Before the injuries started mounting, before the fielding and mental errors began to grow, the Mets’ front office made another error.  This error happened in the offseason and it was made by Omar Minaya.  The Mets could have acquired Jason Marquis from the Cubs for practically nothing and didn’t pull the trigger. First, as reported by Dan Graziano in the Star-Ledger,  the Mets could have sent much-beleaguered reliever Aaron Heilman to the Cubs for Marquis.  [...]

Including today’s game with the Phillies, the Mets have now played 81 games.  They’ve reached the midway point of the season battered and bruised, but still breathing.  Their record stands at 39-42, leaving them four games behind first place Philadelphia.  Somehow, they’ve managed to stay competitive in the standings while occasionally looking pathetic on the field.  What does the Magic 8-ball have in store for the second half?  Before we shake it up for the [...]

According to espn.com, Oliver Perez is set to return to the Mets to make a start on Wednesday night against the Dodgers at Citi Field.  Although he claims to be healthy, his latest effort on the mound seems to suggest that not much has changed since we last saw him in New York.  He continues to be the master of the conga line, allowing opposing hitters to walk freely around the bases.  He threw 92 [...]

Earlier this week, Jerry Manuel had a team meeting with his players after the Mets dropped their fifth straight game, a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.  They had been playing sloppy, lethargic baseball and had fallen two games under .500.  In the nearly half hour meeting, Manuel claimed the following: “The whole key was to say that we have enough.  We have enough.  We’ve got enough in here to do what we need to [...]

The last time the Mets were in Pittsburgh, I wrote a piece about PNC Park having similar effects to the Mets as Atlanta’s Turner Field once had, and to an effect, still has.  Over the past few years, PNC Park had become a house of horrors for the Mets.  They failed to clinch the division title there in 2006, they suffered repeated late-inning setbacks there and earlier this season, the Pirates won all three games [...]

According to mlb.com, Major League Baseball will be expanding the rosters for this year’s All-Star Game from 32 to 33 players.  The extra player added will be a pitcher, allowing for each league to have 13 pitchers at its disposal.  This move was deemed necessary because last year’s Midsummer Classic lasted 15 innings, prompting both managers to use all of their available pitchers.  The last time rosters were expanded was in 2003.  That move was [...]

It was the year 2000.  The Y2K scare had come and gone.  Music fans were wondering who let the dogs out.  Mets fans were still cursing out Kenny Rogers for ball four.  The nemesis of the day wore a tomahawk on his chest. The Braves were the Mets’ chief rivals in 1999 and 2000.  The Mets’ mojo was rising in 1999 and it took them all the way to the sixth game of the National [...]

Recently, my colleague Gregg (Gregga) posted a fine piece on Ralph Kiner.  In it, he mentioned how Mr. Kiner still provides excellent insight and colorful stories about players past and present, despite being a young man of 86 years of age.  Seeing Mr. Kiner on SNY this past Thursday brought back memories of my youth.  I remember arguing with my parents after watching a Mets telecast because they wanted to change the channel while I [...]

In our last episode, the Three Fernandos appeared to have disbanded.  Fernando Nieve was fighting for his life to stay in the rotation and was given one more shot to remain a core member of the Three Fernandos.  Fernando Tatis was in the process of having the villagers sew him a new uniform.  Rumor had it that his new number was going to be 6-4-3.  Fernando Martinez had been sent down to Triple-A Buffalo after [...]

Please do not be alarmed.  That’s not a picture of David Wright getting injured.  But the way things have been going for the Mets lately, would you be surprised if it was?  The rash of injuries to hit the Mets continued this week with the news that Carlos Beltran would have to be placed on the disabled list with a bone bruise in his right knee.  He joins a number of Mets players on the [...]

As we reach another Father’s Day, let’s take a break from discussing the lack of run support for Johan Santana and the Three Fernandos breakup tour to reflect on a special man in our lives.  He is the man who more than likely showed us how to throw our first curveball, took us to our first ballgame and showed us the proper way to order a ballpark hot dog (which I seem to have forgotten [...]