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Spring Training Voyage

 

I’m back from Spring Training, and it’s all too soon. I was having a lot of fun poking around Port St. Lucie and Digital Domain Park.  I took 500 pictures over three days, and captured images of many of our favorite, and less favorite, Mets players.  I watched road, home, and minor league games and saw players from the low minors to the cream of the crop doing all different kinds of baseball drills.  I met Amber Coyle, and Matthew Rose of NL East Chatter and The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

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.
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Mets Players, and Owners, Eat at Duffy’s

After returning from Fort Myers to Port St. Lucie on Thursday, we went to Duffy’s for dinner.   One of the waiters there noticed our Mets stuff and mentioned that all the Wilpons were in earlier eating dinner.  He said they didn’t tip as well as in years past, but it was still a lot of money.

 

Halfway through our meal my wife noticed five athletic looking guys walk past us to a table in the back.  I recognized Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and I suspect the others were also just returned from the Red Sox game and were getting a late dinner.   I think Lucas Duda and Russ Adams were there.

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Collins and Alderson Releasing Castillo (pics!)

This picture was taken around 10am on Friday morning.  Luis Castillo was still in a Mets uniform and on the practice fields.  I wonder what they were talking about..

 

Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins discussing something

 

 

Shortly after this Twitter was all abuzz about Luis Castillo being released.

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Practice post on my phone

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Practice post on my phone.  Seeing how easy it is to post from my phone for my Spring Training trip next week.  I’ll upload my pictures mostly to Twitter so your should follow me there. Also experimenting with my Tumblr.

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2011 MLB Over-Unders: My Picks

Every year I make a couple of prop bets on baseball before the season starts.  I just like to put my money where my mouth is and this year is no different.  So here are a couple of MLB Over/Under bets I made on Bodog. The player props aren’t out yet, so this is just the team. 

Tampa Bay Rays – Over 84½

I know they lost some guys, but they’ve also picked some up.  They can still pitch, and I don’t expect them to drop off as much as this.

Philadelphia Phillies – Under 97

I would like to point out that they lost Jason Werth in an offense that at times last year was non-existent and their best hitters are both a year older, and hurting.  Chase Utley still hasn’t played a game this spring.  Yes, they’ve got quite the cast of starting pitchers, but Hamels is up one year and down the next, Oswalt has struggled with back issues frequently and neither he nor Cliff Lee had absolutely amazing numbers last year.  The offense also has to score for them to win.  Halladay is still amazing, but 97 seems high.

New York Mets – Over 77

 Unless you’re predicting injuries and guys having bad years, it’s hard to imagine the Mets winning this few games. They won more last year, and I think they’re a better team, perhaps the best offense in the National League.   They’ve got a manager, they’ve got Reyes healthy.  They won’t be playing Jeff Francoeur even if Beltran can’t play 140.  I expect 2B, 1B and catcher all to give us more production, and it’d be hard for Jason Bay not to have a bounce back year.  I believe in Dickey and Pelfrey and I think Niese gets better in his second year. 

Baltimore Orioles – Under 76½

76.5? in the AL East? For a team that won 66 last season? They’ve made some additions this offseason, but I can’t see them reaching 77 wins.  This probably goes along with my Rays guess.  If I think they’re going to win more games, some of those will be against the Orioles. 

Atlanta Braves – Under 87½

The Braves reached 91 games last season, so this one’s tough.  I believe they overperformed a bit and I don’t have faith in their pitching depth.  They also no longer have Bobby Cox, for whatever that’s worth, and Billy Wagner had a great year for them and retired.  I could see them winning 86-87, but I think they fall just under.

New York Mets 35/1 to win the World Series

Obviously a long shot, but I make this bet every year.  Personally I think they have a better than 1/35% change

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Mets Blasphemy List

These are statements that I  think most fans consider to be blasphemy.  What statements are on your Mets Blasphemy List?

 

Jose Reyes will not be a Met his entire career.

 

David Wright will not be a Met his entire career.

 

Yadier Molina is not the Anti-Christ.

 

It was probably time for Seaver to go anyway.

 

It’s okay to root for the Yankees too.  After all, this is New York right?

 

Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden are True Yankees™.

 

Blue and Orange don’t look good together.

 

#17 belongs to Kevin Appier, Fernando Tatis, or Luis Lopez.

 

The tomahawk chant that the Atlanta Braves Fans do is kind of cool.

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Random Mets Stuff From 2003

I pulled some random Mets stuff out of the attic. Mostly magazines and ticket stubs and such.

Here’s a stub from 2002.  713B was just to the first base side of home plate.  Box B, seat 8 means we were technically the 4th row from the front.  There was probably an annoying red bar in our line of sight as well.   I don’t remember much of the game, but I went to retrosheet.org and learned that the Mets lost 9-8.  Rollins was 2/5 with a walk, that bum.  Jeff D’Amico  took the loss to fall to 4-8.

Here’s an interview with David Weathers that was printed in Volume 42, Issue 3 of Mets Magazine in 2003.  Brilliant stuff, like how he came to wear the number 35! (Marcel Lachemann had 53) I always kind of liked Weathers; I tend to like players who have names that are also things, like Weathers, Cook, or Strawberry.  I like how they show Weathers in both a black uniform, and a pinstriped one with a blue cap.  Appeal to the Shannon Shark‘s of the world, and “Generation Piazza”.

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How Do Outsiders View Mets Fans?

A lot of what we feel and think about the Mets is colored by being a fan.  Even when you step back and try to be analytical about it, chances are the amount you care tends to affect your judgement.  This goes the other way too.  The amount Phillies fans dislike the Mets plays into their partisan appraisal, and the amount beat reporters just flat out don’t care about the team has them analyzing it a different way.  Perspective colors all aspects of the game.  Chicago Cubs fans may not feel we have much to complain about.  Islanders and Nets fans may laugh when we talk about playing second fiddle to the Yankees. Football fans may be jealous that we get to watch our team more than 16 times, and NHL fans may wish they could set outside in the sun and watch their team.

How do non sports fans view us? (Yes, such a person does exist) To help illustrate I’ll share a picture from my wedding and a line delivered by the best man.  I think this image illustrates the tough-luck Mets fan, the supporting spouse, and how they’re viewed from outside the fandom.  (And yes, that’s Mr. Met (and likely a knock-off based on the number) on my wedding table)

This picture was taken just after the best man delivered this line: “And finally, Debbie, I want to give you my personal assurance – unlike the Mets, Mike will never break your heart.”

Unlike the Mets, Ceetar will never break your heart.

And thanks to Tracey Elizabeth Photography for capturing this great moment.

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Optimism Is Not A Sin!

Last week Ted Berg wrote this piece about optimism in response to a different optimistic post by Patrick Flood. Scratchbomb retweeted it, noting that optimism is not a sin.  I like the phrase, and it’s good to see others jumping aboard the optimism bandwagon and joining the club (see the sidebar to join the Optimistic Mets Fan Club on Facebook), whether it’s just front office philosophy or not.
Optimism Is Not A Sin
Ted and Patrick wrote about optimism mainly in regards to the Mets offseason moves, and sabermetrics.  A lot of discussions these days get twisted into an “everything Omar did was bad and Alderson is a sabermetric genius and won’t make those same mistakes.”  Sure, Omar didn’t rely on advanced statistics as much as Alderson does, but as Ted suggested, the Mets aren’t in a position to lose 120 games.  There were flaws in this team, even without the injury issues, but the team is talented, promoted minor leaguers that have contributed and will contribute in the future, and is in a good position to add pieces in the future as need be.  Moves are not necessarily easier to be positive about just because they are made with a larger emphasize on advanced statistical analysis and the Chris Youngs of 2011 are looking to fill a much larger role than the bench spots Omar signed Jacobs and Matthews Jr to last year.

Sabermetrics or not, the Mets offseason was a collection of minor signings meant to represent depth and upside.  There weren’t many good or great players to be had at anything approaching reasonable value and the Mets roster wasn’t the swiss cheese of baseball rosters that many made it out to be.  Alderson hit the holes, and hit them hard.  Multiples options for second base and lots of bench guys to slot in at various positions around the field to provide suitable backups and provide depth should a regular need to sit out a couple of days.  A handful of pitchers who have potential, or have had a great year or two when they stay healthy to make up the two empty rotation spots, and a barrel full of relievers to make up a bullpen in what sounds like it will be a no-holds barred cage match in Spring Training for the last three or four spots.

Optimism is not a sin.  I try, and I’ll continue to try until the division is clinched, to make a case for how and why the Mets will win the division. The odds may be stacked against them and they may need more things to go right than would be considered normal luck but that doesn’t mean they it’s impossible, or that it’s useless to be hopeful and upbeat that they can happen, and that the Mets can win.

I truly believe that the Mets could have one of the best offenses in the National League, and I’m not going to be shy about proclaiming that.  Looking at the lineup, it’s certainly not a stretch.  There is a certain amount of recovery from some and growing from others needed for it to happen, but it’s not out of the question.  Closer to Opening Day I’ll make my official case for how and why I’m predicting the Mets will clinch the division on 9/25 against the Phillies.

Most importantly, the games still have to be played.  Every year there are dozens of pitchers that were great and revert to being pretty average.  There are rookies that take off in their second year to have great years, and players that overcome injury in previous seasons to have bounce back years. When those players bouncing back are perennial All-Stars, the bounce is that much higher.  There are surprises every season; no one knows what’s going to happen.  Even the predicted favorite from the offseason rarely makes it all the way to the World Series. Take the Sports Illustrated picks from last season; not even one supposed expert got either of the pennant winners correct.

So don’t get caught up in the negativity around the Mets.  There is nothing wrong with thinking some of the Mets signings will have a good year and stay healthy, that Ike Davis could blossom into an excellent player or that Reyes and Beltran in their walk year put up numbers close to their career norms.  With better coaching and leadership it’s a pretty good bet that the Mets will get more out of their talent than they have in years past.  Remember: Optimism is not a sin!

Update: Here’s a post by Brian DiMenna who’s joined the Optimistic Mets Fan Club.