In Doug’s Dugout today we discuss: Opening Day, how to follow the Mets this season, and the sad case of Barry Bonds. Are there any two words sweeter to a baseball fan than, “Opening Day?” On Friday, we get to utter it, with one caveat: It’s a night tilt. How awful is that? Opening Day falls on a night. It’s sad how baseball has sold the game out from the fans, but that is another [...]

As Joe detailed, Jason Bay’s injury could be a concern for the Mets for longer than just the beginning of the season.  Rib injuries tend to linger and this could affect Bay all year. If Bay does start the year on the disabled list then the question because who takes his roster spot and who starts in left field. The roster spot will likely be given to Lucas Duda if the team feels confident that [...]

Tomorrow is Opening Day of the 2011 Baseball Season and although the weatherman says ‘snow’ — Major League Baseball says “Play Ball’. If the weather is inclement they will either play through the snowflakes, or postpone the game until the next day. Opening Day has a special meaning for a lot of us who live in the Northeast and have been baseball fans since childhood. Of course, Dad would take us out of school for [...]

Bob Mantz Jr. of the always incredible sports blog Bob’s Blitz, posted a great interview of Dwight Gooden who answered questions for fans at a luncheon at Big Shots Sports Bar & Grill in Woodbridge, NJ on Tuesday. Some great questions were asked. Check it out.

In a decision that is somewhat a surprise with the recent announcement of adding Blaine Boyer to the Mets’ bullpen, Jason Isringhausen has agreed to spend two more weeks in extended spring training to build his arm strength. “I’ve come this far, another two weeks is not going to kill me…” Isringhausen told reporters” For what its worth, Isringhausen was just coming off an injury and probably knew that his performance, as well as his [...]

Jason Bay is in New York after he was sidelined with a strain in his left intercostal muscle, which is located near the rib cage. Apparently, Bay injured himself while taking batting practice on Tuesday. You may remember he had previously asked out of a couple of games because of back soreness prior to that. Some are reporting that he may be in danger of starting the season on the disabled list. The team expects to [...]

Holy Thole! One of the things I’m most excited about this season is watching the continued development of last season’s Mets rookie class, and what a class it was. Ike Davis and Jon Niese both stepped forward in big and demonstrative ways, but when a young 23 year old catcher name Josh Thole replaced Rod Barajas on June 25th, I remember seeing a lot of skeptics. Not anymore! Thole silenced the crowd with all the [...]

I spent most of last evening reading the local sports pages on the internet when I happened upon an article of particular interest in the New York Times by David Waldstein. It was a well written synopsis of the how the 2010 Mets morphed into the 2011 Mets. Before I get to that, first a bit of a preamble.  You know one of the things I have to constantly repeat time and time again to [...]

It took New York Mets backup catcher Ronny Paulino more than half of spring training before he finally showed up to camp more than three weeks late due to visa problems stemming from his 50 game PED suspension. It now looks like Paulino will miss even more time as recent bloodwork revealed a serious problem that will require additional tests. According to general manager Sandy Alderson, the results revealed serious issues with his stomach and colon. [...]

As a Mets fan, the name Fernando Martinez has always perked my ears when I would hear or read his name. It seems like F-Mart has been around for a long time, though he’s just 22 years old. (His birthday is only two months after mine, and he turns 23 on Oct. 10 this year.) But there has been so much speculation, question and doubt among Mets fans, specifically for the past three seasons. To [...]