But there are also games that seem to be indicative of some kind of destiny intended for a team. When it appears in retrospect that a team was destined for greatness, the games that stick out are the type where a win that seemed wholly improbable at one point was captured either through perseverance, dumb luck, a managerial gamble, or some apparently mysterious force. Such was the case when the Mets met up with the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium on the night of July 22 of that memorable year.

The Mets were down to their last out in the top of the ninth, trailing 3-1 as Keith Hernandez faced John Franco with the tying runs on base. Hernandez lifted an easy fly to right that looked to be the last gasp for the NY squad as the Reds’ Dave Parker settled under it. In a stunning turn of events, Parker dropped the easy chance and the runners scurried home to tie the score. Given second life, the Mets began a tenacious and somewhat  outre’ extra-inning odyssey.

A combination of factors including the use of 3 pinch hitters, a double switch, and an ejection (Darryl Strawberry in the 6th for arguing a strike call) had left the Met bench bereft of options for manager Davey Johnson. As the game moved into the bottom of the 10th, Johnson brought in Jesse Orosco as the fifth Met pitcher of the evening. It was at this point that an element of strangeness began to pervade the proceedings.

After Parker was retired for the first out, Pete Rose, then player/manager of the Reds, inserted himself as a pinch hitter and singled. He then reverted to straight managerial mode and brought in Eric Davis to pinch run. Davis promptly stole second and then went for third on a subsequent pitch. His hard slide brought him into contact with Mets third sacker Ray Knight who responded with a bit of contact of his own. A shoving match ensued along with some words being exchanged and before you knew it, Knight’s Golden Gloves instincts had led him to pop Davis right in the kisser. The result was your standard bench-clearing bedlam, and when order was restored, two players from each team were ejected including Knight, Davis, Reds pitcher Mario Soto and Mets RF Kevin Mitchell who had been inserted to replace Strawberry. This left the Mets without sufficient position players to field a full team as the only remaining bench asset at this point was backup catcher Ed Hearn.

Having conferred with his coaches and remaining eligible players, Johnson elected to shift Gary Carter from behind the plate to third replacing Knight and inserted Hearn at Catcher. The outfield was another matter entirely.

Anticipating the probability of needing a right handed arm to spell Orosco if the game continued much beyond the current inning, Johnson inserted reliever Roger McDowell in RF and initiated a strange merry-go-round of pitchers and outfield alignments to compensate for the Mets’ suddenly shorter bench.

As different Reds players came to bat, Johnson would shift either Orosco or McDowell to the mound based primarily on whom he felt could best induce the batter to hit the ball to an established outfielder if solid contact was made (at this point, Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra comprised the other two thirds of the outfield).

As the game wore on, players were shifted repeatedly as Johnson managed to dodge situations where his pitcher/outfielders would actually have to figure in a defensive play. By way of contrast, one of his other displaced troops sparkled in the bottom of the twelfth when, with two Reds on base and none out, emergency third sacker Carter figured in the middle of a nicely turned double play to end the threat.

In the bottom of the thirteenth, Tony Perez stepped to the plate seemingly intent on exploiting the Mets’ compromised defense.  Looking for a pitch he could drive the other way, he swung at a McDowell offering and lined a shot to right field where Orosco was stationed. Jesse made a quick lateral move and snagged the liner, unable to suppress a smile at the seeming absurdity of it all.

Finally, in the top of the fourteenth, Howard Johnson provided the coup de grace with a long three-run bomb off pitcher Ted Power and McDowell finished the Reds off for a 6-3 victory.  In retrospect, the result of this game seemed almost inevitable, as the Mets of that season were a juggernaut that apparently could beat you with one outfielder tied behind their back.

1) The Ballpark: Citi Field is just too big! I know we’ve been saying that for the last 2 seasons but the Wilpons refuse to bring in the fences.  All you look at what happened to David Wright in his the first season at Citi Field.  His power numbers were down and the last 2 seasons his strikeouts have been on the rise.  Wright’s power at Shea was to the right center.  Citi Field’s right center is about 45-50 feet deeper than Shea’s and it has affected Wright negatively.  Some called it a fluke but then look at Jason Bay’s horrific first season.  The park took away his power. Citi Field without a doubt robbed Bay realistically of 5 homeruns and probably more.  The great fence of Flushing needs to go down too while we’re at it.  It’s time to admit the size of this park was a mistake and change it.

2) Coaching Staff: The entire coaching staff needs to go.  Howard Johnson has been a horrible hitting coach.  The situational hitting since Hojo took over has been non-existent.  It seems like Hojo would rather be their friends than a coach.  I get it he’s an 86 Met and the Wilpons are reluctant to fire him.  The Mets should just give Hojo a job with a nice title and a good payday and let him go away.  Dan Warthen also needs to go.  I know the pitching was better than expected this season but I don’t like all the injuries to our pitchers under his reign as pitching coach.  I didn’t like that in 2009 he didn’t know about Johan’s latest injury and he didn’t know that Santana was skipping side sessions.  I also didn’t like him calling Maine a habitual liar to the press. That’s just something you don’t say.  Razor Shines just needs to go.  Chip Hale seems to be a decent to good coach but at the same time Ron Darling mentioned many times throughout the season that Hale had been working with Wright and changing his defense.  Wright’s defense this year was pretty bad. He committed 20 errors and at times was slow in turning a double play.

3) The 3 Poisons (Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo): Once the Mets finally do hire a general manager that GM (Alderson) must find a way to get these three off this team! Castillo is done, he can’t hit and he has absolutely no range at 2nd base.  Castillo brings nothing to the New York Mets, time to cut ties with him. Oliver Perez should not be on this team, he has done nothing for the Mets since signing that contract.  Perez cares more about himself than the team as he repeatedly refused to go to the minor leagues.  He didn’t win 1 game in 2010!  If you look at the way the Mets played before the all-star break and after the break there’s a huge difference.  Carlos Beltran decided to finally grace the team with his presence and was supposed to be the spark for this team but unfortunately did nothing other than make outs at the plate and miss balls hit to center on defense. Beltran refused to move over to right field to allow the better player Angle Pagan to play center and help the team.  Let’s not forget that these guys also refused to go visit wounded soldiers with the rest of their team.  These guys are not team players, they’re hurting this team and it’s time to get rid of them.

The new GM when he/she is finally hired has a lot of work to do and a lot changes to make.  Without these changes we can expect another losing season.

The Mets are in my opinion, just about beyond tinkering because the problems are systemic and involve the dreaded “intangibles”. Unfortunately a win here and there only clouds the minds of the fan who just wants to see their Metropolitans win. Even winning 2 out of 3 over the Yankee’s this past weekend, while emotionally gratifying, hasn’t changed the situation. It’s just given fans a welcome reprieve.

Having delusions of grandeur, thinking a trade for another team’s aging, expensive ace isn’t the answer if it’s going to cost key prospects. It’s merely fodder to deflect attention off deeper problems.

Believe me I’m not trying to rain on our parade here, the Mets had a good weekend, but this isn’t fantasy baseball or Playstation where ridiculous unbalanced trades are routine and reality plays little to no part. At this point why would any player, especially one with the veto power of a no-trade clause, really want to come to Flushing other than to dare I say, flush their careers away.

It’s harsh of me to say, I know. I get no joy out of feeling like this but we have to stay rooted in reality. As unfortunate as it may be.

You can fire Minaya, every coach and Manuel and the team will still be…the team. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen. Clearly Manuel and his coaching staff have made their share of mistakes.

It certainly wouldn’t hurt the Mets to have an infusion of new blood. How much worse can it get? There is no place worse than last place that is more demoralizing.

One of the same questions that dogged the team this past off season is still relevant and is coming home to roost. Why didn’t the organization go after AT LEAST one other starting pitcher in an aggressive way?

Yes we’ve all wrangled over how the finances aren’t Monopoly money and how these decisions aren’t made lightly. However we were also told that finances weren’t affected by the Madoff scandal. I dare anyone to keep defending that postulate with a straight face.

The bottom line, the players simply have to play to their standards. Why isn’t that happening? It’s difficult to answer that without speculating and delving into a seriously dark place that every fiber of my being wants to refuse to go.

Maybe it’s the skeptic in me. Perhaps I’m just jaded. It’s the 800 lb gorilla in the room that none of us ever want to talk about. I hate that it even enters my mind but it does, as I’m sure it has yours at some point. Perhaps some standards have been skewed. I really hope not. The game has taken enough hits.

So many excuses for so long can only be accepted so much. The result, the team giving away free tickets to former season ticket holders to this year’s Subway Series.

Seriously? It’s embarrassing on so many levels and before any of you argue in favor of a poor economy or lack of interest in inter-league play causing this, which I won’t argue doesn’t play a part, the majority of the empty seats were scattered everywhere throughout the stadium. Not just the very pricey seats.

Adding insult to injury, the first Subway Series game of 2010 at Citifield had Yankee fans outnumbering the Mets fans 2 to 1, conservatively speaking. It was a shameful backdrop for the 2000 Mets World Series team that was on hand and being honored before the game.

Where do we go from here? It’s never easy with New York sports since New York teams are always expected to win and compete for a championship. Even the Yankee’s could attest to that.

Remember, last year was the first time in almost a decade that the mighty Bronx Bombers tasted from the Championship Holy Grail. It’s time for some serious soul searching and like I said a while back, and I will say it again, Fred Wilpon, it’s time to save your team. Your team sir, not your son’s. YOUR team. Albert Einstein once said,

To do the same thing over and over again, and expect different results, is insanity.

George Steinbrenner in his day would sometimes get tired of firing managers and criticizing the team and the manager so on certain days he would attack the hitting coach.  Some would laugh or roll their eyes but if you look at the Mets lineup from top to bottom this team offensively is just not producing.  They have been horrible in the clutch since the middle of 2007 which is when HoJo took over as the hitting coach.  Look at Jason Bay as the latest victim of Howard Johnson.  Bay was not on this team in 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Bay is and always will be a streaky hitter but he has produced for his team over the years.  Bay joins the Mets and as of this writing he has not hit more than 1 home run.  Now sure Citi Field has robbed him of a few but what about on the road in smaller parks like Citizens Bank Park?  The frustrating thing about the Mets offense is that they are getting on base, in fact a couple of season’s ago they had as many hits as the Phillies but they cannot drive in runs.  This team in 2006 was very clutch, at least up to the NLCS.  In the beginning of 2007 they weren’t getting on base much but were scoring and driving in runs but for some reason the team freaked out, fired Rick Down and promoted HoJo as the hitting coach.

HoJo also for some reason last year decided to screw around with Wright’s swing.  Wright was a .300+ hitter who before last year hit 30 or more home runs and drove in well over 100 RBI’s.  2009 saw a very big decline for Wright.  Part of that decline was aided by the lack of good hitters hitting in front of and behind him.  Can anyone really defend making Wright change his swing?  I guess HoJo never heard of the old saying “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  I also cannot understand why HoJo doesn’t work more with Wright on going back to his old swing.  Do your job, get out the game footage and sit David down and watch the old footage.  I never really understood why the Mets went with HoJo as the hitting coach.  I’m not saying that HoJo was not a horrible hitter but he was not the greatest.  His career average is just .249.

Don’t forget that HoJo before coming up to the big leagues as a coach was a manager in the farm system.  He was for the most part a very unsuccessful manager.  It is worth noting that HoJo was David’s manager when Wright was in Triple A.  One of the reasons why I think HoJo has kept his job is that he’s latched onto David Wright.  It’s no secret that Wright and HoJo are friends off the field.

Dan Warthen as the pitching coach was not a move I liked.  I thought Peterson was a good pitching coach.  Granted he was out there sometimes.  I’m still trying to understand his interview that he did the day he was fired.  In all seriousness Peterson was able to work with these pitchers not just on mechanics and physical stuff but on an emotional level.  In 2007 Ollie won 15 games as did Maine.  Somehow he was able to get through to Oliver Perez, something that neither Warthen nor Ollie’s other coaches have been successful at.  Under Warthen these guys have regressed.  Also under Warthen the entire staff has lost their velocity and that is really what concerns me.  How can an entire pitching staff’s velocity go down in 1 season?  It has to be something that is unprecedented in baseball, just has to be.  The lack of velocity has hurt these pitchers, especially Oliver Perez.  Perez was always a sloppy pitcher, in fact the phrase “better to be lucky than good” sometimes could have been applied to Ollie in the past.  The one thing Ollie had going for him was his velocity.  The many mistakes he would make would not always hurt him as batters couldn’t catch up to his fastball and when he mixed in his changeup he was effective.  Ollie used to average 94-95, now he’s lucky to get to 90.  Maine comes to mind as well as a pitcher whose velocity has gone away and that came back to hurt him in the earlier games this season.

Warthen has also done his fair share of tinkering with his players.  John Maine’s delivery was changed and it hurt him his first few starts.  Since going back to his original delivery he has improved in every appearance up until this past Saturday.  I don’t know what Warthen was attempting with making Maine be a different pitcher as it obviously did not work.  Maine decided on his own that his new delivery was not working and that he would go back to his original one.  Why didn’t the pitching coach think about that?

After the 2009 season Dan Warthen was quick to blame the catchers for all the trouble the pitchers had last year.  I thought it was unprofessional then and I still do.  He was also wrong!  Yes Santos was a young catcher who was still learning his craft but now the Mets have 2 excellent catchers in Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco.  Both catchers call a great game and have been effective so far for the Mets.  Unfortunately the Mets pitching staff still leads the majors in walks!  For the last 2 seasons Mets pitching has allowed 24 walks to the opposing pitcher!  This falls squarely on the shoulders of the pitching coach.  This guy was a walk machine as a player and now he’s teaching our pitchers on how to walk the park.

Now firing these guys is not the complete answer to turning this franchise around but it’s a start.  I don’t relish seeing these guys go, it’s tough to lose your job, they have families to support but this is the business they have chosen.  Probably harder to fire Howard Johnson considering his history with the franchise but if the Mets want to win they’re going to have to make the tough choices and say goodbye to Warthen and HoJo.

The guy pitched well, but there were so many arms “on the come” throughout the Mets minor leagues and majors that Frank Cashen dealt away a good young arm in Walt Terrell on December 7^th 1984.

Walt Terrell had arrived via a trade from April 1, 1982. I think the Texas Rangers organization and fans realize the “April fools” joke was on them that year. Walt was acquired with another young arm named Ron Darling for OF/1B Lee Mazzilli.

Mazzilli was the face of a Met franchise in total disarray at that time…  A period of time I’ve heard dubbed as “The Dark Ages”…“Grant’s Tomb” around Shea. (’77-’83)

But with that deal at that time, Frank Cashen stabilized a need for good young pitching at the upper levels of the Mets minor league system, and continued with his “five year plan”.  In Darling and Terrell, the Mets received quality pitching in exchange for a player on the decline. Darling was the Superstar.

Terrell wasn’t a superstar. But he was blessed with good ability, a bulldog mentality, and good control.

He made the majors in late ’82. In 1983, He started to establish himself as a viable, dependable starter. In 1984, he managed to go 11-12 with a 3.52 ERA, but more importantly he threw 215 innings.

The Detroit Tigers had just won the 1984 World Series. Sparky Anderson, the Hall of Fame manager, wasn’t happy with young 3^rd baseman Howard Johnson’s streakiness during the season. Sparky went so far as to question his toughness and ability to handle pressure. He began rotating 3^rd baseman in late ’84. He sat ‘HoJo’ for almost the entire playoffs with the exception of a single at-bat. Johnson became available when the Tigers, who were looking for starting pitching, swapped the young switch hitter for the young Terrell with the Mets.  

Many Met fans were annoyed by this deal and questioned why the Mets had brought in another 3^rd sacker. (Ray Knight and Hubie Brooks being the others) Met fans found out 3 days later when Brooks headlined a package that brought All-Star catcher Gary Carter from Montreal.

But I digress…  to Howard Johnson…

Howard Johnson played for the Mets from 1985 until 1993.  ‘HoJo’ turned out to be one of the best offensive players the Mets have ever had. An incredible athlete, he made the phrase 30/30 a regular occurrence around Shea in the late ‘80’s and gave it familiarity like it should happen for him and us that way every year… For 5 years, the 30/30 threat that was Howard Johnson helped lead the Met offensive attack.

Johnson became the starter at 3rd in the winter of 1986 when the Mets let World Series MVP Ray Knight leave via free agency.  Ironically Knight signed with the Detroit Tigers who were searching for a new third baseman to replace Tom Brookens who had platooned in Detroit with ‘HoJo’ prior to his being traded to New York.

Johnson began the 30/30 talk in ’87 when he hit .265 with 36 HR 99 RBI and 32 SB. In subsequent years, he began alternating 30/30 seasons doing so again in 1989 and 1991.  He made All-Star appearances in 1989 and 1991.

‘HoJo’s Met career was done soon thereafter. For his final two seasons in New York, Johnson seemed to fight injury after injury which he just couldn’t get through. After two sub-par seasons, one in Colorado another in Chicago with the Cubs, Howard gracefully stepped away. He was just 35. He made a brief comeback in 1997 with the Mets but, time, age, and injury had taken their toll. He was finished for good at 37.

Howard Johnson continues to be affiliated with the Mets today as their hitting instructor. He’s a favorite among many. He wasn’t the flashiest to play for the Mets but he was very good.

My best memories of Howard Johnson were and still are his battle with Cardinals closer Todd Worrell. I recall it was power vs. power and HoJo came through hitting a pinch hit homer off the hard throwing reliever. I know many others recall Howard in his heyday, and I remember some of his special days, but I remember the young Johnson vs. Worrell and recall it with fondness. It was when I realized in April of ’86 the Mets were better than anybody. They were special.

Howard Johnson’s acquisition by Frank Cashen on December 7^th 1984 should be celebrated for multiple reasons. It gave the Mets a young, superior offensive player and enabled Frank Cashen to trade depth at 3^rd base for Gary Carter. Walt Terrell went on to pitch very well for the Tigers; however he was never a top end starter. The trade was a heist for the Mets.

Today, he expanded a little more on that. First let me share his opening remarks before he fielded a few questions.

Fred, Saul and I would like to thank Mets fans for supporting the team through this painful, disappointing season. Like all fans, we are extremely unhappy with our results, both on and off the field, which were totally unacceptable. Baseball is a results business and we play in a results town. We demand better, we expect better and our fans deserve better. Ownership is dedicated to delivering a championship-caliber team. We have significant challenges ahead. Omar and Jerry must step up, and we are confident they will.

Is there a set payroll figure for next year?

“It’s what Omar needs. There’s no firm number that we have right now. We haven’t even gone through budgets yet. We’re just starting.”

Doesn’t payroll have to go down given lack of fan enthusiasm going into next year?

“We’d like to create the enthusiasm. I think our plan and Omar’s plan and the different ways he has to get there, through trades and free agents, is to create the excitement for our fans. I think with the reduction in ticket prices and the ability for more fans to be here, we’re hoping that happens. And what the payroll is, we didn’t necessarily spend well with $147 million this year, so I don’t want to say what it’s going to be. Last year we started the offseason with a $135 million payroll. It went up to $147 [million]. We didn’t have that as a plan.”

Doesn’t payroll have to go down though?

“No, it doesn’t have to, because the revenue is not necessarily less. If we do a good job of putting a product on the field, the fans will come back, and we’ll have the proper revenue to support.”

As I wrote last week, it could very well be that all those Madoff stories were overblown. Jeff Wilpon and other front office people have insisted all along that the Madoff situation would have absolutely no bearing on the day to day operations of the Mets.

I’m still giving them the benefit of the doubt at least until we see how they proceed this off season. They genuinely seem committed to bringing a championship to Flushing next season. Of course that doesn’t mean that they will go about it the right way, but their heart is in the right place.

I found it telling that he acknowledged that they did not spend the $147 million dollars well, and I bet Omar Minaya got an earful about that. I would expect Minaya to be on a short leash and that any major signings will have to be acceptable to a few other people before they sign off on it. It should have been that way all along.

Anyway, what’s passed is past, and we need to look ahead to a new and hopefully a more healthier and productive season in 2010.

Last year, Wright hit 33 HR in 735 plate appearances (626 at-bats).  That home run total has dwindled by 23 this season, as Wright has accumulated a mere ten home runs in 610 plate appearances (529 at-bats).  If Wright does not finish the season with more than his current home run total, he stands to make some history.

Through extensive research, I found ten players who compiled seasons in which their home run totals dropped by more than 23 from one season to the next. In both of the seasons in question, each hitter registered at least 500 plate appearances. The players are listed in order by the difference in home runs from the first season to the second.

• Brady Anderson: 50 HR (1996), 18 HR (1997), difference of 32 HR
• Luis Gonzalez: 57 HR (2001), 28 HR (2002), difference of 29 HR
• Adrian Beltre: 48 HR (2004), 19 HR (2005), difference of 29 HR
• Roger Maris: 61 HR (1961), 33 HR (1962), difference of 28 HR
• Davey Johnson: 43 HR (1973), 15 HR (1974), difference of 28 HR
• Barry Bonds: 73 HR (2001), 46 HR (2002), difference of 27 HR
• Larry Walker: 49 HR (1997), 23 HR (1998), difference of 26 HR
• Hank Greenberg: 58 HR (1938), 33 HR (1939), difference of 25 HR
• Andre Dawson: 49 HR (1987), 24 HR (1988), difference of 25 HR
• Richard Hidalgo: 44 HR (2000), 19 HR (2001), difference of 25 HR

Out of all these players, every one of them hit at least 15 HR in both of the seasons. In my research, I could not find any player who had as many as 33 HR (like Wright had last year) in one season and then followed that up with fewer than a dozen home runs in the next season, given the 500 plate appearance minimum in both seasons.

In fact, I only found three players in major league history with at least 400 plate appearances in consecutive years who hit at least 30 HR in the first season and single digit home runs in the following season. Those players are:

• Gabby Hartnett: 37 HR (1930, 578 PA), 8 HR (1931, 438 PA)
• Rocky Colavito: 30 HR (1966, 614 PA), 8 HR (1967, 436 PA)
• Howard Johnson: 38 HR (1991, 658 PA), 7 HR (1992, 410 PA)

The last name on that list should be familiar to Mets fans.  David Wright considers Howard Johnson to be his “baseball father”. If David’s power outage this season continues, it may be a case of “like father, like son”.

HoJo’s inability to hit home runs in 1992 was not due to an injury, as is typical in those situations. However, it might be explained by his change in positions. He played his customary third base position for most of the 1991 season until he was moved to right field for the last month of the campaign. In 1992, he became the Mets’ full-time centerfielder and did not perform well in the field.

Johnson did eventually suffer a season-ending wrist injury in late July, but not before he played in 100 of the first 103 games, collecting his measly total of seven home runs.

The closest comparison I could find to David Wright’s 2009 season was Vinny Castilla’s 2005 season. Castilla also accumulated over 500 plate appearances in 2005 after a 2004 season in which he hit 35 HR for the Colorado Rockies. Like Wright, he changed ballparks from one year to the next, moving from Coors Field in Denver to RFK Stadium in Washington. His power suffered as he went down from 35 HR in 2004 for the Rockies to 12 HR in 2005 for the Nationals. However, Castilla still managed to get to the dozen home run total that Wright has not reached.

If I did my research correctly, David Wright could become the first player to hit as many as 33 HR in one season, only to follow it up with a season of fewer than 12 HR. No player with at least 500 plate appearances in both seasons has suffered such a power outage in major league history.

Barring injuries or a trade, David Wright will probably finish his Mets career with many of the franchise’s hitting records. However, he may end up with a major league record that I’m sure he’d rather not have. If he doesn’t have a quick power surge over the last few games of the 2009 season, that dubious distinction will be his.

When Omar Minaya signed onto to be the Mets General Manager the main condition was that he would have 100% autonomy on baseball decisions which has included hiring the coaches.  He hired Willie Randolph’s coaches while he was manager and he had final word on Jerry’s coaches this season.  However, since the ill-fated press conference in which he insulted the Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin it seems the Wilpons have lost faith in Omar Minaya and his ability to be a successful GM for this team.  Since that press conference Omar has hardly been seen in public, hardly talking to the press, when he does have press conferences if questions start getting off topic Mets public relations guy Jay Horowitz abruptly steps in and ends the press conference.  Last week the Mets released Ramon Pena and Luis Aguayo, two of Omar’s friends plus the firing of Tony B earlier this year shows that Omar does not have the autonomy he once had.

Jerry needs to step up in this meeting and tell the Wilpons that if he is going to have any success next season and beyond he needs to pick his own staff that he trusts who have no ties to the Wilpons or Omar only to Jerry.  I personally believe that the entire staff including Jerry should be let go but that would only occur in a perfect world and as we know as Met fans we don’t live in a perfect world.  Jerry will be back, we know that much.  Howard Johnson has done a horrible job as the Mets hitting coach this season and since he took over as hitting coach in 2007.  This isn’t me jumping on the bandwagon of firing Hojo, I wrote this piece earlier in the season that you can read here.  I wrote that piece when it was “only April.”  Howard Johnson advised David Wright earlier in the year to change his approach to the plate, I believe he is one of the reasons why David’s season at the plate has been so erratic and his power is done.  Obviously by the end of May when he had 43 strikeout’s there was something wrong with David at the plate.  He never once told Wright to go back to his old approach, he’s said it himself on interviews with SNY.  He feels for David this new approach is the best.  I never see HoJo after someone has a bad at bat talking to that guy in the dugout, going over the plate appearance, instead he sits in the dugout, chewing his gum or seeds or whatever nodding his head.

The pitchers have done a horrible job this season with Warthen as their coach.  The walks are up, ERA’s are up as well.  Pelfrey has regressed from the pitcher we saw towards the end of last year.  Ollie was worse than ever.  Clearly whatever Warthen is coaching is not working with this staff.

Razor Shines is a bad judge on sending guys home or keeping them on 3rd but he is reportedly Jerry’s friend, Jerry trusts him and I think he could make a good bench coach for Jerry next year.  Bench coach is overlooked but I think he could actually help Jerry, especially at times when Jerry doesn’t play aggressively enough.  Luis Alicea doesn’t seem to have any knocks on him, so we could keep him at first.

Jerry needs to realize the Wilpons are keeping Omar on because they refuse to pay him to stay home, he is the GM in name only right now in their eyes.  Under Omar so far none of the 2 managers have had any chance to fully pick their staff, the guys who answer to them.  This is Jerry’s chance to be the 1st manager under Omar to pick his staff.  He needs to step up and say that this is his team, he has to work with these guys all season long, he needs to be able to trust that they will not have ulterior motives and that they are there to help him lead the Mets to a championship.

With under 40 games left in this dreadful year, the Mets have just passed Barry Bonds on the home run list.  In 2001, as everyone knows Barry Bonds broke a major league record by hitting 73 home runs in one year.  Currently the Mets as a team are at 76.

Just because pretty much every Met has gone on the DL this year and they play in a giant stadium, does not mean that they can string together a bunch of homers for the season.  Mark Reynolds, Chase Utley and the Yankees would agree with me on that one.

Then who is to blame for the Mets hitting woes this season?  Is it Minaya for not trading for any hitters, Jerry for managing the team poorly, or Howard Johnson for doing a bad job as hitting coach this year.

The correct answer is Howard Johnson.  Is Minaya and Manuel to blame for this too, yes, but most of the blame should be put on Howard Johnson.

Here are some interesting facts about how poor the Mets hitting has been this year.

• Not only is every other team have at leas 15 HR’s more than the Mets, the Mets top HR hitter, Jeff Francoeur (who hit half of his homers with the Braves), is not even in the top 100 players for homers hit this year.
• 9 players on the Yankees have over 10 HR’s on the year.  Jeff Francoeur is the only Met that has accomplished that feat.
• 8 of those 9 players on the Yankees have over 50 RBI’s each.  Mets only have two in that category with Wright and Francoeur
• As of today there are 3 teams that have over 100 more HR’s than the Mets this year.
• Mets are in the bottom half of the MLB for almost every single batting category except hitting for average and triples.
• Twice this year the Mets have had scoreless streaks of over 18 innings.
• The Mets have been shutout 8 times this year.

If the Mets want to be in the playoffs in 2010 then Howard Johnson must be shown the door.

You may know me as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight or simply the Batman. I am universally known as the world’s greatest detective. On occasion, I’ve been told I resemble Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and most recently, Christian Bale. I can understand the latter three, but seriously. Do you think I resemble the guy who played Mr. Mom?

What you don’t know about me is that I love baseball. It doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to figure out that I secretly had a passion for the game as a child. You really didn’t think I was inspired by a flying bat? No, my first love was the National Pastime. I was a batboy for the New York Mets in the 1980s. Handling the lumber of great hitters like Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez instilled the love of bats into my psyche. It was there that I knew I was destined to become the Batman.

I’m now presented with the greatest mystery I’ve faced in my career. I’ve been hired by my former childhood employers to find the Mets’ missing offense. Unfortunately, I’ll be tackling this case alone as Robin was forced to go to summer school because he kept falling asleep during his finals due to his late-night patrols with me. The principal was suspicious when we tried to lay the “watching Conan O’Brien” excuse.

I’ve looked everywhere for the missing offense. I have failed to locate it. I did not find it in the batting cages. I did not find it in Howard Johnson’s office. However, I did find a freshly made Shake Shack burger on his desk which I confiscated for further tasting, I mean testing.

This case may keep me up for quite a while. Perhaps if I travel incognito with the team to Washington, we may have a breakthrough there. I will keep you posted on my progress. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to take a look at that burger. To the Bite Cave…oh, you know what I mean!

Originally written by Ed Leyro on Zombies and Comics and Bears…Oh My!

The 2006 lineup was known for it’s clutch performances.  The lineup was given opportunities and they took advantage of most of those opportunities.  The team would not die.  They were down they would find a way to get the game close and then win it.  With the 2006 lineup you knew that there was a good chance that the Mets were going to stage a comeback.  Did they always comeback and win?  No, of course not, but they were always in the game.  One game in 2006 comes to mind is the game where Carlos Delgado hit his 400th Homerun against the Cardinals.  The Mets were down 7-1 after Pujols hit a 3 run homer in the 4th and then in the 5th he unloaded the bases with a grand slam.  In the bottom of the 5th the Mets loaded the bases and Carlos Delgado promptly unloaded the bases with a grand slam of his own which was also his 400th homerun.  The Mets battled back and in the bottom of the ninth inning Carlos Beltran was up, Paul Lo Duca was on second base, Beltran hits the ball out to right field for a homerun and the Mets won the ball game.  That was one instance of the Mets lineup not giving up, fighting back and being clutch when they needed to be.  Entering 2007 the Mets lineup was still clutch, maybe not as much as in 2006 but they were still scoring runs when they had the opportunities.  Then the all-star break comes and there is a change.  The lineup has suddenly lost the ability to hit in the clutch situations.  Delgado was in a dreaded season long slump that didn’t show an end in sight.  In September 2007, the month of the collapse the lineup was not hitting except for Moises Alou and David Wright.  Jose Reyes had a horrible September in 2007, but so did most of the Mets lineup.  I asked myself what changed during the all-star break?  How did the Mets lineup go from being clutch to not being clutch?  The answer is a promotion of 1st base coach Howard “HoJo” Johnson to hitting coach.

Growing up as Mets fan “HoJo” was one of my favorite players.  I always looked forward to seeing him hit, hoping to see him hit a homerun when I was at Shea and to see the apple rise.  I remember defending him when he wasn’t able to hit in 1992 and 1993 that I actually got into fights with friends who ragged on him as he was my favorite player.  I was saddened to see him leave the Mets in 1994 for the Rockies.  I think I was even more saddened to see him attempt a comeback in 1997 with the Mets that ultimately led to his retirement.  In 2002 I was happy to hear that he took the job as the hitting coach and then the next year he became the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones.  I went to a few games that year just to see him.  When he was promoted to AAA to coach future Mets batters I was thrilled.  Afterall HoJo is 3rd on the Mets all time homerun lists as well as second in steals and doubles for the Mets.  The future looked bright.  I thought that HoJo being promoted to the majors as the 1st base coached was a good fit given his ability to steal bases.  After the all-star break in 2007 HoJo became the hitting coach for the Mets and I thought that was going to make the Mets the best offensive team in baseball.  Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case.

The lineup while hitting good as individuals under HoJo are not hitting well as a team.  They have left too many runners on base since he took over the job.  HoJo’s job is to get these guys to hit and drive in runs.  There needs to be a change to the Mets offense.  There were free agents available this season that would added to the lineup and taken the pressure off of David Wright but the Mets decided not to go that way.  The organization felt that the lineup which did score the 2nd most runs in the league was good enough this season.  Since the Mets didn’t make a player change, I believe they might need a new hitting coach.  The lineup needs to start hitting with runners in scoring position otherwise we are not going to make the playoffs.  The rotation has not been solid except for Johan Santana but aside from one bad start from Oliver Perez and one bad start from John Maine the rotation has kept the Mets in the game.  The bullpen is certainly not the problem this year.  It’s the offense and that is HoJo’s job.  I certainly don’t take any pleasure in this blog for replacing HoJo but I want to win.  I’m sure HoJo is doing everything he can to get these guys to hit in the clutch but as of Sunday afternoon that isn’t good enough.   The Mets are leaving 10 men on base per game.  Something needs to change and fast otherwise we are going to be watching other teams in the playoffs instead of our New York Mets.

I hope to hear from other fans whether they agree with me or think I’m way off in suggesting the Mets fire HoJo.   Do you think that there is something else the Mets can do in order to improve the way the Mets hit with runners in scoring position? Just keep in mind I’m a fan of HoJo’s but I also want to see the Mets score more than 2 or 3 runs per game.