April 27, 2000. On a Thursday afternoon getaway day, the Mets were set to face off against the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber game of a three game series. Steve Parris would toe the rubber for the Reds, and the Mets would send lefty Glendon Rusch to the hill in front of the “B” squad. Soon-to-be eight-year-old Joe Vasile sat down in the loge section along the third base line to take in his first…
In a beautiful ceremony last night, the Atlanta Braves honored the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth‘s career home run record. In Mets lore, 2014 holds a few important anniversaries as well, including the 50th anniversary of the opening of Shea Stadium, the 10 year anniversary of David Wright‘s major league debut, and the 20th anniversary of one of the most spectacular pitching seasons ever. It all started after the 1991 season. The…
Early season stats are always fun. When else is Emilio Bonifacio going to be hitting .542/.577/.625? People know in general that there is no chance in heck that Bonifacio will be able to keep up that torrid pace (and that other similar streaks will come to an end as well), but Juan Lagares’ early season successes have largely been met with cautious optimism. Perhaps it is because Lagares was so bad with the bat last…
The good news is the Nationals are finally out of town. Bad news is the Cincinnati Reds are here. But fear not, the season is young, and there’s 159 more games to go.
The big news that has shaken the Major League Baseball landscape over the past week was the mega deal signed by Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. The 30-year-old (hard to believe) Cabrera’s eight-year extension brings the total money owed to him by the Tigers to $292 million over 10 years, two vesting options worth $30 million each. By contrast, David Wright’s extension was eight years and $138 million. But surely the two-time reigning American…
Matt Harvey’s incredible leap forward last season have left Mets fans with perhaps an unrealistic bar with which to judge other pitching prospects by, namely Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero. This, of course is not to say that this young trio of right-handed flamethrowers can’t develop into dominant starters in the near future. The first starter of this bunch who should make a significant impact is logically the only one that has made…
Normally, drama surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies would give the average Met fan a cause for schadenfreudic celebration, but the most recent controversy – surrounding the benching of shortstop Jimmy Rollins by manager Ryne Sandberg – is a more somber occasion. Not necessarily because the situation isn’t funny, it is, but because some have called for the Mets to pursue a trade for Rollins. I’m all for improving, and shortstop is certainly an area of need,…
In 2011, the National Football League endured a 130-day lockout when the NFL Players Association and the league couldn’t agree to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Later that year, the National Basketball Association suffered from a 161-day lockout and was forced to shorten the 2011-2012 season to 66 games. When the National Hockey League’s Collective Bargaining Agreement expired in 2012, a 119-day lockout resulted in a 48-game season in 2012-2013. The last time…
Joe talks about Mets pitching prospects, and why starting Eric Young Jr. over Juan Lagares is lunacy.
One of the fun parts about spring training is that there is always a group of pitchers vying for a coveted spot in the Opening Day bullpen. While that may not sound very exciting on paper, the mix of veterans looking for one last go-around in the show and young up-and-comers trying to open up eyes and prove themselves worthy makes for a great competition for the seven bullpen spots. For the purposes of this…
Joe talks about Jon Niese‘s upcoming shoulder MRI, Nelson Cruz vs. Chris Young and Nick Franklin.
One of the most beautiful things about the business side of baseball is that there is no salary cap, and save for some revenue sharing, is a good example of free-market capitalism at work. The purpose of this article is neither to sing the praises of nor denounce free-market capitalism – politics and sports go about as well together as peanut butter and tuna fish. But in order to proceed forward with the rest of…
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