Opening Day

After an absence that spanned from June 2010 until April 2013, I made my first trip to Citi Field for the Mets home opener on Monday afternoon. My friend Danny invited me and I happily accepted his kind offer and found myself quite excited to hit up a home Mets game. I grew up going to Shea Stadium 4 or 5 times a season, and in my late 20's and early 30's went to anywhere from 25-85 games a year, including some classic playoff games. Even after I moved to Cambridge, MA I drove down frequently to attend big games in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Things started changing in 2009. Instead of being eliminated on the last day of the regular season as they had been in 2007 and 2008, the 2009 season was one without much drama. Additionally, my family had fewer tickets at the much hyped Citi Field because of a major spike in the prices. And three, the seats we had at Shea were much better than the ones we had at Citi Field. I went to about 3 games at Citi in 2009, the previously mentioned one in 2010 and sat out all of 2011 and 2012. This was clearly the longest drought between home games for me since I was 5 years old or so.

Citi Field is a tough place for me. Shea Stadium felt like home. Citi Field feels like a stadium named after a bank. To afford a game you need to be willing to invest a large sum of money. The amount of advertising at the place is hard to stomach, and from a baseball perspective, the sightlines are awful.

We sat in the left field Promenade (Upper Deck) on Monday about half way up. At no point, could we see the left fielder when he was positioned defensively for an upcoming pitch. A key moment in the game, a grand slam to left field by newcomer Colin Cowgill was made more (less?) interesting and exciting to us, when the screaming line drive he hit disappeared and we watched him slide into 3rd base with an apparent triple. A few seconds later the umpire signaled it was a home run. The replay, shown in hi def on "Citi Vision", which Citi Field goers have come to rely on to make up for the bad sightlines, cut off the replay just a moment before the ball cleared the wall, adding a sense of irony and humor to the blind spots we all deal with.

I don't mean to come off as a complainer in this post. In fact, I had a great time on Monday. I was with 4 people very dear to me, the sun was out most of the game, and the Mets got a win. The company I shared was the true measuring stick of the day and I left the stadium in a great mood.

Someday perhaps, I will feel at home at Citi Field. Maybe what  it needs to shake the current feel of commercial sterility is to be the venue for a spectacular Mets run to the World Series. Or perhaps, I will never get used to it and will watch the Mets on TV and listen to the radio more than I ever have. If that's the case, my retirement will probably be much more well funded, but a big part of the first 40 years of my life will take a back seat in the second half of my life.

Whatever happens, I will keep you updated.

Rays in 6

I think the Rays are going to dethrone the Red Sox in a hard fought 6 game series. Here are my main reason for this prediction and two counter-arguments that go in the Sox favor.

1. Josh Beckett does not seem to be healthy and sharp. If he can't dominate the way he has in the past, the Red Sox biggest advantage is neutralized. Having watched him in the ALDS, I am not sure what he can bring to the table in this series. He did not look good in game 3, the only game the Sox lost.

2. Eventually, the absence of Manny Ramirez' bat in the Sox lineup will catch up to them.

3. Unlike last year, Okijima cannot be counted on to get big outs in the 8th. I've also heard he has struggled this year against the teams that are most familiar with them, i.e. division rivals. Tampa knows what he has to offer and will probably hit him.

4. Mike Lowell is not on the roster. Missing last year's World Series MVP is not good.

5. Rays home field advantage. Tampa is dominant at home. That one extra game at home could be the difference.

Factors that lean the Sox way.

1. The Sox have so much experience and come in as the defending champions. Contrast this to the extreme youth of Tampa.

2. Any team with a closer as good as Papelbon has a great shot of advancing to the World Series.


I think this is going to be a great series. Oodles of talent on both sides, a genuine dislike of each other by both teams, and the highest of stakes. I am looking forward to it.

Dodgers in 7

Details to follow on this prediction but I wanted to get it out there before the start of the series. I think this series will be dominated by the home team but that the Dodgers will find a way to get it done when the pressure is really on.

Nervous Met Fan

Its 5:15 in the morning. I'm supposed to be sound asleep, but its just not happening. I'm 36 years old, and I've come a long way from my most intense days as Mets fan, but I feel I've regressed overnight. I'm nervous and once I woke a few before 5 AM there was no turning back. I was up for good. I don't have the highest hopes for this flawed Mets team, but I am certainly not ready to shut it down today. Get me to tomorrow is my "one day at a time" goal for today.

Do I think its going to happen? I am not sure.

This is the third time in the last 10 seasons that the Mets have gone into the last day of the season in a flat-footed tie for a playoff spot. In 1999, they beat the Pirates and played the Reds the following night in a one game playoff. Al Leiter's pitching gem propelled them into the playoffs and they made a really good run, going down in game 6 of the NLCS. But, its last year, of course, that is front and center in every Mets fans' mind. Like 55,000 or so other people I found my way into Shea Stadium last year for the season finale. Before I had even settled in to my seat, it was 7-0 Marlins and the team's chances were toast. It was tough to swallow, and I can't help but fear something like it happening again.

Ollie Perez is taking the hill today. A brilliant but confounding talent, he'll be going on 3 days rest instead of the normal 4. Its always such a wild card (no pun intended) when you have to throw a pitcher on short rest. Yesterday could not have gone better. Johan Santana outperformed everyone's expectations and tossed a complete game shut out on 3 days rest. One of the great pitching performances in Mets' history. I won't attempt to predict what Ollie Perez will do, I only say that it is a source of my uncertainty about today. There are several factors that indicate he'll do well.

1) He's a big game pitcher. Mets fans know that Ollie steps up when the pressure is on. Think about game 7 of the 2006 NLCS or some of his starts against the Yankees and Phils this year.

2) He's pitched well on 3 days rest before. That game 7 in 2006 was on short rest. He went six strong innings that night.

3) He did not throw a lot of pitches in his last start. (Of course, the reason for this, was that he did not pitch well, and got replaced early in the game.)

4) A win today could net him an extra 20 million dollars or more in his pending free agency this off-season. I'm sure Scott Boras has reminded him of this. Will he use that as motivation? Perhaps. (Thanks to my sister Mary for bringing this up to me.)

5) Perez is 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five starts versus the Marlins this season.

6) Crowd support. The Mets fan will come ready to make a lot of noise today, and Ollie has to try to channel that energy into a little added adrenaline to get him through the start. (Thanks again Mary.)

Of course, no matter how well Perez pitches today, the Mets are going to have to score some runs and more than likely get some big outs from their beleaguered bullpen. Several of the Mets best hitters have good numbers against Scott Olsen, the Marlins starter.

So, analysis aside, the Mets gotta find a way to get a win today and then hope for a little help today in Milwaukee, where interestingly enough, CC Sabathia will also be taking the hill on 3 days rest. The Brewers have worked him so hard this year, and will be leaning on him once again on this ever important Sunday. Mets fans best hopes lie in CC not having his best stuff today.

A one final note about the games today. The Mets have scheduled the ceremonies to celebrate the closing of Shea Stadium for AFTER the game. A curious choice, made more so by the fact that no one knows what the mood is going to be like after today's game nor do we know what inning it will be in Milwaukee when the Mets game ends. Suffice it to say that it could be joyous, miserable, or undetermined and tense as 55,000 plus, keep two eyes on the Brewers game and no eyes on the elaborate ceremony. I hope the Mets have a plan to show the Brewers game on the big screen and are smart enough as a franchise to delay the ceremony long enough so that it can be given full attention. Win, lose, or draw.

Running Tally

Thanks to the absolute brilliant pitching of Johan Santana, the Mets go into the final game of the regular season tomorrow with a record of:

7 Wins

9 Losses

...in the first 16 games of the final strech of 17 games.

Much Needed Win

Mets won 6-2 tonight. They got exactly what they needed from Johan Santana, a dominant 8 inning performance that featured a lot of pitches (a career high 125) strikeouts (10) and some clutch at bats and hustle on the base paths. It also featured a lucky break that fueled their game tying 2 run rally. Who among us has ever seen a play like that, where Santana's ground ball caught up to his broken bat, bouncing off it at a very opportune time and leading to Santana reaching first base safely. I am betting that no one has. Fitting that in a season where bats seem to break once an at-bat, a play like that would transpire in such a big spot during the pennant race.

So, 12 games into their final 17 games, the Mets now have a win loss record in those 12 games of:



5 Wins



7 Losses

Tally

4 Wins

7 Losses

Worse Loss

I described to a friend of mine today that a two-run Met lead is really more like a one run lead at best. "Or", he said, "Is it sort of like they are actually DOWN two runs?" I said that things weren't that bad, but when the Mets 4-2 7th inning lead became a 7-4 deficit by the end of the 8th, I am all too unhappy to concede that my friend was probably right. Another bullpen disaster had crushed the Mets today, reducing their lead of the the Brewers to 1.5 games for the National League wild card. A two run homer by Carlos Delgado in the top of the 9th cut the Braves lead to 7-6 but went for naught when Carlos Beltran and Damion Easley struck out back to back to end the game. So, 10 games into their final 17, the Mets record in those games now stands at:

4 Wins

6 Losses

Mets head home now, staring at 7 tough games to close out the season. 4 against the Cubs starting Monday night and finishing up with a weekend season against the Marlins. Brewers will be hosting the woeful Pirates and then finish with the Cubs. It will be interesting to see how the Cubs set up their pitching rotation for each series and how well they play as they bide their time before the first round of the playoffs. Mets best chance at hanging on and making the playoffs is that the Brewers are playing even worse than they are now. That could change early this week, though, and that would spell big trouble for the Metropolitans.

Good grief.

Bad Loss

Mets lost 4-2 last night. Pedro Martinez looked uncomfortable on the mound, but after his patented bad first innings in which he gave up 3 runs, he settled in nicely and put up zeroes until the sixth. He also came up with the Mets' only big hit of the night, a two out, two run double. Rest of the offense remained silent all night. Bummer. So, their record after 9 of their last 17 games is now:

4 Wins

5 Losses

Thanks to the Reds, who beat the Brewers, theMets maintain at 2.5 game lead in the wildcard race and fell back to a half game deficit to the Phillies.

Big start by Pelfrey is essential today. Enjoy the game everyone.

Back in First Place!

Big night for my beloved Mets last night. Before the first pitch of their game was thrown the Phils and Brewers were training early and hope was high that the Mets could gain some ground last night.

Well, it wasn't easy, but they got the job done with a 9-5 win. I'll highlight a couple of unlikely heroes. First off, Aaron Heilman got a huge out in the 7th with the tying and lead runs in scoring position. Next bullpen hero was Brian Stokes who came in to start the 8th. After giving up a lead off single he got the next 3 guys out and, in a nice stroke of managing by Jerry Manuel, Stokes came back out to start the 9th and to the delight of all Mets fans he had an easy 1-2-3 inning.

So, after this win, their third in a row, the Mets are now 8 games into their final 17 games and their record in those games is now:

4 Wins

4 Losses

Running Tally

Backed by strong performance by two former Washington Nationals, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider (2 HR's), Johan Santana led the Mets to a 7-2 victory over those pesky Nats. With this crucial win the Mets record, so far, in their final 17 games of the season is now:

3 Wins

4 Losses

The Mets now hold a 1.5 game lead in the wildcard standings over the Milwaukee Brewers. (2 in the loss column.) The Brewers who are in a serious free fall, lost what had to be their toughest game in a looooooooong time. Up 6-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Brewers closer Salomon Torres got the first two outs in the inning before the Cubs started an improbably rally that saw them tie the game in the 9th and eventually win it in the bottom of the 12th on a two out base hit by Derek Lee. As if that is not bad enough, the fact that the Brewers had men on 2nd and 3rd with no one out in the top of the 12 and DID NOT SCORE, has to have that team questioning just about everything.

More on the Mozart Find

The afternoon press conference in Nantes has yielded some more information on the the discovery announced earlier today. Here is an udated version of the AP story. Enjoy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_eu/eu_mozart_discovery

New Mozart Composition Discovered

According to an AP story by John Leicester, a new, previously unknown composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was discovered in a library in Western France. The single page is a sketch of a piece, just the melody, but is nonetheless a clearly huge discovery. See the link below for further details. I look forward to seeing the page and hearing this melody in the near future. Will comment further on this when more information is available.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_en_mu/eu_mozart_discovery

Running Tally

When Luis Ayala struck out Roger Bernadini, who was representing the tying run, the Mets got a much needed, and unnecessarily tense, win. Their record 6 games into their final 17 games is now:

2 Wins

4 Losses

Two Wins Coming

Mets are struggling right now. No doubt. But, I want to say right now, on the record, that they are going to win tonight and tomorrow.

Scores? 10-6 tonight.

3-0 tomorrow with Santana.

You heard it hear first.

Keep the faith my friends.

12 to Go

Running Tally

After last night's disheartening 1-0 loss to the Cy Young and the 1923 New York Yankees, the Mets record in the final 17 game stretch of the season is:

1 Win

4 Losses

Running Tally

• Last year the Mets went 5-12 in their last 17 games, leading to their so-called collapse, and the loss of the National League Eastern Division to the Phillies by one game Since the 2008 Mets hit the potentially fateful 17 games remaining point in the season, their record is:

1 Win

3 Losses

14 Games to Go Part II

Disaster strikes the Mets again. A clearly compromised Pedro Martinez, kept the Mets in the game through the 5th, but cracked a little in the 6th. Mets were down 4-1 after Anderson Hernandez off all people got a huge two out single off Pedro. Then in the bottom of the seventh, Duaner Sanchez came in with two outs and gave up three runs before he recorded an out. Mets threatened to make it close in the 8th but a badly timed double play by David Wright pretty much snuffed out any chance they had.

Another really tough night for Mets fans, as the nightmare we lived through in September 2007, continues to seemingly play out again, in almost the exact same fashion. Again it started with the bullpen and seems to be spreading through the team. Pelfrey tonight can stop the bleeding with a big start tonight. Mets absolutely need a win tonight. Brandon Knight pitches tomorrow.

There you have it.

14 Games to Go

Nine minutes until first pitch. Nervous time for Mets fans. Another brutal loss yesterday in a fashion all too familiar to Mets fans. They carrry a lead into the late innings, fail to build on it, and blow it real late in the game. Yesterday it was a 4-2 Mets lead to start the 9th ended up as a 7-4 loss.

Pedro gets the ball tonight. He needs to find the magic and figure out how to go 6 innings or so and keep the Mets in the game (or preferably in the lead). A huge game for Pedro and the Mets. A win, and the lead is at 1.5 games with 13 to go. A loss and a slim 1 game lead get sliced in half.

On the wild card front, in an interesting move, the Brewers, who have everything invested in winning this year, fired their manager Ned Yost. Panic move? Maybe. But I think its pretty smart, considering how much ground they have hemmoraged in the past couple of weeks. They currently sit in a flat-footed tie with the Phillies after leading almost the entire season so far.

Will post after game tonight.

17

17: The number sends chills through every Mets fans spine. It was last year around this time that the Mets were "Up 7 games with 17 to go." As you may know, the Mets went 5-12 in those remaining 17 games and ended up losing the National League East by 1 game to the Phillies.

This year the 17 games remaining guidepost arrived on Saturday the 13th, with a double-header against the Braves on the docket. The Phils were hosting the current wild-card leaders Milwaukee. The Phils won their game against the Brewers 7-3, and the Mets lost the opener of the double-header in heartbreaking, 2007 reminding, fashion. A 2-0 lead that could not be built upon, became a 3-2 loss.

With the lead, down to two games, the Mets responded in the night cap. Behind 8 shutout innings from rookie Jon Niese and home runs from Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, the Mets took a nice lead early and never looked back. The win kept at bay, the panic that could have set in had the team and fans had to stomach another loss last night.

I was at the game with my sister Maggie. Sharing the box was my friend Larry, who is the only person I know who was at the first game ever at Shea in 1964 and who will be at the last regular season game next Sunday, September 28, 2008. My friend Danny joined us in the adjacent box for game 2 and made a really nice grab on a foul ball, that, but for his quick glove, was destined for the screen, but instead was snagged by Danny. Nice catch my friend.

So, down to 15 games to go in the season. Thanks to a nice bounce back win, the Mets lead sits at 2.5 games (3 in the loss column). Stay tuned for a game by game countdown to the end of the season.