Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never is, but always to be blessed: The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. – Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man 2013 is winding down. The Mets have proven things this year to their fans and rivals: Matt Harvey [...]
How To Fly By Douglas Adams There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day and try it. The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward [...]
Readers of this column will recognize the name Akeel Morris. He, Domingo Tapia and Juan Urbina were once the secondary pitching story to Matt Harvey back in 2011. The reason that Morris was pegged as a future star was thanks in large part to a fastball that sits at approximately 96 MPH and has the [...]
On August 5th, my grandfather, Nat Stengel (no relation to Casey) passed away. Thinking about my relationship with my grandfather I can’t help but think about all the times that people have told me “(Professional) Sports don’t matter,” or “Being a fan of a team is stupid.” Looking back I know I’ve had to defend [...]
For Mets lefty, Darin Gorski, it’s 2011 all over again. That… is very much a good thing. In 2011 Gorski emerged from seemingly nowhere as a possible diamond in the rough. He posted a 2.08 ERA and had the K/9 of pitchers who were well above his prospect stock. Gorski is 25 going on 26 [...]
“Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.” Full Name: Travis E. d'Arnaud Born: 02/10/1989 Birthplace: Long Beach, CA Height: [...]
Marlon Byrd is having a World Class season. He’s currently hitting .280/.324/.508 with 17 HRs and 60 RBI on the year. He’s also due a pittance of a salary and holds no commitment beyond 2013. All of these things SHOULD make Byrd a highly sought after player at the trade deadline. Except for the fact [...]
Early in the season I supported the Mets having Jordany Valdespin in the MLB lineup. He has speed and power and the Mets future would not be Collin Cowgill. Then his play stopped justifying my faith. By the end of his time in the majors he was hitting .188/.250/.316 and was only 4 for 7 [...]
On a forum someone made the suggestion that the Mets' first-round pick in 2013, Dominic Smith, would speed through the farm system and could be starting for the team in 2015. This is, in short, not going to happen… sorry. Yet, it does give us a reason to look at the typical progression through the [...]
I give you a pitcher. He’s a skinny 6’4” righty from Deleon Springs, FL. He went to Stetson University and as of today he’s 25 years old. He happened to be a 9th round pick in the 2010 draft and spent 2011 on the shelf with Tommy John surgery. What if I were to tell [...]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhUJe3vkLIs You have certainly read reports that the Mets would need to be “overwhelmed” to trade Bobby Parnell (who Detroit and Boston have interest in) but what you may not have read is that they need to be equally “overwhelmed” to trade the thirty five year old rental, Marlon Byrd. Parnell is only 28 and [...]
1. Travis d’Arnaud, C (AAA) Then: d’Arnaud was the jewel of the R.A. Dickey trade and the expectations were that he’d be knocking on the door to replace John Buck before long. He profiled as a hitting catcher (albeit not of the caliber of Mike Piazza) and he was supposed to be the long term [...]