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John Franco, Brandon Nimmo, Doc Gooden, etc


Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview John Franco, who was handing out free ice cream in Bryant Park. I got his take on Matt Harvey, Blue Jerseys, Old-Timers Day and even The Cyclone.

 

You should already be voting for David Wright for the All-Star Game, but you should also be voting for Brandon Nimmo to get the last spot in the Futures Game on the Sunday before.  Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero will already be there representing the Mets.

 

Dwight Gooden‘s doing an exclusive Q & A and signing of his book in the Rotunda before tonight’s game. Ticket’s available.

 

Tonight starts the last home stand before the All-Star Game. It’s also Harvey day. Follow me on Twitter for some pregame batting practice pictures and anything else I random take during the game. I’ll be on the hunt for anything that may have showed up for the All-Star Game early..like any of this delicious food.

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All-Star Wine, but no All-Star Beer?

There is a 2013 MLB All-Star Wine available from Purlieu Wines.  This is fine, I’m all for specialized products celebrating the 2013 game at Citi Field. Of course, this product was put together with about as little effort as one could manage. The URL for the site still reads 2012, and it’s just a simple bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon with the game logo on the label. The description doesn’t even mention the Mets, or New York. Additionally, it’s from Napa Valley. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, there are a ton of nice wineries on Long Island that are local and would probably love to sell one of their wines for this event.

 

And there is no beer. You can specifically tailor a beer to the event and it takes much less time to brew for production than wine. There are dozens of appropriate breweries in New York that could provide something fun. Even Ommegang, the brewery located in the same town as the Hall of Fame, would be a great choice. They brew a special beer for Game of Thrones, I imagine they could spare a couple of barrels for the Midsummer Classic. Think about how neat it would be for the baseball Hall of Fame to feature a collection of bottles from each game?

 

Regardless, there seems to be no All-Star Beer. Citi Field’s beer selection isn’t horrible, but it has about as many All-Stars as the Mets do. It’s disappointing that the event seems so corporate sometimes it’s hard to get some of this personalization. Never mind that Budweiser is a huge MLB sponsor and would probably do their best to nix any non-Budweiser beer being celebrated anyway.

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Mets All-Star Game Apple Parade in NYC

I noticed this giant Apple in Grand Central Station during lunch today, only to discover it was part of something bigger. A Mets Apple Parade!

 

There are 35 apples around New York City, all in Manhattan sans the MLB All-Star Game apple that’s in front of Citi Field. There is one for each team, one for the National League, one for the American League and then two for the departed New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. (@fletch788 saw the Brooklyn one, also in Grand Central)

 

More info about the Apple Parade.

 

If you Instagram an apple, or 15 of them, you are entered to win a prize which may include World Series tickets.

 

My first instinct was obviously to look up where the Mets apple was, and fittingly it’s in front of/near the SNY offices, but when I got there it was nowhere to be found. Apparently they aren’t all set up yet. We’ll find out shortly if the one at Citi Field is there as the gates open in a couple of hours for tonight’s game. I was sort of hoping the Yankees apple was buried in a deserted alley somewhere, but no such luck; it’s just off Times Square. That may be fitting as Yankee Stadium closely resembles Times Square sometimes.

 

Some of the locations just seem odd though; why is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ apple way up at a T-Mobile in Harlem?

 

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New at Citi Field this year

photo by CeetarThe Mets will have a couple of new items at Citi Field this year, from food to ticket options to drinks.

 

There is no mention of beer, which is disappointing. Perhaps it’s just going unmentioned and there will be some new cool local options around, and I’ll certainly be looking for them, but I’m not holding my breath. They do mention an expansion of the frozen drinks stand that was around somewhere last year.

 

El Verano Taqueria will have a cantina menu with frozen drinks, and they’ll also be a frozen and mixed drink bar near section 414 on the promenade. That’s right behind home plate on what I call the Citi Field Piazza.

 

Blue Smoke will have pork rinds, as well as a delicious sounding brisket sandwich.

 

Shake Shack will get their vegetarian option, the ‘Shroom Burger. Also High Heat Cheese Fries,  Cheese Dog/High Heat Cheese Dog, and a “Meet the Pretz” concrete (black & white custard, chocolate covered pretzels and malt powder).

 

The Mets Hall of Fame will get a Johan Santana No Hitter exhibit as well as a ton of All-Star stuff to celebrate the Mets hosting the All Star Game.

 

There will be various ticket deals as well. $10 student rush tickets, military tickets, and some others including a free ticket for your birthday.

 

As always I’ll spend a good chunk of Opening Day wandering the park to see what’s new and hunting for secret beer stands. I’m sure there will be a couple of interesting things here and there.

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The King In The North Of Queens

Confirmed: R.A. Dickey does indeed come to bat to the theme song from the HBO series the Game of Thrones.

 

What Dickey has been doing on the mound is so amazing it changes the narrative around the team and dominates the story line.   Even the usually wordy R.A. has run out of things to stay to describe the results he’s getting, instead saying he’s going to leave it to us to describe and just continue going out there and doing his work.

 

The Mets had just gotten swept, again, coming into this series with the Orioles.  This was the farthest thing from your mind watching the game.  There was no downward spiral, no wheels coming off the train, just R.A. Dickey dazzlingly darting knuckleballs around Oriole bats.  Wilson Betemit got a hit in the 5th and ceased our worry about the no-hitter, and Ike Davis got a grand slam in the 6th that ceased our worry about losing the game.  From there on it was pure joy.

 

The Mets have a legitimate Cy Young candidate as the season nears it’s halfway point.  They probably have the All-Star Game’s starting pitcher.  They have an MVP candidate and a Rookie of the Year candidate.   If they could find someone to compete for Rolaids Relief Man there would be nothing this team couldn’t do.

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Bobby Valentine At Citi Field?

Many Mets fans wanted Bobby Valentine hired to manage the Mets again at Citi Field.  Well, there is still a chance he could manage here; The Boston Red Sox just need to make it to the World Series this year and he’ll be in the dugout managing the American League Club at next year’s All-Star Game.

 

It requires rooting for the Red Sox of course, which isn’t something I’ve ever had trouble doing.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all.

 

The perfect scenario is Valentine manages the All-Star Game as the losing manager from this year’s World Series, and that Terry Collins manages the other team.  An interesting twist would be if somehow the Nationals make the World Series and we get a Valentine vs. Davey Johnson matchup at Citi Field.

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Why The All-Star Game (at Citi Field) Will Be Awesome

I know it’s popular to knock the All-Star Game and it all represents, but the truth of it is that it’s basically a party to celebrate baseball, and who doesn’t love baseball?  And like most parties, it’s much much better in person.

 

I was there for the 2006 All-Star Game and had an absolute blast in Pittsburgh despite driving back after the game to New York and going to work Wednesday morning.   Click the link to read my take on the experience, including the Home Run Derby.  It was really a lot of fun, and I’m truly looking forward to getting to experience it at home.

 

So expect a lot of thoughts and reactions about the game, particularly as the more exciting details come out about All-Star Villages, first pitches, and potential celebrations.   Now a note to the 2012 Mets: Get to the World Series so Terry Collins can manage and the proper (too many) amount of Mets get represented in the game.

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Pondering The Delay in the 2013 All-Star Game Announcement

This post is dedicated to the memory of Gary Carter, a true Mets All-Star.

Wright touches home after homering in the 2006 All-Star GameMets Police has been pondering why there has been no official announcement of where the 2013 MLB All-Star Game will be played.  Unofficially it’s going to be at Citi Field, but that news is been pending for a long time now, and it’s past the time we usually have these things announced.

 

I had speculated that it was related to first Bud Selig’s pending renewal of his term as commissioner, and then not wanting to announce things during the Giants Super Bowl run.  Now it’s almost Spring Training and we’ve heard nothing.

 

But something else is happening in 2013: interleague play and realignment.   This will probably add more interleague games, and all year long.  Perhaps Major League Baseball is considering changing the All-Star Game from an AL versus NL to something akin to the NHL with captains picking teams.  Or perhaps they’ll go with something they did for the Home Run Derby a couple of years ago; teams based on country of origin.  Coincidentally 2013 will also be the third edition of the World Baseball Classic, so the game will already be in an international mode.

 

I have no idea why something like that would need to delay the announcement though.  Maybe they just want to have more details about it when they do eventually let us know.

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Home Run Derby Alternatives

David Wright at the 2006 Home Run DerbyTholeMoley over at Mr. Met Is My Brother wrote a post about watching the NHL All-Star Game.  Actually she’s wrote a couple of them, but I want to talk about one of them specifically.  I wanted to watch the festivities this weekend, especially with John Tavares a part of them, but I had other things to deal with and missed it.  TholeMoley highlighted some of the events in the skills competition, and talks about how much better it is than the Home Run Derby.

 

Now, personally I like the Home Run Derby.  There is nothing more magnificent in all of sports than watching a baseball player swing and smash a baseball 400+ feet in the air.  There’s just a simple majestic beauty to it, especially if you see it in person like I did in 2006.  (And that’s not just because you can’t hear Chris Berman)  Most of what people object to about the Derby is the massive amount of time between batters and all the other stuff besides the mammoth home runs.

 

So broadening the spectrum might be fun and could include more than just the Home Run Derby and the random eight players they can find to participate.  TholeMoley suggests a fastest trip around the bases to parallel the fastest skater event.  She also mentions fastest players, hardest throwers, and the most accurate throwers getting their time to shine.

 

You could do an accuracy event.  Set up some milk bottles on a table, and have the players throw a baseball at them.  If they hit it they advance to the next round and take five steps back.  Repeat this until you have a winner.  If all players miss at the same time, simply repeat that round.

 

Not to take anything away from the kids that get to shag balls in the outfield, but you could position the All-Star outfielders at the walls and let them try to rob home runs all night.  Most of them clear the fence by quite a bit though.

 

Perhaps giving out more titles is the way to go.  In a social media society we’re all used to get badges and titles for things as simple as checking in to the ballpark more than anyone else.  Instead of just crowning a winner, crown the guy with the farthest home run, with the most home runs back to back and the guy with the highest single round total.

 

These are just a couple of suggestions, and none of them seem too much different than simple warm-up activities so there shouldn’t be any real concern about anyone getting hurt.  It’d be an interesting way to spice up the event and might spike interest that has been fading over the years.  There are other things they can do to, like break up the idea of National League versus American League since the advent of interleague play takes away some of the mystery of it.  It’s pretty clear that the All-Star Game is not perfect, and MLB should always be looking to tweak it.