before. Though the W-L record has been basically .500 during that stretch, the fact the starting pitchers are coming around can only mean good things for this Mets baseball team...right?

Before I go, I've got to give a shoutout to Tim Healey of Newsday for his fantastic appearance on A Metsian Podcast last night. Thrilled we could pick his brain about this team and we welcome him back anytime in the future. Give a listen whenever you get a chance.

Now, off to Milwaukee...brew up some wins, Mets.

BREW. THE. BREW. CREW.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Back to Form...on Both Sides of deBall

There is no end to dePuns we can come up with when it comes to deGrom. What a sight for sore eyes, even though my ears were doing the work last night when I got a chance to tune in. Throughout the night, I and most Mets fans had flashbacks to his Cy Young season, when luckily he was too damn good to overlook giving the award. The lack of support he got on the offensive side, however, was a big reason we were mired in the disgusting grime of the sewage that was the 2018 season.

Elsa/Getty Images
Photo via nytimes.com

The Reds, who are trying to grow themselves after years of frustration, have not yet won the series but have already left two bad tastes in our 9th inning mouths. I have never been a fan of pitching your closer in the 9th inning of a tie ball game. Logic would dictate you want your best relief pitcher out there to keep the game intact. Edwin Diaz, and numerous other closers, however, have a history of having ERAs and AVG against that tick up when in these situations. I couldn't tell you why this is, but even going back to Mariano Rivera, and of course the 2016 Wild Card game with our former closer now on our IL, I would love to see how widespread this is across the league over the last 20 years, and whether my trepidation is warranted. Many point to the fact Seth Lugo only pitched to one batter before Diaz was brought into the 9th, a valid point to make about the managing.

The turnaround to the next game is the first of its kind this year with a 12:10 game today and temps heading into the 70's. No matter whether we split this 4 game series, the bad taste of yet another uneven series, where even the game we've won so far had to be salvaged in extra innings, makes optimism with the way this team plays the game right now hard to process. Still, you must keep that head held high, because no one in the NL East is running away with anything as of yet. I wish I could just stop everything and head on out to Flushing, Queens, today, but alas, I will have to find another time to take in my first game of the year. I wasn't able to make it out to Citi Field until September last year, the two games I watched the Mets lose in Denver notwithstanding. No matter how much I currently have on my plate, I could use a little Metsian teacup as soon as possible.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(as I got back to work last night having taken a dinner break that coincided with the end of the game, this was the first song the Pandora app played for me on the oldies station I was listening to. I voiced it on Twitter as well at the time that I appreciated the optimistic sentiment.)

The Polar Bear Gets it Done After Familia Territory

I'm sure many people have made that "Familia" joke or a rendition of it, but at least it allows me to use my favorite "badum tsst" gif.

Also...oy, I had one-a doze emotional posts yet again. Ironically, the last one like that, coinciding after deGrom ended his crazy-good streak, was written while I waited for my tires to get fixed, and yesterday, after the post was published, I discovered my driver's side rear tire losing air as well. Got it fixed again, but not sure what the universe is trying to tell me...

Thankfully, I nipped it in the bud rather quickly so I could keep driving and earning yesterday evening. I decided to end the day just in the nick of time to catch Familia 1 out into the 9th inning. "Alright!" I thought to myself. "Jeurys is going to use this Edwin Diaz offnight to get it together as Wayne and Howie take me home." So, if you're playing the home game, the Mets had a lead and Familia was pitching well before I started listening, and then I listened to it all fall apart. If it weren't for Jeurys's 2019 track record, I would think I was the jinx.

Brad Penner/USA Today Sports
Photo via amazinavenue.com

I kept listening, however, and heard the new cavalry of JD Davis, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso combine to give us a much needed walkoff win in extras. I'm not quite sure how to approach the JD Davis situation, though. I do understand that he's hit rather well when he gets his chances, but his defense leaves much to be desired. Todd Frazier is a pro out at 3rd base, and keeps running into baseballs with his bat at opportune times. We're not talking garbage time home runs, no matter whether he swings and misses a good amount of times as well. I'm not going to go outrageous about whether JD Davis should be starting over him at this particular junction. If Todd becomes a major liability, it will most likely play itself out.

Pete Alonso cannot help but swing hard. Though it was a classic Citi Field warning track shot, it was all we needed last night but man, is that guy strong. His energy is also contagious, and he seems to have taken a quick leadership role in his rookie season. With the Captain David Wright no longer there (single tear) it is nice to see such a young player taking some of the responsibility lost as Wright, head held high, marched into the sunset at the end of last season.

Back to Familia, however. I don't know how to dissect what is going on. It seems to be more mental than physical as his confidence is completely through the grass, scratching the bottom of the soil. Do I agree they should continue to put him out there in high leverage situations? On the one hand, he needs to fix these moments somehow, some way, but as players like Drew Gagnon proved last night, proper performances should be rewarded. It may behoove management to let Familia take some of the pressure off himself and pitch in moments when the game isn't on the line, because every time the game is on the line, he has come undone. We need these W's right here, right now, because this East of the NL is proving quite the crap shoot.

Here we come to another deGrom start. Luckily, the weather doesn't look to be nearly as volatile this evening as it was the night last week he should have never started in the first place. All of a sudden, Jason Vargas isn't the worst pitcher on the Mets, and I was hoping to not invoke his name in this post, but you know what? His performances lately has left me no choice. The Mets, however, need to put all their pitchers in the best positions to succeed and hopefully deGrom can do so once more going forward as the best pitcher in baseball.

MAKE. IT. SO. DUDES.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Sensory Overload

I wish I could pay attention to every single facet of the Metropolitan baseball team. The ironic element of where I find myself is that I'm getting back into the habit of writing everyday after too many years of inactivity, yet I cannot pay enough attention to the baseball team I love. I'm supposed to "do my homework" as one particular facebook Mets group peer kept uttering to me the other day when we were debating the worth of Travis d'Arnaud, but I have debt to get out of and loads of other obligations I don't even need to detail here. Trying to find the proper balance is an obvious, real struggle for me.

Charles Wenzelberg
Photo via https://nypost.com

Last night, I was back in a 10-week improv class I decided to take at this particular time because 1)I've been trying to segue back to performing, 2)I was being lobbied to join back up again, and 3)I'm trying to get out of my head some, which improv can be beneficial in doing. I checked in on the game when I had a bathroom break, and a tie game it was already. The moment I got out of class, Edwin Diaz had just given up the home run in the eventual 5-4 defeat. Strange to think that as frustrating as this team can be, I wish I had more time to observe, recollect, debate, and what have you all the aspects of what comes with being a fan at this particular junction of my life. The Mets, as miserable as they can be, are the last thing making me miserable right now. Keeping up with the posts and the podcasts feel like a necessity because I have fun, win or lose, talking about this team. There is always good moments to look back on from their history. There can only be darkness if there was light in the first place.

A beautiful sadness, as Butters on South Park once said.

I love this city, but I'm letting all the noise and distractions slowly drive me insane. There is an aspect of attempting to cut through the distractions by using them as motivation to block them all out and focus on what you need to to get the work you need done. However, since my dad died and the whole process leading up to it, I've been letting it all get the best of me. There is a tug of war in my head of whether I need to stay or escape, playing into my ADHD nature by going city to city because the sensory overload of my favorite place in the world is not the best for my current incarnation of being. I have so many things I need to clean up around the tristate before I have the foundation under me to do so, rendering that feeling rather moot right now. It stands as motivation, however, an incentive of what to work towards. Plans, however, have a way of shifting very quickly.

In February of 2017, I made a decision to save my money up to head to London for a substantial period of time as that is where my girlfriend is from and lives currently. The goalpost kept getting moved, starting at October of 2017, pushing towards Jan of 2018. Then, it moved to April of 2018 when my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At that point, it was a pipe dream to begin with. I was in complete denial as to the severity of the situation, keeping on the positive side of things that he was going to beat this thing, and quickly do so. I blocked out all the noise of reality of what pancreatic cancer has been in the scope of things. I held that nature for as long as I could, completely breaking down come the end of January when I let an extraneous situation leave me completely breaking down. All blinders were stripped at that point, and though I decided right after that moment to produce a movie about my bit-part film actor dad looking back on his life and career as he took on the biggest role yet, I was so distracted that I could only do so much in the new role I had placed myself in as producer of the film. My director and I are still working hard on it, but as I approach the anniversary of my father's death on May 27, I feel like I've let the last two year's completely strip me of all the positivity I used to go through life with, as much of that however was denial about a lot of my issues, such as my addictive personality and my unfocused nature.

Optimism must rule the day, however, and as you can see and read from above, whether it is my own life or the Mets chances, I struggle to find the positive aspects of things. There are always other lives who have it worse than you and perspective to gain to remind yourself of the positive reinforcements that come along. This morning, it has been tough to do so to the point I've completely tangented off of Edwin Diaz and the Mets to spilling my soul on this Mets blog I write.

If you're familiar with this blog, though, then you are aware of some of these things I have mentioned about myself to an extent. This fanbase can be so inspiring that I made a movie about them and the team, after all. Through the struggles, whether it is faith in this team or faith in the general direction I'm attempting to travel, optimism and positivity HAVE to rule the day. All you can do is ask for the ball back after you give up the home run, just like Diaz in the photo above. There is always another game to play the next day, and there is always another chance to get it right some how, some way. Clearly we all have an end game, but we never know when that day will arrive and we must fight the challenges we face tooth by tooth, nail by nail and grass blade by grass blade.

I appreciate every single one of you who come to this blog on a daily basis and I appreciate your attention to my sensitive, emotional fashion. I'm overloaded with obligations and the noise and distractions can get the best of me sometimes. I appreciate you keeping the faith, and I will do my best to keep up mine.

As I always say...

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Reason to Keep Watching

I am not someone who will NEVER stop watching. Even in years like 2009 and 2010. Friday night and Saturday are reminders of why you keep watching. 'Cause you never know what you're gonna see next.

I went to all 3 games this weekend. I am exhausted. I didn't properly yell at the top of my lungs and my voice is very hoarse. I wish I could keep sleeping it off, but I must get up like most people and go to work.

But the Mets welcomed me back nicely this weekend. There were probably a lot of people whose first games of the year were this weekend as well. This year could be a long one. And I'm gonna love every minute of it.

Welcome back, baseball.

Welcome back, Mets.

Naturally, I'll go the below direction next...

After saying as usual...

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, follow on Twitter here, and listen to the research process here.

Baseball Celebration

I haven't done enough celebrating of the 2013 New York Mets season on here, but I don't work in shoulda woulda coulda's. They're too easy.

I can only do what I can do from here on out.

It wasn't nearly the kind of season for me this year as I had in 2012, when I went to over 30 games both at home and on the road. Though a good amount of those games were in the 1st half, I still made it to plenty in the 2nd, including 2012's Closing Day, R.A. Dickey's 20th win. My last game of the year was a 5-4 Mets win over the Phillies in July. 2013 was a different type of beast for me.

Discipline is something I need to work on each and every day, and posting on this blog is a great way to practice discipline. My time has been divided, but the offseason could lend itself to picking back up on the daily dosage of my Converted Mets Fandom.

I have no idea how many of you saw either a clip or the entire NL Wild Card game, technically in this day and age the 1st Pirates Playoff game in 21 years. The Bucs won, beating the Reds (as I predicted, though I'm generally sour on predicting such a game as baseball.) You could tell, however, as the year wound down that momentum was all on the Pirates side of things.

And here is something to envy as we hopefully get closer to the glory of the playoffs once more...

Though the Mets and their fans have had playoff glory epically disintegrate over the last decade, can it even compare to 21 years of absolute ineptitude?

There's no sense to compare misery, because there's really no sense in complaining.

Envy, however, though "sinful," is natural.

And I envy Pittsburgh and their fans right now.

We'll get that feeling back again.

Cueeeeeeeeeetoooooooo........Cueeeeeeeeeeetooooooooo.....

LET'S. GO. BASEBALL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, and follow on Twitter here.

Sometimes you catch the best of the worst

Sometimes, when there is a day game, a Gameday viewing is put aside for the radio.

And sometimes, you hear what all the fuss is about.


There are other teams who seem to lose regularly when being so close to winning. I bet Cleveland and their fans have felt that way over the years. It's generally a characteristic of losing teams. They don't regularly get blown out, but lose in the most devastating ways that just snowballs the entire season in the wrong direction. Over the course of almost 52 full seasons, from their inaugural campaign onward, that losing characteristic seems to be more prevalent than anywhere else throughout the land.

At least it just feels that way.

Struggling is good. Struggling can build a real solid foundation for something strong. This has been said ten-fold by certain parties with similar views regarding the state of the franchise, but it makes it easier to take on a daily basis than in a year like, say, 2009. Whether or not you believe whatever young core is here is the core that will be together over the long term, the core has all of a sudden been together for a few years, and as a team in this Terry Collins Era they are arguably struggling worse than they ever have, or at least more than they ever have in the first-half, because the 2012 second-half struggles were historic, even in Metsian measurements.

And it feels alright, almost necessary.
I don't think any of us have to be dramatic about it.
It's a telling year, a very important year, and questions will be answered, or at least altered slightly.
There is no waste of time when enjoying baseball.


It's getting muggy.

Taking a hot shower at the end of the day has transitioned to a warm shower has transitioned to a cold shower.

So, sit back, relax and keep that smile on your face, whatever the outcome might be.

It's going to be a fun summer.

TWENTY. THIRTEEN.
LET'S. GO. METS.

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What happened? I was sleeping...

I wasn't feeling well last night and laid down to rest around 6:30...

When I woke up, "Mets lose 4-0" was the headline on my phone.

I'm sure the Mets were as listless as "4-0" looks.

I'm really enjoying these Gameday viewings (when they win)

Until I start screenwriting courses Monday through Thursday in June, I am working at the Ninth Ave Vintner in Hell's Kitchen to begin the week. More often than not these days, MLB Gameday on the At Bat App is the way the Mets enter my consciousness. A lot of times, I'll have to walk away for a bit, and I arrive back pleasantly surprised by a headline like "Marlon Byrd homers."

Unfortunately, the in-the-moment joy I felt arriving back to that headline was just that: fleeting. Other headlines that involve Reds homering were more prevalent on Monday evening, and the Mets did what they do, which is lose 4-3 with the tying run left on 2nd in the 8th.

Apparently, there was some home plate umpire shenanigans. I don't understand the stubbornness of some of these umpires (well, because I'm only human I totally understand it, but come on.) The ones whose egos aren't overblown have the priority to get the right call. That should be everybody's priority involved in calling the game. That should be MLB's priority, not protecting these men. I haven't see any specific play that is in question, but I know all too well how unaccountable the umpiring system seems to be. Something must be done, other than just some form of expanded replay.