After winning back to back division titles, our Mets went into the 1971 season with high hopes. Unfortunately, despite a solid 90 or so wins, the Mets were outplayed by the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to a World Series Championship. It was a disappointment, yet the team had to hold to those high expectations as [...]
Too many times in this blog I've written about the foolishness of the LOOGY approach to baseball. In most of those, the focus has been on the unbelievably crappy overall performance of the Mets' lefty relievers under the Alderson/Collins regime. Today, let's focus on the righty relievers. In 2014, the average NL righty had a [...]
Over the past five seasons, the Mets have seen their share of roster churn. Between trades, free agency, DFAs and non-tenders, the league is well represented by former Mets players. Among them are plenty of marginal players, but also some high quality players – some of whom may be better than what we currently have [...]
Today is game #10 of the Mets’ Spring Training schedule. For all the grousing that spring camp is too long, I offer up the fact that we're already a third of the way through our allotment of silly games that don’t count. And thank goodness they don’t, because Mets fans would become even more suicidal [...]
As Spring Training gets into full swing for the New York Mets, there are several players that have stood out early on. Among these players is a fan favorite, Kirk Nieuwenhuis. For the past few seasons, Nieuwenhuis has had a legitimate opportunity to break camp as a starter in the Mets outfield but to no [...]
And did you think this fool could never win Well look at me, I'm coming back again I got a taste of short in a simple way And if you need to know while I'm still standing you just fade away Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did Feeling like a [...]
Spring training is a time for newbies and newcomers to make an impact on their team and the fans. For the first time since October, rookies and veterans put on their uniforms, and play in front of a crowd in order to make their mark and reserve a roster spot. So, without any furthered ado, [...]
1992 DONRUSS ELITE HOWARD JOHNSON Howard Johnson was once elite. And no, I'm not talking about the orange-roofed motor-lodge chain that paid me to wash their dishes, lo those many years ago. The elite HoJo was our own number 20, obtained in late 1984 in exchange for thoroughly serviceable right-hander Walt Terrell. (Side note: Johnson [...]
Defense is consistently overlooked when assessing how good a ball club is, especially when the team is known for their offense. Cinderella teams over the past few seasons have all had above-average defensive players contributing in the field. Including the 2014 Royals, 2013 Pirates, 2012 Athletics, and most notably the 2011 Rays. None of these [...]
David Wright’s overblown reaction to Noah Syndergaard eating his lunch inside rather than being on the bench with his teammates was a big story for the wrong reasons. It was one of those funny little anecdotes that gets tossed around in the fairly calm early days of spring training. Unless there is a major injury [...]