Let’s say a MLB team is not expected to compete much in its division. They’re short on talent, been known to have money troubles and have been having difficulty attracting fans to its ballpark. Let’s say most pundits have picked them to finish no better than fourth – and only because the team that’s projected [...]
There’s something about a young pitcher throwing well that makes you stop and look. Met fans are all too familiar with the concept, having made Tom Seaver, and Dwight Gooden must-see experiences. There was always the chance that you’d see something extraordinary: 15+ strikeouts, say, or a one-hitter – in those pre-6/1/12 days, you didn’t [...]
In the early season, all of two games old, the Mets have had more than a few pleasant surprises. On Opening Day, there was Collin Cowgill and his home run hustle, there was Jonathon Niese acting like an ace, there was Scott Rice arriving – finally! – on a big league stage. In game two, [...]
The Mets ALWAYS win on Opening Day. It’s only April 1; you can’t tell anything from this. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. After a rousing opener like yesterday’s, these are the hoary bromides that Met fans have to repeat to themselves to keep from getting too giddy. And beyond being an annual cliché, they [...]
Opening Day is four days away and a lot of Met fans are excited. It’s safe to say that the seven-week narrative that has been spring training is played out. Issues and surprises have been covered ad nauseum. We fans can get excited about the springs of Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey and Ike Davis. We [...]
It seems hardly a day goes by when we don’t hear about a player of at least moderate importance to his team sustaining an injury. Someone is forever being “shut down” for a few days or more. We hear about some muscle or other being tender, sore, tweaked or torqued. There are the intercostal strains [...]
As we all know, Spring Training statistics mean next to nothing. The hot young hitter finds all his power sapped when the wind shifts from left field to right. The normally rubber-armed hurler runs into a “dead arm” period. Some players simply don’t perform well in the Florida or Arizona sunshine, but thrive under October [...]
As my dad used to say – and he’s been quoted by so many – “Some are born to greatness; others have greatness thrust upon them.” Often we find ourselves in situations not of our own making, that result in us as human beings taking a step forward and producing results surprising to even ourselves. [...]
The readership of this site seems to skew toward a younger demographic. Every now and then, a history lesson is in order. Now is one of those times. There was a time when highly-touted rookies could make a team right out of Spring Training. Heck, there were a couple of notable players from the 1960s [...]
Much has been made about the outfield – or lack thereof – situation. Coming into Spring Training, the Opening Day lineup looked like it would include Lucas Duda in left, Kirk Nieuwenhuis in center and Mike Baxter around in right. During the first two weeks of camp games, however, a slightly different narrative seems to [...]
The Mets’ first spring telecast from Port St. Lucie was this past Saturday (2/24). This was good news on several fronts. It pointed out that spring – the actual season, spring – is, indeed, on the way, that we here in the chilly Northeast will shortly be freed from this bleak midwinter. It evoked a [...]
Just before Thanksgiving 2010, the Mets hired Terry Collins to shepherd the Mets into their new era. The talk at the time was based in GM Sandy Alderson’s history – apocryphal though it might be – of disdain for the position. There isn't a copy of Moneyball handy, but the quote was something about the [...]