27
2011
And The Days Dwindle Down — For The Mets
An article by Former Writers
I’ve just re-read a column I wrote in the Spring when all was fresh and new and we were excited, but didn’t know what the season would bring. The column was titled “The Boys in the Booth” and I loved re-reading it. With talent like Gary, Keith and Ron – you’ve already hit an inside the park home run.
Now I’m going to say goodbye and/or see you in the spring to some others.
First of all is R.A. Dickey who has turned into a very special and talented pitcher. I hope he enjoys the season off with his family – and the newborn- and comes back happy and healthy – he works so hard and is so disciplined and prepared that others on this team ought to pay some attention to him.
We’ve got so many people playing daily and nightly that at the moment no one stands out. I’ll be awaiting Terry’s opinion in the Spring. Terry’s the one who really caught my attention this summer – every day he kept to his routine and did something nice for a player. This man knows his ‘kids’ inside and out and because so many of them are in their early twenties and away from home he has provided a family- like atmosphere for them. You can tell that Terry loves his job – lets hope that an extension is in the books for him from Sandy.
I have to find a place in this article for Kevin Burkhardt – you never know where he will show up or with whom. He is the one person who can navigate around Citi Field without a map. He’d make friends with everyone if he had the time. Frankly I”m not as fond of those who sit at the TV desks and play crazy baseball games but I’m excluding the Daily News at 5, and most of the work by Chris and Bobby.
Because I’m not exclusively a Mets fan, and will follow all of the games leading up to the final out of the World Series, I only have a bit of a withdrawal since the last game is usually played right before Thanksgiving and Christmas Shopping. However I do wish that some of the regular team announcers would be asked to work the games – if they wish. It’s not fun to find yourself screaming at the TV when some new network announcer has really made a big mistake. Train them elsewhere, please.
And now a special note for Keith Hernandez – I’m not sure whether you stay in Florida all winter, but thank you for the picnic at the Pepsi porch last summer. The bit with you and the hot dog was priceless – thanks for the memory…….
About the Author: Former Writers
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Jose Reyes also provided us with some special memories this season, and maybe his last as a New York but again, as usual, Annie doesn’t give props to certain players I guess that don’t fit her warm apple pie posts.
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why don’t you post your list of five things that you were grateful for in this Mets season? Are you really that dense to believe that every Mets fan’s top five memories will be the same as yours? I know you are a moron, but that would be over the top even for you and your sidekick alex.
bayonne,
it seems we gain another fan lol.. it turns out NOW i am your sidekick.. wow. i thought by now the saber heads & wright lovers would pegged us (including maniac) as evil guys or villains, usually sidekicks are the good guys.. you know, kinda like batman & robin
no, you can be the Harley Quinn to his Joker. A pair of clowns.
who in the blue hell is harley quinn???
how bout the green hornet and kato?
lol, saw that movie, it was funny, yeah.. i can see us battling crime.. good vs evilmetrics!!!!
Reyes is not really doing anything he hasn’t done before, with the exception of his BA.
Other than that, his year is very similar to 2006 and 2008 (especially 2006). A few more triples and doubles, a lot less HRs and SBs, and actually a slightly lower walk rate (his higher OBP is all from BA). Overall, almost identical slg% though. RBIs way off too, FWIW (I know some people are big on that stat!).
Sometimes players just have an outlier year for BA for whatever reason. So quite possible, even probable, that next season it settles back down to around his career norm of .280-.290ish.
Any – Jose Reyes has been with the Mets for his whole baseball life, he and David Wright, came to the Mets at the same time, but the resemblance ends there. Where David has made a career out of his game, Jose has not. David is not the same young kid he first was at Port St. Lucie – he’s living in the city and taking advantage of some of the many PR offers he gets and also some charity work – often with Derek Jeter. He’s also usually the last one out of the clubhouse after talking with the press – almost daily.
I’m not sure what Jose does off field, I know he has a family, but he has been here long enough to learn the language better, and he still seems to have a lot of the teen-ager in him. Baseball for him should be a much more serious game, but it isn’t.
So Jose should know the language better, huh? Does that concern you that much even more so than his play on the field in which the Mets are clearly a more valuable team with Jose Reyes than David Wright?
Annie, you kind of confirmed my suspicions with that remark. Should Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado have spoken clearer english for you to give props about their foundations and the charitable work they do? Or do they not possess the certain criteria for you to acknowledge all the good they do.
I know you like to write about the golden smiles of David Wright and Mike Piazza a lot but you do realize that outside of Piazza, Edgardo Alfonse was probably the most productive Met during Piazza’s time here and probably ranks up with one of the most under-rated and most productive Mets to ever put on their uniform.
Or does he not speak the english language clear enough for you?
annie, your post are usually good and i’ll give you props, but you as shallow as they come, it seems to me your being pre-judice about the lat-ino players on the mets, it seems you give props to guys like dickey, wright, piazza and other just because they speak english, are ameri-can , WTF kinda sh** is that?? is your post and i will respect it, but on what you just wrote, it seems your criticizing jose for being a poor hisp-anic player that doesn’t speak well engl-ish and hasn’t learned it well enough for you or is not good looking enough, yet you forget he’s great with kids, does many charitites work here and in the DR, has been a model citizen, is a unique type guy not a front runner like david is trying to be like jeter your other boy, you should pay more attention to a whole person body of work and not write articles or comments about a player just because he’s good looking, speaks well engl-ish or because he’s ameri-can
There is nothing wrong with Jose Reyes’ use of the english language. He is obviously a very bright guy. He expresses himself very well, in english, which is not his native language, and he learned english as a very young player, while still in the minor leagues. He was obviously smart enough even as a young man to know the importance of learning to speak and understand english, considering his chosen profession. When talking to the media, Jose is very analytical in his interpretations of the interviewers’ questions. His answers are unique and to the point, and not the standard stock answer, that so many players, of every nationality, give. He comes across as being very genuine, and a real nice guy. I am sure DWright is too. Although sometimes David’s answers and explanations to the media’s questions, sound more like excuses than anything else.
This! And also this. David Wright and Derrick Jeter collaborating on charitable good deeds has all ready received coverage recently. Don’t get the need to remind us again so soon or to offer an opinion on how well a player speaks a second language.
Many American born people don’t even speak all that well themselves, in their native language. Most never even bother to learn another language, even one’s who work in other countries preferring to rely on translators instead.
I have no difficulty understanding what Reyes says at all. Never even gave it a thought.
It is however always nice to be reminded of how often Wright and Jeter get together, especially when they’re probably only in the same state about 60 days a year and at opposite ends of one of them for half of that time.
No one really knows what anyone does off the field or really cares unless it’s affecting them on the field. One lives in the City, one on the Island. So what?
I’d prefer to hear more from Reyes and less from Wright anyway.
I had a long comment I was going to post but decided against it. Going with the benefit of the doubt instead.
I’m going with this comment from you isn’t as racial as it sounds and you’ve just done a very poor job of propping up one player you do like by trying to compare him to a player you do not like – and failed miserably.
wow.. just like you’d probably say wright will turn back to hit 300 30 100 just like when beltran and delgado were batting in front or behind him right? some players become good as the years go on, others don’t. case in point, jose reyes up, david wright DOWN… is amazing how much ppl wanna bring this speacial season reyes have just because their golden boy didn’t do sh** and keeps coming up SMALLS in BIG spots..
no surprise, but you missed the point. the only thing different about this year over a couple others is a fluky high BA.
If anything, you should be downgrading him (along with Bayonne) because his RBIs are way off.
any,
well his OBP is WAY UP! how about THAT sabermetric stat.. isn’t what you and others here are salivating about? on base percentage??? gimme a break, he’s played in 124 games so far, has 16 triples, 177 hits and 99 runs scored.. i am not gonna say “oh if he would’ve played the full season”, but i will say, that anybody that has a season of 52 xtra base hits, over 330 BA, 100 runs scored and 52 RBI’s from the leadoff spot is having a pretty good season… wouldn’t you agree?? i mean, how do you or anybody here know that maybe this is the jose reyes we will see from now on? more selective, patient, better eye at the plate? how do you know he changed his approach at the plate?? why does it have to be a creer year Batting Avg wise instead of just saying the man had a great season and he will be like this for years to come?? double standard at its purest
why do you assume that everyone that doesn’t join in on the bash wright and sandy is some kind of saber devotee that thinks OBP is the only stat that matters?
and yes, OBP is up. And it is entirely from the increase in BA. Not as you say from being more selective (which usually means taking more walks).
And yes, he is having a fine year, but not really any better (or different) than 2006 other than his BA being ~10% higher. That’s primarily what I was saying (this is not some kind of abnormal career year overall).
But I will say, not many guys after 6+ years and what, 4000 ABs, who have always hit in a fairly narrow range, suddenly see a huge jump in BA that becomes permanent. Lots more have 1 “where the hell did that come from” year and settle back into their career norms level.
see jose bautista and come see me… while he didn’t have 4000 at bats like reyes did, he was basically a cast off in the minors, then became a HR hitter, and this year not only a HR hitter but also a 300+ hitter.. what is your point???????? jose can’t become good with age? and yes, due to high BA his OBP is high, but i think you’re hating on him without any proof.. he’s a great talent, great hitter, and i think if i am not mistaken that this will be his 4th time hitting 300 or better, so, stop making it seem as if he was a 250 hitter who all of the sudden became a 350 hitter, the guy is probably the most gifted SS in the game and just because is not your boy david doing it you wanna downplay the season he’s having by looking for minor crap to just say he’ll be back to being his usual self 280 hitter.. pathetic, this is why i choose not to talk baseball with you..
My special moment of the season was Chris Capauano’s pitching gem. I saw the game from first pitch to last and I’ll never forget what a GEM of a game he pitched. I enjoyed it so much. I don’t know if he will be a Met next year but for that one game he made my spirits soar! Way to go Chris! (PS: what made it special was that for this past year I have been recovering from three different surgeries (not life threatening) and being able to watch my Mets on MLB.TV made it go a lot easier-thanks Mets).
Metfan – Thanks for your kind words and I do hope you are getting better. For me, the Mets – win or lose – are the best team to watch on TV, probably mainly because of the announcers – Gary, Keith and Ronnie and sometimes a visitor. These guys will talk about anything during the game – and no matter what it is, you always learn something, but mostly they make you laugh, never forgetting that baseball is fun.
Breaking News – Sandy Alderson is extending Terry’s contract until 2013 and Sandy himself reported it just a few minutes ago. Terry deserves this, he’s been a very good manager and his guys just love him.
Other news about the Wilpons and their finances is breaking all around me, but I don’t understand some of it, so I will just tell you it’s out.