why do we suck?

[Edgy MD]

my money is on a negative atmosphere pervading the fanbase and the whole damned building.

And, if you're Sandy Alderson and you accept that (ceets seemingly doesn't), what do you do about that? If you're Terry Collins?

The thing about psychology is where it can run counter to progressive action. The circumstances may call for restrained and progressive organizational building, but it may take a couple of big bold moves to scare off the ghosts.

[Centerfield]

Simple solution: Sign or trade for a guy who will make CitiField his bitch. Knock HR's left and right.

[seawolf17]

Difficult solution: Knock Citi Field down and ask John Franco to find some guys who will rebuild the old place in one winter.

[Ceetar]

Centerfield wrote: Simple solution: Sign or trade for a guy who will make CitiField his bitch. Knock HR's left and right.

Adam Dunn?

[Edgy MD]

That's certainly a tempting thought. Get a pure power guy who is unimidated by the building and the rest of the lineup relaxes and does the things they can do.

It makes just enough sense to try and just little enough to suspect just how lacking and luck-dependent a strategy it is. I imagine that nobody wishes it were that simple more than Omar Minaya and Jason Bay.

I'm trying to go down this list of free agent outfielders to see if any can fill that role, and none are really jumping out at me. Do you see anybody?

[list:3fbv1kwr]Bobby Abreu
Alfredo Amegaza
Rick Ankiel
Michael Bourn
Marlon Byrd
Melky Cabrera
Johnny Damon
Matt Diaz
Kosuke Fukudome
Jonny Gomes
Curtis Granderson
Scott Hairston
[bigpurple:3fbv1kwr]Josh Hamilton[/bigpurple:3fbv1kwr]
Eric Hinske
Torii Hunter
Raul Ibanez
Reed Johnson
Andruw Jones
Carlos Lee
Ryan Ludwick
Hideki Matsui
Xavier Nady
Angel Pagan
Juan Pierre
Juan Rivera
Cody Ross
Luke Scott
Grady Sizemore
Ryan Spilborghs
Ichiro Suzuki
Nick Swisher
B.J. Upton
Shane Victorino
Reggie Willits
Delmon Young[/list:u:3fbv1kwr]

Yeah, me neither.

[Ceetar]

Ludwick, maybe a BJ for the right price, maybe Victorino? *shudders a little*

[Benjamin Grimm]

What is the going price for a BJ these days?

[Edgy MD]

Ludwick's certainly the most interesting item for those not predisposed to shopping from the top shelf.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

seawolf17 wrote: Difficult solution: Knock Citi Field down and ask John Franco to find some guys who will rebuild the old place in one winter.

Hey look, I'm not out there advocating this kinda stuff but just imagine what would happen if CitiField, you know, burned to the ground in some kind of unfortunate, unsolved accident (hopefully after the regular season was over and the employees were off).

I can't imagine there'd be a single brick laid in the same way. You know, maybe the plush, carpeted, mahogany locker room gets replicated; and they'd be sure to do more Shake Shack, but man a mulligan on this whole clusterfuck of a building would be in order.

[Centerfield]

Really? Other than the idiotic OF dimensions and the corny replica of Ebbets Field, I thought the building was pretty nice.

In other news, it looks like the Mets have discovered the problem and fixed it. Per Metsblog:

Terry Collins told reporters today that he plans to move the team�s batting practice at home to a time closer to the actual start time of the game, with his starter hitting last. Typically, on the road he explained, the team hits roughly 45 minutes before the game. However, at home, it can be as much as two hours and 25 minutes, which, in his estimation, is too large an amount of time.

[G-Fafif]

Really? Other than the idiotic OF dimensions and the corny replica of Ebbets Field, I thought the building was pretty nice. In other news, it looks like the Mets have discovered the problem and fixed it. Per Metsblog: Terry Collins told reporters today that he plans to move the team�s batting practice at home to a time closer to the actual start time of the game, with his starter hitting last. Typically, on the road he explained, the team hits roughly 45 minutes before the game. However, at home, it can be as much as two hours and 25 minutes, which, in his estimation, is too large an amount of time.

I watched Mets BP pretty intently twice in August. I think I saw three home runs hit in all...in batting practice. I also think it was two, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that I missed one. Point is I didn't sense a lot of momentum evaporating as they ceded the field to the visitors.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I swear I'm not not making this up. The most awesome batting practice display I ever saw in attendance by a home team Met was put on by .....
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Bruce Boisclair.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I swear I'm not not making this up. The most awesome batting practice display I ever saw in attendance by a home team Met was put on by ..... Bruce Boisclair.

And clearly that was because Joe Torre made sure to let him hit at 7:55 for those 8:05 starts.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This is a tiny sample size.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Teeny tiny.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: I swear I'm not not making this up. The most awesome batting practice display I ever saw in attendance by a home team Met was put on by ..... Bruce Boisclair. And clearly that was because Joe Torre made sure to let him hit at 7:55 for those 8:05 starts.

the reports were that Gary Matthews Jr always "won" batting practice with the Mets. Gary Sheffield did well too.

[seawolf17]

Ceetar wrote: Simple solution: Sign or trade for a guy who will make CitiField his bitch. Knock HR's left and right. Adam Dunn?

I've always wanted him as a Met.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: There's definitely a crisis of confidence we're witnessing. Trust me, I also have trouble scoring at home, so I know whereof I speak.

Hmmm. Maybe Edgy has the answer.
When the guys are at home with their wives, they're not getting laid as much as they are on the road. And the worse they hit, the less they get. (A Bizarro world Lysistrata)
The need doesn't need more hitters. All the guys need is some more nookie.
Bring on the Baseball Annies.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I swear I'm not not making this up. The most awesome batting practice display I ever saw in attendance by a home team Met was put on by ..... Bruce Boisclair. And clearly that was because Joe Torre made sure to let him hit at 7:55 for those 8:05 starts.

Never Forget 9/11 ... and Bruce's 23rd inning debut.

[Edgy MD]

Boisclair may be an interesting precedent for Duda. Bruce never showed Duda's level of power, but both were goofy looking corner outfielders, both were batting practice superstars, and both put up occasional runs of goodness while stuck on struggling Met teams desperate for the sustained run that never came from them.

If the pattern holds, Duda will end up starring for the Hanshin Tigers.

[Vic Sage]

Boisclair offered a bit more contact, much less power, and a much better glove.
And he played with Seaver, who gave him total consciousness... so he had that going for him.

[Frayed Knot]

Back to the CitiField thing - every team in the NL East has a winning record at CitiField except for ... the New York Mets

Phils = 17-16
Braves = 22-16
Marlins = 17-16
Nats = 20-15

Mets = 152-161


That right there is a big part of the problem.
Now we just have to figure out how to solve it.

[Vic Sage]

the best way for the Mets to start winning at home would be to do what everybody else does... play the Mets.

[Frayed Knot]

Then there's the old joke about your team only having three problems
1) They can't win at home
2) They can't win on the road
3) They can't figure out where else to play

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Maybe a barge? Let's try a barge. It's not home, it's not away, and if this team ends up the same way next year, you just set the thing on fire and start again.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Then there's the old joke about your team only having three problems 1) They can't win at home 2) They can't win on the road 3) They can't figure out where else to play

We tried that. You don't remember how well the Mets did in Puerto Rico?

[Frayed Knot]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Maybe a barge? Let's try a barge. It's not home, it's not away, and if this team ends up the same way next year, you just set the thing on fire and start again.

With the team still on it of course.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Frayed Knot wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Maybe a barge? Let's try a barge. It's not home, it's not away, and if this team ends up the same way next year, you just set the thing on fire and start again. With the team still on it of course.

/Points to nose
//Winks

[Edgy MD]

Fire at Citi, and they start playing at [crossout]KeyStone Park[/crossout] MCU Park. They escape a few ghosts and they begin a string of sellouts. Simple. They can hire one of their skeezy former clubbies to perform the arson and cash in big time with AIG or whoever insures them.

[batmagadanleadoff]

The Mets corrupted Edgy.