Last night, Fernando Martinez made a bonehead play where he did not run out a pop up that the Nationals catcher Wil Nieves wound up dropping. Nieves was able to throw Martinez out despite missing the catch because of the rookie’s mistake.
New York Post tabloid scribbler Larry Brooks decided he had run out of ideas on what to write about and decided that this incident was a reflection of the Mets organization as a whole.
Mike Piazza, Hall of Famer in waiting who only occasionally busted tail out of the box, would have been proud. Jose Reyes, whose penchant for watching rather than running was at the center of yet another storm before he went down last week with tendonitis behind his right calf, can know that he has set a fine example.
Timo Perez in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series had nothing on young Mr. Martinez.
Reyes’ maddening walkabouts persist though manager Jerry Manuel pledged that he would put an end to such indolence the moment he replaced Willie Randolph last June 17. The Mets, once renowned for their historically significant pitching, now have a reputation as a team on which players young and old don’t have to run hard to stay in the lineup.
Yes, Larry, the Mets organization is actively promoting a system where they want players to get thrown out for not busting out of the box.
First of all, Fernando’s mistake was not because he was showboating, as you imply in your article. It was his stupidity, and a rookie mistake, but he was not showing anyone up by doing it. It was embarrassing for him, and surely something he won’t ever forget.
Jose Reyes routinely beats out close plays because he busts out of the box faster than anyone in baseball. Brooks would rather focus on the few times that Reyes has hit a ball hard enough that it looked like it was leaving the park. Clearly Reyes is not a talented player because of this and will never be a winning ballplayer.
Mike Piazza will never be a Hall of Famer now because the committee surely will read Larry’s column and realize Piazza was a selfish player, mostly because of the Mets organization, that taught him to be lazy. Maybe they just saw that selfishness and decided Piazza was perfect for their team, as Larry so perfectly portrays the Mets.
Well done Larry, the lazy, apathetic Mets is your perfect description of this losing organization. If hooked up to a lie detector, I would bet dollars to donuts you don’t even believe what you wrote. If you did, you would have to be a moron.
Francisco Rodriguez went in for treatment for back spasms and left on a stretcher.
Bart Hubbach broke the news on his twitter feed that K-Rod was in such intense pain that he collapsed after the game, began sobbing, and had to be taken to the hospital.
Rodriguez told reporters that the chiropracter seemed to do more harm than good.
“The first time I had that,” he continued. “It came out of nowhere. I was getting my running in. I stopped in the middle of the way because I felt my back tighten up on me. I came in here to get some treatment. The chiropractor tried to make some adjustments, and it made it a lot worse. It got to the point that I was on the table for like an hour and I couldn’t even move. It’s been a really tough day.
“We’ll see how the back responds tomorrow,” he said. “Otherwise we’ll get some shot or whatever will make it a lot better, because right now it’s real painful.”
The Mets will use JJ Putz to close in his absence and it seems likely that Bobby Parnell will take over for Putz in the set up role.
Whether we like it or not, life is generally a series of random occurrances. One thing leads to another partially on your own accord but with a great deal of luck, or as often unfortunately can be the case, lack of luck.
Ted Berg at SNY.tv succinctly and eloquently makes the connection that baseball is a microcosm of life, referencing an article by Stephen Jay Gould on Joe Dimaggio and the 1941 Yankees.
I agree a great deal with Ted. When you spend so much time analyzing baseball you tend to overlook the fact that there are so many things completely out of everyone’s control. The idea that the mentality of the 1986 Mets is necessary for this current team to win is presumptuous at best. I’ll be the first one to sign up for that team to return, they were awfully fun to watch and enjoyed as a group of wild freespirited extroverts. However that kind of chemistry doesn’t necessarily guarantee a formula for success. If you look at the teams who went deep into the playoffs in the course of baseball history, there are so many that would cause you to scratch your head at their good fortune.
I’ve wrote about this before but it bears repeating. It’s easy to assume that because what adds up on paper should bear out on the field. It’s also easy to get lost in the midst of a streak of wins and losses and extrapolate that to an entire season. A baseball season is a long, amorphous thing that tends to make more sense upon reflection long after it is over rather than in the midst of raw emotion that comes from a good or bad series. Small sample sizes tend to give the impression that a team or player are woefully inept or much better than they actually are. As Bobby Valentine once stated “You‘re never as good as you think are in a winning streak, and you‘re never as bad as you think you are during a losing streak.”
Injuries play a big part in lack of luck, as the Mets are having the unfortunate taste of experiencing. This doesn’t leave their general manager unabsolved of his duties to have a proper back up plan in the case of injury. You can’t control your luck but you can have a contingency plan in place to deal with such random occurances.
The good news for the Mets is that if they were going to hit a patch of bad luck, it might as well come after they just completed a streak of winning 11 out of 13 games and it is early enough in the season to make adjustments. The trade deadline is still ahead of them and many moves can be made.
Many things are completely out of their hands, but enough are under their control where they can try and nudge fate in the desired direction. Those of you who watch “Lost” would remember that these are the ‘variables’ which we control and can alter the path that lies ahead.
Hopefully the Mets can find the right variables in time to get off the island they’re currently stranded on.
Jon Heyman’s recently tweeted that “The seperation of Church and Mets? I think it’s going to be necessary.”
I was not a fan of trading Lastings Milledge for Church and Brian Schneider. Milledge may not exactly be lighting the world on fire but I feel his trajectory will outperform Church and Schneider who have peaked and will plateau and soon hit the other side of their careers. I simply felt the Mets got poor value in return for a player who I think will eventually be a solid major league baseball player.
Prior to his two concussions and subsequent lost season, Ryan Church was one of the best offensive forces on the Mets. Since returning, he’s been jerked around by Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya who decided to pick up Gary Sheffield. Rather than give Church the chance he seem to have earned when he played, the Mets gave that chance to a player who hasn’t performed at even Church’s level in years.
None of us really know what is going on between Ryan Church and Jerry Manuel. Manuel publically stated there is no rift, but he could just be putting on a good PR face. None of that really matters. What should matter is results. Church made a bonehead play the other night, but when he has played he has given this team far more than the players who he’s been forced to platoon with.
Ryan Church was never given a fair chance this season, and it will be the Mets mistake if they let him go. They’ll let him go, like Milledge, when his value is lowest and get little back in return.
It is completely out of the Mets hands now, but Nelson Figueroa deserved better.
The Mets seemingly bungled the roster planning, as they often seem to do, putting Nelson Figueroa at risk of being released completely from the organization. All that we can hope for now is that he clears waivers and will be allowed to return to Triple-A and have another shot at cracking the Mets roster at some point in the season.
The Mets can use all the arms they can get right now, their rotation after Johan Santana is a total crapshoot. Figueroa, a native son of Brooklyn, is a fan favorite and with better management wouldn’t have been put in this position.
Reading his family’s blog almost brings a tear to the eye of any Mets fan with a heart.
When he called after the game I said, “What’s up?” and he said, “It’s not what’s up, it’s who’s down. They just designated me”. I sat in complete shock. I had no words. The feeling of complete numbness entered my body. I think I sputtered, “I’m so sorry” and Nelson said, “Yeah, I need to call you later”. I didn’t want him to call because I didn’t know what to say.
In general, after you have a quality start (defined as 6 innings 3 earned runs or less. A win is not necessary) and you have heard the media told you are going to slip into the long man role, you don’t expect to be on the next plane out of town. So I was pretty confident those weren’t the words I’d hear.
So now we wait, and hope that somehow Nelson remains a Met. I know some of you may not care, to some Nelson is just another faceless name on a transaction sheet, but for me and for those who have been rooting for Nelson to be that breakout player few saw coming, it means much more.
No matter what happens, we wish you the best of luck, Figgy.
The Scoreboard Gourmet reveals some great little known aspects of CitiField.
The Mets have copied one of the great aspects of PETCO Park in San Diego. There are little windows to little player batting cages inside Citi Field deep in the left corner of the Delta 360 Club. Visiting player use the cages on the left and the Mets take their hacks on the right.
According to the Scoreboard Gourmet, one of the best food items sold is the Clam & Corn Chowder. I’m hoping to get some while there’s still a chill in the air.
Those tables just in front of the bridge in center field are not accessible to the public and are available for groups of 25 or more. You are not required to purchase a food and drink package to sit in this section.
There are two Mama’s of Corona at CitiField. One near Section 104 in the “Market Place” and near Section 417 on the Promenade level.
Do you have any tips or secrets you’ve discovered around CitiField so far? Post them in our comments section below.
Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver will complete the synchronicity of their final pitch at Shea Stadium as the battery for the first official pitch at CitiField. In addition to Piazza and Seaver, Met greats Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Rusty Staub, Ralph Kiner, and of course Ron Darling, Howard Johnson, and Keith Hernandez will be on hand as well.
Mike Pelfrey will toe the mound at the home opener, representing the future of the Mets rotation in their new ballpark.
The Mets have had two chances in their pair of exhibition matches with the Red Sox to learn the quirks of the new park that in some respects a pitchers park and in others, with a quickly diminishing foul territory, a hitters park. The gaps in left and right give hitters lots of room for extra base hits and the short distance between the foul lines and walls along the baselines and outfield create a pinball machine effect that may result in more extra base hits.
The outfield is less open above the fences, which might cause less of a wind tunnel that Shea created to knock down fly balls. The uneven height of the outfield wall can alternately favor the pitcher or the hitter depending on what section it is hit to. The right field porch overhanging fair territory will likely benefit right handed power hitters.
The Mets face the Marlins for the rubber match in Florida before heading back to CitiField for their home opener. Here are the keys to today’s game:
Classic Johan…The Mets need Johan to be himself and pitch a good 7 or 8 innings. The bullpen has been used in every game this year and it would be nice to give them a rest today. Johan always has the potential to throw a complete game and today it would be most welcome.
Contain Hanley…Hanley Ramirez has been positively on fire to start the season. He’s the engine that gets the Marlins rolling. If the Mets can somehow keep him off the basepaths they’ll have an easier time keeping the Marlins in check. If anyone can shut down Hanley, it’s Johan.
Stay hot Castillo…Nobody expected anything out of Luis Castillo to start the season, but last night’s 4-for-4 performance could be a lanching pad for Luis to show he’s a valuable member of this team. If Castillo can keep getting on base, the Mets lineup extends even further and they have the potential to put games out of reach.
When you’re done hunting for Easter eggs, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to talk baseball. I hear it’s always hopping in there.
Ron Darling is one of the most beloved members of World Champion 1986 Mets and today is regarded as one of the best broadcasters in baseball. In his recently released book “Ron Darling: The Complete Game” he takes readers through the experience of being a Major League pitcher. Darling describes the psychology of pitching, painting a cerebral portrait of what goes into facing some of the most talented athletes in the world.
Darling is funny and engaging. The book is detailed without being too technical and provides the kind of insight into pitching that has rarely been accomplished. The strategy and subtle aspects of what goes into facing a batter are described elegantly and in a way casual readers, fans, and athletes can all appreciate.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to have the rare opportunity to pitch in Major League baseball I highly suggest picking up Ronnie’s book. It’s a tremendous read and will change the way you watch the game.
Our friend Kristin sends along pictures from the Pepsi Opening Day Viewing Party at CitiField today. Head over to flickr for a full set of images. Mets great Mookie Wilson was there to meet fans and enjoy the Opening Day win over the Reds.
As I walked off the LIRR for the first time this season and made my way across the boardwalk that connects Flushing Meadows to the Mets, I saw Shea completely gone for the first time in person. It was jarring, surreal and a bit sad. It was a comforting sight as the train pulled up closer to the Flushing stop to look up and see the blue behemoth peeking up among the trees and chain linked fences. The sight of Shea was now replaced by the long sweeping creme colored facade of CitiField. It’s a sight that will take getting used to and as it becomes less of a park and more of a home of memories, maybe one day it will have the same emotional effect old Shea used to have when arriving.
The feeling this time was like unwrapping a new present on Christmas Day. The first full sight of the park came when I walked down the steps from the subway entrance in front of CitiField and there it was. The ground lined with bricks with fans names etched covering my way to this gorgeous new park.
We skipped the rotunda entrance because it is way too crowded right now, and using advice from those who had gone to the first exhibition game between UConn and St. Johns, we knew better to enter through one of the outfield entrances. Entering the ballpark there was a breeze. It was odd being able to enter the park completely outdoors. We walked up the staircase, which is out in the open air, and when we arrived at the top, still outdoors, the green grass of the outfield, the massive scoreboard and a fork in the road beckened us to choose to head towards the bridge that connects to the “Tastes of New York” on our right or towards the “Catch of the Day” on our left. We decided to check out our seats first. Which happened to be in the right field corner. We made a quick survey of our seats and then split up to head to the concessions.
I made my way across the bridge that connects to the “Taste of New York,” the first of many homages to bridges at CitiField. The bridge motif, as I read, was inspired by Hellsgate Bridge. Hellsgate, an arching, almost ornate piece of architecture, connects the Astoria section of Queens to Randalls Island. Mets owner Fred Wilpon was riding across it one day when it occurred to him that he wanted a strong bridge theme at his new park. The bridge represents many things, a bridge between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers who left for the west coast before the Mets rose from their ashes, the bridge that Jackie Robinson created for African American players to earn their rightful place in the Major Leagues, and the bridge between the past 46 years of baseball the Mets have played to the future that lies before them in their new park.
I was excited to try my first CitiField Shake Shack burger, which i’d prefer to call “Shea Shack” as a nod to the dearly departed old home next door. I briefly considered going for the El Verano Taqueria because the line there was very short, but the draw of the Shack burger was too great. The line was long but moved at a reasonable pace. I was able to watch the announcing of the starting line up for the first time at the new home on the back of the scoreboard which boasted a modest video screen on the lower face of the wall. We would later realize that they either had not worked out the kinks of the video displayed here or decided they will only be showing the view of the plate and not follow balls in play for the purposes of this video screen. I guess we will not know for sure until the official opener.
Another thing that bothered me was that in the old Shea, you had televisions in the concession stands so you could watch the games while you were in line. There are no televisions in the Shake Shack stand and I didn’t notice them inside the other concession stands either. There are however flatscreen televisions just about everywhere else, including above your head in the sections where you were underneath another level of seats.
I had my Double Shack in my hot little hands by the time the Mets had taken the field and made my way back to my seat. It quickly became apparent that these will not be my favorite seats at CitiField. The first thing we noticed was that any ball that was hit towards the right field wall would be obstructed from our view once it made it 10 to 15 feet from the warning track. This doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but an annoyance nonetheless. You also have no view at all of either scoreboard. We were prepared to be quite a ways from seeing the home plate batter by sitting in the corner of the outfield, just to the right of the foul pole, in foul ball territory, and you really do feel like you are in Siberia in this section. The benefit is the location to some of the better concessions.
My friend’s bounty from the concession was a shrimp cajun po-boy and to my surprise, calamari. I had very little faith in the calamari, figuring it would be the garden variety mushy, rubbery kind you would find at most lower quality restaurants. This is a ballpark, after all, and seafood is never a good choice in my experience when you’re dealing with this kind of venue. I was shocked when I took a bite and the calamari was not only crispy but fresh and perfectly textured. It was on par with some of the better restaurant calamari i’ve had. The Pasternack attention to quality was on display at least on this day at the park. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it up over 162 games. The po-boy was equally fresh and full of spicy flavors.
After a few innings watching the game we wanted to explore the park a bit, we got up and walked towards the first base side and I got the feeling I had when I was at Pac Bell years ago (now AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.) It’s wide, dark, and provides a constant view of the game. It is much darker than the concourses we were used to at Shea. I assume that this is not to distract the view of those sitting in the stands to the right. We checked out a tiny store selling vintage Mets gear. I found some great stuff there, right up my alley, though I prefer to get authentic vintage Mets gear on eBay.
Along the way to the larger Mets clubhouse store we stopped in the bathroom which was smaller than I expected, however there was no wait. I’ve been told that the fact that the different sections of the park are somewhat disconnected from each other which makes for less people to battle for the bathrooms in your particular section. The disconnection however was something that bothered me. If you’re not holding a ticket some of the swankier seats in the park, you simply will not have access to those levels at all.
CitiField might be assuming a posture of being the warmer, friendlier ballpark to the Yankees monolithic bank-like stadium, but at it’s core, CitiField is a feudal system. The plebes are kept away from the upper crust who not only have their own sectioned off area of the stadium, they have their own concessions, which are a decidedly more refined experience. If you don’t have the right ticket, you won’t be allowed past the velvet rope. Move along, commoners.
The other thing that bothered me while walking along the field level concourses was there is nothing in the stadium I could find, other than the Home Run Apple and the skyline from the old scoreboard that hearkens back to any semblance of history of the team. Nothing player related, other than the banners hanging along the walls of the facade outside the park recalls the great memories of the team. There is nothing that marks the great players in the early years like Seaver, Swoboda, Kranepool, Kingman, and Grote. Nothing that reminds us of the Amazin Mets of 1986, Hernandez, Carter, Dykstra, Orosco, Backman, HoJo, Strawberry, McDowell, Knight and Doc. Nothing of the most recently beloved team of the 90’s, Ventura, Zeile, Olerud, Agbayani, Ordonez, and of course Piazza. There is very little “Mets” about the stadium. The colors are not representing nearly anywhere I can recall. The primary colors seem to be black, grey, and dark green. Blue is nearly non-existant, and orange shows up in very small doses. The Mets and their history are not present at CitiField. The fact that there is not a statue of Tom Seaver on the plaza leading to the stadium is borderline unforgivable.
We decided to check out how the seats closer to the action looked, so we sneaked a seat just to the right of the most exclusive section of the park, behind home plate. The infield seats there are simply incredible. You literally feel like you are right on top of the field. There is less foul territory and the seats sit lower than in the old stadium. There is no overhead netting above the seats behind home plate and no net on the sides. The spiderweb of nets at the old stadium is gone giving the entire infield section behind home more open, airy feel and almost felt like most minor league parks I’ve been to. You feel so close to the players even if you’re sitting in the last row of seats on the field level. Compared to the right field corner, this experience was like Dorothy seeing the black and white turn to technicolor, realizing you were no longer sitting all the way over in Kansas anymore.
The scoreboards, now finally in our view, were massive. The HD quality of the main scoreboard is almost distracting from the actual game. It is so clear and so huge, it reminded me a bit of the one at Turner Field. The out of town scoreboard is even better than the one at Shea, giving you the runners on base as well. Information overload is welcome for baseball nerds such as myself. While the main scoreboard provides the replays and player information, the scoreboard just to the right provides the pertinent data. Innings, runs, lineups and player statistics can all be found there. You’ve got so much to look at that it can sometimes take your attention from he game itself. The Pepsi sign on the porch overhanging into fair territory in right is just like the one at Roosevelt Park.
The seats, a dark green, are supposed to represent those at the Polo Grounds, the earliest home of the Mets, even before Shea. I didn’t notice a big difference in leg room as had been promised, at least for the ones in the right field corner and third base infield side we sat in.
The outfield walls are a roller coaster of heights, I would have liked there to be more room for Endy like heroics, but the height in most places will make that unlikely. It will however seem to make for many exciting extra base hits. This park was built for gap hitters like Delgado and speed merchants like Jose Reyes. They will be one of the few offensive beneficiaries of this park’s configuration. The quickly evaporating foul territory will give hitters longer at bats.
We enjoyed an inning or two from our new seats before the rain came. I came prepared with a thick hooded army jacket that protected me from the elements but with my keeper league baseball draft occurring the next day, I needed to start making the long trek from the park to the firehouse in Matawan, New Jersey.
Before we left, I wanted a chance to check out the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. The Rotunda is a nice homage to the civil rights champion and baseball legend. However it is not as imposing and grand as I had expected. It seemed small and poorly executed. I thought the ideas incorporated were excellent. Putting the words representing character traits that Robinson showed throughout his life is an inspiring sight, along with his famous quote that “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” I didn’t feel like the rotunda did those words justice. I was expecting to be overwhelmed when I entered the rotunda and I was underwhelmed. I can’t really describe why, I just know I didn’t get the same feeling I expected based on what I heard about the rotunda. It simply didn’t live up to my expectations.
CitiField is more of a park than a stadium. A stadium is cold and utilitarian. Shea held many memories for me, and the games played there gave it an emotional resonance, but the stadium itself was lacking in character. The character it did have was for the things we loathed. The poor concessions, the leaking roofs, the long lines at the bathroom, and the general sense that you were in a concrete tomb where a baseball field happen to be. CitiField feels more like a park but it is not perfect in every way.
The lack of history in the park is something that must be addressed. It will never feel like a true home for the Mets until the soul of the team is apparent. The team has a wonderful history, one worth celebrating, I hope the team acknowledges how much it is lacking at CitiField and adds elements of the great players and moments to this quirky gem of a ballpark.
Joel Sherman at the New York Post writes that, according to his source, “unless something drastic happens, he is a Met… Someone would have to offer him a second year, and I just don’t see that happening.”
Sheffield hit .225 with a 19 HR in 114 games for the Tigers last season, and hit .265 with a .378 OBP and 25 HR in 133 games in 2007.
I’m not a fan of this at all. One, it takes a job away from Murphy or Church, both who had a great spring. Sheffield was once a great hitter but he hasn’t shown that same power as of late. Also, if the Mets decide to use him as a platoon player or bat off the bench, Sheffield will turn the clubhouse into a zoo. He’s not someone who will do what is best for the team, it’s what is best for Sheff.
What is with the Mets and always trying to squeeze a dime of talent for pennies on the dollar at the twilight of every former star’s career?
We will give away four of Chris Speakman’s Mets Propaganda Poster prints to the best commenters this week. We will give away our first set of prints on Wednesday, and another pair on Friday. Start posting your comments now and win one of these amazing prints.
Chris Speakman, a Boston based artist who is licensed by Major League Baseball to create and sell what he calls “1940’s propaganda style” limited edition screen-prints on paper has given us four prints to give away here on Hot Foot.
For the last couple of years Chris had concentrated on my hometown team in Boston. His work has become quite popular and now he’s expanding out to other teams including the Mets. He’s just completed his first two Mets designs featuring David Wright as well as Johan Santana.
Please help us choose who you think was the best commenter this week so far, and should win our first set of Mets Propaganda Posters. Voting ends at 4PM ET tomorrow. We will give away another set on Friday. You’re eligible for that set starting now, so post your best comments!
Head over to our companion site at Hot Foot Tumblr for coverage of the first ever game at CitiField today between the St. John’s Red Storm and Georgetown Hoyas.
Jerry Manuel has alluded to changes in the batting order, dropping Jose Reyesdown to the third spot in favor of Luis Castilloleading off. Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog doesn’t believe Manuel will actually do it once the season starts and sees it more as a way to motivate Reyes in camp. Will Leitch at New York Magazine is appalled by the idea, calling Reyes the consummate lead off hitter. Others point to Castillo having a consistently higher on base percentage than Reyes. Reyes has a career OBP of .336 while Castillo’s hasn’t dipped below .350 since 1998. Finally, there are some folks who don’t think it really matters who leads off, as lineups turn over so randomly, once the first inning is over it all becomes a moot.
I think Manuel is trying to test Reyes. He sees him as more of a multidimensional player and wants to bring out the Hanley Ramirez in him. I worry that trying to squeeze more power out of Reyes is like trying to teach Miles Davis to be more like Stevie Ray Vaughn. He’s already a master at what he does, so why try and mold him into being a master at something else? Ben Shpigel in the New York Times highlights a moment where Manuel might realize what he already has in Reyes.
As Reyes, batting left-handed, pulled the first few breaking balls, Manuel, standing behind the backstop, gently reminded him to hit to left field. When Reyes ripped two straight rockets into the left-center field gap, Manuel shook his head and laughed. “You’re a special one, José, you know that?” he said.
Ultimately, I don’t see how this ‘lesson’ that Manuel is trying to teach Reyes will enhance his game. It certainly isn’t worth messing with Reyes to try and bring more out of Castillo. The Mets invested more money than they should have in Castillo, but that ship has sailed. The money they spent is already gone— it’s a sunk loss. Using that as an excuse to try and ruin what they have in Reyes simply creates more problems.
Bart Hubbach of the New York Post shot this video in the clubhouse where Reyes addressed the rumors that he might not be batting leadoff. Hat tip to Can’t Stop The Bleeding for the link.
