Mets Extra
At the end of 162, it’s the Philadelphia Phillies 89, the New York Mets 88.
Wow. That sucked. So much for my optimism. I’m not going to be one of those fans that throws blame and anger all over the place, calling for heads and trades and all of that. I will break down the team and next year and what I want to see happen sometime in the near future. I expect I’ll update a bit through the playoffs (I’m rooting for the Cubs) talk about awards and all of that. After October I’ll still post, maybe once a week, or when other things happen. I’m proud of myself for getting through the entire season with this blog, and look forward to making new bloggie friends in the off-season and next year. Here is my postseason prediction, and my in-season stats for the year.
I think the Rockies win tomorrow.
AL Divisional Round
RED SOX defeat
ANGELS (3-1)
INDIANS defeat YANKEES (3-0)
AL
Championship
RED SOX defeat INDIANS (4-1)
NL Divisional
Round
ROCKIES defeat PHILLIES (3-1)
CUBS defeat
DIAMONDBACKS (3-1)
NL Championship
CUBS defeat ROCKIES (4-2)
World Series
RED SOX defeat CUBS
(4-2)
Personally I went to 33 baseball games this year.
My record at Shea Stadium was 15-12.
My record at Mets games was 17-12.
My record for the hometeam was 18-15.
My record for the Nationals was 3-2. (This included three stadiums, RFK, Shea, and Dolphin Stadium)
This year I attended games in 4 stadiums(Shea, RFK, Yankee, and Dolphin)
I’ve now been to 13 Stadiums(Shea, Yankee, Fenway, Wrigley, Citizens Bank, Dolphin, RFK, Petco, ½ old Busch, ½ new Busch, Dodger, Angel, San Fran, McAfee)
Next year the goal is to check out Camden Yards, Nationals park, and Tropicana field.
The Optimistic Mets Blog player of the year is: David Wright.
Is there any doubt? David Wright is looking so good. He was the most solid, consistant player on this team. He struggled in April when the team didn’t, and since then there have been very few games he hasn’t gotten a hit in. He’s now in the top two or three in career Mets avg, slugging, obp and ops. He’s got a .311 career Mets batting average. He expanded his game, learned from his peers, and took on more of a leadership role. He’s a great fielder who needs to figure out his throws a bit, but I’m so glad he’s on our team.
Tags: David Wright, end of the season, my stats, postseason, predictions, recap
It’s all about being there…
I’ll be there. I was there for game 7 last year, hopefully this isn’t similar. I still believe the Mets can win this. I don’t think the Phillies will win both these games, they just aren’t that good, and I know the Nationals suck, but…All the Mets need to do is remember what it’s like to win..and do it.
Tags: game 7, Mets, NL East, Philadelphia Phillies, winning
I’ll be there
I can’t fathom going to Shea tonight, but I am. I was debating it, and then someone told me they had tickets for me. I decided to take it as a sign, and I’m going. I’ll be there tomorrow too.
Well..
2 scoreless bullpen innings.
Pedro went 7.
We still are in winning all our games.
Nothing to Say
I wish I had something to say, but there is nothing. The only reason to peruse Mets blogs and media today is the faint hope that someone, somewhere has some insight that promotes confidence. The problem is everytime you find that glimmer, the Mets blow it to shreds at night.
This season started with the most promise and expectation in at least seven years, World Series or bust. The last team the Mets faced in 2006 was to become the first team they’d face in 2007. Now they are seriously in danger of that being the case again, only this time it’s not a World Series champion that foils their quest, but the lowly Marlins. In that first season of the year, they did something they have struggled to do of late, and that’s get revenge and complete a sweep. Maybe seeing Albert and Yadier sparks that fire that they need. Destiny, however slim, is still in the Mets hands. Are the Mets complacent, acting entitled, almost snobbish? Well here is the true wake up call. The one team that can remind them that despite the glory of last year, they are essentially losers. They are owed nothing and have everything to prove.
Hopefully the Mets beat up on the Cardinals, and then because a one game series is just not enough for the Mets to work out their aggression, they’ve got a series against bored fish on the weekend to continue with. Something needs to wake up this team, and if it’s not the Cardinals, I may be using my Playoff money to buy an HDTV.
Tags: bullpen, good things, last team, Mets, problems, revenge, St. Louis Cardinals
Book Review: The New York Mets: Ethnography, Myth, and Subtext
Review: The New York Mets: Ethnography, Myth, and Subtext by Richard Grossinger
The book isn’t so much a story as a diary and tribute to one person’s journey as a fan of the New York Mets. Throughout that journey he, like most of us, is constantly reevaluating his commitment to his team, and answering the question, “Why do we watch?” He was a born Yankee fan drawn to the Mets in their infancy, knowing there is more to life, and to baseball, then championships. He embraced the Mets from the beginning, from their minor league players to their major league players who probably should have been in the minor leagues.
As a younger fan, It was interesting to read a fan’s perspective on my team that’s been there from the beginning. I’ve never truly experienced a championship, but I’ve also had some fun and exciting moments. Grossinger explains that it’s not always the championships that resonate and are remembered for years to come, but the truly spectacular moments. It’s the journey that is what truly makes us fans, not just the final game of the World Series. Grossinger journey as a fan is a unique one, just like all of our adventures as fans are, and it’s interesting to read as he goes to his first games at Shea, roots for his favorite players, and eventually gets his first press pass.
One part of the book that I found particularly interesting was about the author’s time in San Francisco as a Mets fan. This was long before the time of DirecTV with Extra Innings, or mlb.tv. He was able to embrace the team through box scores, newspapers and magazines. Then he formed a club, and a bunch of baseball fans joined together to buy a satellite dish that could pick up the feeds of all the games across the country. They were able to get Mets games clear across the country and sometimes even picking up the feeds before they were edited for TV.
A big chapter of the book is his relationship with a Mets player, Terry Leach. Leach was one of those guys that perpetually was being send between AAA and the Major Leagues, despite how well he would pitch. In an era that people are constantly talking about “rooting for the laundry”, rooting for whoever the players are as long as they wear the uniform of your favorite team, It’s a refreshing look at how sometimes we form an attachment to a favorite player, and how it’s not always the best guy on the team. Grossinger, and his son’s, attachment to Terry Leach was formed in the minor leagues off a statsheet. They followed his progress through the minors, and like many of us still do, formed a bond with a player that comes up through the Mets minor league system.
As you read through the book, reading accounts from different years and eras of Mets history, you start embracing what it is to be a Mets fan, and reaffirm your connection with the team. Throughout the book I felt myself relating to his stories of watching and following the Mets, even though my experiences often happened decades later. I learned new things about the history of my team, and got further insight into what it was like for the fans of the past. The culture of being a Mets fan is a unique one, but it’s one that Richard Grossinger, me, and hopefully you, are all excited to be a part of.
All in all this book is a book most Mets fans will enjoy reading about. It has discussions of moments and events in all 45 years of Mets history. It explores what it’s like to be a Mets fan, and helps get a perspective on how and why we watch baseball.
Tags: book review, history, Mets, terry leach
a sigh of relief?
Resounding weekend. I left work Friday with the magic number at 9. I arrive at work today and it’s at 5. Three Mets wins, and even though it doesn’t feel like a winning streak, it still is. It is said that good teams find a way to win, and nothing defines that than a bottom of the 11th featuring Aaron Sele, and Scott Schoeneweis for the save and the third consecutive win, on a day when the Phillies had lost. Delgado has his power stroke, which is the most important part of his game, Wright has another game-winning RBI, Alou is still hitting everything, and somehow, the bullpen’s gotten some outs.
Plenty to worry about still, but hopefully they can get these 5 games out of the way, and be able to rest bullpen and injuries the final weekend.
As for the Phillies…I was in Washington DC this weekend to see the final two games of RFK Stadium, against the Phillies. The Nationals are really a bad team, and Saturday was at best 50/50 Nats fans to Phillies fans. Predictably, once the Phillies scored three in the top of the 10th, most of the Nationals fans left. Me and my friend decided to make our way towards the right field part of the stadium to be closer to the stairs we needed to exit from. As we walked around the stadium, each section noticed our Mets stuff, and took the opportunity to yell and boo us. It’s an interesting feeling listening to most of the upper deck of a stadium booing you, It was like a wave of boos as we walked around. Of course I got in my “First place!”, and “Better luck next year!” yells in, as well as pointing at the Mets score on the out of town scoreboard. Oddly, I didn’t hear anything from the Phillies fans on Sunday.
Let’s see the Mets come out swinging tonight, picking up that extra half game with the Phillies off, and go into the final 6 games with a decent lead.
Tags: bullpen, division, Magic Number, Philadelphia Phillies, phillies fans, Relievers, RFK stadium, Washington Nationals
Copper Lining
Well, it’s not quite a silver lining, maybe a copper lining? We’re now in the same position as two days ago, with the slight additional edge of having two more games off the schedule.
The team’s going to have to learn from this, and maybe they it’s a lesson that needs to be learned before they can succeed.
It’s too late in the season to worry about micromanaging or second guessing Willie, or blaming someone for this. I look to the future and hope the Mets can make this stretch a small black mark on an otherwise terrific season.
Besides, the NL East Champion Phillies just has a poor ring to it.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock
Apparently the Magic Number Clock isn’t broken, because it moved again tonight. Two big ticks of doom for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Number suddenly dips to single digits, with 11 games left for the Mets to play, and as the Cardinals celebrate on the field for perhaps the last time in 2007, the Phillies hopes have faded a little bit more. They’re now three losses behind the Mets, and if the Padres can overcome a 3-2 Pirate lead in the 5th, they’ll be three losses back in the Wild Card race too.
Today was looking good for the Phillies, and bad for the Mets. The Mets looked like they were going to be steamrolled by the competition, but instead it’s looking like the Phillies don’t have enough gas and that the Mets are just a little farther away than they realized. The momentum has suddenly swung back in the Mets favor as they head down to Florida where they haven’t lost in what seems like ages pitching pitchers who will one day be immortalized in Cooperstown.
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It’s a good time to be a Mets fan.
Tags: cooperstown, dolphin stadium, florida marlins, hall of fame, Magic Number, Mets, Philadelphia Phillies
Champagne
It sounds like some people might have an issue with Willie Randolph’s comment about sipping the champagne being sweeter when they do pull it out.
I don’t have an issue with it, I like the confidence, I liked that he was talking packing for Detroit before game 7 last year. Confidence!
Joe Beningo is talking about “This isn’t the Yankees, this is the Mets” trying to say we’re not as good as them because we’re second-class. We’re not. We’re not their shadow, we’re our own team, and Willie Randolph not panicking is better than expecting it because “It’s the Mets”
Tags: Champagne, choking, Confidence, Joe Beningo, Mets, Willie Randolph