By John Jackson
Good morning Mets fans! While the New York Mets are in day two of their offseason, the playoffs are just starting. Postseason action will take place in the form of the National League Wild Card Game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals. Max Scherzer (11-7, 2.92 ERA) will look to defend his home field against Brandon Woodruff (11-3, 3.62 ERA) and the Brew Crew. First pitch is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. EDT, with national coverage on TBS and ESPN Radio.
Latest Mets News
Pete Alonso won his third Rookie of the Month Award. Alonso, who also won the award in April and June, became the first Met rookie to win the award three times.
Mickey Callaway was not invited to the organizational meetings that the Mets will hold this week also according to DiComo of MLB.com.
The Mets have interest in hiring Kyle Boddy according to Marc Carig of The Athletic. Boddy founded Driveline Baseball which is a baseball laboratory that has been a leader in the recent embrace of science throughout MLB.
Alex Swanson, a Mets fan who was hit in close range by a shirt launched by a T-shirt cannon on June 5, is suing the team, per Sophia Hall of WCBS 880. Swanson claims the shirt knocked him out cold, in addition to making him fall backwards and making him hit his head on a step of concrete. Furthermore, Swanson fears he may go blind as he now has a semi-detached retina that can detach at any time.
Latest MLB News
The Los Angeles Angels fired manager Brad Ausmus. Ausmus finished up the first year of his three-year contract, but will need to go elsewhere if he wants to manage in 2020 and beyond.
Baseball experienced a 16-year low in attendance during the 2019 regular season according to Eric Fisher of SportBusiness.com. Overall, total attendance was listed at 68.49 million which is 1.7 percent less than last season.
Boston Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy touched upon the future of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez when talking to the media on Monday by noting it’s possible they could keep them both, but it would be difficult.
Joe Maddon still wants to manage for three to five years according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports.
Latest NL East News
In early September, the Nationals offered Anthony Rendon a seven-year contract worth around $210 million-$215 million per Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post. Rendon is expected to test the waters of free agency instead of taking the offer.
The Atlanta Braves will have a couple more days to rest up as they take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS on Thursday starting at 5:02 p.m. EDT.
Latest on MMO/MMN
Michelle Ioannou explained how Alonso came to the Mets right in the nick of time.
Tim Ryder wrote about how progress was made with the Mets in 2019 and a sturdy foundation was set.
Charles St. Clair uploaded the latest episode of the “Greener Grass Mets” podcast.
Ryan Finkelstein wrote about Alonso and Jacob deGrom, the “MMO Players of the Week.”
John Sheridan wrote about why Callaway may return as manager in 2020.
Sheridan also concluded his “3 Up, 3 Down” series for the regular season, following the Mets’ sweep of the Braves.
Gianna Arantes broke down Noah Syndergaard‘s start in the Mets’ season finale on Sunday.
Christopher Soto wrote about the Sunday performances by Andres Gimenez and Juan Uriarte in the Arizona Fall League and Mexican Pacific League, respectively.
This Day in Mets History
1973: The Mets clinched the National League East with a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The game was a scheduled makeup that took place a day after the regular season concluded. The Mets ended up clinching the NL East with 82 wins which was the lowest amount for a division title in MLB history.
1974: Tom Seaver reached 200 strikeouts for the seventh-straight year in a row. He became the first NL pitcher to accomplish that feat.
Birthdays: Brandon Knight turns 44, John Thomson turns 46, Chuck McElroy turns 52, Jeff Reardon turns 64, Pete Falcone turns 66 and Buzz Capra turns 72. Chuck Hiller and Bob Myrick were both also born on this day in 1934 and 1952, respectively.
