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.

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.