College Player Shows Heartwarming Generosity | Yahoo! Sports

Classy move by a Virginia Tech football player, who chose to spend his Best Buy gift card on gifts for a couple of kids he met at the store.

Trailer for '42' (Movie about Jackie Robinson set to release April 2013.)

Yes, that's Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey!

R.A. Dickey and the Myth of One Great Year | FanGraphs Baseball

Awesome post about R.A. Dickey's performance over the last three years:

"Apparently, there’s this idea that pre-2012 R.A. Dickey was a worthless nothing, and after his fluke season, he’s headed right back to being a trick pitch sideshow. That idea is just hilariously wrong. ...if we’re going to look at a comp for Dickey, we need to find a guy who really established himself for the first time in 2010. Thankfully, there’s a highly touted ace who has performed at nearly the exact same level as Dickey in each of the last three years, and his track record in terms of run prevention is a dead on match for Dickey; that guy is named David Price."

Read on. It's worth it.

Tom Verducci advocates trading R.A. Dickey to Toronto

I agree with SI's Tom Verducci here, but only if the Mets can't work out a two-year extension running through the 2015 season.

What the Mets should do with R.A. Dickey

The Mets are making little progress in getting Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey signed to a two-year extension and the trade market for a young impact player hasn't materialized. They may be getting used to the idea of keeping him for another year at $5 million.

It seems the Mets are valuing Dickey as a number one pitcher on the trade market but as something less than that when it comes to an extension. A $20 million extension, for instance, would give Dickey $25 million over three years -- or just $4 million more than what the Reds are paying Broxton, a hybrid reliever, over the next three years.

What the Mets should do is send Dickey to Toronto for catcher J.P. Arencibia and outfielder Anthony Gose, which would net them two young, major-league-ready everyday players. The Blue Jays aren't enamored with the basic math of the deal: one year of Dickey for 10 years of control of two young players.

But here's why the Jays should do it: Both Arencibia and Gose are reserves right now and are blocked by young players who should be in Toronto for at least two years. Those "10 years of control" are not all years of full-time duty.

More than that, Toronto made a blockbuster move with Miami to rejuvenate baseball in the city. Manager John Gibbons said the goal is to get the franchise into the postseason for the first time in 20 years. If so, you need to go all in -- just as the Nationals are doing by trading a front-of-the-rotation prospect (Alex Meyer) to get a centerfielder (Denard Span) and by paying their fourth starter $13 million despite coming off a down year (Dan Haren).

The Blue Jays are not all in if they regard years of control for bench players above the chance to get a Cy Young Award winner. Think Toronto would have a better shot at the postseason with Dickey making 32 starts instead of J.A. Happ making 32 starts? Of course. But Toronto is hedging its bets.

Dickey has been so much fun to watch pitch these past three seasons, especially this year. If he's going to another team, I'd like it to be one in the American League (so the Mets don't face him) and the team that now employs Jose Reyes, who will forever be one of my favorite Mets of all time.

Also, imagine how awesome he could be with a controlled, retractable dome environment for that knuckleball. His worst start of the season came on a rainy, cold night in Atlanta. He wouldn't have to worry about the condition at home in Toronto, something that could come into play in Kansas City and, to a lesser extent, in Texas.

The GOP And Me. | Rany on the Royals

A long but worthwhile read about religion and politics from Rany Jazayerli, co-founder of Baseball Prospectus.

Adderall has become a popular drug for athletes trying to gain an edge | The Seattle Times

In light of Philadelphia Phillies' Catcher Carlos Ruiz getting a 25-game suspension for testing positive for Adderall without a therapeutic waiver from Major League Baseball, The Seattle Times has an article about the prevalence of Adderall in professional sports as a Performance Enhancing Drug (PED).

Considering there was a shortage of Adderall last year, impacting many people legitimately taking the medicine under a doctor's supervision, it's despicable players are taking it illegally and depleting the heavily regulated supply in the market.

R.A. Dickey's thoughts on Disney buying the Star Wars franchise

Just like with baseball, I can't disagree with his thoughts on this except that he seems a bit more optimistic than me:

Did The Mets Lowball David Wright? | FanGraphs Baseball

According to FanGraphs' Dave Cameron, the Mets and David Wright might not be as far apart as people think.

R.A. Dickey this morning on CBS and Mike & Mike

2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey (it never gets old writing that!) appeared on ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike as well as today's CBS This Morning with Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell:

The Value of Good Coaching | Baseball Prospectus

A very informative column written by New York Mets LOOGY C.J. Nitkowski about the value of good coaching. A must read even for the casual reader that isn't a baseball fan.

With writers like Nitkowski, Collin McHugh, and 2012 National League Cy Young Award Winner R.A. Dickey, the Mets have quite the literary group on the hill.

Like an ESPN commercial

SportsRadioInterviews.com posted some excerpts of Josh Johnson's radio interview with Dan LeBatard. The money quote:

"Where he was when he found out about being traded:

“I was actually upstairs with my kids playing and I went downstairs to check my phone and I had a bunch messages and calls from my agent and I called him back and he said ‘have you heard?’ I was like ‘what are you talking about?’ As soon as that happened I heard a bling on my phone, the MLB trade rumors and it says ‘Blue Jays close to acquiring Josh Johnson’ and I was like ‘I just did right now.’ He was like ‘yeah let me make some phone calls and see if it is for real or not’ and he did and here I am.”"

The Feds Are Closing In on Steve Cohen | New York Magazine

Just when the Bernie Madoff mess was behind the Mets, the Feds are now closing in on a Mets minority owner on insider trading charges.

Loyal R.A. Dickey Wants To Stay With Mets, Says He Believes In Future Of Franchise | CBS New York

R.A. Dickey actually seems more optimistic than the fan base. I guess that's a good thing, right?

More video of R.A. Dickey (lots more video!)

I have to admit, as a life-long Met fan I haven't enjoyed watching a Met pitcher this much since Dwight Gooden's 1985 Cy Young season. To get a flavor of not just how dominating R.A. Dickey's season was but the things that he can do with the knuckleball, here's plenty of video going back to his consecutive one-hitters against Tampa Bay and Baltimore. A few things to notice:
- How many times the Mets catchers, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas drop the ball and have to throw to first base to complete the strikeout
- The Darth Vader theme at the beginning of some of the videos (Dickey is a HUGE Star Wars fan and warms up to that music during home games.)
- The All-Stars that struck out on the knuckler over the course of the season (Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, and Jimmy Rollins, to name a few.)

E N J O Y ! ! !

One-hitter against Tampa Bay:


One-hitter against Baltimore:




All-Star game appearance:








Bryce Harper strikes out three times in the same game:
















20th win of the season:

R.A. Dickey, Cy Young Winner | New York Magazine

Great post by Will Leitch but here is the money quote:

"Of course, this is the Mets, and there is a dark side. That dark side is that Dickey is a free agent at the end of the season, and general manager Sandy Alderson hasn't ruled out trading Dickey if they can't come to terms on an agreement. That brings up all sorts of questions about the Mets' finances — even though we're talking about a pitcher in his late thirties here — and no one wants to talk about that when the Mets just got some unadulterated good news."

All R.A. Dickey All The Time!

Last night New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey ran away with the 2012 National League Cy Young Award, becoming the first knuckleballer to do so. For all the video analysis I could find on the web, check it out right here.

MLB.com:









ESPN won't allow users to embed most of their videos but you can check out Adam Rubin conversation here and the Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling analysis here and watch the R.A. Dickey SportCenter interview here:



R.A. Dickey interview on SNY.TV:



If I find more clips, I'll update them. Until then,
E N J O Y ! ! !

Kevin Johnson's 1994 playoff dunk over Hakeen Olajuwon

Yes, this is the current mayor of Sacramento, California. In his previous life he was the All-Star point guard of the Phoenix Suns. I remember watching this dunk in the 1994 playoffs (I was a HUGE Phoenix Suns fan back then) and randomly came across it again today. It's not everyday you get to see a 6'1" point guard go up over a 7'0" center. He even nails a three-pointer at the end of the video clip too. ENJOY!
Of course, thinking about dunks and reading an article in the latest Sports Illustrated this morning about Glenn Robinson III led me to look for this dunk from the 1994 NCAA Tournament, when his father, Purdue's Glenn Robinson, dunks on Kansas's Greg Ostertag. All Ostertag could do after that was walk over and shake The Big Dog's hand.

R.A. Dickey: The Market’s Other Ace | FanGraphs Baseball

I have to begrudgingly admit that I agree with the premise of this post on FanGraphs:

There are teams best suited to take a chance on a talented 38-year-old knuckleballer. The present New York Mets aren’t real high on that list.

As much as I enjoyed R.A. Dickey pitch and hope he does win the National League Cy Young Award this season, I'm not sure he's going to be the same pitcher he is now when the Mets are finally ready to contend. It's a shame because he's really fun to watch pitch.

Nate Silver and Imperfect Modeling | FanGraphs Baseball

A big shout out to Nate Silver, for his current life writing about politics, from his previous life writing about baseball.

Are Minnesota Timberwolves Too White? | Yahoo! Sports

So let me get this straight: the team is 1/3 American Caucasians, 1/3 African-Americans, and 1/3 non-Americans, who happen to also be Caucasians. I'm usually on the side of affirmative action but I'm not buying it as racism here.

I think the Minnesota Timberwolves are in the same category as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities that recruit European golfers for their golf teams.  It's only blatant if you lose and still keep this pattern of behavior going.

Pathetic Yankee fans hate Ron Darling

The Daily News’ Bob Raissman with a great column about the vitriolic reaction of some Yankee fans to Ron Darling being one of the color commentators for TBS's coverage of the ALCS this year:

“It’s comical so many Yankees fans get worked up over a mild-mannered guy such as Darling. It’s revealing, too. Their obsession is hilarious. The revelation is sad. Some of the Darling “hate” email is so over the top, the authors should ask themselves why a baseball broadcaster has the power to drive them to such pathetic and desperate lengths?

When they see or hear Darling, they only see Mets. He fuels their hate for a team that ain’t exactly near the top of the baseball world. It’s kind of like getting mad at a bag of marshmallows.”

Oddly enough, no one notices the other booth analyst, John Smoltz, grew up a Tigers fan in Lansing, MI and would have pitched for the Tigers had it not been for that infamous trade between Detroit and Atlanta in 1987 that sent Doyle Alexander to the Tigers.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, and Hope After Hope | The Classical

If you think your sports team has it rough, consider the Pittsburgh Pirates have now gone 20 consecutive seasons where the number of games lost exceeded the number of games won. That's right. 20 consecutive losing seasons.  Do you remember 1992?

"It's 1992. Nirvana and Boyz II Men play on the radio and bump up against each other uncomfortably on various MTV countdowns. A phone is still just a phone, as in it only makes phone calls, on which calls you might discuss, for instance, the fact that Bill Clinton will likely be elected president in a few weeks or that the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the National League Championship Series for the third time."

They had a good team this year that nearly broke this streak before a second half swoon knocked them down to a 79-83 record on the year.  Still, that's their best record since also winning 79 games in 1997.

Hopefully the Pirates streak will end at 20 led by a superstar in Andrew McCutchen, who is probably my favorite non-New York Mets player in Major League Baseball.

Keidel: Dickey Climbed Another Mountain With His Unfathomable 2012 Season « CBS New York

Keidel: Dickey Climbed Another Mountain With His Unfathomable 2012 Season « CBS New York

Baseball Prospectus | Head Games: The Other Thing R.A. Dickey Does Well

Great post on how well R.A. Dickey has held on baserunners this season.

Oliver Perez making most of opportunity with Mariners | Mariners | The Seattle Times

Some Met fans might be jaded about this but it actually feels good to see Oliver Perez finally deliver on his immense talent.

Muscles That Women Love | ThePostGame - Yahoo! Sports

No objectifying here. (It is an interesting list though.)

Fourth Place Fever | The LoHud Mets Blog

Howard Megdal turns on the sarcasm in describing the upcoming Mets-Marlins series at CitiField:

"At least the Mets didn’t subject themselves to the oft-injured Reyes, who has missed nearly three of Miami’s 149 games so far this season. The steadier Tejada has missed only 48 of the Mets’ 149 games in 2012. Good ol’ Everyday Ruben. Good riddance, Mr. Unreliable, Who Hits Triples That Make Our Hearts Race."

Gee, you think old Howard is still miffed about the Mets taking away his press credentials earlier this season? At least he wrote a good book to justify their decision.

Triple-A Mets Go From Snow to a Dry Heat | New York Magazine

For someone that's not really into hot weather and casino gambling but is a diehard fan of the New York Mets, finally a reason for me to visit Las Vegas!

John Olerud in legal dispute over a tree. (Yes, a tree.)

Former Toronto Blue Jay, New York Met, and Seattle Mariner John Olerud is involved in a legal dispute involving a tree in his neighbor's yard. As Ted Berg of Tedquarters.net aptly put it, "Olerud involved in the most civil suit".

Become a Mentor | iMentor

I recently signed up to serve as a mentor through an organization called iMentor.

Mentors are partnered with a New York City high school student in the program. At this time they are urgently looking for 200 more men to join (mentors and mentees are partnered by gender.) If you're interested, please sign up at iMentor.org and help make a difference in a kid's life.

Thanks!

Joel Sherman doesn't like MLB roster callups. I might have a solution to his concerns.

Joel Sherman really hates MLB's September roster expansion rules:

"In a sport with plenty of dumb rules and traditions, this one seems created by Larry as told to Moe and implemented by Curly."

I personally never did mind the September callups. After playing over 130 games, I'm sure major leaguers would welcome a breather every now and then. And for fans of teams not in the playoff hunt, it's a chance to see the future players and revive the optimism of Spring Training again (and sell a handful of tickets that the team otherwise might not have sold.) Sherman does raise some good points about fairness though in terms of having a seemingly unlimited row of pinch hitters and pitchers in the bullpen.

Perhaps a solution would be to allow the rosters expand to 40 players but require each time declare an active roster of 30 players for each series, allowing for replacements only if players go on the disabled list (to avoid gaming the system with phantom injuries). A player not available for one series could replace someone else when the opponent changes but not before, regardless of whether the teams are playing 2, 3, or 4 games or just making up a single rainout from earlier in the year. That way each team knows who is and is not available for the other team during the series. Thoughts?

How MLB Announcers Favor American Players Over Foreign Ones | The Atlantic

A very interesting article about how announcers may make biased comments when talking about MLB players:

"The analysis reveals that foreign-born players—the vast majority of whom are Latino—are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to receiving praise for intangibles. Latino players are almost 13 percent less likely to be praised for intangibles than their white counterparts. Announcers are nearly 14 percent more likely to praise a US/Canadian-born player for intangibles than they are their international counterparts."

The piece also goes on to discuss questions raised about Albert Pujols' birth certificate when he signed his huge contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. A great piece worth reading.

"What Francesa does is crude theater on the level of pro wrestling, with him playing the part of both Face and Heel."

Amazin Avenue with a great post about the bombastic Mike Francesa:

"Francesa's ultimate intent was not to give vent to a fanbase's frustrations, but to exploit them for press and ratings. That's his right as a radio host--his duty, really. But let's stop pretending this is a Peter Finch in Network moment, or an expression of a grass-roots movement. It is astroturf at best. It is a reflection of real feelings, but only in a third-hand venal fashion, like a table full of cheap souvenirs sold across the street from an historical site."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

The word "Bolllywood" can be used as a verb?

Great post about the Tampa Bay Rays' bullpen. Also, I've never seen "Bollywood" used as a verb before:

"He throws heat from 96 to 100 mph, but his 86 mph changeup, which Bollywoods away from lefties, dominates both hands — and he throws it for strikes in any count."

(FYI, the writer is talking about Fernando Rodney.)

Beltran steps up for charity, new hometown | Stltoday

Awesome profile on Carlos Beltran and his family. You can't help but root for such a nice guy that (Strike 3 in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS notwithstanding) was the best position player to date in the history of the New York Mets. Besides, the Mets don't even reach Game 7 that year without Beltran's performance in Games 1 through 6.

Looking for Nimmo | Gotham Baseball

Nice little article about New York Mets 2011 first round draft pick Brandon Nimmo.

Jose Reyes a Toronto Blue Jay?

Joel Sherman thinks it's possible. As long as he doesn't go to the Yankees, I'd be fine with it.

Matt Harvey = Bruce Wayne?

Patrick Flood has a great theory on what could happen to Matt Harvey if his Major League debut is a failure:

"...best-case scenario is that Harvey is ready and pitches to a 3.50-4.00 ERA with the Mets for 10 starts. The worst-case is that Harvey struggles and descends into an existential crisis, leaves pitching to join a ninja monastery, and emerges years later as a crime-fighting vigilante. Which really isn't that bad, all things considered."

Enjoy The Dark Knight when it comes out. That could be Matt Harvey if things don't turn out as hoped.

Ed Coleman: It's Time For New York Mets To Give Prospect Matt Harvey The Ball « CBS New York

Ed Coleman: It's Time For New York Mets To Give Prospect Matt Harvey The Ball « CBS New York

Prospects’ future arriving soon - NYPOST.com

Joel Sherman makes some great points advocating the callup of Matt Harvey and possibly even Zack Wheeler.

Bill Murray can crash here | Tedquarters.net

This is great!

The Greatest Game Nobody Ever Saw | Sports Illustrated

The NBATV documentary on the 1992 Dream Team had some video of the game but reading this book excerpt really drives home how committed those players were to the game of basketball.

Matt Harvey is starting to look really, really good...

Another awesome outing for Matt Harvey in AAA on Friday night: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. He retired the first 14 batters of the game.

There were some great quotes worth reading from Wally Backman and Harvey himself about his effort as well as this stat line:

"His last four starts: 2.16 ERA, 25 IP, 18 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 HR, 7 BB, 32 K, .194 opponents’ batting average (18 H/93 AB). He’s gone seven innings in two of those four, and at least five in all four outings."

A Dunk That Would Make Blake Griffin Blush

This dunk is just plain sick.

Carlos Beltran in the Baseball Hall of Fame someday?

It's not an absurd thought or, as this article states, he's closer than you think:

"Through various advanced metrics, Beltran already fares favorably to Hall of Famers like Andre Dawson, Billy Williams and even Dave Winfield. He has more home runs than George Brett, more stolen bases than Robin Yount and probably will end up with more runs scored than Tony Gwynn and RBIs than Roberto Clemente."

Probably one of the quietest stats generating careers of all time.

Knuckleballer in Full Ascendancy | Patrick Flood Blog

Fantastic blog post by Patrick Flood. Well worth the lengthy read. Here's a great excerpt from it:

"Hitting a good knuckleball may be near-impossible, but it’s probably easier for hitters trained to make contact instead of swinging with max-effort. E.g., Omar Infante, a cardinal in the church of just-making-contact, has excellent career numbers against Dickey and is one of the few hitters who looks comfortable in the batter’s box against the knuckleball. But Infante is the exception, and most modern hitters run closer to Dan Uggla’s troglodytic approach to hitting. Which approach can be reduced to: see ball, swing as hard you possibly can, repeat. The violence and power of the modern swing is basically useless against a well-thrown knuckleball, and no hitters yet seem to know how to adjust to Dickey’s magic show."

He gets extra points in my book for use of the word 'troglodytic', which is quite apt in describing something being done by Dan Uggla.

The Knuckleball Mystique: Using PITCHf/x to distinguish perception from reality

A Really Awesome article about how the Really Awesome R.A. Dickey's knuckleball is a product of randomness rather than erratic behavior. Check it out!

The Progression Of R.A. Dickey's Knuckleball - Baseball Nation

The Progression Of R.A. Dickey's Knuckleball - Baseball Nation

Select decontextualized quotes from “The Humpty Dance” that seem apt to describe R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball

This is just plain awesome!!

Amazin’ prospect Wheel’s & deals - NYPOST.com

How good is Zack Wheeler?

"Zack Wheeler shattered two bats and hit 98 mph on the radar gun yesterday, and it was only 10:45 in the morning.

This, though, was to be his worst outing of the season for the Double-A Binghamton Mets. Imagine Wheeler on a really good day. Go ahead and dream big, Mets fans."

New York Mets Exploring 'Quiet' Section At Citi Field For Families With Autistic Kids « CBS New York

Very classy move on the part of the New York Mets. Honestly, they should tone down most PA announcements anyway.

R.A. Dickey's Historic Run - Baseball Nation

Great read about how unique R.A. Dickey's accomplishments have been this season.

Tom Seaver Has No Friends | NotGraphs Baseball

I can't believe Tom Seaver's official statement said he never met Johan Santana when Fangraphs found proof to the contrary.

So sad Tom. Perhaps you should ease up on that wine at the Seaver Vineyard.

Tim Bontemps: Reese Havens, second baseman in New York Mets system, finally healthy and ready to contribute - NYPOST.com

I'm still pulling for this kid but the years are starting to pile up and if he's not ready by the 2013 season it'll really be a shame.

The dream of a South African baseball player.

New York Mets prospect Jenrry Mejia made his second rehab start for the Hi-A St. Lucie Mets yesterday. In looking at the box score, I noticed the name of the leadoff hitter of the opponent, Gift Ngoepe. Even with the international popularity of baseball, that is still quite an unusual name for a minor league baseball player. So I Googled him and came away with a very interesting story about this switch-hitting South African shortstop.

Hopefully Ngoepe's dream will come true someday. Unfortunately his four strikeouts in yesterday's game won't help that dream.

Saves are stupid | Tedquarters.net

Ted Berg doesn't like saves. His reasoning is actually pretty sound.

"SMOKE AND CHEW "YUM YUM" TOBACCO."

Ted Berg has a great blog post about Roger Conner, the player whose career home run record Babe Ruth broke to take over first place.

The whole read is a good one (as are most of Ted's pieces) but the part that stood out for me was the advertising at the bottom of the baseball card itself that reads: SMOKE AND CHEW "YUM YUM" TOBACCO.

It really was a different time when Roger Conner made his major league debut 132 years ago tomorrow.

Reese Havens returns for the Binghamton Mets!

Guess who homered on the first pitch he saw and went 3 for 4 overall?

I asked Mets.com beat writer Anthony DiComo about Havens' status, which he answered in his mailbag column a few weeks ago. I hope Havens' (and the new Mets management) has finally figured him out because he is too great a talent to be wasted as a minor league retiree.

Dan Capwell of Mets Today makes a great point that makes me feel optimistic about Havens:

"Comparisons to Fernando Martinez abound, but Havens’ injury history reminds me more of the Jay Payton saga. Like Havens, Payton was taken as a compensation pick for losing a lefty free agent pitcher (Payton: Sid Fernandez, Havens: Tom Glavine). Drafted in 1994 and highly-touted, Payton had four surgeries, three on his elbows and one on his left shoulder. After spending the better part of his first several professional baseball years on the DL rehabbing, he finally made his debut late in 1998 season, only commit to a major base running gaffe in a key loss to Atlanta. The good news is that he later rebounded to help the Mets to a World Series berth as the starting CF in 2000. Hopefully Reese’s story has a similar outcome."

Considering Havens plays 2B and not CF, and hits much better than Payton ever did, I'm getting more and more hopeful about Reese.

Mets dress western for flight to Houston; hockey theme planned for Toronto

You have to like this idea for building team chemistry.

I'm curious to see pictures of the hockey theme for the upcoming interleague series in Toronto.

Checking In On The Mets 2011 Draft Class | Mets Merized Online

Mets Merized Online checks in on the Mets top six picks in the 2011 MLB draft. Aside from Brandon Nimmo still playing in Extended Spring Training awaiting the start of the Brooklyn Cyclones season, the pitchers have looked very good.

Add in Domingo Tapia's performance at Lo-A Savannah on Friday (5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) and the Mets could one day find themselves with more pitching prospects than they know what to do with.

It would be a nice problem to have. Hopefully this time they'll keep the one that would go on to pitch a perfect game and instead include the inconsistent one in a trade for a superstar.

Are the Mets good or lucky? (Or both?)

Ted Berg has an interesting way of looking at things. I think this line sums it all up nicely:

"What once seemed very unlikely now seems just unlikely."

In the Wall Street Journal, Brian Costa writes that the Mets may actually be this good.

Both are great reads to help you come up with your own opinion.

Q&A: Matt Harvey, Mets Ace in the Making | FanGraphs

The title of the article says it all. A great read into the mindset of Matt Harvey and what a competitor and his manager have to say about him. Also, a great general post on how a pitcher pitches and thinks about his arsenal of pitches. It almost sounds like he's a craftsman talking about a tool belt.

New York Mets' David Wright is looking to fix what was wrong | Tom Verducci - SI.com

Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci has a great profile of New York Mets third baseman David Wright. He also mentions this important point:

"If you watched Tiger Woods hack and shank his way around Augusta National last weekend, his mind cluttered with swing thoughts, you understand what can happen when an emphasis on mechanics passes a tipping point and becomes destructive. Wright might not have been baseball's Woods, but in 2008 noted baseball writer and stats guru Bill James told 60 Minutes that if he could pick one player to start his dream team, it would be Wright, who was then embarking on his age-25 season. "He does everything I like. And he's very young," James said."

Let's hope Verducci is right about Wright beginning the third act of his career.

Today's Mets win, Mets team captains, and Double-A 2B Reese Havens (a hodgepodge of stuff)

The Mets start the season 2-0 powered by an opposite field home run from David Wright and two homers from Lucas Duda. However, the moment that stood out in my mind is the scene of Wright calming down Ike Davis after a strikeout during the game. A little over five weeks ago, I wrote the Mets should officially name David Wright and Johan Santana as team captains, since that's the role they serve the team anyway. More recently, a question was posed to Anthony DiComo, Mets beat reporter for Mets.com asking a related question:

"In Mets history, have they had many captains? I can think of John Franco, maybe Gary Carter or Keith Hernandez?
-- Ralph G., Rahway, N.J.

You named them all. The Mets did not name a captain until Hernandez in 1987, who shared the captainship with Carter from 1988-89. Franco was captain from 2001-04. The Mets have not had one since, though David Wright has served as sort of a de facto captain for most of his tenure in New York."

So, in a way, putting that 'C' on the jersey (which I'll admit, is more common in football and hockey than baseball) would only be stating the obvious. However, it would also be sending a message to the team and the fans where the team's priorities are.

By the way, if you go to the same Mets.com link, you'll see this question at the very end:

"Where is Reese Havens? We haven't heard any reports of his injury. Is the team keeping it quiet because of his history or is he really making no progress?
-- Amod V., Montclair, N.J.

Havens made little progress after experiencing a bout of lower back stiffness early in camp, and he began the Minor League season on Double-A Binghamton's seven-day disabled list.

I have yet to meet a talent evaluator inside or outside the organization who does not believe Havens can thrive offensively at the Major League level. But at some point, the injuries began consuming him. Now 25 years old, Havens is hardly young for a prospect. He is running out of time to prove he can stay healthy over a full season, and the more time he misses this summer, the more difficult his path will be."

Yes, Mr. DiComo answered my question! And I'm glad to see the part about how successful Havens could be if he could put it all together. A first round pick taken four spots after Ike Davis, let's just hope he finally does.

Zack Wheeler is the #6 prospect in MLB? Not yet, but he will be.

It's still the first week of the Major League Baseball season but Bullpen Banter takes a humorous look at who will be the top ten prospects in the MLB heading into 2013. Checking in at #6 on the list is none other than Mets RHP Zack Wheeler:

"6 - Zack Wheeler - Right Handed Starter, Mets

After the Mets unshackled Wheeler in 2011 his confidence skyrocketed and his control problems dissipated. The Georgian has early trouble in Binghamton's cool air, but slays the Eastern League after May 15. His strikeout rate, which has never dropped below 10 SO/9 in his young career, reaches a Strasburgian 12.5 SO/9. Still, scouts are concerned that his overpowering arsenal is masking command issues. He spends the full year at Binghamton and is caught at a Phi Lambda Phi slip-and-slide mixer. His actions cause the New York Media to question the 22-year-old's makeup, dedication and to wonder aoud [sic] why he can't be more like Tim Tebow."

All joking and superfluous Tim Tebow references aside, the fact that they consider Wheeler to someday be a top ten prospect in all of the Major League Baseball says something about the kid's potential. In case you're wondering, here are the prospects ranked #6 overall by Bullpen Banter and its individual writers, going back to 2010:

2010 - LHP Brian Matusz, Baltimore Orioles
2011 - RHP Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
2011 (JD Sussman) - 1B Eric Hosmer, Kansas City Royals
2011 (Jeff Reese) - OF Wil Myers, Kansas City Royals
2011 (Al Skorupa) - LHP Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
2011 (Steve Fiorindo) - RHP Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
2012 - 3B Anthony Rendon, Washington Nationals
2012 (JD Sussman) - C/DH Jesus Montero, Seattle Mariners
2012 (Jeff Reese) - RHP Shelby Miller, St. Louis Cardinals
2012 (Al Skorupa) - RHP Taijuan Walker, Seattle Mariners

Walker and Rendon are still minor leaguers and check in at #1 and #5, respectively, on the projected 2013 list. Hellickson won American League Rookie of the Year in 2011, while Hosmer came in 3rd in the AL RoY voting. Walker and Montero are expected to produce this season so the jury is still out on them.

Of the nine players listed above, Chapman has been an enigma as no one seems to be able to harness his raw talent, Matusz is entering Mike Pelfrey territory in terms of disappointingly maddening consistency, and Myers' stock has dropped since 2011.

So Wheeler checking in at #6 seems to have a better than 50% chance of becoming a successful major leaguer (and perhaps a 40% chance of becoming a bust).

5 Truths for Mets Fans in 2012 (and my take on each of them)

A fan op-ed submitted on Mets Merized Online summed up a number of important points about the 2012 New York Mets. I don't have any experience to comment on #5 (5. Shake Shack is Ridiculously Overrated) because I have often looked at the Shake Shack line and preferred to watch baseball during that time instead (you know, like you're supposed to do at a baseball game). However, #'s 1 through 4 are pretty accurate, which are listed here with my thoughts on each:

1. The 2012 Mets Don’t Suck - They are not the worst team in the National League and have the unfortunate position of being in the NL East with teams that have not weakened. I think the Toronto Blue Jays can relate to the Mets' predicament.

2. The Mets Pitching Staff (Including Mike Pelfrey) Doesn’t Suck - The pitching staff's key issue is health (for Johan Santana and Jonathan Niese) and effectiveness (for R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee). If Johan stays healthy (big IF) and if Niese endures a full season, they will be reliably solid. Pelfrey is just Pelfrey, so consistent that he underwhelms everyone. Dickey needs to stay with the hard knuckler and hope Josh Thole manages it catch it 95% of the time. Gee needs to show he has the smarts to make adjustments since he doesn't have the stuff to blow anyone away. And if he fails, hopefully Jeurys Familia and/or Matt Harvey aren't too far behind in Buffalo.

3. The Offense Will Score a Lot of Runs - Same as the pitching, health is a big key here. Also, people forget that Ruben Tejada is just 22 years old. As Patrick Flood pointed out recently:

"Ruben Tejada, SS – Since 1961, middle infielders to have career .330 or better on-base percentages as 21-year-olds:

Delino DeShields, Joe Morgan, Alex Rodriguez, Jerry Browne, Lou Whitaker, Starlin Castro, Willie Randolph, Edgar Renteria, Rod Carew, Ruben Tejada, Roberto Alomar, Elvis Andrus, Sonny Jackson, Mike Caruso, Alan Trammell, Garry Templeton, Jim Fregosi.

The minimum is 500 plate appearances; that’s not bad company for Tejada. Don’t bet against players who can handle the majors as a 21-year-old."

That's pretty good company for young Ruben and of the group, he is often compared to Elvis Andrus, who is a cornerstone for the two-time defending American League Champs.

4. Fred Wilpon is Not the Worst Owner in Sports - Clearly the "lesser of all evils" argument. I may not have liked Fred Wilpon's meddling at times but it seems Sandy Alderson is more likely to push back and any of the previous General Managers, which is a good sign. That's exactly what the Yankees got when they promoted Brian Cashman to GM in the George Steinbrenner years.

All-in-all, a great post. I would add one more point (or perhaps replace #5, since the writer seems to be in the minority on the whole Shake Shack issue): The $50 million salary purge was a good thing, not a bad one. There was a lot of dead weight on last year's payroll between Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, not to mention the expiring contracts of Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, which were replaced by cheaper options while losing some but not a lot of production.

Losing Jose Reyes hurt, not because the Mets didn't match that ridiculous offer but because that ridiculous offer came from a divisional rival. If he had gone to the Angels or Tigers (who may have been better off on the field and financially if they had signed Reyes instead of Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder), I doubt anyone would have been upset. Fans are worried about him hitting triples against the Mets at CitiField, which is something fans will get over, much like Met fans did when Mike Piazza crushed two home runs against the Mets as a San Diego Padre in 2006. He got his ovation and curtain call and rode off into the sunset, only to reappear in a Mets jersey at the official closing of Shea Stadium.

Robinson Cano & Ike Davis in Fantasy Baseball Song Parody: "Should I Pujols or Cano?"

This is really funny! I like the cameos by both Ike Davis and Robinson Cano in this video:

This is how tall tales begin. I'm happy to contribute to this one.

I have a feeling before the season is out, Met fans will be writing stories about Lucas Duda in the same vein as those Chuck Norris "accomplishments". Mets 360 gets things started:

"Duda was born in Fontana, California on February 3, 1986. He attended Arlington High School in Riverside, California. His high school coaches knew they had something special in the 6’4 gawky youth with hope in his eyes and hunger in his heart. He grew into the hulking man he did eating nothing but rhubarb and a special blend of protein shakes mixed with the tears of a unicorn."

"Duda began the 2010 season with the Double-A Binghamton Mets and was promoted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on June 14. While in Buffalo, Duda homered in five consecutive games, tying a Bisons record and earning a supporting actor nomination for being the inspiration for George Clooney’s entire acting career. In 70 games for Buffalo, Duda hit 17 home runs, 2 triples, 23 doubles, and had 53 runs batted in, while compiling a .314 batting average and winning several underground fighting tournaments run by the Yakuza crime family. At the end of the season, the Bisons named him their Most Valuable Player and presented him with a gold plated AK-47."

Did I mention that the Mets couldn't afford to build the new wall at CitiField so Lucas Duda personally clubbed enough balls off the wall to scare it into moving in 14 to 17 feet? The wall trembled from so much fear of being pelted by Duda's shots that it turned Mets blue on its own.

Gary Cohen says these are the 1984 Mets; I think they're more like 1983.

The New York Post has some great quotes from Gary Cohen about his optimism for the 2012 New York Mets:

"“Mets fans always talk about ’84. They had gone through seven straight horrible seasons and then all of a sudden there was a great young infusion of talent — (broadcast partners) Ronnie (Darling) and Keith (Hernandez) were a part of that — and they won 90 games out of nowhere and that led up to the World Series a few years later. Those are the years the Mets fans tend to relish and what they are waiting for.”"

With all due respect to Mr. Cohen, this team actually reminds me more of 1983. That team had a veteran leader (Keith Hernandez) and a rising star (Darryl Strawberry) but it also had an aging former power hitter (George Foster). Most of the players making the buzz though were yet to be major leaguers: Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Sid Fernandez, Lenny Dykstra. And even Strawberry and Hernandez didn't join the team until May 6th and June 15th of that year, respectively.

This year's team has a veteran leader (David Wright), a couple of rising stars (Ike Davis and Lucas Duda), and an aging power hitter (Jason Bay). But most of the buzz is still on the farm (Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Zack Wheeler, Jordany Valdespin, Kirk Neiuwenhuis, Matt den Dekkar, Jenrry Mejia.)

I hope Gary Cohen is right but it seems more likely that I will be.

"Pelfrey has good stuff but you wonder if he just needs to get out of New York and start over."

Apparently the Mets brainstormed the idea of releasing Mike Pelfrey this Spring. A couple of comments that came out of the idea:

"...one Met made a case for retaining Pelfrey that was representative of how many players feel, saying, “If we got rid of him, he would (stick it to us).”"

"Some of his longtime rivals, observing from a distance, believe that Pelfrey would benefit from pitching in a new city, free of the expectations of a fan base that often expresses its displeasure with him.

“Pelfrey has good stuff,” said an NL East player who has faced Pelfrey for years. “But you wonder if he just needs to get out of New York and start over.”"

I hate to say 'I told you so' but back in 2006 and 2007, I was always much more impressed with Philip Humber than Mike Pelfrey, even though most scouts had them fairly even or Pelfrey a tick higher as a prospect. Even though Humber hasn't established himself as the top-notch starter a #3 overall draft pick should be, I always thought his raw intelligence gave him an upside that Pelfrey doesn't have. I can't put my finger on it but Pelfrey has a deer-in-headlights look that many small-town folks get in New York.

Likewise, I thought it should have been Pelfrey and not Humber that went to Minnesota in the Johan Santana trade. Pelfrey probably would have thrived in Minnesota and the trade would have been far more equal than anyone looking back on it today thinks. Unfortunately, we'll never know.

WSJ's analysis of the current and future New York Mets

The Wall Street Journal has a couple of articles on the New York Mets today. They have a preseason position-by-position preview, with plenty of useful and useless information for each player, such as this tidbit on David Wright:

"Useless Information: Is trying to sell his Flatiron District bachelor pad for $6.25 million after relocating to the Upper East Side last year."

WSJ also has a great piece on how the Mets are trying to avoid doing with Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia what they did with Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher, and Paul Wilson (aka 'Generation K'). Apparently they convened a post-mortem after Generation K disintegrated:

"Could the injuries have been prevented? Maybe not, Pulsipher said. But a few years after the three of them debuted, Mets officials convened to try to figure out why they broke down.

The numbers revealed a common thread: a rapid increase in workload. Isringhausen threw just over 90 innings in 1993, then threw more than 193 innings the following year. For Wilson, the jump was even more dramatic, from 49 innings in 1994 to 186 in 1995. Pulsipher logged just under 140 innings in 1993, then threw 201 in 1994."

All-in-all, the WSJ article and the recent Mets.com article both talk about how the Mets are optimistic about their prospects. The WSJ article also talks about the limits the Mets now have on their pitching prospects, so there's hope the team has finally learned from its erroneous ways.

Photo: The Keith Hernandez & Ike Davis Subway Ad

One week till Opening Day!!! I can't help but be excited about it.

"Being a Mets fan is not an auto-immune disease, though it might sometimes feel that way."

Ted Berg writes a touching and courageous piece about his own health and being a Met fan:

"Here’s my deal: I have a pair of incurable but non-terminal auto-immune diseases -– multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. I’m not seeking pity and I don’t want to bog this post down with personal medical history, but it turns out they can team up to be a real pain in the ass sometimes. I’m lucky in that I’ve avoided the worst of both, but I found out about the M.S. because a side effect of medication I was taking for Crohn’s amplified the symptoms. I went off that medication upon the M.S. diagnosis in 2008 and suffered a Crohn’s flare-up this summer. I went on steroids to calm it, started absorbing food again and gained a bunch of weight. The weight puts extra stress on my back that’s already aching from the M.S., but working out to try to drop that weight –- as I did this morning –- makes my back hurt more. And painkillers can trigger the Crohn’s disease again."

"Being a Mets fan is not an auto-immune disease, though it might sometimes feel that way. And being a Mets fan these past few years has been rough, at least relative to being a fan of most other teams or being a Mets fan back in the late 80s."

"Rooting for a team means emotionally investing in something, and that brings with it the risk of some pain –- not lasting physical pain, but pain nonetheless. But when that pain comes like it has the last few years, what’s the sense in wallowing in it?

Especially with baseball. It’s baseball. Baseball. For one thing, you can opt out at any time. If the Mets actually make you miserable, stop following the Mets. If you can’t or won’t, I suggest for the sake of your sanity finding whatever small shred of hope you have for the upcoming season and seizing it, rather than floundering about in so much Met-fan self-pity."

Well said Mr. Berg. Let's Go Mets.

Creative advertisement for a Japanese Baseball team

You gotta love Japanese baseball just for ads like this one for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks:



Of course, the team's website also features instructions on how to enjoy watching baseball, including the appropriate time to release the "jet balloons":

The poetic simplicity of Spring Training, according to Mets blogger Patrick Flood

Patrick Flood writes a very long and extremely descriptive piece on his thoughts from spending time at the Mets Spring Training facility. Patrick is quickly becoming one of my favorite Mets bloggers with his dry humor and vivid use of language. Read this piece for the comparison of Johan Santana's changeup to driving behind a car with no brake lights, as well as for this nugget on where a press pass allows you to sit at Digital Domain Park:

"You, with a press pass, can also sit in places other people aren’t always allowed to sit. You can sit in the air-conditioned media room where there is free soda. You can sit in the conference room and listen to the manager’s post-game press conference. You can sit on the top of the scattered picnic tables, and security persons are less inclined to ask you not to do so. You can sit just about anywhere in the stadium during the major league games. You can sit in section 203, row L, seat 15, provided it’s unoccupied, but if that seat wins free KFC giftcard in a scoreboard promotion, you don’t get the giftcard because it’s not actually your seat. This will be made clear by several people, even if you have no intention of trying to claim the KFC giftcard. You can both sit and stand on the Arrigo Dodge Chrysler Jeep Palm Beach Party Zone along the right field line, but — full disclosure – “Party Zone” appears to be a misnomer. You can sit on the berm behind right field, on bladeless grass that seems to have no dirt beneath it, only older yellowed grass no matter how far you dig with your fingers, and watch the five-year-olds play catch with their mothers with found baseballs. Only most mothers are informed about their participation in the game of catch mid-flight, so it’s really more watching five-year-olds peg their mothers with baseballs."

"The runner on third for the St. Louis Cardinals, 'Minor League Guy!'"

Spring Training is a time for prospects to get time with the Major League team but this is really embarrassing for this guy. As Amazin Avenue pointed out yesterday:

"It's bad enough that you were issued #91 in Spring Training, but your regional sports network can't even figure out your name, well, it might just be time to hang 'em up."

Could the Mets Release Mike Pelfrey?

You know the saying, "With friends like these, who needs enemies?" The same can be said of the person that wrote this post on whether the Mets should cut Mike Pelfrey:

"I’m a big Pelfrey fan, have been from his college days but this is now six years in with inconsistent performance."

Patrick Flood recently wrote about how Mike Pelfrey isn't as bad as everyone thinks and isn't as good as everyone believes he could be. However, I think the big man is out of lifelines with the $1 million question hanging out there.

Another thing to remind you how young Ruben Tejada is | Tedquarters.net

No need to elaborate on this. Very well said, Mr. Berg.

Today in Stuff Albert Pujols Does | Tedquarters.net

Ted Berg posted a great quote from Tom Verducci's SI article about Albert Pujols:

"Pujols is nearly done with the hitting session in the St. Louis cage, during which he will have hit 85 balls off a tee or thrown to him by Silvestri. (After one swing, in a baseball reenactment of The Princess and the Pea, he tells Silvestri something isn’t right with the ball he just hit. Silvestri fetches it and finds that it’s the one ball in the bucket that’s not regulation MLB issue.)"

If you've read Jonah Keri's "The Extra 2%" about the Tampa Bay Rays (nee Devil Rays), you might recall the following pieces about Tampa Bay giving Pujols a tryout while in junior college:

"[Tampa Bay area scout Fernando] Arango claims his prospect looked like Lou Gehrig. [Tampa Bay scouting director Dan] Jennings saw no such thing.

Arango observed a 60-yard dash in 7.1 seconds, a good time for a player that size. The Devil Rays tried him at his college position of shortstop, where Arango says he handled an array of sharply hit grounders and showed good instincts for a big man. Jennings looked at the player's body, then suggested maybe he should catch. He'd never caught before and was worried he'd make a bad impression. Arango told him to relax, put on the equipment, and humor everyone for a few minutes. His first throw to second base came in a flash: 1.89 seconds. That time was phenomenal for a high school catcher and solid for a college catcher; several big league catchers show similar times. Only this player had never caught at any level.

Then he got in the batter's box and started roping line drives all over the park. Growing up, his dad had taught him to hit the ball with authority to right-center. Do that consistently, his father told him, and he could one day hit .300 in the big leagues. Jennings wasn't impressed. "Where's the power?" he muttered. Arango got the message. "They'd like you to hit it a little farther," he told his pupil. On the very next pitch, the kid crushed the ball off the top of the left-field foul pole."

Add that to the list of things Albert Pujols has done.

Johan Santana to the World: I’m Back

Flying under the radar with all the Tim Tebow news yesterday was a phenomenal outing by Johan Santana. I'm starting to get optimistic! (I hope it's not all for naught.)

Phoenix Suns love a big chill in cryosauna

The Colbert Report should do a story about this new training technique as part of its "Craziest F@#$%ing Thing I've Ever Heard" series.

New York sure to test Tebow, on and off the field | NorthJersey.com

More about Tim Tebow coming to the New York Jets:

"Tebow has had a large and fervent following since his days at Florida, and as much as the two national titles he brought to the program, he drew people in because of his Christian faith. He is hardly the first player to name-drop God or kneel in prayer amid the chaos of a game; Jeremy Lin, New York's most recent fad, makes no secret of his Christian faith, either.

But Tebow is seen as more outspoken, more passionate. As appealing as that is to some, it's a turnoff for others, and there is very little middle ground to be found."

As much as been made about Jeremy's Lin's public statement of faith, it's usually a simple "Thank God" rather than the full-blown unilateral religiosity of Tim Tebow. That's what makes him different and more uncomfortable to listen to.

The carrot and the stick for Mark Sanchez

A very astute post in The New York Times today about the effect of adding Tim Tebow to the development of Mark Sanchez:

"Drew Brees was the 32nd pick in the 2001 draft, but he largely disappointed in his first three seasons. Brees had a 10-17 record as a starter, completed just 59.4 percent of his passes and threw 31 interceptions, with only 29 touchdown passes. The Chargers drafted Eli Manning, then traded him for Philip Rivers and other picks on the first day of the 2004 draft, as Brees was considered nothing more than a journeyman. But he turned his career around by completing 65.5 percent of his passes and throwing for 27 touchdowns (with just 7 interceptions) and led the Chargers to an 11-4 record."

Granted, the article does mention Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, and Jon Kitna, so Drew Brees is definitely the exception rather than the norm. Basically, if the big contract was the carrot being offered to Sanchez, would adding Tebow be the stick to get him going? Let's hope that is how it will work.

The funny Chinese animation version of the Mets owners settling the Madoff victims suit

That's cruel what Irving Picard does to Mr. Met. The rest is pure comedy. ENJOY!

Unburied Treasure: When Keith Hernandez Was the Game’s Best First Baseman

Great post of an old 1984 magazine article about Keith Hernandez. Many of today's Met fans only know Hernandez as an announcer and a Just For Men pitchman. They never saw him play and don't fully realize what his arrival in 1983 did to the franchise as a whole.

Korea Catches Baseball Fever | Baseball Prospectus

Interesting column about the rising popularity of baseball in South Korea.

The best analysis I've read on the whole Wilpon/Picard settlement

Toby Hyde of Mets Minor League Blog provides a phenomenal analysis of the reasons why the Wilpon family settled with the trustee for the Bernie Madoff victims. If you read one piece that clearly lays out the who, what, when, where, why, and how the settlement was reached, this is it.

A coach should take advantage of the strengths of his star players? What a revolutionary concept!!

Thank you Chris Matassino of SNY Why Guys for saying what has been on my mind for years:

"...in my opinion its [sic] up to the coach to adapt his system to the players he has, not the other way around. A coach should take advantage of the strengths of his star players, not try and mold them to fit his coaching philosophy."

I can't begin to tell you how many times I hear about a coach and 'his system' and think to myself, "Is this guy so dumb that he can't figure out what his players are good at and then tailor his strategy to exploit that?" I see this in football and basketball and it annoys the hell out of me. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this way because I was starting to feel like I was.

High praise for Matt Harvey from 'Larry' himself.

High praise for Matt Harvey by the Shea villian himself, Larry "Chipper" Jones:

"A short time after Chipper Jones grounded out against Matt Harvey last Friday, Josh Thole arrived at third base. The future Hall of Famer, shaking his head, had a question for the Mets catcher.

“Where did you get this guy?” Jones said. “He’s throwing bowling balls up there.”"

It's been a long time since someone spoke of a Mets pitching prospect this way. The fact that it comes from an adversary is even more telling.

David Brooks is a Met fan?

From David Brooks' column today:

"I have no choice but to love the Mets. Just as I have no choice but to hate the Phillies."

Let's Go Mets!

Sandy Koufax, Hall of Famer, gives New York Mets reliever Bobby Parnell some pitching tips | NYPOST.com

How awesome would it be as a professional baseball player to hear that Sandy Koufax wanted to meet you because he heard so much about you (Zack Wheeler/Matt Harvey) or he took an interest in your pitching (Bobby Parnell) and wanted to offer some advice?

Broadcaster Rankings (TV): #10 – #1 | Fangraphs

Fangraphs ranked the broadcasters in Major League Baseball. The New York Mets' announcers Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez ranked #2, behind the legendary Vin Scully.

For the record, the YES Network announcers came in at #22, which is remarkably high for them.

You can't apply on Monster.com for a job as a Major League Baseball player.

Excellent and very well written blog post by Ted Berg, which starts off with:

"There’s a pitcher who’s in Mets Major League camp that’s staying at my hotel. It doesn’t seem appropriate to say his name and it doesn’t much matter for the sake of this weird and potentially off-putting post anyway, but I can say with some confidence that he’s very unlikely to make the Mets’ roster out of Spring Training.

And nearly every evening I see this guy sitting in his car in the hotel parking lot talking on the phone, and something about it makes me sad. I don’t know what he’s saying or to whom. For all I know he just spends an inordinate amount of time ordering pizza or engaging solicitors. But I assume he’s talking to his dad or his sister or his best friend or his old coach, someone or some combination of people who care about him a whole lot and want to hear about his progress and performance in Port St. Lucie."

You will be glad you read this post about the business of baseball and the individuals that play the game, which can also be written as 'individuals that work in this field'.

Why David Wright is awesome...

Great interview by Matt Cerrone of Metsblog with David Wright on being a team leader and some other topics:

Johan Santana does more stuff

Ted Berg puts it best:

"It’s March 6, so it’s important not to get carried away. But then, it’s March 6 and Johan Santana is pitching in vaguely competitive baseball games, throwing fastballs at least in the high 80s, and looking and acting and sounding like Johan Santana.

So screw it: Get carried away. Go all Twitter on this and take it seven steps down the road. Let your imaginations run wild. It’s Johan Santana and he’s doing stuff and his arm still appears to be intact.

It’s hard to believe it’s for real, and that there won’t be speedbumps or roadblocks along the way for Santana. I get that. But as a fan, I want to roll the windows down and put the pedal to the floor until the next one arrives, since it has kind of been a while since I’ve enjoyed the thrill of the open road."

Team Captains for the New York Mets?

The ever optimistic Rich Coutinho gives another reason to be optimistic about the 2012 New York Mets:

"Remember this Mets fans — I know you feel beat up right now and naturally your expectations have been lowered. But Johan Santana does not have low expectations and wants nothing to do with any players who possess those tendencies. He intends on being on the mound on Opening Day and plans on making his next start five days later because that is what he was made to do...To me, that is best reason Mets fans should be optimistic — Johan Santana is hell-bent on carrying this pitching staff."

Couple that with this quote from Metsblog.com today about David Wright:

"It’s worth noting that Wright did a lot of hanging with and goofing around with the younger guys, specifically [Cesar] Puello."

The Mets haven't had a real team captain since Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter (R.I.P. Kid) They had John Franco but I always felt he was too chummy with management and did more to undermine the team than to lead them. Let's face it, John Franco may have worn the 'C' on his jersey but it was Mike Piazza's team all those years.

Does it make sense to Terry Collins to anoint Johan Santana and David Wright team captains this season and let them lead the team? Or would that undermine Sandy Alderson's ability to trade them (and, more importantly, their contracts) during the season?

Torres overcomes ADHD to become elite defender - NYPOST.com

Nice column by Kevin Kernan about Andres Torres. Some nice quotes from Torres essentially describing what everyone with ADHD goes through:

"“If you find the right medication plus therapy and some professional help, you can find success like I did,’’ Torres told The Post. “I struggled for many years.’’

Torres, 34, was diagnosed with the condition in 2002 but took medication for only two or three days. “I was thinking, ‘I’m a good athlete, I don’t need to take anything,’ ’’ he explained.

Thinking that he could overcome the condition without medication was a bad decision. “The focus wasn’t there,’’ he said. “It’s not about just being hyper. You have to find focus in everything you do.’’"

Jeremy Lin puts the ball in Asian Americans' court | LA Times

Great column that starts out with a very important fact:

"In the Asian American community even third and fourth generations must contend with being treated as perpetual foreigners. So it comes as no surprise that they have embraced the big pop culture bang that created "Linsanity" — a force that already has turned long-entrenched cultural stereotypes on their heads and made the Ivy League-educated point guard the most visible Asian American in the country, if not the world."

Joe Petruccio's latest sketch at My Mets Journal

Another classic sketch by Joe Petruccio.

MMO: Wilmer Flores Is No Miguel Cabrera (Are you sure MMO?)

Mets Merized Online recently posted about Jim Callis' online chat, where a question about Wilmer Flores came up. My personal opinion is everyone was too high on the kid and is now beating him up.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up Flores’ numbers on Baseball Reference across ages 17-19:
Age 17 (A): .264/.305./.332, 3 HR, 36 RBI
Age 18 (A & A+): .289/.333/.424, 11 HR, 84 RBI
Age 19 (A+): .269/.309/.380, 9 HR, 81 RBI

For the sake of comparison, I took a look at two other guys:
Player A:
Age 17 (Rookie and Low-A): .259/.338/.347, 2 HR, 28 RBI
Age 18 (A): .268/.328/.382, 7 HR, 66 RBI
Age 19 (A+): .274/.333/.421, 9 HR, 75 RBI

Player B:
Age 17 (Rookie): .331/.433/.423, 0 HR, 27 RBI
Age 18(Low-A & A+): .350/.382/.436, 1 HR, 44 RBI
Age 19 (A+): .294/.366/.409, 11 HR, 86 RBI

Player A seems like he’s comparable to Wilmer Flores. Player B seems like he’s a better pure hitter than Player A and Flores. Player A is Miguel Cabrera. Player B is Edgardo Alfonzo. In other words, the jury is still out on Wilmer. We shouldn’t have put him on the pedestal yet so we shouldn’t quickly knock him down either because he hasn’t delivered. A lot can happen in the next few years, as the career paths of Cabrera and Alfonzo over the past decade or two shows us.

Flores’ talents (if they develop) won't be needed on the big league level until 2014 or so anyway. If he arrives sooner than that, it'll only be a bonus. In the meantime, cut him some slack and let him learn at his own pace.

Be patient with the kid Met fans and let him develop.

What do you need to throw a knuckleball? Midi-chlorians.

Mets pitcher and avid Star Wars fan R.A. Dickey answered fan questions on Twitter yesterday, which were posted on Metsblog. This one, by far, has to be my favorite:

Savetofavorites: Ever think about teaching the knuckler to somebody? What do you think you’d look for in a protege?
RA Dickey: Midi-chlorians.

May The Force be with you R.A. May The Force be with you.

Jeremy Lin: His Impact On Changing The Perception Of The Asian American Male

A great column about the cultural impact of Jeremy Lin on the stereotypes of Asian-American males. This is one point that I had thought about myself:

"Most Asian male athletes of significance are either from Asia -- Yao Ming, Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Manny Pacquiao -- or those not primarily identified as being Asian -- Tiger Woods, Hines Ward, Apolo Ohno, Johnny Damon."

If you factor in South Asians, there are Brandon Chillar of the Green Bay Packers and Manny Malhotra of the Vancouver Canucks, both of whom have South Asian fathers but Caucasian mothers. That's the impact of a Jeremy Lin. He's doing it without giving someone the opportunity to say his non-Asian genes are what's really responsible for his athletic success. And that is why as Asian-American males of all shades and stripes, we can be thankful for the progress Jeremy Lin has provided, even if he doesn't look exactly like all of us.

It would be bittersweet when one day non-Taiwanese people of Asian descent look at Lin and think he's not one of us. On one hand, it would show progress that we are no longer lumped into the same 'Asian or Pacific Islander' category. However, a bit of the unity in our diversity will be lost with it.

Introducing The Politics of Sport!

After writing my blog, The Sport of Politics, for a number of years, I realized that it had become unfocused and kind of a random spot for me to post random things. I also realized that I was writing more about sports than politics these days and although that was always my intent, I never expected the sports stuff to be more than 25% of what I wrote on that blog.

So with that, I decided to launch this new blog, The Politics of Sport. I'm also planning to curtail the random posting on both blogs and really use it to post what I think rather than random things I saw. I'll still do a bit of that but I think my goal will be (for both blogs) to put more of my opinions out there and really talk about the politics that goes on in the sporting world and the gamesmanship that goes on in the political arena.

In other words, I intend to sacrifice quantity for quality. As with before, I put many opinions out there to be questioned and challenged and to generate a discussion. And if no one chooses to read my blog, that's fine with me. This is a way for me to think openly, vent my frustrations, and say what I think. The choice to read it is all yours.

So thank you for visiting this blog and hope you come back and read some more!