One of those things I set-up but never published. Here’s a video of Jerry Koosman and R.A. Dickey talking scoreless innings earlier in the year.
Beer Selection at MetLife Stadium
@sixpoint Brewery tweeted this on Sunday.
Nanokegs are between section 126 & 124 concourse at MetLife
This is awesome. Sixpoint nanokegs are the perfect complement to sporting events. To have a wide selection of them AND a dedicated stand is terrific for beer-loving sports fans. It was great to see Sweet Action available to everyone at Citi Field this year, but that’s just a tease compared to this.
I sincerely hope we get something like this at Citi Field next year. Especially if it has Diesel.
Citizen Bank Ballpark’s Beer Selection
Clearly the Phillies only do one thing right, and that’s beer. Philadelphia has a great beer scene, and Citizen’s Bank Ballpark is no different. This list was compiled by the producers of www.ChocolateCoveredMemories.com & www.MyRuinedLife.com listing all (well, besides the obvious macro brews) the beers available, and it’s broken down by section. (Something I probably should do next year with the Citi Field Beer List.
So while I like what the Mets have improved upon in the beer department, they’ve got a long way to go.
Let’s take a quick peek.
Locals: They’ve got Flying Fish, Victory, Prism, Weyerbacher, Yards, Yuengling, Sly Fox, Troegs, and Philadelphia Brewing Company. I may be missing a few off the list, but that’s quite a bit.
Styles: If you’ve been paying attention, I’ve been suggesting the Mets need a dark beer. (They don’t even have Guinness) CBP isn’t much better. They’ve got Guinness though, and also 21st Amendment’s Back in Black which is a delicious black IPA but not quite the same as a rich, malty porter. Baseball is a summer sport, but you can get chilly days early and late if your team hopes to make the playoffs. Even some summer nights are chilly and could use a darker beer. The rest of the selection is pretty broad across many styles. IPAs, a couple of Belgians, wheats, summers, even Sam Oktoberfest which is still way too early for but I think should be a staple of September and October baseball, Pilsners, Lagers, Pale Ales, Blondes, and ciders.
Location: I haven’t been to Citizen’s Bank Ballpark since 2007, and the beer was plentiful then, but it looks like now there are craft beers pretty much anywhere you look. 95% of Citi Field’s beer selection is located in 5 spots, but at CBP it looks like you never have to go more than a section or two, or perhaps one level down, to find a craft beer. That’s refreshingly awesome.
Win Mets DVDs: Longest Tenured Met
we all know that as of 2012, the longest tenured Met, going into the past, is David Wright. What we don’t know, yet, as who on the 2012 Mets will be the last player to no longer be a Met. Let’s find out who you think it is.
A+E Networks Home Entertainment/MLB Productions is allowing me to reward one person with a NEW YORK METS 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD SET. All you have to do is write me an email to contest@ceetar.com with which current Mets player you think will be a Met the longest going into the future. I don’t need an explanation, although you’re welcome to give one. I reserve the right to penalize you for stupid answers like Chris Young.
Answer has to be a current Mets player on the 40 man roster. I’ll also pick two runner up entries to receive a copy of NEW YORK METS 50 GREATEST PLAYERS DVD also by A+E Networks Home Entertainment/MLB Productions. Entries must be received by first pitch on Friday September 21st.
There is no prize, years from now, on ultimately being right with your answer, although if you make note of it and Twitter is still around, I’ll at least give you props for it.
Your Questions, My Answers
I’m out of the country starting last night through September 30th, so I requested some Twitter questions to make a quick and easy post. This is that post, submitted for your enjoyment while I tour Amsterdam, Munich for Oktoberfest, and Prague.
@ceetar What makes you think you can rely on Twitter for Friday Q&A questions when you’re strapped for time?
— Ted Berg (@OGTedBerg) September 10, 2012
That’s an easy one. I learned from the best. If you don’t know, Ted routinely does a Friday Twitter Q&A at Tedquarters. I wonder if Metsopotamia is big enough for TWO Q&A posts this Friday. To truly make this ridiculous, I’m going to schedule a tweet to this post for Ted on Friday in hopes of getting the Internet stuck in a recursion error.
@ceetar What’s your favorite craft beer of all time? — Paul J. Festa (@pauljfesta) September 10, 2012
Amusingly, I had responded to a question by Emily Ragle on this earlier in the week.
She asked: “#craftbeer fans: Do any of you actually have a favorite beer? I can’t ever choose, and it’s the most common question I’m asked.”
So my response will be the same one I gave her: It depends on my mood and the season. Right now for example I recently had a Founders Cerise, which is a delicious Michigan cherry fermented ale, and it’s the first thing to come to mind. I’ll be in Oktoberfest in eight days though, and Oktoberfest/fall is still my favorite beer season, so that would get a nod if someone asking was looking for recommendations. Visiting Hawaii two years ago I discovered a Toasted Coconut Ale at Kona Brewing Company that I absolutely fell in love with. If you’d asked me before visiting the isles, I would’ve told you I didn’t like coconut, and now I love it. I actually created a similar homebrew recipe for it, and it’s recently become available on the mainland in bottles and called Kona Koko Brown.
But this question is misleading. Paul asks for my favorite beer of all time, and I haven’t yet experienced all of time yet. I’ve been drinking craft beer for less than 10 years, and there are some really amazing beers that just haven’t been thought of yet. So unless I stumble upon a TARDIS, I’m going to reserve final judgement.
@pauljfesta @ceetar If I may add a similar question: what’s your favorite IPA?
— JD (@Section518) September 10, 2012
More beer questions? I thought I wrote a Mets blog? Fittingly enough, Eno Sarris was talking about IPAs on Twitter recently so I had this answer readily available as well. It’s Sixpoint Resin. “Whatever flames upon the night. Man’s own resinous heart has fed.” The beer is 9.1% alcohol and a whopping 103 IBU. (International bittering units. 103 is extremely high) It comes in a nifty narrow green nanokeg (can) that I once heard someone describe as fitting perfectly among shampoo bottles in the shower. IPAs can be a sore point for people that want to like more beer but find it daunting. The bittering often turns people off, and is definitely an acquired taste. A good IPA that I like to recommend is Flying Fish Hopfish; I find the malt in it balances the bitterness extremely well and makes for a delicious beer that’s not too harsh.
@ceetar ballpark estimate of the number of steins full of beer you will consume? — Stephanie Giangrande (@ItsStephanieG) September 10, 2012
At least ‘ballpark’ is a baseball word, from the Banner Day winner. This is a tough one. At Oktoberfest beer is only served in liter-sized steins, called Maß and pronounced ‘mas. These go for nearly 10 Euros, which as of this writing goes for about $12.8 since the Euro is doing it’s best 2007 Mets imitation and collapsing. Plenty of beer in New York City is $5 for a pint, plus a dollar tip, so the prices doesn’t even seem bad. Still, drinking liters of beer in one sitting in one tent is probably a poor way to see Oktoberfest, Munich, or Europe in general.
We will be there for 15 days, not including the plane travel days. Three days in Amsterdam, Nine in Germany, and four in Prague. Three of these will feature long train rides, and four of them with some extended family of my wife’s, which will probably raise the average amount I drink if what I’m being told about my German in-laws is true. So let’s measure pints, because we’re American and it’s a decent enough beer measurement. Given all the great beer and beer halls and the like around Europe, I suspect I’ll be drinking every day and mostly beer. I’m going to guess three pints a day on average, with the travel days and jet-lag days dragging the average down. So I’ll figure 45 pints of beer. Feel free to weigh in over or under in the comments. Assigning a, probably low, 200 calorie value to a beer, that’s 9000 calories which I’ll need to run ~50 miles on treadmill when I get back to burn off.
@ceetar will you be even slightly tempted to check mets scores while away?
— Stephanie Giangrande (@ItsStephanieG) September 10, 2012
Yay, Mets questions! When I started planning this trip early in the year, before the season even started, I knew there was a possibility I could be missing some big baseball games. Clearly that’s not the case, and the way the Mets are playing right now is frustrating. 7:10 starts are 1:10 am starts in Germany however, so I imagine I’ll check in in the morning while checking email. I’m sad there are only three games left, the final series in Miami, that I can watch though, and will probably click open a boxscore to see if David Wright has collected the hits needed to pass Kranepool for most in franchise history, if R.A. Dickey collected a win, or just to see who had a good game.
@ceetar The Mets, a great team or greatest team ever? — Gary Palumbo (@SaltyGary) September 10, 2012
Greatest team ever, obviously. Baseball is the greatest sport ever, with the possible exception of Calvinball, so the best team ever would have to be a baseball team. New York is the greatest city in the world, so clearly the best team would be located in that city right? The designated hitter is an abomination, eliminating the transplants from Baltimore, the Yankees. The Giants and Dodgers have now played more games in California than New York. The Mets, born of New Yorkers’ thirst for National League baseball, are clearly the greatest. Q.E.D.
@ceetar I want to hear drunk stories from Oktoberfest! Also, Prague is the best. Not a question, just a fact. Also, #BlameBeltran
— Jeff H (@darknova306) September 10, 2012
Everything I’ve read about Oktoberfest suggests I’ll have lots of stories. I suspect I’ll even tell some of them, probably at the non-Mets blog Garden Variety New Yorker, where I tend to post stuff I think should probably stay off a Mets blog. I’m sure if I have WiFi here and there I’ll be tweeting the occasional European observation and picture. I bet Jeff would appreciate a picture of the traditional Bavarian beer maid carrying way too many Maß of beer as well. I’ve heard great things about Prague, and clearly it’s Beltran’s fault I’ll eventually have to leave there.
Thanks for the questions everybody. I’m scheduling this for Friday morning, and by then It’ll be afternoon in Amsterdam and I’ll have just arrived. I’m probably sitting on a rooftop bar at the hotel looking out over the city right now.
Excellent Citi Field Virtual Tour
Darren from The7Line posted this excellent time lapse youtube video of him entering Citi Field before the game, circling the concourse, settling into his seat and then flashes through the game and departure. It captures visiting the ballpark from a fan’s perspective very well, I only wish he’d picked a winning game or at least spliced in some of the Mets Win! scoreboard graphics.
Hope For Next Year and Ticket Contest Winner
Congratulations to Amanda for winning the final pair of Mets tickets this season. Thanks to Seatcrew, the no-fee ticket marketplace, for providing them.
Let’s break down some of the optimistic submissions on what in 2012 we should be thankful for looking forward, starting with Amanda’s (and many others) response.
DAVID WRIGHT!!! :)
Yes, he hasn’t had a great second half, but David Wright is worthy of at least one smilie face this year. He’s having one of his best season ever, is playing great defense, and is about to become the franchise leader in hits. Don’t go anywhere David. Ever.
Todd writes:
It’s a toss up between Matt Harvey and Ike Davis. I really feel that Matt Harvey is going to be the future ace of the team, with a little more grooming he and Dickey can be on of the best 1-2s in the bigs
I already mentioned Ike Davis. Matt Harvey has definitely looked good though. It’s a pretty limited sample size, but it’s hard not to dream on what this power pitcher can do for us next year. A couple of people mentioned the rotation. It’s definitely looking like a strength for the 2013 Mets right now.
Those were the big responses. As much as that highlights some optimism, it also accents the places the Mets need to improve: bullpen and outfield.
Can We Talk About Chris Capuano?
Chris Capuano was a Met last year, as you may remember. He wasn’t a particularly good pitcher, although he had his moments. After 66 innings in 2010, Capuano came to the Mets healthy for the first time in a while and had a pretty good first half before tailing off in the second. The Mets correctly assumed that Capuano would get too much money for a near replacement level starter and didn’t retain him, but what he has become this year has been anything but average, although he does again appear to be tailing off in the second half again.
Perhaps this ‘change’ is simply him being comfortable with his body one year removed from surgery, but he’s got basically the same K/BB as last year. He’s got a career low ERA even after a sub-par second half so far. He’s throwing much more pitches in the zone, but actually getting less contact on them, and much less contact outside of the zone. It certainly seems like he’s setting up hitters better and keeping them more off balance. He’s allowed less hits overall, and less home runs.
I guess you could attribute some of that to defense, although the Dodgers defense doesn’t seem particularly awesome, just better than the Mets. Seems a big jump to attribute just to that. His FIP is better, but his xFIP is worse. (Although it’s hard to trust a stat that says fielding independent and yet gets better when fielders make plays) Is this an indictment on Dan Warthen and the Mets staff? Was there an adjustment to be made that he was unable to figure out with the Mets? I know Ron Darling mentioned on the broadcast one day that he worked with Capuano a little last year on some things, and while it’s cool that he’s helping out, it seems like a bad sign that the broadcaster is helping out the pitchers on the side. This wouldn’t be the first pitcher that struggled here and succeeded elsewhere, although maybe that’s true of every team and it just seems like it’s more with the Mets.
This is just piece of evidence against Dan Warthen’s tenure as pitching coach continuing. With all the young pitchers the Mets are going with, I’d really love to have a brilliant coach that can really nurture these guys and get the best out of them. I don’t believe Dan Warthen is that guy.
Mets Ticket Giveaway via Seatcrew
It’s time for the final (from here) Mets Ticket giveaway from Seatcrew.com, The free social marketplace where fans buy and sell tickets without surcharges.
This week we’re talking about two tickets to see the Mets play the Phillies on Monday September 17th to start out the final homestand of the year.
To be eligible you have to have a seatcrew.com account as well as follow Ceetar on Twitter.
Instead of the normal prediction contest, let’s do something different.
Tell me what event or player from the 2012 Mets gives you the most hope for the 2013 season?
Send your answers to
contest@ceetar.com with the subject line ‘Optimistic Mets Fan Giveaway. My choice is going to be Ike Davis. He started so slow, but the adjustments he made and the power he contributes looks to be invaluable for the Mets going forward. You’re welcome to reuse my answer if you like. I’ll pull a random name from the hat on this Monday morning, so you have until Midnight on Sunday the 9th to get your answer in.
I’ll announce the winner and then give you my thoughts on the submissions and the future.
You can follow Seatcrew on Twitter, or like them on Facebook here.
A Thought On Mets Payroll
Look, no one has any idea what the payroll is going to be. Sandy Alderson has clearly stated they haven’t finalized numbers yet, and that he’s prepared for a number of different options.
It’s Sandy Alderson’s third year, and he’s going to start feeling some pressure to not just point this team in the right direction, but actually get them to take a step or two. The Wilpons have always seemed willing to invest in a plan that makes the Mets better. They haven’t exactly shied away from spending money in the past, and the recent drop was in part due to plummeting revenues as well as financial messes. These last couple of years are obvious exceptions to the willingness to spend money, but they DID invest more money by buying minority shares. This was always the plan, and it stands to reason that if needed the Wilpons could manage at least a slightly higher payroll if need be. Maybe that’s not the case, but it’s really impossible to say as we’re not privy to that information.
Combine those two and I suspect Sandy Alderson will pitch a plan with a slightly higher payroll, depending on if he can acquire the pieces he’s targeting, and that the Wilpons will approve that. Alderson will be selling it as a probable way to make the Mets better, which will also increase revenue if it works out. This isn’t to say the Mets payroll definitely increases; If the players Alderson wants that would increase payroll are not available, for any number of reasons, he’s not obligated to raise the payroll just because he has the green light. Which is part of the reason he’s not going to tell us what the target numbers are. (Another part being it hurts his negotiating position with free agents if they know exactly how much money he has to spend)
It actually makes sense to spend a little in 2013. Barring Johan Santana returning to Cy Young form, or Jason Bay making a run at the MVP, both players come off the books after next seasons freeing up a lot of money. It’s probably reckless to spend it all at once, and there’s no guarantee that there will be enough quality players the Mets need to acquire available to spend it. Spend a little bit above budget in 2013 with the expectation that it’ll come down again in 2014 with all the money coming off the payroll. While the Mets have a lot of money owed next year, they’ve got virtually none of it committed to future years. Spending a little this off season is not going to create a logjam of contracts or leave the Mets unable to get out from under a pile of unproductive players.
The Mets need to get better, and Sandy Alderson has suggested that the roster won’t look the same regardless of what the budget is. It’s probably more set than it seems. The infield and starting pitching look pretty good, and the bench is certainly passable with guys like Hairston and Baxter and even Turner and Cedeno. Whatever does happen with the budget, we can probably count on Sandy Alderson doing everything he can to make this team much better next year.