2008 New York Mets [Forum Archive]

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2008 New York Mets

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Posted by: min0 lee

Moises Alou diagnosed with hernia, could be sidelined until mid-May

They need to get rid of this fragile guy, he's always hurt.

Posted by: min0 lee

Damn, if this were the Yankees they would have fired their fitness trainer long ago.

Posted by: min0 lee

I guess I'll post all the Met goodies here.

Posted by: A Black Guy

I'd look for Nick Evans and Dan Murphy to move into the infield if the Mets can't get any trades done.

Evans has been groomed to be the future 1st baseman, but just not this soon. If he impresses this spring, I think he'll be a lock.

Another interesting scenario would be to go crazy and put Wright at 1st and bring Dan Murphy in at 3rd, he's looked strong coming in for Wright in the 2nd have of these spring games.

Posted by: min0 lee

Has Wright ever played first base? That may be an option, although he has practiced his throws to first.

Posted by: IainDaniel

2008 New York Chokes.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

2008 New York Chokes.

It's better to have choked than to have never choked.....bad comeback.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Year Joined league Mets -1962 Jays - 1977

World Series 2 each

Posted by: min0 lee

Bah!

Posted by: min0 lee

SANTANA SHARP AGAIN

March 10, 2008 -- PORT ST. LUCIE -- The chance to face an AL team again had Johan Santana looking comfortable in his third spring start today. Santana gave up a leadoff single to Jacoby Ellsbury and was in trouble in the top of the first through no fault of his own because of a one-out error by left fielder Brady Clark on a lazy fly by Jason Varitek. Clark appeared to lose the ball in the sun and let it drop...........

Posted by: I Are Baboon

The Mets are a LOCK in the NL East. Too bad my local Comcast doesn't carry that gay homo Mets station.

Posted by: A Black Guy

They need to try and get something for Beltran and Delgado.

Both of them swing like they're not even trying anymore.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by A Black Guy

They need to try and get something for Beltran and Delgado.

Both of them swing like they're not even trying anymore.

Delgado's career is going doing downhill.

Posted by: soxmuscle

I'm surprised you mention Beltran..

Get rid of a guy penciled into one of the more important positions on the field as well as being your #3 or #4 hitter?

Is he really dogging it with that injury?

Posted by: soxmuscle

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Delgado's career is going doing downhill.

I don't necessarily disagree, but I think he'll do better next year than he did last year (if he can manage to stay on the field).

Posted by: A Black Guy

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

I'm surprised you mention Beltran..

Get rid of a guy penciled into one of the more important positions on the field as well as being your #3 or #4 hitter?

Is he really dogging it with that injury?

I mean, it's only spring, and I'm sure the guy isn't 100%, but I don't think there's any reason to keep this guy around at almost $14mil a year now.

Posted by: min0 lee

Too many injuries, this season doesn't look good. I see the Phils winning it.

Pedro leaves game with injury

Pedro Martinez was forced to leave Tuesday's Mets-Marlins game with one out in the fourth after clutching his left hamstring on a pitch that resulted in a groundout by Matt Treanor. The initial report was a strained left hamstring.

Posted by: Triple Threat

Pedro is getting too old to pitch this early in the season. He should pull a Clemens and wait until June.

Posted by: min0 lee

Unreal, this team is too old.

Posted by: Triple Threat

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Unreal, this team is too old.

How do you know when the team is too old?

When you can field a team for an old-timers game from the current roster.

Posted by: soxmuscle

Pedro just doesn't have it anymore.

It wasn't like he was lights out before the injury.

He probably shouldn't have even been in the game to begin with.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by Triple Threat

How do you know when the team is too old?

When you can field a team for an old-timers game from the current roster.

Ouch, I was wondering why the Met jokes ...I forgot your with the Yankees.

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Pedro just doesn't have it anymore.

It wasn't like he was lights out before the injury.

He probably shouldn't have even been in the game to begin with.

Have you ever seen his workouts?
He uses like what seems to be 5 pounds weights for curling... he's out of shape. I know you don't have e to be built but I've seen his body and dear lord it's fugly.
It's amazing he threw so fast for a small guy.

Posted by: min0 lee

Google Image Result for http://paulkatcher.com/images/pedro_martinez2.jpg

Revealed: The Pedro Martinez Workout Routine

Well, I know at least one baseball player who's not on steroids. He goes by the name of Pedro Martinez, and he shaves his armpits.

He's the Soul Glo commercial reject to your right, the newest ace of the New York Mets, the man struggling to throw a couple of 5-pound dumbbells to the sky.
Being that we're almost neighbors now — if you liken the Purple Dump to anything resembling the fashionable and exclusive Upper West Side, home to Yogi's and Gray's Papaya — I was able to gain an exclusive report on Pedro's workout, as he attempts to bolster his scrawny bod and earn his four-year guaranteed contract with the team that fared so well signing Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar.
Anyway, here's a look at Pedro's strenuous itinerary...
Warm-Up:
Ride a tricycle for 5 minutes
Jump over a rope
3 push-ups, or until exhaustion
Main Workout
Throw nearest 72-year-old man to the floor
Lift a Saturday edition of the New York Post
Call Nomar to plan 2005 arson of Fenway Park
Shoulder presses with 5-pound dumbbells (unless some chick is using them)
Cool-Down
Stretch Jehri-curls
Scour locker room to see if '86 Mets left any cocaine behind
Scour locker room to see if Kris Benson left horny wife behind
Go home and try to make nice with wingman Nelson de la Rosa

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Clearly Pedro wasn't keeping himself conditioned in the offseason. There is no reason to blow out a hamstring in your first start of the season. 2007 Yankees aside, you don't hear of this injury too often with pitchers...usually it's shoulders, elbows, backs and groins.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

So I was flipping through the channels the other day and came upon SNY on my Comcast digital cable. They must have just added it because I did not get that channel last year. It's not in HD, but I'll take it.

The Mets are still homos though.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

So I was flipping through the channels the other day and came upon SNY on my Comcast digital cable. They must have just added it because I did not get that channel last year. It's not in HD, but I'll take it.

The Mets are still homos though.

1986 was a good year.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Did you see Bill Buckner throw out the first pitch at Fenway yesterday? Oddly enough, he didn't throw a baseball. He threw Mookie's head.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Did you see Bill Buckner throw out the first pitch at Fenway yesterday? Oddly enough, he didn't throw a baseball. He threw Mookie's head.

I always thought he was a hell of a hitter, I blame Scha....the reliever more than Buckner for that loss.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

I always thought he was a hell of a hitter, I blame Scha....the reliever more than Buckner for that loss.

Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley. The ass bangers.

Posted by: Triple Threat

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Did you see Bill Buckner throw out the first pitch at Fenway yesterday?

They were smart enough not to ask him to catch the first pitch.

Posted by: min0 lee

Ryan Church gets bell rung, Mets swept by Braves in doubleheader

Quote:

ATLANTA - That optimism generated by a Subway Series sweep didn't last 48 hours. The Mets were swept by the Braves in a day-night doubleheader Tuesday, undoubtedly renewing the chatter about Willie Randolph's future. Worse, Ryan Church - the Mets' top performer - headed to the hospital after suffering his second concussion in three months trying to break up a game-ending double play in the nightcap.
The Mets lost, 6-1 and 6-2.

Posted by: min0 lee

Mike Piazza retires from baseball

ATLANTA - Ten years ago Thursday, Mike Piazza landed in New York, helping to not only turn around the moribund Mets, but also finding a new baseball home after years on the West Coast.
Tuesday, the all-time home run leader among catchers officially ended his Hall of Fame career, announcing his retirement.
"He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer - certainly the best-hitting catcher of our era and arguably the best-hitting catcher of all time," Tom Glavine, Piazza's former batterymate with the Mets, said Tuesday in Atlanta.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Ryan Church gets bell rung, Mets swept by Braves in doubleheader

Ouch!

Posted by: min0 lee

Mets fire Willie Randolph

BY ADAM RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Updated Tuesday, June 17th 2008, 12:33 PM

ANAHEIM - The Mets have fired manager Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto, the team announced shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.
Bench coach Jerry Manuel has been named the team's interim manager, while Ken Oberkfell, Dan Warthen and Luis Aguayo will join the staff.
The announcement came despite the Mets' 9-6 victory against the Angels hours earlier, which lifted the team's record to 34-35. Randolph's tenure as the organization's 18th manager ends with a 302-253 record, the second-highest winning percentage in franchise history, trailing only Davey Johnson.
The first African-American manager in New York's baseball history, Randolph was in his fourth season at the Mets' helm. He was due to make $2 million this season, and is still owed $2.25 million in 2009.
Manuel, 54, managed the White Sox from 1998-2003, and was named AL Manager of the Year in 2000.
Warthen, who was serving as Triple-A New Orleans' pitching coach, succeeds Peterson in that role at the major-league level. He rejoined the organization after spending the previous two seasons as the bullpen coach on Grady Little's Dodgers staff.
Oberkfell, a former major-league infielder, has managed the Mets' Triple-A affiliate the past four seasons. Aguayo was the Mets' field coordinator, overseeing minor-leaguers at the Port St. Lucie complex.
GM Omar Minaya, who let Randolph twist in the wind without a bona fide vote of confidence for the past month, will hold at press conference at the Angels' stadium at 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday. If the Mets continue to flounder, the scrutiny will undoubtedly shift to Minaya, who is signed through the 2009 season.
The 2007 Mets, Randolph included, will forever be stained for squandering a seven-game division lead with 17 games to play.

Posted by: min0 lee

I would say Minaya should recieve some of the blame.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Sounds like Omar treated Randolf like a bag of shit. Randolf questioned Omar a few times, and Omar lied to his face.

Posted by: min0 lee

Omar does love his over the hill latin players.

Posted by: soxmuscle

Minaya is a bad general manager now, just as he was with the Expos.

It's too bad for Willie Randolph because there are far worse managers in the league right now than him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him latch on as a bench coach next season and eventually be given another shot with a club that moreso fits his style of coaching aka a team not located in New York.

Peterson is just retarded, that dude should have been fired the moment he made the statement that he could "fix" Victor Zambrano causing an even stupider general manager in Jim Duquette to trade Scott Kazmir for him.

And even still, the biggest blowhard Mets general manager of the past ten years goes to: Steve Phillips.

What a poorly run organization.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

The way the Mets handled the Willie Randoph situation is nothing short of a complete joke. Prime example of why the Mets will ALWAYS be the AAA team of New York.

Posted by: min0 lee

NY Mets have been in contact with Red Sox about Manny Ramirez

Posted by: min0 lee

Today we both go to watch the Mets against the Nationals.

Can't say I'm going to miss this ugly stadium, lots of memories but such an ugly place. The new one looks really good so far.

Posted by: soxmuscle

Billy Wagner was really upset in his press conference the other night.

I wish him a speedy recovery.

What a class act.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Billy Wagner was really upset in his press conference the other night.

I wish him a speedy recovery.

What a class act.

Sometimes he can put a foot in that classy mouth though.

Posted by: soxmuscle

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Sometimes he can put a foot in that classy mouth though.

Examples?

I was like touched by his press conference. The guy wants to win so bad it's not even funny. That's a great trait in a ball player.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Examples?

I was like touched by his press conference. The guy wants to win so bad it's not even funny. That's a great trait in a ball player.

I can't get into it now (spent too much time here today) but he does speak his mind a little to much.

Good trait but he feeds into the media too much.

I'll be back with more on him later.

Posted by: soxmuscle

No problem, off to the gym anyways.

Have fun at the game tonight.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

No problem, off to the gym anyways.

Have fun at the game tonight.

Thank you.

Posted by: min0 lee

We had a good time even though the tickets the Daily News gave us happened to be in the nose bleed section.

Posted by: min0 lee

A peek at the new Citifield stadium.

A look at the old Shea stadium

The scenery looking out of the Shea, the the 7 train breaker room.

Posted by: min0 lee

The Holiday inn...they make a great chicken cutlet parmasigion (Sic), a big one too for only $4.50.

Play ball! I need me a zoom lens camera.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Pretty cool sight to see the new stadium behind the outfield wall.

I'm so used to seeing nothing out there.

Posted by: min0 lee

Mets hold off Nationals in 13-10 slugfest, boost N.L. East lead to 3-1/2

That it was.

Reyes at the plate

Wright at the plate

Never realized how nice that old scoreboard is.

Another shot of the new Stadium, looking good.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Pretty cool sight to see the new stadium behind the outfield wall.

I'm so used to seeing nothing out there.

It does add to the scenery, looks better than when they had nothing at all....well there is that eyesore called the junkyard.

I hope they get rid of the place, it's grimy, corrupted by the mob, the price of car parts are near retail price.....

Posted by: min0 lee

He's great, the kid has a good head on his shoulders, good looking, can hit and not the best 3rd baseman but he's good enough.

Quote:

Wright, who spent Tuesday afternoon working with hitting coach Howard Johnson and Jerry Manuel to get his front foot down earlier and not be late on fastballs, had the type of clutch performance he had been criticized for lacking.

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: min0 lee

Damn, Heilman is really stinking up the place.

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: min0 lee

Getting ready to break the NY Mets stolen base record.

Mission accomplished!

YAY!

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: soxmuscle

Kept checking it out on the bottom line and felt for you when the Nats continued to climb back in the ball game.

Cool pics.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Kept checking it out on the bottom line and felt for you when the Nats continued to climb back in the ball game.

Cool pics.

It was a crazy game, Heilman almost blew the game for us.

Funny thing is when Aarron Boone was at the plate he was showered with Yankees suck boos.

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: soxmuscle

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Funny thing is when Aarron Boone was at the plate he was showered with Yankees suck boos.

There ya go..

Posted by: min0 lee

WAGNER: I'VE PLAYED MY LAST DAY AS MET

The competitor in Billy Wagner would love to say he'll return late next season and help the Mets win a championship. But Wagner isn't about to make a hollow guarantee. He knows he's done with the Mets.

A day after Tommy John surgery to reconstruct his left elbow, Wagner chatted with The Post from his home in Greenwich, Conn., and spoke of his Mets career in the past tense.

"I've played my last day as a Met, that's the way it goes," Wagner said.

Posted by: soxmuscle

I know he's going to be a free agent, but how can he be so certain?

He just simply won't resign with the Mets?

Why?

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Where will he land? The 37-year-old Wagner, who has 385 career saves, has considered that question.

"It's going to be hard to find that team that gives you a chance to get 400 saves and gives you a shot to win a championship when you're coming back from major surgery," said Wagner, who wants to remain a closer. "There are not going to be too many people beating down my door."

Is Wagner disappointed he won't help open the Citi Field era next season?

"It's not something I'll go to bed worried about," Wagner said. "To me, it's more about this year, because I really think this team has a chance to win the World Series."

Wagner loved his eight-plus seasons pitching for the Astros and put his Mets experience on the same level.

As strange as it was speaking of his Mets career in the past tense, Wagner said it's time he came to grips with the situation.

"I've always tried to take on everything straight on," he said. "There's no use sitting here and saying, 'Geez, I could always make this miraculous recovery and pitch in August and September.' I'm going to let the thing work itself out and see where it takes me."

mpuma@nypost.com

I guess he realizes not too many teams will risk spending millions on a 38 year oldpitcher coming back from the TJ surgery.

Posted by: IainDaniel

TJ surgery isn't that bad. Seems most recovery full velocity.

Now a shoulder, and I would have said cya.

Posted by: soxmuscle

Most TJ surgeries result in an even stronger arm. Taking a year off could be beneficial to Wagner in the long run.

I'd love to take a shot on him in 2010.

Low risk, high reward reliever who's got electric stuff when healthy. Not to mention, even if he doesn't workout as a closer, he's a still a lefty and can be of some value.

Posted by: min0 lee

But at 38? and he's a hard thrower?

Posted by: soxmuscle

Depending on the cost, I'd love to take a flier on him.

Posted by: min0 lee

Jerry Manuel, pen labor in 9-7 win over Nats as Mets still lead wild card

Posted by: min0 lee

Drunk, Sleeping Fan Victimized by Beer Cups at Shea Stadium

YouTube Video

Posted by: min0 lee

Cubs pitcher Jason Marquis hits grand slam, Mets fall to Cubs, 9-5

BY PETER BOTTE
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, September 22nd 2008, 9:54 PM

If the season ended today, the Cubs would be the Mets' opponent in the first round of the National League playoffs next week.

As the Mets learned the hard way last September, the season does not end until it ends.

Even if it appears more and more that the end is near.

The not-again Mets opened the final regular-season home stand at Shea with a null performance circa 2007, getting pounded, 9-5, by the Cubs Monday night before a restless and increasingly panicky crowd in Flushing.

"That's part of who we are. When you sign on with the Mets, you sign on with what happened last year, regardless," Jerry Manuel said after his team's third straight loss. "As a manager of the team, my job is to separate that and to focus on what's going on this season. . . . But we have to exorcise those demons at some point, there's no question about that. Some big ones, too."

Chicago starting pitcher and Staten Island product Jason Marquis belted a grand slam off rookie Jon Niese to highlight a six-run fourth inning - and drove in five runs altogether - as the Mets fell to 3-6 in their past nine games. Coupled with the Phillies' 6-2 win over Atlanta, the Mets (86-70) trail Philadelphia in the NL East by 21/2 with six games remaining. Their lead in the wild-card chase was shaved to one game over idle Milwaukee, which opens a three-game series tonight against Pittsburgh.

"We have six games left, and I feel somewhat like a broken record, but everything we want to accomplish is right out there for the grabbing and right out there in front of us," said David Wright, who hit a late two-run homer. "We have a week left, six games, and we're in the driver's seat.

"We knew it was going to be a tough road, but we need to play well for six games. Last year is over with, done with. It was a failed opportunity, but this year we have a golden opportunity."

Before the game, Manuel and a few Mets had admitted they watched or saw highlights Sunday night of the final game at Yankee Stadium, noting that it's up to them to make sure this weekend's series against Florida won't be the final games at Shea.

Of course, it was the Marlins who finished off the Mets' free fall from playoff contention in the final game in 2007. "I'm hoping it's not the last week," Manuel said. "It will be more of a focus on trying to keep games here alive, than to send Shea Stadium away. We're going to try to keep this thing alive."

Manuel turned to the rookie Niese for his first start since the lefty tossed eight scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the Braves Sept. 13. But Niese did little to merit another start when his turn comes up again Saturday, getting tagged for six runs on seven hits in three-plus innings, including Marquis' grand slam into the Mets bullpen in the fourth. Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez slammed Johan Santana on June 23 at Shea, meaning the Mets are the first team since the 1977 Cubs to give up two grand slams to pitchers in one season. Montreal's Don Stanhouse and Philadelphia's Larry Christenson hit those longballs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It was a mistake, I hung a curveball, he put a good swing on it and hit it out," Niese said. "It's always a disappointment to get a loss. I took this game like any other game, things just didn't work out for us."

But at least one thing did. The Cubs clinched home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs Monday night, and Lou Piniella indicated he plans to rest some of his regulars.

"As an organization you may think, here we go, blah, blah, blah, we're going down this road again," Manuel said. "But there has to be something good at the end of that road. If we keep pressing and pressing, something good's going to happen.

Posted by: ReproMan

2.5 back

Starting to look a lot like last year...

Posted by: min0 lee

Surfing The Mets - NY Daily News

Shea goodbye to stadium, wild card

Posted by: Double D

Being a New Yorker isnt a good thing this year!

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malley

Being a New Yorker isnt a good thing this year!

Well it did start good with the Giants winning it all.
At least we have been competitive.

Posted by: lnvanry

I love watching any NY team choke...I get so sick and tired them thinking the world revolves around them.

sorry Min0 but ESPN might as well be NYsports channel

Posted by: min0 lee

No problem, it's no secret the media favors the NY teams.

A lot has to do with most of the headquarters located in NYC, ESPN is Manhatten.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

I was hoping to see a one game playoff today. Stupid Mets.

Posted by: ReproMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

No problem, it's no secret the media favors the NY teams.

A lot has to do with most of the headquarters located in NYC, ESPN is Manhatten.

ESPN's main studios are in Bristol, Connecticut.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReproMan

ESPN's main studios are in Bristol, Connecticut.

I think he is saying their NYC headquarters are in Manhattan, not their world headquarters.

Posted by: ReproMan

Where else would their NYC headquarters be? They have offices in many major cities, but Bristol is ESPN central.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Which is what.... a couple of hours away from NYC. That is why all you here about on ESPN is Boston and New York. The Yankees/Redsox rivalry wasn't really a big deal until ESPN played it up.

Posted by: ReproMan

^^ I don't know about it not being a big deal, but the rest of the country sure didn't know that much about it.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReproMan

^^ I don't know about it not being a big deal, but the rest of the country sure didn't know that much about it.

Right... that is what I meant. They have hyped it up to beyond ridiculous.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Quote:

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

The Yankees/Redsox rivalry

It is the most important thing in sports.

Posted by: min0 lee

I stand corrected, they do have offices here just like most other TV stations.
Connecticut isn't far at all from NYC and you do have a lot of transplanted New yorkers living there.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

It is the most important thing in sports.

Blah it was nothing until this last decade, when both teams actually fielded competitive teams.

Posted by: min0 lee

It was in the 70's, in fact I think they had more of a hatred between each other.
The media did get the fans all hyped up about though...

Posted by: min0 lee

Mets have a history of missed opportunities
Mets have a history of missed opportunities

Wallace Matthews

September 29, 2008

Over the past three years, the Mets have led the league in nothing but disappointing their fans.

From the game that was supposed to catapult them into the playoffs to the postgame celebration that was supposed to bid a stylish farewell to Shea Stadium, they ran true to form yesterday, leaving no one in the park satisfied and just about everyone - except for those in the visiting clubhouse - either puzzled, disgusted or outraged.

The game, a 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins that left them with their noses pressed against the glass of October for the second consecutive year, served as a reminder of how much was expected of this team and how little it has accomplished.

And the parade of former Mets greats afterward, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza, only underscored the fact that longtime Mets observers should have expected nothing else.

Seaver, of course, was exiled to Cincinnati in his prime. Most of Piazza's best years were spent in L.A. The early brilliance of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry fell victim to their personal demons and lack of discipline. In fact, the entire history of this franchise has been a procession of broken promises and missed opportunities.

Why should a team composed of the likes of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran and the remainder of a $140-million conglomerate of ballplayers turn out any different?

Two years ago, after the Mets blew the NLCS to an - on paper, anyway - inferior St. Louis Cardinals team, I wrote a highly unpopular column suggesting we might already have seen the best of these Mets, that they might never again come as close to the World Series as they did in 2006. Two years later, they have done nothing to prove me wrong. In fact, they are making me look like a genius.

In reality, it was an easy call. Only once in their history have they put together back-to-back playoff years, and their resume is littered with instances of money wasted, careers frittered away, dynasties that never were.

Whatever the reason, failure has been a way of life around this franchise for most of its 47 seasons. It was cute and funny in the early 1960s, less so after the miracle of 1969, and damned near intolerable now.

Still, the Mets continue to refine the process of torturing their fans to the point it has reached today. They drag you along for the ride for 161 games, raising your hopes, dashing them and raising them again, before leaving you a quivering, hopeless, lifeless wreck on the final day of the season.

They have done it two years running now, bad history repeating itself in the worst possible way, from the rousing victory on the second-to-last day of the season that fills everyone with optimism to the final-day implosion that leaves everyone plunged into yet another winter of despair.

But that's not the worst of it, not by a long shot. Even worse than being stifled yesterday by Scott Olsen, a pitcher they had batted around like a piñata all season, and betrayed once again by their bullpen, was being force-fed the malarkey after the game that really, this had not been such a bad year after all, that this $140-million team had in fact overachieved, and that the mere circumstance of having taken the season down to its final game was an accomplishment in itself.

The person doing the feeding was none other than the architect of the team, the man who is about to be officially rewarded with four more years of Wilpon paychecks. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Omar Minaya.

"This team did an unbelievable job in getting us to today," Minaya said. "I thought that the players, when you look at what they had to overcome to get us to today, it's a credit to everyone in that room to be able to get us to 89 wins. Two years in a row, we took it to the last day of the season."

So now we're back to the modest aspirations of the Art Howe Era, when the goal was merely to be "playing meaningful games in September."

One of these years, the Mets might get around to actually winning some of those games. But not as long as the GM and his bosses continue to aim low, make excuses and escape accountability.

Yesterday, Minaya blamed the Mets' latest failure on injuries, failing to note that his habit of signing aging, infirm players to long-term contracts might have had something to do with it. He said the Mets never got to play with their intended roster, conveniently failing to mention that the roster included the likes of 42-year-old Moises Alou, 40-something Orlando Hernandez and the perpetually gimpy Luis Castillo, whom Minaya signed through 2011.

Still, the Wilpons love Omar, because he tells them what they want to hear and says what they need him to say, as he did yesterday when he wrapped up his farewell address to Mets fans with a sales pitch. "We look forward to seeing them in the beautiful facility of Citi Field," he said.

The views of next year's collapse, you are assured, will be better than ever. The history of the Mets guarantees it.

Posted by: min0 lee

Posted by: min0 lee

Oh....what could have been..

Posted by: ReproMan

Piazza is a jerk-off.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReproMan

Piazza is a jerk-off.

Why?
He's pretty cool.

Posted by: ReproMan

Bah. I live in the St. Lucie, FL area so I've actually run into him quite a few times. He's a moody bitch.

Posted by: min0 lee

How did you approach him?

Posted by: ReproMan

I didn't, but an employee of mine has been rejected numerous times trying to get his autograph and I personally saw him being kinda jerky to 2 kids in Barnes and Noble trying to get his autograph. I never approach celebs when I see them, cuz I know I wouldn't want anyone bothering me if I was famous.

Posted by: min0 lee

Short story, me and min0 were at a K-Mart when this little girl and her mother stops and asks min0 for his autograph.
We were puzzled at first, turns out that she thought min0 was Piazza.
Poor little girl was sad when he said he wasn't.

Posted by: I Are Baboon

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

We were puzzled at first, turns out that she thought min0 was Piazza.
Poor little girl was sad when he said he wasn't.

Is it because min0 and Piazza are both black?

Posted by: ReproMan

Hmmm...

Perhaps it was min0 that was being a big meanie then and he fooled me too.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

Is it because min0 and Piazza are both black?

Hell no!
People say I look like him but I'm only 5'7'' go figure.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReproMan

Hmmm...

Perhaps it was min0 that was being a big meanie then and he fooled me too.

Was this in NYC?

Posted by: ReproMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Was this in NYC?

Naw, I'm just kidding. Happened here in FL while he was rehabbing his last injury when he was with the Mets.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Are the mets in Financial Trouble?

Will Madoff Scandal Hurt The New York Mets? (Update) - Sports Biz with Darren Rovell - CNBC.com

Wilpon lost 500 million in personal money through this scam. Plus Sterling had alot invested as well.

He is going to have to sell off assets to make up this loss......

Posted by: min0 lee

Scary thing now that they invested all that money in the park and new players.

Posted by: IainDaniel

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Scary thing now that they invested all that money in the park and new players.

exactly.... and selling off the mets....worth approx $824 million would certainly help offset those losses

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

exactly.... and selling off the mets....worth approx $824 million would certainly help offset those losses

This will break his heart, he is one of the few owners who really does care about his team.

He didn't actually put all of his own money on the stadium.

Posted by: IainDaniel

if he cared he would be replacing that retard GM.

Posted by: min0 lee

LOl, Omar's press conferences make me puke.

He say's "you know'' at the beginning of every sentence.

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