After winning three of four in San Francisco, dropping a series at San Diego is a let down. But, the flip side is you have to be a little high to get down. Considering they lost 11 of 12 on their previous homestand, I’ll take the 6-5 and be happy. Who among us was brimming with optimism when they took off for the West? Obviously, the most important development on the trip was Matt Harvey, [...]

Most of us didn’t expect the Mets to be active at the trade deadline, a thought emphasized by a stretch in which they lost 11 of 13 games. But, to hear GM Sandy Alderson say he opted not to trade Scott Hairston, or anybody else for that matter, by saying he hadn’t given up on the season was a bit too much for me. “We haven’t given up on the season. We didn’t move players off [...]

Every team’s evolution from doormat to contender has that defining moment when somebody grabs the team by the scruff of the neck and shakes it awake. That moment for the 1969 Mets came on this date when manager Gil Hodges walked out of the dugout and strolled out to left field, where he removed Cleon Jones. The Mets lost the first game of a doubleheader, 16-3, and were getting pasted in the second, 8-0, when [...]

As I type this the Mets are flying to blistering Phoenix with the words of Terry Collins ringing in their ears and mine. The Mets followed up their 1-5 road trip with an 0-6 homestand. Collins’ post-game presser yesterday was filled with promises we’ve all heard before. “Over the next two weeks, the Mets will start playing as they did in the first half”, he said. They would b more patient with their at-bats; they would pitch [...]

Of the 30 major league teams, only six are at least 10 games behind in the wild-card standings. The Mets are only 3.5 games behind, a position which should have them as prime buyers. The problem of shopping in the bullpen aisle, say the Mets, is the cost. That translates into not expecting too much. Huston Street and Jonathan Broxton, while manageable in salary, extract a big prospect price the Mets aren’t willing to pay. [...]

No evaluation of the Mets is complete without a list of disappointments. While 46-40 at the break, the Mets have more to be happy about than not.  However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t laments. Had everything broken right in the first half, the Mets could be sitting on top of the NL East. Here’s what went wrong: The struggling bullpen: Most of Sandy Alderson’s off-season tinkering was made with improving the bullpen in mind. Frank [...]

It is possible this game in 1969 is most remembered from that amazing season. On this date in 1969, and maybe each day since for Tom Seaver, he’ll remember Jimmy Qualls’ sinking single into the left-center gap with one out in the eighth inning to break up his perfect game bid and forced him to settle for one-hit, 4-0 shutout. It was one of 31 hits Qualls had during his career. It was one of [...]

One of my favorite baseball books was “The Year the Mets Lost Last Place,’’ a diary of a three-series stretch in July of 1969 when the Mets played two series with the Chicago Cubs and one with the Montreal Expos. Dick Schaap was the author and book took the form of timeline, nearly to the minute, of those games. One of those games came on this date in 1969 when the Mets beat the Cubs, [...]

There are numerous reasons why R.A. Dickey should start Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Kansas City, so it’s hard to understand Tony La Russa not naming him for the honor. He knows the rotation schedule of the other candidates, so what’s he waiting for? If he wants to screw with New York area fans, he’d start A.J. Burnett (9-2), right? Here’s some of the reasons why he should start: 1. At 12-1 with a 2.40 ERA, he [...]

For those of you who missed the first half of the season, you got the gist of things if you tuned in last night’s victory over the Phillies. David Wright, who delivered the game-winner in the ninth along with hitting a homer, said as much when he indicated the Mets worked every at-bat and utilized every out. No waste for these Mets. “It seems like all year we’ve had that never-say-die attitude, continuing to play [...]