Gwreck

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Was looking at the replay for the Wright kaboom and was having trouble seeing where it landed in the Mo-Zone. Was that the first new-fence homer? Nope, it landed in the bullpen.

Duda's homer: would not have been a homer with the old dimensions. Wright's would have. Also, thanks Phil Cuzzi for Nieuwenheis' first major league hit.

KABOOM! for Lucas Duda.

I don't think Daal was ever a Mariner. I was going to guess Barajas but I don't think he was ever with Atlanta.

Mike Morgan?

Marlins.

They updated the graphics/layouts used on the right field scoreboard.

Wright 2 Santana 2 Thole 1 Murphy 1 Brydak 1 Rauch 1 Francisco 1 Ramirez 1

Always glad to see the team win on opening day. Pelfrey and Bay got all the boos in the introductions. Biggest cheers for Wright, Dickey and Santana. Was very pleased with the bullpen, particularly Byrdak and Rauch. The game might not have been sold out but there were indeed a lot of people there and it was probably close to a sellout; I guess I wasn't the only one who caved because it was opening day.

The Second Spitter wrote: Just realized this is a day game. On a weekday? What is this rubbish? It's the greatest. I skip work, sleep in and the go to the game. Doesn't get much better.

1. Murphy 2. Wright 3. Tejada 4. Davis 5. Wright 6. Bay 7. [crossout:3asdyuk3]Pagan[/crossout:3asdyuk3] Duda 8. Wright 9. Duda 10. Tejada 11. Tejada 12. Wright 13. Murphy 14. Bay 15. Bay 16. Niese 17. Santana 18. Francisco 19. Pelfrey 20. Thole

Here it is! In action! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJqm8ybv4Uw

More: Lincecum Johnny Cueto for the Reds The Associated Press (via SI) referred to Sabathia as the Yankees opening day starter.

5th Place 63-99 No Wildcard No Playoffs

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm also pretty confident that the Mets will win 71 (or more!) games. Is there a way to actually place a bet on this? How does it work? In a Las Vegas casino. Bets paid at the end of the regular season. You have to place the bet in person. Can collect by mail.

Erik Bedard (PIT) and Roy Halladay (PHI) will face each other on opening day.

I like the overs on Milwaukee, San Francisco and Detroit. Like the unders on Houston, Kansas City and Dodgers.

To bring this back on topic: Nobody likes hearing that their favorite team is no good. That doesn't make Law wrong. I think his comment about the Mets' finances to be less thoughtful than his analysis of their prospects (where, as noted above, his expertise lies). I also think his analysis didn't go far enough into considering the Mets' potential opponents, and I would've liked to hear more about where Washington and Atlanta project to be in two years. Philadelphia's win total may finally start trending the other way but Washington's has to be trending upwards one would think.

Excerpted from a recent Keith Law article at ESPN: Preseason predictions tend to focus more on the likely contenders than the likely also-rans, as no one gets that worked up over a team that's going to win 70 games, plus or minus five. Even the fans of those teams are usually more concerned about their long-term outlooks, so I've looked at five such clubs to assess how long their fans might have to wait before the teams could reasonably expect to contend. I've looked at future payroll commitments, major league assets, farm systems, ownership status and front office strategies. I also considered the competition in each team's division to assess their chances of earning a playoff spot. So, for example, the New York Mets face a higher standard than the Chicago Cubs or San Diego Padres because the National League East is so tough. (Exclusion of any club isn't a comment on how soon they might become competitive.) ... New York Mets The good news for Mets fans is that the $43 million rathole known as Santana Bay will close after 2013 with a couple of option buyouts, after which, assuming that David Wright has sailed for non-bankrupt shores, they'll have no significant long-term commitments. The bad news, aside from the running farce in the ownership suite is that the new front-office regime's turnaround hasn't had enough time to do more than make sure the ship is facing the right direction. There are a few potential stars in the system in right-handers Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey, both of whom could debut this year if the rotation has room for them, and outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who's probably a good four years off even if the knee trouble is completely behind him, but those three aren't enough to be the core of a championship club. And, unfortunately, they don't have great assets on the major league roster to trade for prospects. New ownership would help, but otherwise the Mets will have to build through the draft and international markets, which will take several years unless they get an infusion of cash. They will most likely contend next in ... 2016 I like Law's analysis of things because he tends to not sugarcoat anything and takes a critical view. The upside is that he could be underestimating things but I don't think this is an unfair analysis. I know I am fond of suggesting that a farm system rebuild takes 3-5 years (2012 being year two) but now I hope that was just an optimistic projection.

Vic Sage wrote: oh, wait... it's not PEDs, it's a "drug of abuse". what the hell does that mean? Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, etc.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: But I felt the catch was sort of a bonus. If it did go for a HR, I'm not sure how crushed I'd have been since I felt we were already doomed to lose when Valentin didn't get the runner in from 3rd with less than 2 outs the previous half-inning. You've got it backwards. The half inning after the catch was where Valentin struck out with the bases loaded and 1 out.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I get what you're saying, but there's nothing to stop a ticket holder from selling his $100 face value ticket on StubHub for less than face value, right? And if interest peters out in 2012, the Mets will have shot themselves in the foot by committing to face value when, presumably, the same or comparable ticket might sell for 50% or 75% less on Stubhub. Maybe. But they then face a season ticketholder revolt if they undercut their best customers. Plus, StubHub and MLB are in bed together so they get some of that sale back regardless.

Ceetar wrote: Isn't Bonds public guilt largely due to leaked Grand Jury testimony? He did stand trial for perjury. Even if the Grand Jury testimony hadn't been illegally disseminated, we can presume that the details would have become public when he was indicted and then tried. This stuff gets out. That doesn't mean it should.

metirish wrote: if it had happened this way who's sample would that have belonged too?, Braun claims that that sample wasn't his right? To clarify: If the confidentiality rules had been handled properly, nobody would have known that Braun had "tested" positive and if he had won the appeal, it would have remained confidential. If the urine in question had been handled properly, well, who knows what would have happened.

Ceetar wrote: They've lowered prices at Citi Field every year. And volume of affordable tickets much less than just about every other NY franchise (in all sports) Dynamic pricing is looking interesting. Looks like they'll be able to better capitalize financially on hype (OD already up about $10). Jury still out on if the corresponding price drop for midweek and crappy games compensates. That they have lowered prices each year doesn't mean the tickets are now priced correctly. Dynamic pricing would be interesting if it was true dynamic pricing, but it isn't, as there is an artificial price floor. There will be no market-value price drop for midweek/early season games because the Mets committed to not dropping the price below the season ticketholder price. Similarly, Stubhub sales also have an artificial price floor because of the minimum $5/ticket service charge and $5 delivery fee. All the dynamic pricing does is allow the Mets to make more money on in-demand games. This is not a consumer-friendly measure.