The New York Mets are officially in free fall. Talk about a tough stretch. The Mets are now riding a season-high six game losing streak after being swept by the Braves in Atlanta. Very few things went right in this series. The starting rotation continues to show signs of regression. The offense was a no-show. The inability to cash in with runners on remains a huge problem. Oh, and injuries...
For the first time in two weeks, the New York Mets won a series. The Mets showed once again their ability to flush previous disappointment and bounce right back. After dropping the middle game of the series against the Diamondbacks, New York produced a big-time performance in the finale to take the series and end the road trip on a high. It was the first series win for the Mets since they swept...
What Terry Collins lacked in size on the baseball field, he made up for with a fiery intensity and desire to compete. Regularly the smallest player on every organized team he played on, Collins realized that he could stand out by routinely playing harder than the rest. Collins, 74, has spent over five decades in professional baseball. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 19th round of the...
For the first time since 1994, the Mets are hosting an Old Timers’ Day. What once had been a staple of the organization ever since the team originated has now been revived under the Steve Cohen regime, helped by crowdsourcing on Twitter shortly after taking ownership. The early years of the festivities celebrated New York’s brilliant baseball past, especially in 1977 when they...
If the Mets hadn’t converted all their disbelievers by now– those who were still convinced the Orioles superiority would overcome New York’s combination of pitching, timely hitting, and spectacular plays in the field — would be given even more of a reason to believe in miracles after game 4. Of no miracle was the performance by Tom Seaver on this afternoon. Following a...
If you follow the Mets on Twitter, you probably caught a glance of a photo taken from behind of Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle walking in from center field at Shea Stadium shown on Thursday. That picture of baseball royalty took place some 43 years ago during a once-annual Mets event in which they honored National League greats and New York notables alike. The 1977...
Babe Ruth has been dead for over seventy years, but he’s been haunting Jane Leavy’s mind for over two decades. Leavy, the New York Times best-selling author whose works include heavily researched biographies on Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Mickey Mantle, had been planning to write a then-novel on the most celebrated and, by most standards, greatest Major League Baseball player of...
I’m not sure if it occurs in the first, second or third trimester. But some time while we’re in the womb, all Mets fans—actually all New Yorkers who are fans of NL Baseball—receive the gene that makes us hate the Yankees. However, maybe once every generation, a player dons the pinstripes who we hate…but who we also kinda love. My grandfather grew up in The Bronx but bled Dodger blue. He hated...
We’re all familiar with the many unique aspects that make Baseball the true National Pastime. The game can conceivably go on forever. It’s the only sport where the defense has the ball. The team trying to score is outnumbered 9 to 1. My personal favorite is that it’s a team sport based around a collection of one-on-one match-ups. In 2014, after 6 weeks of spring training, 162 games spread out...
1964 was a bustling time in our nation’s history. With America still reeling from the shock of our president being assassinated on the streets of Dallas, we were under invasion by a group of four long haired lads from Liverpool. New President Lyndon Johnson declared a ‘War on Poverty.’ Average annual income in America was $6000, a new house cost $13,000, a new car $3500. For $1.25 you could...
As we all know, the Mets were created fill the gap left after the departure of the Giants and the Dodgers from the city of New York following the 1957 season. In the four year period before the advent of the Amazin’s, Gotham’s National League fans were left to follow their teams as best they could from afar (remember, no cable TV at this time nor webcasts, and radio coverage was spotty at best...
Before the furor grows over the Ike Davis revelation that he played almost the entire season last year with an oblique injury, Met fans should slow down and consider what that fact means relative to Davis’s current standing on the team. I expect Davis will be roundly criticized for not disclosing the injury. In fact, it was not Davis’s intention to disclose his physical limitations at all. He...
