Mike Vaccaro: New York Mets rookie pitcher Zack Wheeler has been a difference maker since promotion to majors | NYPOST.com

I hadn't realized this:

"The day [Zack Wheeler] first arrived for work as a big-leaguer, June 18, the Mets were 15 games under .500 and on pace to lose exactly 100 games. Then he and Harvey teamed up to sweep the Braves on Super Tuesday, the Mets have gone 20-13, and that’s a 98-win pace."

Larry Brooks: New York Mets can draw inspiration from 1967 team in bid for brighter future | NYPOST.com

Great column from Larry Brooks:

"There are years in sports that become shortcut references to eras, such as 1965, the gateway between dynasty and a famine, for the Yankees.

But if 1965 is an accepted historical reference point, 1967 deserves our attention as it applies to the Mets, the year the team started to turn the corner on the corner on their way to attaining mythical and miracle status two years later.

No Yankees team would ever invite association with 1965. But it does not damn the 2013 Mets to turn back the pages of the franchise’s history to a year when, for the first time, glimmers of hope shined through a half decade of darkness.

If the answer to the baseball SAT question ever becomes, “1967 is to 1969 as 2013 is to 2015,” well, what Mets fan wouldn’t sign up for that right now?"

Francisco Rodriguez helps the Mets, from afar | Capital New York

I had the same thought as Howard Megdal when I heard about the K-Rod trade to the Orioles: If K-Rod can return a relatively high-upside prospect, what could Bobby Parnell fetch? Castellanos? Garcia? Bogaerts? Bradley, Jr.?

Check back in a week or so...

Klapisch: With Ryan Braun suspended, Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is sure to be next | NorthJersey.com

Great column by Bob Klapisch about Ryan Braun, A-Roid, and how their situations impact each other.

Our hero! | The Scranton Times-Tribune

This is great!

Matt Harvey, 'tough as nails,' rises to stardom | Ted Berg - USA Today Sports

""Man, he's a stud," Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper says. "I really think he's probably the best pitcher in the league right now."

Klapisch: Mets' Matt Harvey ready for his blaze of glory | NorthJersey.com

I remember this from the 1984 All-Star Game:

"For one, maybe two innings tonight, Harvey has a chance to pull Mets fans into the organization’s time tunnel – back to 1984 when Doc Gooden introduced himself to the world with a blow-away fifth inning in that year’s All-Star Game.

Gooden struck out Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Alvin Davis with a fastball that might as well have been shot out of a rifle – that’s how overmatched the American League’s sluggers were. Gooden, only 19, was the advertisement of the gathering storm in Flushing, which is why the parallel to Harvey is so striking, even though he’s five years older."

Humble David Wright is All-Star | USA Today Sports

This is why David Wright is Captain America.

Mets Pitcher Matt Harvey Pitching With Blister On Right Index Finger | CBS New York

NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! (But it does explain the sudden lack of command on his breaking pitches.)

Ten years later, revisiting Darko Milicic

Interesting piece in Slate on 2003 NBA Draft bust Darko Milicic.

Dear Misters Wilpon, the town is here for the taking. Take it back for the Mets. | Mets Police

Well said Shannon. Well said.

Unlike that other 3B, Wright a credit to his Citi | Steve Serby - New York Post

Nice column comparing David Wright to A-Roid.