The Mr. Met T-Shirt Effect

It wouldn’t stop raining. Anyone who currently lives in the New York region knows it has been raining as if the Pharaoh needed to be proven something. The plants all around us had more than blossomed, in some places spilling over into the roads they lined. As yet another day carried onward as drenched as we could be, I wondered whether yet again would the fates tease the Mets as they attempted to get back to the .500 mark.

Wearing my Mr. Met shirt, which plays on the MLB logo with Mr. Met as the silhouette gearing up for the pitch, I worked the rush hour completely spacing on the fact the Mets were on the road in Washington this time. Even though the weather between the two cities can sometimes pair up, a Mets fan who got in the rideshare car just before gametime not only informed me they were about to start, but reminded me that the game was down the interstate this time. Maybe luck was finally in play for the Mets after all.

After I dropped him off at his location, I had some moments to take to Twitter while viewing gameday. A few minutes into first pitch and before I had seen what the batting Mets were up to, I got this tweet off:

It’s time. Ain’t no better moment than the present. Do NOT act as slump busters anymore, #Mets. The #Nationals, struggling mightily right now, are obviously gonna be ripe to show they aren’t who they’ve been as the take on a divisional rival. DO NOT LET UP, @METS! DO THIS! #LGM pic.twitter.com/vHtR4TQWRw

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 14, 2019

Not much need to elaborate on what I said above. If you're a fan of this team, you know how it can go. It was and is time for the Mets to make those bad habits a thing of the past.

They were brewing something in the first inning when former National Wilson Ramos, at the time sporting a .235 AVG, walked to the plate with the bases loaded. Feeling this was a prime opportunity for him to get it going, I tweeted this off:

It’s time, Ramos

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 14, 2019

Sure enough, the next gameday alert I was alerted to read, "In Play, Runs." When the bases are juiced, this could me loads of things. It meant only one thing in this particular instance: a grand slam.

Psychic

— LI_Weather (@michaeld021) May 14, 2019

I appreciate the ego boost, but I think the tweet was more words of encouragement than predicting anything.

With the inning over, it was time for Noah Syndergaard to hold those runs up. He has struggled mostly this season, but in this game, though I wasn't able to watch any of it, sometimes you can just tell by the gameday results when someone has it. He no-hit the Nationals till the 6th inning, which was his least sharpest frame of the night. Still, it was the only runs he would allow, and he ended up going 8 fantastic innings.

By the time the 9th inning rolled around, I had the booth of the Mets in my ears well into a workout at the Fairview, NJ, Planet Fitness. One of my favorite prospects-turned-pinch-hitter-extraordinaire, Dominic Smith, rolled up to the plate looking to get an insurance run on the board. Though he's been great off the bench, his power has yet to arrive. So, I once again went to the twitterverse:

I need a Dom HR

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 15, 2019

Thing is, gameday is generally ahead of the radio. So, I decided to go to it with the count 2-0. The count became 3-0 and I thought to myself, "Let him rip." Next thing I knew, with the bases empty, "In Play, Runs" flashed across the screen. When there is no one on base, it obviously means ONLY one thing.

Echem...

I’m waiting @michaeld021... https://t.co/aflPxLZBMd

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 15, 2019

What the hell tonight is it with you predicting these things

— LI_Weather (@michaeld021) May 15, 2019

https://t.co/qslSzYvAzg pic.twitter.com/E9qLebbmjc

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 15, 2019

Obviously, all of these things are just coincidences. I have never had a knack for "predicting things" on Twitter. Most usually, the basket rolls around the rim and hops out, with the asked-for HR becoming a strikeout or something of that nature. Last night, however, was not the case, and I was on my prophet game. What's the difference between the other times and the night the Mets needed to make a clear statement against a struggling Nationals team hoping the Mets could be inspirational slump-busting fodder?

The Mr. Met shirt.

It is not a 7 Line branded shirt, nor official MLB gear. It is just some random shirt advertised to me on Facebook, and they got me. The funny part of it all is that Mr. Met is never at bat. He is only leader of cheer, truth be told. Even Mr. Met, however, wants to get some swings in from time to time. 

I sweated rather profusely in it last night so the Mr. Met shirt was in need of being tossed in the hamper once I got home. Today, I am wearing my Robin Ventura black t-shirt and I'm hoping it holds the same powers, especially with a better pitcher on the mound for the team from Washington. Now, I'm also realizing it is time to get all of my Mets shirts back downstate as they are all mostly in my mother's basement upstate. I guess blame me for any inconsistencies the Mets have shown and show from here on out. Or just keep blaming the Wilpons.

PEDAL. TO. THE. METAL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Exacerbated in Extras

On Saturday night, as the Mets got deeper into their extra inning loss to the Brewers that was the middle game of a weekend sweep, I was getting deeper and deeper into extra innings on the road. I was driving around on my rideshare game, picking up people as Quattro de Mayo turned into Cinco. I have no idea what the inning was that correlated with when I felt I needed a quick nap, but I couldn't even put the game on knowing I needed to get to sleep as soon as I could fall into it. When you're driving for a living, you have to be fully aware of the trouble signs.

Benny Sieu/USA Today Sports
Photo via SNY.TV

It was 12:15 when I was able to pull over and grab my neck pillow. I set the alarm for 1 o Clock, putting on some classical music to soothe me to sleep after checking the score. When I woke up to finish up the bar scene, the Mets had lost. I had some strange feeling that this would be the alert I would see once I got back to my extra innings. It wasn't raining when I went to sleep, but it got literally right to it after I was up. Not raining when I rose...raining within ten seconds of me putting my drivers seat back into it's upright position.

The only time the Mets or any baseball team can take a pause during extra innings is if it begins to rain. Looking at the results, it sure looks like the Mets could have used a snooze themselves. It wasn't until the next morning that I checked twitter that I had any idea of some of the details of how it all went down after the Mets took the lead in the 18th only to spit it back up in the bottom half. I had this to say on twitter about the weird yet weirdly satisfying way I woke up Sunday morning to my twitter feed feeding me the tweets from the exact moment the Mets lost.

Misery loves company

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) May 5, 2019

And so it goes. The miserable way Saturday night ended was in company with a miserable weekend. The Mets managed in the last two games to buck the 1-run trend, but not enough for it to manifest a W in either. My pessimism is such that when Juan Lagares made it 3-2 yesterday with a solo shot, I said to myself, "That's the final score." It was manifested. Yet again as it was in 2018, Mickey Callaway got his team off to a good start only to be under .500 sometime thereafter. I cannot tell you what the threshold is for when he should be concerned for his job, but you cannot manage that way either way otherwise your job loss will indeed manifest itself. It is a sucky feeling knowing that the main reason the Mets keep finding themselves in baseball purgatory is because of the way their owners run this shop. We at A Metsian Podcast were able to give the Wilpons some credit for a change somewhere in our offseason podcasts. Syracuse was a great move. And some other stuff, too. That, however, was short lived, and we're staring down the barrel of the gun recognizing once more that this team, as I feared leading up to 2015, will never be able to get out of this rollercoaster pattern of good for two years, awful for six. I will always hope they prove me wrong someday, but that hope is better suited for other parts of my life.

Jeez. I have to believe, don't I? Hard to do so when the evidence points elsewhere.

I guess we just gotta

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Middle of the Night Stupid Score Tweet & Text Storm

I once more had to go to bed early, around 9, but now I find myself up 2 hours before my alarm, 2 o' clock or so to be exact, and went to my phone to first see two texts from my Phillies friend.

Rhys jogged very slowly around the bases.

Same pitcher, right?

Frank Franklin II/AP
Photo via Washingtonpost.com

So, I went to check the score. 6-0. That set me off on a text and twitter "rampage." No anger there, really (well, maybe some...now, that I'm proofreading and editing this...)  just a big eye roll after seeing how the Mets allowed this game to finish off. My friend was no doubt sleeping like any normal person would be at 2 in the morning, and the majority of #MetsTwitter was no doubt sleeping like any "normal people" would be. That didn't stop me from letting my thoughts be known, and now I'm up and taking advantage of the fact I need to get to work earlier than I had planned anyway 'cause #LyftLife gonna #LyftLife.

My texts. These were all sent back-to-back in real time typing, too.

Jacob Rhe

 Shame

Jacob rhame

Nice Autocorrect

I fell asleep early

Well that is stupid score

Falling asleep early was totally planned too. I'm desperate to drive.

Now I'm up earlier than my alarm by two hours but considering staying up...

Alright, you're obviously NOT so I'll stop flash flooding

 4 2/3 innings Jason Vargas. 1 run but case and point. I don't care if he's your 5th starter.  What, Gio Gonzalez REALLY can't go longer?

A couple of those made the Twitter feed as well. First, my last tweet before I went to bed.

The game is a close one for sure, but I gotta lay down earlier than the end of this one again. If I don’t hear the comeback on @metsbooth, hopefully i’ll wake up to the sweep! #LGM! pic.twitter.com/9G8J2bDYsh

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 25, 2019

Then, I woke up.

Well...that’s a stupid score

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 25, 2019

4 2/3 innings Jason Vargas. 1 run but case and point. I don’t care if he’s your 5th starter. What, Gio Gonzalez REALLY can’t go longer?

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 25, 2019

Then...I discovered a tweet about Daniel Murphy.

This is as #OhMurph as it gets LOLOL.. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/2rMlmWmCTz

— Mills (@MillManner) April 24, 2019

pic.twitter.com/lrV9AhNxCT

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 25, 2019

Then I texted the Murph tweet and finished up with this.

19LOB. NINETEEN. (****REDACTION: THIS WAS WRONG. MLB WROTE "19" ON THE BOXSCORE BUT AFTER A BACK AND FORTH ON A FACEBOOK METS PAGE, I REALIZED IT WAS A MISTAKE AND IT WAS CLOSER TO 11)

That's all. I got nothing else. I warned against a letdown game. (see basically last line of that post.) Stupid. Just stupid. You can't throw behind the opposition's back then not back it up. That game's on Mickey, as far as I'm concerned. Whatever. Day off then go get 'em.

Oh, one more thing, mets.com. 

SAVE THE HEADLINE SPIN.

I'll finish up with a pleasant distraction from yesterday.

View this post on Instagram

Yep. It’s THAT kind of day. #NYC #Skyline #Hoboken #SinatraDrive #HudsonRiver

A post shared by Sam Maxwell (@sammaxwell9) on Apr 24, 2019 at 12:59pm PDT

STUPID. METSIES.

LET'S. GO. METS.

I've Got the Orange & Blues This Mornin'...

Thursday night, or Friday morning rather, I was wallowing in my Metsian Sadness...well, frustration and anger more so...after having ranted and raved during my break on the Rising Apple Report. I saw that the delayed Nats Padres game was still going on...and the Padres had an 8-1 lead! That quickly turned to 8-2, which prompted this tweet:

Of course the #Nats score THE MOMENT I start listening. #Mets

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

Twitter has its pros and cons, but one of the pros, I must say, is the connectability fans can have to the figures they follow, in whatever medium those figures are in. For instance, I was impressed with the Padres announcers, Ted Leitner and Bob Scanlan, and decided to let them know in-game:

These @Padres announcers are fantastic. Glad they're still on the air tonight. #Padres @TedLeitner @heyscan

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

The second I pressed the "tweet" button, I saw and responded to the following:

BREAKING: 'King of the Blues' legend B.B. King dead in Las Vegas at age 89, his attorney says.

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 15, 2015

With the score what it was, I turned off the game and put B.B. King on.

I can only attempt to describe what Blues Boy has meant to my life, and it probably didn't hit me until the moment I heard he was dead. What's the most amazing is that, for someone who was known for his blues guitar playing, it's his VOICE and the power of those lungs that really got me. What a musician and artist.

You'll be missed, B.B.

I settled into the B.B. marathon, and got a response from the crew in S.D.

Thanks for tuning in and for your kind review! Pads playing some hardball tonight! https://t.co/wFvLEOH8rG

— Bob Scanlan (@heyscan) May 15, 2015

I gave them props once more, though I was honest about my priorities, while also putting in a request:

.@heyscan @Padres @TedLeitner Good stuff! BEAT. DEM. #NATS.

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

.@heyscan @Padres @TedLeitner i will admit though, & no offense to you, but right after I tweeted that, I found out bout BB, & put him on 😔

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

.@heyscan @Padres @TedLeitner i got u guys back up on my phone, though. If u haven't yet, mention THIS guy. http://t.co/54z5z5ih2A #RIPBB

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

They did. With a Wil Clark reference included to boot.

@heyscan @Padres @TedLeitner 😊👍 thanks guys

— Sam Maxwell (@convertedmetfan) May 15, 2015

I am sad that he is gone, though it is fitting to be listening to the Blues as we all shake our collective heads. I generally have a solid dose of the Blues mixed into my Pandora playlist, but it had been a while since I had the Blues, and listened exclusively to that genre/station/artist. And I've been basically just listening to B.B. for the last 24 hours.

The Mets lost 7-0.

And the Nats won 10-0.

Half a game it is.

I've got the Orange & Bluuuuuuues

Oh, GIRL! You know I do!...

GOODBYE. BB.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Moving On, Slightly Pissed Off.

Yeah, not having a 4-year, 48 million dollar contract on the books starting in 2013 isn't a bad thing. In fact, it could be construed as a good thing. But the Whole Thing stinks, and what mostly pisses me off is the executive failure on part of the MLB.

Yeah, the Mets could have been more aggressive, knowing the MLB would most likely rule in their favor, but there should have never been a process to begin with. If the MLB meant for the language to represent the 10 worst teams, then the MLB should have made sure it read that way. They didn't and the Mets got shafted because a body of people above were incompetent. It sucks and it pisses me off.


And we gotta play the AL Central this year. Each 6 times; one series there, one series here.

Fuckin' Cleveland.

That place sucks.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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

That Was an Interestingly Weird Super Bowl.

I'm not going to go on much about that football game, other than to say that football game might have been the strangest thing we've ever seen.

During the power outage, @belyeadm tweeted, "Next years super bowl in a foot of snow 'at least the power didn't go out'.

...Unless it does...

Who is @belyeadm, you ask?

...I don't know, but he's on twitter, and it says he's a Redskins fan...

My Dad's side of the family are all Redskins fans...

Oh, and Beyoncé...well...BEYONCÉ...

(Who is going to be performing in the cold?!)

Anyway, congrats to the Ravens and their fans.

My condolences to the Niners and their fans.

Now, we can focus our attention on the things that are more...you know...basebally.

(Random tidbit of the evening: This is LaTroy Hawkins' twitter profile pic.)

Here's the Random Song of the Night.

IT. IS. SO. SOON.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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