The Mets host the Yankees tonight. Your intrepid columnist is making his third pilgrimage of the year and he can only wonder what will greet him when he gets there. The first three games of this series have been more on the bizzarro side than anyone could have envisioned. First of all, the Mets – [...]
The Mets’ road trip through Philadelphia, Denver and Miami – which started out so promisingly – has dissolved into a bitter hash of recriminations and rain. The hope was that they could continue their of-late fine play and bring home a winning trip. Instead, they have to scramble in these last two games against the [...]
Recently, Mets’ GM Sandy Alderson made yet another proclamation that the Mets have financial room to add payroll during this 2014 season. While it is hoped – fervently -- that Alderson and his superiors will stop talking about acquiring talent and actually…y’know…acquire talent, this does come as heartening news. You’ll no doubt recall that a [...]
The Mets enter tonight’s play sporting a 14-11 record. Being over .500 “this late” wasn’t something most people were betting on, for sure, but it’s also a matter of whom they’ve beaten as much the raw number of Ws. If someone had told you in late March that the Mets would be guaranteed a winning [...]
The Arizona Diamondbacks were established in 1998, a newly minted National League expansion team. They have had their fair share of success in a pretty short time frame, winning the NL West in only their second year of existence, winning a World Championship two years later – wrecking the Yankees’ latest dynasty in the process [...]
NEWSFLASH: so far, the Mets’ offense stinks. As a team, they’re hitting .218, good for dead last in the National League. Team slugging percentage is .333, also 15th. As far as hits go, they again bring up the rear with 97 – and none of their pitchers has a safety as yet. Team OBP is [...]
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. [...]