Citi Field Addition: Vineyard Mound
A thoughtful reader has emailed me and told me that they do in fact sell GTS Vineyards wine at Citi Field. It’s in one of the pricey clubs at $85 a bottle. Seaver apparently doesn’t have any wine much cheaper than his fastball speed. Oh well.
Another Idea For Citi Field: Vineyard Mound
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| From Mets |
This idea stems from the beer island in the Taste of the City concourse out in left-center field. I think this place is awesome, and I make it a destination almost every time I’m there. With 30 different bottles of beer at a fairly reasonable price it very well may be the best place to get beer in the major leagues.
There are also a couple of places that sell wine. Most people you talk to will tell you that they can’t imagine drinking wine at a ballpark, and many of the people that actually go to ballparks don’t drink wine anywhere. Other people say you can sell anything if you market it well, and the Mets are not taking advantage of a prime marketing tool in this regard. Their sole Hall of Famer, and Ace pitcher of the 1969 Mets, George Thomas Seaver, makes wine.
None of the wine made by GTS Vineyards is sold at Citi Field however. What better person to sell wine to Mets fans than Seaver? GTS Vineyards isn’t huge, but the new “Vineyard Mound” doesn’t have to sell exclusively GTS wines, just have them available.
To further connect wine to Mets baseball I’d suggest that this Mound be the location for a statue of Seaver. Put him in a pitching stance, but instead of having him hold a baseball, give him a wine bottle. Place the Mound on a slight hill, or pitcher’s mound, so that just as Seaver served fastballs to batters from up on the hill, so will he serve wine.
Tags: beer island, Citi Field, citi field idea, gts vineyards, Mets, tom seaver, tom seaver statue, wines
Division Isn’t Out of the Question for the Mets
You may have seen that pessimistic post on Metsblog earlier that stated the Mets should be aiming to go 45 and 20 to win the Wild Card. This is short sighted. I hate to do this, but let’s go back to 2007.
On July 27th 2007 the Mets were up four games over the Phillies and Braves in second place. They kept the hordes at bay for a month, and on August 27th were six games up, seven over the Braves, and neither team looked really good.
Then the Mets played that ill-fated series in Philadelphia where they lost four games, the lead dropping to two games and panic started to set in. The Mets rebounded terrifically winning five in a row and 10 of their next 12.
They hosted the Phillies again on September 12th with a seven game lead and plenty of reason to think that the series in Philadelphia was merely a fluke.
More so than any other reason, the Mets lost in 2007 because they lost those seven games to the Phillies. In 2009 the Mets and Phillies play eight more times. They blew their first chance at this a couple of weeks ago, allowing the Phillies to sweep them, but 65 games and eight against the leader is not something you write off. If the Mets are good enough to overcome the deficit in the wild card, they’re good enough to overcome the deficit in the division. The Phillies are bound to come back to earth, as they’re not going to play at this crazy winning percentage for the rest of the season, and now they’ve started to be bit by the injury bug as well. If the Mets can recover and run with it, it’s the division that’s waiting, not the wild card. If you’re looking for numbers or formulas, here is one for you.
There are 10 weeks left of the season, and 8 games against the Phillies. Win six of the games against the Phillies, and then play merely one game better than them in five of the other 8 weeks they don’t play Philadelphia. Win one more game, whether it’s another against the Phillies, another random game during the season, or game 163. From there the playoffs are your oyster.
Hard to be Optimistic about the Mets
It’s hard to be optimistic with the state of the Mets right now. It’s hard to be confident in Omar, it’s hard to be confident in Manuel and the coaches, and even the promising young guys no longer seem promising.
How did we go from being disappointed that Murphy got an extra plate appearance last season and wouldn’t be eligible for Rookie of the Year, to a guy that we’re talking about trading while he still has some value. Personally, I don’t agree with that sentiment, but Murphy’s stock has definitely gone down since last year.
Mike Pelfrey was quickly becoming an excellent pitcher, and while there were some concerns most were okay with him being ‘named’ the number two starter before the season. Now he’s struggling to make that next step and gain consistency.
To me both these guys have talent, drive, and are smart enough to learn how to get better. So why aren’t they getting better? While the ultimate onus falls on the player, this is why there is a manager and coaches in the first place. Most people don’t really understand what a coach does, but if they didn’t have a big role they wouldn’t be fired as often as they are, and teams wouldn’t necessarily even have them.
It doesn’t have to be a career All-Star on the bench to be a good coach, merely a student of the game. He needs to be able to identify and assist players with making the adjustments they need to make, or fixing the bad habits they’re picking up. Good players can do this on their own, but even good players often have a blind spot when analyzing themselves. It’s the same in all areas of the world. This is why English teachers since grade school have been teaching us to have someone else read over and review our writing.
It appears that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Mets. This has been the case since 2007, and has yet to be identified and fixed. Too many guys are under-performing, and virtually no one is over-performing. This is what makes or breaks good teams. And this is what defines a good manager or coach. It’s not just luck when a player has a career year; it’s often due to hard work, and proper guidance. The Mets have been a better team than the Phillies for years, but the difference is somehow journeyman middle relief in Philadelphia has been able to excel and pitchers like J.A. Happ have come out of nowhere to pitch brilliantly, while Pelfrey, Murphy, Parnell, Evans and guys that have showed promise with the Mets have fizzled and failed to make good on promises of success.
Is the season over? No, it’s not. I don’t buy the Marlins as legitimate. I’m not sure the Braves will be appreciably over .500, although they do look pretty good. If you buy that, it’s between the Mets and the Phillies. The Mets are far behind, but technically it’s only a game or two. They still play each other eight times, and if the Mets were to win those games they’ll be in good position, which isn’t completely out of the question as unlikely as it seems given the current state of the team. It’s growing more and more unlikely as the Phillies pull off more and more unlikely wins and the Mets continue to struggle to find any consistency, but if the ship were to be righted and players do come back from the disabled list and perform, it’s not out of the question for the Mets to catch up.
Tags: coaches, division, fire manuel, injuries, managers, mathematically eliminated, Mets, National League East, NL East, optimistic, prospects
Enjoy the Game
The All-Star game arrives tomorrow. Tonight is the Home Run Derby. It’s a much maligned three, or four, days without regular season games. I’ve written an article about how exciting the All-Star break can be, and there are some points this year that I’d like to add.
This is the first year of the MLB Network. I’ve really liked what they’ve done so far, and while the All-Star Game is still on Fox, I think we’ll see some good stuff on the Network, getting better every year. Presumably the game will eventually be televised on MLB Network or at least they will have a lot more exclusive rights to things going on around the game.
Watch the game for the celebration of baseball as our National Pastime. Don’t play the “what if” game about injuries and arm fatigue and all that. These players can treat it as a vacation, a reprise from the grind of everyday baseball and the pressures that may envelope them on their own teams. These athletes are in good enough shape that the mental break from the standings is much more important than the physical break from playing.
I’ll enjoy watching the different aspects and play of different stars around the league. Because it’s baseball, and I love baseball. It doesn’t even matter that it barely counts. No one would risk getting excited about the prospects of game seven of the World Series at this point anyway, too much of a jinx.
Tags: all star 2009, All Star Game, Baseball, fox, fun, injuries, mlb network, national pastime, New York Mets, st louis
Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church. Why?
The Mets traded Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur. Hopefully this isn’t what the Braves needed to take the division, but I’m more concerned about Jeff. He’s hitting .250, which is more than he hit last year, and has five home runs.
Presumably it was power and defense that attracted Omar to Francoeur. He does have a good arm. I don’t know that he’s appreciably better than Church, who certainly wasn’t a liability out there. He’s supposedly got power, but for the last two years that’s equated to too many strike outs and not enough hits.
Let’s break down those home runs using hit tracker. Two are considered “just enough” home runs. This means they barely cleared the fence. Two more are classified as “lucky” which means they wouldn’t have cleared the fence on a 70 degree calm day. We know Citi Field is a below average hitter’s park, so how do those home runs translate? He hit all five to left center, which isn’t exactly the easiest place to hit them.
I worry that this was a move because Manuel does not like Ryan Church. Unfortunately, Manuel should play the guys that are better suited to help the Mets win and Ryan Church is just a better baseball player than Jeff Francoeur. The pressure is on HoJo now; hopefully he can mold Francoeur into a better baseball player.
Tags: braves, Citi Field, defense, hit tracker, Home Runs, jeff francoeur, Mets, Power, Ryan Church, trade
Mets Should Get a Bison
Fernando Martinez is injured. He was over-matched before he was injured, and I’m not sure sitting for a couple of games is the best way for him to develop into a Major League hitter. So why is he still on the roster? These guys aren’t Albert Pujols in waiting, but they’re hitting pretty well down in Buffalo. What could it hurt to see one of them?
Jesus Feliciano is a leftfielder hitting .302 in 74 games. He’s got 17 doubles, 34 RBIs. No errors.
He was also 6/16 with 2 walks in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico.
Cory Sullivan is hitting .301 in 77 games in center. 35 runs, 15 doubles, 2 home runs, 24 RBIs. No errors.
Neither are sluggers, but they seem to be solid baseball players that likely won’t be worse than Fernando Martinez who can recover and get everyday playing time back in Buffalo for now.
Tags: Buffalo Bisons, cory sullivan, fernando martinez, jesus feliciano, Mets, puerto rico, world baseball classic
Hang on to Those Towels
Have You Thrown in the Towel?
It’s not far fetched, and I don’t blame him. It’s hard not to be frustrated and disgusted with the Mets the way they’re playing. There is blame on the field, in the dugout, within management and even with in the front office, all the way up. I’m not sure I’m even willing to excuse the ushers or ticket takers from the poor play of the Mets.
But it’s not over. If only it was. We all know how much 2003 sucked, but right now I think 2009 has sucked more. There was some hope in 2003. Shea Stadium shook in 2003, if only because Mo Vaughn was trying to make it to first base. You had Alomar who had been a great player; surely after a year of getting accustomed to New York, he’d return to form. You still had Piazza.
It became evident pretty fast that these guys weren’t going to get it done. It was a season probably very similar to how the Pirates fans think, of “Well, if this guy gets hot, gets good, figures it out.. then..maybe..” By mid-April, most fans realized that there was no point in getting invested in the season.
One of the bright spots of 2003 was getting to see our star prospect, Jose Reyes. A lot of 2009 hinges on the same idea. Right now it feels like they’re being overly cautious, not even testing the injury. On one hand this could mean he’s still not healthy, on the other it could mean he’s 100% healed and almost ready to go. He’s been swinging down in Florida so I hope this is the Mets way of getting his swing in shape while still resting the injury. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go, and soon.
The biggest reason I would say not to throw in the towel has to do with not being overly critical of our existing players. Despite the injuries, the Mets are in the top of the league in batting average, on base percentage. They’re getting guys on, they’re getting chances. The problem is what they do with those chances. Part of it is that they have Fernando Tatis, and lead the league in grounding into double plays. Part of it’s lineup management. If you have a lot of guys getting on, but not getting in, the lineup needs to be shaken up. Things like batting Luis Castillo and his high OBP 8th, where he’s more likely to be stranded due to the pitcher’s spot, inflate these numbers. Part of it may be the lack of power, and not being able to get as many runs out of one hit. Part of it may be the bunting, which gives away an out and a chance to have a big inning.
Another culprit has been the fundamentals. This has been a problem for most of the year, and why Jerry Manuel is not working harder at stressing it is beyond me. Especially when many of the errors seem to be of the mental kind, suggesting that the players aren’t in the right frame of mind in the field. It’s the manager’s job to get his players ready for the game. This doesn’t excuse them from making these mistakes, but it is a fault of the manager as well. When players are pressing, even in the first inning, something needs to be done. These guys need to relax. Especially David Wright who’s carrying the weight of all our expectations on his shoulders. Daniel Murphy is another who works so hard, that maybe it’s too hard.
This leads me to another thought, which is Jose Reyes in the clubhouse. Reyes, despite being a hard worker, is a very happy go lucky guy. Love it or hate it, he’s pretty much defined the atmosphere of the Mets clubhouse for years. I think the Mets miss that. His energy is something that’s missing with this team and hopefully when he comes back that energy is something he can rev people up with, get them confident and relaxed, and win some ballgames and maybe stop some of these mental errors.
Tags: 2003, 2009, Confidence, fire manuel, injuries, Jose Reyes, Mets, Pitching, throw in the towel
Battle for First
Could first place be around the corner?
These current batch of Mets have been berated in the media and the blogs all week. “We can’t win like this” “These players aren’t very good.” Even the manager got into the act by asking for more offense and saying that it’d be tough to win with the current guys.
Despite all that, the Mets have now won two in a row, one with pitching and one with hitting. They will go into Philadelphia with a chance to take first place, sitting just one game behind the Phillies. (and the Marlins)
The Phillies aren’t playing great baseball either. In fact, the pitcher the Mets faced in Pittsburgh, Paul Maholm, has a better ERA than the Phillies ace Cole Hamels, and the two pitchers in the rotation the Mets are facing this weekend. The other pitcher, Rodrigo Lopez, is a journeyman pitcher who hasn’t pitched in the majors in two years. Lopez, coming off Tommy John surgery, signed with the Braves last year, pitching five innings in the minors, and was released at the end of the season. He’s nearly given up a home run a start in his career, which will go over well in that ballpark, and his best year came in Baltimore in 2002. He was 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA in the minors this year.
So the pitching landscape the Mets will face this weekend is not great. The lineup isn’t what it would be with Reyes, Delgado and Beltran in it, but most of these guys are still major leaguers, or prospects, and should be able to score some runs in a ballpark that lends itself to scoring runs.
The worry may be on the pitching side. Livan Hernandez has been pitching pretty well and hopefully he can keep the Phillies in the park. Fernando Nieve is basically an unknown, having had three excellent starts and one bad one. Has he been properly scouted now? Have the Phillies read the scouting reports? Or was last time just a blip, and he’ll bounce back with a good performance? Sunday is almost a must-win, with Santana on the mound. He’s a competitive guy, and nothing is more competitive than a competition for first place, against rivals, after a bad performance in his last outing. Expect good things from Santana on Sunday, which is also the halfway point in the season. Santana typically pitches well in the second half. A lot hinges on Livan tonight. The Phillies bats have been sleeping, and it would do us good not to wake them up.
Bad games, horrible losses, injuries, and bad managing in the first half can all be put aside this weekend. If the Mets play competitive baseball for these three days, the first half ends and the second half begins without any handicap or ground to make up. Beltran and Reyes may both be back before we know it, and it’d be an excellent situation to be in if they come back not to help the Mets play catchup, but to help the Mets put distance between them and whoever is in second come that point.
Tags: Citizens Bank Ballpark, Cole Hamels, division, First Place, Mets, NL East, Phillies, Pitching, rodrigo lopez