There should be no pressure on Opening Day, but that’s not the case with Jerry Manuel, who was thrust under the microscope the day after the 2009 season ended when COO Jeff Wilpon said he expected better things this season from his manager and GM Omar Minaya. And, with 16 of their first 22 games at home, there an even greater sense of urgency to get off to a fast start.
And, that fast start start has to come without Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, and with a suspect rotation.
“We need to get off to a good start but what we need more is consistency and so to merely focus on a good start is not enough,” said Manuel, who knows a slow start could doom him before the All-Star break.
Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be the case, but the Mets were 70-92 last season following two late-season collapses.
The season is underway, so let’s talk about it. I plan to blog the games with you as I have the last three seasons, and hope this time we’re talking late into October.
Here’s today’s line-up vs. Josh Johnson of the Marlins:
Alex Cora, SS
Luis Castillo, 2B,
David Wright, 3B
Mike Jacobs, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
Gary Matthews, CF
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Rod Barajas, C
Johan Santana, LP
Don’t forget to go to the previous thread to post your favorite Opening Day memories.
This post was written by John Delcos
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Boos for Jerry and Ollie during the introductions. As expected.-JD
wow. i didnt have the game coming on until 1pm.
SteveC (2): Just getting jump on things.-JD
I dont think anyone on the team should get booed.
i may have some harsh words. but boo-ing is never good.
SteveC (4): Especially on Opening Day.-JD
hey did they miss a line of the song?
It was a great rendition,, but i thought a verse was missing.
maybe i got distracted..
JD where are you sitting maybe i’ll call in and have gary and the boys bring you into the booth
SteveC (7): Press box, to the left of the plate. Good view, actually.-JD
Lots of empty seats, but this park is misleading with the walkway and plaza. Checked out the Hall of Fame before the game. Mets did a good job with it.-JD
nice to hear JD.
SteveC (10): Lots of memorabilia and videos. Everything you’d expect.-JD
i love to see the REAL metsie colors!
Steve: Not even the trainers should get booed? Mets fans booed the trainers!
Gil (13): Amazin’ isn’t it? Something you’d see in Philly.-JD
1-2-3 …
Santana breezed through the first. No problems. Cora, Castillo and Wright up vs. Josh Johnson.-JD
Gil – really?! wow.. yeah thats definitely something the philthies do and stankees. a met should never ever do that..
JD: Imagine the reception the Wilpons and Omar Minaya would’ve received today if front office staff intros were part of the pre-game Opening Day ceremonies…
Steve: Check out You Tube tomorrow. Some fans at Citi will have posted the pre-game lineup intros. Always interesting to see who gets the most love and who gets the most hate. Can’t imagine the fans being kind to Oliver Perez.
man that was close!
Gil (19): They weren’t. Loadest boos of all went to Ollie. But, kudos to him, he tipped his cap.-JD
First challenge of Jerry Manuel of the year: Why is Alex Cora and not Luis Castillo the leadoff man? Unless the plan is that for every time Cora gets on, that Castillo would try to bunt him over to second, it makes no sense. Cora isn’t a stolen base threat.
1st HR way to go WRIGHT!!!
SNY is great form. They just showed a video of DW taking Johnson deep in spring training. Next pitch, he does it live.-JD
Wow! D-Wright is fighting that Citi psyche-out already! Way to go!
What kind of reception did J-Bay just get? The stupid Marlins telecast drowned crowd noise out with music for some video short.
that at bat of jacobs was terrible. I hope someone is schooling him.
Jd: it was meant to be.
i saw that as well.
Strawberry did make it to Opening Day without getting arrested. I wonder how long he will keep the Mets jersey on. At an Islander game earlier this year he dropped the first puck with an Islander jersey on and had it off when interviewed by PA later in the first period.
Gil (26): Good. Enthusiastic.-JD
Jerry Manuel is bringing back the 60s by adopting their tactic of leading off with a low onbase middle infielder. Hey man, bring back the music, not the poor managerial decisions.
If Minaya decides to fire Manuel, I hope he’s learned how to do it properly. His circular-filing Randolph was so poor, it was worse than any of Kaiser George’s.
Hey, the Gnats are up 1-0. And Pujols homered for the Cards. Good thing my hockey Game Center cable package covers Extra Innings for a while.
steve
jacobs is terrible. his last team released him.
that of course means he is our cleanup hitter.
how is santana pitching?
i caought an article where they said he is bringing back his slider.
Dan (31): I think the Nats are going to be better this year. Won’t lose 100.-JD
Any chance Pagan gets to that ball GMJ just hauled in?
dave (33): Santana perfect so far.-JD
Tiffany (35): I would think so.-JD
yes his pitches are LOOKING GOOD>
john/steve
good to hear.
i see you are using the numbers. i cant see them here. i am using ie 7 and the little picture man is hiding them.
dave (39): Yeah, that was something that needed to be taken care of quickly.-JD
i have firefox. and the numbers are almost hidden.
wow Cora redeemed himself.
Nice play by Cora — but I’m counting the seconds until Jose Reyes is back out there doing that. Good thing Ross is battling a calf injury…most anyone else beats that out.
Nice play by Cora. … Santana ahead in the count again quickly to Sanchez.-JD
SteveC (41): Thanks for input. I’ll have to see how to reposition them.-JD
my pleasure JD.
so do you think they will give Santana a complete game?
My Firefox has them although the first digit is slightly cropped on the left.
The ballpark has a definite “Mets feel” to it this year. You can tell who plays here.-JD
glad gary told me they fixed shea to be a real stadium and now a memorial to being a met.
Another game which a Mets pitcher will not get a no hitter. There are probably some Cubs fans who remember them winning a World Series. There are no Mets fans who have seen a Mets no hitter, leaving out the Gary Kroll/Gordon Richardson 1965 spring training game.
Dan: – yeah they are way to the left.
much better JD. that was quick..
glad to see herr bloomberg the yankee fan is stealing a seat from a fan.
I am working on the numbering. Work in progress as they say.-JD
Is he getting free seats like Patterson is at The Telephone Booth in the Bronx?
Dan (55): Are you ripping the Home of the Yankees?-JD
he doesnt need to.
i hope they impeach the gov.
he is a terrible.
great steal./ and a great at bat for wright.
i can see the leading edge of the 5. not much else tho.
perhaps you can shift the pic down one line?
i think that would do it.
JD: put the numbers on the right side of the avatar for our posts.
how did Jacobs win opening day? knee pads?
SteveC (51): I will look into that. I have a message into the tech guy who did this for me.-JD
no.
he is the cleanup hitter because he obviously is much better than the scrub we paid 20 million to this winter.
SteveC (52): Best line, so far.-JD
For what its worth, on “Don Cherry’s Grapeline with Brian Williams”, the coach speaks very highly about Jason Bay, on how he works and plays hard. Hopefully Bay can count better than Cherry.
good at bat by bay. tire that pitcher out make him frustrated. So do you think that Manuel got notice of a yellow card to be followed by a pink one if he lost this game?
If only Santana could pitch every day, we are an excellent team the days he pitches. This is how we should have opened Citi last year. That Wright homer was definitely huge, talk about getting that monkey off his back right away.
agreed
Looking up team no hitters, the San Diego Padres never had one. They almost had one but manager Preston Gomez removed Clay Kirby for a pinch hitter after 8 innings because he was losing. ironically he did the same thing 5 years later in Houston with Don Wilson. Neither has Colorado or Tampa. San Diego has a certain amount of cool, once naming its stadium after Bob Murphy’s brother.
lets see a doubleplay
Obvious but true statement: Santana is great. One trade/one imported star that shined in Queens.
Are the numbers any better now?-JD
yes the numbers are spot on.
Thanks for your patience.-JD
got rid of the avatars huh. just as well. we dont need em.
SteveC (76): I’ll put them back if you want to put your mug there.-JD
A walk for Francoeur. I wonder if they’ll stop the game and give him the ball.-JD
Gotta start the runners here, with a slow-footed catcher batting, to stay outta the DP.
That misplay looked a lot like the Mets last year…
just for a second i thought sanatana had a chance.
john
i only see half of the last number of the post. so i think the last 3 posts are 7/8/9.
DAMMIT. i hate these unassisted DPs. gee was that Cora? he should just stick to getting hit by the pitch. *sigh*
firefox it looks good. let me see ie.
looks good in ie. dave are you zooming? maybe thats the problem.
I would rather the stat of opening day wins of 31-16 being the best in the MLB. be the winning percentage of world series.
Jacobs’ good day continues. He broke his bat there, but at least he made contact.-JD
wait wait wait, i just realized something… it took awhile to register .. jacobs is cleanup? not franceour or bay?
i think he borrowed Manuels knee pads.
i think manuel should get the pink slip just for that even when the mets win today.
Holy crap..
steve
see my reply at 133.
and no. i am not zooming. standard issue at work ie 7.
u have amnesia.
u used that line already and jd complimented u on it.
yes i know i used the knee pads line. but what i didnt realize at the time was jacobs was batting cleanup.
i knew it. manuel will not let santana finish the game probably wont even let him go 7.
that is ok.
it is april.
nice day, but this guy just came off surgery.
so what inning is it and what is the score?
6th. 2-1 Mets
this is my feeling. if you can put jacobs at cleanup. and cora batting 1st. you can leave Sanatana in until he says he’s done.
numbers are back to slightly cropped on Firefox but good on Chrome
interesting ie 8 it looks fine and firefox it looks fine.
J-Bay is in the HOUSE! Way to go!
A triple by a good Canadian boy from Trail, British Columbia!
Obviously Bay is not a graduate from the Rickey Henderson school of loafing
nice shot by bay. ran the bases like a pro.
The Mets have had a few chances to break this open.-JD
Rev it up, Hot Rod! Way to get that run home!
You can’t stop Rod Barajas — you can only hope to contain him.
Way to go, Angel! Considering the shaky state of our bullpen, we REALLY needed that run.
i think the mets ate their wheaties. The Strawman gave them a little pick me up.
JD: they heard you and complied.
Clutch Mets base hits. I must be in the parallel universe where Spock has a beard.
OMG. What do you call those? Oh yeah, tack on runs.-JD
we’ll find out tomorrow M&M were let go.. and who the real manager was for today’s game
watch next game. totally different lineup and guys on base…Barajas will be on 1st. jacobs will catch..
and it will be back to normal
thanks for the score.
by the way, i think jacobs used to be a catcher.
Alex Cora with the clutch ground out.
Five run lead. Of course, the big question is whether the bullpen can hold it. I’m just saying.-JD
sanchez is gonna get ripped after this inning.
108: OK, let’s not get carried away about the Mets eating their Wheaties. The Marlins have made three errors this inning.
BTW. Just a programming reminder. “24” is on at 8 pm tonight. A two-hour episode.-JD
ok JD you have to let us know the reactoon of gonzales and sanchez.
I wait for the DVDs to come out so I can watch them all very quickly. They are like potato chips.
117: yes but last year 3 errors we would have still lost and more than likely mets would have made 4. so theer ya have it.
ok. our first reliever.
SteveC (121): I think you make a fair point. …. And, there’s a one-out double off Nieve. We’ve seen bigger leads than this crumble.-JD
Only 103 pitches for Santana. I have to think for that kind of money – and the Mets’ pen – they’d have given him another inning.-JD
The Marlins broadcast crew is so stupid they just showed lefty Hisanori Takahashi on TV, warming up in the bullpen and misidentified him as righty releiver Ryota Igarashi. What the hell? What do they think, all Japanese look — and throw — alike?
Gil (125): They are a clueless crew. Have been for years.-JD
ok we got through that one. and we almost had it blown because of another bad call by an ump.
Good call on the Bay grounder. Half a step.-JD
i have just one word.
wow
Honestly, the Marlins need another two weeks of spring training.-JD
Watching the Marlins play lousy defense is making me want to laugh, but with how bad our defense has been the past 2 years, I almost want to cry and go and give them a hug.
their center fielder needs to play the position. all those late starts.
so jacobs was a dud. now they put tatis in. and look what happens. error.
what did i say?
Steve (133): A real first baseman has to make that play. They gave Wright the error, but Tatis has to at least make glove contact to knock it down.-JD
the marlins have not been a good defensiveteam lately, but they seem to play well against us.
who pitches tomorrow?
yeah. unreal. i would have to see that play again. but i cant say wright did that bad a job throwing.
Nice job by Nieve.-JD
135: Daniel Murphy
dave (135): Ricky Nolasco vs. John Maine on Wednesday. Tomorrow is offday.-JD
oh.
really? they skip a day?
Well if johnny is pitching it will be a long day. after the 4th inning at least.
dave (140): Most teams, at least those in the cold weather cities, have the next day off just in case OD gets bagged.-JD
Frankie in for the ninth.-JD
ronnie had it right.
thanks jd
so did they win yet?
where is annie?
I need someone to put this in the books.
one down 69 to go.
FINAL: Mets 7, Florida 1.
Record: 1-0.
Good start today. We’ll see, though, how it’ll play when Santana isn’t the starting pitcher…
Yay!
This was a well played game mostly. no real complaints. Let’s see what M&M does to screw up the rest of the season. unless of course our prayers get answered. and they get sent home on waivers..
Hi all! I’ve been MIA all winter, but caught the last couple of innings today and then couldn’t figure out how to log in to the revamped site.
Have been pretty much disgusted by the Mets offseason, epitomized by standing pat with the pitching staff and having the nerve to release “I’m healthy!” video clips from players who — surprise! — started the year on the DL anyway.
The offense appears solid. Santana appears solid. A nice day. That’s about all I can say.
i think the whole reyes thing was a psyche-out. we shall see. if he goes longer than 5 days. then something is up. but honestly he should have started on the DL. so that was the right call.
Beltran should have been operated on during the summer.
Dave –
Sorry to be late – couldn’t be helped.
Where are the numbers for the entries??? They do not appear on my blog.
Heard the last inning – I’ll happily put this game in “The Books” and hope to figure out this site by the next game.
I agree with Jeff M. “Santana appears solid. A nice day”
Oh, and David Wright started the year off right.
I don’t know what the problem is with the numbers. I’m now using Google Chrome, and they appear with no problem.
I was worried about you, Annie — thought maybe you’d been swept away in the floods! My basement is finally just drying out, after having 2 sump pumps going for nearly a week just to keep the water from rising.
Now let’s see if the Mets can keep their heads above water…
numbers look good with firefox and with ie8.
thanks john and annie.
good to see they won today.
hope they can play 500 the rest of the year and we will go from there.
But if they play .500 the rest of the year, they’ll finish at… .500! Where can they possibly go from there, except back to “Wait ’til next year”?
well it is an improvement from last year.
considering the rotation what do you expect them to do? win 90 games?
Sheesh, Dave, what a buzzkill! It’s opening day…. the grass is green… the slate is clean… the promise of spring is in the air… the Mets are undefeated… anything is possible… da la de da de da de da da doo da day…
ok, sorry, was just momentarily delirious.
Hello all! Just got back to bmore from citi field today…bought my grandfather and I tickets and took him to our first Mets opening day
citi field is MUCH improved from last yr, much more mets decoration and history on display..looks great. felt like a home for the mets (i did not feel that way last yR)
this is a day to be positive
johan- not his best stuff, still 6 strong
dwright- oppo field homerun
matthews, barajas- hitting
it was great to see the mets win and just as sweet to see HAPPY mets fans
good win for the metsies and looking forward to talking baseball with you folks, ill be here during the season just like you guys hoping and praying for the mets
ya gotta believe!
jeff
I would like to be like jim. I am glad they won and that johan looks good. i am glad that for one day at least it looks like david is back to the all star he was. i am glad that the mets are in first place.
I wish i could put on the rose colored glasses. 06 made me believe and the last 3 years killed it for me. as i have been complaining about for 2 years now, we desperately need starting pitching. did we get it? no. we have sybill for a manager. who puts a marginal mlb player who was cut by his last team as your cleanup hitter? sybill. who has a 250 hitter with no stolen bases as your leadoff hitter? sybill.
you ask why i am so gloomy? because our team is captained by clueless idiots.