Author: John Strubel

The Secret To Bartolo Colon’s Success

Bartolo Colon has a secret, but not for long. When the New York Mets signed Colon to a two-year, $20 million deal prior to the 2014 season, fans and the media scoffed at investing in an aging veteran pitcher. Colon is now 41, but honestly, his physique suggests he’s closer to 55. What we saw — an out-of-shape pitcher with a large waistline and legs like small oak trees — was not what the Mets...

Read More

Spring Swagger or Naïveté?

Spring Training comes with its own measure of swagger. Optimism is the size of a grapefruit. Predictions of an October pennant race sound as sweet as a sun-kissed Florida orange. From Florida to Arizona, managers and coaches spew sweet accolades on the crop of prospects and the 30-something coming back from season-ending surgery is once again fresh and productive, while players gush giddy...

Read More

One Play, Two First Basemen, and the Elusive Third Out

Even in hindsight the story is hard to fathom. The New York Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning, at home, trailing the Boston Red Sox 5-3 in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. They were three outs away from losing the Series. Hold on, this isn’t the story you’re thinking it is. Wally Backman led off the inning slicing a line drive into the glove of Dave Henderson. One out. Keith...

Read More

Jerry Grote: The Man Behind The Mask

Winning was Jerry Grote’s bliss. In fact, his most joyous moment on the diamond was captured on film when teammate Jerry Koosman leapt into his arms after the final out of the 1969 World Series. In 1976, Bob Myrick found out the hard way how Grote felt about losing when the Mets rookie pitcher beat his catcher in a game of Backgammon, causing Grote to explode, sending the board and its pieces...

Read More

A Bag of Balls, A Lot of Questions

Former New York Mets catcher Ed Hearn says he has a bag of baseballs in his cellar. They are all from 1986; all from the National League Championship Series; all evidence that Michael Warren Scott cheated. The rumors started long before the NLCS. In May 1985, during one of Scott’s starts at Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs first baseman Leon Durham found a piece of sandpaper near the mound, “brand...

Read More