Out of Left Field: Poetry in Motion and Other Adages

Every time I turn around during the last few afternoons, New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is getting something done. He just doubled not five minutes ago (2:00 PM on Tuesday afternoon) with two outs to give the Mets a 2-0 lead over the Marlins. Of late, he’s nine for his last twenty after a slow start. (Although not here to do play-by-play for a spring game, Lindor later in the game homered, giving him four dingers in his last five games and an 1.617 OPS during that span.)

Then, when he takes the field, he makes plays. Routine plays or tougher ones, doesn’t matter, are done with an effortless fluidity that suggests Lindor was meant to play the infield. The question that hangs on fans lips is of course whether he’s meant to play the infield for the Mets to finish out is career. Or did we get a very high priced rental, teasing us of what might have been.

That is yet to be determined, but his self-imposed negotiating deadline expires on Opening Day which is April 1, and it does not appear Lindor is playing an April Fools joke on anyone. Of course his asking price will be in the neighborhood of $300 million and any organization will take pause when faced with such a high price.

Next, perhaps not as poetic in his play, but a key piece nonetheless is homegrown Michael Conforto. Conforto has been less dogmatic when discussing his desire to have an extension done by Opening Day. He seems more flexible than Lindor without any self-imposed timetables. He is represented by Scott Boras so that might be a sticking point upon negotiations.

Conforto, reared and raised in the Mets organization, will begin his seventh year in Flushing in April. He has been more forthcoming about his desire to remain in New York, telling the NY Post this week:

“This is where I came up. It’s something that us as players think is a cool thing to spend your whole career in one place, but there’s so many other factors that go into it and I won’t go too far, in depth. I have been pretty open about it before, but I like the people I come to work with every single day. It’s been a good place for me. I have grown up a lot. I have learned a lot and I love the city.”

So what do the Mets do?

He who hesitates is lost comes to mind here countered naturally by a fool and his money are soon parted.

So far in the Steven Cohen era, the Mets have not acted like fools. They have acted in a professional, civic- minded and even an austere competence. Even a little luck has befallen them as fans are not weeping the loss of Trevor Bauer to the Dodgers. The luck part remains to be seen, but the business part is here for the Mets, now, and in uniform. Whether that uniform stays orange and blue (or even black?) is anyone’s guess.

I have seen enough of Conforto to know I want him to be a Met for his career.

I’m beginning to see the buzz about Lindor, and it’s becoming deafening as time rolls on. He is a top star who could anchor an infield for a decade. His ability to make baseball look so effortless is beauty to behold, truly poetry in motion.

Verdict: You get what you pay for. Sign them!

 

Needless to say, Pete Alonso has to bounce back from his sophomore slump for the Mets to achieve in 2021. After rewriting the record books in his freshman year for home runs by a rookie, the Polar Bear slumped to .231/.326/.490 with 16 home runs, a 118 wRC+, and a 0.4 fWAR . Early last year, he looked hopelessly overmatched at the plate, flailing at pitches that were not close to strikes. A strong September helped out in the shortened campaign, but he’ll need to be more of a season long force for the Mets to contend.

Spring training 2020 should have foretold his slow second year as he did not homer or walk in 14 games and struck out nine times in 45 at bats. This spring has been different. Through Tuesday’s game against the Marlins, he is slashing .378/.477/.757  with three home runs, 12 RBI and six walks.

“I feel like I’m in a really good spot,” Alonso said Tuesday to reporters. “Yes, the numbers are there, but I feel like I’m swinging at a lot of very quality pitches, capitalizing and hitting those pitches hard in my zone, and I’m playing well on defense and running the bases well. So, I feel like my game is very consistent right now, and I can’t wait to finish out camp and eventually get the season started.”

His confidence is infectious as I am convinced we will see a more polished, professional ball player when the season begins.

Verdict: It’s time for Pete to remember the comeback is always stronger than the setback.

I will miss Marvelous Marvin Hagler who passed away on March 13th. He was the undisputed middleweight champion from 1980 to 1987 and made 12 successful defenses of his title. My most vivid memory was his fight against Tommy Hearns on April 15, 1985. The Kentucky Derby is known as the most exciting two-minutes in sports and I agree as a horse racing fan. But the most exciting three minutes came in the first round of the Hagler-Hearns epic.

Verdict: Best fight I have ever seen–all three rounds of it. And as far as Hagler is concerned, one of the best pound-for pound boxers in history.

Nine days after Hagler’s passing, we learned that basketball legend Elgin Baylor had also left us.

Baylor played 14 seasons in the NBA as a forward for the Lakers and was best known for his hanging jump shot. He reached the NBA finals eight times but never won a championship. The number one draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie- of- the Year in 1959, 11-time NBA All-Star, and a 10-time member of the All-NBA first team, he is regarded as one of the game’s all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And for good measure, he won NBA executive of the year in 2006 while with the Clippers. 

To me, Baylor is still underappreciated. Even today, he holds scoring records that have stood up against the star-studded NBA of the present. Perhaps it’s because he never won an NBA championship that his name is not mentioned in the top tier of legends, but that should not diminish what this man accomplished on the floor and in the front office.

Verdict: With respects to Karl Malone, Baylor is undoubtedly the greatest player (perhaps in all sports) to not win a championship.

Next time, in Out of Left Field, we will present our first annual Opening Day edition. Factoids, conjecture, and undoubtedly a bad prediction or two will be included. Hope you are too.