A conversation with a couple of fellow bloggers reminded me of this article I wrote a couple of years ago about how the love of baseball actually transcends the generations and defies age.
Meet the Mets Bloggers
Saturday night I met up with fellow bloggers from Metspolice.com, ontheblack.com and readtheapple.com for friendly Mets conversation, and beer. I’ve officially come in as the laziest despite technically being the longest running blog of the four, as they’ve all put up recap posts already and I’m just messing around on Twitter. So go read their recaps, which include what I believe is my video blog premier. (Which made it up much faster than my SNY/Beer Money premier, which was filmed eight months ago and hasn’t aired yet.) Guest starring in the recaps is the infamous and hilarious Eli From Brooklyn.
1989 Baseball Cards and Spring Training Tickets
I saw some old baseball cards in a vending machine today and figured I’d buy a pack. They were only 75 cents after all and I could win a trip to 1990 Spring Training! I was a little unnerved by the 22 year old bubble gum though.
Obviously I hoped to get a Mets player. Or at least someone else cool. Closest I got was probably Frank Viola as a Twin. I got four Oakland Athletics: David Parker, Storm Davis, Terry Steinback and Dave Otto. Terry Mulholland of the Giants was there, as was Orioles #1 draft pick out of Auburn, Gregg Olson.
Speaking of Spring Training…Although if I did make it to 1990 Spring Training I might try to warn the Mets off of Generation K or tell them to outbid the Yankees, who signed Mariano Rivera as an amateur free agent that Spring…My tickets to the Mets Spring Training games came in the mail today. I’ll be there both Friday March 18th and Saturday March 19th. Can’t wait for it, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Anyone else going down this year?
Waiting For Baseball
Just my silly little attempt to take a picture that represents “Waiting For Baseball.” Been playing around with my camera more lately; maybe I’ll take some interesting pictures down in Spring Training. My first set of tickets arrived yesterday.
Blogger Conference Call with Sandy Alderson
This evening Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson took the time to have a conference call with many of our favorite Mets blogs, including this one. Everyone asked great questions, and Alderson’s answers were very enlightening and thought out. Michael Baron wrote up a lot of it here. The Mets tweeted some of the conversation as well. 
(You can follow me on Twitter too!) Sandy is doing a live webcast on Monday, so if there is still a question you’d like to see answered, go ask it!
As a representative of the optimistic fan base, or what still exists of it, I asked a suitably optimistic question of Sandy: “You’ve mentioned being somewhat restricted in what you can spend this offseason, but if things go well and the Mets are in contention around the All-Star Break, what type of flexibility do you have to add a player or two to improve the club and keep them there?”
His response was positive. He didn’t laugh at the idea of the Mets being in contention or talk about focusing on the future. He said that that is the position they want to be in, and he would have to ability to add the pieces they need. He also suggested that if the Mets were in that position he would expect the attendance to reflect that.
In essence, he’s going to do the best he can to put the best team on the field and he hopes we’ll be prompted to go out and enjoy the games. He ended the call saying we should do this again, and the entire experience left me feeling good about the Mets, and anxious for the season.
I’ll try to update this post with links to other write-ups as I see them, although you should know where to look by now. Mets Merized Online wins the award for speed, at least of what I’ve seen.
Very good transcript at Amazin’ Avenue
The Mets Drastically Different Lineup
It’s likely the Mets Opening Day lineup will contain seven of nine different names. Mike Pelfrey will likely be pitching instead of Johan Santana, which definitely hurts, but offensively the team will be starting the season off on a much better foot. We’ve got Ike Davis at first instead of Mike Jacobs. Probably Daniel Murphy at second base instead of Luis Castillo. Jose Reyes instead of Alex Cora. Josh Thole instead of Rod Barajas. Angel Pagan instead of Jeff Francoeur and Carlos Beltran instead of Gary Matthews Jr.
Alex Cora Jose Reyes
Luis Castillo Angel Pagan
David Wright Carlos Beltran
Mike Jacobs David Wright
Jason Bay Ike Davis
Gary Matthews Jr. Jason Bay
Jeff Francoeur Daniel Murphy
Rod Barajas Josh Thole
Johan Santana Mike Pelfrey
Luis Castillo Angel Pagan
David Wright Carlos Beltran
Mike Jacobs David Wright
Jason Bay Ike Davis
Gary Matthews Jr. Jason Bay
Jeff Francoeur Daniel Murphy
Rod Barajas Josh Thole
Johan Santana Mike Pelfrey
Doesn’t that make you feel a little better about 2011? Jacobs and Matthews didn’t get a ton of time, but the other four guys did. Add in a non-concussed Jason Bay and that lineup really should compete with anyone.
I know there is some reservations about not making big changes and running out the same lineup in a “hope and pray” scenario that no one gets hurt and guys return to some semblance of career average, but there is a little bit of hope and crossing of fingers for every player. It’s easy for some, particularly boisterous talk show hosts, to look at the Mets situation and not see how Mets fans would want to come out to watch the same guys play that have failed in years past. It’s easy to assign blame to the guys that were a part of it all and that are more front and center, easier to pick at Reyes’ animated behavior or one pitch that beat Beltran.
The problem hasn’t been that Beltran or Reyes are bad players, but that they haven’t been healthy. Injuries happen. They’ll happen in 2011 as well. Alderson doesn’t need to sign big flashy players, but a couple of guys that provide more acceptable backup numbers than what we’ve gotten in past years would go a long way. Players could get rest when they needed it. The Mets could be more conservative with injuries without feeling the need to have players play hurt, not go on the DL, or be rushed back from injury before they’re ready.
The biggest reasons for the Mets failures the last couple of years are in the first column, not the second. And the biggest reason they might not succeed in 2011 (Obviously we’re talking offense right now. The Mets pitched well last year, we’ll see what’s in store in 2011) is if the lineup features 2011’s version of Mike Jacobs a little too regularly.
Join The Club
There are posts and comments all over the Metsosphere about being excited and optimistic for the future. All centered on the Mets “Big 3” in Alderson, Ricciardi, and DePodesta. (What’s with Sandy hiring Pauls? Any of the managerial candidates named Paul?) To that I say, “Join the Club”. Maybe my optimism has been a little misguided over the years, but I believe this team has underperformed and still has the talent to have a shot at the post season in 2011. Once these three guys get going in the front office, I believe the Mets position will only be strengthened.
So if you’re ready to put aside all the negative Mets stereotypes, ready to stop expecting the worst, and ready to look at the reasons the Mets can succeed versus doubting that they will then welcome aboard.
To compliment this post, and this blog, I’ve created an Optimistic Mets Fan Club Google group. The group has no purpose, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t join. I’ve also created a Facebook group. If you don’t like it, the terrorists Phillies win.
Signing Alderson Does Not Mean the Mets are Suddenly Respectible
The search for the next Mets general manager is (almost) over, and for now we don’t have a lot else to talk about. Unfortunately the most important facts are hidden from us; the candidates’ plan for the future. Looking at past history is certainly helpful, but what really determines who the best choice is is the game plan that person has to bring the Mets to the World Series.
Nothing will dispel the adjectives and storylines currently trending among Mets writers. We’ve heard broke, dysfunctional, disastrous, cheap, stupid, tyrannical, clueless and many others. Signing a general manager that’s perceived to be a good choice may quiet that some in the offseason, but that’s only a band aid. If and when the Mets announce their choice this week, the team won’t actually be any better.
This is why signing a guy as a figurehead of autonomy is not the way the Mets should go. A quiet offseason does nothing for ticket sales or profits. It’s the actions of the new hire that will do that, and even that’s unlikely until those actions, acquisitions and trades, put up statistics in regular season games and the Mets look like a winning club. So we can speculate about who is the best choice, but until we see the decisions made, it’s not easy to know that.
Until the Mets are winning, consistently, all those stories people are writing about the Mets being dysfunctional will continue. You’ll hear people crack jokes about Prevention and Recovery, joke about the Mets doctors, criticize Jeff Wilpon’s apparent involvement in the way things are done and reference Bernie Madoff any time anyone gets more money than is thought to be fair or the Mets don’t sign or talk to a player that someone thinks they need.
Outside of the fanatic fan, us bloggers and tweeters and hard-core followers, most people don’t even know or care who the general manager of the team is. If the team is exciting, popular, and winning they will come to the stadium. If it’s not, they won’t. No GM is a savior; it’s going to take a lot of hard work from everyone all the way down to the 40th guy on the extended roster to get this team back to respectability. It’s not about names or faces or organizational structure but about winning. So let’s get this general manager selected and into the office so we can start with the process of building our 2011 World Champion New York Mets.
Jon Heyman is reporting tonight that the Mets have decided on Sandy Alderson. If this is indeed the case, my point stands: The team is not yet better. Let’s take the next step and start interviewing smart, talented people to manage the team. And let’s start keeping some things internal before blabbing it to the media. Either announce it officially, or don’t tell Heyman, because telling him is as good as announcing it.
The Mets’ Wheel of Time Turns
The Wheel of Time turns, and Mets seasons come and pass, leaving games that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called 2010, an Age yet to come, an age long past, a press conference started in Flushing. The conference was not the beginning. But it was a beginning.
Okay, the quote barely makes sense, but the cyclical nature of the Mets history reminded me of Robert Jordan’s epic series. The Mets are again faced with a reboot of sorts, shedding some dead weight and redirected the franchise that has run off course.
So far I feel Fred and Jeff Wilpon said the right things. I’m sure some of it’s probably saying what we want to hear, but they’ve given the right answers and seem to have the right goals and motivation. I’ll take it. Words are all we have right now, until after the World Series when we can start signing guys, and even that’s nothing until we play, and win, some games.
This season wsn’t a total waste for me. The Mets made a lot of strides in appeasing and interfacing with fans and bloggers. They created a Twitter account and started interacting. They invited a group of bloggers ‘into the fold’ and gave us an opportunity to stand on the field and talk to players during batting practice. They’re aware that there are a lot of intelligent people that spend a lot of time focusing on the Mets and thinking about them in detail. Giving us that opportunity this year was an amazing thrill and one I’m extremely thankful for. It also gave me a chance to meet some of the fellow bloggers that I’ve been interacting with for a while.
You may have noticed, or not, that I’ve been posted a lot less. It’s not the Mets, although them being mostly irrelevant for a month didn’t hurt, but me. I’m getting married this weekend and things have been rather hectic. The Mets did not reward me with a wedding present of a NLDS game to miss, and David Wright did not respond to my wedding invitation . I probably won’t be updating much over the next couple of weeks, but I suspect once things settle down I’ll get right back into it. I’ve got some stuff planned in the offseason including some sabermetric debates that I’ve been putting off as well as some trying to match up the title of the blog with the 2011 season and the direction of the team. In other words, a couple of spin posts trying to justify believing the Mets can and will win the World Series in 2011. (Hey, it’s more fun than predicting doom and gloom. Aren’t you tired of that?)
The Mets Core
The particular suggestion is problematic because it reflects something akin to an underpants-gnome approach to sports analysis. David Wright and Jose Reyes are the best players on the Mets this year. The Mets will not win a World Series this year. Thus, the Mets will not win a World Series with David Wright and Jose Reyes as their best players.
That’s a quote by Ted Berg, the guy who broke the story on Tommy Hanson of the Atlanta Braves being related to the band Hanson, in relation to stories suggesting the Mets should break up their core and blow up the entire team for next year.
I could go on for pages about why it’s a poor idea, but that quote from Ted pretty much sums it up. David Wright and Jose Reyes are great players, but even great players can’t win on their own in baseball. Baseball is great because it’s a team sport, and requires a team effort over a long period of time to succeed. The Mets are not doomed for 2011 and the best way to succeed is not to blow it up and hope you get lucky replacing two virtually irreplaceable players but to figure out talented, healthy players to add to them to make a team. Then find a good leader and set of coaches that are capable of guiding the team over a 162 game season and keeping them focused and level-headed enough to win.