Here’s a dose of nostalgia for you: Random photos from the last game at Shea Stadium 9/28/2008.
Continue reading “Shea Stadium: Random Photos From Final Game”
Views Of Citi Field: Left Field Foul Pole
I miss Citi Field, and Mets games.
Clearly I like to roam when I’m at the game alone, and this shot from last April reflects that. It’s taken from the Promenade corner in left field shot right over the foul pole. This is actually the first place I ever sat in Citi Field, way back during the St. Johns exhibition game before the 2009 season. You’re not close to the action, but you do get a nice bird’s eye view of the entire field, sans the left field wall which you need to lean forward to see.
Behind me is the only exit in the ballpark that resembles the Shea ramps, and doubles as the smoking section. You can also see the Manhattan skyline from there.
Citi Field Beer Idea
This weekend I got a chance to visit the new Queens brewery, Singlecut Beersmiths.
You can click on that link for my review, but the gist of it is that it was good stuff. Queens hasn’t really had any breweries at all until recently, and Singlecut fits right in. You should all know where I’m going with this now. The Mets should support a local business, and get (at least) a tap of their beer into Citi Field. They did a great job with the craft beer dugouts last season, and adding Singlecut to the selection would not be that difficult.
It’d be a great way to expand the beer selection to include a larger variety of local beer.
New Feature: Spin It
This feature could also be called rose-colored glasses. I’ll take one particular aspect of the Mets and try to use logic, reasoning, and statistical analysis to look at the best case scenarios for various Mets players and situations. It’s also about spreading optimism, however small. So along those lines, I’d like to write the posts based on reader-submitted questions.
If you want me to tell you why Daniel Murphy will be a good player for the 2013 Mets, or why we should put our faith in Kirk Nieuwenhuis as the regular center fielder, let me know. Email me at ceetar@ceetar.com,or tweet at me @Ceetar.
To start us off I’m going to link to a Mark Simon post describing what the Mets need to make the 2013 playoffs.
Hall Of Fame Vote: Now The Hall Of Favorites
Mike Piazza was clearly a Hall of Famer, as were numerous other players on the ballot that were not elected this year. He’s among the leaders, if not THE leader, in many offensive categories including home runs and slugging percentage. He was a perennial MVP candidate and was on the All-Star Team roughly every year. He hit, and hit, and hit.
Any allegations about illegal substances that may or may not have had some unknown positive effect on his overall performance are pure speculation at best. The Hall of Fame has a five year waiting period for a reason and as we look back at Piazza’s numbers and performance over the years it’s clear he should be a clear-cut favorite to be on practically every ballot. There has been plenty of time for dirt-digging and witch-hunts, if such things matter to your vote. Nothing substantial has turned up as the dust settled on his career, clearly meaning he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame among his fellow all-time greats.
It simply isn’t a Hall of Fame if the most famous players aren’t a part of it. Perhaps we should start referring to it as the Hall of Favorites, subject to the whim and folly of the baseball writers of America. It’s not just Piazza either, and it’s not all voters that have failed baseball fans. There are many well-reasoned ballots out there that were forced to leave people off the ballot not because of whispers and rumors, but because they are only allowed to vote for 10 people and found more than 10 on this ballot were qualified. For none of those qualified players to get in is a travesty.
The Hall of Fame is just a museum, but baseball is a sport that celebrates lore and history and the Hall of Fame is a great representation of that. It has failed in that regard, and it’s a step down a road to being just another virtually meaningless award. If it’s not going to represent the best of the best, then it’s purpose has passed. Take down all the plaques and let it remain as a museum of treasures and accomplishments, and as fans we’ll remember who the truly great players are. It’s not the Hall’s fault, as it’s the writers who vote for the collection of players honored, but if they’re not going to change the criteria for voters, these things will continue to happen and deserving players will be kept out. There is a lot of outrage right now, but this may be the last straw. Next year many fans, such as me, will treat the pending vote as a triviality.
The Mazzy Awards
The third annual Mazzy Awards were held Saturday night at Donovan’s Pub in Woodside. No matter what other activities you’re interested in to pass the time between last out and first pitch, you miss your baseball pals. The men, women, and baseball-headed mascots that make up so much of your life from the time when pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie and the final strike of the season. Alas, Mr. Met couldn’t make it this year, but maybe next time..
When you have the opportunity to help honor fellow fans and bloggers and talk baseball on a quiet night in January, you do it. No one takes themselves too seriously, it was just a fun way to whittle away the offseason, but Shannon and Keith both did an amazing job setting up and executing these awards. High quality video streams, a private room for us, official envelopes and even bobblehead award statues. Everyone agreed that they should make it an annual event; next year I hope you join us.
Hanging out with a beer or two with fellow Mets fans talking sports, Hall of Fame, old wax cups at Shea Stadium and even television almost made you feel like it was baseball season again. If you listened carefully you could almost hear Howie Rose describing the new blue uniforms as the Mets jogged out to take their places on the field.
Optimism in the Air
We are now closer to 2013 Mets baseball than we are to 2012 Mets baseball. Yesterday was the Mets Baseball Equinox and now we march towards a new dawn with anticipation. The Mets are undefeated this year. They have not disappointed us yet. Young players still have the potential stat sheets and scouts predict for them and no one’s gotten injured since last year.
This clearly doesn’t mean everything is rosy, but Mets baseball approaches and we’ve got miracles and just plain baseball fun on the horizon. No need to fret over how it’ll ultimately end up, let’s just enjoy whats coming.
Hey, even the NHL looks like it’ll sneak some games in to entertain us while we wait.
Disappointment Over A Good Mets Trade
There is no doubt that the trade Sandy Alderson is in the process of pulling off is a good one. We still aren’t aware of some of the finer details, but the Mets are adding two top prospects, John Buck, and a third minor leaguer, for R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and a minor prospect. Dickey is one of the best pitchers in the league, and he still may be a top of the line starter for a couple of years, but the Mets are adding players that may still be having a positive impact on the team six years from now. It’s certainly possibly they may not flourish, particularly the much farther away Noah Syndergaard, but the probability favors the Mets in that regard.
The problem is the immediate future. Travis d’Arnaud, the catcher the Mets are receiving, will probably be up to the majors very soon, if not on Opening Day. John Buck will likely be on the team in the interim, and probably shift to a backup role when d’Arnaud gets called up. Together it’s unlikely they provide as much value as R.A. Dickey, and that means a team already under .500 is probably taking a step back before pushing forward. That’s disheartening for most fans, whose number one concern is the current roster of players on the field. Many of us would rather root for the guys we have to succeed, particularly when they’re great ones like Dickey, than reinvest emotion in new guys that are merely promising to be great. Ultimately though what the fans want doesn’t matter because winning is what brings in the fans, the attention, and the money. It’s not out of the question that d’Arnaud plus the pitcher the Mets replace Dickey with is worth more than Dickey and Thole would’ve been, but it doesn’t seem like a good bet for 2013 nor the type of improvement the Mets need to climb out of 4th place if it does happen.
That’s where the disappointment comes in; this trade does not make the Mets better in the foreseeable future. Sure, it raises the probability that they are better down the line, but it’s also important that this player is going to be cheap and under team control for a long time. Fans can forgive losing star players, whether homegrown ones or adopted ones, when the team placed in front of them excites and captures their attention, but so far I’m not so sure the 2013 version is in position to do that. Especially if we don’t get an impact bat for the outfield and instead go with Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and a platoon of Mike Baxter and 2013’s version of Scott Hairston. We heard a lot about the present value of contracts with the David Wright negotiations, and that concept applies to winning seasons too; a winning season in the present is worth more than one in the future. Good process only gets you so far, and there are plenty of inherent risks between now and then that could sabotage the plan. A clearly improved 2013, even if it ultimately falls short, could create the excitement that draws fans in, fans that will continue to come in 2014. The message lately has felt like it’s not worth investing in this team yet, which keeps ticket sales and revenue down; revenue that could make the job of creating a winner in 2014 easier. It’d be unfair to assume Sandy Alderson’s going to take the rest of the offseason off at this juncture, meaning he could still improve the team and the outfield, but it’s hard to see the type of players coming that give this team a “If everything breaks right” chance at the playoffs.
As always with the Mets these last three years, the money question is always looming. Partial sales, which included Sterling money invested in the Mets, helped pay off loans and seemed to at least point the Mets in the right direction. Allusions were made to a payroll in 2013 at or above 2012’s number. The deferred contracts and negotiations seem to point in a different direction, although it is still possible that Sandy Alderson spends most of that money on players that make the Mets better. It’s never a good idea to expect much direct truth from a general manager, that’s not their job, but given the message that the actions are sending it feels pretty hard to do more than guess at the plan. The Mets appear to be in a holding pattern and I just hope they get clearance to land before they run out of gas.
Captain Wright In Blue
Photoshopped a picture of David Wright in a blue jersey with a C, just for fun.
Captain Wright, All-Time Met, Forever Met
Lots and love and support for Shannon Forde at the fundraising dinner last night. 1000 people that have crossed her path in the 18 years she’s worked for the Mets showed up to show their support, and not least among them Sandy Alderson and Jeff Wilpon.
Perhaps that’s why the news of David Wright’s re-signing didn’t come down and get finalized until the middle of the night; they were busy with something more important. It doesn’t matter which day of the offseason it gets done, and now that it’s seemingly done we can rejoice and celebrate what’s likely to be one of the Mets best players, perhaps the best, ever.
I’ve been calling for them to name Wright captain for years, and while it’s never been a thing of huge importance it’d be nice to see Wright’s new blue jersey come with a ‘C’. (I’m not at home right now, but we’ll get Wright photoshopped in a blue jersey with a ‘C’, I promise) I’m not asking him to take on a new role, or give him new responsibilities. Naming him captain is simply another way to celebrate him, and we should make a point to celebrate our best players when they’re on the field performing for us.
Wright is a Met. He’s always been a Met. He will always be a Met. 60 years from now Wright will be showing up at Alumni events and our kids and grandkids and beyond will be there to cheer him. They’ll compare him to their new heroes, and the third basemen that come after him. Players that likely haven’t even been born yet. Wright will recount stories about playing with Cliff Floyd, Mike Piazza, Carlos Delgado and others. He’ll reminisce about at bats against legends like Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez and all the superstars in the league now plus the ones that will emerge over the next eight years. No other Mets player will ever wear the number five again. He’s destined for the left field wall, and maybe one day the Hall of Fame and even a statue. There could be a Wright plaza at the next stadium.
What we have here in front of us is one of the Mets all-time greats, in his prime, to root for for years to come. This is greater than wins and losses, greater than owners and uniform colors and ticket prices. We’re going to talk about these times, this next legendary Met, for decades and decades. Enjoy it. Believe it.