You can learn a lot about a baseball team from its locker room. The clubhouse is where relationships form, character is revealed and leaders speak out (or not). For the major league rookie, clubhouse real estate is valuable — sometimes priceless. Imagine being the rookie who spent eight months out of the year next to Sandy Koufax? Roberto Clemente? Lou Gehrig? Tom Seaver? These were model athletes, wise and humble men, who used their talent [...]

Earlier this season we all heard the gut-wrenching news that our beloved Gary Carter was diagnosed with a brain tumor. As the tears dried and the reality began to settle in, a discussion ensued. The Mets need to retire #8 for Gary. Others countered that if #8 is retired, then #17 for Keith must be retired as well. The debate raged on about who had more of an impact on the Mets: Keith or Gary? [...]

Frank Edwin ‘Tug’ McGraw was a relief pitcher for the New York Mets for 9 seasons. Over that time he compiled 85 saves with a 3.17 ERA. But he is best remembered for a phrase. In 1973, as the Mets were treading water in the NLE basement at the end of August, McGraw coined the slogan ‘Ya Gotta Believe.’ Fox ‘Spooky’ Mulder was a fictitious character played by David Duchovny on ‘The X-Files.’ Mulder firmly [...]

On the surface it appeared to be a typical summer day for the Mets. As usual, we were going nowhere, floundering in the second division, struggling to reach .500. When all was said and done, however, it turned out to be a crucial turning point in the history of our club. Mets GM M. Donald Grant made a rare appearance in the Mets clubhouse and gave the team a pep talk. The gist of his [...]

The story as I remember it, goes something like this: the 1973 Mets were struggling, they weren’t playing up to their potential, when general manager M. Donald Grant called a team meeting. At the end of the meeting Grant told the Mets “I believe in you guys”, at which point pitcher Tug McGraw yelled out “YA GOTTA BELIEVE!”. We all pretty much know what happened in 1973. The Mets went on to win the NL East, they [...]

There have been seasons where everything seemed to fall into place. There have also been seasons when we just went through the motions of a seemingly irrelevant and rigorous 162 game schedule. But I cant recall a season as perplexing as this one. We have played 64 games. The end of June is quickly approaching and before we know it, we’ll be at the All-Star Break. However, I have to admit, I don’t know what [...]