Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

Same here. Exactly the same. Mel Ott was my dad's favorite. And Bill Terry before that.

My dad was a life-long Brooklyn Dodgers fan, hailing from Brooklyn himself. When da bums went to the left coast he still likely followed them but it was different. I was brought to my first baseball game at the Polo Grounds in 1962 with him. I believe it was in April and it was a Friday night game - Mets vs. Dodgers. The green of the field with those lights is a first time sight that I always remember. For about the first two innings my father just sat there without being a fan and just answering all my questions and teaching me how to keep score (I was already a ball player in my neighborhood when the boys let me play with them) while I rooted for the home team. By the third inning he too began rooting for the Metsies and until he died in 1989 we always had our team in common to talk about even when there were distances between us elsewhere. My son is a Mets fan because of me so I'm happy to see that tradition continue.

Same for my dad with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He definitely then developed an affinity for the Mets, as a guy who rooted against the Yankees since his childhood (despite being a Bronx-neighbor in Yonkers). Ironically, the first game to which he ever took me was Yankees-Twins when I was about 7 or 8. No matter, I had already chosen the Mets route. Same as in Wendy's account, he and I shared our Mets love even from a distance (most notably when I was in away college during the '86 Series). However, my parents moved to Florida around 1990-ish and when the Marlins came into existence a few years later, my dad was instantly on board with his new "home" team. Now, naturally, he's a bigger Marlins fan than ever. He still roots for the Mets against anyone but the Marlins (unless it should have serious implications on the Marlins in the standings), but when the two face each other there is nothing to talk about -- he's all Marlins and I'm all Mets. That included the infamous Glavine game to close the '07 collapse. He rooted for the Marlins to play spoiler that day, even if it meant the Phillies win the division instead his old team, the Mets. That one hurt. Needless to say, he also got the better of me this weekend.

more like he got the better of Frank Francisco this weekend.

can't believe I overlooked Rauch in the discussion of a new closer. He's been very good, and the more I watch him the more I like him. He never seems to throw two pitches in a row at exactly the same speed.

Some reports that Mets are ready to make David Wright a long-term deal ...

Yes!

PS. I predicted when Wright was called up that his would be the next player's number retired by the Mets ...

Now pitching for the Mets...Mel Rojas

vandalay said:

Now pitching for the Mets...Mel Rojas


This guy's a mess. Let's hope that he figures it out ...


"My thinking at the time was, Ryan gets hit, and then I go up there and get hit, and then, everything's settled." -- David Wright

Atta boy.

Quite a come-back win yesterday. Terry Collins said in the post-game press conference that David Wright, who had gone 2 for 2 with a walk or two yesterday and drove in or scored the go-ahead run, was feeling sick before yesterday's game and commented about how amazing he played being sick. Forgot his exact words but it was funny.

In my family, if you prick us, we bleed orange and blue. Goes back to a story similar to the one ml1 told - my dad was a Giants fan when almost everyone else he knew rooted for the Yankees or the Dodgers. I still get a thrill remembering watching Game Six in 1986. I got so disgusted with the Mutts a few years ago that I tried to change over to the Red Sox (went to college in Boston). But it just didn't take... so here I am back home again.

SF (NY) Giants fan here too. My grandfather was a huge Giants fan, who hated the Yankees, so poof, I became a Giants fan and when the Metsies arrived it was an easy transition. The funny part of the story is that many years later, my grandfather became a huge Yankees fans, couldn't quite understand that and never really got a good answer. I'm also in the rare breed who is a Mets and football Giants fan, not Jets, that came from my father.


Same here. Mets and Giants.

Same here. Mets and Giants.

Geez and I thought I was an 'oddball'. :-D

Meet the new Mets, same as the old Mets (apologies to P.T.)

From the NYT-

"The bullpen has a 5.31 earned run average in May, eight losses, nine blown saves, and a dwindling number of reliable options. Closer Frank Francisco — Alderson’s other multiyear-deal recipient — has three losses and an 8.59 E.R.A. Jon Rauch has allowed five runs and nine hits in his last four innings."

I say it's time to give Parnell another chance!

unfortunately it's starting to look like a replay of last year, only perhaps a bit worse. this year, the team has been scoring more and the starting pitching has been better, so the bullpen is blowing even MORE saves than in '11 when there were fewer leads to protect.

They needed this win or at least I needed it. Francisco saves one for Gee who maybe will start a winning streak now that he is sans goatee.

Agree much needed. I almost like that Francisco got in trouble first and then pitched out of it, a la Duaner Sanchez. Showed me that maybe he won't ALWAYS fold under the pressure.

I think bullpens, in general, suck ... It's crap (literally) shoot ... We're going to be OK.

Time to send Ike to minors? Discuss ...

If Gaby Sanchez and Jair Jurrjens (sp?) can be sent down to get things right, there can't be any shame in sending Ike down. Having said that, I've said for eons now that I believe, at best, Ike is an Adam LaRoche-type player. In fact, he's kinda Kranepool-like, IMHO. Productive and sound. I have never for a second seen a potential All-Star in him. I just want him to find his consistency, hit his 18-22 homers a year and be a defensive anchor. I can think of worse things than another LaRoche/Kranepool.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded, roundabout answer (too often can't help myself). Sure, perhaps a brief trip to the minors might finally be in order.

Soul_29 said:

Time to send Ike to minors? Discuss ...


Yes. Missed a year due to an ankle injury. And at that point in his career he was still a project. Gotta be hard to get into the groove facing major league pitching night in and night out.


He went 0-3 yesterday on THREE pitches ... Today's AB was embarassing. He needs to go down.

Sidenote: Unlike many others, tonight's no-decision is squarely on Johan.

Ike strikes out to end the game ... Perfect.

Nice to read some regret in SF on having traded Wheeler. From the San Francisco Chronicle:


"From the department of “uh-oh”: Zack Wheeler is making his move.

You’ll recall Wheeler as the Giants’ No. 1 draft pick three years ago, a 6-foot-4 righthander who was surrendered to the Mets in the Carlos Beltran deal. We know all about Beltran, thriving with the St. Louis Cardinals and leading the National League with 14 homers. Wheeler, meanwhile, has become a must-see performer in the minor leagues.

He got off to a slow start for the Mets’ Double-A Binghamton club, and spent some time on the disabled list with an injured finger, but in his last start, Wheeler allowed two hits in eight innings against New Britain.

His numbers are sensational: 1.97 ERA, only 27 hits allowed in 45 2/3 innings, leading the Eastern League with 52 strikeouts.

And get this from a scout who covers the Mets’ system, in an interview with ESPN’s Jayson Stark: “Wheeler is the best pitcher I’ve seen in the minor leagues this year. I don’t put a ‘No. 1′ on many guys, but he’s a ’1.’ He could pitch up there (the big leagues) right now.”

A story worth following. If you can bear to look."

Nice to hear this about Wheeler - perhaps our next Seaver? Other nice things recently: in last night's game: Ike's 2 ribbies and the team's earlier support of him staying up here, others hitting more such as Murphy, Baxter's catch, and of course Gee's performance (hitting too), Duda's HR (we do need more of these of course). Only blemish is Wright fell below 400 as he went 0 for 3 and left 2 on. ;-)

Continuing in the nice motif I started this morning. Nice game today. Very VERY nice. And how about Ike and of course Santana, who even though his fastball was not as quick as it has been, wound up pitching a complete game 4 hit shut-out. And it was fun to relax and catch most of the game on a lazy Saturday. Yes very nice.

And Nickeas actually got a hit!!!

somehow they're on a 90 win pace with injuries to Tejada, Bay, Pelfrey and Thole. and Torres and Davis are below .200. the bullpen has blown innumerable leads. if they bring up Young and Mejia and they do well, sit Torres when Bay returns, there's no reason to believe they can't keep this up for a while. the one downer on the horizon is the June schedule, which is much tougher than the past couple of weeks have been.

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