Ron Darling takes a detailed stroll down memory lane for a night most Met Fans see as one of the greatest evenings in the history of the organization.  Darling, however, looks back on it differently.  Recall the events with the former Major League pitcher and current SNY analyst as he remembers not only this evening, but some of the events leading up to his fateful start against the Boston Red Sox and chance meeting with baseball immortality.

In true Charles Dickens’  Christmas Carol fashion, be prepared to walk alongside Ron Darling as he revisits the ghosts of games past and reflects upon a multitude of crucial moments that could seem ancillary to even the most perceptive of fans. You are the silent passenger in the recesses of his memory as he paints a vivid picture of the mental roller coaster ride he experienced in that 1986 Fall Classic deciding game.

Eternally regal, magnanimous and dubbed by himself as solipsistic at some points, Darling delivers the unique workings of an Ivy League level thought process that preceded Game 7 in 1986.  (The G, capitalized as Darling did, to emphasize the significance)  If you are looking for the dirt about the ‘Bad Boys of Baseball’, search for another read.  Ron Darling remains impressively noble to out no one’s actions or thoughts but his own and assess no one’s process but his.

As Darling escorts you along the linear path following the final innings of Game 6, some of which he was not even in the ballpark to experience, the rain-out of the originally scheduled game 7, the moments leading up to the start time and in game analysis, be prepared to take well timed and nostalgic detours to detail some of the unique personalities that surrounded him.

From his childhood reverence of Carl Yastrzemski, his relationship with Davey Johnson, forging of an unspeakable bond with Gary “Kid” Carter, defending Tim Teufel in the infamous ‘Cooters Brawl’ in Houston, Darling explains this 1986 motley crew to the reader.

His days as the road trip DJ, friendship with Kevin Mitchell, and personality quirks of guys like Lenny ‘Nails’ Dykstra are also on display.  He takes the slightest of swipes at Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden as a result of them squandering the baseball gifts bestowed upon them, but somehow manages to do so out of extreme reverence and awe of their superior talent.

What stands out the most in this work, besides his intelligent similes and seemingly veteran prose, is how his intelligence sabotaged his performance.  Darling’s tendency to perseverate on nuance made this night even more challenging for him.  He was pitching an uphill battle and was knocked around by himself before the game even began.  Nearly thirty years later, Darling reflects on his experiences intelligently and presents an interesting juxtaposition upon its conclusion.  That is, for the rest of his life he must cope with a bad day on an epic night.

My Q & A With Ron Darling 

Chris: Mr. Darling, thank you so much for taking the time to provide answers to questions I had after reading your latest work, Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life. I really enjoyed how vividly you recalled each aspect and detail.

The post Book Review: Game 7, 1986 by Ron Darling appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

I did an interview yesterday for a grad student who was doing a thesis on sports blogging, social media and the dichotomy between fans today and twenty years ago.

It ended up being an opportunity where I actually learned more about myself, our community at MMO and social media as I knew it to be. I found myself giving responses that I didn’t expect and I guess that’s the beauty of not knowing the questions ahead of time.

When I was asked about the similarities between those who comment on MMO and the fan base as a whole I said that one had absolutely nothing to do with the other.

I believe that average Met fans and the vast majority of them don’t comment or tweet. Instead, they prefer to just sit back and read the articles and move on.

When asked to describe our comment section I felt it was the exact same atmosphere as I see on this phenomenon known as “Mets Twitter.” (I never drew that comparison before.)

You have thousands of followers, but most of them don’t tweet. The ones that do, much like the ones that comment here, can be divided equally into 2-3 factions.

Two of the factions have hard core lines that they hold dearly to. They can spend hours and hours trying to one-up each other and doing whatever the can to win these tiny spats they create for themselves to occupy their free time. No side ever really wins. It’s kind of hilarious when you think about it… But I give them all credit for their passion and the courage of their convictions.

Every news item from a Mets beat writer or even just baseball in general, and they all feel the need and the obligation to weigh in. Arguments ensue, with each side believing the other to be completely clueless on the matter.

There’s also a third group, a smaller one, who thinks they are completely apart from all that. They frequently make these Yoda-esque types of tweets or comments, believing that they’ve said something truly profound. They see themselves as being above the fray and not a part of it. But not really. I think it’s funny, actually…

When it was all over, I found myself realizing that our MMO comment section was “Mets Twitter” years before there ever was a Mets Twitter. 🙂

The post Met Fans, Comments, and Twitter appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Happy Thanksgiving, Mets Fans. Do we have anything to be thankful for in 2013? Is that even possible?

On this day of thanks, let’s look at the positives this year and give thanks for these few special moments out of the multitude of bad ones.

David Wright is currently in his prime. He put up some outstanding numbers yet again, but with another weak lineup. If this front office can put a few bats around Wright, he is still quite capable of producing some of the best years of his career.

Matt Harvey dazzled us for most of the 2013 season. While the ending was just plain sad, with Harvey tearing his UCL and needing TJ Surgery, but while healthy he was in the running for the Cy Young. He led the league in strikeouts and had one of the lowest WHIP and ERA in the league, showing just how dominating he was this season. Here’s hoping that he comes back just as strong in 2015.

The All Star Game was the high point of the season for Citi Field. For a few days the nation witnessed what a packed Citi Field looked and sounded like. Matt Harvey got the nod to start the game. David Wright said afterwards that he can’t wait to see that kind of energy during the regular season in Queens and especially in October. We can’t wait either.

Mike Piazza being elected to the Mets Hall of Fame was a nice gesture. They should have retired his number too in my opinion. Next let’s hope he gets elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (as a Met obviously).

Finally let’s hope that the young guys like Juan Lagares and Travis d’Arnaud who showed us some promise keep improving and fulfilling those expectations next year.

Happy Thanksgiving Mets fans. Eat yourselves into comas and drink your weight in booze and let’s spend this day forgetting about the bad times and instead being grateful for the few positives we had.

The post Hey Met Fans, I’m Still Thankful For… appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Q: What would you like to see the Mets do this offseason?

A: They have to get a starting pitcher with (Matt) Harvey out. Maybe you get a veteran guy out there on a one or two-year deal to help with the younger pitchers, teach them how to be pros. And they need offense, whether you make a big splash or do what the Red Sox did and get some capable pros. The toughest decision for the Mets is what players on the roster they want to keep.

Darling is without a doubt the sharpest mind on SNY. He knows what’s up and in three sentences he sized up exactly what the Mets need to do this offseason.

The Mets need to shed some of these Quad-A players they’ve been parading out there as major leaguers. You know who they are. He’s right, there’s going to be some tough decisions to be made and like most Quad-A players, most of them don’t have a lick of trade value.

Aside from David Wright and Daniel Murphy not one regular batted over .260 this season. And counting Wright and Murphy not one player hit more than 18 home runs. There’s a lot of work to be done.

We had some great comments to draw from today…

TJ says:

I will not judge the Mets by how much they spend. I will judge them on how many holes the have on the Opening Day 2014 roster, meaning replacement level players with jobs they don’t deserve, and how well they provide depth in all areas, starting pitching, bullpen, and positionally. I don’t care what it costs. They can do this without signing any albatross contracts or without depleting the farm, if they really want to compete in 2014.

Joey D. says: 

One of the most common examples we see is Oakland. They are in the same fiscal situation as the Mets and look what they have accomplished. Well, what is overlooked is that the steps that Billy Beane took were totally different than the ones Sandy and his people have taken. Beane did not rely upon his farm system to produce his players nordid he hang on to them rather than trade his young players who were starting to either come into their own or had already established themselves but were entering arbitration or free agency status.

He made things happen.

Nine of the ten position players with 98 or more games played this year came from outside the organization. Three of his five starters came from outside the organization. All but one of his five primary relievers were drafted by Oakland.

And what Beane did was to use many of whom he had as bargaining chips like Gonzalez and those in the minors. And with Gonzalez, it was not for the best player he could get but for a group of players to fill the needs of many holes. If one is going to trade a star, that is the way to go – try to get as many potential quality players in return instead of making a splash with one big draft selection from another organization.

Terri Loves 28 says:

I only went to two games this season and one time was free because of the tickets I won in your contest. (Thanks by the way!) I may not go to any games next season. I only say this because up until 2011 me and my mother were season ticket holders. I love the Mets, but I’m not supporting the Wilpons anymore until I see a real winning baseball team I can believe in.

* * * * * * * * * *

I threw that last comment in there because it was something that came up last night in a podcast I was invited to as a guest called Sounds from Shea by Steve Keane and our own Ed Marcus.

We spent an hour discussing the Mets position by position and tossing around our own ideas and possible solutions. One of the things we all kept going back to is Mets ownership. We talked about how fans are tuning the Mets out. We discussed how the Mets need to do something dramatic to prove to the fans that they mean it when they say this is the offseason where it all happens… That this is the offseason where the handcuffs come off… That this is the offseason where the fan base isn’t being held hostage or seduced by promises that never come to fruition.

It’s hard for us to believe anything that Sandy Alderson and the Wilpons say. There’s a trust factor that’s been broken. There’s always so much posturing going on and everything they say almost always sounds like a scam or a scheme whose primary goal is to squeeze more money out of us.

We all want a team we can believe in, as Terri so aptly stated. But we also want an ownership group and a front office that we can believe in too. It is going to take a lot of work by this front office and the owners to gain our trust back. Too many hollow words and broken promises… We desperately want to believe in this team, but right now there’s so many of us who don’t trust the people running the show. So we put the ball in your court… Go out there this winter and build a team we can believe in.

The post All Met Fans Want Is A Team We Can Believe In appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

“This is one of the lowest moments of my lifetime of Mets fandom, when the Citi Field crowd was booing teams that they see as rivals to their Mets team,” he told Steve Somers of WFAN.

“I was in shock. I was embarrassed. I thought it was horrible manners. These are the best players, in the game you love, that have come here to put on a show for you, and we’re booing them like five-year-olds as if there’s some sort of real animosity.”

“The American League is not the Taliban,” referring to the way Miguel Cabrera was treated.

He did acknowledge that the fans may have partially atoned for their sins in how they celebrated Mariano Rivera’s tribute later in the eighth inning.

Umm…. Okay….

The post Jerry Seinfeld Tells Met Fans That The American League Is Not The Taliban appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The All Star voting is now over and all Met fans can do now is wait with baited breath to see if David Wright maintained his lead over Pablo Sandoval for the privilege to start at third base in the 2013 All Star Game at Citi Field.

In an official release by MLB, the voting for the National League’s starting third baseman was called the closest and tightest battle on this year’s ballot.

With all the votes now cast and the results now being tabulated, we won’t know the official winner until the results are announced at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday on the 2013 MLB All-Star Game Selection Show presented by Taco Bell, televised nationally on FOX.

Here is a video produced by MLB, who sent a camera crew to hit the streets of New York and ask fans who they thought deserved to be the starting third baseman. Enjoy…

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With the statistical and financial numbers having been crunched, the decision is it is time to start the clock on Wheeler. The Mets don’t know who’ll be dropped from the rotation. Because of today’s doubleheader, the Mets will go at least one cycle through the rotation with six starters.

Wheeler will start the second game with Matt Harvey taking the opener. That pitching future the Mets have been bragging about? Well, we’ll get a glimpse today.

Ideally, the Mets don’t want to return Wheeler to the minor leagues after today. As their thinking when Harvey came up last year, they want him here to stay. Because Wheeler won’t be activated until between games, rules prohibit him of being in the dugout to watch Harvey.

That will happen soon enough.

“[It will be] a fun day,’’ Collins said this afternoon at Turner Field. “It’s a great thing for this organization and its fan base to see what the future is going to be like. We’ve got two young guys that are going to be very, very, very good.

“Pitching is the name of this game. We’re going to run two guys out there [Tuesday] that can take this organization north pretty fast.’’

Harvey has been exceptional this season, but is just 1-1 with eight no-decisions in his last ten starts. In that span Harvey has given up 19 runs. If nothing else, what Wheeler should learn quickly about pitching on the major league level is there will be times when he’ll have to do it without run support, which is what Harvey is currently experiencing.

Harvey has been successful in large part because of his composure, self-confidence and sense of worth. Harvey understands his stature and expectations of him, but hasn’t let it go to his head.

Wheeler might as well have been reciting a script given him by Harvey.

“I don’t think I’m the savior at all,’’ spoke Wheeler in a press conference Monday afternoon at Turner Field, almost a half-hour where he grew up watching Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine.

Continuing his refreshing travel down humility road, Wheeler said: “We might not be doing too well right now, but I know the talent of these guys, and hopefully we can turn it around soon. … I’m just trying to come up here and play the best that I can, help out the team any way I can.

“I know people are going to scrutinize. We aren’t doing too well right now, but hopefully we can turn it around and everybody will like us again.’’

Mets fans have liked Wheeler all spring in hope of what he might give them. Today is his first chance to deliver.

Thoughts from Joe D.

Last night I told one of my friends that today’s doubleheader was giving me the familiar feelings I had when Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman were taking the mound back in 1968. Back then, Seaver was embarking on his second full season as a major leaguer and Kooz was about to pitch his first. They each delivered on their promise that year and suddenly by the time that season was over there was a sense that somehow 1969 was going to be special for the Mets.

Koosman had the better season in ’68 winning 19 games for a team that finished in ninth place and won only 77 games that year. He posted a 2.08 ERA in 34 starts for those Amazin’ young upstarts.

Seaver, on the other hand, already had his smashing debut the season before with 16 wins and a 2.76 ERA. He duplicated that win total the following season and improved his ERA to 2.20.

Wow, what was happening here I wondered…

I spent that fall and winter flipping and trading baseball cards with all the Yankee fans in my neighborhood. My goal was to get as many Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman cards as I could get my hands on. Back then, none of the Mets hitters had a .300 average… none of the Mets hitters had hit more than 15 home runs… and I think Ron Swoboda led the team with 50-something RBIs…

The only thing the team had going for them was Seaver and Koosman and yet somehow there was a feeling that that might be enough.

That was a long time ago my friends…. The game’s changed a lot since then, but the circumstances almost feel the same where Wheeler and Harvey are concerned. I hope I’m right…

The post Harvey And Wheeler Give Met Fans A Glimpse Into The Future appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets brand got a jolt of life in 2005 when Omar Minaya was hired as the GM and quickly signed Pedro and Beltran.  2006 saw the Mets just miss getting to the World Series.  2006 also brought a lot of new fans to the Mets as they were relevant again; they had the new, young superstars of David Wright and Jose Reyes leading the team.  2006 didn’t end the way the fans wanted it to, but there was hope for 2007 and beyond.  For a new Mets fan base, 2007-2009 might seem like the darkest days for the franchise and I understand their point of view since they haven’t followed the team as long as other Mets fans have.  So for those new fans I quote Harvey Dent from the hit film The Dark Knight: “the night is darkest just before the dawn.  And I promise you, the dawn is coming.”

I believe that quote really applies to the Mets.  Yes 2007 and 2008 ended in horrible collapses on the last day of the season and we really don’t have to speak about 2009 anymore.  2010 is not starting the way we envisioned it would with Beltran missing at least a month due to knee surgery and Jose Reyes missing opening day and perhaps longer with a thyroid condition, but the dawn is coming.  In fact the dawn is in Florida with the Mets.

This Spring we have seen the future for the Mets, and it looks bright. Ike Davis is knocking the cover off the ball as is Fernando Martinez.  So far this Spring Jenrry Mejia has been practically untouchable and is being considered as a setup guy for K-Rod.  Josh Thole is also coming along nicely and as we saw last year, he’s close to being ready for the majors.  Jon Niese has also impressed me and could very possibly make the opening day rotation.  It has been a long time since the Mets had this much promising youth in Spring Training that actually have great futures ahead of them in the big leagues.  These kids will most likely be with the Mets by next year if not sooner in some cases.

I understand all the bad communication and injuries that have plagued the Mets and it’s easy to be pessimistic and see nothing but dark days ahead, but the dawn is coming and will be here soon.

The post The Dawn Is Coming Met Fans appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

I know that Omar Minaya has done a lot for this team and I’m grateful for it.  The Mets were the joke of baseball until 2004 when Omar became the General Manager.  In Omar’s first move as General Manager he hired Yankee great and bench coach Willie Randolph.  In his first off season Omar signed one of the best pitchers in the game, Pedro Martinez.  He also signed all-star center-fielder Carlos Beltran who was coming off an amazing post season for the Houston Astros.  These signings improved the Mets greatly as they won 84 games and were in the playoff race until ironically the last week of the season.  The next off season Omar signed closer Billy Wagner and traded for Carlos Delgado and also added Paul Lo Duca to the team.  For the first time since 1988 the Mets won their division. 2007 was a slow off season as Omar didn’t sign any new superstars, believing that the 2006 squad was good enough to win in 2007.  In the off season of 2007 Omar acquired the best pitcher in baseball, Johan Santana from the Twins.  In 2008 he signed one of the best closers, K-Rod after a record breaking season.

There have been some bad moves made by Omar as well.  In 2006, Omar jumping the gun and panicking traded away outfield Xavier Nady to Pittsburgh after Duaner Sanchez was in a car accident and would require season ending surgery on his shoulder.  Nady was having a good season, he was well liked by the fans and media as well as a good clubhouse guy for Roberto Hernandez, a reliever who was on the Mets the previous year but wound up not helping the Mets at all in 2006 and a young left handed pitcher named Oliver Perez, who was forced on them.  In 2006 he also traded away Heath Bell and Royce Ring for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins.  Less than a week later he also sent Matt Lindstrom to the Marlins.  A month later Omar traded Brian Bannister for Ambiorix Burgos.  In 2007 Omar signed veteran and often injured outfielder Moises Alou to a contract.  Unsurprisingly, Alou suffered from injuries and only played in 87 games.  In 2008 Omar brought Alou back and again Alou was injured, playing in just 15 games that season.  He also signed Luis Castillo to a 4 year deal, valued at 25 million dollars even though Castillo was coming off of double knee surgery.  Castillo was out of shape last year and was injured for parts of the 2008 season.  His offensive output was non-existent last year.  He spent time on the DL and killed potential rallies.  His range in the infield was just like his offense, non-existent.  This past off season he signed Oliver Perez to a 4 year, 36 million dollar contract.  That kind of deal is a deal for number 2 in the rotation pitcher, which Ollie is not.  At best he is a number 3 guy and that’s stretching it.

This year the Mets are a train wreck, there is no other way in describing them.  Omar Minaya built this team and the blame goes to him.  This season Omar was banking on Daniel Murphy to be some sort of savant out in left field even though he looked horrible last year in the outfield.  That experiment failed right from the beginning.  Murphy caused the Mets several games because of his inexperience play in the outfield.  He also gambled that Oliver Perez was going to live up to his potential and become a better pitcher.  Ollie’s ERA this season is 9.97 and he has spent time on the DL.

Omar had a chance to add some good talent in the off-season such as Orlando Hudson and Adam Dunn come to mind.  Imagine if their bats were in the lineup right now, how much better would the Mets be?  Hudson’s defensive range is better than Castillo’s and his ability at the plate I think we can all agree is a much bigger improvement over Castillo’s.  Adam Dunn may strikeout a lot, but he can hit home-runs out of Citi Field and get on base by taking pitches and drawing walks.  His offense makes up for his bad defense unlike Daniel Murphy who is only batting .242 for the season with 5 HR’s and 26 RBI’s.

The injuries have been piling up and there are 9 guys currently on the DL.  Omar’s motto has been to tread water until Reyes, Beltran and Delgado come back.  Unfortunately for Omar there is no timetable for these guys.  Jose Reyes has not yet fully tested out his injury by running full tilt yet.  Beltran was ordered to not play until he is pain free and Delgado is recovering from a surgery that in all likelihood could have him on the DL for the rest of the year.  Omar has refused to trade.  At first he was saying that there was no deal to make even though teams were making deals. 

The Braves traded low level prospects for outfielder Nate McLouth.  The Cardinals traded away nobody good for Mark DeRosa. The Yankees traded low level prospects as well for utility player Eric Hinske who has a good bat and can play the corner infield as well as the corner outfield.

I do not understand how after two collapses Omar can just sit by and let this team and their fans down.  This organization continues to live by “we’ll fight again tomorrow.”  They have been saying that for the last three years now.  The Mets have become the laughing stock of major league baseball.  TV announcers and sports show make jokes about the team we love.  I said it at the beginning and I’ll say it again: Omar Has Failed US!

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