Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Andrew Brown – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Matt Harvey – RHP

Game Notes

• The Mets went 2-3 on their recent road trip. The club begins a six-game homestand tonight. New York is 7-8 at home this season. Saturday’s rain out in Atlanta is now scheduled for Tuesday, June 18 at 1:10 p.m. as part of a split doubleheader. That series is now a five-game series.
• New York is 2-0 this year in Interleague play after beating the Twins twice in Minnesota. The Mets were 8-7 vs. the AL last season. The Mets are 137-127 all time in Interleague play. The 137 wins are the fourth-most among NL clubs. Since 2010, the Mets are 11-3 vs. the AL Central.
• The Chicago White Sox make their first trip ever to Flushing. The Mets have hosted every other American League team at least once. New York has played the White Sox just once: the Mets lost two of three to the Sox in Chicago in 2002.
• David Wright has 94 career Interleague RBI, the most in team history. The 94 Interleague RBI are tied for the fourth-most among any major leaguer since 2005, the first season Wright played an Interleague game. Wright has hit a home run in three straight games. It’s the fifth time he’s hit a home run in exactly three consecutive games, his career-best is a home run in four straight games, June 7-10, 2007.
• Matt Harvey has allowed one run or less in 10 of his first 16 major league starts and has not allowed more than one run in seven of his last eight starts. Since July 26, 2012 (his ML debut), he ranks fourth in the majors with a 2.26 ERA (25 ER/99.2 IP). Minimum of 70 innings.
• Harvey also has 116 strikeouts in his first 16 major league starts, the 11th-most since 1921 by a pitcher making his first 16 career starts. Kerry Wood is first with 148 strikeouts in 1998. Harvey is third in Mets history, behind Dwight Gooden, who had 125 strikeouts in his first 16 starts and Nolan Ryan, who had 117 strikeouts.
• Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning last night for St. Lucie of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He allowed a single. He’s tossed 4.0 scoreless innings in four rehab outings.
• Edgardo Alfonzo, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt and 92.3 NOW’s Ty Bentli will serve as judges for Banner Day on Saturday, May 11 at Citi Field. The judges will select three finalists to join the online Banner Day winner then fans at the ballpark and at home will vote for the winner through texting, Twitter and Facebook.

Game Preview

The White Sox finally visit Citi Field as the Mets will meet up with an old friend in Robin Ventura tonight. The Mets are coming off of a 9-4 loss where just about everyone on the field was experiencing a collective off day. Since then the Mets have had an off day and for the first time on 7 days rest, the Mets will enjoy another Harvey day as Matt takes on Hector Santiago.

Sandy Alderson told the Daily News that the Mets still have confidence in Ike Davis even though he is batting .172 to start the season. “I don’t think he’s happy with what has happened to date,” Alderson said. “We would have hoped for a better performance to this point, but the evidence is he can do it, and he could do that again this season, we’ll see what transpires.” Last year was batting .173 last year at this time, but he was dealing with a case of valley fever, a one-year layoff, and recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Matt Harvey is 4-0 on the season with a 1.56 ERA over 40.1 innings of work. He bounced back from his worst start of the season (3 ER over 6 innings, quality for everybody else) to pitch 5.1 innings allowing 1 ER in Miami, a game he really had to labor through. He allowed 7 hits in that game, a season high, but paired that with 7 strikeouts. Not really all that surprisingly, Matt has not faced the White Sox in his career and has not faced any batters on the roster.

Hector Santiago gets the nod for the White Sox. On the young season he is 1-1 over 8 games, 1 start with a 2.29 ERA over 19.2 innings. His last outing was the first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER over 5.1 innings of work while striking out 6 batters. Last season, he was in 42 games including 4 starts with a 3.33 ERA. In his four starts, he pitched 19.2 innings allowing only 4 ER. Also not really surprising, but he has not faced anyone on the Mets roster in his career.

Let’s Go Mets!

I enjoyed stopping by his locker to shoot the breeze for a minute or two, talking about things other than baseball. Very smart, clever and possessing an insight on numerous issues. When there was the inevitable blow up or moment of absurdity, Ventura was always there to put it into perspective with a quip as short and hard-hitting as his swing.

Once I asked him about his fight with Nolan Ryan, and his response was he knew he had made a mistake halfway out to the mound, but couldn’t turn around. You’ll even notice in the video he slowed down.

Was it an embarrassing moment? Yes, but years later he handled it with humor. He even joined with Ryan to autograph photos of the brawl.

When I covered the Orioles and he was with the White Sox, I’d make time to go over to his clubhouse for a few moments. He was accessible to anybody who would take the time to ask a question.

I am sure there will be a lot of questions for Ventura pre-game tonight when he brings his White Sox into town. There will be rehashing about his time with the Mets and Yankees, about being in New York during September 11 and what he remembers about Mike Piazza’s homer the first game back in the city.

He’ll also get a question or four about his grand-slam single against the Braves in the 1999 playoffs.

That night is one of the greatest team displays of enthusiasm outside of winning a championship I have ever seen. That, and I suppose, the Piazza post 9-11 homer. Both were amazing to watch.

Ventura wasn’t a five-tool player, but was consistent and clutch. With a runner in scoring position you wanted him at the plate because he’d usually make contact.

Ventura was a .267 lifetime hitter and only once hit over .300, that being .301 in 1999, his first season with the Mets. Considering his 66-game hitting streak in college, I always wondered if he thought he should have hit for a higher average. He also hit 32 homers with a career-high 120 RBI in his first year with the Mets.

What the Mets wouldn’t give for a player with that production now.

Ventura had three solid years with the Mets, who, during that span had arguably one of the best defensive infields in history. Few balls got by Ventura, Rey Ordonez, Edgardo Alfonzo and John Olerud.

Both Olerud and Ventura would later play for the Yankees. When they left the Yankees, I believed I’d see both again managing in a major league dugout. I’m still waiting on Olerud.

Edgardo Alfonzo

As a batsman, Fonzie developed in almost textbook fashion before the delighted eyes of fans. Coming up, he had a reputation for a good eye at the plate, some evidence of moderate power, and the ability to make contact. Following his major league debut in 1995, the young Venezuelan worked diligently to refine his game both in the field and at the plate. By 1999, he had blossomed into one of the league’s premier middle infielders, hitting over .300 and slugging over .500 for the first time in his career. His peak game, and likely the peak offensive game by any Met, came in late August of that year as the Mets were heading toward a post-season berth under the guidance of Bobby Valentine.

The team was in Houston for a series against the Astros during their last go-round in the vast dimensions of the Astrodome. The following year, the team would move to the bandbox originally known as Enron Field (or “Ten Run Field” to fans for its propensity to produce high scoring games) and now dubbed Minute Maid Park. In stark contrast to the home run haven the Astros now inhabit, the ‘Dome was a pitcher’s dream and a slugger’s graveyard. Not only was the field characterized by expansive proportions, the roof insured that the very atmosphere itself was endowed with what batters swore was a deadening effect. But it was in this most unlikely of settings that the Mets’ version of the Fonz chose to put on perhaps the greatest display of slugging in team history.

1999 was a bumper year for runs scored by the Mets as they pushed 853 across the plate, good for 5^th in the league and still the club record for a single season. Even 40 year-old leadoff batter Rickey Henderson was having a renaissance year, batting over .300 for the first time since in four campaigns. On the night of August 30 of that year, the team would rack up a run tally that was impressive even by the standards of that era, blasting the Houston squad by a score of 17-1.

The key figure in the onslaught was Edgardo Alfonzo who began his evening by rocketing a solo home run his first time up to give the Mets an early lead. After the Astros were retired in order in the bottom of the first, the New Yorkers erupted for six additional runs in the next inning with Alfonzo contributing a single and a run scored in the process. He then homered in his next two at-bats registering a two-run shot in the fourth and another solo round-tripper in the sixth. After collecting his second single of the game in the eight amidst another rally, he came up for a final time in the ninth. Urged by his teammates to shoot for the elusive 4-homer mark, he banged a shot off the right field wall for a run-scoring double, missing another 4-bagger by a matter of a few feet.

All told, Fonzie had recorded 6 hits in as many at-bats including 3 HR’s and a double. In the process he set Mets club records for hits, runs, and total bases in a game as well as collecting 5 RBI. Naturally, his performance set off the stat freaks at Elias who determined that the only other player to accomplish a comparable feat was none other than Ty Cobb some 74 years prior when he also recorded a 3 homer, 1 double, 2 single game against the St. Louis Browns.

Fonzie and Cobb, Cobb and Fonzie. A rather exclusive club with one member a Met.

Opening Day happens only once a year, right? But as we pop open those adult beverages and boil the mystery meat wonders of pure hot dog goodness , I will allow each and every one of you wonderful Mets fans a chance to jump into your own personal Hot Tub Time Machine and play “What’s My Favorite Mets Lineup”.

While some of you continue to slug it out with important issues such as who pitches after Johan or when will the exit interview begin for Omar and Jerry, I for one would rather give you my favorite Mets lineup of All Time. Here we go.

Leading off and playing shortstop I give you Jose Reyes. He’s the igniter to the fire that will fuel the team. As Al Leiter once posed, “ He can go down as one of the greatest shortstops in the game”. Finally his heath is coming around and in a few weeks he should be back, anchoring the top of the lineup, amazing us with his speed and all around tremendous skills. A season with Jose batting around .285 to .300 with 15 homers 60 RBI and 50 steals should be the norm. I’ll take that any day. Period.

Batting second and playing second base I give you Edgardo Alfonzo. Some of you might say Jeff Kent and I wouldn’t beat any of you down for it, however, I’m going with Fonzie for the main reason that Kent’s biggest years had him batting behind Barry Bonds. Lets face it, Stevie Wonder would break the Mendoza line batting behind Bonds. Alfonzo, or as Gary Cohen pronounced it, Al…FUNZO, was the best number two hitter the Mets ever had. A solid .285 hitter that gave us around 15 homers and 70 RBI a year, Edgardo originally a third baseman, didn’t find his full groove until he moved to second. Smart move Al FUNZO.

Hitting third, gotta go with Mex. If Keith Hernandez played today, he’d be probably be ripped by fans for not having enough power to man first base. He was easily the best fielding first baseman ever. Nobody negated a bunt better than him or turned a double play better. A career .296 hitter with decent power, Keith would give you a season hitting around .300 with 15 homers and 85 RBI. His true worth was in his clutch performance offensively and defensively. He was the last great Met leader on the field hands down and to be politically incorrect, I loved it as a kid watching Keith sneak off to the clubhouse runway under Shea, sneaking a smoke between innings. Classic Mex.

Cleaning up I’m going with Mike Piazza. Now I loved Gary Carter don’t get me wrong. It was the trade for Carter that took the Mets to a championship level for sure. Piazza brought star power and presence to a Met team which sorely needed it in the post 1990 debacle years. In the years Mike played for the Mets he hit .296 with an average of around 27 homers and 82 RBI. He was the face of the franchise and on September 21st 2001, he cemented his name in Met history with his go ahead 2-run homer in the 8th inning propelling a team and a nation in it’s most trying time. Thank you Mike.

Batting 5th has to be the Straw that stirred the collective drinks of the city in the 1980′s, Darryl Strawberry. No player in Mets history arrived with as much expectations or excitement than Straw. He backed it up by becoming the Mets all time home run leader with 252 bombs. A swing that looked like a coiled whipping snake, that resulted in unreal power, where on April 4th 1988, Straw hit the rim of lights on the roof of old Olympic stadium in Montreal. Tres` bonne Darryl, etonnantes!

Batting 6th, David Wright. He’s the current face of the franchise. David is clearly one of the top third basemen in the game today and has the potential to be one of the greatest of all time. He averages around 23 homers and over 93 RBI a season, and he’s not even in the full swing of his prime yet. Defensively he’s a gold glover. Now it’s time to take the the reigns David. This is your team.

Batting 7th, Carlos Beltran. When Carlos is healthy he’s as complete a player as you can find. He’s a switch hitter, averaging .280 a year with 25 homers and 93 RBI with 19 steals a year. His defense is golden. You simply can’t argue that.

Batting 8th, Mookie Wilson. Mookie played for the Amazin’s in a time when they really weren’t so Amazin’. The early 1980′s had some lean years, but it did introduce Flushing Meadows to one William Hayward Wilson. Mookie was to the Mets what Jose Reyes is to them now. His enthusiasm for the game alone was infectious, but his talent on the field was simply impressive. A .276 hitter who became the all time Mets leader in steals with 281 until that crown was taken by Jose Reyes. The chant of “Mooooookie” will always ring true in the minds of all Mets fans for all time.

So there you have it. My All Time Mets lineup. In part 2 next week I’ll cover my All Time Mets Pitching rotation. Let’s wish the Mets success for the coming 2010 season. On a personal note, a year ago today I took a picture on opening day with a great man, my friend, the Fred to my Barney, my grandpa Charlie. I miss you Paba, 1921-2009.

Johnson’s blazing fastball and deceptive slider (nicknamed “Mr. Snappy” in a few 1990s commercials) frustrated hitters for over two decades.  In addition to his lofty win totals, Johnson finished his career with 4,875 strikeouts, second all-time behind former Met Nolan Ryan.  He struck out 200 or more batters in a season 12 times, including six 300-strikeout seasons, peaking in 2001 when he struck out 372 batters as a member of the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks.

Johnson won five Cy Young Awards and finished second in the Cy Young voting three other times.  He also was voted co-MVP of the 2001 World Series with fellow D’Backs pitcher Curt Schilling after he was credited with three victories in their World Series victory over the Yankees.  Johnson was fortunate enough to pitch two no-hitters over his career, the second of which was a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves in 2004.

For all his success in the majors (303 wins, 166 losses, 3.29 ERA), he had difficulty against the Mets over his career.  Johnson had a 6-7 record against New York with a 4.26 ERA.  Johnson was also hit hard in his one postseason appearance against the Mets in Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS.  In that classic game, Johnson had already given up four runs through the first eight innings but was asked to start the ninth inning of a tie game.  He allowed the Mets to load up the bases before he was relieved by Bobby Chouinard.  With two outs, Edgardo Alfonzo (who had homered earlier in the game against Johnson) hit a tie-breaking grand slam off Chouinard to give the Mets an 8-4 lead.  Seven of the eight runs were charged to Johnson.  The seven runs represented the most runs Johnson gave up in any of his 16 career postseason starts.

Other Mets hitters who inexplicably fared well against Johnson were Joe McEwing (five doubles and a home run off Johnson) and Dae-Sung Koo (the reliever nicknamed “Mr. Koo”), who hit a long double off the Big Unit after looking foolish in his first major league at-bat earlier in the 2005 season.

Randy Johnson pitched for the Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks (in two separate stints), New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.  In 22 major league seasons, he made knees buckle and All-Stars fear for their lives (just ask John Kruk and Larry Walker).  Until Randy Johnson came along, the majors had not seen a dominant lefthander that made opposing batters squirm at the plate since the days of Sandy Koufax.  It may some time before we see a pitcher like the Big Unit again.

Please join me in congratulating Randy Johnson on his retirement.  I’m sure we’ll see him again in Cooperstown in five years!

I decided to see where Luis Castillo’s season ranks among the best all around seasons by a Mets second baseman.

To begin, Edgardo Alfonso not only delivered the best season ever for a Mets second baseman in 2000, but I would even argue that he also put up the second best season as well in 1999 when he batted .304 with  27 homers and 108 RBIs. Wow!

Fonzie’s numbers were sensational in 2000 when he posted a .325 batting average to go with a .425 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .542. His raw numbers were a little less due to missing some time with injuries, but he still put up 25 homers and 94 RBI’s while boasting an amazing .967 OPS.

After that, you could make a strong case that there are four other seasons tied for the third best season, and I’d include Luis Castillo among them.

Whether you prefer Wally Backman (.289 BA, .356 OBP) in 1984, or Jeff Kent (.292 BA, .816 OPS) in 1994, or even the Mets first ever all star, Ron Hunt (.303 BA, .357 OBP) in 1964, you can’t say that Castillo doesn’t belong somewhere in that mix. In fact I could argue he would top them all (but I won’t).  

Castillo’s .400 on-base percentage alone is something to marvel at, but when you throw in the .312 batting average, the runs scored, the stolen bases, and the fact he has only struck out only once in every ten plate appearances, you begin to realize how special he has been this season.

At $6 million dollars, he may represent some of the best value one could get at second base this season for players who are past their arbitration years.

While some continue to lobby for Orlando Hudson, when you compare them head to head, who is the better bargain Hudson at nearly $8 million or Castillo at $6 million? They both have an identical OPS+ of 102, and are similar type fielders.

Let’s say we were to trade Castillo and pay some of the remaining $12 million dollars on his contract, who’s to say that paying Hudson $16 million for two years, or God forbid more, would help the currents Mets situation?

Castillo has proven to be the same all star caliber second baseman he has always been this season. Last year was not the rule, it was the exception. He had to comeback from two knee surgeries. Now that he is healthy again, Castillo is what he’s always been and that is one of the best table-setters in the game.

Signing Castillo for four years after two knee surgeries may have been a mistake, but trading him now that he’s healthy again may be an even bigger mistake and more costly as well.