The Magic 8-Ball Predicts The 2012 Mets Season

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  No, it's not the day the Victoria's Secret catalog arrives at your doorstep.  (Speaking of which, I haven't gotten mine yet...the mail here is slower than Steve Trachsel with a man on first.)  No, my friends.  It's the most wonderful time of the year because Mets baseball is back!

Of course, after three consecutive losing seasons and the rapid improvement of the Nationals and Marlins, Mets fans might not be looking forward to this season as much as they would have had the team been, you know, good.

But the start of the baseball season is never the time to despair, no matter how the team looks on paper.  Everyone is tied for first.  No one is in a slump.  And Jason Bay hasn't struck out yet.  Things are good in Flushing!

This year, as the Mets celebrate their 50th anniversary season, everything old is new again.  From the return of Banner Day to the departure of the black drop shadow on the team's jerseys, the Mets are taking pride in their past.  At Studious Metsimus, we like to take pride in our past as well, so we've decided to bring back your friend and mine, the Magic 8-Ball, to make its predictions for the 2012 season.  As always, I'll ask it a question and it will provide me with an answer, or prediction if you will.  Let us begin!


It's good to see you again, Magic 8-Ball.  Now when we've done this in the past, your predictions haven't exactly been as accurate we expected them to be.  Are you confident that your predictions for the Mets will be correct this time?

I see.  Actually, I have no idea what that means.  Anyway, let's move on.  How many starts do you see Johan Santana making this year?

Really?  That's very optimistic of you, considering Santana hasn't thrown a pitch in a regular season game in 19 months.

I thought you were supposed to be confident about your answers.  You can't flip-flop just because I questioned your decision.  No one will be able to confide in your predictions.

Never mind.  Let's move on.  Let's talk about Santana's rotation mate, Mike Pelfrey.

Do you have a problem with Mike Pelfrey?  He's due to have a big year, as he always does well in even-numbered years.

Good.  That's a better attitude to have.  I don't want to hear you badmouthing Pelfrey.  We're Mets fans here and we're supposed to think positively about our favorite team.  I also expect him to do well this year.

So much for the positive attitude.  Okay, let's move away from the pitchers and talk about the hitters.  Which hitter do you think will be a pleasant surprise in the Mets' lineup?

Really?  But you've never liked Bay.  Are you talking landmark as in a return to the 30 HR, 100 RBI season the Mets expected from him when they signed him?

Then what are you referring to?  What will Bay do that will make this a "landmark season", as you referred to it?

Forget I asked anything about Bay.  Since I get the feeling what answer I'm going to get if I ask a question about David Wright, I'll move on to the two big lefties in the batting order.  What do you think the Mets will get out of Ike Davis and Lucas Duda?

You're just a barrel of laughs, aren't you?

Fine.  Let's talk about the Mets' manager, Terry Collins.  Last year, he took a team of unproven kids and underachieving veterans and had them around .500 for most of the season.  In fact, right before the two-thirds mark of the season, the Mets were 55-51 and were still hanging on to slim hopes for the wild card.  What do you think he needs to do to improve upon last season's record?

Are you saying that because you think Wright will injure Davis again, thus preventing the Mets' first baseman from having his expected breakout season?

It's not contagious, you know.

Okay, enough with the jokes and putdowns!  Let me just ask you one final question and then we can go our separate ways.  It's the usual question I save for last, so you should already be formulating an answer for me before I ask it.  What do you think will...

Wow.  How did you know it was a two-part question, that I was going to ask you what the Mets' final record would be and where they'd place in the division?

Sigh.  On that note, we'd like to wish all of you a very merry baseball season.  Try to keep your hopes up for the 2012 season, no matter what you hear from soon-to-be out-of-work Magic 8-Balls.  (Hmm, I wonder if I kept the receipt for this one...)

Enjoy the season, and as always... LET'S GO METS!!


The Magic 8-Ball has made predictions before.  To see what it said before each of the previous two seasons, please click on the links below:
2011 Magic 8-Ball Predictions 
2010 Magic 8-Ball Predictions

With Santana Back, Should The Mets Go To A Six-Man Rotation?

After much speculation over the past few weeks, the Mets have announced that Johan Santana will indeed be the team's Opening Day starter.  He will followed in the rotation by R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee.

Because the Mets have three off-days during the first 15 days of the season, Santana will be starting every sixth day for most of the month of April.  Barring any rainouts, Santana will not have to start on the more traditional fifth day until April 28 in Colorado.  But once the calendar hits May, the Mets will go through their longest stretch of the year without any scheduled off-days, playing 20 games in 20 days from May 11 to May 30.  Santana would have to make four consecutive starts on only four days rest during that time frame.

Will Santana be ready for the extra work once May comes around?  For that matter, what about the rest of the starting rotation?  The Mets might not have to answer these questions if they consider what I'm about to say. Perhaps the time has come for the Mets to go to a six-man rotation.

Earlier this week, Chris Young was signed by the Mets to a minor league deal to give the team some much-needed depth in the starting rotation.  Although Young is still recovering from the shoulder injury that put the kibosh on his 2011 season, he is hopeful that he can be ready by June.  If not, his contract contains language that would allow for his release should he not be on the Mets' major league roster by June 1 and July 1.

So let's say Young is ready to make his season debut in June.  The Mets are not going to put him out there every fifth day and expect a complete game from him every time, but they are going to make him a starter.  This is where the six-man rotation comes into play.

With a six-man rotation, Chris Young would get extra rest, occasionally going up to a full week between starts if there is a scheduled off-day in the mix.  Last year, Young threw 103 pitches in his Mets' debut on April 5.  He then came back on four days rest and threw 108 pitches in his next start.  He was on the disabled list soon after.  Once he returned from the DL, Young threw 88 pitches in only 4⅔ innings on April 26.  In his next start, also on four days rest, he threw 97 pitches.  That 97^th pitch was the last pitch he'd throw for the Mets in 2011.

If you blinked, you missed it.  This was Chris Young's only start as a Met at Citi Field in 2011.

Clearly, Young will need more time between his starts if he wants to finish the season on the major league roster.  But he won't be the only pitcher who could benefit from pitching in a six-man rotation.

Johan Santana is the obvious first person you'd think of who would be better served by pitching every sixth day.  Since he would be going every fifth day during the aforementioned 20-games-in-20-days stretch, it would behoove the Mets not to wear him out before the All-Star Break if they want to be sure he's still healthy by the break.  Pitching as part of a six-man rotation would give Santana a better chance of staying strong throughout the season.

Also, Jonathon Niese has never pitched more than 200 innings in a season.  Since becoming a regular member of the starting rotation in 2010, Niese has started each season strongly only to fall apart at the end.  In 2010, Niese was 8-5 with a 3.33 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in his first 23 starts, which included his near-perfect game on June 10.  Over his final seven starts, however, Niese was awful, going 1-5 with a 7.57 ERA and 1.96 WHIP.  Opposing batters hit .345 against him and reached base at a .419 clip over his last seven starts, as opposed to a respectable .262/.324 split over his first 23 appearances.

It was more of the same for Niese in 2011.  Over his first 20 appearances (which included one relief effort), Niese went 9-7 with a 3.73 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.  After July 16, Niese made seven starts, going 2-4 with a 6.46 ERA and 1.64 WHIP before spending the final month of the season on the disabled list.

In a six-man rotation, Niese wouldn't hit the proverbial wall so early in the season and could actually finish the season strongly, which would boost his confidence and stamina for future seasons.  The same could be said for another young starter in the rotation, Dillon Gee.

Dillon Gee led the team with 13 wins, but things got a little hairy for him at the end of the season.

Gee started his rookie season on a high note, going 7-0 with an impressive 2.86 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in his first 13 appearances (10 starts).  But Gee was a shadow of his first-half self after that breakthrough start, going 6-6 with a 5.51 ERA and 1.58 WHIP over his final 17 starts.  If Gee were to get an extra day of rest between starts, which a six-man rotation would allow him to do, his first-half success could stretch well into the second half.

Mike Pelfrey has never had any type of injury history.  In fact, he is one of only two starters to make 30 or more starts for the Mets in four consecutive seasons during the 21st century (Tom Glavine did it five straight years from 2003 to 2007).  That being said, with Pelfrey's consistency for being inconsistent, perhaps the Mets would like to see him on the mound fewer than 30 times in 2012.  A six-man rotation would solve that problem.

That brings us to R.A. Dickey.  The force has been strong with the knuckleballer ever since he joined the Mets in 2010.  Although Dickey owns a losing record (19-22) in two seasons with the Mets, he has been the team's most consistent starter during that period.  His 3.08 ERA and 1.21 WHIP are more indicative of what he can do on the mound than his won-loss record.  But being a knuckleball pitcher also gives Dickey an extra edge.  He doesn't need as much rest between starts since his signature pitch isn't very taxing on his arm.  That might also work to his advantage in a six-man rotation.  How so?  Dickey can pitch in relief between starts.

It's not unusual to see knuckleball pitchers come out of the bullpen when they're not starting.  Dickey has had a relief appearance in each of his two seasons in New York.  The recently-retired Tim Wakefield made it a habit in Boston.  In 17 years with the Red Sox, Wakefield made 430 starts and 160 relief appearances.  Wakefield won 87 games after his 37th birthday.  Hall of Famer Phil Niekro won 173 games after he blew out his 37 candles.  Why is that age important?  Because that's how old R.A. Dickey is now.

 R.A. Dickey could stand tall for the Mets as a starter and as an occasional reliever.

Knuckleball artists can pitch often and be successful at an advanced age.  R.A. Dickey can start every sixth game and can be used as needed between starts to help the injury-prone starters (Santana and Young) stay healthy, as well as helping the young starters (Niese and Gee) stay fresh so they can be productive for the entire season.  Using Dickey out of the bullpen on occasion would also solve the problem of how many pitchers the Mets should carry.  With six starters, that would only leave five spots in the bullpen should the Mets decide to go with 11 pitchers and a six-man bench.  But with Dickey doing double duty (say that five times fast) as a starter and reliever, the Mets could still carry six relievers or they could opt for an extra bench player if they felt the need to do so.

Most teams frown upon going to a six-man rotation.  But then again, there was a time when teams didn't want to use a five-man rotation, choosing to go with four starters at a time.  Times and injuries have changed over the years and perhaps the six-man rotation is the way of the future.  But for the Mets, the future might be the present.

If Johan Santana wants to stay healthy for a full season, if Chris Young wants to pitch in the major leagues again, if Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee want to be productive for an entire year and if Mike Pelfrey doesn't want to get his @$$ handed to him, perhaps Terry Collins should consider going to a six-man rotation in 2012.  It's been too long since the team has been consistent for an entire year.  Perhaps this would help move the team achieve a modicum of consistency that they've sorely lacked since they moved to Citi Field.

For The Mets, The Big Three-Oh Is The Big Oh-No!

When David Wright takes the field on Opening Day, he will begin his ninth season as a Met.  At age 29, Wright is the veteran of the team, having been with the Mets since July 2004.  The Mets' third baseman is also entering the final year of his six-year, $55 million contract, meaning that there is no guarantee that Wright will still be a Met at age 30.

That got me wondering.  Do you know which player was the last homegrown Met to still be playing for the team on his 30th birthday?  I do, but I'm not going to share the answer just yet.  I have to look at some other teams first.

Over the past decade, every team in baseball has had at least one player who was originally drafted and/or signed by that team, came up through their minor league system and was on that team's payroll until after he turned the big three-oh.  Let's run down the teams alphabetically, along with that team's last homegrown player who blew out thirty candles without ever knowing another professional franchise.

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Brandon Webb - drafted in 2000, was with the team until 2010 (age 31).
• Atlanta Braves: Chipper Jones - drafted in 1990, is still with the team (age 39).
• Baltimore Orioles: Brian Roberts - drafted in 1999, is still with the team (age 34).
• Boston Red Sox: Jonathan Papelbon - drafted in 2003, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• Chicago Cubs: Carlos Zambrano - signed in 1997, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• Chicago White Sox: Mark Buehrle - drafted in 1998, was with the team until 2011 (age 32).
• Cincinnati Reds: Ryan Hanigan - signed in 2002, is still with the team (age 31).
• Cleveland Indians: Victor Martinez - signed in 1996, was with the team until 2009 (age 30).
• Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton - drafted in 1995, is still with the team (age 38).
• Detroit Tigers: Brandon Inge - drafted in 1998, is still with the team (age 34).
• Florida Marlins: Luis Castillo - signed in 1992, was with the team until 2005 (age 30).
• Houston Astros: Lance Berkman - drafted in 1997, was with the team until 2010 (age 34).
• Kansas City Royals: David DeJesus - drafted in 2000, was with the team until 2010 (age 30).
• Los Angeles Angels: Reggie Willits - drafted in 2003, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Hong-Chih Kuo - signed in 1999, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• Milwaukee Brewers: Ben Sheets - drafted in 1999, was with the team until 2008 (age 30).
• Minnesota Twins: Justin Morneau - drafted in 1999, is still with the team (age 30).
• New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera - signed in 1990, is still with the team (age 42).
• Oakland Athletics: Eric Chavez - drafted in 1996, was with the team until 2010 (age 32).
• Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins - drafted in 1996, is still with the team (age 33).
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Ryan Doumit - drafted in 1999, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• San Diego Padres: Tony Gwynn - drafted in 1981, was with the team until 2001 (age 41).
• San Francisco Giants: Pedro Feliz - signed in 1994, was with the team until 2007 (age 32).
• Seattle Mariners: Willie Bloomquist - drafted in 1999, was with the team until 2008 (age 30).
• St. Louis Cardinals: Skip Schumaker - drafted in 2001, is still with the team (age 32).
• Tampa Bay Rays: James Shields - drafted in 2000, is still with the team (age 30).
• Texas Rangers: C.J. Wilson - drafted in 2001, was with the team until 2011 (age 30).
• Toronto Blue Jays: Casey Janssen - drafted in 2004, is still with the team (age 30).
• Washington Nationals: Brian Schneider - drafted in 1995, was with the team until 2007 (age 30).

As you can see, every team in the majors has had a homegrown player stay with the team until his 30th birthday (and in some cases, well after his 30th birthday) in the 21st century.  In addition, there are three players about to turn 30 who are still employed by the team that originally drafted them.

Corey Hart (drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2000) will turn 30 on March 24.  Brian Wilson (drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2003) will beat Hart to the punch by eight days, as the Giants' closer turns 30 on March 16.  If Tim Stauffer (drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2003) is still a Friar on June 2, he will replace Tony Gwynn as the most recent homegrown Padres player to still be with the team at age 30.

Should Stauffer replace Gwynn on this list in June, that would leave the Florida/Miami Marlins as the only team to not have a homegrown player make it to age 30 in the past five years.  Actually, that's not entirely accurate.  There's one team that hasn't had a homegrown 30-year-old since before Luis Castillo was the last Marlin to accomplish the feat.  Of course, I'm talking about the New York Mets.

In 1993, Vance Wilson was drafted by the Mets in the 44th round of the amateur draft.  He made his major league debut six years later and remained with the team until 2004, playing his final game for the Mets at the age of 31.  As unlikely as it would seem, Vance Wilson was the last homegrown Met to still be with the team on his 30th birthday.

Vance Wilson (shown here as a 31-year-old in 2004) not only tagged opposing baserunners, but he also tagged the title of last homegrown Met to stay with the team into his thirties.

If David Wright is still a Met in 2013, he will be the first Met in almost a decade to be drafted by the team and remain with the club until he turned 30.  In recent years, the Mets have had a number of veteran players on the team.  Unfortunately, those veterans have been the products of other organizations.  The Mets haven't produced many successful major leaguers over the past ten seasons, and when they have, they've either traded them away or allowed them to leave via free agency.

On June 2, San Diego's Tim Stauffer will turn 30 years old.  By then, he could be the third new member of the homegrown age 30 club, joining Milwaukee's Corey Hart and San Francisco's Brian Wilson.  If David Wright doesn't join this club in December when he turns 30, it could be a long time before the Mets produce another homegrown player to stay with the team until his 30th birthday.  (Mike Pelfrey won't turn 30 until 2014.  He'll probably be mentioned in 30 trade rumors before then.)

Jose Reyes played his final game for the Mets before the age of 30.  So did Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.  Some people look forward to turning 30.  For players originally drafted by the Mets, it's something they can look forward to doing in another team's uniform.

Joey's Soapbox: Las Vegas Gives The Mets No Respect

Last night, I wrote a special Valentine's Day piece on why I love the Mets.  Apparently, Las Vegas oddsmakers don't feel the same love.  Allow me to explain.

This morning, as I was reading the morning paper in bed (see photo below), I was pawing my way through the sports section when I happened upon America's Line, the section where the point spreads and odds are listed.

In addition to the lines for tonight's games, the 2012 World Series odds were also listed for each team.  Now I'm a realist, so just as I don't expect Jason Bay to become the second consecutive Mets' batting champion or Mike Pelfrey to toss the team's first no-hitter, I also didn't expect the Mets to be near the top of the World Series odds list.

I saw the safe bets on top (Phillies, Yankees, Angels, Rangers) and was surprised to see that six of the top seven teams called the American League home, despite the fact that the NL has won four of the last six Fall Classics.  But the one thing I didn't see was the Mets.

I finally did find them, but not until I saw the names of the 23 teams ahead of them.

That's right.  That bold-faced name you see near the bottom of the list is our beloved team.  Now the thing that upsets me is not that at 80-1 odds, the Mets rank 24th out of 30 teams.  It's far more than that.

First, the only National League teams with longer odds than the Mets to win the World Series are the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and Houston Astros.  The Pirates hold the all-time record in sports for most consecutive losing seasons, with 19.  The Padres have finished higher than third place in the NL West only seven times in their 43 years of existence.  And the Astros are coming off their worst season (56-106) in franchise history.

Second, the other teams in the NL East not only have more favorable odds to win the World Series, they're far more favorable.  The Phillies (4-1 odds) are no surprise here.  The Braves (20-1 odds) came within one choke job of repeating as wild card winners in 2011.  The Marlins (also 20-1) apparently still had money left over after fattening the wallets of Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle, giving some of it to the Las Vegas oddsmakers to "earn" their high ranking.  And the Washington Nationals, a team that is still seeking its first winning season since saying au revoir to Montreal, is at 25-1.  Somewhere in the next time zone, you'll find the Mets at 80-1.  No respect.

But if you think the Washington Nationals ranking so much higher than the Mets is the ultimate lack of respect, you've got another "think" coming.

The Kansas City Royals, whose sole finish above third place over the past 22 seasons came in 1995, when they finished four games UNDER .500, rank higher the Mets.  But the one team that caught my eye is ranked even higher than the Royals.  That team is the Chicago Cubs.  The same Chicago Cubs team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908, the year Jamie Moyer was just getting the courage to ask his sweetheart to the prom.  At 35-1 odds, the oddsmakers believe the Cubs are more than twice as likely to win the World Series than the Mets.

The Mets haven't won the World Series since 1986, the same year a film called Back To School was released.  Perhaps you might remember it.  It starred an actor/comedian who knew a thing or two about not getting any respect.

 I respect a man who proudly wears the Mets' racing pinstripes.

Rodney Dangerfield made a living on not getting respect.  Now it looks as if the Mets are following in his footsteps.  In Back To School, Dangerfield's character comforted his son, who had just told him about his C average, by saying "A, B, C, you're in the top three, what's the difference?"

For the Mets, there is a difference.  They can forget about the top three.  They're not even in the top TWENTY-three, as far as World Series odds are concerned.

As everyone knows, the games are played on the field, not on paper.  It's too bad my paper felt the need to play a game with me.  I'm telling you, the Mets just get no respect.  Even Rodney Dangerfield would feel sorry for us.

Joey's Soapbox (of Chocolates): My Mets Valentine

Greetings, everyone!  This is Joey Beartran.  How has everyone been celebrating their Valentine's Day?  As you can see, I got a heart-shaped box of Mets chocolates today, which got me thinking.  What is it that I love the most about the Mets?  And why is it so great to be a Mets fan?

I hope you're ready, because I'm about to get on my soapbox.  But today will be a little different, as today will be a loving rant on my fav'rit team.

It's not easy being a Mets fan.  Whereas fans of other teams get to root for players like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton or Justin Verlander, we got to cheer to our heart's content whenever Jason Bay doesn't strike out or Mike Pelfrey holds an opposing batter to a single.  Anyone can root for a superstar when he does what he's supposed to do.  But as Mets fans, we have different things to root for.  And we take pride in doing so.  Except for maybe Cubs fans, who are used to rooting for anything positive, like Alfonso Soriano not tripping over his shoelaces when chasing after a fly ball, we come up with new and exciting things to be happy for.  Try topping that, Derek Jeter fans!

Speaking of Derek Jeter, the team for which he plays for considers it a failure if they don't win the World Series every year.  From 1996-2000, they won four championships, but because they didn't win in 1997, there was a flaw in their dynasty.  A .300 hitter can fail seven out of ten times, but try being a Yankee.  One championship over the past 11 seasons (which is one fewer than the Red Sox and Cardinals have won over the same time period) is considered a major disappointment.  That's something I love about being a Mets fan.  We rarely ever have such lofty expectations.  It's easy to be a frontrunner.  It takes a real fan to root for a team like the Mets.  And when the Mets do capture our hearts with a memorable season, it makes it all the more special.

The Mets have character.  They also have characters.  Over the past 50 seasons, we've seen Choo Choo, Marvelous Marv, the Glider, the Stork, Tugger, Mookie, Doc, the Straw Man, Turk, Jason Phillips' goggles and Don Aase.  Why Don Aase?  Because I like to say Aase.  Can another team claim so many characters?  Methinks not.  Being a Mets fan is always fun, even when the team on the field is not.

Finally, every once in a while, we get to see something truly special.  As Mets fans, we've seen the Miracle of 1969, Ya Gotta Believe, Lee Mazzilli's pants, Hendu Can Do, the Hotfoot, Jesse Orosco's flying glove and the Grand Slam Single.  "Every once in a while" still doesn't include a league MVP or a no-hitter, but hey, if Anthony Young could win a game, then anything is possible.

Today is Valentine's Day.  It's a day people show their love for each other with cards, gifts, etc.  The greatest loves in my life wear orange and blue.  And nothing will ever cause my love for them to waver.  They may break my heart sometimes, they may collapse every once in a while (or twice in a  while, or three times if you count 1998), and they may give Oliver Perez $36 million to suck more than Dracula at a blood bank, but they're my team.  And nothing will ever make that change.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some chocolates that I have to take care of.  Don't forget to tell that special person or team you love exactly how you feel about them.  Even if that person is Mel Rojas.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  And as always, let's go Mets!!!

Where Have All The Shea Stadium Players Gone?

Since late July, the Mets have parted ways with several players.  First, it was Carlos Beltran leaving his heart in New York to go to San Francisco.  Then Jose Reyes decided to take the money and run the basepaths in Miami.  Soon after, Angel Pagan flapped his wings to the Bay Area.  Even Nick Evans took the job security by signing in Pittsburgh.

What do all these players have in common, including the too-good-for-Triple-A, too-blah-for-the-major-leagues Nick Evans?  All four of them played for the Mets at Shea Stadium.

With the departure of Beltran, Reyes, Pagan and Evans, the Mets are now left with only six players who played home games at Shea Stadium.  The current longest tenured Met, David Wright, played his first five seasons at Shea.  Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey came aboard for cups of coffee in 2006 and 2007, followed by his first full season during Shea's last year.

The short list of Shea players also includes Johan Santana, Daniel Murphy, Jonathon Niese and Bobby Parnell.  All four made it just in time for Shea's farewell season, but only Santana was on the team for the entire season.  Murphy played his first game at Shea in August 2008, while Niese waited until mid-September and Parnell almost didn't make it in time, not appearing in a game at Shea until the ballpark's final homestand.

There was once another New York team whose stadium was razed.  You might have heard about them.  They played their home games at 55 Sullivan Place.  Still doesn't ring a bell?  Well, I'm sure the patriarch of the Wilpon family will be more than happy to tell you about them in great detail.

Forget "Where's Waldo?".  Let's play "Where's Wilpon?".  You know he's somewhere in this photo.

In 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers left Kings County to move to Los Angeles.  As late as 1966, there were still five players who played home games at Ebbets Field toiling for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Those players (Jim Gilliam, John Roseboro, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and some guy named Koufax) all remained with the team long after they switched coasts, with Roseboro remaining a Dodger until 1967 and Drysdale playing his final game in Los Angeles in 1969.

In addition, one former Brooklyn Dodger was still playing in the major leagues into the 1970s, finishing his career as a New York Met.  Bob Aspromonte played one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, then returned to the Dodgers for parts of two seasons in 1960 and 1961.  In 1971, he became the last former Brooklyn Dodger to play in the major leagues, playing 104 games at third base for the Mets.

Although Bob Aspromonte might be the answer to the trivia question, "who was the final Brooklyn Dodger to play in the major leagues?", to Mets fans, he's known as one of the reasons the team felt the need to trade away Nolan Ryan.

Aspromonte's poor season at the plate in 1971 (.225, 5 HR, 33 RBI), along with the lack of development by third-year player Wayne Garrett, led the Mets to search elsewhere for a third baseman who could hit for average and power.  Their search ended with shortstop (not third baseman) Jim Fregosi, at the cost of Nolan Ryan.  Fregosi's time as a productive hitter pretty much ended there as well, as did the career of the last Brooklyn Dodger.

Johan Santana was the last Mets pitcher to record a win at Shea Stadium.  Now he's left to wonder if he'll also be the final current Met to have played his home games there.

With his recent injury history, Johan Santana is doubtful to be a Met after his current contract expires in 2013 (although there is a club option for 2014).  Similarly, David Wright is only under team control until next year.  If Mike Pelfrey doesn't return to form, he might be writing his ticket out of New York as well.

Do you see where this is going?  There is a real possibility that within six or seven years of Shea Stadium's final game, there might be no one left on the Mets who could say they were there when we all Shea'd Goodbye.

Nearly a decade after Ebbets Field closed for good, several former Brooklyn players still had "Dodgers" emblazoned on their chests.  Less than half a decade after Shea shut down, the number of players who could call it home is dwindling to a precious few.

Where have all the Shea Stadium players gone?  If things don't change, there will be none left very soon.

A Homegrown Pitcher Who Hasn't Really Grown

Mike Pelfrey turns 28 today.  He's about to enter his prime for a pitcher in the major leagues.  But does that mean he's about to blossom the way we thought he was doing during the first few months of the 2010 season?

Since making his debut for the Mets in 2006, Pelfrey has won 50 games in six seasons.  Those 50 victories put him in 15th place on the Mets' all-time leaderboard, just one win behind former Met Bobby Ojeda.  Going by that, it would appear that Big Pelf is one of the best pitchers the Mets have ever had and certainly one of the best who came up through the team's minor league system.

But one look at the career numbers of these all-time Mets greats shows that Pelfrey might be in the same classroom as they are, but he's not learning the same lessons.

Of the 15 pitchers to win 50 or more games for the Mets, Pelfrey is the seventh player originally drafted by the Mets, joining the likes of Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Bobby Jones and Craig Swan.  Two other members of the 50-win club were originally drafted by other teams, but won their first 50 games in the majors as members of the New York Mets.

Ron Darling was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1981 but made his major league debut in 1983 for the Mets.  Long-time teammate Sid Fernandez actually pitched in two games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1983, but finished with an 0-1 record in Dodger blue.  He was credited with his first victory in the major leagues as a member of the Mets in 1984.

Let's take a look at the nine players who won their first 50 games in the big leagues as members of the New York Mets to see if we notice something interesting about the most recent 50-game winner.  We'll consider the player's age and number of appearances (including starts) it took for that player to reach the 50-win plateau.

• Tom Seaver: 24 yrs, 9 mos, 9 days.  Won 50th game in 100th appearance (99 starts)
• Dwight Gooden: 21 yrs, 7 mos, 13 days.  Won 50th game in 82nd appearance (82 starts)
• Jerry Koosman: 28 yrs, 4 mos, 16 days.  Won 50th game in 112th appearance (105 starts)
• Ron Darling: 26 yrs, 11 mos, 9 days.  Won 50th game in 131st appearance (130 starts)
• Sid Fernandez: 25 yrs, 10 mos, 2 days.  Won 50th game in 124th appearance (122 starts)
• Jon Matlack: 25 yrs, 4 mos, 24 days.  Won 50th game in 122nd appearance (119 starts)
• Bobby Jones: 27 yrs, 6 mos, 28 days.  Won 50th game in 121st appearance (121 starts)
• Craig Swan: 31 yrs, 6 mos, 13 days.  Won 50th game in 174th appearance (149 starts)
• Mike Pelfrey: 27 yrs, 7 mos, 10 days.  Won 50th game in 144th appearance (140 starts)

Only Jerry Koosman and Craig Swan were older than Pelfrey at the time of their 50th victories.  And only Swan had made more starts and total appearances than Pelfrey when he recorded his 50th win.  However, Koosman did not become a regular in the Mets' rotation until he was 25 and Swan pitched the majority of his career with some of the worst Mets teams since the days of their infancy.

By the time he was 25, Pelfrey had already made 49 starts in the major leagues.  Also, as bad as the Mets have been over the past three seasons, they still managed to win at least 70 games every year.  Meanwhile, in his 12 years in Flushing, Craig Swan pitched for eight different Mets teams that finished at least 20 games below .500.  That includes the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Mets finished with a 41-62 record.

Mike Pelfrey was expected to become a mainstay in the Mets' rotation when the team promoted him to the major leagues in 2006.  That part has become true, as Pelfrey has become one of the 15 winningest pitchers in franchise history.  But if not for Craig Swan, Pelfrey would have taken longer than any Met to reach that win total, and even so, it only took Swan nine more starts on some pretty bad teams to win No. 50.

The Mets have produced many homegrown pitchers who have had tremendous success in the major leagues.  Unfortunately, Mike Pelfrey has yet to become one of them.  It'll take a lot more growth for this homegrown pitcher to move to join Seaver, Gooden and Koosman at the head of the Mets' pitching class.

Where Are The 2006 Mets Now?

Don't let the title mislead you.  This post is not meant to inform you on what members of the Mets' last playoff team are up to.  On the contrary, it's meant to show you why that team might not have been as good as we thought they were at the time.

A total of 49 players suited up for the Mets in 2006.  As of this writing, only four of those players played for the Mets in 2011.  Those players were Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Mike Pelfrey.  However, Carlos Beltran was traded to the San Francisco Giants in July and Jose Reyes might have played his last game as a Met, leaving Wright and Pelfrey as the only two members of the '06 NL East champions who stand to be Mets in 2012.

Let's put it this way.  If Wright and Pelfrey are the only players left come Opening Day 2012, that'd mean the 2006 Mets would have the same number of players on the 2012 team as they have on the DL.  That doesn't stand for disabled list.  That stands for deceased list, as Jose Lima (four starts in '06) and Geremi Gonzalez (three starts in '06) are no longer with us.

The potential for having only two players left out of 49 a mere five years after that team steamrolled their way through the 2006 regular season is unusual in baseball, even in this day and age when free agents leave their teams frequently.  The 1996 Yankees, a team that won a World Series ten years before the Mets failed to get to one, had more players left on their 2011 roster (Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera) than the Mets might have next April on Opening Day from their 2006 team.

But contrary to what it appears to be, this post is not about the few players left on the team from the 2006 roster.  It's not just that most of the players from 2006 are no longer members of the Mets.  It's that these players are no longer in major league baseball, period.

Of the 49 players who played for the 2006 squad, only 14 played in the major leagues in 2011.  Of those 14 players, two of them finished the season in the minor leagues (Aaron F. Heilman, Lastings Milledge) and another (Chris Woodward) collected only ten at-bats in the majors after spending the majority of the season playing at the Triple-A level.

It would take longer for you to read the list of 35 players from the 2006 Mets who did not make an appearance at the major league level in 2011 than it did for Steve Trachsel to deliver a pitch to home plate when there were runners on base, but we're going to do it anyway.  Here they are, in alphabetical order, with their current whereabouts and/or statuses.

• Brian Bannister (retired)
• Chad Bradford (retired)
• Carlos Delgado (retired)
• Victor Diaz (out of majors since 2007; played in Mexico in 2011)
• Mike Difelice (out of majors since 2008; managed Kingsport Mets in 2009 and 2010)
• Pedro Feliciano (signed two-year deal w/Yankees in 2011; might never pitch for them due to injuries)
• Cliff Floyd (out of majors since 2009; broadcaster for FOX Sports Florida)
• Bartolome Fortunato (out of majors since 2006; played in Canada in 2011)
• Julio Franco (waiting for Omar Minaya's call from San Diego)
• Tom Glavine (retired in non-devastating fashion)
• Geremi Gonzalez (R.I.P.)
• Shawn Green (retired; on book signing tours for his new book)
• Anderson Hernandez (played w/Astros' AAA team in 2011)
• Orlando Hernandez (played w/Nationals' AA team in 2010, left the team to walk the Earth)
• Roberto Hernandez (retired)
• Jorge Julio (out of majors since 2009; bouncing around in Pittsburgh's minor league organization)
• Ricky Ledee (retired)
• Jose Lima (R.I.P.)
• Paul Lo Duca (out of majors since 2008; serves as a horse racing analyst)
• John Maine (left Rockies' AAA team in 2011; might be walking the Earth with Orlando Hernandez)
• Eli Marrero (out of majors since 2006; serves as batting coach for Reds' rookie affiliate)
• Pedro Martinez (retired 10 minutes ago)
• Kaz Matsui (out of majors since 2010; played in Nippon Professional Baseball league in 2011)
• Henry Owens (out of majors since 2007; suspended for HGH in 2009 and hasn't played since)
• Oliver Perez (played w/Nationals' AA team in 2011; not good enough to make AAA team)
• Royce Ring (played w/Mariners and Red Sox AAA teams in 2011)
• Duaner Sanchez (out of majors since 2009; played in Mexico and Independent League in 2010)
• Alay Soler (retired)
• Kelly Stinnett (retired)
• Steve Trachsel (retired)
• Michael Tucker (out of majors since 2006; played for various independent teams since 2009)
• Jose Valentin (out of majors since 2007; player-owner for Santurce Crabbers in Puerto Rican league)
• Billy Wagner (retired)
• Dave Williams (out of majors since 2007; last played professionally w/Nationals' AAA team in 2009)
• Victor Zambrano (don't ask)

Aaron F. Heilman and Lastings Milledge both ended their seasons at the minor league level in 2011.  Chris Woodward was lucky to get a late September call-up.  That leaves only 11 players from the 2006 Mets who played exclusively in the major leagues in 2011.  One of those 11 players (Ramon Castro) only played in 23 games with the White Sox in 2011, missing the majority of the season due to a right hand fracture.

That leaves only Heath Bell, Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez, Philip Humber, Guillermo Mota, Xavier Nady, Darren Oliver, Mike Pelfrey, Jose Reyes and David Wright as the only players from the 2006 NL East champions to play exclusively in the majors only five years after they were teammates on the Mets.

Most of the players from 2006 are either retired, dead or Victor Zambrano.  It's also stunning to note that a large number of players who were good enough to be part of a division winner in 2006 were no longer worthy of playing in the major leagues just five years later.

If you recall, both Pedro Martinez and Orlando "The Dookie" Hernandez were scratched from the postseason roster in 2006 because of injuries.  Neither pitched well after 2006 (we don't recognize Pedro's renaissance with the Phillies in 2009 because that would be saying something positive about a member of the Phillies, which is taboo here).

Also, for those who blame Beltran for the Mets' failure to advance to the World Series in 2006, let me remind you that he wasn't the only Met to strike out with the bat on his shoulders in the ninth inning of Game 7.  Before Beltran, Cliff Floyd took strike three as a pinch-hitter with the tying runs on base and nobody out.  That's the same Cliff Floyd who was too hurt to start any of the games in the NLCS after Game 1.

The 2006 Mets steamrolled their way through the 162-game regular season.  But that team was full of players who were either one injury away from ending their careers or no-names who had no business being in the majors.  What do you know?  Only five years later, a great number of those players have suffered career-altering injuries or haven't sniffed the major leagues since Shea Stadium was still around.

A winning team needs a mix of veterans to guide the kids along.  But the 2006 Mets depended too much on veterans.  Now, those veterans are no longer around, succumbing to injuries and Father Time.  That has forced players who are still kids themselves (see Reyes, Jose and Wright, David) to be the team leaders.  Given those facts, is anyone surprised that the Mets have now trudged their way through three consecutive losing seasons? 

Joey's Soapbox: It's Always Labor Day For Mike Pelfrey

Greetings and salutations, Mets fans!  This is Joey Beartran, taking a break from doing nothing on a day that commemorates the sacrifices and contributions of workers who have done everything.

Today is a perfect day for me to discuss the problems I have with Mike Pelfrey, a pitcher who labors more than any other on the mound.  So grab your end-of-summer cold drink, sit back on that Mets inflatable chair you have but never like to admit you own (it's in the closet next to your Kaz Matsui bobblehead - the one you couldn't even sell on eBay), and prepare to hear what I have to say from my soapbox.

When Mike Pelfrey was drafted by the Mets with the ninth pick of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft (directly ahead of current blossoming major leaguers Cameron Maybin, Andrew McCutchen and Jay Bruce), he was expected to become a dominant pitcher for the Mets for many years.  After all, his final season at Wichita State University produced a line that seemed to suggest that the Mets were right in choosing Pelfrey so early in the draft (12-3, 1.93 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 143 Ks in 139.2 IP).

Pelfrey was a ground ball pitcher with a mid-to-upper 90s fastball, the type of pitcher that made scouts drool with his potential to be a top of the rotation starter.  The Mets couldn't wait to see that potential for themselves and decided to bring him up to the majors just six months after signing Pelfrey.  (Although the Mets drafted Pelfrey in June 2005, he did not sign his first contract with the team until January 2006 due to ongoing negotiations.)  That was their first mistake.

The Mets were able to slug their way to victory in Pelfrey's major league debut, clubbing the Marlins 17-3, with Pelfrey allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings of work.  Big Pelf made three more starts for the Mets that summer, but showed that he wasn't ready for the majors yet.  In four starts, Pelfrey's ERA was 5.48 and he posted a 1.73 WHIP.

Pelfrey's minor league numbers in 2006 and 2007 were actually very good.  In those two years, he went 10-9 with a 3.11 ERA, striking out nearly a batter per inning (167 Ks in 176.1 IP) and allowing fewer hits than innings pitched (81 hits in 96.1 IP in 2006 and 79 hits in 80 IP in 2007).

Still, the bottom line is that Pelfrey only made 33 starts in the minor leagues, pitching less than 200 innings below the major league level.  He did not receive enough minor league seasoning (even Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden pitched over 200 innings in the minor leagues before being called up for the first time) and was rushed to the big leagues because the team was in need of starting pitching.  It may have stunted his development and turned him into the mediocre pitcher he is today.

The fact of the matter of this.  Mike Pelfrey, strikeout pitcher in college and the minor leagues, can't strike out his own mother.  He has never struck out more than 113 batters in any full season in the major leagues and is striking out barely over three batters per start this year (29 starts, 93 Ks).  Also, the ground ball pitcher he used to be has apparently left the building.  That's not the only thing leaving the building, as Pelfrey has already allowed a career-high 19 HR with a month of baseball left to play in 2011.

That, combined with a steady increase in walks (Pelfrey walked 64 batters in 2008, 66 in 2009, 68 in 2010 and has walked 59 batters in 2011 with four potential starts remaining), has made Pelfrey more of a hit-and-miss pitcher rather than the star pitcher he was supposed to be when the Mets drafted him six years ago.  Unfortunately, for Pelfrey and the Mets, there have been too many hits (by opposing batters) and not enough misses.

With 189 hits allowed in 171 innings this season, Pelfrey is on track to record his sixth consecutive season with more hits allowed than innings pitched.  That would make him the first pitcher in Mets history to do so.

There have been 26 pitchers to pitch a minimum of six seasons for the Mets (including parts of seasons).  Of those 26 hurlers, only five of them allowed more hits than innings pitched during their tenure in New York.  Those five pitchers are:

• Al Jackson (1,033 hits in 980.2 IP)
• Ed Lynch (815 hits in 730.1 IP)
• Bobby Jones (1,255 hits in 1,215.2 IP)
• Steve Trachsel (967 hits in 956.1 IP)
• Mike Pelfrey (934 hits in 854 IP)

Jackson, Lynch, Jones and Trachsel all had at least one season in which they allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, with Jackson accomplishing the feat once (1968), Lynch twice (1981, 1985), Jones four times (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998) and Trachsel three times (2001, 2002, 2003).

Mike Pelfrey is the only pitcher to have pitched at least six seasons for the Mets and given up more hits than innings pitched in every single one of those seasons.  In fact, only John Franco, who pitched in New York for 14 seasons (1990-2001, 2003-2004), allowed more hits than innings pitched in five different seasons.  Pelfrey is on his way to becoming the first Met to do it six times and he only needed six years to do it.

When Mike Pelfrey takes the mound, he always finds a way to make his effort more laborious than it should be.  How many more 30-pitch innings can the Mets take from their 27-year-old "ace"?  How many more five-inning, nine-hit, two-strikeout performances will Pelfrey engineer before the team realizes that he'll never the starter they wanted him to be?

The stats don't lie, my friends.  Throughout his Mets career, Mike Pelfrey has been an opposing hitter's best friend when he's been out on the mound.  If his overall record (50-52, 4.38 ERA, 1.45 WHIP) doesn't spell it out for the Mets, perhaps this will.

Pelfrey's 4.38 ERA in 142 starts is the highest earned run average of any Mets pitcher who has made at least 100 career starts for the team (Al Jackson is second with a 4.26 ERA in 138 starts) and Pelfrey is the only Met with at least 100 starts to have a WHIP over 1.40 (Steve Trachsel is second with a 1.38 WHIP).

Six years is a long time to be given a "trial run".  It's clear that Mike Pelfrey will never be a great pitcher.  At best, he will be an innings eater that will keep teams in ballgames provided that team has some kind of offense.  But the Mets haven't had "some kind of offense" since their last days at Shea Stadium.  In fact, offense and Citi Field aren't two terms that are generally seen in the same room together.

If Mike Pelfrey is ever going to succeed at the major league level, he will most likely have to do it on another team.  He's already left his mark in New York.  Unfortunately, that mark is at the bottom of a number of the franchise's all-time pitching categories.  Mets fans have been forced to watch Mike Pelfrey labor his way through a great deal of his 142 starts.  They shouldn't be forced to do so in 2012.

Mets Pitchers Can Help Jose Reyes Win A Batting Title

Jose Reyes has been on the disabled list for a week and a half now, his batting average frozen at .336 since injuring his hamstring on August 7. Despite this being his second trip to the DL, he has managed to maintain his lead in the National League batting race, although he is facing fierce competition from Milwaukee's Ryan Braun, who is hitting .329 entering tonight's series opener at Citi Field.



The Mets have never had a batting champion in their first 49 seasons. John Olerud had the highest single season batting average for the Mets, hitting .354 in 1998, but he finished second to Colorado's Larry Walker (.363) in the batting race. Cleon Jones and Dave Magadan also came close, but fell just short of the crown. Jones hit .340 in 1969, finishing third behind Pete Rose (.348) and Roberto Clemente (.345). Magadan hit .328 in 1990, also finishing third in the NL batting race behind Willie McGee (.335) and Eddie Murray (.330).



So with Reyes clinging tenaciously to his slim NL batting lead, his teammates might be able to help him out this weekend. Ryan Braun, who has hit .375 (48-for-128) over his last 34 games, dating back to June 29, will be facing Mets pitching this weekend. If Mike Pelfrey, Chris Capuano and the Tweeter-rific R.A. Dickey can shut Braun down over the next three games, Reyes will increase his chances of becoming the first Met to win a batting title.



Braun is probably licking his lips with the knowledge that he's facing Mike Pelfrey tonight. Over his five year career, he is hitting .500 (3-for-6) against Pelfrey. (Then again, who isn't hitting .500 against Big Pelf?). However, he has yet to collect a hit against Capuano (0-for-3, 2 strikeouts) and Dickey (0-for-7). Against all Mets pitchers currently on the roster, Braun is hitting .245 over his career with only one home run in 56 plate appearances. The Mets will need to continue this trend against Braun if Reyes is to maintain his lead in the batting race before he comes off the DL.



Note: For a player to qualify for the batting title, he needs to accumulate 3.1 plate appearances for every game played by his team. Therefore, if the Mets play all 162 games this year (barring any rainouts not made up), Reyes would need 502 plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. At the time of his injury, Reyes had accumulated 462 plate appearances, leaving him 40 short of the magic number for batting title qualification, a number he should easily reach within the first week to ten days following his return from the disabled list.



Over their first half-century of existence, no Mets pitcher has ever been able to throw a no-hitter. At least if they can't pitch a no-no, they can help a fellow Met achieve something that no other Met has ever done. Holding Ryan Braun off the bases this weekend will go a long way towards making that a reality.

Texas Two-Step (Part I): Coop & Ed's Tex-cellent Adventure

Last year, the cast and crew of Studious Metsimus embarked on a world tour. No, we didn't tour with Weezer (although that would be super-sweet). Instead, we toured the country following the Mets to different ballparks. We attended games at Camden Yards (Baltimore), Nationals Park (Washington), AT&T Park (San Francisco) and PNC Park (Pittsburgh), cheering for the Mets every step of the way. (We also ventured to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, but that city doesn't need to be linked out to here.)

This year, we decided to pack our bags and take a trip to Texas. Who's "we"? Why, it's yours truly, along with correspondent Taryn (Coop) Cooper, culinary expert/investigative reporter Joey Beartran and his sister, Iggy. (Joey and Iggy's report will be featured in a separate piece.)

We followed the Mets to Texas, where we were told everything is bigger. Apparently, that statement was spot on, as our smiles and Mets' pride were never bigger than they were in Arlington.

Photo by Sharon Chapman, who joined us in Texas with her family. Thanks, Sharon!

Scheduling (and this thing called a "day job") prevented us from attending the finale of the three-game series between the Mets and the Rangers, but we were able to go to the first two games. We can skip over the first game, which was another off-day for Mike Pelfrey and the bullpen. Then again, the final result (an 8-1 loss by the Mets) was nothing new for Big Pelf, as his road woes are no longer a secret.

So let's move on to the middle game of the series. After the first loss, the Mets had sunk to two games under .500 for the millionth time this season. But Jonathon Niese was on the mound for the Mets against the Rangers. Unlike Pelfrey, Niese has had more success on the road (10-7) than at home (8-11) and it showed. Then again, even Victor Zambrano could have won the game with the fireworks supplied by the Mets' bats.

Who needs the long ball? Chicks dig singles as well.

The Mets pounded out 17 hits, with nary a home run in sight, en route to a 14-5 thrashing of the Rangers. The 14 runs represented a season-high for the Mets, who desperately needed a game in which the bullpen was either not used or used in a less stressful environment.

Unfortunately, with Jonathon Niese succumbing to the heat, it was up to Bobby Parnell and DJ Carrasco to finish the game. Jason Isringhausen was not called upon because he was too busy playing with his big red ball and Manny Acosta was on bathroom security duty (see photos below).



While we are the game in our Mets gear, we were actually heckled by four Rangers fans. That's right, not everyone in Texas is polite. The first three fans apparently got together before the game because all they could come up with was "BOOOOO" as we walked by.

The fourth fan was a little more original with his insult, as he showed his extensive knowledge of pronouns with his "BOO YOU" epithet. Then again, perhaps he wasn't being derisive to us at all and was just stating the college he was attending. (BOO U, anyone?)

We did have to give credit to one Rangers fan who actually was quite creative in expressing his love for his team, dressing as a masked Lucha Libre fighter called "El Rangerdoro". He posed for some photos with us, where he showed off his signature "chokehold while wearing batting gloves" move and his ability to point at the camera. (For those of you who still thinking wrestling is real, I regret to inform you that the pointing was indeed choreographed.)



Although we couldn't attend the final game of the series, we did go out to the ballpark that morning to take some exterior shots of the ballpark and its surroundings. We didn't run into any players entering the stadium, but we did run into long-time Mets' PR dude, Jay Horwitz. (I assure you he's in one of the photos below.)





To recap our trip to Texas...

It was hot. No, seriously. Just look at that wet stain on my Mets T-shirt in the collage of photos above. That didn't come from the guy who attended BOO U.

Jon Niese did wonderfully in his start, despite sweating through his uniform (perhaps nervous that El Rangerdoro was waiting for him outside the visitors' clubhouse).

Manny Acosta might have a new job in sanitation soon if he continues to give up runs at an alarming rate.

Arlington has a really great ballpark. No joke needed there. It's just a really sweet park.

From the tributes to Nolan Ryan (including the large statue in center field of the Ryan Express doffing his cap) to the frequent fireworks (not all of them came from the Mets' bats), our ballpark experience was one to remember. It was indeed (dare I say it) a Tex-cellent adventure!