Tag Archives: Florida Marlins

Apr 01

April 1.10: Better late than never.

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What the Mets should have done last year they’ll do Opening Day, and that is to honor their past by unveiling a Mets Hall of Fame. Gates open at 10:40 a.m.

“The Mets Hall of Fame & Museum honors the greatest players and greatest events in our history,” said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, New York Mets, in a statement released by the club. “The museum connects generations of fans to the moments they cherish and reflects our ongoing commitment to celebrate our heritage and history at Citi Field.”

The Hall will feature significant artifacts, interactive exhibits, videos and photographic imagery, recognizing the unforgettable plays and players that are their 48-year history.

The exhibit will include plaques honoring the members of the Mets Hall of Fame, the 1969 and 1986 World Series Championship trophies, and memorabilia on loan from Mets greats, such as Tom Seaver’s 1969 Cy Young Award and Keith Hernandez’s 1987 Gold Glove Award. Also, there will be the Mookie Wilson ball Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

On loan from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum are ball used in the first play at Shea Stadium, Tommie Agee’s glove from the 1969 World Series and the ball Tom Seaver threw to Mike Piazza for the ceremonial first pitch to open Citi Field.

ON A SIDE NOTE: Please read the post from yesterday, Murphy Down, and tell me who you’d rather see at first base until Daniel Murphy is back. Do you want the veteran MIke Jacobs or the prospect Ike Davis?

Mar 08

March 8.10: Maine goes today.

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John Maine isn’t a project the way Mike Pelfrey and Oliver are, but he’s a question nonetheless. When healthy, the Mets have a reasonable idea what to expect from Maine, once considered a throw-in in the Kris Benson with Baltimore.

But, how healthy is Maine?

“It feels fine,’’ Maine said at the start of spring training when asked about his surgically repaired shoulder. “It feels like it did three, four years ago.’’

Three years ago appeared to be a breakout year for Maine, who made 32 starts and went 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA. However, Maine complained of fatigue in his shoulder the following summer and eventually missed his last seven starts because of surgery to remove bone spurs in his shoulder.

Surgery was deemed successful, but by his own admission he rushed his comeback saying “maybe I was trying to make up for lost time.’’

Maine made only 15 starts last season and went 7-6 with a 4.43 ERA. Maine’s biggest problem last year was an inability to amp it up and pitch out of trouble. He came back at the end of the year to show he was recovering, then modified his off-season program by starting later and throwing less.

Today’s start against the Florida Marlins won’t be about getting people out as it will be another test for his shoulder and to see what he might have picked up working with Sandy Koufax earlier this spring.

Koufax had Maine using a longer stride when delivering his fastball and concentrating on working on the inner half of the plate.

When healthy the Mets have a good idea from what to expect from Maine, although the organization believes the potential ceiling is higher with Pelfrey and Perez.

“I think being able to go out there every five days,’’ Maine said when asked the key for a successful season from him. “When I do go out there I generally give the team a chance to win.’’

Here’s the line-up behind Maine:

Angel Pagan CF
Fernando Martinez RF
David Wright 3B
Jason Bay LF
Daniel Murphy 1B
Rod Barajas C
Russ Adams 2B
Ruben Tejada SS
John Maine RP

Oct 16

Commentary: Get angry at Reyes, not Victorino.

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Reyes: Less dancing and more playing is needed.

Reyes: Less dancing and more playing is needed.

Interesting report last night on Fox when after Shane Victorino’s slam against Milwaukee in which which he raised his finger in the air as he rounded the bases.

Prior to the next game, teammates taped to Victorino’s locker the photo of him running the bases and wrote ‘J. Reyes’ above it.

Victorino doing his best Reyes.

Victorino doing his best Reyes.

A slap at Reyes? Of course it was. But, if this irks you, blame Reyes, for it is stuff like this that upsets other teams enough to put the Mets in their sights. Reyes is a good player with the potential to be great, but he’s been given a free reign for the most part about his celebrations and behavior.

Reyes provided the motivation to the Florida Marlins for the season finale in 2007, and undoubtedly inspired teams against the Mets this year.

Sep 29

Santana voted NL Pitcher of the Month

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He had Cy Young stuff but not much support.

He had Cy Young stuff but not much support.

Johan Santana was voted the NL Pitcher of the Month this afternoon. He was 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in September, including a gutty effort in Saturday’s shutout of the Florida Marlins that only delayed the eventual agony.

Santana gave up nine runs on 39 hits with 47 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings. He only walked 13.

With the way Santana finished the season, it is hard to believe he was booed in the first half. He’s been lights out since early July.

-Since July 4, was 9-0 with a 2.09 ERA in 17 starts. He allowed three runs or less in 16 of these starts.

-Santana was 6-0 with a 1.47 ERA in his last nine starts at Shea.

Sep 28

Mets Chat Room: Saying Goodbye to Shea Edition.

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Have been walking around the stands and listening to people. Mixed feelings. Shea has never been state-of-the-art, even from the beginning. But, it has been home to many of you. A place to escape a bad day, a play to dream, a place to shed tears, and most of all, a place to dream.

It’s always sad to say goodbye to a ballpark, because it is the site of so many memories. But, where blacktop will cover what is now the outfield. But, you can’t build over memories, just as you can’t build over dreams.

We say good bye to Shea Stadium today, but not really because there is still the dream of playoff baseball, and with it maybe more memories.

Now, wouldn’t that be something?

For you trivia buffs, here are the lineups, the answer to a future question.

Florida Marlins

CF Cameron Maybin
C John Baker
3B Jorge Cantu
1B Mike Jacobs
LF Josh Willingham
2B Dan Uggla
RF Cody Ross
SS Alfedo Amezaga
LH Scott Olsen

METS

SS Jose Reyes
CF Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
3B David Wright
LF Nick Evans
2B Ramon Martinez
RF Ryan Church
C Ramon Castro
LH Oliver Perez

Sep 27

Mets Chat Room: Santana defines greatness.

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Santana: An afternoon of greatness keeps the Mets alive.

Santana: An afternoon of greatness keeps the Mets alive.

Johan Santana came to New York with as much pressure on him as any other coming to this city. Santana more than did his job this afternoon, coming back on three days rest to throw 117 pitches in a 2-0 victory over the Florida Marlins to keep alive the Mets’ season for at least another day.

“I made up my mind I was going to do it,” Santana said of the complete-game shutout. He said the chanting of his name by the crowd motivated him and he was as proud of this effort as any in his career.

As to why he wanted the ball, he said, “there was no tomorrow.”

Well, thanks to Santana, there is for the Mets. If you were at Shea today, tell us what you saw. If you watched on TV, tell us what you thought.

Sep 26

Mets Chat Room: Pelfrey goes fishing/Shea Top Ten

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The Mets announced today the top ten moments at Shea Stadium:

1. Game Six of the 1986 World Series highlighted by the Bill Buckner team.
2. Mike Mike Piazza’s dramatic two-run home run in the eighth inning, Sept. 21, 2001, to beat the Braves in New York City’s first sporting event after the 9-11 attacks on America.
3. The Mets beat the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles, 5-3, in Game Five of the 1969 World Series.
4. Endy Chavez’ Game Seven 2006 NLCS catch.
5. The Mets 7 1986 World Series victory.
6. Robin Ventura’s “Grand Slam Single” in Game Five of the 1999 NLCS.
7. The Beatles play Shea, Aug. 15, 1965.
8. The Mets, on June 30, 2000, scored 10 runs in the eighth inning vs. Atlanta.
9. Tom Seaver’s one-hitter against Chicago.
10. Todd Pratt’s walk-off home run in Game Four of the NLDS vs. Arizona.

Let’s talk about them during the game, if there is a game. For the second straight season the Mets’ last hurdle to October are the Florida Marlins.

“We have three games left and it’s going to be hard,” said Carlos Beltran, who is hitting .315 (17-for-54) with three home runs and 12 RBIs against Florida this season.

The Mets are 9-6 against the Marlins this season, including 4-2 at Shea. None of that success is by Mike Pelfrey, who is 0-3 with a 7.91 ERA in four starts against the Marlins this season and 1-4 lifetime in seven appearances.