According to John Harper of the Daily News there was plenty of off the record enjoyment from the Mets organization over Hank Steinbrenner’s latest outburst regarding Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Many within the Mets brass think Hanks latest remarks are connected to the Yankees not trading for Johan Santana,

“If it’s any consolation, tell him we’re all very grateful,” one member of the Mets’ organization said with a laugh. “The guy is dominating for us and he doesn’t even have his good feel for his change-up yet.”

Also, as John Harper points out the always out spoken Billy Wagner had no problem speaking about Joba situation on the record,

“The Joba thing, to me, there’s no question about where he should be,” Wagner said. “He’s in the pen and that’s where he should stay. He’s dominating out there, so you want him comfortable, just doing what he’s doing.

“You don’t want him thinking, ‘Well, if I’m going to be starting (at some point), do I need to work on my other pitches to keep that stuff sharp?’ You don’t want to give him anything that might have him wondering, ‘What do I do?’ You don’t want to put anything in his head except getting those three outs in the eighth inning.”

Wagner goes on to talk at length about the differences between starting, the bullpen and his own experiences. I love how Billy will talk with the media on almost any topic and the fact that some in the Mets organization got a kick out of Hank Steinbrenner’s outburst, it adds to the rivalry, great stuff.

Hat tip to the Gozerian at Hot Off the Stove for the link.

In a highly entertaining post on the Phillies blog The 700 club they recap, from their point of view, how some Mets fans invaded Philly and left an “impression” most would not be proud of. The post from Monday, that is a must read can be found here.

One of my favorite lines from that post, one of many mind you, points out one Mets fan at the game thusly,

“How can you mock a guy with a Shinjo tee shirt? That’s hardcore.”

For More on all this nonsense and some more pics go to yesterday’s follow up here.

The Mets with John Maine on the mound, stayed with the Cubs and their ace Carlos Zambrano most of the way tonight but with the bullpen not sharp and some sloppy play, the Mets wound up losing by a final of 7-1. After taking two out of three against Philly then arriving in Chicago at 3:00 am and having to face the first place Cubs at home with their ace on the mound tonight’s loss was somewhat predictable.

Zambrano pitched 7 innings only yielding only one run. The Mets managed to get just five hits off the Cubs ace. No one in the Mets line-up had more that one hit and they hit into four double plays which seems to happen in every game so far this young season.

John Maine pitched 6 strong innings giving up just two earned runs, walking two and striking out six.

Duaner Sanchez looked sharp pitching a perfect 7th but the slumping Aaron Heilman could not make it out of the 8th inning after Jose Reyes started the inning botching a ground ball, Heilman hit the next batter and it was all downhill from there. Heilman was able to get two outs with the bases loaded but gave up a single to the gap in left center after getting within a strike of escaping the inning. Four unearned runs were charged to Heilman. Then Jorge Sosa came in with two runners on and gave up a three run homer to Felix Pie making the score 7-1 Cubs.

So, for me it’s just a game the Mets should put behind them. They got in late and lost to a good team with their ace on the mound. No, shame in that. Hopefully they all went back to their hotel rooms straight away to rest up for the day game tomorrow.

Nelson Figueroa is scheduled to start for the Mets tomorrow versus Ted Lilly for the Cubs. Game time is 2:00 pm.

Indianapolis Colts Tight End Dallas Clark spoke with SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt during tonights Cubs-Mets game. He was wearing a David Wright jersey and told Burkhardt even though he’s from Iowa he grew up a Mets fan watching the 1986 team and was a fan of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Newsday’s David Lennon has more on Clark’s visit with the Mets at his Blog On the Mets beat.

Lennon adds that Willie Randolph, when asked about Carlos Delgado’s recent struggles and if he’d consider moving him down in the line-up said,

“I think it’s way too early for that to me.” “I’m not ready to make any rash moves with Carlos.”

Lennon also reports that injured C Ramon Castro caught five innings of an extended spring training game in Port St. Lucie, but Castro will not be returning any time soon.

Here’s a little video proof of those “classy” Yankees fans acting nothing like our pals in Philly. I knew I had more than 1,000 reasons why I hate both of these teams and their fans.

Geez, fyi the word hate is tongue in cheek guys.

Video via The Big Stew

Most likely hot hitting and former Cubs OF Angel Pagan will be back in the line-up for the Mets tonight and will face the team that traded him during the off season. According to Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post’s Mets Blog Pagan has no hard feelings towards the Cubs but he has his priority’s straight.

“They were great to me and gave me my first big-league opportunity, which I’m thankful for, but right now my goal is to whip their butts,” Pagan said.

With Moises Alou on his way back from the DL Pagan realizes that his playing time may dwindle,

“I respect that Moises is the left fielder,” Pagan said. “I just want to make sure they still believe in me once he comes back. I want a role when that happens, no matter what it is. I’m just playing my game and living in the moment.”

Update: Oops, bad assumption on my part, commenter DjDef points out that according to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, neither Pagan nor C Brian Schneider are in the line-up tonight. Endy Chavez is playing LF and batting eighth.

Here’s a few random things that I found either this weekend or this morning that I found interesting enough to share.

• According to Marty Noble of Mets.com if there is ever a marathon game and the Mets run out of pitchers, ex-Univ. of Nevada pitcher Ryan Church could be the man the Mets might rely on in that spot. Thursday night, with the Mets in extra innings and Scott Schoeneweis the only pitcher left in the bullpen Church said,

“If [Schoeneweis] had been used, I would have started thinking about it, As long as I come out of it as the winning pitcher, I wouldn’t mind.”

• Mets and Yankees players could bump into each other on the streets while both teams visit Chicago at the same time, a first in 28 years, MLB.com

• Before last nights start Bart Hubbuch of NY Post’s Mets Blog caught up with Mets reserve OF Endy Chavez and talked to him about his decreased playing time thus far this year. Seems like Endy is handling it like a pro,

“It’s not an easy thing,” said Chavez, I understand the way it is,” he said. “We’re playing good and winning, and that’s the most important part. We’re also facing a lot of left-handers, which hurts me. I just try to stay patient and hope my time will come.”

• Over at his Hard Ball Blog for the NY Post, Joel Sherman writes about the other thing the Yankees and the Mets have in common besides visiting Chicago this week. Aging stars, Carlos Delgado for the Mets and Mike Mussina for the Yankees and whether they have anything left in the tank.

Delgado is to the Mets what Mike Mussina is to the Yankees: A once standout player whose current organization is hoping he can recapture just a piece of his past.

• On April 26 at Shea the Mets will honor the legacy of Hall of Fame sports writer Jack Lang in a pre-game video ceremony. While the Mets pay tribute to Lang they will raise funds that will benefit The Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island.

As a member of the New York Chapter Baseball Writers Association of American, Lang notified 44 players of their election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame including Mets great, Tom Seaver.

During last nights Mets-Phillies game seen on ESPN Hillary Clinton supporter’s help up signs that could be seen on TV when a left handed batter was at the plate. According to Philadelphia Weekly’s Will Do Blog, we never saw the above angle again all night.

I do not know a Mets fan alive who doesn’t like or love our “Home Run Apple” at Shea Stadium. In this story about the Apple by Anthony McCarron of the Daily News its seems that the Mets higher ups are going to have some kind of Home Run Apple at the new Citi Field.

Mets Executive Vice President of business operations Dave Howard said,

“There will be some sort of apple at the Mets’ new home, Citi Field, which opens next season, Howard says. “Planning the new park, we always felt there should be some kind of Apple,” Howard says. “Whether it’s the same one or not, that’s something we’re still weighing. Either way, the apple will be represented.”

Darryl Strawberry in the story said this about the apple,

“Love it,” Strawberry says with a giggle. “It’s the Big Apple, you know? I have a lot of fond memories of making that thing come up. That Apple has always been special to me - it means you’ve done something good.”

Check out the whole three page article on everything there is to know about the apple. There is a campaign along with a website that has 7,115 signatures dedicated to encouraging the Mets to bring the Apple as is over to the new ball park. Save The Apple.com