Being a Mets fan with today’s Social Media: The good with the bad.

 Remember the day when you waited for the newspaper to deliver your updates on the Mets in spring?   That is all I  had growing up.  Then of course locally WFAN change that in 1980’s.    Then we had ESPN and all the cable coverage.  Still of course that wasn’t enough so the blogging world was created and fans such ourselves could chat and give our opinion.  That of course meant you had to sit in front of your computer.  NO more now.  With the smart  phones we are just a click away from reading 200 articles on the Mets taking a helicopter to the Knicks-Miami game.  (sigh)  Well it was fun for a time being. 

With the invention of Twitter fans now can find tune who they follow and get a chance to read what they want about the Mets. I love that . To me particularly this year it totally has been a god send.  With a 9 month old taking about most of my time, without the ability to read articles on my phone I would feel like I am a fair weather fan. I just don’t have the time to sit in front of the puter these days.   I might realize sooner than later that I will never again have that luxury.  That is why I love the ability to read what certain scripes like Rubin, Madden, the Bitter Bill or Popper before he jumped ship .  I love the fact I can click a link and boom read the article about the Gary Carter patch. Or what Sandy had to say during his Q&A etc or how TC was PO’d about Tejada.    This is the good stuff.   Then there is the bad stuff..  

The fact now that there needs to be news out there all the time even the guys  I like have to get content out there about stuff as a big hard met fan I could care less about.  I don’t care about the freaking Helicopter ride to the Knick game by Mets brass.  Or what everones opinion on the new underdog shirts.  It is about baseball pure and simple and what goes on the field.  Yes its great to have this ability to chat with players via Twitter but most of this is just pure fluff. Which is exemplified during spring training.

That to me is the bad side of social media.  These media guys are stuck since they are I am sure told to have new content constantly. 

SO for now I have to read sparingly until the season starts.  Or I might be reading Jason Bay talk about how he is in the best shape of his career or David Wright talk about for the 400^th time about what he thinks the Mets will do about his contract.  Is it April yet?

Fred Speaks: Why Must We Be Subjected To This Every Spring?

It is that time of year where Spring Blooms Eternal. Yes it does, when speaking of the Mets owner, Spring Blooms Eternal Balderdash!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of year where Fred Wilpon addressed the media, which has become a seminar of BS.

A few years ago it was about Madoff, and that it wouldn't affect the Mets baseball operation(s). Well, we all know how that turned out.

There have also been some years where he has said things about his own players (see David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Jason Bay).

Then there was that spring when he said the manager (Willie Randolph) was safe, only to have him fired in July.

Fred has a propensity for saying things that aren't true. I believe he thinks he can "hoodwink" the media and fans, which he cannot.

A small snippet of Right Said Fred 2012 shows that Mets ownership had nothing to do with Jose not being with the team. Sure, OK. Here is how he answered a few questions about the Mets, former Mets All Star Shortstop, Jose Reyes (thanks to Adam Rubin):

Is it fair to say the contract Reyes got from Miami was more or less a baseball decision as opposed to having anything to do with team finances? "It was clearly a baseball decision. Are we a little leery of six-year, seven-year, eight-year contracts? Yes. Is Sandy leery of it? You bet. I'm big-time leery of it. So, listen, others have done it. I don't want to criticize anybody else whose done something different. We did different also, and we were burned. That doesn't mean there won't be some player in the future that we think we would do something with longer term, but the history has not been very good."

How much has the payroll been affected by Madoff? Would Jose Reyes still be here? "I've said, no, because I don't think Sandy would have made the kind of arrangement that he was able to make elsewhere. I think Sandy offered $100 million if he stayed on the field and that he could earn. And the amount of time was less time than he got elsewhere. So that was Sandy's decision. Absolutely Sandy's decision."

Come on - according to Reyes, his agent, and Elvis himself, there was no official offer made to Reyes. Elvis chose to "wait to see what the market would bear."

I still contend that if the Mets had offered Jose 5 years $100M, that would have been enough to keep him #7 (not Geren) and on the team. FRED, THERE WAS NO OFFICIAL OFFER FROM THE METS TO REYES.

Another thing I found rather disturbing is how Fred doesn't address his players by their names. When speaking of the talent on the Mets, Fred said that Sandy had many calls for "our right fielder" and a number of calls on "the injured first baseman." He is the owner of this team, as he loves to state, can't he at least address Lucas Duda and Ike Davis by name? Many might not see it as a big deal, but to me, it's disrespectful.

The annual Mets spin-doctoring has begun. My one question is when Fred Speaks, why must we be subjected to this every spring?

Thanks to Adam Rubin for taking the time to transcribe the interview. Click on link to read the State Of The Mets Address in its entirety.

Braun gets off on a Technicality. Who is at fault? Blame MLB.

Ok so this isn’t a Mets post but I really have to spout a bit. Ryan Braun has claimed his innocence on the positive test he had since day 1.  He had passed 25 tests over time and 3 pretty recent to the one he was showing testosterone levels 3 times higher then anyone has been recorded .  So why does he get off and not have to be suspended 50 games.  Because the protocol wasn’t followed in regards to his specimen getting to the lab that needed to do the testing.   So instead of having to prove his innocence he just proves the chain of custody wasn’t followed and bam appeal overturned.  What a joke.   MLB blames the arbitrator.  Of course why wouldn’t they.  Why would they want to look at themselves for not having the correct protocol in place with no loopholes.  They never hear of weekends?

First off the thing that really bothers me about this is the fact that  there were 3 arbitrators and they didn’t need to be all on the same page.  They voted 2 to 1 to overturn it.  Yes I know this isn’t a trial but come on you have arbitrators being able to overturn a suspension based on protocol not being followed so why are they allowed to have a 2 to 1 vote and that’s it?  Blame MLB.  Everything was negoatied by the Players union and MLB.  They came up with the protocol and everything surrounding the testing.  They created the ability to have something sneek through the cracks.  The lab who tested Braun said that the extra day wouldn’t effect the specimen but that doest matter.   So MLB has this policy that has loopholes and a player and his lawyer exploited it. 

Now if I was a player who was suspended I would be kicking my lawyer right now for not trying to get me off on a technicality.  Or have them see if they can use this case as a means of trying to get there overturned.  Here that Manny? 

Ryan Braun failed a test and now gets to play.  Of course Bud Selig could do something about it since he is the  Commissioner but I am sure the union would fight him.  Its not like the good ole days where commissioner Landis suspended some players for life. 

Of course morality doesn’t come into play.  If Braun knows why his level was up. Speak up.  Some on the vine have claimed it was to clear up a STD.  What if you’re a kid that idiolizes Braun and you see him now as Teflon don .  He did something he shouldn’t have done and is off scott free… Very nice. 

Here are some Met Quotes..no names of course. 

Oh, wow," a Mets player said on Friday, after hearing of Braun's chain-of-custody explanation. "That was his defense? Now every positive test is going to be challenged. That could be a mess."

Added a third player: "What a joke."

Another Met said: "Seems like he's guilty."

It’s a sad day in baseball that’s all there is to it.    

Fox Sports, nydailynews

Ike Davis back in camp. What is the real story in Mets land?

Sometimes there is way too much information out there on the smallest details.  Take Ike Davis for one.  He went to NY yesterday and Met land was in a tizzy…  Some were like..what..he is hurt before camp even starts?   What is with this team ..Is it cursed..Who will play 1^st…blah blah.  Ok he is back now.  Minor lung infection and not even on antibiotics..   Non story but hey it was out there for everyone to fret.  Remember the days when you didn’t hear anything?  Now you have the Mets GM tweeting and answering questions to fans.  Talk about up front in personal. 

Everyone seems to think Santana is the story .  Will he pitch opening day  etc etc..    Too me there is only 1 story..  Who will replace the 100 runs scored by Jose Reyes?   It won’t be new CF Mr Torres.  This worries me.  We will have a guy leading off that has a extremely low OBP.  Of course he might be the guy in 2012 who played great for the Giants in 2010 but who are we kidding. See Jason Bay..   The Mets need base runners and if you have Andres Torres with a .300 on base percentage leading off it will be tough to get runs in.

  Now with Murphy being a doubles machine that could help but the Mets need to work on taking the extra base this pre season and getting runners home and sometime taking chances.  No one player is going to make up for Reyes so they all will have to pitch in. 

Mets Organization Continue Their Oblivious Ways

Yesterday the Mets continued with their purging of their past. The Mets disrespectfully and foolishly have assigned new bench coach Bob Geren Jose Reyes’ #7.

We all know how badly the Mets handled the Reyes situation. The Wilpon’s might not have had the money to sign Jose, but they didn’t even offer courtesy call or offer to re-sign the NL batting champion and All Star.

As David Lennon tweeted yesterday, that newly hired bench coach Bob Geren has been assigned Jose’s #7. I am not saying that #7 should be emblazoned on the outfield wall at Gil Hodges Memorial Park (GHMP), er Citi Field, but couldn’t this embarrassment of an organization have waited a year or two before reassigning #7?

For an ownership that is so enamored of the Brooklyn Dodgers, so much that in the Mets new park they have an entire rotunda paying homage to Jackie Robinson, who never played nor worked for the Mets. It took another year before any Mets history or memorabilia showed up at the stadium.

How is this related? Quite easily; this ownership has absolutely no sense of history for the organization they own. They don’t understand how important former and present players are to the fans and their sense of history. Whether it be Choo-Choo Coleman, Sammy Drake, Marv Throneberry, Hot Rod Kanehl, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Tug McGraw, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, David Wright, and yes, Jose Reyes – this organization doesn’t get it.

It took years out fan out crying to return Banner Day to the Mets schedule. Why is it important? Because it is important to the fans. When fans are happy and participating, they are spending money. When they are spending money, the owners make profits.

Back to Jose, he was fans most favorite player, especially after an MVP type season last year. It’s bad enough the Mets weren’t able to/didn’t sign him, but to allow him to walk without so much as a phone call is reprehensible. To follow that up, after Jose signed with the Marlins, who indicated he was hurt because the Mets didn’t “show the love.” To that, Elvis callously retorted, “maybe I should have sent him a box of chocolate.” - Asinine comment.

Two months later, the Mets take the number of the fans favorite player, one who played with the team for 9 seasons, and always was the spark to the Mets engine, and assign it to a first year bench coach. Would it have hurt this brain damaged ownership to wait a year or two before re-assigning #7?

Now I’m sure the Wilpon’s and Elvis will say uniform numbers are assigned by the equipment manager or some other clubhouse personnel, but as Fred Wilpon said years ago, he is the owner, and the buck stops here.

This is a terrible job by the Mets organization. Sad part is, they won’t learn from this screw-up either.

Picture Courtesy David Lennon Twitter

Pitchers and Catchers report: The Latest on Santana:Mets Spring TV schedule

Welcome to the first official day of spring training. At least for today Met fans need to show optimism.  Yes the team didnt do much this odd off season besides patch a couple of holes in the bullpen and bring in the walls for the whiny Wright and the lost Bay. Still you have to show optimism to begin the season. Otherwise doom and gloom will make it a very long season.

Mets pitchers and catchers report today.  No official workout until tomorrow but  I am sure there will be alot of chatter in PSL especially bout the pitcher named Johan. He threw all pitches on Friday when he threw off the mound.  27 in all and the media around is crazy.  He will pitch again on Tuesday and what Warthen and Santana would like to see is that he was able to rebound and not feel anything outside the norm in his arm.  Projections are wildy all over the place on how much he will pitch in 2012 17 months removed from surgery.  TC mentioned that 150 innings would be nice. Th key is getting him tracked to pitch every 5 days. All spring they can work on that and lets hope for no set backs.

Itching to watch a game and listen to Cohen,Darling and Mex? The first game will on SNY will be on March 5th at 6pm. The Mets will televise 11 games on SNY and 4 on PIX this spring. The schedule is below courtesy of SNY

March 5 Washington Nationals 6:10 p.m. SNY , March 6 St. Louis Cardinals 1:10 p.m. SNY



March 8 Miami Marlins 1:10 p.m. SNY , March 11 Miami Marlins 1:10 p.m. PIX11


March 13 St. Louis Cardinals 1:10 p.m. SNY , March 16 Detroit Tigers 1:10 p.m. SNY


March 17 Atlanta Braves 1:10 p.m. PIX11 , March 20 Washington Nationals 6:10 p.m. SNY


March 22 Houston Astros 1:10 p.m. SNY , March 24 St. Louis Cardinals 1:10 p.m. PIX11


March 27 Atlanta Braves 1:10 p.m. SNY , March 28 Washington Nationals 1:10 p.m. SNY


March 29 Houston Astros 6:10 p.m. SNY , April 1 Detroit Tigers 1:10 p.m. PIX11


April 3 New York Yankees 2:10 p.m. SNY

A Video Tribute To Gary Carter

In searching the memory banks of our time as fans of this organization, the death of Gary Carter hits home hard. As we have been posting, Carter was an integral part of the '86 Championship team, and as Ron Darling said, "My Catcher"

With deepest respect and admiration for Gary Carter, we have created the following. Rest In Peace Kid: