What NOT To Watch in Port St. Lucie Tweet This Post
Statistics
The results don’t matter. This goes double for guys with guaranteed spots and pitchers. Pitchers tend to experiment with different things like pitch selection, grip, or even a new pitch. They may stand on a different part of the rubber or pitch from the stretch with no one on just for practice. Being that the games don’t matter, they’re able to tinker without affecting the standings. An example of this is last spring Mike Pelfrey said “I threw all split-finger fastballs one inning.” This is not something that he would do in a game situation.
The numbers for the guys competing for spots may matter a bit more, but the entire experience is an evaluation and a showcase. It’s more than who strikes out the most batters or who hits the most home runs. It could be about any number of things and often managers and general managers may go on feel. They could be looking at how hard a guy hits the ball, even for outs, or looking to see if he’s laying off bad pitches that were causing too many strikeouts in years past. Spring Training is almost always a small sample size subject to a lot of variation. AAA players, pitchers working on things, defenders playing a position for the first time, pitchers experimenting with new grips and new deliveries and pitches all create a game that’s not quite the same as the regular season. Often decisions need to be made on less measurable things like work ethic, bat speed, or getting good reads on fly balls.
Reports On Physical Condition
Inevitably someone in camp is in the best shape of their lives, while others packed on some pounds. This information is beyond useless beyond making fun of the fat guy on a rival team’s roster. It’s still six weeks to Opening Day and everyone is well into a regimented workout program by then that makes what they ate in the offseason while they were essentially on vacation worthless. No one criticizes you when you have a second helping of pulled pork and another cocktail when you’re on vacation, so lay off the players.
Game Scores and Records
For every example of a team that dominated Spring Training that did well in the regular season there is a team that did horrible in Spring Training and still did well in the regular season. None of it matters. Guys are just putting in their work. It’s a rotating cast of characters parading through the game and half of them won’t even make the team. Sometimes they tie. Sometimes they play a 10th inning for fun and sometimes the manager pinch hits an unseasoned AA rookie for his superstar in the bottom of the 9th just because he wants to see if he can hit the lefty on the mound. The same goes for lineups early on. Sometimes stars bat higher up in the order so they can get their two or three at-bats in earlier in the game and get off the field. You may bat a pitcher third because you want him to practice a bunt or move a player to lead off to challenge him to take more pitches.
Spring Training is a lot of fun, but it’s still an exhibition for the real thing. There are a lot of interesting things to watch, but there are plenty of things that aren’t worth worrying about either.
Tags: Baseball, best shape of his life, health, Mets, mets spring training, New York Mets, physical condition, Pitching, sample size, Spring Training, statistics
Could The Madoff Situation Actually Help Alderson? Tweet This Post
This post is it. I’ll comment once with my thoughts about this Sterling Equities news, and then I’m going back to desperately counting the seconds until pitchers and catchers report. (1,173,300 seconds until it’s 2/15, as of this post)
Did the recent Sterling Equities news regarding the Wilpons looking to possibly sell part of the team actually help Sandy Alderson do his job? The news may help Alderson lowball other teams on money-related transactions more so than he might otherwise be able to do. While he’s not going to get players for free that other teams don’t really want to move, if a team is looking to make a deal with the Mets, they might subconsciously be expecting less in return.
Reporters have gone wild with speculation about what this means, that the Wilpons will sell, and that they won’t be able to spend any money. Some predict Reyes traded by the trading deadline as a result, although some predicted this anyway. Buster Olney, who’s actual post is behind a paywall, suggests some rival executives are all but positive Reyes gets traded because they can’t afford to keep him. This suggests two things to me: 1. I’ve never been a fan of Olney anyway, but in the age of blogs and Twitter if what you’re writing is behind a paywall there is a pretty good chance it’s not worth reading. 2. The Mets are best off extending Reyes in Spring Training because even if they wanted to trade him in some crazy scenario, the rumors that they have to hurts their negotiating position.
I don’t expect this news to amount to anything more than another name on the media guide list of owners, but it’s certainly possible this is the start of a slippery slope to a scenario that includes the Wilpons having to sell off the entire team. The initial info seems to suggest that the news is more of a guardrail against that slippery slope than the first tumble, but many of the details are still hidden and most are above my head in terms of financial understanding. What will be, will be. The roster is mostly set. The Mets will play baseball in 2011, and I’ll be able to go there and root for them and cheer for them. That’s pretty much 99.6% of my concern as it relates to who actually owns the Mets.
Still, perception is meaningful. The team may very well be projected to not even afford the letters on their uniform backs at this rate. (One might suggest they stick to only two different uniforms in that case and remove the names altogether) Sandy Alderson may be able to use the perception of constraint when dealing with free agents, and with other teams when the trade involves money or paying contracts, to his advantage. Maybe Alderson finds a suiter for Oliver Perez, and instead of paying 11 million of his contract, he uses the Madoff situation to suggest the Mets only pay 10.5. Maybe Jose Reyes really does want to stay here, and Alderson milks his loyalty by getting him to sign for less under the guise of needing that money to buy competitive players around him.
This is probably still a stretch. The 2011 roster and budget are nearly financially complete, and the Mets won’t likely be looking to spend a lot of money before the All-Star break. At that point, the potential financial windfall of being successful in September and making the playoffs almost always offsets the initial cost of bringing the last two months of an expensive players contract. Sandy Alderson told me that he’d have no constraints at that point, and I hope that remains true. It’ll be interesting to see how Alderson conducts business going further; if crying poor helps him negotiate, or if he dispels rumors by actually spending money on Reyes, or on mid-season acquisitions.
Tags: 2011, bargains, Baseball, bernie madoff, fred wilpon, Jose Reyes, just win, loyalty, madoff mets, madoff situation, Mets, mets sale, negotiating ploy, negotiation, New York Mets, pitchers and catchers, play the games, sandy alderson, selling the mets, selling the team, Spring Training, wilpons, wilpons sell
1989 Baseball Cards and Spring Training Tickets Tweet This Post
1989 Pack of Topps Baseball Cards
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?
Tags: 1989, 1990 spring training, 2011 spring training, 22 year old gum, baseball bubble gum, baseball cards, bubble gum, dave otto, david parker, frank viola, gregg olson, mets spring training, Oakland Athletics, old gum, pack of cards, port st lucie, Spring Training, spring training tickets, storm davis, terry mulholland, terry steinback, topps, topps baseball, topps baseball cards
Waiting For Baseball Tweet This Post
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.
Tags: Baseball, baseball glove, football, Mets, New York Mets, offseason, pitchers and catchers, Spring Training, waiting for baseball
Mets Portraits Support Little League Tweet This Post
The Mets are supporting the local Little League down in Florida. They’ve agreed to have a couple of art clubs paint portraits of a handful of Mets players and then auction them off, with the money going to support Florida District 17 Little League teams. Being featured will be David Wright, Angel Pagan, Jose Reyes, Mike Pelfrey and Jason Bay.
The artwork will be on display at Digital Domain Park all of Spring Training. I’ll be down there in the middle of March and am looking forward to seeing some of them.
Tags: art clubs, digital domain park, florida, florida little league, little league, Mets, mets portraits, New York Mets, painting mets, Spring Training, support little league
Baseball Equinox Tweet This Post
As Faith and Fear in Flushing points out, yesterday was the (Mets) Baseball Equinox. That magical time of year when the start of the baseball season is closer than the end of the last season. It’s time to look forward. It’s only 42 (ish, no official date yet) days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 13th.
It’s unlikely the entire roster will be clear when that day arrives, or even set in stone on Opening Day. The Mets aren’t likely to be revealed as a powerhouse out of camp, or be picked by many to even mak
e the playoffs. Like many teams that go into the season with players with potential, players with talent, and players that need to stay healthy, it’s a fresh start and a fresh chance to change the narrative.
This isn’t a franchise that’s praying and hoping it’s latest batch of draft picks turns out to be superstars that they can control for years and actually compete. The Mets are an under-performing team that finished around .500 last year. They’ve been cast as injury-prone, washed-up, creaky, soft, or just simply not that good. As Sandy Alderson fills out the roster, and the Mets report for Spring Training and start showing us what they can do, they’ll have a chance to start changing what they’ve been type-cast as.
Carlos Beltran can hit the season healthy, and prove that a combination of time and his knee-brace can keep him on the field and performing all year long. David Wright can take the mantle of captain, whether officially or unofficially, and lead this team. Ike Davis and Jon Niese, among other 2010 rookies, can take that next step forward and become better major league baseball players. R.A. Dickey can assert that he’s a burgeoning knucklerballer, not a one-year wonder. The Mets can start rewriting their story as a well-run, hard-working team of talent rather than the usual mess they’re portrayed as. It’ll take some effort and success and maybe even luck to start getting the reporters and fans to see this cast of characters as a new team. Still, the foundation is there. The Mets have a new general manager and manager that the media would love to cast as saviors. They’ll be falling over themselves to to explain how Collin’s fiery leadership is leading to wins and success on the field. They’ll praise Alderson’s construction of the bench, or the bullpen, or his choice at 2B as brilliant.
It’s 2011 and we’re closer to the new season than the old one. Baseball is around the corner and the Mets have nowhere to go but up. There are still acquisitions to happen, and jobs to be won, but when the season starts we’ll have a lot to cheer about.
Tags: 2011, Baseball, better season, captain david wright, David Wright, faith and fear in flushing, Mets, mets captain, mets equinox, mets narrative, New York Mets, new york mets captain, pitchers and catchers, players, rookies, sandy alderson, Spring Training, terry collins, wright captain
2011 Spring Training Plans Tweet This Post
Spring Training Workouts
Due to a deadline to book a free flight with JetBlue I’m departing Florida Sunday morning March 20th. This has made it easy to pick a weekend to go to Spring Training this year. The only decision is how many days to take off and how long to stay. Spring Training is in a way the Mecca of baseball fans. It’s a great experience that everyone should experience at least once. There is excitement in the air, the players are working out and more relaxed, and there are more opportunities to get close and get an autograph. The seats are much closer and much cheaper. It’s warm and really gets those juices flowing for the season to come.
I looked at the tenative schedules, since nothing is completely official yet, and came up with a plan. The Mets are about as far away from home as they can be on Wednesday and Thursday of that week, playing the Twins and Red Sox on the other side of the state. Disappointing, but to make up for it I’m thinking of taking in the Red Sox against the Braves in Disney on Wednesday, and then going to Universal Studios and the new Harry Potter ride on Thursday, and of course a Shamrock Shake for St. Patricks Day.
The Mets are home on Friday against the Braves. This will be a perfect day to go to the park for the early morning workouts. Saturday they have a split squad game in Disney, so a lot of the younger guys will be away from Port St. Lucie, but the rest of the team plays the Nationals at home. After that I’ll fly home, and anxiously await the Mets to join me and start the season.
Are you going to Spring Training this year? What type of plans do you have, or are you thinking of?
Tags: Baseball, braves, digital domain park, disney, grapefruit league, harry potter, Mets, New York Mets, port st lucie, red sox, Spring Training, universal
Aftershocks of the 2009 Mets Season Tweet This Post
The 2009 season for the Mets was a disaster. After careful review, it appears that the specific type of disaster was earthquake. Even after the disastrous season ended we’ve been hit with aftershocks. Aftershocks are known as smaller earthquakes that follow after the original quake, not to be confused with the alcohol beverage that was needed for us fans to get through the season. They can still be dangerous, but generally get smaller and farther apart as time goes on.
Carlos Beltran’s scoped knee surgery was the first aftershock of the 2009 disaster. While final damage totals are not yet in for this one, it’s expected he’ll miss up to a month of real time. The last report I heard suggested that he’d be cleared to resume baseball activities right around the time the Mets head north for Opening Day.
The Jose Reyes Thyroid aftershock hit last week, when blood work revealed that Reyes has an overactive thyroid. The results and treatment for this are still being determined, but many opinions suggest that it shouldn’t be a big deal and he can get back to playing soon. This smaller aftershock was still upsetting, but it seems like it won’t be one that did much damage.
Other smaller aftershocks have occurred throughout Spring Training for the Mets. Francisco Rodriguez came down with pink eye, 
but didn’t become a zombie. Fernando Tatis is batting some knee issues, and Nick Evans strained his forearm. Neither is considered serious and Frankie is back and pitching again.
The big thing to remember here is it’s not 2009 anymore. You can check the calendar if you don’t believe me. Every tweak or setback or injury is not indicative of disaster, and the bad luck that plagued the Mets in 2009 was just that; bad luck. The way Reyes did not adequately recover from his hamstring injuries has nothing to do with what his thyroid may or may not be doing right now, and the bone bruise that Beltran had does not relate to his recovery from having his knee scoped in the off season. Right now we’re still in limbo waiting on how Reyes will be treated by doctors and when he’ll get back down to Florida to continue Spring Training, but once he does everything will be alright. Soon it will be time for baseball to count, and we can start obsessing over wins and losses and pitching performances and home run totals instead of thyroid levels and pink eye symptoms.
Visit The Real Dirty Mets Blog for lively discussion on this, and other, Mets topics.
Tags: 2009 mets, 2009 mets disaster, 2010 mets, aftershocks, Baseball, Carlos Beltran, earthquakes, injuries, Jose Reyes, Mets, New York Mets, pink eye, south park, Spring Training, thyroid
The Anti-Mets Tweet This Post
Many Mets fans would fall into a more doom and gloom mindset than a positive one. Whether that’s because of persistent disappointment, a “younger-brother” mentality associated with the Yankees, the attitude of talk radio hosts, or something else, Mets fans tend to approach the team waiting for the other shoe to drop and the team to fail.
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| From Baseball |
As the self-proclaimed Optimistic Mets Fan, I tend not to take this approach anyway, but I’ve found that this rule is not true across the board. Oddly enough, there are two Mets players that never fail to bring out smiles and optimism; Johan Santana and Jose Reyes.
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| From Baseball |
These two Anti-Mets, more than any other player, bring out positive vibes from Mets fans. Carlos Beltran, despite being very clutch, has the cloud of his strike out against the Cardinals in the 2006 playoffs. David Wright has been considered almost un-clutch by many fans.
Even if it’s not true, when David Wright comes up with a runner on third, many are expecting a strkeout. When Oliver Perez lets up a leadoff double, most fans expect him to walk two following that. Jason Bay hasn’t even played a game yet and you just know many fans are already expecting every opposing runner to score from second on a single to left field.
Reyes is different. When Reyes gets on to lead off an inning, Mets fans give him second base like it’s a foregone conclusion. They expect him to score on any ball hit to the outfield. They expect opposing pitchers to get nervous and possibly balk in runs.
It’s similar for Johan Santana. If it’s an Oliver Perez start, fans are betting the over/under on how many walks he gives up. Or how many foul balls John Maine has. If it’s a close game in the 6th or 7th inning and Pelfrey is pitching and lets up a leadoff single, Mets fans think “Here we go again.” If Santana lets up that same leadoff single even many of the pessimistic fans are just thinking about double plays and are recalculating how many pitches it’ll now take to get the next three guys out to see if Santana can pitch another inning afterwards.
This is the true meaning of the phrase, “As Reyes goes, so do the Mets.” Mets fans expect winning results from Reyes and when they get it they feel the Mets will win. Johan is such a fierce competitor that as fans we’re surprised when the opponents’ bats don’t literally explode under his gaze. It doesn’t matter that the Mets have never pitched a no-hitter; when Johan strikes out the leadoff batter, the first thing we think of is “26 to go.”
This post is also visible at The Real Dirty Mets Blog.
Tags: anti-mets, attitude, Baseball, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Mets, optimistic mets fan, positive, Spring Training, winning
New York Mets Memorabilia of the 1970s Tweet This Post
I came across some old Mets (and generic Hall of Fame and Yankees) stuff this off-season. I scanned a few of my favorites to share. This is the first set. Here’s the scoreboard shot after Seaver set the NL record with seven consecutive 200 K seasons.
Here’s the back of the 1974 Mets schedule. Box Seats for $4? I’ll take it.
Here’s the front of the schedule, with the rarely seen Lady Met.
Wayne Garrett and his wife Donna scouting the competition. Apparently the Mets and Phillies used to have their wives play a couple of innings of softball occasionally. Seems like a cool idea.
This post is also viewable on The Real Dirty Mets Blog
Tags: 1970s, 1974, 1975, lady met, Mets, nostalgia, official schedule, Shea Stadium, Spring Training, tom seaver, wayne garrett, wives game, wives softball