The Hyper Active Terry Collins Thread

[metirish]

Couldn't help but laugh when reading this Rubin article .


Mets to bowl during spring training

By Adam Rubin PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Terry Collins wants to instill team unity. So the first-year New York Mets manager suggested to stars David Wright and Jason Bay during the winter that the team ought to have weekly bowling nights during spring training. "They said, 'This is the greatest idea we've heard,' and 'let's go with it,'" Collins said. Wright particularly was receptive, practicing during the winter in his native Norfolk, Va. Wright ultimately had the high score for a single game at 259. Mike Pelfrey was second at 188. For his part, Collins bought a bowling ball with a Mets logo painted on it. The weekly bonding event kicked off on Sunday night at a bowling alley blocks from the team's spring-training facility, on the eve of the first full-squad baseball workout. "I thought it was really important with the new staff, new general manager, to try to get away from the stigma that this team is individual parts, and pull everybody together and have some fun and have some laughs," Collins said. "You know, this is a long year, starting really tomorrow. This is a marathon. And I wanted these guys to enjoy spring training a little bit and come down here in a relaxed atmosphere, so I came up with bowling." Said Wright: "I love doing stuff like that anyway, whether it's golfing, bowling. I love getting together with the guys and just having a competition like that. I guess we'll find out soon what kind of bowler I am. But if I'm going to participate, I'm going to try to go out there and win. ... I've picked up the bowling ball a few times this offseason, especially once I heard we're going to have this league. I don't want to be surprised by anything. So I practiced a little bit and I think I'm ready to go." The 61-year-old Collins suggested he can bowl as high as 190, but arthritis in his right hand can be a drag on his score if he has been overactive throwing baseballs or otherwise overexerting himself at the team's complex. As for owning a bowling ball with a Mets logo, the manager said: "When I knew I wanted to do the bowling thing, I thought it might be some laughs to have a Mets ball. So I saw the Mets ball in the pro shop here and went and bought it and here we are." Of course, with the grind of spring training, Collins isn't sure the Mets can have a spring training's worth of weekly competitions. "We're hoping that it lasts four weeks," he said, "but once we get into games and we start making moves and everything else -- and there may be meetings on Sunday nights -- I think the numbers will change. But tonight we're expecting 50-something guys." Adam Rubin covers the Mets for ESPNNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.

the greatest thing they ever heard?....lol....but that's Collins right?, full of energy and positivity , just saw him on SNY , yeah I'd buy what he's selling , hard not to feel positive around the guy. When he met with Castillo he tried to convince him that the dropped ball from nearly two years ago has bothered him since.....

[Valadius]

Countdown for Ollie to blow out his elbow while bowling begins in 3...2...1...

[ashie62]

If Wright's power numbers are down this year someone will blame the spring training bowling as the cause.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The list of things that David Wright is wildly enthusiastic about is... not short.

That would make a thread.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: The list of things that David Wright is wildly enthusiastic about is... not short. That would make a thread.

yes him and Collins will have a blast.

David showing tendencies of captain type stuff in actually practicing blowing in the off season because Collins wanted to start this carry on during spring training.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

259 is a hell of a game, isn't it in bowling?

[Gwreck]

Yeah. One way to get a 259 is to bowl 10 strikes and 2 spares.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Terry cracks down on card playing. David wright is swell with it.

Collins crackin' down on Mets' card playing By MIKE PUMA PORT ST. LUCIE -- The Mets won't be allowed to royal flush their season down the toilet. Manager Terry Collins told The Post yesterday his team rules, many of which will be unveiled today when he addresses his full squad for the first time, will include a limit on card playing in the clubhouse. "It's my understanding [card playing] was an issue last year," Collins said. "They will be allowed to play cards, but there is going to be a cutoff time before the game." Under former manager Jerry Manuel, the Mets had no such limit, and some believed the card games got out of control last season -- to the point that players' work habits before the games were affected. The boiling point was reached in Pittsburgh last August, when former hitting coach Howard Johnson went ballistic during a pregame meeting and challenged the Mets to put as much energy into their game preparation as their card playing. David Wright, who is an avid card player -- he even hosts an annual charity poker tournament -- said he's fine with Collins drawing a line in the sand. "It's good to have a firm cutoff," Wright said. "When I play, that's part of my routine. I get to the park early and I like to, with lunch, play some cards. But for me, an hour before I get on the field [for batting practice] it has to be wrapped up. "In the seven years I've been here . . . cards are a part of baseball, I think. But it's very important also that it's not a distraction and it doesn't get in the way of someone's preparation. The way to do it is have a firm cutoff where by a certain time you are focused 100 percent on getting ready for the game." Wright denied that card playing affected the Mets' work habits last season. "You are talking about a bunch of grown men, where this is what they do for a living," Wright said. "If they are going to let a card game get in the way of what they do for a living or their profession, then you have bigger issues than that. "But it's important sometimes to have firm rules that people have to abide by," Wright added. "Just so in case there is even a distraction or a choice of, 'Stay here and finish this card game or getting my work in,' there is no choice. Terry has already made it for you." What about Johnson's tirade in Pittsburgh? "Part of it was blowing off steam, because HoJo is pretty good at keeping it loose and having fun things to do while you are at the field," Wright said. "So I think a lot of it was frustration. It becomes an issue if someone feels it's getting in the way of preparation. If that was the case last year, it's warranted." Collins said his initial team address should last 15-20 minutes. Wright isn't sure what to expect. "So far, it's only been a couple of weeks, but it seems like [Collins] is very good at balancing having a good time and keeping things loose with rules and with being somewhat more strict," Wright said. "There needs to be a balance."

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think Collins' initial address will be about bowling, playing cards, and "energy."

I've already mentioned that I think Terry is bird-like. As I get to know him better, I hope to narrow it down to a particular species of bird. Right now, I'm thinking it's going to be "sparrow."

[metsmarathon]

how awesome would it be to have a mr.met bowling ball? i mean, the hat might get in the way at times, but it'd still be freaking awesome.

[seawolf17]

NOW the other thread makes sense.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Good stuff by Marty Noble

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110414&content_id=17793868&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Nothing wears on a team, good or bad, more than a generous bullpen, and New York's seems to write a blank check to its opponent on a daily basis. The baseball axiom says that teams that score first win about 62 percent of the time. The Mets scored first four times in four games against the Dudes from Denver and lost four times. Their record when they have scored first is 3-5, their winning percentage the other side of 62 percent.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Anyone else watching the postgame just to see what he says?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, not much

[ashie62]

He looks red, tired, and overmatched..Not managerial material at this level..

He reminds me of a substitue teacher...an ineffectual caretaker.

[metirish]

Ashie62 wrote: He looks red, tired, and overmatched..Not managerial material at this level.. He reminds me of a substitue teacher...an ineffectual caretaker.

I had a similar thought , he's Roy Hodgson.

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Anyone else watching the postgame just to see what he says?

More to see how he says it. Tonight's session was a little late. I think he was taking his Valium and doing his pins and needles, needles and pins breathing exercise before facing the interrogation.

[G-Fafif]

Ashie62 wrote: He looks red, tired, and overmatched..Not managerial material at this level.. He reminds me of a substitue teacher...an ineffectual caretaker.

All managers remind me of gym teachers, though Jerry Manuel seemed he was a social studies teacher who the school saddled with phys ed.

[ashie62]

metirish wrote: Ashie62 wrote: He looks red, tired, and overmatched..Not managerial material at this level.. He reminds me of a substitue teacher...an ineffectual caretaker. I had a similar thought , he's Roy Hodgson.

Terry even looks lie him.

West Bromwich Albion has a better record than the Mets