Blogging Mets

A month into the 2012 season I wrote:

Mets celebrate, a common sight this season

One month ago if you told Mets fans that on May 1 the Mets would be three games over .500 and a game and a half out of first place, I think most of them would be pleased. Well, that’s where we find ourselves today.

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Well, here we are on June 1 and the Mets are still a game and a half out of first place and are five games over .500.

Last month I asked, “how have they done it?” A month later that question is is still difficult to answer.

Pitching? The team ERA is 4.49, second-to-last in the National League. Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey have been sensational, but the rest of the rotation has been up and down. Overall the bullpen has been just short of awful, blowing leads and saves left and right.

Hitting? The team batting average is .260, good for fourth in the league. On-base percentage is .333, third in the NL. But they are 14th in home runs and 11th in slugging percentage. Somehow the Mets are fifth in runs, but they’ve been outscored by 24 runs.

Ike Davis has slumped all season, Lucas Duda is just scuffling along, and Jason Bay, well, is he still on the team?

So how have they done it? Timely hitting. It seems that whenever the Mets need a big hit, someone gets it, whether it is David Wright, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Daniel Murphy, Scott Hairston or Mike Baxter, who has come out of nowhere to become the best pinch hitter in the game.

After years of watching the Mets fail time and time again in the clutch, it is nice to see them coming through. That is the mark of a good team. And so far it appears the Mets are indeed a good team; if the season ended today, the Mets would be the second Wild Card.

Terry Collins deserves much of the credit. He is really holding this team together through all of the injuries. I thought Collins was a bad hire, but I’m happy to say I was wrong. He deserves consideration for Manager of the Year.

I wrote a month ago that the Mets faced the difficult task of repeating their fine first-month performance five more times. Well, one down, four more to go.

We’ve all seen clips of the aftermath of the 1969 Mets World Series victory, the fans on the field and Tom Seaver saying, “This is the greatest feeling in the world.” But here is an extended version of the clubhouse celebration. Hopefully we’ll see another one sometime soon:

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Here are the details:

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new way to play fantasy baseball that turns the season long grind into quick one night leagues.  And the best part is that you can win cash every single day.  You draft a team for one night and get paid out as soon as the games end that night. DraftStreet.com is at the forefront of this new trend in the fantasy world and is giving us a great promotion: a FREE one-day fantasy league with $150 in prizes exclusively for Blogging Mets fans.

This free contest will be salary-cap style drafting where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players. You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 14 players consisting of the following: Catcher, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 Utility, 2 SP, 1 RP, and 1 P. Each MLB player has been assigned a price based on their expected fantasy performance.

You can adjust your roster up until the contest starts on Friday June 1st at 7:05 ET at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

CLICK HERE to sign up for free and join the Blogging Mets $150 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.

For the second time this month it was the Gee and Lee show — Dillon Gee facing off against Cliff Lee. The starters pitched well, but the Mets bullpen blew the lead and then the game.

Jimmy Rollins celebrates 3-run homer. Jerk.

David Wright got things going in the first, hitting a double off the wall in center to score Daniel Murphy for the early lead.

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The Phillies answered right back in the second when Ty Wigginton hit a solo shot to even the score. The ex-Met was 6-11 with two homers and eight RBIs in the series.

In the sixth Scott Hairston doubled and Lucas Duda hit a towering home run to right to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Gee was cruising until the seventh, until he allowed a double with two outs. Terry Collins decided to pull him right in favor of Bobby Parnell. Parnell promptly gave up a two-run home run to pinch hitter Carlos Ruiz to tie the score at three.

Gee went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs while striking out five and walking just one. Lee struck out seven in his six innings of work, but just like in their first match up, neither pitcher figured in the decision.

Jon Rauch came in for the eighth, allowing singles to Juan Pierre and Hunter Pence to leave runners on first and third with no outs. He struck out Wigginton but Shane Victorino hit a shallow liner to center. It is unlikely most runners would have even attempted to tag up, but Pierre scored easily with his blazing speed to give the Phillies their first lead of the night, 4-3.

And then the bullpen couldn’t even give the Mets a chance in the ninth. Tim Byrdak walked the leadoff batter in the ninth, Ramon Ramirez came on and allowed a single and then a three-run blast by Jimmy Rollins to extend the lead to 7-3. They would score three more runs in the inning.

Duda did add a second homer in the ninth. He now leads the team with seven. In all the Mets scored three runs in the ninth, but it just wasn’t enough.

Mets lose 10-6 and drop the series. Even still, the Phillies are in last place. Ha ha.

The Mets disabled list has another occupant — the team announced on its Twitter feed Wednesday afternoon that Ronny Cedeno has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained calf.

Ronny Cedeno

When Cedeno hurt himself, the Mets didn’t think it was anything serious, but apparently it is (sound familiar?). Keith Hernandez often talks about how long it takes for calf injuries to heal and how easy it is for players to re-injure themselves if they come back too soon; Andres Torres was a prime example.

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Jordany Valdespin will take his place on the roster. Valdespin can play shortstop in a pinch, but the Mets consider him more of a second baseman who is making the transition to the outfield. He has played just one game at short for Buffalo this season, compared to 14 in the outfield and 12 at second.

So it looks like Omar Quintanilla will be the starting shortstop for the foreseeable future.

Sandy Alderson was scrambling Tuesday night to clarify his statements following a report that some interpreted as saying he was going to offer David Wright a contract extension.

David Wright

Alderson told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that he was planning on having a conversation with the agents sometime during the season. Some took it to mean an offer would be made, which Alderson later said is not necessarily the case.

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“I don’t want to infer that we will make an offer [or] we won’t make an offer. We expect to talk to his agent this season,” Alderson said. “We can talk about a lot of things that would come up short of an offer. I’m not trying to suggest that we’re going to make one or not make one or what have you. I’ve said we’d like to have David here long-term. I stand by that statement, but I just want to make sure the record is clear.”

Some reports say it would take a Joey Votto, $200+ million-type contract to lock Wright up. I don’t think that’s the case. First of all, I don’t think the Mets would sign anyone to a contract for that much money. Also, that is a 10-year deal; I also don’t think the Mets would sign anyone to a contract that long, nor should they. The Reds will be cursing that contract when Votto is in his late 30s.

Other reports say Ryan Zimmerman’s six-year, $100 million deal is a starting point, and that sounds about right. Wright’s deal will likely be in that neighborhood.

But what if Wright wouldn’t be satisfied what something like that and wants a mega-deal? I don’t think that will happen. There are players who will always go to the highest bidder, but I don’t think Wright is like that. He has made it clear that he wants to be a Met for life. It seems more important to him than money.

Not that Wright would accept an extremely lowball offer. I’ll bet he has a figure in mind, and if the Mets meet it, he will take it.

It’s a similar situation to Jered Weaver. Last season he signed a five-year, $85 million extension to remain with the Angels instead of eventual free agency where he likely would have commanded much more. Weaver said it was important for him to stay in Anaheim, where his parents live and attend every game. Even after Matt Cain signed his six-year, $127.5 million extension with the Giants, Weaver said he did not regret his decision.

I can see Wright being happy with a five-year, $90 million deal, which added to the final year in his current contract would amount to six-years, $106 million. Perhaps the contract would include annual option years that would kick in if he remains healthy and productive. Tim Wakefield had similar options for several years with the Red Sox.

I think Alderson would be smart to do this sooner rather than later. Mets fans want David Wright here long-term, Wright wants to be here long-term, and Alderson has said that he wants Wright here long-term (although he said the same thing about Jose Reyes). There’s no reason why this can’t get done.

The Mets are now just a game and a half out of first place in the NL East after beating the Phillies Tuesday night.

Jeremy Hefner is thrilled after hitting a homer for his first major league hit

The Phillies jumped out to the early lead in the first when Jimmy Rollins, who led off the game with a double, scored from third on a wild pitch by Jeremy Hefner.

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Phillies starter Joe Blanton helped out the Mets with some sloppiness of his own. In the bottom of the first he hit leadoff batter Mike Baxter. Kirk Nieuwenhuis singled to advance Baxter to third. David Wright then singled off the glove of Rollins to break his 0-13 streak and even the score at one. Nieuwenhuis would score on an Ike Davis single to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

But the Phillies tied it up in the second when former Met Brian Schneider hit a solo shot into the upper deck in right.

The Mets came right back in the bottom of the inning. Newest Met Omar Quintanilla doubled off the wall and scored on a Baxter double — his 11th double on the season to make it 3-2 Mets. Quintanilla, by the way, had three hits on the night.

And then in the fourth, Hefner hit a solo shot into the seats in left field for his first major league hit and a 4-2 Mets lead.

Juan Pierre led off the sixth inning with a single. Hunter Pence followed with a double down the line in left. The ball stayed under the padding in foul territory and went underneath the glove of Baxter. Pierre, who stopped at third, then took off and scored on the error to make it 4-3. Pence advanced to third with no outs,  but Hefner was able to pitch out of the jam with the lead intact.

Hefner allowed the three runs in six innings, striking out four and allowing no walks. It was a fine follow-up to his first start in which he couldn’t get back on track following a rain delay.

Pinch hitter Scott Hairston made it 6-3 with a two-run homer in the sixth. Hairston’s third home run in the past four games gives him six on the season, which leads the team.

Then the rains came in the middle of the eighth, and after about an hour the game resumed. A short time later the Mets were 6-3 winners. Frank Francisco is turning things around with his 14th save, which is tied for the NL lead.

The first major league win for Jeremy Hefner to go along with his homer. Nice night for him.

I was waiting until it became official — Manny Acosta is gone.

A familiar site: Manny Acosta removed from a game

The Mets announced on their Twitter feed Tuesday afternoon that the reliever has been designated for assignment. Chris Schwinden will take his place.

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This is a move that should have happened weeks ago when it was clear that Acosta was unable to pitch without the other team scoring massive amounts of runs off of him. Instead, the Mets waited until his ERA climbed to 11.86 before deciding that maybe they could do better. Acosta pitched in 19 games this season — he allowed runs in 12 of them. That is not a good ratio.

The Mets also announced that Justin Turner has been placed on the disabled list with a sprained right ankle. Omar Quintanilla was called up and will start at shortstop, at least until Ronny Cedeno, who was filling in for the injured Ruben Tejada in the first place, can get his calf healed.

Blogging Mets has teamed up with DraftStreet.com to offer our readers a chance to win $150 in cash prizes in a FREE one-day fantasy baseball contest.

Here are the details:

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new way to play fantasy baseball that turns the season long grind into quick one night leagues.  And the best part is that you can win cash every single day.  You draft a team for one night and get paid out as soon as the games end that night. DraftStreet.com is at the forefront of this new trend in the fantasy world and is giving us a great promotion: a FREE one-day fantasy league with $150 in prizes exclusively for Blogging Mets fans.

This free contest will be salary-cap style drafting where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players. You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 14 players consisting of the following: Catcher, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 Utility, 2 SP, 1 RP, and 1 P. Each MLB player has been assigned a price based on their expected fantasy performance.

You can adjust your roster up until the contest starts on Friday June 1st at 7:05 ET at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

CLICK HERE to sign up for free and join the Blogging Mets $150 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.

When people talk about great rock-n-roll mockumentaries, they always bring up “This is Spinal Tap.” No one ever talks about “The Rutles.” Well, they should, and not just because Shea Stadium has a cameo.

The 1978 TV movie “The Rutles: All You Need is Cash” tells the story of four young British boys who form a band and take the world by storm, a not-very veiled satire of The Beatles. Of course their famous performance at Shea Stadium is parodied.

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Narrator Eric Idle made the trip to Queens (wearing a Brockabella!) to tape a stand-up outside Shea. Only the stadium is called Che Stadium, “named after the Cuban guerrilla fighter, Che Stadium.”

Then there is the famous shot of the band walking across the outfield on their way to the stage. It certainly looks like it could be Shea Stadium’s outfield.

Only it is not! A wider shot shows they are in a smaller stadium, likely an English soccer field. Too bad they didn’t film inside the real Shea.

See previous entries in this series here.