The Mets weren’t even on my radar yesterday afternoon, until I had to make trip to the bank for work. I flipped on WFAN just in time to hear a classic anti-Mets rant from the all-knowing, all-powerful Mike Francesa. The Omnipotent Pope of Sports was at his bellowing, bellicose, bloviating best. It sounded like he [...]
I can barely bring myself to pay attention anymore. I’m sure I’m not alone. I’m sure there are other Met fans out there who have decided to get on with their lives and not concern themselves any further with the goings-on in Queens, as evidenced by the acres of empty green plastic at Citi Field. [...]
Fred Wilpon is approached at Citi Field, asked about next year’s payroll and says “Ask Sandy.” Sandy Alderson is approached a couple of days later with the same question and says “I haven’t discussed it with ownership yet.” Which way does the wind blow? Will the player personnel budget increase or decrease further in 2013? [...]
Matt Harvey has arrived. In his first three starts he has pitched marvelously, in tough luck and pretty badly, in that order. It would appear that Harvey is going through all the inconsistencies and vicissitudes that young pitchers not named “Walter Johnson” go through. In his last start, he was cuffed around pretty badly by [...]
When I was a small child, the Mets were contenders every year. From age four through age eleven – with the slight blip of 1974 – the Mets were always in the hunt for the division, almost guaranteed to finish over .500. Everyone knew why: pitching, of course. Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Jon Matlack [...]
It has been noted here and elsewhere, the startling lack of activity by the New York Mets in the ramp-up to the trading deadline. If you’re reading this, you know the litany: the Mets were firmly “in it,” on July 6. The time would have appeared to be ripe for reinforcements – in the form [...]
Some good financial news for Fred and Jeff Wilpon came down the line today. Irving Picard – trustee overseeing the restitution to victims of Bernie Madoffs’ Ponzi scheme – announced he’s ready to disburse roughly $1.5 billion to those victims. According to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork, the Wilpons will see a benefit from this, even [...]
I think it’s safe to say the Dog Days have arrived – that all-too-familiar time when one day runs into the next and it seems like no one has any energy. People get edgier this time of year, tempers shorten and frustration lengthens. If you’re a fan of the Mets, the Dog Days started just [...]
The Mets have looked awful the last six games. No sense being coy about it. Since the glorious Fourth, the Amazin’s have looked decidedly less so. In fact, four of the six games were a horror show. Listless hitting, shoddy defense, sub-par starting pitching, bad medical news, possible mishandling of a prized prospect – this [...]
It’s late summer, the last week of July. It’s mad hot outside. A fella gets out of bed to go to work. He’s got a slight grabbing pain in his lower back. “I must’ve slept funny,” he says to himself. After showering and getting dressed, the fella finds himself a little short of breath. “I [...]
There is something in the air around Citi Field, other than Flushing Bay at low tide. The atmosphere has lightened, almost imperceptibly. The gloom and black clouds that permeated the place are slowly, surely being dispersed. The dust of the previous three seasons is being blown out over the sea. Citi Field is starting to [...]
The first half ended with a bang, the second began with a whimper. In game #81, attended by a Citi Field record 42,516 souls – of which I was one – that rare bird, a Met laugher, the Mets became a 44-37 team. As Jonathon Niese set down Phillie after Phillie, as Daniel Murphy flirted [...]