The 2014 season is all of eight games old. The Mets are 3-5, having been humiliated at home by the presumptive NL East champ Nationals and gained a measure of redemption vs. the Reds. That homestand was marred by ineffective hitting and woefully sub-par bullpen work. These themes had already been beaten to death in [...]
A week ago, Opening Day dawned 39 degrees and stinging rain. Eventually, the sun did come out and it warmed up considerably. The Mets tried to keep up, but ultimately failed. The temps then plunged again the rest of the week. Let’s face it: so far, early spring has been cold, damp and miserable. After [...]
“Here’s the problem: the Mets aren’t just bad, they’re DULL and bad” Those were the words Tweeted by your intrepid columnist as Andrew Brown struck out against Craig Stammen to wrap up the Mets’ first 0-2 start in nine years. 2005, when the Mets got off 0-5 and were only rescued by a Pedro Martinez [...]
Well, that escalated quickly. The Mets’ Opening Day started harmlessly enough; it snowed in Long Island, parts of New Jersey and Westchester. In some quarters, this was considered a terrific omen: it also snowed on arguably the most memorable lid-lifter of all. No matter the weather, it was a day for your intrepid columnist to [...]
“Basically, the Mets have a strong bench. Unfortunately, it’s starting.” – Sports Illustrated, June 2, 1980. Such was the narrative when the Mets surprised everybody that year by flirting with .500 in mid-June. That gritty, gutty bunch warranted a feature in the leading national sporting publication of the time, on the verge of having a [...]
It doesn’t mean anything. Never believe what you see in March or September. You could write the results on a matchbook. You’ve never heard of any of these guys. It’s all just for fun, just to work on certain things, just to get into shape, just to show management what you might be capable of. [...]
Fact: Matt Harvey is rehabbing his Tommy John repaired right elbow. Fact: the rehab will take a long time, most likely all summer. Fact: Port St. Lucie, Florida is dreary and kind of deserted in summertime. Fact: the New York Rangers do not play hockey in Port St. Lucie. Fact: very, very few supermodels tend [...]
The final two weeks of spring training are crucial for every team. This is when we start to see fewer split-squad games. This is when we see regular lineups on a regular basis. This is when pitchers are fully “stretched out,” in the modern parlance – close to any pitch count or innings limit. This [...]
If you’re reading this, you know the Mets have had very few things on which to hang their hat over the past few years. If the story isn’t about their bumbling, tone-deaf administration it’s about their finances or lack thereof. On the field, of course, their mere record – 374-436 from 2009 through 2013 – [...]
There were high hopes for this offseason from the New York Mets and Sandy Alderson. We fans were promised that with several onerous contracts off the books – if you’re reading this, you already know who they are – the ramp-up to 2014 was going to be an exciting shower of gold. To Alderson’s credit, [...]
There was the Miracle of 1969. There was its even more unlikely cousin, the “Ya Gotta Believe” pennant of 1973, which saw a second championship fall short – just when the Mets were poised to take it -- due to un-robust hitting and some managerial malpractice. What was lost on the management of the time [...]
When Sandy Alderson decided to trade R.A. Dickey, he insisted on a haul befitting a sitting Cy Young Award winner. In one of his best moves yet, the Son of Alder came home with Travis d’Arnaud, Wuilmer Becerra and fellow Nord Noah Syndergaard, right now looking for all the world like the lynchpin of the [...]