The walk-off grand slam by Spin was the first in 23 years when Kevin McReynolds last did it in 1991.

Matt Harvey started the game and didn’t have his best stuff as he searched for his fifth win of the season.

The Mets right-hander allowed three earned runs on four hits including Matt Kemp‘s first home run of the season. He walked one while striking out seven and still gets credit for a quality start. However it was the first time this season he didn’t last at least seven innings.

Despite the dramatic blast by Valdespin, the Mets were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and had plenty of opportunities to do some damage and avoid extra innings.

But what matters most is the win and this one was sweet.

Bobby Parnell got the win and pitched a scoreless tenth and the bullpen did a great job of keeping the Dodgers in check until the Mets offense rallied to win.

ODDS & ENDS

HARVEY STRIKEOUTS: Matt Harvey has 109 strikeouts in his first 15 career games…The only other Mets with more strikeouts in their first 15 games are Dwight Gooden (113) and Nolan Ryan (112).

HARVEY DOUBLES: Matt Harvey collected his third career double in the fifth inning…The three doubles over the last two years (2012-2013) are tied for third-most in the majors among pitchers…Stephen Strasburg, who has made 30 starts during that time, is first with five and Yovani Gallardo, who has made 37 starts, is second with four…Harvey’s double was also the first extra-base hit by a Mets pitcher this season.

EXTRA-INNINGS: The Mets improved to 1-1 in extra-innings while the Dodgers fell to 0-1 in extra frames.

COMEBACKS: New York rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win…It was the Mets third come-from-behind win of the year.

RUBEN TEJADA: Singled in the fifth inning to snap an 0-18 skid.

DANIEL MURPHY: Was 1-5 to extend his hitting streak to seven games…Hitting .333 (10-30) during the run, which dates to April 16 at Colorado.

BIG QUESTION: Why Terry Collins continues to keep Valdespin from playing everyday is still the big question. As I’ve said again and again and again, Valdespin is a catalyst… He’s a game-breaker… He’s electric… Wake your ass up, Terry!

Great Player… Great Moment… Great Game… Great Finish…

In 31 plate appearances so far this season, Buck is batting .393/.387/.464 with four home runs and an NL leading 14 RBIs in eight games.

Buck did not hit his fourth home run of the year last year until May 13 (25 games) and did not drive in his 14th run of the season until June 24 (50 games).

He is the first Mets player with four home runs in the team’s first eight games of season since Mike Piazza in 2001.

I tossed the following question out on Twitter and what follows are a few of the many responses.

Some Met fans are excited about Buck because it keeps the Mets in contention. Others are excited because we can trade him at deadline and get more for him if he keeps this up. Where do you stand?

@metsmerized I love what he brings to the young pitching staff. I think that’s valuable then what we could receive in trade at the deadline.

— Ben Yoel (@Ben_Yoel) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized trade, he keeps it up they could get a nice return

— Bosco (@bosco86) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized He’s without a doubt a deadline trade

— Michael C DeLuca (@MiaFins1) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized Dam ngood question. Think I’m the latter, hoping that if they are in contention d’Arnaud can keep them there.

— E.J. (@TheHappyRecap) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized The only answer to this question is . . . both.It all denoends on timing and circumstance.

— Scott M. Dolan (@ScottMDolan) April 10, 2013

@metsmerized keep buck and sign him. Good 1-2 punch behind the plate; maybe Buck can play 1st against lefties when d’arnaud arrives

— anthonynap (@anthonynap) April 10, 2013

Damn… What the Buck will the Mets do….

The Mets desperately needed that win and came through in huge fashion by clubbing four home runs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are coming off being swept by the San Francisco Giants without scoring a run in the series.

Former Met starter Chris Capuano will take the hill tonight for the Dodgers. After a decent year in New York last year, Capuano is off to a 9-2 start with a 2.60 ERA for the Dodgers.

Is this the same Capuano the Mets had last year who was 11-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 31 starts?

It sure is, yet this year’s Capuano has pitched more efficiently, limiting his pitch counts which has allowed him to go deeper into games and qualify for wins.

Capuano was actually a present surprise for last year’s Mets. Yes, he finished under .500, but to make 31 starts a year removed from Tommy John surgery is pretty impressive.

He kept his team in the game, but once again, the high pitch counts hurt him. It seemed as though he was always throwing his 100th pitch sometime in the fifth inning. Naturally, it would have been unwise to push him past his limits based on his injury history.

I thought the Mets would have been players this offseason to re-sign Capuano. They had Johan Santana coming back, as well as R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee. Capuano could have served as a spot starter and long reliever. Once Pelfrey went down, Capuano could have slid back into the rotation.

However, the 33-year-old’s price tag was way too high for that sort of swingman role, so the Dodgers took a gamble on him, signing the lefty to a two-year, $10 million deal. Let’s just say $10 million for Capuano was not exactly on the Mets top priority list this offseason.

I’m glad Capuano is experiencing success. He seemed like a hard-working guy and a good teammate while he was here, and it’s a great story that he’s been able to overcome injury.

That being said, I’d like to see the Mets put up another 17 runs today—this time at the expense of Capuano. The team needs to put together consistent offensive performances, and tonight’s a great way to start.

So good luck the rest of the way to Capuano, but hopefully he enters his next start with a 9-3 record.

Now that the World Series has finished and Major League Baseball as officially entered into the off-season (which makes me depressed), it is now time to recognize certain players for their extraordinary play. The award giving was kicked off earlier this week with the presentation of Gold Gloves to the players who had the best defensive years. The honor was given to the following ballplayers:

American League:

P: Mark Buehrle

C: Matt Wieters

1B: Adrian Gonzalez

2B: Dustin Pedroia

3B: Adrian Beltre

SS: Erick Aybar

OF: Alex Gordon, Jacoby Ellsbury, Nick Markakis

National League:

P: Clayton Kershaw

C: Yadier Molina

1B: Joey Votto

2B: Brandon Phillips

3B: Placido Polanco

SS: Troy Tulowitzki

OF: Gerardo Parra, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier

I enjoy seeing who wins Gold Gloves each year because it’s truly a testament to a complete player. Being a solid defensive player can be tough when you’re going through a bad slump at the plate, but not taking it out into the field with you shows a player with a lot of character and pride. Both the Dodgers and Red Sox were represented well, with three Gold Glove winners for each team. It was the first time the Dodgers had three winners all in one year, and the first time the Red Sox have accomplished the feat in over 30 years.

Some players returned to being the top defensive player at their position after a small hiatus; Dustin Pedroia won for the first time since his MVP year in 2008, Beltre snagged his third award, but first since 2008 as well. Adrian Gonzalez now has three Gold Gloves, but his first in the American League.  Mark Buehrle continues his dominance into his free agent year with this third straight Gold Glove and Yadier Molina has now won the award four years in a row, the first time that’s been accomplished in the NL since Charles Johnson in the late ‘90s.

What I noticed is that there were quite a few new faces being represented in this group as opposed to last year. In the National League, Albert Pujols, Michael Bourn, Shane Victorino, Carlos Gonzalez, and Scott Rolen all couldn’t repeat. On the AL side, Joe Mauer, Carl Crawford, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Evan Longoria, Ichiro, and Franklin Gutierrez didn’t receive enough votes from other managers and coaches from around their league.

What I find interesting is the clause in player’s contracts that give them a bonus for winning the award. The ESPN article I read listed the following bonuses:

Adrian Beltre and Adrian Gonzalez: $100,000

Erick Aybar and Nick Markakis: $75,000

Yadier Molina, Dustin Pedroia, Placido Polanco, and Joey Votto: $50,000

Troy Tulowitzki and Mark Buehrle: $25,000

That’s a nice motivator to stay dedicated to one’s defense. Yes, I do realize that the Silver Slugger awards were handed out last night and I haven’t said a word about it, but that’s because we focus so much during the year on offense that I see the Silver Sluggers as a great award, but not as well deserving as a Gold Glove. Plus, I think that the best hitters in each league were the ones that were among the league leaders in batting average, hits, home runs, and RBI. We don’t focus on defense nearly as much as offense, so I think that the Gold Glove awards are something that players take more pride in than a Silver Slugger. Thoughts?

Just one month ago at this time Jason Bay seemed to an after thought as a serious threat in the New York Mets lineup. It seemed like Bay couldn’t do anything right and everything that could wrong for Bay at the plate did go wrong.

However, since Bay was benched in mid-June he’s responded and in a big way, at a time where the Mets have needed it most.

Since June 15^th, Bay is batting .347 (25-72), with 4 home runs and 17 RBI, those 17 RBI are tied with teammate Carlos Beltran for tops in the National league in that time period.

In 2 of the Mets last 3 games Bay has been involved in crucial rallies for the Amazin’s. On Sunday, the 32-year-old drew what seemed to be an innocent walk against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera with 2 outs in the 9^th. Then, a bloop hit by Lucas Duda and single to right field by Ronny Paulino the Mets tied the game at 2-2 courtesy of a Bay walk.

In the following inning, Bay had a chance to end the game and did so with an empathic walk off bases loaded single with 2 outs, leading to a 3-2 Mets win.

In last night’s Mets 6-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Bay was at it yet again. Already leading 2-0 in the top of the 6^th and looking for insurance Bay delivered with a solo home run to the left centerfield bleachers.

But it didn’t end there for the slugger, as Bay came up with runners on 1^st and 2^nd in the 8^th and all but sealed a Mets win with a 3 run home run to right field capping a great night for the Mets left fielder.

With those two home runs from last night, Bay has already tied his total from last year’s six and the former Pirate and Red Sox shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

If Jason Bay can remain as hot as he been over the last month, combine that with what Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran have been able to all year long, and add a healthy David Wright to the order, this offense could be a serious force to be reckon with in the 2^nd half.

Too big to fail

You can almost apply that theory to Major League Baseball.  In the past decade, we saw the Montreal Expos go bankrupt and essentially relocate to Washington, D.C. after contraction was prohibited in the collective bargaining agreement set forth in 2002.

Prior to that arrangement, Bud Selig suggested that the Minnesota Twins (now a perennial playoff contender) was a contraction possibility.  I remember Jesse “The Governor” Ventura of Minnesota, taking Selig to task, when in all the talk about contraction, nowhere in those lines was thought of contracting the team Selig still had ties to (at the time), the Milwaukee Brewers who weren’t all that great at the time either.  But that’s neither here nor there.  The point is, no one really can argue that if there is talk of contraction, the smaller markets are the first to be considered.

Moving right along, MLB has its own quandary today, and it has to do with finances of two of its largest market and noteworthy franchises: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets.  In both cases, one could argue that their failings and flailings start right at the top: with their respective ownership.

In L.A., Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has been going through a very public and messy divorce.  Judging by most reports out of the City of Angels, the team itself is being used as a pawn by both parties in the contested separation.   McCourt’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Jamie, is looking to be half-owner of the Dodgers as a result, since it is presumed to be an “asset” of Mr. McCourt and therefore fair game in their divorce settlement.  As it appears, most of their settlement talks are centered around Ms. McCourt’s right to ownership of the franchise.

In the meantime, some under-the-radar financial transactions were ultimately brought to light regarding the finances of the team on the West Coast.  While he greenlighted a $70 million expenditure this offseason, McCourt tried to use the Dodgers’ cable rights as collateral in a deal with FOX worth $200 million, should they default on the loan.  This deal was promptly rejected by Selig, adding fuel to Jamie McCourt’s fire, countering that McCourt had endangered the team’s financial stability by brokering this type of deal, and that she was entitled to the information regarding these deals.

While McCourt preaches that is all right with the team and that he’ll still own the team and pass it along to his children some day, new manager Don Mattingly has to deal with this in the background, while the team picks up players that are supposed to compliment its young core including Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw.

Sound familiar?  It should.  Substitute “Massive Ponzi scheme investment, false profits, dwindling attendance, shoddy baseball operations and bloated player contracts that have another year before coming off the books” for “McCourt divorce”, and we have ourselves the New York Mets, ladies and gentlemen.

In light of recent liquidity issues being brought to the our attention with the Wilpons and specifically Sterling Equities borrowing $25 million from the MLB discretionary fund and submitting a bid for a loan syndicate to get even more cash flow, along with borrowing an additional $50 million at some earlier point and MLB saying they will not allow the Mets to use MLB as a lifeline for money anymore, it just adds to the masochism of following this team.

The Mets, well, we all know the story too well.  A collapse in 2007, a floundering in 2008, massive injuries in 2009 and 2010 to an aging and overpaid/underachieving staff has caused a domino effect with many things in the organization.  For one, ticket sales are so low, that they caused audible concern in many outlets at the end of last season and revamped their ticket office, cutting ties with Mets ticket VP veteran Bill Iannicello and bringing in new blood in the ticket office.

My theory is that when CitiField opened in 2009, ownership thought that not only would the team draw, even if they did go through their “slumps” interest would be achieved in the novelty of the new stadium.  That wore off quickly when the summer doldrums hit.  Towards the end of ’09, secondary market tickets were going for as low as $0.99!  Couple that with another underachieving year, the Mets were literally giving tickets away to later games in the season, just to fill the seats.

No sales from fans = no revenue generating.  I would be willing to bet that SNY is probably one of the few profitable items in the Sterling portfolio of companies.  Keep in mind, of course, that Sterling Enterprises is a real estate investment trust…that industry has also taken a hit to their interests, that’s a fact.

In the meantime, I wonder how long this madness can continue, for either the Dodgers or the Mets.  The Dodgers were competitive as far as two seasons ago and could very well say that their fall off the precipice had to do with a down year from their star Matt Kemp and perhaps an unproductive Manny Ramirez (he’s on the Tampa Bay Rays now, where players careers go to die…Tampa will be addressed later of course).  The McCourt drama is just backpage headlines, they could say.  Save the nixed loan deal from FOX, we really don’t hear about liquidity issues as there seems to be cash generated through some arm of the Dodgers.  Of course, I am not in LA…so that’s just being totally subjective.

It seems to me, as an outsider looking and as a diehard fan of one of those franchises, that the only people who suffer here are the fans.  The reality is that the Mets have not decreased payroll.  They, too, have a built-in excuse about the underperformance of high ticket free agents, injuries and wanting to go for low-risk/high-reward instead of the low-reward/high-risk route they had taken in the past seven years.  But the Mets did, technically, spend this offseason, but they were acting frugally.  Perhaps some fans thought it might have been a good thing to overpay Cliff Lee when Lee has a better chance of winning anywhere else BUT the Mets at this current moment.  Other may have wondered why they couldn’t have taken a shot at Carl Crawford.  I have no idea, but locked into Jason Bay for now kind of limited that idea.  There are tons and tons of unanswered questions, but the Mets can’t say they didn’t spend and have not spent in the past.  It’s where they are spending it, who they entrust with it and what has happened.

I couldn’t help but wonder though…Does MLB have its own “Too Big To Fail” policy regarding franchises?  I discussed in a podcast the other night this domino effect that specifically the Mets have had.  In the past, I was trying to be objective, not buy everything that was handed tome at face value and try to look at things analytically since I have analyzed financial information for a majority of my career.  I was trying not to look at things like a “fan.”

Then one of my blolleagues on this podcast said something that hit me: when the Mets release info, it’s typically when it’s worse than they are saying.  Whether dealing with injuries, managerial issues, even the stadium, it’s too little, too late.  It makes me wonder if when a large market team is scraping around for coins in the sofa cushions, it’s time to sell the team.  If the Sterling team is in as much debt as the news is speculating, it’s going to be impossible to find someone to assume those liabilities.  The same, to a lesser extent, in LA.  Frank McCourt is getting lines of credit left and right.  What happens if a judge declares his wife 50% owner?  Will he have to buy her out of her share?  Or will this court case drag on forever and ever, and their fans will have to take a back seat to get a decent product out there?

And if the Mets go bankrupt and are excused from paying the debt…how far will MLB go?  Who will they allow in as an owner?  I’m talking new blood and not these old fart billionaires who have made this an exclusive Boys Club for years.  MLB might need an overhaul overall, and with Selig’s contract up in 2012, there might not be a better time to impart this.

Similar to that tree in the woods, if the Mets and Dodgers fail in MLB, will anyone notice?  Probably not.  We won’t notice because the ownership club in MLB is strong enough to set it up that even those who are not the strongest (of teams) can and will survive.  If MLB has gone to these great lengths to keep these teams operational simply by either turning a blind eye or extending lifelines, then I am expecting more of the same until the very worst has happened.  And we don’t even know if it will come to that.

Keep in mind a few years ago, as I mentioned above, Selig wanted to contract the Twins and Expos.  Now there’s suggestion that the Tampa Bay Rays are up for contraction.  They went from one of the most exciting teams in baseball three years ago, to one that is barely finding an identity there on the Gulf coast.

Imagine that being a team in New York or Los Angeles.

Wouldn’t happen.  There is too much at stake in those markets.

Too big to fail?  Indeed.