It was the stuff of Candid Camera. It has since become known as the “Marshmallow Experiment.” In 1960, Stamford Professor Walter Mischel, wanted to find out whether delayed gratification, having to wait before attaining a satisfying outcome, was healthy for people. Mischel devised a study to find out. Mischel brought together a group of young children in a test study. Each child was taken into a room where they were presented with a marshmallow. The [...]

This morning at Citi Field, Sandy Alderson, Terry Collins, and a few of the players, participated in a Q&A session with season ticket holders. We have John Delcos there and will file a full report later, but here’s a quick summary for you to chew on until then. Alderson said that he believes the team has reached the stage where he can begin to add veteran major league talent to the roster now. He expects [...]

Dear Mr. Alderson, A little more than two & a half years ago, you took over as the GM of this rollercoaster franchise. With the team coming off back to back sub .500 seasons which had been littered with failed expectations, injuries and disappointments prior to your arrival, most of us are generally aware – and were back then too – that you inherited a challenging situation: A rather high payroll that didn´t perform like [...]

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game. “He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. [...]

Ever since Lucas Duda burst into our consciousness in 2010, nobody has been satisfied with his plate approach. Too many strikeouts and not enough walks, I frequently wrote. He gives away too many at-bats. He tries to pull too much and doesn’t use the entire field. All valid in the early Duda critique. Now, unbelievably, he’s become too selective, too patient at the plate. No matter how hard I try, I don’t get this one. Even Keith Hernandez, [...]

As I expected, the Mets have demoted Josh Edgin to Double-A Binghamton to clear a roster spot for Shaun Marcum. I even speculated that he should go to Binghamton which is where he ends up. We’ll see him again, I’m sure… Updated on 4/26 I got an interesting email from Kevin (K Maxx) this morning who asked, “if Terry Collins is so concerned about Josh Edging being overworked, why does he keep overworking him?” I did a quick check [...]

Updated by Joe D. on 4/20 What a game it was for Lucas Duda last night in the Mets 7-1 win against the Nationals. Duda had his best game ever as a Met going 2-for-3 with hit two home runs and a walk . The hulking Mets left fielder is now batting .308 for the season with five home runs and eight RBI in 14 games. Duda’s patience has paid off as Adam Rossi said it would [...]

Kirk Nieuwenhuis came up last season after CF Andres Torres went down. Billed as an athletic and toolsy outfielder with some promise, Nieuwenhuis hit the ground running raking to the tune of a .325 batting average in March and April. Then came some strike outs, and more strike outs, and then came a whole lot of weak grounders and even more strikeouts, which led to his demotion in July when he batted .105  — deer [...]

We have all heard the phrase good things come to those that wait, but the phrase really only works if you seem to have a plan for the future that you intend to wait for. Patience works if you have a plan. But I see no plan at work with this organization. Many have tried to tell me the plan was to rebuild the “AWFUL” minor league system. But that plan was usurped the second [...]