Month: April 2016

Wilpons Sold Piazza 9/11 Jersey; Desperately Trying To Win It Back At Auction

On By themetssiahLeave a comment

mcgavin

Last week it came out that the jersey Mike Piazza wore on 9/11 is being auctioned off this month. I didn’t even read the article at the time, because I assumed that meant the Mets were auctioning off the jersey to raise thousands of dollars for charity before placing it in the baseball Hall of Fame museum at Cooperstown as Indiana Jones would have wanted. However, yesterday Mike Piazza came out and said he is furious that his jersey is up for auction. Why? Because the jersey isn’t being auctioned off by the Mets for charity. The Wilpons previously sold the jersey to Goldin Auctions unbeknownst to Piazza, and they have had it at the Citi Field Museum on loan. That’s right. The Wilpons sold MLB’s historic anti-terrorism symbol for a few thousand dollars to help pay back their Madoff creditors. No that is not a typo. I’m pretty much speechless. At first the Wilpons had the audacity to question the jersey’s authenticity and pretended they never sold it. And then, the head of Goldin Auctions pulled out the certificate of authenticity that the Wilpons gave him and was like “umm what are you guys talking about”. And now the Wilpons have straight up acknowledged they screwed up.

The best part is now the Wilpons have to win the jersey back at auction like they are Happy Gilmore trying to win Grandma’s house back. Piazza said the Mets have assured him they are making a “concerted effort to get the jersey back”. Jeff is just going to be standing in the back of the room as senile Fred does his best Mrs. Gilmore impression asking him over and over “What’s going on?” I feel like this auction has the potential to attract some terrorist scum. All kinds of ISIS supporters showing up to bid on the jersey. If Mets fans can raise the money, I will happily represent us as the “Shooter McGavin” of the auction. Priceless jersey speculation is a hobby of mine. I can outbid the Wilpons, and then use the jersey in an attempt to blackmail them into selling the team. I can’t imagine that’ll work though. I’m sure they’ll just auction off a few more players and come up with plenty of cash.

Takeout Slide Abolition: Old School/New School War Rages On

On By themetssiahLeave a comment

After calling out baseball for being “tired” this offseason and saying players should lighten up about bat flipping, Bryce Harper officially christened the uniform for the New Guard this week with his “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat. And while Bryce fights the all important Battle of Bat Flip Hill, the war’s first major test comes in the form of takeout slides. As I wrote all offseason, the Chase Utley Rule change itself was completely and utterly meaningless. Takeout slides were already against league rules in the form of the interference rule which has been on the books forever. The only thing that could have possibly changed the status quo this season is the umpires consistently calling runners out at second base on takeout slides. Well it didn’t take long for MLB to show where they stand. They are now 2 for 2 in enforcing the ban on interfering takeout slides. On Monday, Nick Markakis slid past the second base bag and knocked over second basemen Daniel Murphy. Murph signaled for the umpires to consider the new rule, and the umps called the runner out. Last night in an even more high profile situation, the Blue Jays scored what would have been the tying and lead run in the 9th inning during a double play attempt that was broken up by Jose Bautista. Bautista did what runners have been doing FOREVER. He slid into the base hard and attempted to topple the middle infielder by slightly extending his arm. It worked. Logan Forsythe wasn’t able to complete the double play and the Jays took the lead. That is until the umps enforced the existing interference rules and gave the game back to the Rays. The play was against the “new” rule, and the interference rule as it has always been.

I for one am shocked by these early season developments. All offseason I said the league would never make the in game changes to actually enforce the rules. And considering the league consistently supports the Old Guard, I had a good reason for thinking that. Every time there is a call for change, Rob Manfred and the owners have an epileptic episode. And when the convulsions subside, they all agree to “respect the game” and “honor the traditions”. It’s like clockwork. But I have to give them credit for their changes in recent years. For one thing, they’ve finally embraced instant replay despite a ton of nonsensical resistance. And seemingly, we’ve fully abolished home plate collisions. Maybe change is finally coming? Maybe takeout slides are next.

After the game, Jays Manager John Gibbons gave a classic old school response when he said, “Maybe we’ll come out and wear dresses tomorrow. Maybe that’s what everybody’s looking for.” Of course that comment came after the Royals earlier in the day “trolled” Noah Syndergaard by playing American Woman as he warmed up. We hear “bat flips are an embarrassment to the game” all the time. It’s funny, because the old guard thinking it’s insulting to call Thor a woman is the embarrassment to the game. Daniel Murphy not wanting to share a locker room with a gay guy is the embarrassment to the game. I know these are larger issues we have in our society, but it is all part of the same discussion. It’s all part of the Old School vs. New School war that rages on.

As far as takeout slides go, I am thrilled to see the league getting this right out of the gate. However, the only way this works is if they keep getting it right. They can’t fall into the same traps they’ve fallen into before where one umpiring crew calls it one way and another crew calls it another way. If that happens, we will see the mass confusion among the umpires and players that I predicted in the offseason. Until that time though, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be wrong. The times they are a changing. Also, after the way last night’s Blue Jays game ended, somebody better check on Old School General Goose Gossage. I have a feeling his heart exploded.

Gods and Kings: Thor Executes The Royals

On By themetssiahLeave a comment

 Final Score: Mets 2, Royals 0

Well it was World Series ring presentation day for the Royals. They had a ridiculous full orchestra on the field for the ceremony and handed out the jewelry in front of the entire Royal court. But it didn’t faze Noah Syndergaard in the least. Come game time he was an absolute machine. He was throwing 99 MPH consistently. Nasty slider, nasty hook, nasty sinker. He’s just #TeamNasty all day. Striking out any member of the Royals isn’t an easy task. But Thor’s heat is just a gamechanger. And he overcame some real challenges. He went on to strike out the side after a leadoff triple to start the game. In the 6th, the Mets missed two double play opportunities to get out of a jam, and ultimately the Royals loaded the bases with two outs. But Thor still got the strikeout of Kendrys Morales to end the inning. Jim Henderson and Addison Reed looked great as the bridge to Jeurys Familia. And then Familia came in and got some World Series redemption with an easy 1-2-3 9th inning for the save.

Neil Walker aka New Murphy aka Neil Walkyear had an awesome two run bomb in the 4th inning to give Thor the lead. That was all the Mets needed offensively. Walker also almost pulled a Murphy in the 9th with a little bobble on a routine ground ball. Luckily he’s not Murphy, and he regained his composure to make the play.

Yoenis Cespedes had a great spring, but in the first two games he’s still swinging at some crappy pitches. He hit a long foul ball late in the game that was almost a dinger. The home runs will come.

David Wright stole two bases in the game. Obviously David has been hearing all the talk about how he’s dunzo and decided to show us he’s still got something left in the tank. Or maybe he owns himself in his fantasy league, and he’s light on steals this week. I don’t know why he’s running, but I suggest he avoids any unnecessary movement going forward. We wouldn’t want to lose him prematurely.

Anyway, we got the split in KC. Awesome. Finally we are done with the Royals (Until June. Yes we play them again. Greaaaaaat). Now we move on to our cushy soft April schedule. Back home to play the piss poor Phillies. On to the rest of the NL Least. Thank God for our division.

Murph Wins Opener For Nats; God Already Pointing and Laughing At Us

On By themetssiahLeave a comment


It wasn’t bad enough that we lost our opener to KC in the exact same way we lost every 2015 World Series game. It wasn’t bad enough that Yoenis Cespedes dropped another routine fly ball. It wasn’t bad enough that ol’ bent spine David Wright and Cespedes struck out in the 9th to end yesterday’s opener. God felt the need to continue rubbing it in our faces by having Daniel Murphy hit a home run and the game winning extra inning hit on Opening Day for the Nationals. Of course he did. These are the things we come to expect as Mets fans. Yet they still find a way to surprise me every single time they happen. Oh by the way, Murph was the first beneficiary of the Ruben Tejada rule too. He got taken out when Nick Markakis slid past the bag. Murph called for the double play, and the umps granted it. Of course they did.  

Forgive the crummy photo, but Markakis undoubtedly slid past the bag. Under the new rules he’s out. I’m all for the rule being applied consistently in an effort to fully abolish takeout slides. So I’m happy they got the call right. It’s just hilarious that Murph, a notorious gamer, is the first to benefit while the ghost of Tejada continues to haunt the Mets clubhouse and the real Ruben continues to hobble around the Cardinals dugout.

Final Note: The K-Zone was driving me crazy last night on ESPN as it always does. Mainly because it simply highlights that the umpires consistently get the calls wrong, and we’d be much better off with robots behind the plate. And then we have to hear the announcers praise the umpires for being “consistent” with their inaccurate strike zone. “He’s really calling that low strike Bill.” Umm no he’s consistently making a mistake and should be fired. But ESPN did release this interesting K-Zone Heat Map/MRI of David Wright:

Wright heat map

Get a load of that twisted spine he’s rocking. That baby’s got more knots than a pre-schooler’s shoe laces. In a related story, Mets.com finally updated our depth chart at third base. Pray for David.

Mets Lose Opener to KC; Déjà Vu All Over Again

On By themetssiahLeave a comment


Final Score: Royals 4, Mets 3

I really wish we opened the season against any team other than the Royals. Watching the Royals play is like Chinese water torture for the opposition. And I hate every one of their players with the fire of a thousand suns. Every ball they hit finds a hole. Every ball the opposition hits finds a Royals glove. I hate them. I do not envy the other AL Central teams. I look forward to playing the Phillies 19 times and leaving KC behind. Edinson Volquez looked great. His fastball was electric and his slider was downright unhittable. He was a back end of the rotation starter his entire career. He was suspended for PEDs in 2010. The last two seasons he started hitting 97 MPH on the radar gun. You do the math.

Yoenis Cespedes made a World Series-esque defensive blunder by dropping a routine fly ball in the first inning that ultimately cost us a run. This time he made the mistake in left field which is his gold glove position. And honestly that run turned out to be the difference in the game much like the run Cespedes cost us in Game 1 of the World Series. Whoops!!

We also struggled to get things going offensively tonight. We finally got something cooking in the 8th when Duda had a big two RBI hit. Neil Walker drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. But Luke Hochevar came out of the pen to strikeout Asdrubal Cabrera in a big spot.

In the 9th, Travis d’Arnaud worked a leadoff walk, Alejandro De Aza grounded into a force, and Curtis Granderson singled to get De Aza to third. With runners on the corners and one out, David Wright brought nothing but his mangled spine to the plate and struck out. And then in fitting fashion, Cespedes struck out to end the game.

The good news is Matt Harvey looked awesome considering it was his first start of the season, and he was coming off an injury filled week. His fastball was sharp, his slider was sliding, and his change-up was changing. Sure he didn’t have his signature strikeout totals and didn’t go deep into the game. But he kept us in it and overcame the early fielding gaffe. Hopefully we can get some runs off of Chris Young in game 2. A split in KC would be fine by me. Hmmm. When have I said that before?

Also, I noticed this Mr. Met imposter roaming around Kauffman Stadium tonight.


This guy is a brave soul roaming around enemy territory like that. I fully expect the Royal Guard to catch him and mount his giant baseball head on a spike.

Our first W will have to wait until Noah Syndergaard steps on the mound on Tuesday.

Series Preview: Going Going, Back Back, To KC KC

On By themetssiahLeave a comment

Well the 2016 MLB season has finally arrived. We already got a preview of this opening series last November. It’s 2015 World Series rematch time. The scheduling gods somehow miraculously put this one on the calendar well before we even faced off for the championship. And then those same gods for some reason gave us only two games in the first five calendar days of the season really screwing up our rotation. God giveth, God taketh away.

Rumors leaked this week that despite winning the World Series and getting the ultimate revenge, the Royals are still upset with Noah Syndergaard for throwing up and in at Alcides Escobar to start off Game 3. Apparently, they plan to retaliate in the opening series. When asked about this, the Royals were pretty united in denying the rumor and emphasizing that they already got revenge when they won the championship. Ned Yost called the New York reporter who wrote it a “buffoon”.

Former Met Dillon Gee  who now plays for KC said, “That’s the New York media for you. I’ve been here all spring and I don’t think anyone has even brought up the Mets.” Ooh really Dillon? Nobody asked you all spring what team you came from? They probably assumed you wouldn’t make the opening day roster.

Pitching Matchups:

Game 1: It’ll be Matt Harvey vs. Edinson Volquez in game 1. Let’s see if Matt Harvey looks like himself on Opening Day. I know everyone has joked about it, but the guy had a real medical issue this week. He was scared. He was weak for a few days. Harvey had his typical nasty fastball and command this spring, but it always takes some time for pitchers to get into shape in the early part of the season. I’m sure the Mets will be closely monitoring his performance considering he’s been pissing blood all week.

When they both played for the Reds, I always thought of Volquez as Scrappy Doo and Johnny Cueto as Scooby Doo. A lil sidekick with a similar delivery and comparable stuff but in a big moment, it was obvious who was the number one dog. I think that dynamic was clear in the World Series as Cueto outshined all of the Royals starting pitchers with his Game 2 performance. Well now Volquez gets the Opening Day nod for the world champion Royals, and Cueto is on the Giants. Some of the current Mets have good career numbers against Volquez. Asdrubal Cabrera has 4 hits in 13 ABs including a home run. Juan Lagares has 3 hits in 8 ABs. However, David Wright is 2 for 13 and Neil Walker is 3 for 17. So clearly mixed results against Volquez historically. Hopefully we can get something going early against him.

Game 2: Thor was originally supposed to face off against new arrival Ian Kennedy in game 2. Kennedy is a classic doofy ginger that eats innings for a living. However, he tweaked his hammy in his last spring start. So now former Met Chris Young gets the nod. Chris Young has had so many reconstructive shoulder surgeries, they should name the procedure after him. But he’s still managed to overcome his injury problems and be effective at the major league level. The Royals signed him this offseason to a two year deal. The Mets don’t have a lot of career ABs against him, but he’s a middle of the rotation flyball pitcher. We have Thor. We should win 99 out of 100 times. And we’re playing in the AL park, so Thor should be able to be nice and aggressive on the mound and keep the stupid Royals from getting too comfortable in the box.

Things To Look For:

World Series Ceremonies: The Royals are doing all their World Series ceremonies during the opening series. They are going to hurt. Don’t look away. Soak it in. Watch it. Let it burn your eyes. Let it drive us this season as fans. Keep us focused. The Royals said they have a 30 second video clip honoring the Mets or something. I’m sure it’s just going to be the clip of Duda overthrowing d’Arnaud at home plate in Game 5 on a loop for 30 seconds.

Fight Club: The Royals may have denied the retaliation rumors, but they got into fights and brawls many times last season. It’s the reason everyone laughed in their face when they complained during the World Series about Thor’s pitch. The Royals are classless dicks, and they love to fight. Ned Yost almost fought the reporters for even mentioning the idea that they wanted to retaliate.

I mean Jesus, look at these MLB file photos of Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, Kelvin Herrera, and Luke Hochevar. They look like mugshots of four guys who robbed the local convenience store, beat the hell out of the clerk and his son, and then jumped in their pickup truck firing their guns in the air as they fled from the scene.

With ESPN We All Lose: We lost the World Series. But now the Mets are so mainstream. And as a result, we get to be on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. We are all going to have to suffer through their awful broadcast. Despite his retirement, Jon Miller saying “Carlos Beltrán” on a loop still haunts my nightmares. I would give anything to watch this game on SNY with Gary, Keith, and Ron doing the broadcast. But baseball is finally back. So I will make do.

Weekly Roundup: Vegas Betches

On By themetssiahLeave a comment

Vegas Betches: Well the Mets officially departed Florida on Wednesday signaling the end of Grapefruit League action. Before the regular season starts on Sunday, the Mets made a quick stop off in Vegas for the final two exhibition games against the Cubs. Vegas!!! I’m sure David Wright and his brittle spine headed straight to the massage tables. It still blows my mind that our Triple-A team plays in freaking Vegas. Our top prospects and fringe major leaguers are really living the dream. I would give anything to be periodically demoted from my day job to get a little more corporate seasoning in Vegas. Just gambling up a storm all day.

The reason we have our minor league team in Vegas is really the best part. Every other team passed on the opportunity to have their minor league team in Vegas. Playing in Vegas is like playing in Colorado. Low air pressure and the balls fly out of the park. Nobody wants their top pitching prospects getting shelled and losing all their confidence. But the Wilpons didn’t care! Also, do you realize how ridiculous it is for an east coast team to have their top minor league team play out west? Sometimes teams need players from AAA at a moments notice. That didn’t matter to the Wilpons. As a result we’re flying guys out from the Pacific Coast League every other week. Oh and by the way, the park is also supposedly a dump. It was reported earlier this year that our Vegas venue Cashman Field, was flooding with feces this season. The Wilpons can really smell a winning real estate opportunity. At least the thin air helps bums like Eric Campbell and Johnny Monell dominate at the plate. Soup might hit .400 in Vegas this year if we can ever get him off the major league roster.

Game Notes:

On Monday, the Mets lost 3-1 to the Cardinals. Bartolo Colon had a nice regular season tune up. Antonio Bastardo continued to struggle out of the pen.

On Tuesday, the Mets lost 1-0 to the Marlins. Sean Gilmartin, Jim Henderson, Logan Verrett all looked strong in a showdown for the final pen spot.

On Wednesday, the Mets lost 12-1 to the Nationals. Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard had their final meaningless spring tune up. Jeurys Familia had a brutal appearance.

On Thursday in Vegas, the Mets lost 5-1 to the Cubs. The Mets pitched minor leaguers Paul Sewald and Chasen Bradford because they are both originally from Vegas. The Mets still couldn’t get anything going offensively.

On Friday in Vegas, the Mets finally won 8-1 over the Cubs. Steven Matz pitched great. All the key relievers including Familia had strong appearances. And Cespedes finally hit a spring home run. It was a great way to close out the spring schedule.

Relievers Have Dead Arm: Other than Familia, our key relievers have been awful this spring. In particular, newcomer Antonio Bastardo has been miserable. Dan Warthen has been working with him and tinkering with his mechanics to try and fix things. God I hope it’s rust and not his Biogenesis steroid pixie dust wearing off. But Terry says it’s nothing to be alarmed about because we are in the “dead arm” period of spring training. Of course Terry said this as he was applying aloe all over his Florida sun scorched skin. The last week of spring is his “dead skin” period. I know TC is going to miss the natural sun bathing. But Terry will just have to get his glow on in some NYC tanning beds.

Wilmer Is Learnding: Wilmer Flores played first base twice this week. He made all the plays and looked pretty good doing it. Pray for Lucas Duda. I honestly don’t care if Wilmer boots every ball that comes his way at first base. He’s our only backup option #NeverSoup.

Opening Week Rotation: The Mets announced a while back that Matt Harvey would start Opening Night. This week they confirmed Noah Syndergaard will start Game 2 in KC and Jacob deGrom will start the home opener on Friday against Philly. Jacob deGrom is starting later in the week because his wife is due to have their first child mid-week. I’ll have more details on the starters in my opening series preview post. But it’s hilarious that Harvey spent the entire week whining about pee pee and deGrom is the one about to have a newborn baby.


© ESPN The Magazine Body Issue 2016

Harvey Extremely Angry (Furious? I Can’t Think of Another Appropriate Word): So Matt Harvey has refused to speak with reporters to close out the spring because he’s still furious with the way the media joked about his urinary condition. I completely get why Harvey is angry, and I covered ad nauseum how ridiculous it is that the Mets aren’t getting the blame for mishandling this extremely sensitive personal news. But the media is going to do what they do. He’s not dying. He’s healthy now. And pee is funny. So they are going to make jokes. Honestly, I don’t really get the big fuss. So Harvey pissed a little blood. Bartolo Colon is a 300 pound 43 year old man. Based on his physique and diet, I’m guessing he probably wreaks absolute havoc in the bathroom, and there’s probably a little bit of blood in the mix. Yet we don’t hear a peep out of him.

Spring Mets Suck: Thank god spring training is over. The Mets couldn’t win at all. Outside of Peegate and Yoenis Cespedes riding a horse to camp, the biggest story this spring came out this week when the Mets announced the Momofuku chicken sandwich is coming to Citi Field.

Other League Notes: The Braves cut Nick Swisher. At first I wanted the Mets to pick him up to replace Soup, but then I remembered at this point in his career he’s just a fratty douche who’s lost all his skills outside of beer pong and flip cup. Ruben Tejada will start the season on the DL with St. Louis after hurting his hamstring in the final week of spring. Poor Ruben. He finally gets a big break with the Cardinals and now he’s back on crutches. I’m sure Utley had something to do with this. Speaking of former Mets, the Braves also cut Carlos Torres, and now the Brewers are supposedly going to pick him up. The Brewers already have former Met bums Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Eric Young Jr. in their organization. Their GM is treating former Mets like Pokemon. Gotta catch em all!