The Metsies Clavicle Run

In a blink of an eye, it was gone.

You can say that about the 2016 season, and you can say that about my left clavicle, the collarbone, that of my southpaw arm, when it was shattered falling off a bike near Canal on Chrystie, near the Manhattan bridge at 6:00am in the early morning of August 19. Two weeks later, I had surgery to install a titanium plate, and 6 titanium bolts, and I continue my DL stint today. Though feeling much better, I still can't exactly swing a bat yet.

Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

The day I broke it, August 19, the Mets were 60-62 after a loss that night. Those next 2 wins brought us a split in the West Coast series and sealed us home field advantage for what just occurred, and obviously the rest is history. We all know, or at least us real die-hards, what the remaining record was after the 19th, though I'll repeat it again...27-13.

Now, I am not giving spiritual blame to the breaking of my clavicle (a word I most certainly didn't know existed until I broke it, which is remarkable considering you learn all clinical terms being a Mets fan...) I'm just saying it was an interestingly exciting time spent while my prized left arm stayed in the sling. There were highs, there were lows, there were ups, and downs, and tragedy. It was a crazy last few weeks indeed. A microcosm of life and death in one short span.

Unfortunately, we now sit back as in so many Octobers, and watch the remaining 8 duke it out. At least we got this chance. I wasn't so much anxious going into it as you would think 'cause that 6 week ride was one for the ages, though the anxiousness certainly settled in in the later innings. Still, I had such a blast, and the season cannot be seen as a failure. We kept the good vibes going, though wait till next year we will do once more.

I don't want to talk about Madison Bumgarner ever again. I look forward to the Cubs bludgeoning them. All in for erasing 1908.

And that is a franchise who knows of no next year.

May it finally arrive this exact one.

Wait till Next Year indeed.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Write Stuff

"Bay walked, as did Ike Davis, and up strolled Lucas May, a catcher brought in to compete for the back-up spot. May's numbers in AAA last year were quite solid (albeit Pacific Coast League), and a couple of pitches into the at bat, we soon found out why he was brought in here. Lucas May destroyed the baseball, and he slid into second base with a 2 RBI double. Lucas May tore the cover off the ball all day, a day that was the official beginning of what I have now coined as Lucas Mayhem (let the whole world know: you heard it here first). If he continues to hit the way he did today, we've got quite the competition for the back-up catcher on our hands. 

Let the Mayhem begin. 

Other takeaways from the game: 

* Adam Loewen has a mighty cut. He is an interesting option for power off the bench if he continues to perform. 

* There were horseshoe mustaches all around! Besides our Byrdak, Kevin Mattison and Chris Hatcher of the Marlins each have their own distinctive horseshoe 'stache. It would be awesome if this becomes an epidemic throughout baseball. David Wright should grow one. 

* Quintanilla = nice depth at back-up infielder 

* Miguel Batista = "The Handyman" (you heard it here first as well) 

* Turner is a good option at third. Justin Turner is a solid piece for this team 

* Den Dekker's got a good glove out there in center 

* Spring Training might be competitive practice, but it is also the time for practicing winning, or put another way, practicing how NOT to lose. Valdespin hopefully will learn from his 9th inning mistake (He stepped in front of the catcher as the catcher was trying to throw down to second base. The ump called interference) He's got an immense amount of talent, but these are the same mistakes that have separated us from the good teams for too long now, and must be corrected before these players get to the big leagues. 

* Mayhem.  

That is all." 

--The Greatest Spring Training Game Ever, Converted Mets Fan

I wrote that on Friday, March 9, 2012. In-depth, over-detailed analysis of a spring training game, and one the Mets lost (not even gonna look up what happened to Lucas Mayhem. Needles to say, he didn't keep hitting that way...And I didn't even quote the part about Mike Pelfrey.) I was a rookie back then. Now I am a seasoned veteran who has been on a leave of sabbatical.

Between last year and this year, when actual winning Mets baseball has been played, I am nowhere to be found. Oh, I've been paying plenty attention, you can bet on that, I just haven't gotten into any writing groove. Well, blogging groove. I have been writing a coming-of-age 20-something biopic screenplay for the past 2 years, it's current incarnation (4th draft) of which I finally sprinkled some Mets into it. From a thematic standpoint, they perfectly represent that force that is always so, so close, but can't get over the hump.

Hopefully, that is not the case this year, though the cards certainly look stacked against them. If the Mets do make it in to play at least one more, and maybe further, they will arguably be the worst team on paper in the tournament.

Let the Miracle of Miracles begin.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Round it Out With Reyes

It literally came out of nowhere. Completely from the blue.

There, in front of me, as I walked towards the Brooklyn Bridge after the MTA sucked again, and right before I got on the air with the Rising Apple Report (which you can scroll down to listen to once you're done with this post...)

BUT there I was with plenty of tweets that appeared to confirm that Troy Tulowitzki, the shortstop from the Rockies Region, had been traded to the Canadian Region, and the Blue Jays were going to have to pay a hefty sum of prospects and...

JOSE REYES?!?!?!
That guy? Who has been traded TWICE now since signing a non-no-trade-clause contract with the team you should NEVER do that with? Is going to man shortstop in the high-mile air of the Purple Mountains Majesty??

Something's not right here...there must be more than meets the eye...

Now, since it's only source-driven until teams announce it, we will see plenty of more details in the coming hours...

But that hasn't stopped #MetsTwitter from erupting in a frenzy. Compared to a normal early-Tuesday morning on Twitter. Plenty of people just can't sleep because they are dreaming of the #BringBackReyes possibilities...


Most people think Reyes is going to get flipped by Colorado, and I firmly believe that to be true. They want more pitching, because they've never really had it.

It was never supposed to be this way. He was supposed to be here forever. So now it's time to bring him home.

Get Michael Fulmer and/or Rafael Montero together...and Jon Niese if you must. Or whatever they seem to value in your system that seems to have a dearth of pitching they've drafted and cultivated, that have now accounted for two trades that created a MUCH better vibe than what was left on this blog last week and plenty of others who were just absolutely fed up with the Wilpons and Inaction.

But that has erupted as this push to the deadline continues.

First, news of Michael Conforto, and their Social Media accounts of his whereabouts that had me complaining about the contradictory and circus-like nature of the Wilpons and the way they could potentially be #WorseThanOMalley, on my Facebook page about Bedford & Sullivan (ShamelessPlug,AnHBOStyleTVSeriesAboutBrooklyn AndIt'sDodgers...)

THEN, secondly, almost right after I lambasted the owners, news broke out that the Mets had traded for Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. The Mets lost 7-2, Conforto looked comfortable with his first RBI, but all eyes were immediately on the next day.

And the moves immediately took form.

After Kelly Johnson's heroic homering in the 15-2 romp, and Juan Uribe's heroics in the 3-2 10th inning win, along with Michael Conforto really showin' us somethin' over the weekend, the Mets went out and solidified their bullpen with Tyler Clippard's arrival via trade.

They got one more bat to go. Some, and I obviously wouldn't whine, want to see the Mets get one more slugger, which in reality they do need. And I would LOVE to see what Cepedes could do in a Mets uniform.

But the Mets need a leadoff hitter. AND a shortstop. Though Grandy HAS been admirable, hitting very well of late and being one of my favorite Mets on the field...what a move to bring Reyes home. It would be an ASTOUNDING PR Move and, as Howard Medgal says:

Trade makes Mets immediately better at their position of greatest need. Reyes rejuvenated. And part of the next probable Mets playoff team.

— Howard Megdal (@howardmegdal) July 28, 2015

This makes so much sense for so many reasons since it makes a ton of sense that the Rockies, who are going into rebuild mode, would flip Reyes to someone who needs a shortstop.

Sure, he's in decline...and he's lost a step in decline...but he should have been in decline with US. Properly. In our WILDEST Metsian dreams.

Seems like a no-brainer, if you ask me.

Not that you were.

But I'm just sayin'.

Maybe I need to put it in the past...

Maybe it was another time....

Or maybe it's JUST what THIS TIME NEEDS.

#BRINGBACKREYES

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Flashback: R.A. Dickey & Mets Get Out of a 2011 Inning

We are in the thick of the 2013 Hot Stove season, with the Mets wheelin' and dealin' trying to improve this ball club.

This Monday morning, however, I want to start randomly taking a look at some clips I've taken over the years that I took way too long to go through and randomly turn into a clip on Youtube.

I don't know how often I'll do this, but the point behind it is that even in the losing seasons, the years people keep saying have been tough on Mets fans, are still indeed worth it. In this game of baseball, there's always memories that will last a lifetime. Even though the overall record was not ideal, the little details, the little moments, are still so awesome to soak up.

Enjoy this little clip of R.A. Dickey and the 2011 New York Mets.

And enjoy your week as well.

METSIE. 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, follow on Twitter here, and listen to the research process here.

Oh, What to Do at Shortstop?

Yesterday, the Star Ledger's Jorge Castillo reported that the Mets have reached out to Rafael Furcal, which totally makes sense, even if that's not the direction I hope they go.

It's the time of year where we are going to hear a bunch of "reached out to" and "met with" as everybody tries to fill the blank pages of the ever-darker-colder days of the non-baseball year.

And as Danny Abriano and I over at Rising Apple wrote, Stephen Drew or Jhonny Peralta make more sense than the declining range and overall skill of "I-actually-wasn't-born-in-the-80's-like-I-originally-made-you-believe" Furcal.

Ruben Tejada impressed me for a time with how well he was at getting the barrel of the bat to the ball and line-driving it, but then all of a sudden he took his security for granted and apparently drew the ire of the Mets folks with a bad work ethic. That's not cool, dude.

Us Mets fans got spoiled when Jose Reyes was the shortstop for 9 seasons, but a defensive-sounded .250 hitter with grit, ala Rafael Santana, isn't a bad route to go. So, Stephen Drew could make a lot of sense, though he should have hit better over the course of his career (right?)

Clearly, it's not just Mets fans who give up too easily on a player like Ruben, but no offense to the kid, we need to shore up the long-term solution sooner rather than later, and if you haven't figured out over the course of 3 seasons that you need to work hard to not only get better everyday but KEEP your job as well, then I don't know what to tell you, Tejada. As I said on a Rising Apple Report podcast recently, it would behoove him to get some Winter Ball ABs after he fully heals from his broken leg injury.

Anyway, I have to take my lil sis to school and then write the Rising Apple Eric Young, Jr. Season in Review.

Here's a Morning Random Song (since I already posted a Late-Night one...)

SHORE. UP. SHORTSTOP.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(Alright...maybe not so Random this time...)

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.

Hearing 'bout the Fish as We Travel Through the Land

My dad and I finally hit the road to 'Bama and Denver yesterday. First, we had to come back into the city for a doctor's appointment of his, and from there we ventured down to Northern Virginia, to see my aunt and my uncle, who is recovering from a stroke. He is making great progress, but it is still hard to see him in that condition. The visit certainly got him excited, and his energy level was fantastic. We crashed there for a couple hours, then got up in the middle of the night and kept driving the long journey down to the South. We are passing through Tennessee now, and should arrive in Birmingham sometime in the afternoon.

Just in time for a nap, because my sleep schedule is really out of whack. (Didn't mean for that to rhyme, BUT I am a poet...and I do know it.)

Anyway, sometime last night, this is how I found out about the newest Marlin fiasco, via a few Ted's Quotes (he's regularly the one to break news to me, as he did when Reyes Grew Fins):

Ted: Yo, the Marlins.

Me: What

Ted: They just traded...everyone
Everyone but Stanton
To the Jays
Reyes, Johnson, burrhle, bonofacio, buck

Me: Holy. For what?

Ted: That's so crazy. I'd be super pissed if I was Reyes. And no free agent will ever sign there again
Yunnel Escobar and two big prospects

Me: I knew Reyes would get traded. Didn't think it would be so quick.

Ted: Now he's stuck in Toronto

Sam: Which might not be bad
Not weather wise, though

Ted: I mean your an FA you get to pick where you want to play / live and then they turn around and screw you and lock you down in Toronto for what 4 or 5 more years
What a total shit organization
Apparently mike Stanton is angry tweeting right now


Yeah, they really suck. As all that spending was occurring last offseason, we all knew it wouldn't work, but I don't think any of us could have predicted the fire sale would happen so quickly. I figured Reyes would be a Yankee in 2 or 3 years when Jeter moved to the outfield or something. Yeah, don't think that's gonna happen now.

And I'm kinda sad to have him gone out of the division. I had grown attached to his role as a divisional rival and villain, but that's something I'll get more into over at Rising Apple later.

Anyway, I've got to take over driving for a little. Looking forward to the Cy Young Award announcements later, regardless of who wins (though I do have a feeling R.A. will take it.) It will be nice to have the 2012 season that much more in the rearview mirror.

And one last note, though I do believe we should all have perspective and not complain about #FirstWorldProblems...

This Blogger App sucks.

But at least I ate this morning.

It still sucks, though.


LET'S. GO. METS.

(Random Road Trip Photo)

Just One of Those Nights

After watching the game for a while, I got fed up with how everything seemed to be rolling the wrong way for the Metsies. The outfielders seemed to get there just in time to make the catch, Jose Reyes' hit down the 3rd base line is just enough to get passed a diving Wright. It was just one of those nights, and I wasn't taking the idea of finishing the season losing a couple to the Marlins all that well, especially at the expense of RA's record. And with my sinuses flaring up a little, I thought it was time to go lay down while listening to Howie and Josh. I mean, I didn't have too many more opportunities to hear those guys.

At some point, though, I was feeling a little restless, so I decided to get up and pace back and forth while listening to the game. "What the heck? Give me one more thrill...TWO more thrills." By myself in my mom's upstate house with my dad down the hill in his own abode, watching some new show, "Elementary," (I have a complicated family dynamic, a story which will be told in film form one day) I decided to start a one-man cheering crew, giving every batter and every pitcher some extreme enthusiasm. I didn't have too many more chances in the season to act the fan, and isolated in a house in the woods was as good a time as any. And as I did, 1 run was in. Two runs were in. And then in was tied. I. Was. Pumped. R.A. Dickey was off the hook for the loss, and that in and of itself was a victory.

Until the last pitch of the game, somewhere a few extra innings after the Mets should have won, I was treating game 161 as if it were this game. Why not? I'll drive this sentence into the ground, but we don't have too many more Orange and Blue opportunities to root our socks off in 2012.

With the way we were leaving men on left and right as the innings added up, it only made sense that a Jose Reyes triple would eventually spell the end of the Orange and Blue. Though at home last year, it was that gentleman that kept us engaged through an extra inning 161, which ended in the 12th with the exact same score as last night, on a Justin Turner line drive double play. The two games weren't too similar other than the LOB, and Manny Acosta didn't blow this one in the 9th the way he blew last year's in the 9th. Either way, it was only fitting that more baseball be handed to us yet again, even if the finishing touches were by that Marlin team instead of our Metsies. It was still at least one more thrill.

I'm glad my eyes didn't witness the end, though.

Some time in the 7th, when Manny Acosta was on the mound, Howie spoke of a base hit right as my connection was cut off to receive a phone call. It was my dad. Earlier in the day, he had emailed a letter he once wrote to me while I was at camp. A letter that was a relic from another baseball time, detailing events from the summer of '99. Then, it was McGuire, Gwynn, and the New York Yankees, but this evening, my dad was calling for only one thing.

"On this show, Elementary, Lucy Liu is a big baseball fan in New York. Guess what team she roots for?"

"....................................eh......The Mets?....."

"Yep," he said with a big smile on his face. "The last scene she's wearing a hat and cheering for them. Thought you'd get a kick out of it. Anyway, get back to your game."

"Ha! That's awesome. Thanks, Dad."

I might not root for the same ballclub anymore, but my dad is still as passionate about me as he's ever been.


I don't want to type this, but today is game 162. At 4:00PM. Jeremy Hefner finishes it up.

Sigh.

I just got sad.

ORANGE. AND. BLUE.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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

The Wild One

When they peered out into the bullpen in the late innings and I saw Ramon Ramirez, I said, "Oh, great. It's Ramon Ramirez." Its amazing how quickly a reputation can change, and Ramon Ramirez, after having the 6th best reliever ERA from 2008-2011, has fallen into a long line of relievers to exert that kind of reaction from Mets fans after killing it in other corners of the MLB. He continued what Jeurys Familia began, who walked the park in his debut but kept the Marlins off the board through 4. Other relievers followed suit, and what was a 2-0 lead became a 2-3 deficit. Mix that with double digit LOBs, and you have a loss.

That's just the nature of the beast.

Of all the bullpen problems, Ramon Ramirez is the most troubling. Others, like Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, were coming off of uneven seasons. The former you kind of expected something like this (an odd mix of a 5.53 ERA and 23 out of 27 opportunities locked down) and the latter with solid showings sandwiched in between early on and recent non-effective outings. Manny Acosta kind of gets the same "Oh, look who's in the bullpen" reaction Ramon Ramirez gets, but I like Manny when he's pitching well. He's an peculiar show on the mound. Ramon Ramirez was supposed to be THE piece of the Angel Pagan trade. Andres Torres was just replacing a position player, with the hopes he would somewhat duplicate his World Champion 2010 season. "Whatever. Sandy got Ramon Ramirez, one of the most effective righties in the National League." Oofph. He looks lost out there. In another world. I hadn't seen a pitch sail like that in a long, long time. I look forward to not seeing Ramon Ramirez in that bullpen next season. I'd rather see a kid get the chance than give him another shot.

You know, the funny thing about baseball is that even in a game the TV crew dubbed "a 4th place team playing a 5th place team kind of game," and rightfully so, it still tugs on your nervous system as you wait for what the next pitch will bring. After Fred Lewis* got hit by the pitch in the 9th, every Ike Davis foul had me waiting and hoping for the dramatic from my team. I was on the edge of my seat till he almost hit it passed Carlos Lee at 1st for the final out. That's what people who call baseball boring don't understand. All you have to do is focus your mind on following that little white ball from the pitcher's hand to the small diameter of the plate, and seeing what happens to it every time that motion occurs. It's a fascinating game. I absolutely love it.

Anyway.

I'm gonna go watch the rest of episode 3 of New York: A Documentary.

So, let's file this wild one away, and get ready for the final R.A.

KNUCKLE. THAT. BALL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

*Fred Lewis has yet to have a 2012 New York Met Moment. He's running out of chances. I was hoping he would have that moment with 2 out in the 9th, tying the game with a pull home run down the line. Got hit instead. Oh, well.

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