One of the things I like to do is to go see a Broadway show during previews and right before Opening Night. By that time, many of the kinks are worked out, but the actors are still trying things to see if it works. Even better, the tickets are at a discount.
Tonight was preview night at Citi Field. The Mets had BOGO tickets. Terry Collins tried some stuff out like batting Lucas Duda seventh against a righty. He started Michael Cuddyer in RF against the lefty over Curtis Granderson. He only let Logan Verrett go five innings in a game tied at one despite throwing under 70 pitches.
Collins would bring in Sean Gilmartin in the sixth. Was this to see both potential long men, or was this a preview for a future Matt Harvey rumored half start. Gilmartin would show his rust giving up two runs to the Marlins. However, like the Broadway previews, the stars brought it and brought down the house.
Yoenis Cespedes opened the scoring in the third with a bomb to left field. After the Mets fell behind, Travis d’Arnaud hit a game tying two run homer. Finally, the biggest star of them all, David Wright, hit the go-ahead ground rule double scoring the pinch running Eric Young, Jr. (who also stole a base). Jeurys Familia came on in the ninth and saved the 4-3 win.
We can expect a lot more of this over the next month. These are the types of things you can and should do with a large division lead in September. Because the Mets are so good, they’re going to win a lot of those games.
I can’t wait for when this show makes its October debut.
The Yankees are the greatest franchise in the history of sports. When you invoke their name, you invoke the names of some of the greatest players to ever play the game in Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Mantle. With legends like these, it’s no wonder the Yankees won 19 World Series titles before the Mets even took the field in 1962.
According to the Yankees, they began play in 1903 when they purchased the defunct Baltimore Orioles franchise. In their first 59 years of existence, they would win their aforementioned 19 World Series titles. It’s extremely impressive even if you disregard the fact that baseball was segregated, and the Yankees were definitively pro-segregation.
The Yankees position was so entrenched they would pass on Willie Mays multiple times. The Yankees would not add their first black baseball player, Elston Howard, to the major league roster until 1955, eight years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
I bring this up because now that the Mets are good again, and the Mets fan is puffing out his chest again, the Yankee fan reply is “27 rings.” Note, they want to own the rings but not the racism. Also, they neglect to mention that 70% of those World Series titles came before the Mets existed. The real argument is eight rings to two. With that in mind, let’s look at the Yankees titles since the Mets began:
1962: The Yankees won the first year of the Mets existence. It was the Yankees second straight title, and third in five years. They would not win another one for fifteen years.
1977 & 1978: The Yankees won two straight titles. At this point, the Yankees had three rings to the Mets one. The Yankees would not win another ring for 18 years. The Mets would win another in 1986 narrowing the gap to 3-2.
1996: The Yankees were on the dawn of their next dynasty. This raised the Yankees advantage to 4-2.
1998 – 2000: If there was a pitcher named on the Mitchell Report or elsewhere, chances are they pitched for the Yankees. As an example, three of the Yankees winning pitchers in the 2000 World Series aused PEDs: Mike Stanton (2) and Roger Clemens. Three of their four SP in that World Series used steroids during their career: Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Denny Neagle. Since there’s no steroids asterisk to these titles, they all count increasing the Yankees lead to 7-2.
2009: With a mostly retooled roster, the Yankees won their 27th World Series or 8th since 1962.
So, in total, the Yankees only have eight rings to the Mets two, or do Yankees fans expect the Mets to have competed for a World Series prior to 1962. The Mets had just as good a chance of winning one then as a black player had of playing on the Yankees. Remind them of that because if the Yankee fan wants credit for their entire history, you should make them own it.
In any event, I don’t care about the Yankees and how many rings they have. I’m only concerned about the Mets, their two rings, and their chances of winning one this year.
I so badly wanted to use number 11 to rant about how much I despised Razor Ramon Castro. However, since he was on good Mets teams, he doesn’t qualify.
That’s fine. I was able to find a truly despicable Met in Vince Coleman:
Coleman was a terrible Met, and if his Mets tenure was any indication, he was a terrible human being. It all came to a head in 1993, the only year Coleman wore 11, for a 59-103 Mets team.
That was the year Coleman crossed the line you do not cross. He attacked the fans. After a July game, he threw a M-100, which is used by the military to simulate grenades, towards a group of 200+ fans less than 30 feet away. It was described as nothing more than a prank. I guess it’s alright that he threw the firecracker because they were heckled after not stopping for autographs.
Unsurprisingly, there were fans injured. This included a two year old girl who suffered from second degree burns, a lacerated cornea, and an index finger injury. So no, I don’t agree with Coleman when he says he’s “no monster.” Who does this to people? By the way, where was Bud Selig, who was then acting commissioner? The lack of a suspension makes Roger Goodell look like he has a clue. Speaking of punishments, Coleman would serve no jail time, get 200 hours of community serve, and owe a small fine.
This was the lowlight of an otherwise dreadful 1993 season. It was a season that reminded you that sometimes your team is hard to root for when it has terrible people. It’s not only the baseball is bad, but the players are terrible as well. They don’t respect each other, the fans, or the game. They suck a the fun out of everything.
When I first thought of Coleman and the 1993 Mets, I was irritated. However, I began to think of the 2015 Mets and how they are the polar opposite in every way. This team is enjoyable. They play hard. They respect the fans. In fact, thinking of the 1993 team has made me appreciate this team all the more. Since that was the goal of this series, I guess mission accomplished.
I’m not offering a hat tip here to Coleman. He doesn’t deserve it. Let’s tip our caps to the 2015 Mets and hope they complete their mission to win the World Series. Lets Go Mets!
When I was born, I only had two grandparents, and I lost my grandfather when I was five. My son is lucky to have three grandparents: two grandmothers and one grandfather.
The grandfather is my Dad. He’s the man that got me started on my Mets’ fandom. He brought me to my first game. Last year, he got tickets so he can bring his grandson to his first game. He got tickets again this year to bring him to another game. My Das gets a kick out of seeing his grandson, his namesake, cheering on the Mets. He’s amazed his grandson that never seems to stop running around can sit and follow a Mets game.
He’s also more fun as a grandfather than a Dad at these games. When he took my brother and I, we brought our food, and we got one souvenir (that cost a certain amount). As a father now, I really understand why, but back then? I just wanted a Mets jersey. That wouldn’t happen until I purchased one myself when I was 17. However, with his grandson, his opinion has changed:
Yup, my son has his own Mets jersey. What’s even better is my son is the IV, which meant my Dad had to do this:
Yes, it’s personalized. It makes me happy because these are things my Dad and son can bond over. My son tells my Dad that Duda, Murphy, and Wright plays for the Mets. My Dad gets a kick out of it.
Isn’t that supposed to be the grandfather-grandson relationship? I only had a small taste of it, and I know I missed out on something. I’m glad my son and Dad are getting that experience.
If you’re lucky enough to still have your grandparent, I hope you reached out to them today. I know I would’ve. My son saw his grandparents yesterday, and he FaceTimed with each one of them today (technology really is amazing).
So to my parents and my mother-in-law, Happy Grandparents’ Day. Somewhere I know my Nana, who though Grandparents’ Day is a made-up holiday, is up there saying, “for God’s sake.”
If Terry Collins was the late, great Herb Brooks, he would be at Turner Field until midnight running infield drills:
However, this is the majors, and I’m sure the Wilpons aren’t paying for two different flights.
As much as I would like to get on Jon Niese for today, it’s not his fault. I’d don’t care if Collins sat a number of starters including Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright, you’re expected to play fundamental baseball. On a side note, the Mets were only charged with two errors. The official scorer had an equally bad day.
Lucas Duda had two miscues that helped give away the 2-0 lead the Mets earned on Michael Conforto‘s two run homer. Subsequent leads disappeared behind Daniel Murphy and Juan Uribe misplays. By the way, Duda and Murphy are everyday players, and Uribe is a good defensive player.
By some miracle, Niese was on the long side when Tim Stauffer would make his Mets debut. It was quickly first and third with no outs, and Stauffer got a tapper right back to him. Instead of getting the lead runner, he went for the double play. The score was then tied 4-4.
Stauffer would come out again in the eighth. He leave the game after allowing an “infield single.” Dario Alvarez would not continue his recent good play allowing the inherited runner to score. He allowed a runner to score, and he left some ducks on the pond. Bobby Parnell came into the game. To be fair, Parnell (who earned the win) was not bad today as the inherited runners would score off a Curtis Granderson misplay in right. After eight innings, it would be 7-4 Braves.
However, these Mets are hard to kill. Even with two outs in the ninth, they would come back to tie the game. Juan Lagares hit a double just out of the reach of the diving Nick Markakis. Granderson would walk, and Murphy would hit an improbable three run homer.
In the tenth, the Braves imploded. With a chance to get out of the inning with runners on first and third unscathed. Sure enough, with two outs, they threw the ball away allowing Kirk Nieuwenhuis to score the go-ahead run. The Braves would then walk the ballpark to load the bases AND walk home two runs.
Addison Reed would get the save. He had to work around an error by Ruben Tejada because, why not? It was a fitting end to an absolutely ugly game. They had no business winning the game, but they did because the Braves are terrible and the Mets are resilient.
Good job by Collins allowing his guys in the field and pen to fully rest. The Mets won’t need to win another game until October, and he managed accordingly. As I noted, his managing is really getting better lately.
In any event, the Mets won a game they shouldn’t have. They won’t get away with this in October, but they showed the will to win that’s important in October. In any event, it’s always a good day when the Mets win. Today is a good day.
For reasons I’ve discussed previously, I’m a Giants fan even though my Dad and brother are Jets fans. My son will also be a Giants fan. I got him started on that early:
In any event, I love the Mets more than any other team. I’m a diehard fan. I know many others are as well. I’m also a diehard Giants and Rangers fan. I don’t plan on watching much of either team until November.
However, I get to watch the Giants unadulterated tomorrow because they are on at 8:30. For you Jets fans, your game starts at the same time as the Mets game. I say this as the biggest Mets fan I know – go watch the Jets game . . . especially if you have tickets. You don’t have to turn in your diehard Mets fan card. It’s not an indication you’re more of an NFL fan than a Mets fan (although you are if you watched the Patriots over the Mets on Thursday).
It means the Mets have done their job and effectively wrapped up the NL East. If I were in your shoes, I would use my PIP to put on both games with very divided attention. So go ahead and watch the Jets. I’ll see you diehards on Monday.
