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NEW YORK METS 15 Innings Without a Workplace-Related Run

The natural instinct for as many as Mets as possible is at odds with the desire to rest everybody. They finish first half at home on a Sunday, they start second half in Philly on Friday. Round trip to San Diego is a long journey for the tipping of caps. Plus I can see Cespedes's hip aggravating somewhere over Missouri (where little good ever happens to Mets) when he gets up to use the lavatory.

The Firefly goes out, according to MetsMinors.net. In a bit of shocking news, Columbia Fireflies outfielder Ivan Wilson has decided to retire from baseball. The 21-year old was taken in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Mets. Wilson will forgo his baseball career to play football instead. The right-handed Wilson was hitting .197/.275/.352 with 15 doubles, six home runs and 22 RBI but had struck out 80 times in 64 games. Wilson had been praised for his ability to play a strong center field and his raw power. Coming into the 2016 season, Baseball American named him the best defensive outfielder in the Mets system. Overall, in his Mets career he slashed .209/.298/.356 in 223 games with 21 homers and 31 stolen bases. D.J. Dozier wishes him well.

Meet the youngster I'll be taking under my wing for the duration of his development, Justin Dunn. 2016 first-round pick. RHP. My veritable neighbor (one town over). Reformed MFY fan, now talking up how much he enjoyed his trips to Shea and Citi. BC Eagle. Brooklyn Cyclone currently. Strong Island represent! “A lot of people think Long Island can’t play baseball, but look at the track record. You have Marcus [stroman] and then you have Steven Matz, and they’re doing pretty well in the league,” Dunn said. “You have guys like Keith Osik that have played, and other guys. This is something that should be known, that Long Island can play. I’m just happy to have my little part of it.” Keith Osik? That's his go-to Long Island position player? Not Carl Yastrzemski? Even Frank Catalanotto? I find that extremely charming.

Newsday reporting surgery may be required. WASHINGTON — Steven Matz could be facing elbow surgery to treat a bone spur that has forced him to deal with lingering discomfort, multiple sources told Newsday on Monday. Matz’s elbow ligament is not damaged. But the spur is causing pain, and the Mets are concerned that it has impacted his performance. Matz is scheduled to start on Wednesday but the Mets have not committed to it. Matz is 7-3 with a 3.29 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings this season.

Binghamton, or wherever they're playing, is Jose's next stop after tonight.

Bone spur in the elbow, Ackert reports re Matz.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Actually, in a similar vein, I once used to feel obligated, in a way, to buy any Mets book that was published. I guess I was enjoying the bounty that came along in the mid 80s after about a decade when the Mets got very little attention. I read If At First. A Dream Season. Bats. Rookie. And then Lenny Dykstra's book, Nails, came along. That's the one that broke the spell. I realized that no amount of team loyalty would convince me to read a book that was "written" by Lenny Dykstra. After that I had the freedom to be more selective. If you read Nails at just the right angle, you actually get a surprisingly useful accounting of the 1986 season as reported by Marty Noble. You also get the sense that you should probably keep your distance from Lenny Dykstra for the next several decades.

Yo still in position to start in the NL OF, seems pretty safe in third place overall with a few days to go. Neil Walker is the only other Met who shows up anywhere in the balloting. Gotta believe Familia and Thor join him in SD.

Matz reportedly in peril of missing next start, Wednesday vs. Nationals, due to elbow tightness for which he was examined today. Let us all rub our left arms in view of cameras to reverse whatever curses this young man.

Remembered here in a little detail.

Two Mets have hit for the cycle and hit three home runs in one game: Jim Hickman and Johnny-Come-Back-Lately Jose Reyes. Reyes forged both his accomplishments in losses in 2006, a year the Mets won a division title. Hickman's achievements came in seasons when the Mets won 51 and 50 games, respectively -- and they won those games. Jim also hit the walkoff grand slam to end Roger Craig's losing streak. By all accounts, it wouldn't have been out of any park that wasn't the Polo Grounds, but play it where it lies. "For years Jim Hickman was one of the Mets' best players," Leonard Shecter wrote in 1970 (the same year Hickman became the last 1962 Met to make an All-Star team). "They didn't go anywhere until they got rid of him." Not a cruel summation: Hickman and Ron Hunt for Tommy Davis led to Davis and Jack Fisher for Tommie Agee and Al Weis.

We lose another Original Met, Jim Hickman, 79. He died Saturday, according to the Tennesseean. http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/2016/06/25/jim-hickman-dies-baseball/86379450/ Former Major League All-Star Jim HIckman, who was born and raised in Henning, Tenn., died Saturday. He was 79 and in hospice care. HIckman's son Joey is the longtime golf pro at Old Hickory Country Club. Jim Hickman was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. After six years in the minors HIckman, whose nickname was "Gentleman Jim," became an original member of the New York Mets in 1962. After five seasons in New York, Hickman went to the Los Angeles Dodgers (1968), Chicago Cubs (1968-73) and St. Louis Cardinals (1974). He was named an All-Star in 1970 when he hit .312 with 32 home runs and 100 RBIs. In the All-Star game Hickman drove in Pete Rose in a famous play where Rose steamrolled catcher Ray Fosse at the plate. The play gave the National League a 5-4 win. After his playing career Hickman served as the Reds minor league hitting coordinator from 1987-2006. The funeral will be at Garner Funreral Home in Ripley, Tenn., but the details are incomplete at this time.

Officially signed to minor league deal. Goes to Brooklyn tomorrow.

My first adoptee to make it!

My boy is about to be a man, replacing Conforto tonight. Mazel tov Brandon!

Peterson 2B Inciarte CF Freeman 1B Markakis RF Garcia 3B Pierzynski C Aybar SS Bonifacio LF Wisler P

Granderson RF Cabrera SS Loney 1B Walker 2B Johnson 3B Conforto LF d'Arnaud C De Aza CF Harvey P

[youtube:16cta6mh]xnRwQjTYfGI[/youtube:16cta6mh] Well, the boys are thirsty in Atlanta...thirsty for revenge. Matt Harvey behind the wheel for the visitors, Matt Wisler in the driver's seat for the home team. One of 'em's gonna be a floor mat before it's all over. Or the bullpens will settle it.

Reynolds made a decent catch in LF. Perhaps he's more Mackey Sasser (who made two sensational plays in his first start in RF) than Todd Hundley (no elaboration necessary).

Verrett up, Kelly down, a Colon pronounced OK for Sunday start.

Curtis Granderson � RF Asdrubal Cabrera � SS Yoenis Cespedes � CF Neil Walker � 2B Wilmer Flores � 3B James Loney � 1B Matt Reynolds � LF Rene Rivera � C Noah Syndergaard � RHP Check out that left fielder.

All that bullpen one night, all that Syndergaard the next afternoon. g9NY8R-LmIw Matthew E. Harvey was the Dark Knight Risin� He didn�t care if the whole word looked Bart Colon eschewed exercisin� He was a mister who really cooked Jake deGrom was a real head-turner Ain�t ya glad he showed up? (Oh yeah!) And when the ballclub was fallin� apart Steven Matz got it all sewed up (And then there�s Thor) And then there�s Thor (And then there�s Thor) And then there�s Thor (And then there�s Thor) And then there�s Thor (And then there�s...) Mythologizin�, v�lcoitizin�, fastballs that are high �n� tight �n� Right on Thor! With Conrad Bain as Danny Duffy.

335 feet 6 inches, down the LF line.

The Kansas City Royals return to Queens tonight. Noah Syndergaard will throw the first pitch at them at 7:10 PM. Did I say at them? One can hope. Travis d'Arnaud should be behind the plate and hopefully teeing off on Ian Kennedy.