Equipment Drive, Google Plus, Hurricane Tweet This Post
What’s going on around Metsopotamia?
The Mets are running an equipment drive. If you’ve got some stuff, bring it by!
EQUIPMENT COLLECTION DRIVE:
To support the growth of youth baseball and softball, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF) has teamed up with Major League Baseball Clubs to organize equipment collection drives across the United States. This season, the Mets will once again team up with the BTF to assist local youth baseball and softball organizations by collecting new and used baseball equipment prior to the game on Saturday, August 27.
During the past five seasons, the Mets have collected bats, gloves, balls, spikes, uniforms, catcher’s gear for the Greater New York Sandlot Athletic Alliance, who distribute the donations to area youth baseball organizations. This year, we hope to increase our donations significantly with the help of our loyal fans.
Please bring any equipment that you plan to donate to Citi Field when the Mets host the Atlanta Braves on August 27 at 4:10 p.m. Donation stations will be open two and a half hours prior to the start of the game outside of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. On behalf of the Mets, we thank you for your support.
No word on if the Mets will reschedule the game Sunday that’s likely to be rained out. It’s possible they could play it Saturday as part of a doubleheader if they can work it out with Fox. The Mets are under no obligation to make this easy for the Braves, who forced the Mets into a doubleheader when they were dealing with some pitching shortages in April due to another double header a day earlier.
The Mets community is growing on Google Plus. It’s looking like a fun little place to be able to share posts and ideas. I think Google may have something here. You can join and add me to your circles here.
Tags: Atlanta Braves, baseball tomorrow fund, fox ruins baseball, google plus, hurricane irene, Mets, mets doubleheader, mets equipment drive, mets fox, mets google plus, mets hurricane, mets irene, New York Mets
NL MVP vs AL Cy Young, Vote Reyes, DePodesta Recap Tweet This Post
Couple of noteworthy things to look at today. The first is the Mets are playing a day game today at 1:05. The potential National League MVP, Jose Reyes, will leadoff the game against the potential American League Cy Young, Justin Verlander. Should be a fun day. The Mets won the first game on a blowout, the second on a slugfest, could the third be a pitcher’s duel? Is Mike Pelfrey up for it?
Secondly today we need to get #votereyes trending on Twitter and also to vote for Reyes as many times as we can. It would be a travesty if Reyes was not the starting shortstop for the National League. While you’re voting, throw in some votes for Carlos Beltran too. On the American League side Asdrubal Cabrera deserves your vote, especially as he’s currently being led by a player having a poor season that’s on the disabled list in Derek Jeter. Mike Francesa thinks the All-Star Game should be Jeter’s personal 3000 hit celebration, which is even more fodder. Also, Alex Avila deserves your vote for AL Catcher.
Thirdly, last night a bunch of bloggers talked with Paul DePodesta and Michael Baron of Metsblog kindly put up a transcript. I’m sure there are couple of other breakdowns out there too.
Tags: #votereyes, 2011 al cy young, 2011 nl mvp, al cy young, All Star Game, all-star voting, Asdrubal Cabrera, blogger conference call, bloggers, Jose Reyes, justin verlander, mets blog, mets bloggers, metsblog, mvp award, nl mvp, nl ss, paul depodesta, vote reyes
Eating With Bloggers: A Citi Field Food Tour Tweet This Post
Monday night I, and many of your other favorite bloggers, was invited out to Citi Field for a Mets game, and a pre-game tour of Mets concessions and clubs with Scott Kleckner, Resident District Manager, Sports & Entertainment for Aramark. It did not disappoint. We ate. A lot.
Obviously the Keith’s Burger that I wrote about earlier in the season was included. We learned that it’s doing very well, and will likely become a permanent fixture in the future much like the Pastrami sandwich (which we also sampled) was tested last year. I love that the Mets and Aramark are trying out new things and never satisfied with the status quo. At Shea the most exciting change you could look forward to was if they changed burger suppliers.
Here’s a shot of the bloggers enjoying a slice of Margherita style pizza at Cascarino’s.
Cascarino’s was chosen in part because it’s local. It’s right there on College Point Blvd and so local that if you could get pizza delivered to Citi Field, Cascarino’s is close enough to do so.
Speaking of local fare, I brought up the departed Brooklyn Brewery beers. Without getting anything explicitly confirmed, it was made pretty clear that Budweiser can exert a ton of pressure financially over what beers are available. It was also suggested that Brooklyn Brewery may not be gone forever. (besides the cans of lager that remain) Right now the only true local beer available to the masses is Blue Point Toasted Lager at Catch of the Day. There’s also a tap of Sixpoint Sweet Action (and some Ommegang. Honestly, given it’s Cooperstown affiliation, EVERY ballpark should have some of it) in the Delta Sky Club, but that’s obviously a limited access area.
Perhaps the best thing we ate all night: An eggplant parmigiana sandwich. It was delicious: perfectly breaded with tasty sauce and excellent bread. I highly recommend it if you have a chance to be in the Delta Sky Club, or if they end up offering it elsewhere.
We also sampled the new fried chicken sandwich from Blue Smoke, which was my second favorite taste of the day. I’m not a big seafood eater, so I passed on the Po’Boy and Flounder at Catch of the Day, but everyone else liked it. I did have a handful of popcorn shrimp, which were definitely tasty but I’ll second Rob Castellano of Amazin’ Avenue in wishing there was some dipping sauces with them. The final thing we tasted was a new appetizer in the Delta Sky Club. It was some hot dog bites, basically a small hot dog dipped in panko breading. It was good, but nothing to really write home about.
Check out some of these other write ups while you’re at it, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.
http://www.ontheblack.com/2011/05/17/video-diary-citi-field-food-beverage-operations/
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/5/17/2174894/citi-field-food-mets-eat
Tags: aramark, blue smoke, brooklyn brewery, cascarinos, chicken parmigiana, Citi Field, citi field beer, citi field food, eggplant parmigiana, food at citi field, keith's burger, Mets, mets and beer, mets aramark, mets blog, mets bloggers, mets food, New York Mets, pastrami
The7Line, Stem Cells, One-Out Wins and Above Their Heads Tweet This Post
A quick link dump here. I don’t spend enough time promoting the other fans and bloggers out there that deserve mentioning. First up we’ve got an article in the Daily News about Darren Meenan, the creator of The7line who’s making all the cool Mets gear MLB is afraid to print. I met him at the Apple tailgate on Opening Day when he was sporting his “Even Lesbians Love Dickey” shirt.
Joe Janish, working off an interview on Sirius, decides to analyze which Mets are playing over their head this year, if any.
JD at section 518 shares more than we need to know about one-out wins, but it’s still a good read. Ryota Igarashi almost got two consecutive one-out wins last week, but the Mets squandered the opportunity in the bottom of the inning.
This isn’t a blogger, it’s actually about Bartolo Colon, but it’s interesting. He got a stem cell treatment this offseason in his shoulder, and so far it’s been working wonders.
Tags: bartolo colon, Mets, mets gear, mets shirts, New York Mets, one-out wins, playing over his head, ryota igarashi, stem cell treatment, stem cells, t-shirts, the7line
My Opening Day: A Journey With Pictures Tweet This Post
I started my day at the Apple’s tailgate. Starting the day with beer and burgers and Mets fans before heading into the park is a fun way to go. I had a burger and tweeted this picture at Ted Berg, which (along with the Apple’s invitation to come visit) drew him out of Citi Field. It was great that he could find time to hang with us a bit; personally I would’ve been too nervous about getting to interview Ralph Kiner to eat much.
page break for load times, click on through!
Tags: Citi Field, citi field opening day, Mets, mets at citi field, mets opening day, mookie wilson, New York Mets, opening day first pitch, ralph kiner, ralph kiner first pitch, read the apple tailgate, tedquarters, the7line
Mets Bloggers Chat With Terry Collins Tweet This Post
In what still feels like a dream, the Mets continue to invite some of us bloggers to chat with Mets VIPs. Tonight we had a conference call with Terry Collins. My impressions of him are positive, he seems very high energy and seems to be making a concerted effort to learn from previous mistakes and accept that he doesn’t know everything. He still strikes me as a fairly traditional manager in terms of the Xs and Os, but it’s still rare for a baseball team to stray far from that in a managerial hire.
I asked him about keeping players fresh and managing playing time, specifically as it related to Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. (And David Wright, but he didn’t answer that and we know Wright will be fine anyway)
He mentioned Beltran will probably play five of seven games starting out, and hopefully will strengthen his knees and when it gets warmer hopefully play more. With Reyes, he acknowledged that Reyes is a guy that gives you everything he’s got and it’s important to get him rest when he needs it, and to possibly double it up by resting him going into or coming out of an off day. Here’s his response as transcribed by Michael Baron of Metsblog.
“Carlos and I have already discussed the upcoming ten day period, and resting that leg, so he can continue on a positive note and his legs can get stronger and stronger for the hot months. Even if he’s on the bench, he can come up and make a big difference. We hope to have him in five out of seven games to start off. Regarding Reyes, he goes out there, gives all he has, and I want him out there a lot so I have to be wise enough to maybe give him days off before an off-day. One thing we have to do, because we aren’t very deep, is to make sure we are ready to compete later in the summer.”
Michael Baron at Metsblog transcribed this quickly and efficiently.
Greg at Faith and Fear in Flushing finds Terry Collins’ enthusiasm infectious, even on the phone.
Eric Simon at Amazin’ Avenue asks Terry about Kerfuffle.
Kerel Cooper at On The Black with a recap and better list of links than this.
Tags: blogger conference call, Carlos Beltran, conference call with terry collins, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Mets, mets bloggers, mets manager, New York Mets, new york mets bloggers, terry collins
A Blogger Chat With Sandy Alderson Tweet This Post
This evening a selection of bloggers had a second conference call with Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. The first one took place in December. There were a lot of great questions asked, and I’m sure there will be a full recap around the blogosphere. For now, the response to my question, followed by links to the other bloggers’ write-ups that I will update as I see them.
I asked Alderson how active he would be with transactions this season, in particular with regards to the second base or bullpen candidates that “just missed” making the team.
He explained that once these final decisions are made in Spring Training, a lot of that possible depth in the bullpen goes away. Guys may have to be offered back if they’re rule 5 picks, or they may choose to opt out of their contracts or just retire. The depth in the bullpen would most likely be Igarashi, although the Mets are pretty deep at second base. He stressed the importance of making sure guys are given a chance to perform and not go into every game like it could be their last. I feel like this is a big upgrade from last year; despite the ultimate results, I didn’t think it was fair for guys like John Maine and Oliver Perez to have it constantly held over their head that they were pitching for their careers to the point that Jerry Manuel actually publicly contemplated removing Maine from the rotation without ever mentioning it to him.
This is a good philosophy to have, but I wonder if it may be a little naive. After all, it’s not usually the manager and GM that are holding the axe over a players head, it’s the fans and sports radio. Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto only got 28 and 26 plate appearances respectively before being cast away, and it seems like the fans were calling for their heads long before that. Obviously the first base position took a rough turn when Murphy got hit with an injury days before the Opener, but what amounts to seven or eight games is hardly a telling sample size. Ultimately getting Ike Davis on the Mets, particularly when Murphy experienced a setback in recovery, was a good move but that doesn’t mean Jacobs or Catalanotto got a real fair shot to contribute.
Two quick things I took note of during the call. One is that there is still a chance Nick Evans makes this team, regardless of what happens with Beltran. The other is it seemed like Sandy’s biggest test for Jose Reyes is his on base percentage, and that if he can raise that, he’ll be resigned. I’m confident both will happen.
Transcript Courtesy of Michael Baron
Tags: bloggers, chat with sandy alderson, conference call with sandy alderson, Jose Reyes, Mets, mets blog, mets blogger call, mets blogger chat, mets blogger conference call, mets bloggers, mets conference call, mets general manager, mets gm, New York Mets, nick evans, on base percentage, resign reyes, sandy alderson
Spring Training Voyage Tweet This Post
First, check out these two posts I put up last week involving Mets eating dinner and pictures from the St. Patrick’s Day game against the Red Sox and then click below to view more pictures.
Tags: 2011, 2011 spring training, Angel Pagan, back field, Baseball, baseball drills, beer in port st. lucie, beer menu, cory vaughn, d.j. carrasco, David Wright, digital domain park, duffy's, fielding drills, german major leaguers, jenrry mejia, jordany valdespin, Jose Reyes, justin turner, kai gronauer, kirk nieuwenhuis, Mets, mets back field, mets back fields, mets minor leaguers, mets minors, mets spring, mets spring park, mets spring training, mets spring training 2011, New York Mets, port st lucie, port st lucie bars, scott hairston, st patrick's day, st patricks day game, taco in a helmet, tim teufel, twitter, vine and barley, what time does the mets fields open, what to do in port st lucie
New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History Tweet This Post
Matthew Silverman wrote a terrific 
book called New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History. It’s a decade by decade play by play of the New York Mets and their history, with all sorts of wonderful illustrations. It’s also got Mr. Met on the spine, which is something my bookcase sorely lacks. The book details all 50 seasons as well as the years leading up to them. It starts from the Giants and the Dodgers and goes all the way through to the firing of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya. It’s so current I almost expect to find a new page when I open it again.
The book is a real A to Z type guide of everything you could ever want to know about the Mets history. From the common knowledge of Tom Seaver and Bobby Valentine to the more obscure trivia like alternative names considered for the team and obscure merchandise and slogans. It even has a stats section with the list of all the All-Time Mets records.
The pictures are great as well. You’ve got all the greats obviously, and other nuggets like Tom Seaver in 1967 Spring Training, and a shot of the Mets playing at the Polo Grounds. There are aerial views of Shea Stadium and a button that reads “I was a believer but now we’ve lost Seaver.” Silverman doesn’t sugar coat it either: There’s a detailed section on Anthony Young’s 27-game losing streak, a picture of Mike Piazza on the ground after getting beaned by Roger Clemens and a picture of the pitch Tom Seaver threw to Joe Wallis that spoiled his no-hitter.
It ‘s rare to find a book that you can be just as entertained reading a random section of it as you can just by randomly flipping through and looking pictures, but this book does just that. I’m definitely going to delve into it further once I return from Spring Training. I recommend you do the same.
Tags: book review, matthew silverman, Mets, mets book review, mets books, New York Mets, new york mets the complete illustrated history
Mets New Fundraising Plan: Sell The Blogs Tweet This Post
Much has been made of the Mets current financial woes, but I’ve recently learned of a new plan they have to raise some money. Starting on Opening Day the Mets are going to start a new concession booth at Citi Field out in the center field concourse. This new stand will sell new and used Mets blogs at a reasonable price.
First up is the esteemed blog, Read the Apple. In what is perhaps a misinterpreted understanding of common adages, the Mets believe if they sell an Apple a day, it’ll keep the doctors away. Health is a key component to a successful Mets season, and they’re doing everything they can.
All articles featuring The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story. Optimistic Mets Fan would like to thank The Apple, and the Academy, for awarding us a prestigious Fonzie award.
Tags: adages, baseball adages, ceetar, Citi Field, citi field concourses, eat the apple, fonzie awards, Mets, mets adages, mets blogs, mets finances, mets fundraising, mets health, metsblog, New York Mets, onion, read the apple, sell the blogs, the onion