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Things i’m looking for on Opening Day

today while I share my observations and pictures from Opening Day.

 

Quick bullet point type list of things I”ll be scoping out today because I procrastinated this post and now it’s late.

 

Trackman thingy. I found this article very interesting, and am going to see if I can find the panel.

 

New Beer. Is there any new beer, and what is it?

 

New food. Most of the new food has been previewed some, but I’ll still be checking it out and getting a feel for what’s new.

 

There’s always new signs and kiosks and advertising. Subtle changes in the way Citi Field operates. I’m always interested in those things, the way the escalators run, how the security is behaving. That sort of thing.

 

Tailgate and Mets fan friends. Checking in with all the fun fans and bloggers that I rarely see anywhere but at Citi Field. It’s a new season, let’s have some fun!

 

And of course, most importantly, a Mets win! Let’s go Jon Niese!

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The dark before the dawn

photo by CeetarYou may think the headline is an allusion to the Mets and their long-term plan, and maybe it works that way too, but I’m referring now to the two week period before Opening Day. The newness of Spring Training has faded to the point that just having baseball back is no longer enough. The World Baseball Classic is over. The prospects we really want to keep an eye on are mostly back in minor league camp as the major league guys are now getting most of the playing time in order to get used to the everyday schedule of the regular season. Most of the roster races are just about decided, even if not announced.

 

Worst of all is that every bump and bruise gets magnified in the lack of much to really talk about. When you’re in a waiting room even back issues of magazines you never pick up otherwise become interesting, and it’s much the same with baseball. Jordany Valdespin’s personality becomes a hot topic. Every comment from Terry Collins or Sandy Alderson that has the least bit of doubt becomes a disaster and is analyzed for double, or even triple, meaning. Every player that skips a start or doesn’t make a bus trip they were supposed to is headed for the disabled list. When other teams make cuts to trim their roster, those guys always look like they’d be a good fit for the Mets. (Although I agree on Ronny Cedeno)

 

Relax.

 

No, really. Relax. Don’t let writers feeling the need to write something, anything, push you into extreme pessimism. It’s 10 days until Opening Day and until then everyone is healing. Even if guys aren’t quite ready by Opening Day, they may be ready less than a week later. It’s a long season. Captain David Wright will recover from his intercostal strain, just like he did last year, and play very well this season. Daniel Murphy will get back on the field. Kirk Nieuwenhuis is playing minor league games, and will be able to join the Mets soon. He’s got a lot to prove, but he’s only 25. Johan Santana will get his arm strength up. It might take a while, but he will. Jeremy Hefner isn’t a bad pitcher in the interim and the Mets have other guys that can pitch in some. Frank Francisco will get healthy and pitch like he has in his career, or he won’t and someone else will get those innings that can do something productive with them.

 

It’s a long season. Even if the Mets do start out a little injured they won’t stay that way. Guys well get better  and other guys will get hurt. Some players will surprise you and become more than adequate replacements when they get their shot to play. Just relax because baseball will be here before you know it and we can stress and worry and fret plenty then.

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Sandy Alderson Conference Call With Bloggers

You can read a full recap at Amazin’ Avenue.

 

Sandy had spoken earlier about not having been tempted yet to trade some pitching depth for a really good outfielder, or for anything else, but he then rattled off a dozen or so names and talked about the minor league roster crunch and that perhaps he’d be tempted soon. My question was meant to be a followup to that, where I asked, or tried to ask, what would push that temptation to the point that a trade is made?

 

He responded with a lot of talk about how close they came to making some moves with Bourn or Upton, and talked confidentially about the club, but it did dance around the question a bit. I was trying to figure out what the factor would be that changed his mindset from tempting to need and if part of the temptation might stem from the current plan getting derailed a little bit?

 

Perhaps if I could’ve asked a followup question I would’ve asked “If the Mets had won 83 games last year instead of what they did, is it more likely you would’ve traded for Upton?” What I was really looking for is if the temptation to trade these players is going to be the result of the team’s success, or is going to drive the team’s success. When does focus shift from making shrewd transactions to needing to acquire the player you want, even if it’s an overpay. Is it only when adding a player like Justin Upton makes the Mets a favorite to make the playoffs, or can it be done simply to make the team better and let other factors, such as long-term success from Zack Wheeler, be what puts them over the top?

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eBooks, Podcasts, Tickets

Shannon Shark of Metspolice.com has released an eBook entitled Send The Beer Guy.(Hey wait, aren’t I the beer guy?) I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, got a library book under the gun, but it’s on deck. I’ve heard it’s good, and Shannon was teasing some of the stories at the Mets Police awards in January.

 

I’ve joined Jeff Paternostro and Rob Castellano on the Amazin’ Avenue Audio the past two weeks. This week we talked about a whole bunch of stuff, from Sandy’s culpability for the current roster, the catchers, Stub Hub, some Mets prospects, and a bunch of other things. Check it out. If you haven’t been paying attention, I’ve been writing for Amazin’ Avenue a bunch too, so check that out as well.

 

Opening Day tickets will go on sale next Friday at 10am. There will be various pre-sales earlier in the week as well, and while most games won’t be that high in demand it’s still nice to get your tickets in hand sooner rather than later, especially if you know you want to get to one of the promotion dates such as Banner Day or David Wright Bobblehead Day. Of course, Opening Day tickets will be expensive as well given that it’s one of three premium games. Expect the cheapest seats to be at least $50. Dynamic pricing may make the price spike as tickets go on sale, and certain sections may drop in a couple of days after the initial rush dies down. Last year’s Opening Day was a record crowd though, so if you’re set on Opening Day or the Subway Series, don’t hesitate.

 

I’ve been kind of quiet this offseason, but baseball season is so close I can smell the Shake Shack so expect more posts, both here and at Amazin’ Avenue, which you can find a link to my posts on the right sidebar. Follow me on Twitter (), and you can find Optimistic Mets Fan on Facebook and Google+ as well. I’ve also been known to post a lot of Mets pictures to Instagram.

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Ricky Bones Interview, Caption Contest, Bobby V And More

Mets news is starting to pick up a little, with Spring Training on the horizon.

 

Nick Diunte of examiner.com caught up to Ricky Bones at the Joe DiMaggio Legends Game this weekend and asked him some questions.

 

Metspolice posted a picture of an old Shea van parked in the Citi Field parking lot and asks you to caption it.

 

Bobby Valentine may be headed to SNY. Would love to see this; Valentine’s an intelligent baseball guy who I could listen to talk baseball for hours.

 

Sadly, one of the Mets depth pickups at Catcher, Landon Powell, lost his baby daughter.

 

Mets VP  Jay Horwitz started using Twitter. So far he’s been tweeting some interesting old stories, and is definitely worth a follow.

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Citi Field Beer Idea

This weekend I got a chance to visit the new Queens brewery, Singlecut Beersmiths.

Photo by Ceetar

You can click on that link for my review, but the gist of it is that it was good stuff. Queens hasn’t really had any breweries at all until recently, and Singlecut fits right in. You should all know where I’m going with this now. The Mets should support a local business, and get (at least) a tap of their beer into Citi Field. They did a great job with the craft beer dugouts last season, and adding Singlecut to the selection would not be that difficult.

 

It’d be a great way to expand the beer selection to include a larger variety of local beer.

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New Feature: Spin It

This feature could also be called rose-colored glasses. I’ll take one particular aspect of the Mets and try to use logic, reasoning, and statistical analysis to look at the best case scenarios for various Mets players and situations. It’s also about spreading optimism, however small. So along those lines, I’d like to write the posts based on reader-submitted questions.

 

If you want me to tell you why Daniel Murphy will be a good player for the 2013 Mets, or why we should put our faith in Kirk Nieuwenhuis as the regular center fielder, let me know. Email me at ceetar@ceetar.com,or tweet at me @Ceetar.

 

To start us off I’m going to link to a Mark Simon post describing what the Mets need to make the 2013 playoffs.

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The Mazzy Awards

The third annual Mazzy Awards were held Saturday night at Donovan’s Pub in Woodside. No matter what other activities you’re interested in to pass the time between last out and first pitch, you miss your baseball pals. The men, women, and baseball-headed mascots that make up so much of your life from the time when pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie and the final strike of the season. Alas, Mr. Met couldn’t make it this year, but maybe next time..

 

When you have the opportunity to help honor fellow fans and bloggers and talk baseball on a quiet night in January, you do it. No one takes themselves too seriously, it was just a fun way to whittle away the offseason, but Shannon and Keith both did an amazing job setting up and executing these awards. High quality video streams, a private room for us, official envelopes and even bobblehead award statues. Everyone agreed that they should make it an annual event; next year I hope you join us.

 

Hanging out with a beer or two with fellow Mets fans talking sports, Hall of Fame, old wax cups at Shea Stadium and even television almost made you feel like it was baseball season again. If you listened carefully you could almost hear Howie Rose describing the new blue uniforms as the Mets jogged out to take their places on the field.