Dallas Green was baseball guy, or rather, a baseball hard[case]. He knocked around the majors as a journeyman pitcher for eight seasons and knocked some sense into countless players longer after that. He was one of the strongarmers, of which there was no shortage in the majors back in the day. If it’s all possible, [...]
Well, when your intrepid columnist is wrong, he’s the first to admit it. Back in the most recent Dark Age of Metsian fandom, when the purge of the Willie Randolph/Jerry Manuel regime occurred, it was beyond comprehension how pitching coach Dan Warthen survived. Warthen looked like your kindly old uncle who told you stories that [...]
On the radio last week, Howie Rose and Josh Lewin were whiling away a languid spring training game, talking about the imminent arrival of ex-quarterback Tim Tebow in major league camp. They were musing on peoples’ reaction to him even being in Mets mufti – a lot of anger and cynicism coming from a lot [...]
Six games, that’s all. That’s how deep we are into the 2017 spring training schedule. So far, it’s been a relatively quiet camp, with some nuggets to glean from this early stage. None of the big four pitchers has faced real, live opposing batters yet. Zack Wheeler has bounced back from his early-camp troubles and [...]
Spring training camp has started, you may have heard, and it will not be long before we get to start worrying again. Exhibition games start tomorrow, the first television cablecast from Port St. Lucie will be on Saturday. You just know that some clever wag somewhere will Tweet that there will be baseball on TV [...]
The dominant Mets officially died in 1993. They’d been in steep decline since 1991 and there were frantic attempts to stem the tide of the inevitable: the signings of Bobby Bonilla and Eddie Murray, the trade for Bret Saberhagen, the hiring of Jeff Torborg to manage. None of it worked. Management was slow to pick [...]
A bunch of Met fans got together in an Astoria bar last Saturday afternoon. A bunch of Met fans has been getting together in some bar or other in the bleak mid-winter since 2014. The Queens Baseball Convention happened this past weekend, and this grass-roots gathering is starting to become an annual rite of winter. [...]
Some semi-significant news came out earlier this week, a report that the Mets have assured Jay Bruce that he will, in fact, be their right fielder for 2017. A number of factors may play into this decision – if it is an official decision at all. The Mets were openly trying to trade Bruce over [...]
Baseball is really something, y’know? A six-month, 162-game haul that can take us on an emotional rollercoaster that makes the Coney Island Cyclone look like a kiddy ride. And if your team is having a bad season, it can be a horrible slog. The trick is to find joy in the game itself. Over the [...]
We’re 12 days into the New Year and already the winter has been too long. For a fan base starved for Met news, any little bit that comes out between now and February 12 is a blessing. Minor league signings? Bring ‘em on! Non-roster spring training invites? Tell us more! Any news not involving Tim [...]
Happy New Year! You know, life exists in full, vibrant color. NBC didn’t introduce its famous peacock logo in the mid-‘60s for nothing: it brought you quality television “in living color!” Looking at grainy, monochrome images, sometimes you forget that aspect of life. That’s why the HBO “When It Was a Game” specials from awhile [...]
We’re in that funnel between the old year and the new. It’s a time for reflection and a time for looking ahead, that human dichotomy of celebrating what’s just passed and getting excited for what’s on the horizon. It’s been an odd year, a year of upheaval for many. I won’t go as far as [...]