We’re getting down to the nitty gritty Mets fans. Epic Mets Moments is down to its final eight and only you, our loyal readers, can bring us to a Final Four.

Voting has still been lop-sided with only one of the Sweet 16 results on the close side. Robin Ventura‘s Grand Slam single edged out Endy Chavez‘s remarkable catch 54.7% to 45.3%. Otherwise, the victors all had nearly 70% of your vote or more.

To recap, the 1969 World Series championship team with 78.3% topped “Ya Gotta Believe”. Tommie Agee‘s remarkable game 3 of the ’69 World Series easily topped the Black Cat game 76.3% to 23.7%.

‘Ball gets by Buckner’ easily dispatched the Keith Hernandez trade with nearly 92% of the vote. By nearly the same margin, the 1986 World Championship topped the NLCS game 6 thriller.

Mike Piazza, with 83.1% of the tally, defeated his trade from the Miami Marlins. Johann Santana’s no-hitter easily dispatched Daniel Murphy‘s NLCS MVP and in perhaps a surprise vote, Jacob deGrom‘s two Cy Young Awards easily outpaces Pete Alonso‘s 53 home runs in 2019. De Grom received almost 69% of the vote in a contest that some thought would be a lot closer.

As you can see from the full bracket above, the next round promises to be tighter as there are some excellent match-ups. How can you distinguish between Buckner and the 1986 World Championship or Santana’s no-hitter versus deGrom’s prolonged excellence. But you will decide and the results will be listed here.

One more item: the team that put together Epic Mets Moments is acutely aware that a baseball season will start soon and that many have their mind focused on that. But if you can take a moment of your time, and vote, and then tell your friends to vote, it would be much appreciated.

We have the best Mets fans in the world on this site, and your opinions are invaluable to us. What is the Greatest (or better, most epic) moment in Mets history? Tell us. We have our opinions. This project was designed to discover yours.

The post Epic Mets Moments: Great 8 About to Begin appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Happy Holidays to all our wonderful readers and thank you for making MMO the Mets community it is today.

It’s pretty amazing to have such a passionate group of Mets fans all gathered in one place where there is a free exchange of opinions and ideas. We wouldn’t be here without you!

Also a big thank you to all our writers and editors, who work hard to provide this site with an endless stream of accurate reporting and original articles all aimed to keep the Mets conversation going throughout the entire year. It’s such a pleasure to have all of you on the MMO team!

I
wish
you all
the joy, hope
and happiness of
this Holiday Season!
On behalf of everyone at
MMO, we wish you a Happy
New
Year!

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The news of Jacob deGrom’s season-ending injury rocked the Mets. Can these injuries be avoided? Joe Janish, a former D1 player and pitching coach, joins Mike Silva to discuss just that. Joe believes that science and some good practices can help alleviate the rash of injuries. Amazingly the secret may be to copy the routine of 43-year old Bartolo Colon. You can check out Joe’s thoughts at his Mets Today column and Fixingpitchers.com.

I also discuss the Mets chances of going deep into the postseason with their “B-squad.” Don’t discount players like T.J. Rivera, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo using the postseason platform to steal long-term big league jobs. Never discount players with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. Besides, the Mets have no pressure since they have the injury excuse on which to fall-back.

Finally, I talk about the resignation of Wally Backman and how he would have been the perfect successor to Terry Collins both on-the-field and from a marketing perspective. Wally could be this generation’s version of Davey Johnson, who grew up with the team in the minors and led them to the promised land with a World Championship.

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The New York Mets today announced that mets.com will exclusively stream the pregame ceremony this Saturday night celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the 1986 World Championship Team beginning at 6:15 p.m.

The ceremony will commemorate the achievements of one of the most legendary and beloved teams in New York sports history. The Mets have invited all players from the 1986 Championship Team along with Manager Davey Johnson and staff to be a part of the pregame on-field ceremony.

The entire 1986 themed weekend includes:

1986 Themed Free Shirt Friday, May 27 – 7:10 p.m.

All Fans in attendance will receive a 1986 World Championship themed t-shirt presented by Dunkin’ Donuts

Super Saturday, May 28 – 6:15 p.m. 1986 Champions Pregame On Field Ceremony

6:15 p.m. for a special ceremony recognizing coaches and players from the 1986 World Championship Team presented by Verizon

Family Sunday, May 29 – 8:08 p.m. 1986 Championship Replica Ring Giveaway

The first 15,000 fans in attendance will receive a 1986 World Championship replica ring presented by H.L. Gross & Bro. Jewelers.

The post Mets To Stream ’86 World Series Pre-Game Ceremony On Saturday appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The New York Mets officially announced that the team will wear their 1986 throwback uniforms for every Sunday home game at Citi Field this season.

Original Report

In honor of the 30th anniversary of their last World Championship, the Mets will wear their 1986 uniforms multiple times throughout this season, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

The original design of those iconic 1986 uniforms were he brainchild of die-hard Met fan and acclaimed artist Joe Petruccio, who does a brilliant job of documenting each Mets season day by day in his artistic NY Mets Journal.

Original sketch submitted to Mets by Joe Petruccio

For the full story on how it all came about, I urge you to check out this fantastic interview Joe did for the fine folks at Uni Watch. Here’s a small sampling.

Joe Petruccio: It’s kind of weird. When I was in high school in the 1970s, I loved the Astros’ uniforms, and I basically noticed that all the teams were changing their uniforms except the Mets. So I called the Mets and said, “Who’s in charge of uniforms?” and they said it was this guy named Jim Nagourney. So I would do drawings of new uniform designs and send them to him. I did this for a couple of years.

UW: Did he ever respond?

JP: No. But I kept sending them in anyway, until I went to college. Then, after college, I was working for Della Famina, the ad agency that had the account for lots of Mets advertising. One day I was up at Shea Stadium, and they said, “Why don’t you take a shot at doing a new uniform for us? Nothing too drastic, but see what you can come up with.” So I did a few sketches and brought them back to Shea for them to see, and they bring in this guy to take a look at them — Jim Nagourney.

I knew the Mets were planning on having the team wear these bright and colorful 1986 uniforms for the three-day celebration of that amazing World Series team, but that we’ll be seeing the players wearing them throughout the regular season is beyond awesome. I can’t wait to see Syndergaard or deGrom dealing while wearing those orange and blue racing stripes. This offseason just keeps getting better and better.

Follow Joe Petruccio on Instagram and on Twitter at @RocknRollArtist.

The post Mets To Wear 1986 Uniforms For All Sunday Home Games appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

In an exclusive interview with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, manager Terry Collins explained what his message to the players will be when they begin arriving to Port St. Lucie for the start of Spring Training.

“I told the players that last day, ‘You knew what it took to get here, now what are we going to do better, so we can finish it off,’ ” he said. “And that is going to be the message in spring training: ‘Yes, we all worked very hard, but guess what? We have to work this much harder. Push the envelope a little farther. Because we have to get over the hump and we have the team to do it.’ ”

Collins understands some of the things the Mets need to get better at – namely fundamentals.

“You create your own expectations. How are we going to go about doing that? I’ll tell you exactly how: We’re not changing it up much, but we’ve got to run the bases this much better, we have to strike out this much less, play a little more defense in the World Series.

Last Spring it was all about playing winning baseball and getting to the postseason, however this year the expectations are infinitely higher – World Series or bust.

“That’s going to be the goal and will be the goal starting on Day One,’’ Collins said. “I tell everybody these pitchers are good and they are now a year older, a year wiser. Go a little farther. It’s exciting. I’m excited.”

Collins told Kernan he wants the Mets to be “relentless in their approach,” like the Royals. This is exactly the aggressive approach and demeanor I was hoping for from Collins, and my hope is that the tone and message resonates in camp with all the players.

There can be no complacency and the team needs to be in attack mode from the word go – no letting up, no easing up on the throttle, just full bore eye on the prize baseball from beginning to end.

The owners and front office have put all the pieces in place this offseason to get the job done, and coupled with a rotation that is built to dominate and endure, nothing less than a World Championship will suffice in 2016… And that’s exactly what I see this team accomplishing in what’s bound to be a memorable Mets season – one for the ages. LGM

The post It’s World Series Or Bust For The Amazins appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The New York Mets today announced a 30th anniversary celebration of the 1986 World Championship team Memorial Day Weekend May 27-29 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.

The Mets will commemorate the achievements of one of the most legendary and beloved teams in New York sports history with special promotional giveaways and in-ballpark entertainment. The Mets have invited all players from the 1986 championship team along with Manager Davey Johnson and staff to be a part of the pregame on-field ceremony on Saturday, May 28.

· 1986 Themed Free Shirt Friday, May 27 – 7:10 p.m.

All Fans in attendance will receive a 1986 World Championship themed t-shirt

· Super Saturday, May 28 – 6:30 p.m. 1986 Champions Pregame On Field Ceremony

6:30 p.m. for a special ceremony recognizing coaches and players from the 1986 World Championship Team

· Family Sunday, May 29 – 8:08 p.m. 1986 Championship Replica Ring Giveaway

The first 15,000 fans in attendance will receive a 1986 World Championship replica ring

“The 1986 Mets made an indelible mark on the baseball and New York sports scene, capturing the hearts of fans like few other teams,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. “This 30th anniversary celebration provides our fans a way to re-connect their excitement to the historic achievements of 1986.”

To relive all the amazin’ memories in addition to seeing the National League Champion Mets postseason rematch vs. the Dodgers, tickets are available now at Mets.com/1986 or (718) 507-TIXX.

The post Mets To Celebrate 30 Year Anniversary Of 1986 World Series Team appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

They say that every great run of success usually had its roots in a turning point. Looking at Mets history you can say we’ve had quite a few turning points – both good and bad.

Gil Hodges and Tom Seaver were certainly turning points for the Mets – when they went from lovable losers to a team to be reckoned with and one that shocked the world in 1969.

I always felt that the day we acquired Keith Hernandez was the turning point for what would be another Amazin’ run of success culminating in a remarkable 108 win season and our second World Championship.

On June 12, 2009, when second baseman Luis Castillo dropped that popup against the Yankees, it all began to go bad for the Mets. That was one of our “not-so-good” turning points, and one that has led to four straight losing seasons and possibly five.

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I am beginning to feel that we’ve recently experienced another significant turning point…

Mark the date June 18, 2013 in your Mets journals…

That was the day that Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler helped the Mets sweep the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on what we now refer to as Super Tuesday.

That was the night that the Mets future was on full display. We saw an overpowering Matt Harvey strike out a career high 13 batters in the first game, and then Zack Wheeler made his MLB debut by tossing six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in the nightcap.

That was also the day that something dramatically changed in the Mets clubhouse. There was a wonderful metamorphosis taking place…

Suddenly, the entire team started to elevate their overall level of play. Their defense was crisper… They were scoring runs again… They were playing loose and having fun… Most of all, they were winning.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but maybe not… Maybe something clicked internally that day as if someone had finally and mercifully flipped that switch.

This team has been fun to watch again. They are far from perfect and there’s still plenty of work to do, but I sense a definite shift in the force. I’m seeing hope and optimism back on the upswing…

That tiny glimpse of the future we all saw on that fateful Tuesday, has become a game-changer for this franchise.

I could be dead wrong on this, but I don’t think so. There’s something happening with the Mets right now… And for a change, this feels good.

The post June 18, 2013 Was A Turning Point For The New York Mets appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

About seven weeks ago, I wrote this post about the Mets considering some changes to their home jerseys for the 2010 season.  According to MetsBlog, this will indeed happen and it will come to a store near you just in time for the holiday season.

The jerseys will be reminiscent of the home uniforms worn by the Mets in the 1960s.  They will be cream-colored and will feature pinstripes.  The black shadow that has been present on the lettering of Mets jerseys since 1999 will not be featured on the new home jersey.  Although there will be no black present on these new jerseys, there is no word on whether the black jerseys will be eliminated as well.

The jerseys are due to go on sale on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving.  So on a day known as Black Friday, the Mets will be selling a new uniform with no black on it.  The irony department was working overtime with that one.

Who knows?  Maybe if the Mets can sell a few million of these new jerseys on Black Friday, they’ll have enough money to take with them to the Winter Meetings.  Then they might be able to afford some of the free agents that the fans have been clamoring for!

Seriously, it’s nice to see the Mets changing their jerseys to something fans might actually like.  The black jerseys were cool at first, but it just didn’t represent the Mets.  Management is doing well to bring back these jerseys, but now they have to remember that no alterations to the jerseys will matter if the product on the field stinks.  When they introduce the new jerseys with the obligatory press conference, they’d better remember that the fans want to see more press conferences this winter, perhaps featuring the players who are going to take the Mets back to where those 1969 Mets went to in their cream-colored jerseys.  Let’s hope the new jerseys bring about new hope at Citi Field.

The post New Jerseys For New York appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

This sent me off on a random thought of which Mets players/announcers, both past and present, would play some of the show’s characters. I figured why not parlay this into an article for the entertainment purposes for fans of both the Mets and Scrubs. So without further adieu here is my Mets edition of Scrubs:

J.D.

John Dorian or J.D. for short is an easy going young doctor, who works his way up through the ranks of Sacred Heart to become a resident. J.D. seems to have everything going for him, including good looks. Over the years J.D. becomes one of the top doctors in the hospital. Likewise, David Wright came to the Mets as a young third baseman, who was just trying to crack his way into the big league lineup. Over time however, Wright also became every successful and quickly became one of the faces of the Mets franchise. Like J.D., Wright, too, has the looks that make him a favorite with the ladies.

Dr. Kelso

Dr. Kelso is one of the old timers in Sacred Heart Hospital. Once the chief of medicine, Kelso finds himself opening a new chapter of his life, semi-retirement. The same can be said for Keith Hernandez with the Mets. Once a member of the 1986 World Championship team, Hernandez, know finds himself calling games in the broadcast booth. Both men have a sense of wit that many find very amusing. Despite, their lose personalities both are very good at what they do and are well respected in their field.

Jordan Cox

Who better to play the role of Jordan than former Met, Kris Benson’s wife, Anna? During Kris’s tenure with the Mets, Anna developed a reputation as being rather opinionated and did not back down despite criticism from both the news media or the Mets. Similarly on Scrubs, Jordan is very opinionated and backs down from no one. Both have a knack for getting themselves into trouble, but neither seems to care all that much.

Keith Dudemeister

Naturally, when it comes to playing a young up-and-coming intern, field reporter, Kevin Burkhardt, would be an ideal choice. Both Kevin and Keith are on their way to fulfilling their dreams. Keith is closing in on becoming a doctor, while Kevin is trying to become a sports broadcaster. Furthermore, both come off as being extremely nice. So nice, in fact, that you look for ways to try dislike them, but are unsuccessful.

These were some of the comparisons I could draw off the top of my head. Feel free to share your own in the comments section.

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