If this first series is any indication, the nineteen contests between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves in 2019 will be entertainment of the highest order. Taut pitching and clutch hitting have been the touchstones for New York here in the early going. A day after Pete Alonso announced himself -- loudly -- [...]
You could kind of tell, y'know? When he went 3-2 on the leadoff hitter, you might have gotten an idea. A delayed start on a chilly night, coming off an historically good performance, with an extra day of rest... A number of factors conspired to have Jacob deGrom deliver a sub-par outing against the Minnesota [...]
The Mets went for their first sweep of the 2019 season full of confidence, and why not? They were sending Jacob deGrom out to take on Trevor Richards and the Marlins in Miami. One might say they were successful. The Mets broke out early on Richards, when Keon Broxton shot a base hit into right [...]
On April Fools' Day, the Mets and Miami Marlins treated us to some foolish baseball. Miscues and misplays -- with a generous dash of fine pitching, to be fair -- were the story of this game. Caleb Smith struck out the New Yorks pretty easily in the top of the first, expending a scant 15 [...]
Baseball, and Mets fans in particular, received some terrible news yesterday, but the news wasn’t wholly unexpected. Just the same, though, it came as a shock. Tom Seaver, arguably the greatest pitcher of his generation – certainly, the greatest right-handed pitcher – has withdrawn from public life at age 74, due to a losing battle [...]
So the MLB General Managers’ Meetings are happening this week in Carlsbad, California. Various front office and agent types are bobbing in and out of each others’ lives, trying to lay the groundwork for some future cooperation. It’s a nice little prelude to the big Winter Meetings to be held in Las Vegas – that [...]
The [former-agent-as-General-Manager] situation looks better in other sports, particularly in the NBA, where agents have gone on to be successful GMs, including Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors. One of the things that Myers has done successfully in Oakland is to install an organization-wide culture of togetherness. And if there’s any MLB team that [...]
It’s playoff time again. If you’re a Mets fan, you may not have noticed. Since 1962, this is the 46th postseason without the Mets in it, so you could be forgiven if it had slipped your mind. In case you have missed it, the combatants this year are putting on a fabulous show. The Los [...]
Think about it for a second. You’re a young player. You were born in the 1990’s. Your dream your entire life has been to make the major leagues. From when you’re a kid, you watch your favorite team on TV most every night. Your dad or your mom or your favorite uncle takes you to [...]
If this weekend is any kind of harbinger of anything, 2019 is going to fun on most days, frustrating on others. On the day the fans gave Jose Reyes a mini-me version of David Wright's sendoff, Noah Syndergaard changed his geeky nickname today from "Thor," to "Th0r." He completely shut down Miami with a five-hit [...]
As this is being typed, the Mets have a five-run lead on the Washington Nationals. They built it on the strength of five extra-base hits, none of them homers. Michael Conforto has hit his first triple of the year and Daniel Zamora has just escaped a bases-loaded jam. This is coming to you in progress, [...]
NOTE: Today's posting has to be in the form of a Quick Hitter: I'm in the midst of a move and they're coming to take my computer away in a matter of minutes. Thanks for your understanding. Once the Mets finally got to play last night -- five-and-a-half hours after they were supposed to -- [...]