Musings
For those that never watched Watch What Happens Live, it’s talk show masquerading as a drinking game. If you’re married, you’ve seen it because it normally follows Real Housewives of [Insert City].
Overall, if you’re looking for anything scandalous, Harvey technically got what a sac fly is wrong. He said it was whenever a batter advances to any base on a flyball out. Technically, it’s only when a runner scores. Other than that, the entire episode was fairly tame, at least with respect to a typical Watch What Happens Live episode.
Initially, Matt Harvey looked awkward sitting there with Cardinals fan Andy Cohen and Nationals fan Connie Chung. First, he wasn’t drinking (looked like water to me). Second, they went right to Connie Chung and her fight with Donald Trump:
Third, Andy didn’t ask Harvey about baseball. He asked more about his grooming and dating habits. He asked “which Met had the biggest bat.” (Note, Andy put it more crudely and bluntly). Harvey didn’t answer that one. If you’re interested, Harvey is single, uses Degree women’s deodorant, flies on private planes, and his teammates gave him a poster of his layout from the ESPN The Body issue. There are other adult topics, which I found amusing, which are neither here or there (Seinfeld roommate switch and on the field in college). Also, unlike the ’86 Mets, Harvey never tried cocaine. Really, Andy didn’t ask any baseball questions, which if you’ve ever watched the show, isn’t all that surprising.
However, Connie Chung asked the question, and he answered the question. Connie Chung grilled him on Terry Collins sending him back in there for the ninth inning. As you can assume, Harvey doesn’t regret the decision. He thought he gave his team the best chance to win. He also said Connie should ask Collins if the manager thought he made a mistake.
As an aside, it’s great that Connie Chung was all over the issue. As you can tell from most of the episode, she doesn’t know much about baseball. However, she knew about this moment. Baseball and the Mets have reached the national consciousness. This is a great thing even if the Mets lost the World Series.
Of course, you should know former teammate, Anthony Recker, was calling in after the show, which is not televised. Andy Cohen made sure to let us know why he was being mentioned at the rear-end of the episode.
It was somewhat bizarre that both my wife and I wanted to watch Watch What Happens Live. It’s also bizarre that Matt Harvey, or any baseball player for that matter, would be on the show. With that said, anytime you’re talking Mets in January, it’s a good thing. It’s even better to see how much this Mets team resonates.
After-Show Update
- Harvey is no longer a Yankee fan
- He wishes Daniel Murphy was able to return to the Mets.
- The Marlins give him more trouble than any other team.
- He’s been training in Boras’ California facility.
- He missed the BBWAA dinner because his driver wasn’t permitted on the roads due to travel restrictions during the blizzard to pick him up.
Oh yeah, Recker never actually called-in. He just left a message.
With the Mets announcing they are finally retiring Mike Piazza’s number, there have been renewed discussions regarding if there should be any other Mets who should have their number retired. You know the names: Gary Carter, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, and, of course, Keith Hermandez.
Instead of arguing the merits of each of these players, I thought I would offer up a new name. Ron Darling.
Looking over Darling’s resume, he was a good, but not a great Met. He was 99-70 with a 3.50 ERA in nine years with the Mets. He won a Gold Glove, and he went to an All Star Game. He had a nice career, and he certainly justified the Mets trading away fan favorite Lee Mazzilli for him. Justifying a trade and having your number retired are two separate distinctions. Admittedly, Darling’s career falls well short of justifying his number retired.
The argument for his number being retired emirates from his current role with the Mets. He’s part of the already iconic Gary, Keith, and Ron. He calls Mets games from the Ralph Kiner TV Booth. That honor was bestowed upon Kiner, an original Met, and Mets broadcasting legend. Kiner was part of the original amazing Mets trio of Kiner, Lindsay Nelson, and Bob Murphy. The radio booth was named after the Hall of Famer Bob Murphy.
Darling is a terrific broadcaster in his own right. He’s so great he was picked up by TBS to do color commentary. As a member of the 1986 Mets and as a broadcaster, Darling has been an important part of Mets history. Since the TV booth already carries the name of Ralph Kiner, and deservedly so, we need to find another way to honor Ron Darling’s rich Mets career. The Mets should retire his number 12.
However, they shouldn’t do it before retiring Keith’s number 17.
As a Giants fan, I love Eli Manning. Any true Giants fan would. The man won two Super Bowls picking up an MVP in each game. There’s always the debate if he’s elite or not. That conversation never concerned me because I knew that my guy could go up against Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Tom Brady (twice) and beat them in the biggest games. He inspires confidence. That’s all I could ask. That’s why he’s a big time QB.
That’s how I feel about the Mets current pitching staff. Last we saw them, they were leading the Mets to an improbable National League Pennant. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard went out there and established they can pitch with anybody. Better yet, they established they can beat anybody. In the NLDS, it was Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke for two starts a piece. In the NLCS, it was Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester. Mets beat them all.
With Arrieta, Greinke, and Kershaw, the Mets beat the top three in the NL Cy Young voting. With Lester, the Mets beat a pitcher who has a 2.85 postseason ERA along with a 1.071 WHIP. Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard beat them all. Not only did they establish they can pitch with the best, they also established they can beat the best. That’s all you need to know about them.
Sure, the Mets rotation wasn’t ranked ahead of the Cubs rotation, nor was it ranked as the top rotation in baseball. None of the Mets pitchers were ranked as the top 10 pitchers right now. At the end of the day, who cares? Seriously. This stuff is to create and drive debate. What’s not up for debate is that the Mets Big Three can go against any other team’s pitching and win.
So while everyone can go on discussing who is and who is not elite, I’m perfectly comfortable watching my guys collect division titles and pennants. They’ve proven they can do that, and they will do it again. So yes, none of the Mets starters are in the Top 10 right now. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
The Mets starters right now are number one in the National League.
This morning my son woke me up early, very early, by sitting on my chest and yelling, “DADDY WAKE UP!” I’m starting to come down sick. Despite all of this, I’m going to have to shovel about a foot of snow. So, how am I feeling this morning?
AWESOME! Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with the Mets. He turned down more money because he wanted to play for the Mets, for us fans. This never happens. Usually, like with Carlos Beltran, the Mets had to be the highest bidder in order to get the player. Again, this never happens.
Furthermore, the Mets spent $27.5 million in the first year to get him. They gave him a no trade clause. They offered him an opt out. His contract is the fifth highest in Mets history and the highest single season salary in Mets history. The Mets made him the second highest paid position player next year. The Mets front-loaded his three year $75 million contract. The Wilpons spent to improve the team.
Right now, there is no reason for any Mets fan to complain. Sure, you can miss players like Daniel Murphy. However, there is no reason to complain if you’re a fan. Alejandro De Aza may feel differently, but I’m pretty sure fans are alright with that.
Today, it doesn’t get any better being a Mets fan. The fans were always all-in, and now the team is all-in as well. Today, as it continuously snows leaving us all trapped inside, the Mets have not had a sunnier outlook. Instead of thinking of shoveling, Mets fans are thinking of watching a World Series favorite playing baseball on warm summer nights.
I’m not putting on my snow clothes to go outside today. No, I’m putting on the same clothes I will be wearing this October in Citi Field. What a great day.
LETS GO METS!
Wow #MetsTwitter is turning into a cesspool right now over the news that Yoenis Cespedes may be signing a deal with the Nationals. Seriously, everybody is attacking everybody. People I’ve found to be pretty lockstep in their opinions and/or cordial to one another are jumping at each other’s throats. Seriously, no opinion is safe:
- If think Cespedes doesn’t deserve a long term deal than you’re a shill.
- If you think Cespedes didn’t have the impact fans thought he did, you’re a nerd that doesn’t watch baseball.
- If you’re angry with how the Mets are operating this offseason, you’re ungrateful for the NL Pennant and/or unfit to be a Mets fan.
- If you think the Mets can win without Cespedes, you don’t know baseball.
- If you think Cespedes is a good centerfielder, you’re a dinosaur that doesn’t understand advanced stats.
At the end of the day, do you know what this all is? It’s misplaced anger. To a man Mets fans are upset with this offseason. Put aside your feelings on the Mets ability to win the NL East or the World Series next year. You’re not happy with the offseason. You’re not happy with the Mets not keeping their promise. The Mets said they would spend if the fans showed up and spent their own hard earned money.
Well, the fans did that, and yet, the Mets still aren’t spending commensurate with their revenues or their market. At the end of the day, it makes Mets fans angry. Mostly, we’re angry with the Wilpons. Only there’s no way we can voice our displeasure directly at them. So instead, we create billboards to voice our displeasure. We start yelling at each other. The reason? Simple, we’re angry, and there’s no avenue to properly voice that displeasure.
The sick part is the Mets don’t understand this. They don’t see a passionate fanbase. They see ungrateful people that should sign a loyalty oath because we know loyalty means never voicing a contrary opinion. The Mets don’t understand how lucky they are. This is a fanbase put through the ringer by this ownership, and yet, these fans still care. They are still passionate. They still keep coming back like Charlie Brown trying to kick that football.
The thing is the venom is going to get worse once Cespedes does officially leave the Mets. Fans will continue to go after one another instead of voicing our displeasure directly to the Wilpons. Again, the fans are angry, and I understand why. I think it’s time to take a step back and realize who the culprits are. It’s not each other; it’s the Wilpons. Other than the billboard, there’s no other method to let the Mets know how we feel (Note: not an advertisement, just stating a fact).
Basically, all I’m saying is Mets fans need to stop cannibalizing one another and find constructive ways to vent. The billboard is one idea. I know some who boycott. If there are other ideas, come up with those because right now yelling at each other isn’t helping anything. In fact, the only thing it accomplishes is irritating each other while the Wilpons’ malfeasance is ignored. It’s time to take a step back, take a deep breath, and realize the fans you’re attacking love this team no matter what.
You’re really angry at the Wilpons. Find a way to voice that displeasure. It’ll accomplish more than you yelling at another fan.
Honestly, I believe it’s too early to start naming Opening Day starters, but teams are already doing it. I guess when you’re the Diamondbacks it’s easy. When you’re the Mets with a loaded pitching staff, it’s a much more interesting question.
The first choice would be Jacob deGrom. He had the best year out of any Mets starter last year. He was the story of last year’s All Star Game. He was terrific in the NLDS. Also, he was supposed to be the Game Sux starter. Starting him in Kansas City would be the Mets way of saying we’re picking up where we left off, and we’re heading back to the World Series.
The next choice is Matt Harvey. In many ways, he’s the presumptive ace. He’s the guy that burst on the scene in 2013 giving the Mets fans hope this all was coming. He’s another year removed from Tommy John surgery, and the second year back is normally when a pitcher excels. He ended his year with an incredible Game Five performance. Starting Harvey in Kansas City is saying you’re not going to beat us again.
With all that said, I start Noah Syndergaard on Opening Day. The message is plain and simple. We’re not backing down this year from anyone. This was a 23 year old rookie pitcher who toed the rubber at the first ever World Series game at Citi Field, and this was his first pitch:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FMbpt_TtDro
When the Royals complained about the pitch, Thor told them to meet him at the mound. His presence on the mound alone is saying to the baseball world the Mets are intimidated by no one, and they’re back fighting to win 2016. If you have a problem with that, you know where to find them. The story line won’t be about the Royals getting their rings. Instead, it’ll be about how the Royals will handle Thor.
We want the 2016 season to be about the Mets and their pitching staff. We want it to be about the Mets responding to last year’s World Series loss by beating and intimidating other teams. You want all of baseball to look at this staff and wonder how they’re going to beat the Mets. This needs to be the story from day one. Let Terry Collins explain he’s starting the guy who beat the Royals last year. However he presents it, the most important thing is that we all know the Mets are going out there looking to get into their opponents’ heads with their pitching.
That starts day one. That’s why you start Thor on Opening Day.
Yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds announced they are going to honor Pete Rose this summer with induction in the Reds Hall of Fame, retirement of his number 14, and a statue. For some reason, MLB approved Rose’s presence at these events. Even more ponderous was the Reds wanting to do this for him.
I understand he is the Hit King. In many ways he’s synonymous with Reds baseball. He had 3,358 hits with the Reds alone. However, he was also the Reds manager. As the Reds manager, he bet on the games. There’s no proof he bet against the Reds, but then again, it took over 25 years to definitively prove he bet on baseball while he was a player. I still find it naive to believe he never bet against the Reds or found a convenient time to not bet on them.
Rose managed the Reds until mid-way through the 1989 season. Later that year, he was banished from baseball. That year the Reds finished in fifth places with a 79-87 record. Rose was 59-66. Do you know what happened in 1990? They won the World Series. I’m not saying it’s definitive, but it shouldn’t be ignored.
What also shouldn’t be ignored was between 1985 – 1988, the years he was a full time manager, his teams always finished in second and never won 90 games. While they were in second place, they never came close to winning the division. I know Lou Piniella is a good manager, but was he really good enough to be the missing piece? Probably not.
Let’s examine the 1987 season because that was the year the Reds got closest to winning the division under Rose’s tuteledge. That team jumped out of the gate going 15-7 in April. The next three months they played around .500 ball before collapsing in August with a 9-20 record. The Reds entered that fateful month of August with a two game lead in the division. After August was over, they were in third place, six games back, and three games under .500.
Keep in mind that this is dispositive of nothing. In fact, in some ways that was the August script between the 2015 Mets and Nationals. However, it still makes you question if more was at play here than just one really bad month. For example, the Recs went 1-5 against the Giants in August. Absent those August games, they were 6-6 against the division winning Giants.
Does it matter to you that John Franco led the league in games finished in 1987 with 60? How about the fact he repeated the feat in 1988 finishing 61 games? How about the fact that from 1985 – 1988, Franco appeared in 67, 74, 68, and 70 games? Does it matter that no other manager used him in as many appearances or to finish as many games?
How do we judge him playing a young and healthy Eric Davis only 129 games despite him being the team’s best player? How many teams have a 34 year old catcher and 36 year old RF lead the team in games played? Why were the Reds the only team in baseball with a four men rotation that year?
I could go on and on. However, hopefully, you get my point. Seemingly, Rose made a lot of strange choices. We don’t know if these decisions came about organically, or if these decisions made based upon other factors. The only thing we know for sure is Pete Rose was betting on baseball back then. We also know that once Rose was gone, the Reds won the World Series.
After all that, he’s getting honored by the Reds. He’s getting a statue. Other than his son, he’s the last Reds player to ever wear the number 14. It took 25+ years to discover he bet on baseball. I’m hoping it’s not another 25 years before we find out he bet against the he Reds.
At that point, what do you do with the number 14 and the statue? Will it be too late to take it down? All I do know is the Reds are sticking their necks out there for a guy who broke the gambling rule. They’re honoring a guy who might’ve bet against them. Wait another 25 years, and we’ll find that out.
In the meantime, the Redx are honoring a guy who did his best to ensure his banishment from baseball.
What I’ve found is most of the people that support the Yoenis Cespedes trade is he transformed the offense, and he was the reason the Mets won the NL East. Other people say while Cespedes was great with the Mets, there were other more important factors helping the Mets win the NL East. These arguments rest upon the Mets getting healthy and a weak August schedule.
I think the best way to look at this is just to present the facts. I’m presenting them unadulterated and without comment. Before presenting them, remember that Cespedes’ first game with the Mets was 8/1.
Pre-Cespedes Record: 53 – 51
Post-Cespedes Record: 37 – 21
In the same time frame, here is the Nationals record:
Pre-Cespedes Record: 54-47
Post-Cespedes Record: 29-32
Mets Opponents Combined Win Percentage and Mets Record by Month:
April Opponents .458 Mets 15-8
May Opponents .510 Mets 13-15
June Opponents .483 Mets 12-15
July Opponents .537 Mets 13-12
August Opponents .480 Mets 20-8
September/October Opponents .458 Mets 17-14
Here is the Mets and Nationals records and position in the standings at the end of every month:
April
Mets 15-8
Nats 10-13 (5.0 games back)
May
Nats 28-22
Mets 28-23 (0.5 games behind)
June
Nats 43-34
Mets 40-38 (3.5 games behind)
July
Nats 54-47
Mets 53-50 (2.0 games behind)
August
Mets 73-58
Nats 66-64 (6.5 games behind)
September/October
Mets 90-72
Nats 83-79 (7.0 games behind)
Overall, the Mets went from 2.0 games behind heading into August to 6.5 games up at the end of the month. As stated above the Mets record in August was 20-8 against opponents with a .480 winning percentage. The Nationals went 12-17 against opponents with a .490 winning percentage. Aside from the records, here is some additional information to consider:
Dates Key Players Came off the DL for good (by first game played after activation):
Travis d’Arnaud July 31st
Daniel Murphy June 30th
David Wright August 24th
Michael Cuddyer August 11th
Here are some other key dates from the 2015 season to consider:
July 24 – Michael Conforto called up from AA
July 24 – Mets trade for Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson
July 27th – Mets trade for Tyler Clippard
July 30 – John Mayberry, Jr. released
July 31 – Mets trade for Cespedes
August 1 – Cespedes plays first game with the Mets
Again, I’m making no comment on any of this information. It’s being presented to review it and process it. Upon reviewing the information, does your judgment on how Cespedes impacted the Mets change or remain the same?
As I write this, Grayson’s parents have received $13,746 towards the $30,000 needed to get him out of the hospital and home. It’s important to raise this money because: (1) he’s had infections while at the hospital requiring additional open heart surgery; and (2) he didn’t get to spend his first Christmas at home.
Think about that. It’s heartbreaking. He was in a hospital fighting an infection after having open heart surgery. While you and your family members got to dress up as Santa and watch the baby open gifts, Grayson was in a hospital.
First, I want to say that the $13,746 raised so far is a tremendous amount. I want to thank everyone who retweeted my incessant tweets trying to get the word out. I want to thank those that made donations as well. With that said, it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because donations after the first day were around $8,000. Less than half that amount was raised in the subsequent four days. I’ve been sitting around trying to figure out how I can help more. I came up with a giveaway.
Right now in my possession, I have the following items to give away: (1) a David Wright Oyo Figure; and
(2) a PBS style Mets tote bag
Both were purchased with my own money, and neither of the aforementioned companies are sponsors. If you’re interested in the giveaway, here are the rules:
- There is no purchase necessary.
- One winner will be randomly selected.
- To enter, you must either RT the Tweet containing this article and/or enter a donation on the webpage leaving MetsDaddy and your Twitter handle in the comments section.
- If you RT and enter a donation, you will be deemed to have entered twice. There is no minimum donation required. However, only your first donation will count as an entry. All subsequent donations will welcome but not considered for the giveaway.
- Prior RT and donations do not qualify for the giveaway. Only RT and donations made after this is posted on Twitter will qualify.
On Friday, January 22nd at noon, I will selecte two winners at random. If the donations at that time meet the $30,000 goal, I will do an additional giveaway. If you want to make a donation, please click this link.
Again, thank you for all that you’ve done so far to help my friend’s son. Let’s finish the job and let his parents bring Grayson home.
If you’re signed up for Mets emails, the slew of requests for fans to purchase game plans and the like. My favorite is when the Mets inquire if you’d like to get single game suites.
It’s something I always wanted to do. If love to go to a hot July day game and sit in a nice air conditioned suite. It’ll be great to let my son run around the suite if he gets antsy. It’ll be great to not have to wait in line for concessions during the game. Hungry? Just get up and grab something. Have to use the bathroom? Well there’s no line. It’s your own bathroom.
The Mets don’t have the information online, so I had to do some digging. The going rate for 19 people seems to be in the $4,000 – $5,000 range. Assuming I could bring my son in for free (his growth spurts aren’t helping that), the cost would be between $210.53 – $263.16 per person. However, it appears that may be without the food, which is part of the charm. If you were to sit in the ballpark, that would be the equivalent of sitting in the Metropolitan Silver section.
I can’t sit in the Metropolitan Silver section now with a little kid, but I could sit in a suite. It’s a lot for a game, but it’s something I would love to do. I guess it’s time to get 18 of my friends together.