As you well know, here at the Foot we praise the unique and creative side of blogging. And when a blogs tag line contains the phrase “Because naked lips don’t win championships”, how can you go wrong?
New to the blogging scene, The Wright Stache is a website dedicated to convincing David Wright to grow a mustache. The website, whose writers all have amusing handles such as “Hairy Backman” and “Teuful Stubble”, is filled with all of the hilarity and ingenious insight you could want.
How did they come up with such a wonderful idea for a blog? From a random conversation during this years Superbowl of course! As they explain it:
I asked Tueffel’s Stubble if he’d seen the fluff piece on Mets.com about how David Wright planned to spend this glorious American holiday at HoJo’s house. In his infinite wisdom, Teufel Stubble remarked that HoJo was probably just spending the entire time trying to convince David Wright to grow a mustache.
And that was that. The website features prominent mustaches in Major League Baseball history, as well as listing reasons for Wright to grow one out, such as “Mustache is the New Eye Black“. The site also provides ways in which you can help fight along side The Wright Stache for facial hair glory.
I highly recommend checking this site out. It’s blogs like that which help fans remember that baseball is fun, and its not all just news and stats.
On a final note, don’t forget to check out Mets Weekly on SNY this Saturday at 12:30pm. Rumor has it that The Wright Stache might make an appearance! Good luck with you cause boys, we support you!
Sources tell Sports Illustrated that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003, the year he won the AL home run title and MVP while with the Texas Rangers. A-Rod has refused to talk to the press, telling media “You’ll have to talk to the union.” Calls to players’ union executive director Donald Fehr were not returned.
The sources provided a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003.
Oh boy. Can anyone say…A-Fraud? I know, it was in 2003. But the guy won two titles while testing positive for steroids. I guess Jose Canseco wasn’t so crazy after all. He said in his book that he told A-Rod where to get the steroids from. Stuff like this takes away from the sport.
Now…if the leagues knew about this, which they probably did, why was he still given the titles? They didn’t need to out him as a steroid user but they didn’t need to give him an MVP award. It’s ridiculous.
Added by Anthony De Rosa…
Russell Scibetti at The Business Of Sports wonders if Alex Rodriguez would have grounds for a lawsuit since the tests in 2003 were supposed to be private under an agreement between the MLB Players Association and Major League Baseball.
In addition to testing positive in 2003, three major league players who spoke to SI said that Rodriguez was also tipped by Gene Orza, the COO of the players union, in early September 2004 that he would be tested later that month.
What about the other players in the report. While it doesn’t excuse what Alex Rodriguez did, isn’t it unfair to single him out? The MLBPA did an awful job here protecting their players, and MLB did too little to prevent steroids from becoming an issue to begin with.
How do you begin to say goodbye to a place that holds such cherished memories for you? I chose not to go to the Shea Goodbye rally today. I have not once looked at pictures of Shea being demolished. When friends and colleagues start to talk about it, I change the subject. I wanted to go today but I couldn’t. Even as I write this, I am tearing up.
When I first heard that Shea was closing I was upset but I had no idea that I would be this emotional about it. Shea Stadium has been a second home for me. Nothing will ever come close to the feeling of walking over that big wooden bridge and seeing Shea or the camaraderie felt with the fans walking down the concrete ramps after a win. Hot Foot’s own Aaron Lerner put it best, saying “Shea definitely wasn’t perfect, but it was ours”.
I am afraid Citifield will never hold that feeling for me but with any luck it will for the next generation of Mets fans. This summer I plan to take my 3-year-old god daughter to Citifield for her first Mets game (because she lives in Florida and I will never forgive myself if she becomes a Marlins fan) and I plan to take her every time she comes to NY. While Citifield will not be able to replace the memories of Shea, I do hope to make Citifield a cherished memory for my god daughter.
So thank you Shea for the memories you have given me. You will never be forgotten.
Update : February 1st, 12:14pm…
Head over to the New York Times to hear about the group of 100 fans who gathered yesterday to say goodbye to what’s left of Shea.
I recently had the privilege of talking with Dana Brand, author of Mets Fan, to discuss his book, the Mets and other things that popped up during our discussion. Below is my experience:
In the summer of 2005, Dana Brand was encouraged by his colleagues to submit one of his personal essays to Newsday. Brand, a lifelong Mets fan, had written a piece explaining why he is a Mets fan. The powers that be over at Newsday published the essay, entitled “If You Prick a Mets Fan, He’ll Bleed Blue and Orange.” According to Brand, an English professor at Hofstra University on Long Island, that was when he made the decision to write Mets Fan.
Mets Fan is a collection of personal essays regarding all things Mets. One of the most remarkable things about this book is the passion behind it. This was not written by a sport writer. In every word, every sentence, you know this was written by a Mets fan. Brand discusses everything, from his favorite games to the announcers on WFAN. The most surprising thing is how he seemed to put everything I was thinking on paper. As he described Steve Somers, I could hear his voice.
As Brand discusses in his book, during his time at Yale University, he became very close to one of his professors, A. Bartlett Giamatti, who would go one to become the commissioner of Major League Baseball. According to Brand, they would constantly talk about the things going on in baseball. Once Brand became a professor, he found that his students knew of his book because he had done a reading at Hofstra University after the book was published.
Brand also talked with me about the current state of the Mets. I met with Brand on September 22nd, just at the Mets were beginning their final homestand at Shea. When asked how he felt about what is going on with the team, he replied “helpless and scared”. His prediction was that the Mets would take the wild card. I asked him how he would feel is the Mets didn’t make the playoffs, his response was “it will be 3 years down the drain. If they make it to the playoffs, its like 2007 never happened, but if they don’t, it’s like 2006 never happened.” As expected, his shared that he felt that the bullpen is fatal. He told me he was attending 4 games that week, including the last game at Shea.
According to Brand, Lynn Cohen is a big fan of his book. During one of their conversations, he mentioned that his dream would be to be able to take his mother, also a diehard Mets fan, to game at Shea before it closes. Lynn made that possible by inviting him and his family to sit in the picnic area at Shea during the one of the last games at Shea Stadium.
Dana also shared with me his daily blogs that he looks at. They include Mets Blog, Faith and Fear in Flushing, the Ed Kranepool Society and of course, Hot Foot.
As for what’s next for him? He shared with me two exciting pieces of news. His is currently finishing his next book entitled “The Last Days of Shea” It is expected to be out next summer. Equally as exciting, Dana Brand has been given permission to have a conference at Hofstra University on November 3-5, 2011 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mets. While it is still in the planning stages, we hope to help in the creating and success of this event and will bring you updates as they become available.
For more information about Dana Brand, and to read his thoughts on the final week at Shea, visit his website.
For all those not lucky enough to be at Shea Stadium today, we invite EVERYONE to join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers today to discuss your favorite Shea moments and today’s very important game. Come talk with some of the Hot Foot writers and other dedicated fans as we Shea Goodbye.
I just want to echo what Matt Cerrone has said over the past few days. I am way more emotional about this than I thought I would be. Everyone knows that Shea is falling apart, but I think we all have so many memories there and I hope that everyone can find time today to stop into the Bleachers and share them with us.
Well, Cerrone has done it. He ignored his readers (a large fan base) and posted the Magic Number on Friday, September 12th which has effectively jinxed the Mets. I checked the results of the polls. He said in his post that 44% didn’t want him to post it, calling us paranoid (well baseball people are superstitious by nature), which is true. I think 44% is a pretty large number for him to say the “majority” of readers weren’t as paranoid. Here were the results at the end of the poll:
Never, DO NOT Post It (44%, 2,066 Votes)
Between 10 and 0 (41%, 1,907 Votes)
Between 20 and 15 (8%, 361 Votes)
Between 15 and 10 (8%, 355 Votes)
IF Cerrone was going by the majority, then 44% wins it. But fine, he likes to play with graphics and it’s his site so it’s his way. But the MAJORITY of the Mets fans that wanted it posted did not want it up there until it was at least 10. Cerrone put it up at 15. Sure Matt, the graphic is cute, but why aren’t you listening to the readers of your site? Since when is 8% the majority?
Either way, Cerrone has jinxed the Mets..again. I am not sure why it’s happening, but what he needs to do is take the magic number DOWN. And just not post it. Ever. He can talk about it all he wants, but he MUST take it down. That is the only way to rectify it. How many games does this team have to lose because he realizes it?
So here is a poll of my own, how many of you think Cerrone should take down the magic number immediately?
As I sat on the porch this morning with my Newsday, I went through my normal routine. First I read the news, then I look at the ads, then comes the sports section. However, my newspaper was doused when I spit out my morning coffee during a particular article by Barbara Barker entitled “Chipper Nostalgic in Last Week at Shea”. Here we go again.
Some of you may know that I had a big problem with the interview Kevin Burkhardt did with Chipper on the Mets Pregame show last month. First of all, why were the Mets trying to humanize Chipper Jones? It just made his sound worse. It was bad enough that Kevin was fawning over him like they just spent a night of passion together, but to hear Chipper say “the fans don’t hate me that much, people are friendly to me in the streets.” Yes…the Yankee fans. Sheesh. Then, as if that wasn’t enough bad enough, he had the nerve to imply that he wouldn’t mind playing for the Mets. Over my dead body.
So this article goes even further, chronicling Chipper’s last weekend at Shea. He walked about the park with his family (including 4-year-old Shea), taking pictures. Now that doesn’t bother me. And to be fair, for the most part he wasn’t too abusive to the fans (unlike after the 1999 post season where he stated the Mets fans could “go home and put their Yankee gear on). However, upon finding out that he actually bought a pair of seats from Shea, that’s when I lost it.
Seriously? I mean it’s bad enough you ripped the Mets apart everytime you played them. But I find it insulting that Chipper feels that close to this stadium and that he makes it so publically known.
And I find it even WORSE that the media is condoning this as if to say “See? He’s not such a bad guy!”. During his interviews all he talks about is how much he loves Shea because of how good he played here. Why on EARTH would anyone in New York want to relive that? I don’t want to hear Chipper talking about how great he played here. I was around and I am aware. It’s hard to tell who I am more upset with…Chipper or the New York media.
So this sparked a debate with fellow Hot Foot writer Rob Harding and myself. I even talked to Anthony DeRosa, the Footfather, who had some interesting views on the subject.
So maybe Chipper has done his job. And maybe the media thinks it’s OK because the Braves are so bad this year. Maybe he has sparked the rivalry and made it more fun. But the point of doing that was to make he despise him. Today I stand here willing to concede that fight to him. Congratulations. You made the rivalry more fun, and I despise you. You win, Larry. Enjoy it.
Just don’t think you’re going to have those same memories at Citifield. In any uniform.
So a few days ago I was surfing around the web and decided one of my favorite sports blogs, Deadspin.com. They are not only funny but very women friendly, never shying away from female bloggers who have opinions about the general state of female sports fans. I stumbled across an article written on the blog Mass Hysteria Sports by a female Red Sox fan under the handle FutureMrsRickAnkiel who was defending the pink hat and the people who wear them. I’ve never heard this before but I’m guessing it’s along the lines of what runs through my mind when I see a girl in a “Looking for Mr. Wright” tee shirt.
Let me start by saying I have no doubt that this blogger is a hardcore Red Sox fan and it sucks that she has to prove it to people. As in New York, there are a lot of bandwagon fans and it especially hard for female fans because we are always challenged about our fandome, with or without wearing a pink hat. Now, as you know from my posts and talking to me, I believe that the baseball apparel sold for men and women should be more equal, and it’s not because I hate pink. I happen to like pink, just not on my Mets hat. So what I’d like to do is address her points one by one and try to make my case. Again, I have nothing against this girl, and I’m sure I would enjoy going to a game with her and would be psyched is more of my girl friends were like her. Here we go:
“The first and most obvious response to the “pink-hatters” tag is that bandwagoneering is hardly gender-specific.” I agree 110%. Everyone knows there are more guys pretending to like baseball than girls. Girls will mostly admit they don’t know much about it if they don’t. However, I believe that term is just being used in this case to talk about girl bandwagon fans and is in no way saying that ONLY girls are bandwagon fans. In fact, I wouldn’t think of a girl wearing a pink hat as a bandwagon fan, I’d assume she was a casual fan.
“THERE IS NOTHING INTRINSICALLY WRONG WITH A PINK HAT” Well, see, that’s where we differ. I think there is somthing wrong with it, and not because it is girly. I absolutly support her right to look girly at baseball games. As this blogger, I own a few of Alyssa Milano’s “touch” items and I have a Mets belly-button ring (I love ebay). But here is the thing with the pink hat. It’s pink. It’s not the teams colors. I am old fashioned I guess, but I believe in rocking the Orange and Blue (or in her case it would be the Red and White). There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to be girly, I just think you can still be girly in your teams colors. Now, I may be biased because I live in NY with two teams who have similar logos on thier hats. I can’t stand having to figure out what hat someone is wearing because its a different color.
“Don’t begrudge me or the other fine ladies of Red Sox Nation our chosen apparel.” I’m not going to. But she knows how hard it is to be a female baseball fan. You are always having to prove yourself over and over. Unfortunatly, wearing a pink hat has a stigma attached and if she wants to wear it, that’s fine. But she is just going to need to deal with the looks, questions and names. All the female fans have to do it and by wearing a pink hat or somthing of that sort, that’s what comes with it. It sucks, but that’s the way it is.
I say, wear what you want. I am opposed to the pink hats for the sole reason that they are not Mets Blue and Orange. And I am not going to sit here and say if I saw her from a distance I wouldn’t think that is probably a casual fan. I probably would. But that’s probably because I’m on the defensive, as all female fans usually are. I feel EXACTLY like this blogger does, I don’t want to be mistaken for a casual fan because men think women don’t know sports.
In closing, I hope this girl keeps on fighting the good fight for female sports fans everywhere. And please don’t think I’m telling her to blend in with the men. I’m not. I’m simply saying that if you wear a pink hat, that’s what people might think so until the times change, we just need to keep fighting the good fight.
According to Kathianne Boniello at the New York Post, a fan hit by a flying bat at Shea Stadium during a Mets-Braves game in August of 2007 is planning on filing a lawsuit for the medical damages. James Falzon, 48, was struck by a bat while sitting on the 3rd base line with his son, father and nephew. The incident left him with broken teeth, a split palate and facial fractures. Falzon plans to sue Shea Stadium under the premise that there should be netting up to protect the fans.
First of all, read the back of the ticket man. It CLEARLY states: “The holder assumes all risk, danger and injury incidental to the game of baseball and all warm-ups, practices, competitions, entertainment and promotions [...] whether occurring prior to, during or subsequent to the playing of the game, including (but not limited to) the danger of thrown bats, fragments thereof, and thrown, propelled or batted balls and other objects [...].
Plus, one of the reasons people want those seats is so they can catch foul balls and that would be prevented if there were netting up. Accidents happen everyday, get over it. Anyone who has ever watched a game before knows that bats and balls go flying. It was his choice to sit there instead of the somewhere safer, such as behind home plate where there is netting or under the overhang in the Mezzanine section. Next time, pick a safer seat. It doesn’t seem like he is going to have a great case to go on here.
As if this team needs more drama, Bart Hubbuch at the New York Post revealed that the ever passionate/childish/firey/immature Jose Reyes and the king of non sequitur Keith Hernandez got into a heated discussion Sunday night while on the teams charter plane to St. Louis. No punches were thrown, but teammates separated the two just in case.
According to Hubbuch, Reyes, unhappy with Keith’s comments regarding his on field reaction to an error he made earlier in the night against the Yankees, confronted him after his family who had been watching the broadcast called Reyes before the flight to inform him of what was said. According to Reyes:
“A lot of people told me, and that’s no good,” Reyes told The Post. “I was mad at myself because I make an error in that situation. It makes me mad, because [Hernandez] played the game, too. He knows it is not an easy game. And he knows when you make an error, you are supposed to feel bad.”
During the game, Hernandez make some comments regarding the Mets treatment of Reyes as “babying” and felt it was “time to take off the kid gloves”. He defines what happened with Reyes later that night on the plane as a conversation, not a confrontation. Keith holds no issue with Reyes and says the two are fine.
Reyes, however, made it know that he is still angry, telling the Post ” “I don’t know why in that situation he’s talking like that”.
This is just ridiculous. At least it wasn’t between teammates, I guess. And this isn’t the first time a Mets player has had a problem with Keith. As Hubbuch noted, in 2002, Keith made comments about Mets having no heart which former catcher Mike Piazza took great offense to. I don’t know what’s going on with this team, but this should NOT be happening. I mean, I’m sorry, but in this case, Reyes just needs to get thicker skin. I agree at this point, GROW UP! Not everyone is going to be nice to you. Keith’s job is to comment on the game. He commented on the game. Get over it, Reyes.
The Long Island Transplant Recipients International Organization (LI TRIO) will sponsor “Organ Donor Awareness Night at Shea Stadium” on July 22, 2008 at 7:00 PM. LI TRIO is a non-profit, all volunteer organization committed to improving the quality of life touched by the miracle of transplantation through support, advocacy, education, and awareness.
Please join LI TRIO in honoring and thanking donors and donor families as we recognize the importance of organ donation and the success of transplantation in saving lives. The LI TRIO Singers will perform our nation’s National Anthem. Tickets that normally sell for $39 are being discounted and sold for only $20 and are located in mezzanine sections 21 and 27.
Purchase tickets by calling Ruth Pohl at (631) 884-0482.
This is a great cause and I am glad to see Shea getting involved in working with organziations such as this.
Can someone PLEASE explain to me, why you would have Willie and his staff fly across the country….and the fire them after a good win!? This is beyond comprehension. I am stunned and angry. Omar did a cowardly thing. It’s not enough to just fire a guy, he did is SO disrespectfully, and Willie does NOT deserve that. The only person with the team right now is Omar. The entire Mets front office, There is no need to fire Willie Randolph after the team is winning and going to the west coast! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I have to head off to work, but I will leave you with this:
Omar, I hope, I PRAY, you are rewarded for your cowardly actions…and get the next pink slip they hang out. Mr. Minaya, SCREW YOU. You have singlehanded damaged the front office’s reputation. No one will sit here and say you can’t fire a guy, but after a win? With Santana going on the mound today? And after you just sent him across the country? You are a classless, disrespectful jerk Minaya, and it WILL come back to haunt you.
–MetsGal
PS: Willie, I wish you all the best. I truly believe, even now, that you could have turned this team around and that it was just a matter of getting into a nice swing. When you come back to NY with your next managing job, wherever it is, I will be there to give you a standing ovation. As will many others. You brought us out of the depths and made us believe our team could do better. You will forever and always be a New York Met in my mind. Good luck, Skipper.
Famed journalist and lifelong baseball fan Tim Russert died today at his Washington office of a heart attack at age 58. Russert had recently returned from a family vacation in Italy to celebrate his sons graduation from Boston College. Russert’s show, “Meet the Press”, is the most watched Sunday morning show in America.
While the “Meet the Press” journalist’s death was a shock to everyone, he is remember in the baseball world for his passion and dedication to the game. Russert had been a Baseball Hall of Fame Board Member since 2003. He had season tickets to the Washington Nationals as well as being an avid Buffalo Bills fan. For statements from Commissioner Bud Selig and other members of the baseball world, check out MLB.com.
We here at the Foot join the everyone in sending our condolences to Tim’s family and friends. Tim was not only a brilliant, well-rounded journalist, but an amazing person. He has contributed so much and he will be missed.
Summertime is finally here
That old ball park man is back in gear
Out on 49, man I can see the lights
- Kenny Chesney’s “Summertime”
I couldn’t think of a better title than this. As we speak, I am currently sitting on the back porch of my Long Island home enjoying the remaining hours of another beautiful summer day. On days like this in previous years, I’d forgo my favorite CW11 or SNY crew for the old school feeling of WFAN’s Howie Rose, Gary Cohen and Tom McCarthy. Of course, that is not the case tonight, as there is no game on. Instead, I choose to think about how my boys of summer are not starting off my summer in a good way.
Since I graduated from my undergrad last year and now have a full time job (aka no more summer vacations), the Mets really are the final reminder of summers past for me. With too much to get done on the weekends to enjoy the beach or Lake Ronkonkoma, the Mets have always been there for me. They define summer in my mind.
Researchers say the sense of smell evokes the strongest memories. The smells of Shea Stadium are that for me. Even the smells sitting in my backyard right now make me think of the Mets. The late nights spent out here listening to Gary Cohen call every game on WFAN like it was the last breath he would ever take is forever ingrained in my mind and heart.
I guess my point is, winning or losing, the Mets are still the boys of summer to me. They are what signifies summer to so many, children and adults alike. I mean, when you think about, they aren’t called the boys of summer for all the games they play in October.
Barring a rain out (which doesn’t seem likely as my friends at the Shea tell me), LHP Johan Santana (5-3, 3.36) will face off against LHP Andrew Miller (4-3, 5.33). The Marlins currently sit atop the NL East while the Mets are struggling to stay out of last. Which brings us to…
Keys to the game:
Run support, run support and oh yea, run support: With Johan Santana giving up 11 home runs in 7 of his 10 starts this year, run support will be needed tonight, and all season long, when he takes the mound. While he is lights out most of the time, he does not fair well with the long ball.
Take an early lead: Because the Mets seem unable to score runs in the late innings, it will be important to score a lot of runs early on. I know this seems obvious, but I will take a win any way I can. Please guys, I’m begging you!
Rookies wanting to earn a spot: With key players coming off the disabled list soon, Tatis and Evans will need to step up their games if that want to see the light of Shea again. I mean, come on, did no one see what happened to Figgy after 2 bad starts?
Easley handling 1st with ease: With Delgado struggling I’m glad he’s taking a day off, but once again, due to the number of HR’s Santana gives up, not letting the runners take to the basepads will be important tonight.
Game time is set for 7:05pm and can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN. For lineups, check out David Lennon with Newsday. As always, head on over to the Hot Foot Bleachers to watch tonight’s Mets games with the writers and fellow fans.
Regardless of the current weather, it seems the Mets (21-19) will attempt to get tonight’s game in. They will take on the Yankees (20-23) in the final game of the series (no make up date has been announced for Friday’s rain out). The Mets will send Oliver Perez (3-3, 4.61) to the mound to face off against Chien-Ming Wang (6-1, 2.90).
Lineups courtesy of David Lennon at his blog for Newsday :
For those of you in Manhattan, in case you haven’t noticed, the Empire State Building has been lit up for the past two nights with Mets orange and blue on the east and west sides and Yankees blue and white. While I am not sure how Friday’s rain out will affect this, the plan is that the team who wins the series will have the whole building lit up in their colors. This means that if the Mets win tonight, they will have won the series and the Empire State Building will gleam orange and blue. However, should the Mets lose, the colors will either stay as they are tomorrow or be removed completely.
Tonights game is slated for a 8:05pm start and can be seen on ESPN and heard on WFAN. As always, join us in the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss how thankful we are that Beaton has lucky tube socks rather than a golden thong and to mercilessly make fun of Joe Morgan and Jon Miller.
