Check out the new cap and jersey the Mets will be wearing on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) when they play the Braves at Digital Domain Park: Simple, but kind of cool.  Poor Keith Hernandez has seen his uniform number handed out to a motley crew of players over the years, but I’m sure he’d have no problem lending his No. 17 to St. Patrick. The cap and jersey look like they’ll go great together.

It’s now been 7,968 games for the Mets without a no-hitter. Fifty years of waiting for a Mets pitcher to toss that elusive no-no. We’ve had plenty of close calls in all those years, and some of them were pretty gut-wrenching (Damn you, Jimmy Qualls! ). Ironically, there has been no shortage of no-hitters tossed by “former” Mets pitchers. It’s baffling how many great Mets starting pitchers hurled their first no-no’s once they left the [...]

Congratulations to the Super Bowl XLVI Champion, New York Giants! What a spectacular performance by Eli Manning and the rest of Big Blue. I’m going to relish this one for a long time. :-) * * * * * * So I just read the news that Rick Ankiel signed with the Washington Nationals and I wanted to quickly get something off my chest before I forget about it in the morning. Does anyone out there [...]

With the New York Mets celebrating their 50th Anniversary in 2012, I’ll probably end up doing 4-5 1962 Editions of my “Mets Eye Candy” feature. Do you know the story about Hall of Fame writer Leonard Koppett during that 1962 season? While burning the midnight oil at his desk in the newsroom of the NY Post, his phone rang at two in the in morning. “I understand the Mets scored 16 runs last night,” the caller [...]

Atlanta Braves Tim Hudson Jair Jurrjens Tommy Hanson Brandon Beachy Mike Minor/Julio Teheran Miami Marlins Josh Johnson Mark Buehrle Ricky Nolasco Carlos Zambrano Anibal Sanchez New York Mets Johan Santana R.A. Dickey Jon Niese Mike Pelfrey Dillon Gee Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Vance Worley Joe Blanton Washington Nationals Stephen Strasburg Gio Gonzalez Edwin Jackson Jordan Zimmermann Chien-Ming Wang

Here’s a couple of interesting notes from our NL East foes… Right-handed reliever Chad Qualls has signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Qualls, 33, has made 512 appearances over the last seven years – the most in the majors. He gets a one-year deal worth $1.15 million and is expected to go at the head of the line to become the Phillies setup man for newly acquired closer Jonathan Papelbon. “We don’t have a [...]

Ronald Blum of the Denver Post reported yesterday that commissioner Bud Selig expects baseball to expand its playoffs this season. “I really believe we’ll have the wild card for 2012, this year,” Selig said Friday night in Chicago at a White Sox fan festival. “Clubs really want it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an issue that the clubs want more than to have the extra wild card this year.” “We’re working on dates right now. [...]

Sometimes I’ll find myself doing a Google search to find some info on a particular player for a blog post I’m working on and I get sidetracked and end up stumbling onto something else instead. Does that ever happen to you? I’m a sucker for Mets oddball stuff and I’m hoping you are to. There’s so much great Mets oddball stuff floating around the web that I thought I’d start a new feature called Mets Eye Candy, [...]

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo completed his final installment of his Top 10 prospects at each position and ranks the game’s top outfield prospects. 1. Bryce Harper, Nationals: Harper might play all of the 2012 season at age 19, but it would be a mistake to think that’s a reason he won’t be in Washington this year. All signs point to him getting every chance to make the Opening Day roster, and why not? Harper has already shown an [...]

Looks like we haven’t seen the last of Tony LaRussa yet. The recently retired Cardinals skipper will serve as the manager of the National League All-Star team for the 2012 Midsummer Classic at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on July 10th. La Russa will become the second retired manager to lead an All-Star squad. Hall of Fame manager John McGraw retired following the 1932 season and managed the NL squad in the first Midsummer Classic in 1933. [...]

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo is continues to roll out his Top 10 prospects at each position as he moves onto second basemen. 1. Cory Spangenberg, Padres: Spangenberg became a great example of the benefits of signing early — getting out and racking up 330 plate appearances while many of his fellow 2011 first-rounders were sitting around and waiting to sign. He also showed that reports of his ability to hit were spot-on, as he put up impressive numbers [...]