LIVE at 9pm ET, A Metsian Podcast Memorial Day Weekend Special - Assessing the 2019 Mets

LIVE at 9pm ET, A Metsian Podcast Memorial Day Weekend Special is here! Once more, there isn't a shortage of places to travel on this full service podcast. Gary McDonald of Mets Musings will join us for the chat!

On top of wrapping up the final results of the Nationals series, the heat was on Mickey Callaway entering the week after 5 straight losses. This prompted the "seal of approval" presser with Brodie Van Wagenen on Monday, while yet another flurry of Meddin' Jeff articles were written by the media, local and national alike. Just another year in the world of the Mets.

Injuries have lead to some shuffling of the roster. Of course, after getting heat for a perceived lack of hustle, Robinson Cano pulls a hammy legging out a double. Of course. Rajai Davis got called up after Brandon Nimmo was placed on the IL and immediately makes his presence felt with a 3-run home run to cap off a 6-run come-from-behind inning Wednesday night. What is to be expected of him and will he stick around?

Carlos Gomez has yet to truly make his presence felt with the bat though his notorious energy has been there both with on-the-field flare as well as cheerleading from the bench. He's been walking some so he hasn't been completely absent. Can he ever regain his Major League prowess?

Jeez, there's even MORE to cover! Yoenis Cespedes violently broke his ankle NOT falling off a horse, but apparently stepping incorrectly in a hole on his Port St. Lucie ranch. Is it time to completely write off him ever playing another inning for this team?

So much to cover, so little time! Join us at 9pm ET for the latest edition of A Metsian Podcast!

You can listen LIVE down below, or at the link here.

Wake Up

The bats had been asleep all night, other than the occasional hit here and there. Jacob deGrom, fed up with the way he had been pitching, gave up an Adam Eaton 1st inning home run, and nothing thereafter. The look in his eye said all you needed to know. Enough was enough. And could we get a little strike-calling consistency from the home plate umpire, please?

Michael Owens/Getty Images
Photo via federalbaseball.com

The story, however, is not how the ump would sometimes call a strike just off the plate and sometimes call it a ball. The Mets looked listless for the majority of the game, albeit against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Max Scherzer, who I normally rib for being to0 home run prone. He kept the Mets in the ballpark all game, with their best opportunity coming in the 1st inning when they were gifted 2nd and 3rd and 1 out on a booted Robinson Cano-hit ball. The Nationals bullpen is so horrendous you know if you can just wait it out, you may have a chance. I don't think I'm alone, however, when I say that I thought the Mets were going to lose 1-0. No matter how much I believe and how optimistic I can be, it just felt like one of those games where the team was going to come up short.

The beautiful part of it all was that even though the Nats bullpen did their usual in the 8th, it was particularly sweet when the best chance they got, Sean Doolittle, came undone when brought in to get the 4-out save. First hitting Carlos Gomez, he faced Juan Lagares, who had not been too successful lately. None of that matters now, though, as Juan crushed a double that cleared the bases, giving us Mets fans a moment we all hope for from this team on a nightly basis. Some sort of life, some sort of spark, when our backs are against the wall, we overcome it all.

They weren't done, however, and a player I wanted almost a decade ago provided a grand Mets memory for his first AB as a New York Met. Called up to replace the injured Brandon Nimmo, Rajai Davis crushed almost over the Great Wall of Flushing but far enough to more or less seal the comeback deal. Just like that, the Mets are going for a 4-game sweep of the Washington Nationals today at 12:10.

It's the kind of early summer early start I so wish I could go to, but alas, I must deal with prior engagements. I'm not one to boycott, though my finances and schedule basically render that I cannot give the Wilpons my money right now anyway. I love this team, however, and I cannot be in the camp that want to see the Mets do badly just so the Wilpons are forced to sell. It's just unfortunately not the way it works, as sports teams toe that weird line between public interest and private venture. I would always rather see the team play the way they have the last 3 games, and I hope it continues all the way through the last Major League Baseball game of the 2019 season. I have my issues, I have my qualms, but what I also will always have is a love for the New York Mets.

Ya Gotta Believe indeed.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Working in the Walkoff

Look, I don’t have much time today, so I’m going to get right to it. I know Seth Lugo just went on the injured list, rendering Mickey Callaway the need to improvise what he was going to do with a lead in the 8th inning. I just don’t think, after having recently come off the IL himself, having given up a run in the 7th in the game prior and with management stating they were going to ease him back into the role, Jeurys Familia should have been given the 8th so soon. He has struggled this year, continues to do so, and you have a pitcher in Robert Gsellman who has succeeded more often than not so far this year. I think it is a no-brainer to go to the latter, as much as you want to show confidence again in Familia. A big part of what is going on with him may be mental, and showing you believe in him can go a long way. You have to, however, if you’re Mickey Callaway, be practical right now, especially with the microscope clearly finely tuned your direction.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Photo via Washingtonpost.com

The weird thing about games like this where the bullpen gives up the lead and the tie is it can lead to beautiful memories and other players stepping up. Whether it was JD Davis stepping up to initially give us the lead, Pete Alonso to tie it with that gargantuan moon shot over the foul pole, or Amed Rosario legging out the winning infield single, the youth of this team, including Dominic Smith off the bench, has stepped up big time on the field and off of it where the veterans have struggled. The future is on full display, they are owning the present and stepping up amidst the overall team struggles. This is the way the game should be played, especially at home where the franchise has struggled to gain consistency.

Two more games left in this 4-game series, and the Mets have taken care of business prior to facing the meat of the Nats starters, Max Scherzer and Steven Strasburg. They’ve got a tall order ahead of them, but you know what I always say…

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN’.

LET’S. GO. METS.

Getting Ahead of Not Getting Ahead of Ourselves

They've trained us plenty at this point, but that doesn't stop a fan from getting excited after one game. It's the reason why we get excited on Opening Day. It's the reason why fans start posting standings with the Mets in 1st place at a 7-3 record, something I cannot stand, as cautiously excited as we all can be.

AP Photo/Sara Stier
Photo via https://sports.yahoo.com

I've given them props for responding well to adversity before. They've come off of miserable road trips and played with life at home after looking so lifeless prior. They understood there was a lot of heat, at least in the press, on their manager after they played so atrociously for 5 straight games, and a good portion of this season since starting off so strong. It is certainly better than losing their 6th straight, and they needed an insurance run provided by the combo of a Carlos Gomez walk and a Dominic Smith single to more securely lead themselves back to the win column. This is all well and good. Even the worst teams, however, tend to win 70 games.

Everyone wants to point to Brodie Van Wagenen only going so far to state the security of Mickey Callaway's job. There is no reason, however, for BVW to state unequivocally that Mickey's job is safe. Mickey could take a shit on Jeff Wilpon's desk tomorrow, something I can only assume is a fireable offense, though you never know with this shit show of an organization. There could always be a fireable offense that pops up, so it isn't exactly surprising that this kind of lawyer-like language is used.

Good for Wilmer Font for serviceably pitching 4 innings, who's fault it is not that he's having to start every fifth day for this team. Good for Amed Rosario and Pete Alonso and Todd Frazier and Carlos Gomez and Dominic Smith for their RBIs. Good for Gagnon, who collected the dubbya, good for Zamora, good for Gsellman and good for Diaz (notice who's "Familiar" name I passed over?)

Until we see more consistency from this team, however, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. Hell, until they secure a playoff berth, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. Until this team wins the World Series, there is no reason to get ahead of ourselves. I will always be frustrated over the fact that the Wilpons keep proving us all right; that the organization will never have sustained success year to year as long as they are owners. I thought it in 2015 and I desperately wanted them to prove me wrong. They reverted to the mean, however. And I'll always be sad about that.

I'll also be sad that Yoenis Cespedes will most likely never play another inning for the New York Mets after breaking his ankle...falling into a hole on his ranch?

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Never-Ending Excruciation

First of all, just want to say thank you once more to Bre of That Mets Chick for coming on A Metsian Podcast last night. Great episode. Realizing I haven't been acknowledging the guest on the blog the next day, so just wanted to start the habit of do so today. If you haven't listened yet, please do so here when you get a chance.

It was scripted to be an excruciating loss. There was no alternative ending.

— Mets killin'me (@Metfanrich) May 16, 2019

I had my moments of following the game early, midway and the tailend. I was dropping off a Lyft passenger when the 9th inning "rally" was occurring, so naturally, after I dropped them off, I checked on the score. There on my At Bat screen was the fact the Mets had scored two runs and had the bases loaded.

Ron Sachs/CNP
Photo via https://nypost.com

On further review, however, the "final" had not been updated and the balls, strikes and outs read, "2-3, 3 out." That's called an end of the game, but the application had not finished computing quickly enough for this to be reported without still teasing me with those loaded bases. I exhaled in frustration, shook my head and went to pick up my next passenger.

My next passenger, it turned out, was wearing a Mets hat and was a die-hard fan who had turned the game off when it was 6-4 because he knew they'd lose painfully and he takes everything so seriously he knew he'd be too emotional about it for hours on end after the game. It was a long ride so we commiserated with each other about this frustrating issue and that frustrating issue. The weird thing was we did it shaking our heads with a smile on our faces. As I've said before, misery loves company.

Whether it is frustration over another injury to a star player, or a veteran star player we just got not performing the way his baseball card says. Whether it is inconsistencies in the front office or on the field. The same thing over and over again grows old, but our fandom does not. He was a man probably at least 15-30 years older than me but he still watches in September when the Mets are 20 games out. It doesn't matter that they've been doing this to him for so many years, he is going to show up and watch.

I know I will be, even when it is hard to find time to sit down and pay attention to a full game. Here I am, unable to take the Mets in like seasons before, but there's no way I'll look away. And so it goes.

Here's to the Mets. As excruciating as they can be.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Go Font Yourself

What else is there to say? I'm not going to kid myself stating that the Mets lost last night because I wasn't wearing the Mr. Met T-shirt. They lost because of the old cliché, "Momentum is only as good as your next day's starter."

AP/Patrick Semanksy
Photo via Newsday

While Jason Vargas, currently on the IL, has been better since I wrote about how they needed to move on from him, it all goes back to what I said then. The Wilpons can hold meetings all the want trying to swing the tides, but how can they be taken seriously when they run a pitcher out there, no offense to Wilmer Font, they literally traded for just because they needed an extra bullpen body? It is so many  adjectives that go through the mind as to how the Wilpons run this team.

AND I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN INTO THE FACT THE OFFENSE COULD HAVE DONE THEMSELVES A FAVOR WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION, TOO! Patrick Corbin is a great pitcher, no doubt, but seriously.

We're going off the rails on a crazy train. And I'm not even going to use that song here.

Quick turnaround with a day game after night game. Seriously, Mets. Just...seriously, come. ON.

WIN. THIS. SERIES.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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.

The Teasing Rainy Fates

Many people want to say, "Oh, it's just the Marlins. The Mets are SUPPOSED to fatten up against a team like that." Any Mets fan knows it's not that simple when it comes to this team, but there we were, trying to climb out of our slog that left us 17-20, one game away from making that winning percentage have at least a 5 in the right place again.

Photo via https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com

On cue, Mother Nature wanted the Mets, on Mother's Day, no less, to take two days off. Who knows whether we were just being set up for disappointment, after they were just able to give their ace some run support in the 6th inning with some power from our young core in a 4-1 win Saturday night? There on Sunday, however, was an opportunity to somewhat eradicate the road trip that left us shaking our heads and rolling our eyes. With an offday today, we'll just have to wait one more day.

My fear is that we were indeed setting ourselves up for disappointment, with the overrated Nationals, currently even worse than the Mets, rolling on in. It is always like the Mets, and a pessimistic way of looking at it on my part, to play the part of slump buster. As terrible as I think the Nationals are when they are always the darlings of the early season predictions, they always have a knack of being a thorn in our sides. The Mets need to crush them when they are this low, making sure they have an even harder time at any point this season getting up again. Otherwise, I envision them looking back on this coming series as the catalyst that turned their season around, and us recognizing it was here when things finally got buried.

The only thing I hope gets buried is the consistent inconsistencies, starting with Noah Syndergaard. He must revert back to his superhero ways, and if he needs to do it with his bat, so be it. Regardless of his opponent the day he won 1-0 with a solo shot, he looked so damn fresh and determined in that game. Replicate what you did on a pitch-by-pitch basis that day and you will get back on track. Have at this Nationals team struggling to get by.

There we sit 19-20, the rain laughing as it drips on by. Take these days to take some breaths. And let's all regroup when the sun comes out tomorrow.

What's that? It's grey till Wednesday?

At least the rainy rhythm can sooth a troubled mind.

I hope all the Metsian Mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day, whatever you ended up doing.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Comeback That Twasn't

I desperately wish I had more time to take in every aspect of the Mets I possibly can right now. It is such a welcome distraction, even when they lose. 

Even when they lose, I can take solace in the fact it isn't taxes, or bills overdue, or my dad's pancreatic cancer. My dad and I didn't religiously watch baseball together after I left the Yankees behind, but he was never a die-hard to begin with. As I said in the opening post of this blog, he was a die-hard fan of me and my passion for baseball, which led him to fan the budding flame in my bar mitzvah year of life, age 13. Last year, after his Whipple surgery fell apart when it was discovered cancer cells had metastasized on his abdomen, rendering the surgery moot, one of my favorite memories I have was watching the Mets blow a game. I obviously wasn't happy that they blew the lead and subsequently the season, but just like his cancer, my dad and I were able to shake our heads and laugh it off, wondering just how much Mrs. Lincoln liked the play before her husband, Abraham's, head was blown off.

Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Photo via https://www.federalbaseball.com

So, my intake of the Mets failed comeback attempt in yesterday's series losing loss to the Nationals was taken in as such before and during my driving Lyft: 0-0, 5-1, 12-2 then the final of 12-9 after Michelle Ioannou, my former Rising Apple colleague, informed me of the failed comeback via the following tweets:

yup, mets lost, but damn they went down fighting

— Michelle Ioannou (@mnioannou) April 7, 2019

There are many concerns of what we are seeing here. Zack Wheeler reverting back to post-last-year's-second-half form, the bullpen overall not performing well, (insert usual Mets concerns here), etc, etc....but the offense is not currently one of them. There may be isolated concerns in regards to the latter, like Brandon Nimmo's bat disappearing or Robinson Cano's overall slow start, but so far, Chili Davis's affect is being immediately felt with player's like Jeff McNeil, who we had faith would continue to perform as he did last year, Pete Alonso, who is absolutely crushing it in his first go-round that appears much more sustainable than any Jeff Francoeur-type hot start, and JD Davis, who may just be hitting himself into a sustained bench role when players like Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie come back from the...ugh, I'm going to write it this way, aren't I?...the Injured List (It still feels like the disabled list in my head but I'm trying to train myself not to be a crusty old man about everything these days.)

Life may pile on hard, but at least we can laugh, love and live with the Mets, win or lose.

LIFE. GOES. ON. NOW.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Homer Happy for a Day

When I woke up on Saturday, the game against the Nationals was already about a half hour in. The trendy topic of note on #MetsTwitter was how awful of a decision it was by Mickey Callaway to hit JD Davis, the Mets' new infielder brought in from Houston, in the four spot. He was after Robinson Cano but ahead of both Wilson Ramos and Michael Conforto. It did seem rather perplexing, but with southpaw Patrick Corbin on the mound for the Nats, the logic was that JD Davis hits lefties well. It didn't stop a solid amount of tweets in my feed to be the latest outrage trend sweeping Mets nation. And everybody was thrilled to eat their words.

Photo: Andy Marlin - USA Today Sports
Photo via northjersey.com

JD Davis not only hit the first Citi Field home run of the year for the Mets, it was the first run of the young season at home for the team, and the hardest hit homer in the Major Leagues so far this year according to statcast. He wasn't done, hitting another one to make it 2-1 after the Nationals tied it, and in the same inning that Michael Conforto crushed a goner as well.

Of concern, however, is and was the bullpen, who could not hold the lead for Steven Matz (who had an uneven 5 innings but kept the runs off the board.) Both Robert Gsellman and Jeurys Familia struggled mightily, the latter giving the lead over to the Nationals in the 8th inning. The homer brigade wasn't over, however, as Pete Alonso crushed a solo shot to center in the bottom half with Robinson Cano following to tie the game with a no-doubt-about-it bridge blast that was his first big moment in front of the hometown fans, and the Citi went nuts. Up until that point, the Mets had 4 homers to their credit, more than doubling that number with 5 yesterday. I don't think it was a coincidence that on the first day of the season temperatures soared close to 70 that the ball flew a little easier out of the offensive-soul-sucking Citi Field ballpark. Going from the sun of St. Lucie to the early spring chill is probably a big reason why it is being reported that the cold bug has been going around the clubhouse, but those affects were not felt by the team yesterday.

What was so nice about this game was how the offensive contributions were spread around, including the game-winning opposite field single by Keon Broxton, another Brodie Van Wagenen complimentary pick up from the offseason. Now, if only we can figure out what is wrong with the prolifically striking out Brandon Nimmo...

It's still so early, and whether it's 1978 or 2012 or 2018, we all know how important it is to take an early hot start with a grain of salt. Still, I like what I see (though the bullpen DOES need to Tighten Up like Archie Bell and the Drells...)and with the roster turning over the way it has as well as it being just the first few games of the Brodie Effect, it was important for the Mets to look as good as they have. They've just got to sustain it past the 13th game of the season this time.

BEAT. DEM. NATS. UP.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Typical Citi Field

Yesterday, a day after Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal published this article, Citi Field continued to mock the home team, silencing them in a 4-0 loss to the Nationals on our opening day. There may have been many factors contributing to the loss: the crazy turnaround from playing a night game in Florida before a day game in New York, the fact MLB allowed for a 3rd party drug test administrator that kept them delayed an hour because Dominic Smith didn't need to pee right away, or maybe just a dominant pitcher in Stephen Strasburg...still, if you're going to be facing the best, you would rather do it at YOUR best and the Mets were not set up to present the best fight against one of the best in the game.  Even with Noah Syndergaard sent ahead to not have to worry about all those other factors, he still could not hold down a Nationals team without Trea Turner, who is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.

Photo via COED

Citi Field, however, may also be a major factor. The Mets have the worst home record there since 2012 and even their exit velocity goes down. The ballpark shouldn't be a factor in the latter, unless you factor in the psychological aspect of it, where it is constantly in the heads of the home team that they have to change their approach, which may lead to greater insecurity. We fans have criticized the place since it opened up for a variety of reasons, but 10 years later, we're still feeling the affects of the Wilpons overall lack of oversight, or just poor oversight all around, or "Hubris" as Greg Prince said in my Mets fan documentary...whatever you want to call it, no additions or fixing or what have you can change the fact that Citi Field was poorly thought out, poorly designed and poorly executed.

Whether the Wilpons own the team for all of our entire lives, or the life of the franchise overall, their circus-like organizational influence will never be lifted off of the Metsian experience, and it is just an absolute shame. I hope the team can consistently perform better as time marches on within the confines of how the owners like to do business, but it just saddens me, like much in this world, that they've left such a negative legacy on our favorite baseball team.

As my dad would say, "Well, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Although, now I'm wondering how the Lincoln family feels about that...


Anyway, here's last night's A Metsian Podcast with Stephen Keane joining us.

LAUGH. IT. OFF. GUYS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

LET'S. GO. METS.

S

We Finally Go to 12

I have just been driving through the night from Chicago to New York, so I am exhausted and ready for more than the hour I got at a rest area in Pennsylvania, but I had to chime in before I went to sleep about last night's game...

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

I was on the road while listening, and when we went down 7-2, it didn't even occur to me that, once again, the potential for 12 games over .500 was in jeopardy, though the whole thing had been on my mind earlier in the day and after the last game in Colorado. It didn't cross my mind in the moment at all. I, in some ways, had forgotten of that fact. In FACT, I was at ease. I don't know whether I was at ease about the potential for a loss or at ease because I knew, or...echem...excuse me...BELIEVED...this team would come back. Maybe it was just the peacefulness of the road at sunset heading east, but whatever it was...

...isn't it a weird feeling?

I've been monitoring this whole 12 games over thing for a long time. I remember we had a chance against the Yankees in the Bronx in 2010, and lost 5-3.

The 2012 team didn't make it above 8, which they hit 2 days after the no-hitter on Sunday ESPN baseball in the black with a 6-1 win. Things felt pretty awesome that evening. The win put the Mets, Nats and Marlins in a 3-way tie for 1st. We lost the next day to the Cards 5-4.

We had a chance this year heading into Yankee Stadium to rake off 12 wins in a row, which at the time, would have brought us to 11 over. I didn't think about the correlation either last night, but deGrom got roughed up and we lost 6-1. Did something tell me it would be different this time? Maybe it was still the elation of Wright's comeback home run hanging in the air, giving it a free feeling of no worry. Or maybe it's because the 2015 New York Mets is the team that's supposed to turn the knob higher. There's no point in making 10 louder. The volume should always go to a greater plain of numbers.

At this point, though, the only number that matters is 5 1/2 games up. And whatever that number is at the end of the year, as long as it still involves the word "up" and not "back."

There is only one sentence "back" should be used in....

Alright, time for bed. Happy to be BACK in the City ⚾️

PUSH⚾️ PAST⚾️ 13⚾️

LET'S⚾️ GO⚾️ METS⚾️

#KEEPONPUSHIN'

This Converted One Seconds That, Jason Fry.

"I no longer remember the exact circumstances, but years ago there was a newspaper story featuring a Yankee fan who didn’t understand why any franchise would adopt “Ya Gotta Believe” (or one of its non-spontaneous, corporate-approved descendants) as a rallying cry. Terrible slogan, she snorted dismissively: “Believe? That’s lame. We know.”

That always struck me as a perfect way to describe the two New York fanbases, because strip away the condescension and that long-ago fan got it right.

Yankee fans expect dollars to flow and moves to be made to ensure a full calendar in October and a ticker-tape parade a month later; anything less than that is a failure, for which there will be consequences.

Mets fans? We love ticker tape as much as the next guy and gal, and we’ll take a wire-to-wire regular-season cruise that doesn’t require too much heavy breathing. But dismissing anything less than a World Series trophy as a failure? We don’t get that — it’s entitled hubris that sounds deeply and dreadfully boring.

Knowing? Where’s the fun in that? Give us wild hope and a stubborn belief that refuses to be extinguished, no matter what obstacles the baseball gods throw in our way. (Tug’s call to arms was as much battered defiance as it was optimism.) Those are the things that power our baseball dreams."

-Jason Fry, Faith And Fear In Flushing

It's remarkable to think, that come September, these two New York franchise's will most likely be playing each other during each's respective pennant races, capable of putting a thorn into the other's playoff plans. That's remarkable, it's unprecedented, and could be a preview for more interleague Subway Series games a few weeks later...

If you think I just jinxed it, I've decided to throw all caring of superstitions away. I DID say "COULD be" because that's all I know. WILL be won't be discussed here. That's where you're tempting the fates...

But who KNOWS what those FATES have in store, because after the last week, week and a half, after the last few years and the last 10 years since I joined the Metsian River midstream, I couldn't have seen ANY of that rollercoaster we just experienced coming, and none of you saw it either. The full payoff hasn't been reached yet, but it felt GREAT to finally get to THIS point after so long.

Believing is beautiful, and it's what I lost in the Yankees. I stopped believing in them once I became an adult. I saw that childlike joy lost in me as I settled into Yankee Fandom semi-adulthood, then full-fledged adulthood, or at least as what's determined by puberty and the American Law. I accepted my baseball identity at the age of 20, realizing it had been there the entire time. I am of the New York National League faith.

I wasn't able to go to any games this weekend, because I work at night, and the "stooges of ESPN" as Howie referred to them moved the game to national last night. BUT I appreciate that the Mets were able to sweep the nationals on the national stage. We're patriotic here in New York, but we aren't Nationals. We're METROPOLITANS.

Speaking of ESPN, though, they do a TERRIBLE job with their production and direction. It's always interesting to hear what the national broadcasters think of the Mets, like Curt Shilling, Aaron Boone, and what not, but the main guy isn't that good at calling, and the camera work and cut-to's are horrendous. Where was the foul pole look at Duda's home run? Why are you cutting to Bryce looking up? Don't you get access to all of SNY's good looks? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

It's nights like that you really appreciate how great of a job SNY does with these games. At least Howie and Josh got to call the craziness of the 3rd inning, but definitely missed what Gary, Keith and Ron would have done with 3 home runs in 5 pitches.

So, first, it was the Wilmer Flores Appreciation Night on Friday.


Then it was All the Du-da Night.

Last night, the whole thing was an ENTIRE METSIAN effort. Curtis, Noah, Murph, Cespedes, Duda, Clippard, etc...


Greg Prince, of Faith and Fear in Flushing as well, might have thought he was Born Again back during the 11-game hitting streak, but it seems the entire Metropolitan fanbase was born again this weekend, and Citi Field would appear to be FINALLY christened.

That's as far as the regular season is concerned...

There's still a lot more work to do to keep the christenings coming.

THAT STARTS TONIGHT.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Violent Metsian Pendulum

I fell off my bike this morning.

I was biking down 8th Avenue, heading home from work. Well, I first wanted to stop by the Apple Store at 59th and 5th, because for the longest time, I have been listening to Mets games and talking to people with only the right ear in, as I had lost my left rubber ear bud. Someone please immediately start a band called My Left Rubber Ear Bud.

Anyway, I was kind of amped up.

I wonder why.

On top of it being a fantastic night at Two Boots Hell's Kitchen (44th and 9th, stop by) the Mets finished the July end of the season with a ridiculous back and forth swing of the emotional Metsian pendulum, one which swung more violently in one 7-10 day span than I can ever remember in my 10 years of full-fledged Mets fandom, my 25-27 year awareness of the Mets, or my 20 years living in New York City. 

They sent us off into August on an unbelievable high, 2 games back in the division heading into the last 2 months of the season with another new and exciting player on his way into town to reinforce a roster who has hung on tight but desperately needs the help.

And there I was, ready to get home after the long night, write about it and the way I experienced the moment Wilmer Flores hit that home run.

And then I lost my footing on the pedals crossing 48th.

I tried to recover, but it was too late, and I skidded to the ground in front of a couple going home, or where ever they may have been going.

I hopped up immediately, the folks certainly concerned and immediately coming to my aid. My right forearm, on the bone side, was bleeding, and modestly. I asked the folks if they had any napkins, at which point a man pulling a hot dog cart across the street offered me napkins and squeezed hand sanitizer into my wound, which I would later find out is deeper than I thought (probably a couple centimeters.) It burned, but I enjoyed it. I felt alive, and already on the way to recovery while shaking my head at the turn of events.

I love this town.

"You can get band-aids there," the man said, pointing to Duane Reade on the northwest corner of 48th and 8th, a perfect place to crash if you can take care of everything yourself without an ambulance involved. I parked the bike, after thanking the folks who stopped to help, went into the place and bought big band-aids, Bacitracin and a spray-bottle of hydrogen peroxide. And a bottle of water. I grabbed some napkins, went back outside, took care of business and got back on my bike after sealing the wound.

Apple was kind enough to give me replacement rubber ear bud covers for free, after which I kept biking on 59th Street over the bridge and onto the Long Island that houses Queens and Brooklyn. I biked home to Carroll between Franklin and Washington, around the corner from where some Bums used to play baseball.

As the narrative of this post changed in my head as I was immediately thrusted into wound-healing operations, I thought to myself that what I am going through, and anything I have gone through in my life, pales in comparison to what Yoenis Cespedes has gone through in his life, especially just to play Major League Baseball in America...or what Wilmer Flores has gone through over the last 72 hours alone. Or what the Mets franchise and its fans have gone through. 

They, and we, have gotten through that shit. 

I'll be fine.


As I basked in the glory that is the final trade we made for such a potential 2015 game-changer, I went through the Cuban man's short career, including every home run he hit in the Derby at Citi in 2013. Then I watched his throw from left in Anaheim when he was with the Athletics. 

Already, seeing him in those other uniforms looks weird. Watching him in the Orange and Blue, which we were afforded 2 years ago, looks just right. They are the colors he was meant to wear. And I can't wait for him to get started.

I LOVE THIS TOWN.

2 months left. 2 games back. And a MONSTER about to enter the lineup.

A pennant race beckons.

What fun this will be.

A Cespedes for the Mets of Us.

LET'S. GO. METS.