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Latest Mets News

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that both the Mets and Yankees will be going back to Florida to resume their spring trainings at their normal sites, assuming that MLB and the players’ union agree to a deal.

Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wrote about how former Mets catcher Ed Hearn is helping others during these times.

Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News wrote about Darryl Strawberry‘s regrets on his decision to leave the Mets.

SNY is hosting a 1986 Game 6 Watch Party on Facebook this weekend. It will include appearances from Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, and others.

Latest MLB News

Andy McCullough and Marc Carig of The Athletic spoke with epidemiologists and infectious-disease experts about the protocols MLB is taking to ensure and manage the health and safety as they slowly plan towards a return for baseball.

Jeff Passan of The Athletic reported that the Twins and Cardinals have committed to giving all their employees full pay through at least the end of June.

Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports talked to broadcaster Jon Sciambi about what it’s like to announce KBO games virtually.

Latest NL East News

The Nationals relived their final moments of the 2019 NLCS before they advanced to the World Series.

The Marlins looked back at late right-hander Jose Fernandez‘s dominant return from Tommy John surgery.

The Phillies will be hosting weather experiments with Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz for Phillies fans and kids from May 26 to 29.

Latest on MMO

Carl Aridas looked back at one of the best college games ever, where Ron Darling and Frank Viola faced off in an NCAA Northeast Tournament game.

Ed Leyro remembered the legend that is Due-Sung Koo.

Matt Musico reminisced about some of the Mets’ longest winning streaks in team history.

On This Day in Mets History

1998: The Mets traded Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz, and Ed Yarnall to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza.

Birthdays: Collin Cowgill (34)

Let’s Go Mets!

The post Morning Briefing: Mets To Conduct Spring Training In Florida appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets announced on Monday that they will be airing some classic games on SNY on this week.

They will be airing the entire 1969 World Series, when the Mets cruised by the Baltimore Orioles 4-games-to-1 for their first title in franchise history. They will start with game one, which airs on Monday, May 4 (tonight) at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Additionally, the network will be airing Johan Santana‘s famous no-hitter on Tuesday at 5:00, followed by 1969 World Series game two at 7:30. Wednesday will continue with game three, also at 7:30.

Thursday will be the busiest day, with MLB Network showing Baseball’s Best Seasons: 1980 at 9:00 a.m. and David Cone striking out 19 against the Phillies at 11:00.

Brandon Nimmo‘s walk-off against the Phillies from 2018 will be shown at 4:00 and 10:30, and the Mets clinching the NL East in 1988 will be shown on YouTube and Facebook at 7:00. And of course, the 1969 World Series will continue with game four at 7:30 on SNY.

Friday will conclude the mini marathon of classics with the championship-winning game being aired on SNY at 7:30.

With no live Major League Baseball to watch, this week should hopefully serve to at least fill the void a little bit.

The post Mets To Air Classic Games Including 1969 World Series appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

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With about a week into the regular season, the Mets are looking good at 4-1, and the team has had a number of pleasant surprises.  In this version of the mailbag, we delve into some of those surprises and see how the Mets should handle these players going forward:

Doubl asks . . .

Is Mets reliever/starter Seth Lugo actually Andrew Miller from the right side?

John says . . .

Emphatically and enthusiastically, without a doubt and without hyperbole, I say, “YES!”

To take a step back for a minute, the one thing the Mets were absolutely right about was how much enthusiasm Mickey Callaway could generate with the fan base.  He has done that because he has made smart and informed decisions which have put the team in a position to win.  Part of that is how he and Dave Eiland come with a pedigree for handling pitchers.

We have seen Eiland convert Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar from middling to back-end starters to dominant relievers.

In Cleveland, we saw Callaway with Terry Francona take Miller and transform him from dominant one inning reliever to perhaps the biggest bullpen weapon we have seen post-Mariano Rivera.

There’s another note here.  Lugo has already shown he can be great in the pen.  To this day, my lasting image of Lugo was how completely and utterly foolish he made Anthony Rizzo look.  Lugo’s curveball is so great he got Rizzo to strike out swinging on a pitch that moved so much it hit Rizzo’s foot.

So yes, as Josh Finkelstein wrote earlier on MMO, and I wrote on Mets Daddy, Lugo looks dominant, and he may be a key piece of the bullpen in 2018.  And to once again emphatically answer your question, yes, he could very well be the Mets version of Andrew Miller.

Michael M. asks . . .

Despite a strong start from Adrian Gonzalez, are the Mets still better with Jay Bruce at first and Brandon Nimmo in the OF?

John replies . . .

To put my answer into context, in an earlier MMO Mailbag, I was emphatic that the Mets should release Adrian Gonzalez and sign an Adam Lind type player because the Mets needed more versatility on their bench, and yes, I did believe Gonzalez was done.

Well, in the first week of the season, Gonzalez has gone 4-13 with a double, RBI, and four walks with one strikeout.  We can argue if he looks good or if this will last, but he has played well enough to merit his playing time.  It would be a very bad look in the clubhouse to bench a five-time All-Star and 15-year veteran for an inexperienced player.

There’s another factor at play here.  Even though his managerial career is all of four games, I trust Callaway to make the right decisions.

We have already seen him bench Brandon Nimmo off a great Opening Day because Jacob deGrom has a high fly ball rate, and he wanted Juan Lagares in center for defense.  It also didn’t hurt that Michael Wacha had reverse splits meaning this was exactly the type of right-handed pitcher you would actually want Lagares to face.  The end result was Lagares going 2-4 with a run in a Mets 6-2 win.

When Michael Conforto comes off the disabled list, Callaway can be trusted to parse out playing time among his players that will both keep them happy and put the Mets in position to win games.  In fact, Callaway could look at Jay Bruce‘s tough start to the season and see Conforto’s return as a way to get Bruce some games off and get himself straightened out.

With all those caveats, remember that historically Gonzalez is a fast starter and his production usually falls off from there.  With his back issues, it is very likely history repeats itself.  With Gonzalez likely due for regression, the optimal defensive outfield alignment is with a Nimmo/Lagares platoon in center and Conforto in right, and the lineup works better with Nimmo in the leadoff spot, the Mets are better off in the long run with Bruce at first base.

However, for right now, the team is well advised to ride out Gonzalez for as long as they can.

Daria W asks . . .

What are your thoughts about the Mets televising today’s game on Facebook?

John replies . . .

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.  It really is a horrible decision and money grab from Major League Baseball.

No, this is not a position on anything politically or about the business model for Facebook that many have recently criticized.  There is a time and place for that discussion, but it is not here.

The reason I detest this decision so much is it makes the game inaccessible for many Mets and Phillies fans.  There are many older fans who do not know how to set up a Facebook account, and/or are pestering their children and grandchildren to teach them how to set one up.  Moreover, Major League Baseball is forcing people to set up a Facebook account despite people making personal decisions to not have a Facebook page.

So no, I do not like this decision, and I think it is a harbinger of things to come.  On the bright side, it will force many a Mets fan to sit down and appreciate what an amazing job Howie Rose and Josh Lewin do on the radio.  I know that’s how I’m going to take in today’s game.

The post MMO Mailbag: How Do Strong Starts From Gonzalez and Lugo Change Things? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The New York Mets vs Philadelphia Phillies game on Wednesday will include a small part of history.

The two teams will participate in MLB’s first digital-only national regular-season game broadcast with the 1:10 p.m. game airing exclusively on Facebook Watch.

Facebook Watch is a video platform that launched last August.

“This partnership with Facebook reflects the ongoing commitment of Major League Baseball and our clubs to connect with people around the world,” said Tony Petitti, deputy commissioner of business and media for Major League Baseball. “It is a major creative step forward in serving our diverse, passionate community of fans, who will enjoy a uniquely interactive experience watching our games on Facebook each week.”

The game will feature Noah Syndergaard squaring off against Aaron Nola, and fans can tune into Facebook and watch from their phones, tablets, smart TVs or other streaming devices.

MLB Network will produce the game, with play-by-play man Scott Braun, analysts Cliff Floyd and John Kruk, and in-game reporter Alexa Datt on the call. The broadcast crew will take a social-first approach and interact with the audience throughout the broadcast to bring the ballpark experience to Facebook, according to MLB.

How to watch on mobile and desktop:

1. Search for “MLB Live” on Facebook

2. Follow the “MLB Live” show page

How to watch on TV

1. Download the Facebook video app on your TV or streaming device and search for “MLB Live”

2. Or stream the game from your phone to a TV on the same WiFi network by tapping the TV icon.

Upcoming Facebook games (all times ET)

• Wednesday, April 4: PHI-NYM, 1:10 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 11: MIL-STL, 1:15 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 18: KC-TOR, 4:07 p.m.
• Thursday, April 26: ARI-PHI, 1:05 p.m.
• Thursday, May 3: LAD-ARI, 3:40 p.m.
• Thursday, May 10: SF-PHI, 1:05 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 16: TEX-SEA, 3:40 p.m.
• Thursday, May 24: LAA-TOR, 12:37 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 30: STL-MIL, 1:10 p.m.

[poll id=”4″]

The post Wednesday’s Mets vs Phillies Game to be Broadcast Exclusively on Facebook appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo Credit: Ed Delany, MMO

Hear a replay of my podcast and appearance on WLIE 540 AM

I discuss Mickey Callaway’s comments on the team’s lack of hustle, fundamentals and how this applies to Yoenis Cespedes. Will Matt Harvey earn a spot in the starting rotation? Hear my thoughts.

Finally I end up with a “get off my lawn” rant about the exclusive Facebook broadcasting rights. In the back-half of the show you will hear my appearance on WLIE 540 AM with Rich Coutinho of ESPN.

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The post Talkin’ Mets: The Cespedes Dilemma, Harvey’s Rotation Spot appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Major League Baseball and Facebook announced on Friday a partnership for the 2018 MLB season to broadcast one game every week to a global audience on Facebook.

The 25-game package will be available exclusively on Facebook Watch in the United States and available globally on the show Page.

“This partnership with Facebook reflects the ongoing commitment of Major League Baseball and our Clubs to connect with people around the world,” said Tony Petitti, Deputy Commissioner of Business and Media for Major League Baseball. “It is a major creative step forward in serving our diverse, passionate community of fans, who will enjoy a uniquely interactive experience watching our games on Facebook each week.”

The package will be weekday afternoon games that will be done by the MLB Network production team and MLB Network will introduce new in-game production elements specially designed for intuitively watching, sharing and interacting on Facebook.

The New York Mets vs, Philadelphia Phillies on April 4 at 1:10 p.m. will be the first broadcast for Facebook Watch. These games will be shown exclusively on Facebook meaning no SNY.

The post Mets vs Phillies To Be Streamed on Facebook April 4 appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Major League Baseball and Facebook have come to an agreement to broadcast a blackout-free game every Friday, the Wall Street Journal’s Jared Diamond reports. The agreement will begin this Friday with the Reds-Rockies game.

This marks the second such agreement the league has struck with a social media network. The league has been broadcasting weekly Friday games on Twitter since last year. Those games will now be moved to Tuesday under this new agreement.

The league also announced the revival of its competition committee to advise commissioner Rob Manfred on potential on-field rule changes. Among the members of the 16-member committee are Sandy Alderson, Theo Epstein, Joe Girardi, John Smoltz, Mike Matheny, and Roberto Alomar.

Last year, the old competition committee made changes to the strike zone and the intentional walk.

The post Owners Meetings: Facebook To Stream Weekly Game, Alderson On Committee appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Fans of a professional sports team are always curious to see which celebrities and personalities are also devotees of their favorite team.

Whether it’s Jack Nicholson sitting courtside at Los Angeles Lakers games, Spike Lee with the New York Knicks, or Billy Crystal with the New York Yankees, fans are delighted to see some of their favorite celebrities attached to their teams.

In a way, it brings fans and celebrities on an equal landing for a change, where their goal is your goal: to win.

For the New York Mets, no other celebrity embodies the word ‘fanatic’ more so than comedian and actor Jim Breuer.

Breuer, 49, grew up on Long Island as a die-hard Mets fan since he was a young boy. His passion and fandom grew for the Mets over the years, during the good times and bad.

Along the way, Breuer gained fame and notoriety from Uptown Comedy Club, Saturday Night Live and the 1998 hit comedy film, Half Baked, starring Dave Chappelle.

With over 20 years of stand-up comedy experience, Breuer was named one of Comedy Central’s “100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time,” and can be regularly heard on his weekly podcast, “The Metal in Me,” available on iTunes.

Even with his busy schedule, Breuer is never far from the orange and blue, the team he’s loved since the early seventies. Many fans now know him from his post-game Facebook video recaps, a brief ninety seconds of him reliving the game from a fan’s perspective. The videos took off instantly, where he’ll generate tens of thousands of views.

One of the elements Breuer enjoys about posting the videos is the hope he offers up to fans by keeping the videos relatively light and not trying to get too doom and gloom. The passion, intensity and adoration Breuer reveals in his videos are real, as the man lives and breathes everything New York Mets.

I had the privilege of speaking with Breuer early last week, where we discussed topics ranging from how he became a Mets fan, some of his favorite moments in team history, and, of course, a question about Half Baked.

MMO: Who introduced you to the Mets as a kid and how did you become a fan?

Jim: I’m going to have to say it was 1973, and I loved baseball. I’m trying to figure out how I went full-blown Mets because I remember watching the Yankees and the Mets. I was a little kid – I was only four years old – and I remember Mickey Rivers and Roy White, and I would imitate Rivers.

There was something about the Mets. I know this sounds crazy, but as I go back, I had a darker feeling with the Yankees, as crazy as that sounds. I’m trying to think; was it Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner? Was it the way they announced? They always sounded upbeat! No matter what, it seemed like a better atmosphere, if that makes sense?

All I remember is that year, ’73, as a little boy. I turned five in June, and I fell in love with the Mets. My first love was Tom Seaver and Jon Matlack, and then it was [Jerry] Koosman and Wayne Garrett and Félix Millán. There clearly were a lot of Mets fans around me; my father and mother were Mets fans, so it had to have been kind of built. I remember on my own I kind of decided that.

I remember watching Pete Rose beat up Buddy [Harrelson], and that really traumatized me. You’re a little boy, and that was a real fight. You saw real violence and real fighting; I saw blood on his face. I had anger, and I wanted revenge!

By ’76 or ’77, my dad brought me to games, so we started going to Mets games. They were horrible! But it was great because you could buy terrible tickets; my dad gave them [ushers] five bucks, and we’re sitting three railings away from the field.

MMO: Who were some of your favorite players growing up?

Jim: I loved John Milner. The Hammer, the Hammer! I loved Ed Kranepool, loved Jerry Grote, Seaver and Matlack. And then I loved John Stearns.

As time went on, I liked Hubie Brooks; Brooks was a favorite. There was a guy named Steve Henderson that I liked for a while. Lee Mazzilli, and then of course I loved, and still do, Mookie [Wilson].

Doc Gooden, Strawberry and Gary Carter! I remember the first game he [Carter] showed up and he hit that home run, the winning home run. I just knew from that moment that this is a game-changer; there’s just something different here. This is a game-changer right here.

I remember Strawberry’s first at-bat. I told him this too, and he was blown away that I remembered this because a lot of people don’t know his first at-bat. That’s all we talked about: Wait until you see this Darryl Strawberry. Strawberry should be up this year!

They finally brought him up, and he was up against Mario Soto. Soto made him look silly in his first at-bat. I don’t think he even foul-tipped the ball, just whiffed him: BANG, BANG, BANG, you’re out! Second at-bat, same thing: BANG, BANG, BANG, sit down! Third at-bat, final at-bat, I think he foul-tipped it, and then all of a sudden he hit a BOMB, I mean a BOMB in the upper deck … FOUL! Foul ball.

I remember hearing Bob Murphy going, “It is deep, if it’s fair, it is a… foul ball! Oh my, oh my! Now we see what this kid is made of.” And then he struck out. But that ball that he hit that was maybe a couple of feet foul, I knew from that moment, and all my Mets fans on my street said, You saw that, right? He’s going to be an animal, an animal! It was a bomb; it was like a Willie Stargell bomb.

At that moment, I knew that this kid was going to be a savage. I get goosebumps thinking about it.

As time moved on, [Mike] Piazza and I loved Al Leiter and loved Edgardo Alfonzo. You did not want Edgardo up with two strikes; he’s going to beat you. What a great ballplayer and a clutch hitter.

You know who reminds me of him a little bit? [Asdrubal] Cabrera. Cabrera is really underrated. Since mid-season last year, he’s probably been the most consistent and clutch hitter on the Mets, in my opinion. Of course, [Yoenis] Cespedes doesn’t count, but as far as wanting a guy up in a green moment, Cabrera can slap the ball, he can read the field and go for a home run. I’m kind of hoping for next year they move him to second base. Bring up the kid [Amed Rosario] and let him play shortstop, and please don’t lose Cabrera. Put him on second base. He can play second, and then you got a solid guy there.

MMO: Did you play baseball as a kid? And if so, what positions?

Jim: I did. I played first base, and that’s really it. I always wanted to pitch, so I only pitched one game. I was too nervous, and I was really disappointed in myself that I didn’t stick with it, to the point where my whole life I wished I had that opportunity to throw a ball and pitch again. I didn’t get to do it until this last Mets fantasy camp. And it still is one of the greatest days I’ve had in my life.

MMO: Do you have an all-time favorite Mets moment that stands out for you?

Jim: Oh gosh, it’s got to be 1986, Game 6. I remember every single moment. I was in tears! I was so angry and frustrated, and to watch that moment go down step-by-step stands out even more than when they actually won the Series. I remember winning, and I remember also Game 6 against the Astros, which was so exhausting and scary.

That Game 6 against the Red Sox, to me, I can relive that moment now and start crying.

I had an annoying girlfriend who said, “It’s not over.” I said, ‘It’s two outs and nobody on! They’re down by two; what do you not get?’

[And she said], “All right, don’t get so angry. Why do you have to get so angry?”

The first runners on, but it’s still two outs. Then when Mookie had two strikes, I said, ‘You don’t understand, he strikes out every time he has two strikes and swings at everything!’

And then people forget the wild pitch that scored the tying run. That alone I was like, Oh my God, what just happened?! People always blame [Bill] Buckner, but you can’t blame Buckner. It was that wild pitch that stunned the world. That wild pitch that brought in the tying run was a nuclear explosion, and if you’re on the field when that happens, you’re sitting there and already drinking champagne in your head. You’re like, All right, let’s just end this. And then you’re there like, What happened?! You’re numb, you’re numb! That ground ball could’ve went to anyone, and no one was fielding that. They [Red Sox] were in shock.

MMO: Most fans knew you were a celebrity Mets fan, a die-hard. But now with the post-game video recaps you post on Facebook, you’ve become, in a way, the celebrity face of the Mets. How did the concept for your post-game Facebook videos come to be?

Jim: It was a dark, dark time in our life. I had a social media manager that said, “Listen, you’ve got to post videos every day. Your fans are on Facebook, you’ve got to post videos.”

I went, ‘I’m not doing it, it’s stupid.’

They said, “You don’t understand, it’s very important.”

I said, ‘I’m not posting videos. I don’t have enough energy to try to be funny every day. I don’t want to be funny every day.’

They’re like, “You don’t have to, people just want to see the real you.”

She convinced me to start making videos, and this was in March 2014. I made a couple of videos, and it stressed me out. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I would see certain people comment, Hey you suck, and your career’s over, or, This was the funniest thing in the world.

Now, at the time, my wife was going through her second round of cancer; she was going through chemo. It’s Opening Day, and I’m watching it in my living room. This was the year that the Nationals just signed Max Scherzer, and they’re going to win the World Series, and no one’s ever going to beat the Nationals!

We had Bartolo Colon as our starting pitcher. Scherzer had a no-hitter against the Mets, I’m going to say until about the sixth inning but, but, but, Bartolo had a shutout going [into the fourth], so they were going toe-to-toe.

I believe the Mets, I can’t remember if it was the seventh or eighth inning, but the Mets scored one or two runs. Now it’s the ninth inning, and they’re about to win. I’m a lunatic in my house. I’m going, ‘Max Scherzer, big bad Max Scherzer!’ I’m yelling like a maniac in my living room like I always do. I turned, and my wife, who was literally sitting there, back from chemo, and she’s got this little shine and this little grin on her face. I said, ‘What’s so funny? What are you laughing at?’

She went, “This is what you should be doing videos of.”

And I went, ‘Oh, my God!’

And she said, “You’ve got to be a fan. Don’t try to edit it or make it look cool. Just do it the way you are as a fan. Don’t be like Jim Breuer the guy, do Jim the fan.”

And I did it. I went, ‘Oh, my God, that’s freaking brilliant! It’s a no-brainer, I don’t even have to think about this. I can just be myself!’ I made the video and posted it, but I didn’t sit there and wait and see how many people looked at it. I said, ‘That’s it, I’m done for the day.’

She then said, “You need to do every game.”

I said, ‘Are you kidding? Nah, I’ll do one maybe when they play the Yankees.’

She said, “No, no, no. You have to do every single game.”

That night people are calling me going, “Hey man, you’re on ESPN.” What?! “Hey man, MLB wants to contact you.” What?! “Hey, you’re on the Mets website.”

It’s funny, I went on the Mets website and I noticed they edited out… they put 80 percent of it but they left out me going, ‘Yeah, big, bad Max Scherzer. $200 million dollar man. Bartolo Colon took you out!’ They edited all that out.

Now I’m doing the Mets recaps every game. I think they were 2-3 [record], and it was getting real boring to do, not boring, but clearly, they’re not as exciting after game one. They just got their ass kicked by the Braves, and now they’re 2-3, and all of a sudden they went on an eleven-game winning streak.

As each game went on, the higher the viewership went. The true Mets fans that were watching it. I’d do things like, ‘Hey, go to Philadelphia because it’s the cleanest city in the world because they just got swept!”

I would do things like that, and I would do it throughout the season, and the next thing you know, I became the Mets’ video guy. I owe it all to my wife, who was going through her second round. She’s always said, “Listen, you should get involved more. You have such passion for the Mets and baseball, you should get way more involved in that.”

I said, ‘Yeah, but the money.’

She said, “Screw the money, screw the money. You light up when you’re in that world.”

MMO: You’re so passionate in these videos, people feed off that and love the energy you bring.

Jim: Yeah, to the point where this year I want to call a couple of games. I’d love to sit with certain Mets fans and call a game. The big thing is now I get copycat recaps out there, which you’re starting to see, and that’s exciting and fun and all that good stuff. I know there are going to be other guys a lot more crucial; I don’t want to make it a hate thing.

I also noticed there were a couple of times during the season where I would go, ‘You know what, this sucks and blah blah blah,’ and I’d get this whole backlash. People would say, “Jim, we watch you because you give us hope, and you always find the positive and the funny. Don’t go this route.”

That really touched me and moved me. As much as sometimes I’d like to go, Why would you take this guy out? So stupid! Trade this guy! Because a lot of the time that’s what I’m really saying, but I’ve noticed the real recap fans turn to me for hope, and that is so honorable and I’m really moved by that.

I try really hard every day to not get too frustrated or too angry. I try to find some little funny to keep us going.

It’s weird; I started going to the Mets games, and little kids are looking at me going, “That’s the Mets’ video guy!” I’m like, Hey, whatever you know me as is fine by me. [Laughs.]

MMO: You started a website called batsballsandbreu.com where fans can post their own recaps, is that right? Tell me about that.

Jim: Yes! Here’s the point of Bats, Balls, and Breu: You go on the site, and you post your own videos. Now, clearly I do the Mets, but if you want to do a Mets one, knock it out! I’m trying to encourage other teams and other people. The real end goal is I want this site to become the ESPN for fans run strictly by the fans.

Phase one is, let’s all do recaps. Literally, in two weeks I’m meeting up with a guy who’s doing Braves recaps. We became friends two years ago from me doing recaps. We would banter back and forth and then bust each other’s chops, and then he came to see me at a show, and then we became friends. Now I book shows around the Mets in Atlanta so I can go see the Mets in Atlanta; we’re going together. It’s so freaking cool! And then I’m doing another one with a girl in Seattle.

First, it’s a recap, and I want to do maybe the best of recaps every month. Now I want to get it where, hey, let’s analyze the team as fans. Let’s talk to Mary, who’s 75-years-old, and we’re going to talk from her kitchen. She’s a grandma, and now let’s talk to the 15-year-old who’s the Cubs kid, and he knows everything. What does he think about the series? To me, that is so appealing, and I hope it becomes something, but that’s what I’m shooting for eventually.

MMO: When did you launch the site?

Jim: I technically launched it over a year ago, but all the technical things weren’t ready. There were a lot of technical things to download a video, sign up for it, to post a video. It has to be certain megabytes and only a certain length. It was a little over a year ago, but now it seems it’s working and doing well, so now I’m really pushing it, and hopefully, by the end of the season, it turns into something pretty cool.

MMO: How has the response been so far?

Jim: Huge! The response is amazing. We’ll find out what it’s like when I call a game, and again, I’m going on my wife, who said you should’ve always been an announcer. Now, of course, I’m no Gary, Keith, and Ron! I’m not going to come at you with stats, but I think there’s something appealing about a real fan calling the game the way it is.

I’m going to give it a shot, but definitely going to hit that up before the month is over.

MMO: Speaking of calling a game, I remember watching this live when it happened during the game. You were in the booth for a May 6, 2015, game against the Baltimore Orioles. You got to call Curtis Granderson‘s [or Candy, as Breuer calls him] home run. What was that moment like for you, and had you ever been in the broadcast booth before that time?

Jim: [Laughs.] I had never been in the booth, and again, this was all part of the magic that year. The only reason I was there was because of the recaps and what was going on. They asked if I would come up and do an inning.

I went up there, and even then I was meeting people in the military and kids who had cancer; I was meeting so many people through these Facebook videos. I go up there, and I couldn’t believe how small the booth was, and I couldn’t believe how high up they were. I went, ‘How do you watch the game from up here?’

I get up there and I put on the headphones, and Granderson comes to the plate and hits it. I just naturally go, ‘OH, THERE IT GOES!’ I called it, and the funniest part was in my ear all I hear is, “Jim, Jim, Jim! Let Gary do the calling. Let Gary do the calling for the rest of the shots, please.” It was too late; I was in the moment, man!

I was waiting for it too; everyone does it at home. That was a moment I’ll never forget.

MMO: Of all the video recaps you’ve done, do you have a favorite that stands out to you?

Jim: There are two. One is when they clinched against the Cubs to go to the World Series, and we start doing the champagne with our goggles on and all that. That was a hands-down favorite one.

The other one was, and this is when I realized how broad these videos were, I was playing in Denver the day they were going to clinch against the Reds. My wife again was like, “Why don’t you ask fans to come watch the game with you?”

I was like, ‘God no! What if no one shows up? How embarrassing!’

So I said, ‘Hey, I’m in Colorado. I’m in Denver if anyone would like to watch the game with me today.’ I just remember thinking, Oh God, this could be really bad. This could be so embarrassing.

I walked through the door, and I get goosebumps thinking about it; the part that blew me away was that before the game started, already about 75 Mets fans were there with Mets shirts on in this little wings place in Colorado, in Denver, during the day! It was families; it was brothers; it was Black, white, male, female, all different ethnicities; I was blown out of my mind!

There was this older guy, and he was talking to the younger people because he was a fan since 1962, when they played their first games. Everyone was listening to him. There was a father and a son and three different families there with little kids; it completely blew me away. That’s when I realized, again, that it’s almost like an extended family. We all do really have something pretty awesome in common.

MMO: That’s awesome! Your videos really do bring people together, it’s incredible what under two minutes of video can do.

Jim: Yeah, and it’s funny, I would post longer videos, but anytime I go over a minute it takes so long for it to post. It pisses me off because I live out in the woods. So once in a while, people are like, Where is your video? I’m like, ‘I’m working on it!’

MMO: I remember watching a YouTube video from one of your stand-up routines where you go off on Yoenis Cespedes during spring training in ’16, when he wouldn’t pick up the ball that was stuck under the outfield wall. He kept signaling that it was an automatic double, and wouldn’t throw it back into the infield. Do you bring up the Mets much in your stand-up?

Jim: No, the only time I’ll bring them up is if it’s overrun with Mets fans. I was in San Diego, and the 7 Line Army was out there; there were about 300 of them in the crowd. We talked about it then. I was in South Carolina and there were a lot of Mets fans for some reason.

Every show I do now, no matter where I am, whether it’s Boston, Ohio, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Mets fans always come. They let me know they’re Mets fans because they wear Mets shirts. I was in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi; Mets shirts all over the place! All over the place! Every place I go to now they wear the Mets shirts. It’s so cool.

MMO: Who were some of your comedic influences growing up?

Jim: Die-hard Richard Pryor fan; die-hard! Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Sam Kinison were my three guys.

The first one was Steve Martin and the Let’s Get Small album in the ‘70s. That was my first stand-up comedy experience. My brother-in-law handed me that album, and I begged my parents if I could listen to it. I was blown away that a guy was just telling jokes in front of a crowd. And on an album he had a balloon raft around his head and a fake nose; I still can recite the whole album.

Then I saw Richard Pryor I went, This is exactly who I am. I am this guy. I tell stories, I make everything come to life, and he talks about everything. Whether you want to hear it or not. Then, Eddie Murphy. I loved Eddie Murphy. And of course George Carlin, but those were my top go-to guys.

MMO: Did you have that aha moment when you knew that you wanted to be a comedian for your career?

Jim: Oh God, yeah! My friend begged me to be in sketch night, or skit night in school. It’s 1985, and I remember I said, ‘I’m not doing that.’

He said, “Come on, man, you’ve got to do it! I have this part and you’re going to be so funny in it!”

I didn’t hang out with actors, I thought it was silly. He went, “No, no, no! You’ve got to do it, everyone’s cool there.”

He got me to do this play, and during that week the skits were Bible-themed, I believe. It wasn’t a religious school or anything, so it was sophomores vs. juniors vs. seniors.

I played Noah in Noah’s Ark, and I did it talking like Eddie Murphy. I think if I did that today, I may be hung because people could see it as, is he talking like a Black guy? Oh my God, he’s so racist! [Laughs.]

I totally did Eddie Murphy, and I murdered the place, to the point where the next day in school, because we had to do two nights in a row, my whole life was different.

I remember showing up at school and everybody was looking at me. Every guy that I thought was the coolest guy was like, “Breuer!” I was a rock star. Every female was like, “You’re so funny, and can’t wait to see you again tonight!” I was an overnight star. That night, the second night, they were chanting for me to come out in the middle of the sketch before. When I came out, the place erupted, and I get goosebumps thinking about it!

I knew this is it, this is the moment that I knew that’s what I want to do the rest of my life.

MMO: Wow! They were already chanting for you the scene before?

Jim: Yes, yes, it was unbelievable. I’ll never forget that. “Noah! Noah! Noah!”

MMO: Oh man, I wish there was video of that somewhere.

Jim: It was 1985, Valley Stream Central High, so put it out there! If anyone’s got that when I came out as Noah from Noah’s Ark, and they’re chanting, “Noah! Noah!” It was unbelievable.

MMO: I’d be remiss not to ask you about one of my all-time favorite comedies, Half Baked. Is there a story or two that stands out to you about when you were filming with Dave Chappelle?

Jim: Dave showed up with a dog, and all I remember the whole shoot was this dog named Monk. Before he called him Monk, he named him Whitey because he was all white. He thought it was funny to go out into the streets and yell, “Whitey, sit down!” People were looking and were like, “What?” And he’d go, “Whitey, play dead! Ha ha!”

We stayed in the most gorgeous hotel in Toronto, and he crapped in it; he ate the furniture and would bark. He was a menace, this dog! We went to the guy that owns Roots, which is huge up in Canada, huge! He’s like, Come in my store. This dog ripped up like four leather coats worth a thousand dollars, and Dave just had no control of this thing. He had no right owning a dog! It was hilarious.

He almost got thrown out of the hotel even though there were about 50 people there staying just because of him. I remember; I forgot her name from Good Times, the mother from Good Times. I’m in Dave’s room, and she knocked on the door. I opened up and I was starstruck because I loved Good Times.

She goes, “Is this your room?”

I said, ‘No, this is Dave’s.’

She said, “You’ve got to do something with that dog! It smells up here. You have got to get rid of that dog! He barks all day, that ain’t right. That ain’t right!”

I said, ‘It’s not my room, it’s not my room!’

“I don’t care whose room it is, you’ve got to take care of that dog!” That dog was a menace.

MMO: You’ve been touring for the past several months now and have a full schedule going forward. How’s the tour been going for you, and will you be coming back to the tri-state area anytime soon?

Jim: I don’t plan on hitting Long Island or New York until the fall and winter. Tour’s going great, it’s called the Family Warrior Tour. It’s good, I plan on doing recaps every day. I just filmed a commercial at Citi Field so that should be out next month with the 7 Line Army and a bunch of guys.

Life is good, touring is good and hopefully, the Mets will start waking up in May and June.

MMO: Thank you so much for your time today, Mr. Breuer. It was great to talk with you and I really enjoyed the conversation!

Jim: Me, too. Take care.

Check out all things Jim Breuer, including his tour dates on https://officialjimbreuer.com

And upload your fan recaps at Jim’s site: https://batsballsandbreu.com

You can follow Jim Breuer @JimBreuer

The post MMO Exclusive Interview: Comedian Jim Breuer appeared first on Metsmerized Online.