Kick it Off

Truth be told, the title sounds like I am about to write about the start of the American Football season, but that's not seriously arriving for another month and a half (and I am much less excited for that than I am for baseball to gear back up.) When I thought of my first words to describe my feelings for the "2nd half" of the season to begin, I thought, "kick. It. Off."

There is a validity to us Mets fans' optimism that hadn't been there the other times these last few years we've been cautiously optimistic, and part of that certainly has to do with having a roster void of Rod Barajases and the Jeff Francouers. The team's offense looks to have started clicking with every single person that can play daily contributing with the kind of situational hitting we haven't seen in these here parts in a long time. The players who DON'T play everyday? Well...they have been great from the get-go, and that young bullpen we dreamed about in the offseason is finally starting to round into form.

So, i dont feel dread about this upcoming 2nd half. I feel if this team and their young roster continues their development and continues to click, there is no reason they can't finish over point five hundred.

Gear it up, boys.

And kick it off.

ROUND. IN. TO. FORM.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Where Did THAT Come From?!

No matter how good and energetic the Mets looked in Miami, their 10-1 win yesterday was the LAST thing I saw coming, especially at home AND against the best team in baseball, the Oakland Athletics.

The story lines were ripe for dissection.

You had the Mets coming off of a solid road trip, about to take on the best team in baseball, whom they once lost a World Series to in 7 games.

And sidenote: forget about that 1973 fact and the novelty of the two teams facing each other. The Mets and the Athletics' logos are just aesthetically pleasing next to each other.

Anyway...

You had Bartolo Colon on the mound, facing his former team who opted to not bring him back. They decided to give a 2 year, 22 million dollar deal to the man on the mound for them last night, Scott Kazmir, who was facing the Mets for the 1st time in Queens since the infamous deal that sent him to Tampa Bay in exchange for the greatest pitcher of all time, Victor Zambrano. AND Scott's been the best pitcher in the American League this year.

On top of that, you had Chris Young facing his former team, with reports surfacing on the off day Monday that he may be released Thursday.

And let's run with that one for a second.

I thought it was a ridiculous leak, and one that made no sense if you were really contemplating releasing him when Juan Lagares returns Thursday, then that's basically squashed when you then have to go to the press and say, "Those reports are false."

It brings up what Josh Thole talked about when saying how everything is a story here, and no matter how much I think it's clear the last thing any players anywhere need to pay attention to is anything but the baseball they need to play, it is true that the New York atmosphere is something fierce and rather unique, other than maybe Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago.

There might be something to the leak, though, where a conspiracy theory can be formed that it was calculated and a last-minute ditch effort to light a fire under the 7.25 million dollar man. At least for one game, Chris Young responded and resoundingly so. We'll see what happens...

You also had Travis d'Arnaud fresh off his AAA stint, where he tore the cover off the ball. Though he still struck out twice, a 3-run bomb certainly takes a load off. Though he wasn't in the 5-hole as myself and Keith Hernandez had hoped, Terry didn't bat him just ahead of the pitcher's spot, which was a step in the right direction.

Speaking of the 4 home runs the Mets hit (the 1st time all year they have done so in Citi Field, with the only other time in 2014 coming at Yankee Stadium), the only bomb that wasn't an original (stupid) dimension home run was Curtis Granderson's, a dunker over the Mo's zone wall which gave us a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. What's awesome about THAT shot was that the dugout was still abuzz from it when Chris Young launched his 1st of the night.

The team certainly looks to have new life, which can be traced back to when Bartolo Colon collected his 1st hit in 9 years last week against the Cardinals (and collected ANOTHER one last night!) They've got the towels twirlin' and the bats properly swingin'.

Tonight, Zack Wheeler goes for the 1st time since the best start of his career last week, so I am very much looking forward to how he follows that up, especially against what has been by far the best offense in baseball.

KEEP. 'EM. SWINGIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

A Weird Sigh of Relief

Listen, the Mets are going to be the Mets.

We've come to realize this.

And unfortunately, they've showed promise throughout their history of a franchise ready to break out.

You look through most of Mets history, it's littered with teams that just couldn't get over the hump. After their first 6 years of losing 100 games, the Mets generally tended to avoid that. And teams that don't lose 100, like the teams we've gotten used to over the last 6 years, are ones that will show way too much promise in all the wins they put together, only to botch most of the losing ones. And its weird about losing teams, 'cause I'm sure other losing teams out there in different geographies blow most of their games, too. But some just get shellacked from the get-go. The Mets...well, as certain people have documented, they have always seemed to be way too close to be losing so much.

But this weekend, unlike other weekends spent in Miami, this team took 3 of 4, and needed one of the greatest throwing performances in baseball history to lose one, and even that came with some flaws from everyone involved (including Major League Baseball). Those plays just aren't NEARLY as fun anymore. Players are forgetting, because the rule is so vague, that ACCORDING to the rule, you can STILL run the catcher over if he has the ball. But you literally have a SPLIT-SECOND basically to notice he has the ball and decide that you are going to run them over. Just like it takes time and seasoning to really recognize a ball entering your plane on its way from someone's hand 60 feet 6 inches away, it's gonna take some time for players to adjust to completely altering how you go about that play.

Through it all, though, the Mets took a 3 of 4 out of Miami this weekend, beginning with a resounding 1-0 win by Zack Wheeler and ending resoundingly in the last game (that was partly begun with an awesome suicide squeeze.)

And no matter what the Marlins can be, they can also be the Marlins sometimes. And you know what I just said makes COMPLETE sense. So, even when the Marlins are losing 98 games, it's always nice to take 3 of 4 to the Marlins.

And I think I've come to realize...I actually like the Marlins uniforms. In that utter hatred type of way.

Look, as a baseball fan you want the full baseball experience, especially in your rivalries, and in that great baseball way, you want your rival to have a clear, defining contrast to your clear, defining uniform identity. And the Marlins in their Miami incarnation have made much more of a clear, defining decision with their aesthetic identity. Forget the fact that I was KINDA a Marlins fan when I was a mild to cold baseball fan, and do happen to love the clear-cut choice of the teal at the beginning (though they are REALLY ugly), but they got away from straight-up teal and that just wasn't nearly as cool in its ugliness. So, I actually give credit to the Marlins for going all-in on their Miami incarnation. You actually found something more annoying than the plainness of the Florida one. I applaud you for making that decision to add yourselves to the history of the baseball uniform.

The straight-up orange ones, though, are REALLY ugly and shouldn't exist.

And there's freakin' FISH to the left of their home plate, for cryin' out loud.

Who we taking on next? Let's see...

Oh. OAKland.

Well...

There's only two things left to say...

LET'S. GO. METS....

And

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

The Game

I arrived to my 2nd training shift at the Hell's Kitchen Two Boots just before 5 o' clock yesterday afternoon, and I must say, my timing for monitoring this game was impeccable.

Between the minutes of 7:10 and 7:20, I checked on the game during a calmer moment. No sooner after seeing on the main page that EricYoung, Jr. was on 1st base and Daniel Murphy was up to the plate did it say in the gameday play-by-play that Daniel Murphy had grounded into a double play. I rolled my eyes and put my phone back in my pocket. With many different slices to choose from (including The Newman, Cleopatra Jones, Grandma Bess, Bayou Beast, The Larry Tate, The Night Tripper, Mr. Pink, Tony Clifton, The Bird, The Earth Mother, and V for Vegan) a man decided, not knowing his Mr. Pink was on its way out of the oven, to change his order to The Newman. Instead of Creole Chicken, plum tomatoes, fresh garlic & mozzarella, he decided on sopressata & sweet italian sausage on a white pie. With no one else claiming a Mr. Pink in the moment, I decided to get the slice for dinner and stole away for a hot second to the back outside.

I arrived there with the slice in my hand and my phone in the other, ready to get my MLB gameday on with the sounds of the crowd in the backyard of Rudy's Bar & Grill hopping. Gameday catches you up quickly on the pitches in the AB you're arriving to, and with David Wright up, it showed me the 4 pitches I had missed. Then, after a pause, clearly having caught up to the gameday's pace, the 5th pitch said "In play, run(s)" which could only mean one thing with no one on. With the words, "David Wright homers on a fly ball to center field," I knew it must have been a bomb, and couldn't wait to see the highlight when it got loaded. I finished up my slice and headed inside to do my job.

I checked in periodically, including watching the home run on my way home to my apartment a block and an avenue over for my actual roughly half-hour break. It was usually the end of an inning I would catch, giving me a quick update that hardly wasted any time compared  to following it pitch-by-pitch. As it got later into the evening, it was a surprise but refreshing to see the Mets with a 1-0 lead still intact, the game moving briskly along with Wheeler apparently dealing and the Major League debuter Andrew Heaney dealing as well after the Marlins-home-run-structure-moon-shot by David. On a whim, with a slow moment in the store, I checked just in time for a live look-in with 2 out in the 9th, and Reed Johnson up. The phone sat right under the register so I could keep an eye on everything else my eyes needed to be on. The thorn that is Reed gave us more to worry about with a great AB that finished with a clean single past a diving Ruben Tejada, then Rafael Furcal scared the BeJesus out of all of us with a lacer to center that was right at Chris Young. With a 1969 New York Mets poster hanging on my left, the 2014 New York Mets had wrapped up one of the best games of the year.  I could turn off the live-look-in.

So, Zack Wheeler, after all his struggles this year, pitched the ballgame of his life so far with a 3-hit shutout. It almost felt like Gary was calling a no-hitter at the end when I watched the highlights, with so much meaning behind Zack completing it. It meant a lot to the Mets and to Zack Wheeler's career. It couldn't have been scripted any better with the recently slumping captain of our ballclub winning it with a solo shot in the 1st inning. Wright gave Wheeler the run he would need and he ran with it.

Here's what Keith Hernandez had to say with 1 out in the 9th:

“There’s no reason why these young kids...young MEN…and I’m speaking of Wheeler going 9 innings- I know they’re not conditioned to, but I am so hopeful that it gets back to a starter, in a close game- let HIM win or lose it. Don’t have someone come in and lose it FOR him.”

Amen.

Zack Wheeler was able to do what Bartolo Colon was not allowed to do yesterday, and it was immensely impressive. This is when the naysayers who were calling for Wheeler to get sent down as he continued to struggle get proven wrong. This team will win or lose with Wheeler, and it's all part of the evolution of this ballclub, which has been a hard thing to pick up on lately.

This is the kind of game when everything else doesn't matter anymore. The baseball is the only thing that does.

When I see Josh Thole say that "the hardest thing in the baseball world is to play in New York for the Mets....EVERYTHING is a story there,” and then I see this game, it kind of makes me think that’s the EXACT reason we traded him, other than being R.A. Dickey’s personal catcher (and THAT GUY seemed to do alright in this town, bro.) I've met Josh Thole and he's a really nice dude, but a quote like that just screams incorrect to me. No matter how much we criticize Sandy with where the Major League club currently stands under his tenure, one thing I think is more of a strength than a weakness of his is that he really doesn't care about ANY of that noise. And it would seem he really doesn't. That's something that is extremely valuable in this town. 

Enough worrying about everything we, the fans, are worried about, or about the fact that we keep asking questions about the things we are worried about. 

Just play baseball. You’ll probably do it pretty well.

Wayta pitch, Zack.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Just When You Thought it Couldn't Be Fun Anymore...

THIS happens:



And sidenote: When I went looking for the above video to grab the proper embed code, just pressing "video" on the main page of mlb.com, THIS was the 1st video on the main video page:



As cool as that is, I digress.

Bartolo Colon has been an extremely entertaining person to watch fail at hitting this year. With his helmet-losing spins and an approach that only a rather large man who has pitched the majority of his games in the American League could have, I swear that Bartolo has been worth making a Met just so we have those batting memories to make us warm on a cold, 2020 winter afternoon.

We knew he'd eventually get his 1st hit as a Metropolitan. The way it went down, however, couldn't have been more perfect. We're down 1-0 in a game that has rapidly traveled to the 6th, in jeopardy of getting swept, and Bartolo laces the 2nd-pitch fastball down the left field line for an easy double that he could just jog on in for. And we're talking Bartolo Colon jogging. Then, Eric Young, Jr., who we cannot deny adds something extra to this team when he is on the roster, drives him in, before our slumping Captain drives EYJ in to give us our first lead of the series. Could this be the turning point? Probably not. But it definitely lightened the mood and gave some life to a team that has looked severely lifeless the majority of the year.

And one of the reasons it probably isn't the turning point is because of this man. Danny Abriano of Rising Apple, as always, precisely describes why Terry Collins' thought process defies logic. I feel I can sum up some modern day managers' thought processes: It’s the moment where they say to themselves, “Well, I gotta do something.” When nothing was the something to do. Terry's explanation was that 86 pitches in that hot weather was the equivalent to 120. Terry, come on! You're the oldest manager in all of baseball! There's got to be a part of you that thinks all of this is absolutely ridiculous. Why are we babying these people?! Back in the day, I'm pretty sure the one to finish the game is the 40-year-old veteran ace who is absolutely cruising with a 2-run lead. We're babying the babies of baseball....we really gotta baby the 40-year-old big man who defies what our minds say a older man of his size can do in the first place? My God.

Outside of the little zany world we like to call the Mets, I'd be remiss not to touch on Tony Gwynn in this forum. I commented the day of on social media, but failed to do so in my first post after his death. The only time I ever saw Mr. Padre play was in his last season of 2001 facing the Marlins at Joe Robbie Stadium. Somewhere out there prior to the digital age, there are photos I took with, what was the film called? "Advantex?" Anyway, you had the choice of the kind of picture you could take, i.e., you could take a panoramic photo and it would get developed on that kind of sized paper. Whatever, that's not the point. The point is I obviously focused on Tony Gywnn, who is arguably the greatest hitter of the last 20 years of the 20th Century, though his hitting was the last thing that drew you to him. I always wanted to hear what the man had to say because he seemed to be more than just a solid man. When I heard Monday morning that he had passed away, my heart got a little weaker. That was some sad news, and baseball has a void that it will never be able to fill. He went way too early, and completely shocked me regardless of having heard he had be dealing with some health issues. 

I raise a glass to Anthony Keith Gwynn, Sr.
You will be sorely missed.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

A Time to Put a Smile on Your Face

While I haven't been posting, the Mets have gone ahead and lost a series to the Good Brew Crew, won a series to the Bad Dad Crew, and now dropped another series to the Great Red Crew, continuing to keep that RISP number at a loser's level. With myself, my aunt, uncle, cousin and lil sis on hand for Father's Day at a rather full, actually, Citi Field, I was happy to see Curtis provide a spark at the top of that lineup with an awesome Pepsi Porch leadoff home run. I have been settling into the family of Mets fans that is Two Boots that the poor sight of the Mets in San Louis has not generally been in mine. Though I did not work Monday Night, I do not have cable, nor plan to anytime soon on my budget, so my sight generally does not take in the Mets live, rather listening to Howie and Josh describe the sight that's in their eyes.

Photo Credit: Bluenatic

It's clear, however, that we all need to just smile. Unless we take some serious political protest stance in some fashion or another, which would be interesting to see but I'll tell ya right now that I won't be the leader of the revolution, this team will most likely fail to be properly managed all the way from the top down. The Wilpons do not know how to run a ballclub, let alone know what it means to run the New York Metropolitan National League Baseball Club. I have very little faith, no matter what happens- no matter whether they have a winning season over the next couple of years- that the Mets can have sustained success with the Wilpons at the helm.

So, when I think about what I want to write on this blog at this particular moment, all I can think of is playing the song below, because every time I listen to it, it puts a huge smile on my face. Don't read into any of the lyrics, though I'm sure many of you may do so. That was not my intention, no matter how poignant it may seem at this particular Metsian intersection. I just want to smile, and tonight, when I got home from Two Boots and settled down, the song came on, and I just smiled. So, screw it, man. Let's just listen to Bob Marley.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

A Dice-K Start Less Than 3 Hours?!

I didn't know it was possible, but apparently that's what last night's 6-2 win was. 2:45 in length in fact.

My flight from San Francisco landed into the low-clouded tri-state area, specifically Newark Airport, at 1:45 in the morning local time. Wanting to check the score, I turned off the airplane mode on my phone, but of course texting people first that I had arrived safely. Once that had been done, MLB At Bat made its way open.

As it was loading, which is rather quickly when the service is good, my eyes realized without seeing the score that I could click the MLB.TV button in the upper-right-hand corner and take off from where I left off, when it was 2-1 in the earlier innings. When I have time (or really even when I don't) I like watching the wins on the MLB.TV replay access, most of the time just going through the most important innings. The thing is, you want to watch the whole thing anyway because it's unbelievable how on their games Gary, Keith and Ron (and Kevin) are at all times, win or lose. One could argue the losses can be even more entertaining because of everywhere they go in conversations. So, I was happy to be able to avoid the score and listen to those guys.

I quickly found out the Airtrain I had planned to take to Newark Penn Station was being "critically repaired" since May 2, and there was a shuttle bus operating...only the last shuttle bus had taken off at 2 and wasn't taking back off till 4. I hadn't made it off the plane in time for that. There is an express bus, but that finished at 1 and wasn't starting back up till 4. So, whatever I decided to take, I'd have to wait in the airport till 4 (and I quickly decided the bus directly to town was worth the extra $3.50). At least I had a Mets game to watch. I had an hour and a half to kill, and an hour and a half left on the game.

That timeline got eschewed a bit, as my service kept freezing the video with the audio still playing, and yes, as I said above, I like LISTENING to those guys, but I wanted the video as well. Yeah, they inform us of things like this info from Gary in the 4th inning...

So, the Mets have now had the lead in 15 of their last 16 games, including tonight. They've had at least a 2-run lead in 13 of those 16 games, including tonight....And yet, here the Mets are sitting with a 6-game losing streak and feeling as though the world is falling apart. Why? Because they already lost 21 games this year where they had a lead, and they've lost 11 games this year in which they had at least a 2-run lead. Last year, all season, they lost 14 games in which they had at least a 2-run lead; and we're not even close to halfway through this season.

Though Gary, Keith and Ron tell the story as well as comment, let us not fail to give credit to the entire SNY team, especially the director who is editing the moving picture to those words.

So, I kept fidgeting with the app, scrolling 30 seconds back, skipping some seconds ahead, restarting the app, yada, yada, yada. The restarting worked, but the scrolling didn't really. The gist is, I was only at the 6th inning by 3:11am because I couldn't deal with just the audio working. (During all that, I was surprised to see that there was still a game going on in the Majors but wasn't curious enough to take a look. I wonder how that ended...)

I had checked the wifi situation earlier in my travels, but none open for Newark travelers.  I decided to check it again, and it turned out Dunkin' Donuts, which I had inadvertently made my way next to, radiated free wifi. So, I ditched the phone and headed onto my laptop to wrap up whatever I could of this game.

I arrived to the bottom of the 6th. Along with information Kevin delivered on Jeremy Hefner and his Tommy John Surgery rehab (he threw 15 pitches from a mound in St. Lucie yesterday, and has been keeping a diary every day during recovery) the Milwaukee pitcher Marco Estrada walked 3 batters in the inning, with a Daniel Murphy fly out and Chris Young strikeout sandwiched in. After Lucas Duda walked to load the bases with 2 out, the new guy, catcher Taylor Teagarden, headed to the plate in his first game as a Met, without the Mets atrocious bases loaded batting average on the season attached.

And in his first game as a Met, Taylor Teagarden is going to have a moment. 

--Gary as Taylor approached the plate

With a 1-0 count, the righty Teagarden laced it the other way into foul territory, walking up the line when Gary knew pretty quickly it would be hooking way foul. Then, Estrada dropped a strike onto the outside low corner of the plate. A perfect pitch.

Keith: It's a good strike right there. NOW, it's 1-2, he can do whatever he wants.

Gary: Bases loaded, two out...and Teagarden hits it out to right. Braun retreating, to the warning track, at the wallllll, IT'S OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!

It was basically the same pitch, but raised. Estrada did not hit the corner this time, and Teagarden muscled it the other way, dipping the ball onto the other side of the right field wall, something we all want to see right-handed Mets hitters do more. 

I finished watching the inning, and skipped to the 9th to see if anything had gotten out of control, as it tends to do. I wanted to be done with the Mets before I got on that bus. The score was 6-2, and at that point, you have an idea things will go well for Jenrry Mejia and the Mets as the broadcast timeframe of 2:57 is in front of you, and it would have had to be quite the quick meltdown and lockdown by the Brewers for us not to exit with a Mets W.

So, with 10 minutes to spare before I had to catch the bus back into the city, I read up on Derek Fisher and the Knicks.

Now, I am going to go to bed.

BACK. IN. TOWN. NOW.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

On my Last SF Legs

I'm sittin' in SFO airport right now, kinda wishing I was staying but happy that I get to watch tonight's Mets game for an hour and a half or so. I highly recommend this town to everyone. I probably won't be moving here any time soon, but I wouldn't bark at anyone who said they wanted to do so.

San Francisco, a nice place to live and visit.

No matter whether the Mets gave up several leads all weekend and perfectly contrasted the Giants franchise does not take away from the awesome time I had viewing baseball at that ballpark. Funny though...Apparently, I was never destined to see Curtis Granderson make contact with the baseball for a home run. I arrived to the center field entrance and saw only the upper deck as Grandy's ball headed for the left center stands, and I was watching the crowd reaction on a 2-strike count when he made contact later for his splash hit. It's a shame, 'cause I like watching Grandy perform well, but funny that I got a second chance later on in the game but was looking away.

So, now, I sit in this airport for a 5:40 flight, which will get me into Newark at 2:00 in the morning. I watched one 70's film I've never seen on the way here (One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest) and now will, when I predictably can't sleep, watch another 70's film I've never seen on the way back (Mean Streets.) Probably won't have internet, so I'll have to check the score when the game has been over for hours, unless it's one of those.

See you all back on the east coast.

And-

FIRE. TERRY.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Meet Me in Saint Francis

I just arrived within the last hour to the city of San Francisco. My mother lives out here now, and just so happens to live a block, LITERALLY a block away from AT&T Park. So, when I came out here in February and saw the proximity, the pocket schedule came flying out and the index finger arrived on this weekend.

Let us forget the sweep at the hands of the Cubbies after having leads in almost every game. And let us forget last night's debacle which caused more vile to fly Terry Collins's way, with a majority of people on Twitter perplexed as to why Jon Niese was taken out before the 8th inning....anyway, I said we should forget it. I, at least, am going to try. Whether or not I agree with how the roster has shaped up or how the manager handles his job, I am a huge Mets fan about to watch two games live at a ballpark I have never been to that many people say is the best ballpark in the Majors (uh, not to mention how thrilled I am to visit my mom :D )

So, no matter where this ball team currently stands, excitement still towers over every other emotion.

If you missed the last Rising Apple Report, Mike Lecolant, Gary Mack and I got on the internet airwaves Thursday night at 10 with the Mets still playing the Cubbies, talking about the current team, 1977, and Don Zimmer. Before the game that doesn't start till 10pm (with the Rangers hopefully having already beaten the Kings to even the Stanley Cup Finals at a game apiece) take a listen to the 77th episode of the Rising Apple Report!

Have a great weekend, folks.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Is This Series Over Yet?

'Cause I got other things to do.

Not like the Mets are going to stop playing innings after they leave the Phillies, just probably not as many.

Probably....

Then again, unless you can get big hits more often and earlier, then the innings will keep rolling on. We've seen a bunch of extra inning games in the last few years, and I would like to do the research as to their record in such games, but I literally should be doing anything BUT looking that stuff up.

At quick glance, it looks like its an epidemic throughout all of baseball, with extra-inning records apparently set last year.

The Mets are lucky to have come away with 3 out of 4 so far, guaranteeing them a winning series against the Phillies. They've tortured the bullpen, however, leading to two bullpen moves over the weekend.

Who am I to complain? I actually like baseball and enjoy when it's bonus, for I do like a well-pitched ballgame.

...Unless its the Phillies and the Mets just keep doing stupid stuff.

All in all, though, it's been a fun one, and another memory to look back on.

"Hey, remember when the Phillies and the Mets played 57 innings in 5 days?"

Let's hope that's the ceiling. Because there's a grand possibility that the ceiling is higher...

WELCOME. TO. JUNE.

LET''S. GO. METS.

(I wasn't sure what song to use for this post, so I typed "Funky Baseball" into Youtube.

OH MY GOD. I'm SOOOO happy I found that.

Sidenote: If you missed Faith and Fear in Flushing's Greg Prince on the Bedford & Sullivan podcast this weekend talking NY NL legacy, plus plenty of great baseball tangents, head on over there. A fantastic episode indeed.)

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Just Like That

Though the Phillies were rather sloppy (especially Carlos Hernandez at 3rd base), the 4-1 win last night in Philly is almost EXACTLY how the Mets drew it up.

Get a lead, have the young starters shut the other team down, grow that lead, then have your young bullpen get the outs in the backend of the game, and dominantly.

It's games like last night where the Mets show us how far along they actually are, and you see, especially contrasting it with where the Phillies are, that things aren't as bad as we sometimes like to make it seem when screaming that "the sky is falling."

"It's just an acorn, son..."

Anyway, that's game 1. There are 4 MORE TO GO...like it's October or somethin'...It's not...just in case anyone was confused...

KEEP. IT. COMIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Hear it on a Podcast

After the Mets won 5-0 yesterday afternoon to finish the rocky homestand on a high note, I took part in a podcast doubleheader, as did the host of the 2nd podcast.

First, Taryn "The Coop" Cooper of A Gal for All Seasons joined a jam-packed 76th episode of The Rising Apple Report, which also included Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing. With Rich Sparago hosting, we also welcomed a fellow screenwriter, Brian Winett, who is looking to raise funds to buy the LA Clippers and turn them into a non-profit institution that puts the money invested by the customer back into the community. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Mets fan who doesn't believe that our issues stem from the top down, so it is fascinating to have the conversation and hear Brian explain his vision.

Oh, and we also debuted the new opening jingle, performed and recorded at my neighbor's studio The Smooth Spot (check it out for all your recording needs!)

Online Sports Radio at Blog Talk Radio with Rising Apple Report on BlogTalkRadio

Directly after the end of that show, I headed over to NDB Media, where Coop was waiting and ranting in The Mets Lounge. We kept up discussion on what Dave Hudgens had to say about the fans booing at home, as well as Sandy stating that payroll will go up when revenue goes up. With lots of folks feeling that was another shot directed at fans, I mentioned that I think we might be misinterpreting who Sandy was ribbing with that comment...

I also recapped my transformation from Yankee fan to Mets fan, which was a lot of fun to go over.

Lots of time before the Mets start a 5-GAME SERIES against the Phillies tonight, so do yourself a favor and bask in the sounds of what might be perceived as Metsian therapy these days.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Discover Entertainment Internet Radio with NDB Media on BlogTalkRadio

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Patiently Waiting

There is so much noise that goes on with this team. It's probably a catch-22, a "which came first? The chicken or the egg" when it comes to passing around blame. Is it the players? The Coaches? The owners? The Market they play in? One does not happen without the other, and the other does not happen without one. When you look at this market, there are at most 3, and at least 2, teams you can point to that don't seem like they are a parking lot circus filled with dysfunctionality. It can even be argued against those "functional" teams having their crap together, but the bottom line is they win.

And of course, that is the whole point. That is what it comes down to, and that's why some of us boo: because what we just saw wasn't winning. Forget the ones who boo Jason Bay on his way to the batter's box, not afterwards. Curtis Granderson receives a sound ovation on his way to the plate. We're as loud as ever cheering him to get that runner home from 2nd, and though I personally wouldn't boo him after his strikeout, other people think nothing of it when the former free agent is batting .136 (he has gotten it up to .208, leading the team with 25 walks, with 6 HR and 22 RBI as well...yes, with 56 Ks, but we knew that was coming, and the guy seems to have gotten his legs under him after signing with a new team and spending most of last year on the DL...but I digress...)

The point is, as loud as the boos are when you're not doing well, even louder are the cheers when you get that base hit, or have your back is against the wall with the bases loaded, 2 out and up 2 runs. We're there for you. You're family. No matter the distractions and the things that get on our nerves, we're there for you...well, at least the ones still coming to the ballpark, and the Mets are currently lucky they got those.

But cynicism aside, it's people like the Mets Fan Incarnate and Ben Rosenfield above in that Pittsburgh television freeze-frame that prove the last thing anyone within the organization should blame are the fans.

No matter the background noise, all we want is to see this team win, to see this team hold onto leads more often than not, and more often than lately.

So, do things more often the way you did things last night....other than the pace. You all have GOT to pick that up.

Sidenote: THIS happened last night, and it was awesome. Keep rapping, Fitty. And way to show off the uniform to the rest of the world. The best in the biz, if you ask me. 

Also, great interview, Kevin.

KEEP. WINS. COMIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

Everybody Should Just Get Tommy John Surgery

So much happened regarding our team today that Ike Davis returning with the Pirates became an afterthought.

As us Mets fans were getting ready for the Mets/Pirates Memorial Day showdown, one that ended with the usual offensive ineptitude in situational hitting and bullpen mismanagement/meltdown, word came out that pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard was placed on the DL with flexor-pronator strain.

From Adam Rubin of ESPN New York:

The injury can be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but the Mets portrayed the injury as "mild" and not overly concerning.

"At this point, we don't have a high level of concern," general manager Sandy Alderson said Monday afternoon. "But anytime the forearm is involved we like to have it looked at. So we're flying him back. He will be seen tomorrow and we'll have further information at that time."

There have been just under 36 Tommy John surgeries since the start of the 2014 season. It seems as if every young pitcher who is considered the real deal will eventually get it. Why? Who knows. Some point to heavier wear and tear on these arms starting in high school. Basically, as Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk mentions when citing what Dr. James Andrews had to say about it, "...the damage being done to pitchers' elbows is largely being done before they ever sign their first pro contract."

So, even though the Mets and Noah Syndergaard would rather avoid shutting him down for an entire year, it is becoming so normal that they might as well go ahead and cut right into that elbow.

I am obviously kidding when I say everybody should just get TJ surgery, but should that be part of prevention? Should we assume the damage has already been done and get ahead of it before it snaps? I don't necessarily think that's the answer, because who knows what that would do to their physical and psychological development, but clearly, the idea of pitching prospect and the excitement it brings is not what it used to be. It has been tempered, and we should generally expect that the development, rise and assimilation has a longer timeline than in the past.

Here's to Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom making it through the season...

EEESH!

Speaking of deGrom...can you play outfield? We might need someone who can actually hit out there...guy is 4 for 5 on his Major League career! When all Mets pitchers but him and Jon Niese with an RBI double are hitless on the year!

And regarding the post game news on the Dave Hudgens firing and Jose Valverde getting released...

The Hudgens firing came as a bit of a surprise considering he's Sandy's boy all the way back to his Oakland days, but the situational hitting has been so atrocious, it makes sense that the hitting coach would be on the firing block. Now, Lamar Johnson, a career .287 hitter, mostly for the White Sox, gets a chance after paying his dues in the Mets organization as a hitting instructor since 2005. I'm sure we'll get a bunch of profiles on the guy in the next few days.

With Valverde...My friend and I had actually taken to calling him "Valve" recently. Not exactly a flattering nickname for a reliever. And the release is a day too late. Vic Black was here for the doubleheader yesterday, but even though Papa Grande had easily been the one most in jeopardy of losing his job in the 'pen since Kyle Farnsworth's release, they let Black fly from Vegas to New York to El Paso, and now back to New York. Come on. Get it together.

Clearly, though, he has been doing better down below with his control and had been closing in Vegas recently. With Valverde's overall performance, which left him with a 5.66 ERA at the time of release, there was no reason to let things continue the way they were going.


I saw my first ever Banner Day AND my first ever doubleheader this weekend, which was a thrill despite losing one of the games. As the holiday weekend comes to a close, I am gathering the photos and videos together and will certainly post about the day this week.

Thank God we held on to win this 2nd game, but here is an awesome video I got from just to the right of home plate of Ruben Tejada being tagged out after a David Wright single in the 6th inning.

Happy Memorial Day, folks.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.

The Stopper

Last year, late in the season when we had lost 5 in a row, Jon Niese started against the Phillies and shut them down for 9 innings, completing the game for a 5-0 win.

Though Niese did not have the same dominant game he had on that August day, he was once more called upon to shut the losing streak down, and he did more than his part last night with 7 innings of 3-run ball, off 4 hits and 5 walks, striking out 5. He would have been even better had it not been for his former teammate Justin Turner tattooing him in the 7th for an original dimension game-tying 2-run homer, erasing the lead Niese helped grab with a double in the 5th inning, the only pitcher other than Jacob deGrom with a hit on this team. Turner had also helped the Mets by bobbling Daniel Murphy's grounder to let the 3rd run score in that same 5th. 

Back to Niese in the 7th, however, as he battled through and picked up the win when Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares combined in the bottom half to get the lead right back; Wilmer singling to lead off the inning and Lagares driving him in with 2 out on a single as well.

The offense was really the star of the show last night. No, we did not have an explosion, but the productive outs that were missing in our features for so long were had by the likes of Eric "Soup" Campbell, who has done nothing but play like a serious pro since he arrived from AAA.

The AB of the night, though, and the AB of his year so far was Curtis Granderson in the 2nd inning. This is where I came in, turning on WOR probably 7 pitches into the 12-pitch AB that ended with a double over Matt Kemp's head, taking 3rd base on the outfielder's bobble. Watching some of the early parts of the game later, it was clear in the 1st inning that Zack Greinke, who had been on fire this year (and really for his last 100 starts), did not have his command when David Wright had an 8-pitch AB that unfortunately finished the inning with a strikeout looking. Curtis fouled them off and fouled them off until driving it to center, scoring on Mr. Campbell's sac fly to tie the game at 1.

As I walked Queens Boulevard towards the bridge getting ready to call Gary Mack for Mets Musings, Howie Rose had a call to match the amazing moment he was witnessing, as Yasiel Puig made one of the greatest catches you will see, almost doubling up The Duda at 1st (Howie's call is around the 2:10 mark.)



Yasiel Puig is quite the amazing talent, but the infamy of the Cuban player not having his head in the game or being unaware of the rules was evident throughout the series. He looked silly gunning the ball towards the plate with 3 out the other day. Lucky for him and the Dodgers, that didn't affect those actual outcomes, whereas last night, he burned his team on an infield fly that tailed to the outfield in the top of the 6th, where the rule clearly states, "run at your own risk."

Oh, and of course, the man got doubled off on this, in Eric "Soup" Campbell's 1st Major League outfield start.



And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Jenrry "Back-to-Back" Mejia, who took a page out of Jose "Papa Grande" Valverde's antics book to lock down his 2nd Major League save.



And some other items of note:

• Though he did get caught stealing in the bottom of the 3rd, David Wright should attempt to steal more bases if he's going to be a singles hitter. I think, however, we haven't seen more steal attempts because he's still rather timid following his hamstring issue last year.
• SNY needs to change the defensive alignment graphic that is still the original Citi dimensions. It's been like 3 years, you guys...
• Speaking of SNY, whether or not the Mets are struggling, Gary, Keith and Ron are ALWAYS on their game.
• The Dodgers were in an alternate road uniform that was a grey version of their home unis, with the classic "Dodgers" across the chest as opposed to "Los Angeles." I'm a stickler for having your nickname on your uni at home and your city on your uni on the road. Unless it's the Phillies, where there's really no difference from saying "Phillies" as opposed to "Philadelphia."

So, we salvage the final game, getting the timely hits we had not been getting. Curtis has been impressing me with his approach lately, Flores is hitting when getting the chance, and Eric Campbell should probably be playing wherever we can get him in the lineup. Clearly, one game is not going to turn my opinion around on Sandy and Terry, but a win is a win, and I'll take it. No matter how much a massive losing streak could possibly help purge this team, seeing and hearing a solid, well put-together win always trumps any vitriol that had been building up. That's all you want to see: The New York Mets win, not keep botching winnable games, and look like there is some actual growth with this franchise.

As I stated before, Mr. Gary Mack was my eyes and ears during last night's contest as I walked over the Queensboro Bridge discussing the Mets with him on Mets Musings. Make sure to take a listen on this Friday in May.

Have a great holiday weekend, folks...and as always...

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. 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.