Shhh.  Don’t tell anyone.  But R.A. Dickey is quietly approaching a few Mets greats in the team’s record books. With last night’s 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, R.A. Dickey recorded his 14th consecutive quality start (minimum of six innings pitched with no more than three earned runs allowed), dating back to last year.  It is currently the longest such streak in baseball. Over the streak, which began last July 25 in Cincinnati when Dickey [...]

After much speculation over the past few weeks, the Mets have announced that Johan Santana will indeed be the team’s Opening Day starter.  He will followed in the rotation by R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee. Because the Mets have three off-days during the first 15 days of the season, Santana will be starting every sixth day for most of the month of April.  Barring any rainouts, Santana will not have to [...]

Today is April 1.  The Mets are now only four days away from opening the curtains on the 2012 season.  But they still have one role to give out before the first act can begin, and that role is the lefty specialist job in the bullpen. With the uncertainty surrounding the lefty specialist role in the bullpen, the Mets have been considering a number of options.  Tim Byrdak was originally supposed to fill that position [...]

Earlier today, Chipper Jones announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season after almost two decades spent entirely with the Atlanta Braves.  Jones will retire as one of the Braves’ all-time greatest players, finishing in the top three in many of the team’s offensive categories (along with Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews).  He will also end his career as one of the best switch-hitters in baseball history, joining other greats such [...]

What do the Mets have a better chance of producing?  A no-hitter or a 20-game winner?  On the surface, the question appears to have a simple answer. Considering that the Mets have had five different pitchers produce a total of eight 20-win seasons (Tom Seaver accomplished the feat four times, while Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola each did it once), yet they’ve never pitched a no-hitter, it would seem that the [...]

For this MMO Sunday Flashback, we go to July 24, 2010 when Ed Leyro was shocked to see Jamey Carroll step up to the plate for the Dodgers wearing No. 14.  What ensued after that, was this gem of an article. Enjoy… * * * * * * * * On Friday night, I sat down to watch the Mets game against the Dodgers and something unusual caught my eye when Jamey Carroll stepped into the batters [...]

From 1983 to 1990, Darryl Strawberry was a staple for the Mets in right field.  In fact, for seven consecutive years (1984-90), no other rightfielder appeared on the Opening Day lineup card but the Straw Man.  But my, how things have changed over the past 22 seasons. If Lucas Duda is given the start on Opening Day in right field – and from all indications, it appears as if this will be the case – [...]

Enjoy this MMO Sunday Flashback by Ed Leyro that was originally posted on April 20th, 2011. You can catch more from Ed on his site, Studious Metsimus.   It seems odd to compare Ike Davis to Darryl Strawberry.  After all, Darryl was the #1 pick in the 1980 amateur draft, took home the Rookie of the Year Award in 1983, and is at or near the top of many of the Mets’ all-time hitting records.  [...]

Since late July, the Mets have parted ways with several players.  First, it was Carlos Beltran leaving his heart in New York to go to San Francisco.  Then Jose Reyes decided to take the money and run the basepaths in Miami.  Soon after, Angel Pagan flapped his wings to the Bay Area.  Even Nick Evans took the job security by signing in Pittsburgh. What do all these players have in common, including the too-good-for-Triple-A, too-blah-for-the-major-leagues [...]

Recently, Brian Joura at mets360.com posted an interesting piece on whether Carlos Beltran would wear a Mets hat when elected to the Hall of Fame.  The thing that struck me the most about the title was the word “when”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Carlos Beltran and was hoping the Mets would re-sign him to an incentive-laden short-term contract, but at the same time, I am a realist.  I knew the Mets would [...]