I had the pleasure of welcoming former New York Met and the recently retired Frank Catalanotto to my show Mets Talk Live! Wright or Wrong?!? yesterday. For those of you who do not know, Frank is a class act, and it was a real pleasure and a treat to converse with the Smithtown, NY native.

Here are just a few of the topics I discussed in the interview with Frank:

- His playing days with the Mets

- His inspirational figure growing up

- The Frank Catalanotto foundation

Here are some highlights:

JS: To lead things off, given that your from Smithtown, New York just about an hour away from Queens, what was it like last year to come back home and play for the Mets in 2010?

FC: It was awesome, it was a dream come true. I always wanted to play for a New York team and to be able to live at home, sleep in my own bed, be with my family, and have my friends and family come to the ballpark and watch me play was just awesome. I wish is would have lasted a little bit longer, but I’m still happy I was able to have that opportunity to play for the Mets.

JS: Who was your first inspiration, or I guess you could say role model that first exposed you to baseball and really got you into the game?

FC: It was my dad, definitely my dad. From a young age when I was 2, 3, 4 years old he would take me out back and pitch to me and he’d roll me ground balls. He would also take me to Yankee Stadium all the time, about five times a year, we’d watch all the games on television, he really had a passion for the game and that’s where my passion grew from.

JS: I couldn’t help but notice your foundation and the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation on your website at fcatalanotto.org. I think it’s great to see everything you’re doing to raise awareness, but for our listeners could you explain the foundation a little more in-depth and how they could potentially help?

FC: Yes, certainly. My daughter was born with a Vascular Birthmark on her nose, she’s 12-years-old now, but when she was born there was this big red spot on her nose and it continued to grow bigger and bigger. We got in touch with this lady named Linda Shannon and she was the head of the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation and she told us that there were treatments that could be done to make these birthmarks go away. So we met with a couple of doctors and my daughter had a couple of laser surgeries to remove the birthmarks and today you can’t even notice it.

The Vascular Birthmark Foundation helped us out so much that my wife and I are co-chairpersons for the foundation and they’re just a real good foundation, we try to promote awareness about them and help raise funds so you can go to www.fcatalanotto.com and go to my foundations website which is linked to the Vascular Birthmark Foundation. We’re having a golf outing October 3rd, here in Long Island and if anyone wants to see any information on it they can go to my website and there is a link to that as well.

To hear this and what else Frank had to say on yesterday’s installment of Mets Talk Live! Wright or Wrong?!? just click on the link and you can skip up to when Frank calls in, which is about 19 minutes into the show.

Former New York Met Frank Catalanotto is a busy man these days. Whether he’s attending one of his four daughters’ sporting events or speaking to local little leagues, the Smithtown, Long Island native has been adjusting to life after his playing career.

Though he was a Yankee fan growing up, Catalanotto thoroughly enjoyed his time last season with the Mets. He just wishes it could’ve lasted longer.

Frank Catalanotto Clip 1 by Jim Mancari

“When I made the team I was ecstatic,” said Catalanotto. “I knew I was at the end of my career, and I didn’t know how long it would be, so I cherished every moment.”

Catalanotto found himself in a difficult position last season. The team was heading in a different direction and could not offer Catalanotto enough playing time for him to get into a rhythm. Though he had been a platoon player for much of his career, his at-bats with the Mets were way too spread out.

“Getting ready at the drop of a hat is kind of tough,” said Catalanotto.

Despite his offensive struggles last season, Catalanotto made a living with his bat. He developed a strong mental toughness in the minor leagues that transcended to the majors.

Frank Catalanotto Clip 2 by Jim Mancari

He kept a book that detailed each of his at-bats. While in the on-deck circle, he was totally focused on the pitcher, trying to see if he tipped any of his pitches.

“Once you get in the batter’s box, you shouldn’t be thinking,” said Catalanotto. “I got to a point where I could think, but not over-think it.”

In a memorable example while with the Toronto Blue Jays, Catalanotto noticed that then Texas Rangers pitcher R.A. Dickey—before he developed his knuckleball—was telegraphing his pitches. Every time Dickey’s mouth was open during his delivery, he’d throw a changeup, and every time his mouth was closed, he’d throw a fastball. It was these little things Catalanotto noticed that led to his .293 career batting average.

“Thinking away from the game is great and is one of the reason I stayed in the big leagues so long,” said Catalanotto.

These days, Catalanotto is preparing to head to Italy with former Met great Mike Piazza to help coach the Italian national team.

Frank Catalanotto Clip 3 by Jim Mancari

“That fulfills that void left in baseball,” said Catalanotto. “To be able to get on the field and help the team, that’ll be great.”

He said he wouldn’t rule out coaching in the big leagues at some point, but for now, he’s content spending time with his family.

Catalanotto also started his own foundation—the Frank Catalanotto Foundation—to benefit the research of the Vascular Birthmark Foundation. His oldest daughter was born with a birthmark but was cured with help from the institute.

Additionally, he runs Prospect Sports summer baseball camps for youth players in the Long Island area.

Frank Catalanotto Clip 4 by Jim Mancari

Catalanotto’s foundation will be hosting a golf outing at Cold Spring Country Club on Monday, October 3rd to raise money for vascular birthmark research. Sponsorship opportunities are available, and the cost per foursome is $1,600. Call 516-393-5870 to participate in this worthy event.

Follow Catalanotto on Twitter @fcat27.

Follow Jim Mancari on Twitter @JMMancari.

Thankfully there are only 6 more games left of this horrible season.  That also means only 6 more games left of some jerryball.  Last year after the season ended the Mets did a bit of a media blitz that concluded with Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya and Dave Howard going on WFAN with Mike Francesa.  They made a bunch of promises and some excuses that for some reason had Mets fans hopeful for 2010.  I posted a blog here on this site the day after, which you can read here.  I didn’t like what I heard on Francesa’s show and I got blasted in the comments section. Unfortunately I was right to be skeptical as they lied to us.

Jeff Wilpon said the Mets were committed to building a championship caliber team and that spending would not be limited.  Well, after signing the bust that is Jason Bay the Mets didn’t spend much.  Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto were in the starting lineup on opening day.  For some reason Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora were still on this team.  I’m sorry but those guys don’t belong on a championship caliber team.

Omar and little Jeff said that there would be no more mishandling of injuries. Unfortunately that was a big old lie as well.  Look at how Jose Reyes’ oblique injury was handled.  Reyes was put into the lineup while suffering with oblique injury, and only allowed to bat from one side of the plate.  I don’t see how that is improving on handling injuries.  Jason Bay after hitting his head off the outfield wall in Dodger Stadium not only stayed in that game, he played the next one and then flew on a plane to New York and hasn’t played since.  Johan Santana’s injury was misdiagnosed as a pectoral problem.  Now I’m no doctor but I think the training staff might have missed human anatomy 101.  Plus Santana before being diagnosed correctly was allowed to throw and not even given an MRI.  They also promised to communicate better with the fans and media about the injuries.  Once Santana was diagnosed correctly, the Mets had a press conference where they tried to play down the severity of this shoulder injury by citing position players who came back from the same surgery.  They of course didn’t mention that pitchers who have had the same surgery as Johan has have yet to come back and throw a pitch in the majors.

I’m sure once this season is over the Mets will do another media blitz.  They will say things that sound good but in reality it will only be more cheap talk and hollow promises.

Competition is a good thing, and in Mets camp there is a lot of it. Many players have entered Mets camp this year hopeful they can win a job with the big league club. Let’s break down this completion position by position and name the favorites.

Center Field - Carlos Beltran’s injury leaves a void in center field. The Mets acquired Gary Mathews Jr. to compete with Angel Pagan for the opening day center field gig. Pagan did a nice job filling in last year for Beltran when he batted .306 in 88 games. Pagan has his flaws though, many question his decision making and his intelligence on the base paths and in the field as well as his ability to stay healthy. Pagan is very talented and Matthews is going to have a hard time trying to pry the starting job away from him.

Favorite - Angel Pagan

Dark Horse – Fernando Martinez

Fifth Starter - The Mets did not acquire a big name starting pitcher this winter, leaving an open competition for the fifth starter’s job. Jon Niese, Fernando Nieve, Nelson Figueroa, Hisanori Takahashi, and R.A. Dickey are all names that should be considered for that final rotation spot. The Mets doubted that Niese would be healed from off-season surgery, but he has proven his health. Nelson Figueroa and Fernando Nieve proved useful to the Mets last season, and are hoping to break camp as the fifth starter.

Favorite - Jon Niese

Dark Horse - Hisanori Takahashi

Set-up Man – The Mets acquired Japanese import, Ryota Igarashi to compete for the eighth inning role with former Angel, Kelvim Escobar. Escobar pitched in only one game last year after missing all of 2008. Escobar is most known as a starter for the Angels, but was an effective reliever in the past for the Blue Jays. Early word is that Igarashi has impressed Mets’ coaches. Bobby Parnell is also an interesting name in consideration for this role.

Favorite – Ryota Igarashi

Dark Horse – Bobby Parnell

Final Bench Spot – With Alex Cora, Henry Blanco, Fernando Tatis, and Matthews/Pagan guaranteed to make the bench, that leaves one spot open assuming the Mets go with a five man bench. Mike Jacobs, Frank Catalanotto, Chris Carter, and Anderson Hernandez are likely to compete for this spot. It’s believed the Mets want this bench spot to be occupied by someone who can potentially enter a platoon with Daniel Murphy at first base, so that knocks Hernandez out of consideration. Jacobs is a power hitter, who just two years ago hit 32 homeruns for the Marlins. Catalanotto is known for being a clubhouse leader. Catalanotto has a slight edge over Jacobs because of his ability to play first base as well as outfield.

Favorite – Frank Catalanotto

Dark Horse – Chris Carter

The 35-year-old Catalanotto hit .278 with a homer and nine RBIs in 77 games last season for the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s a career .292 hitter over 13 big league seasons that included stops in Detroit, Texas and Toronto.

Catalanotto has played first, second and third base, as well as both corner outfield spots during his career. That versatility could come in handy for a Mets club that was decimated by injuries last season.

Catalanotto, a left-handed hitter, is still very effective against RHP and has a career line of .297/.361/.458 against them.

He could prove to be more useful than Jeremy Reed or Argenis Reyes last season.