Saturday, April 24, 2010

Ike Davis, 713 from the Babe

Ike Davis has had a great first week as a Met. As I was watching last night's homerun, I said to my wife who was in the other room (she and I are in a mixed marriage---she is a Yankee fan), "In fifteen years, will I tell my future grandchildren that I saw the first homerun of that Met legend Ike Davis?" Could be or could I be watching a future decent player who had a great first five games.

There are lots of guys who had great first weeks whose rookie baseball card sells for a penny (Kevin Maas, Jeff Stone, Eric Anthony and hundreds more and I ought to know because I own most of those cards), but I am not putting a damper on the Ike parade.

They've won five of six and he has been a spark and to top it off, he's got a great baseball name. The Post and News will have fun for years with their Ike tabloid headlines.

P.S.---If anyone is looking for a 1985 Jeff Stone rookie card, please contact me. I was the only one with the foresight to buy hudnreds of Jeff Stone's rookie card at 25 cents each and now they are worth less than a penny each.

Lesson learned---no Met fan should ever invest in a Phillie player's rookie card---it is bad karma.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Rod Barajas: Early Season Mets MVP

Ike Davis has sparked the team and Mike Pelfrey has been unhittable but my seventeen game Met MVP is Rod Barajas.

I don't care if that guy hits below the Mendoza line. He has been a master of working the pitching staff. It is more than coincidence that the Met starting pitching staff looks better than they did at any point last year. Did you see at the crucial point of tonight's game how he talked K-Rod and how K-Rod responded by striking out the last two hitters to save the game? He seems to have a great rapport with his pitching staff.

He has even shown some pop with the bat. I love the guy and hope he can last the entire season as the starting catcher.

Kiners Korner--Great Quotes of Ralph Kiner

The best announcing team in baseball is being joined by Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner tomorrow. In honor of Ralph, here are five of his all-time great quotes.

Five Great Quotes from Ralph

1) "The Mets have gotten their leadoff hitter on base only once this inning."

2) "Rookie Wilson was candidate for Mookie of the year."

3) "They will pass the father-son tandem of Buddy Bell and Yogi Berra."
--on Bobby and Barry Bonds becoming the all-time father-son home run leaders

4) "If Casey Stengel were alive today, he'd be spinning in his grave."

5) "On Father's Day, we again wish you all Happy Birthday."

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Gary Matthews Jr AKA Private

I am having a hard time watching Gary Matthews Jr. play. I remember is dad very fondly as a terrific hitter who nickname was Sarge...Well the way Gary Matthews Jr. is playing, his nickname should be Private.

Things are going so badly for him that yesterday's seven pitch strikeout was one of his best at bats of the year. The Mets have just got to run Pagan out there everyday. He seems to have a new found maturity and a little more common sense on the base paths.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Twenty Fun Innings---Jerry outmanages LaRussa

Can you imagine the outrage in New York if the Mets had pitched Fernando Tatis and Gary Matthews Jr. in the 18th-20th inning? Chances are every major paper and media outlet in New York would be calling for his ouster....Instead he give us K-Rod and Pelfrey. It turned out to be a great strategic decision on his part.

It was a completely bizarre managing game by LaRussa---he seemed to make awful moves everywhere including the Ludwig steal attempt. Way too risky and bad consequences for his actions...If he was successful than you take the bat away from the best hitter in baseball. Makes no sense.

In another case,couldn't you have Ryan Franklin come out for the 18th and have Kyle Lohse fill in the gaps after Franklin was past his pitch count.

All I know is that Jerry Manual played this game very well in my mind and he deserves some credit.

I am trying not to overeact as a Met fan, but despite the fact that we have had great pitching lately, we have had no sticks at all. Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr. have got to go if they don't start producing in the next few weeks....but tonight nothing negative. Just our congratulations to the Mets and Jerry for schooling one of the baseball's greatest strategist in Tony LaRussa.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Five Casey Stengel Quotes About Amazin Mets

Was there ever a better marriage between a manager and a team than Casey and the 1962Met? Here are five of Casey's funniest quotes about that team.

Five Casey Quotes about Amazin Mets

1) "Trade him while he's hot."
---after Don Zimmer broke out of a 0-32 slump with two hits in a game

2) "The Mets have shown me more ways to lose then I knew existed."

3) "The only thing worse than a Met game is a Met doubleheader."

4) "He's the only defensive catcher who can't catch."
--on Chris Canizzaro

5) "Lyndon Johnson wanted to see poverty so he came to see my team."

Looking for Bright Spots in 2010:
It is early but Met fans are in full panic mode and how can we not be based on the last several years. However, I am still remaining someone optimistic. I can not remember two games in a row all of last year where they put together two great starts and Johan Santana was not involved in at least one of those games. Pelfrey and Ollie pitched better games in their second starts of the season then they did all of last year.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Five Great Tom Seaver Quotes

Much of my blog will be dedicated to the great quotes of the Mets. Who better to start with than the greatest Met of all...Tom Terrific. The man who turned a team from a national joke into a national treasure.

Five Great Tom Seaver Quotes

1) "Blind people came to the park just to listen to him pitch."
---Reggie Jackson, on Seaver

2) "If the Mets can win the World Series, the United States can get out of Vietnam."
--Tom Seaver, getting political, after the 1969 World Series

3) "My idea of managing is giving the ball to Tom Seaver and sitting down and watching him work."
---Sparky Anderson, Reds Manager, on having Seaver pitch for them (I am still angry at the Mets for ever trading Seaver)

4) "There are only two places in the league---first place and no place."
--Tom Seaver

5) "God is living in New York, and he's a Met fan."
--Tom Seaver, during the legendary 1969 Championship run

Random Thoughts:
Only saw a little of today's game. Still remain optimistic, but come on, the Mets were baffled by Livian Hernandez. That guy has been around since the Truman Administration. Should have taken two of three. At least, Jacobs got off the snide.

Quote of the Day for Mets/National Game

Another Mets heartbreaker yesterday but despite the loss cause for optimism. Jose was back and clutch in the 9th. Perez did not pitch that badly and Barajas is our best offensive catcher since Piazza.

Best quote of the day unfortunately was not from our side. It was from the National's Willie Harris who made the diving catch to win the game against the Mets. Not the first time he has done that. His quote after the catch, "Wow, I do it all the time against these guys. I don't know what it is."

Saturday, April 10, 2010

High Five to Met Fans Across the World

This is a blog for those who define the greatest days of their lives (outside of the marriage, baby thing) as Game 6 of the 1986 World Series or (for those of us over a certain age), Game 5 of the 1969 World Series.

I have been a Met fan since I was old enough to know baseball. I went to my first baseball game in 1967 when I was nine and almost caught a foul ball from the bat of Richie (later Dick) Allen. By a fluke, as a sixth grader, my brother and I were at Game 5 of the 1969 World Series. I still have the ticket and grass to prove it. Yes, we ran on the field after the game. We did have the worst seats in the place so it took us two hours to get to the field but we got there and even waited around as the players got into their cars (likely incredibly drunk in the pre DWI law days) and drove off into the sunset.

For some reason, I come to 2010 with more optimism and enthuisism than I have had in some time. I guess it is because I am tired of them being slapped around by virtually everyone involved with baseball. In the offseason, while eighty percent of clubs did nothing, they acquired the best offensive free agent in the market in Jason Bay. Instead of being celebrated, they were bashed for not getting any pitching.

The blog will track this season (as much as possible), reminisce about the past, provide some great baseball quotes (my hallmark if you check my profile)and interact with other fans. Hopefully, to paraphrse Bob Murphy, "I hope this was a happy Met blog recacp."

Lets Go Mets.