stevejrogers

seawolf17 wrote: Will they sell the big neon guys before they tear down the stadium? I want the catcher. GOD I hope not! I hope they end up where the original Apple sign "Mets Magic" ended up! Wouldn't be surprised to see them wind up on a Steiner auction though. Uh, where would you put them, they kind of are house size?

Unless it's that day on the 12th of September in conjunction with Mets Steiner, it does appear that the Mets are taking a firm hard line at honoring only those teams that made it to the World Series on the major anniversary milestones. (see various honorings of the 1973 NL Champs through the years, including 2003 that saw a special commemorative reprint of the yearbook be the Stadium Giveaway and the final apperance at Shea Stadium of Frank "Tug" McGraw) Sorry 1988, and I guess Mojo Risin' and Grand Slam Single will not be sharing the love that the 40th (sorry to those here that I just made feel that much older) anniversary of 1969 will have in 2009. I wonder which Shea will be honored in the replica on June 14th? They did 1964 back in 2004, I can't see them really doing it again. How about not doing Shea since 1988 so we never have a replica featuring those neon ballplayers! I don't mind the blue siding that makes people refer to Shea as "The Purple Palace" but those neon players are just, well, a relic from the 80s that should have STAYED in the 80s! Popcorn night? Does this mean free bag of popcorn?

Nymr83 wrote: ]That's mostly because you can't hear the blather on NYC sports radio ]I can. I choose not to. "Always a good decision" What can I say, I like a good laugh during the day. BTW, according to the Snooze's Raissman, Al Leiter is still among the Clemens apologists.

AG/DC wrote: I haven't met any ardent Clemens supporters. That's mostly because you can't hear the blather on NYC sports radio. Specifically Michael Kay, though he changed his tune after the hearing, but some callers are actually still supporting Clemens! Sad but true.

86-Dreamer wrote: It was a family party during the daytime. Even McNamee does not even claim to have overheard the conversation. Why dig himself such a hole by saying he was never there? It is comical how poorly he and his attorney have handled this whole situation. I do love how, before the hearing, the ardent Clemens supporters were going on and on about how that was exactly HOW one should react in this situation, rather than what Bonds has done, when in fact it really isn't the best way to go about claiming your innocence at all!

Speaking of which, I gave that cousin the info, he hasn't signed up yet! I may have to kick his scrawny Yankee loving ass at this point...

Debbie Clemens's Biggest Fan is a friend of the Fitzsimmons cousin of mine from last year. He, unlike my cousin, is a dedicated Met fan.

Okay, who is the FDR fan? I'm Metlennium this season.

Resisting the urge to make poll about changing Triple Happiness to Mets Win, Yankees Loss and Phillies Loss...

Nymr's request was for the grey top unis.

Check that little guy in the corner! Full cover treatment:

So if the 98 Braves or 99 Mets had pulled off the reverse sweep, you still would hold the 2004 Yankees as worse?

=AG/DC]SteveJRogers wrote: This is a team that performed the worst regular season collapse in the history of baseball... Deba table. De batable. Highly debatab le. Taking your highly debatable premise that blowing a 3-0 series lead trumps everything else aside since the fact that they were both postseason teams strengthens the argument that a regular season collapse is worse. Plus the fact that you could say that it was bound to happen eventually not to mention it can be tied, not surpassed and no one has ever lumped teams blowing 3-1 or 2-0 leads among the biggest chokes of all time. Okay, Lets talk collapses that are bigger than the 2007 Mets? Sheer numbers would give 10+ leads such as the '51 Dodgers, '78 Red Sox and such an edge, but they had evolved into a neck-and-neck run by the end of the season that you can call it more of a run by the chaser as opposed to a collapse by the division/league leader. 1964? The 2007 Mets topped that by being up by such a large margin with two weeks to go that the phrase "No team has ever lost the league/division lead after being up by 7 with two weeks to go" was being tossed around. There was a reason the "Your Postseason Has Come" ads were being run. Not to mention the cherry on top being the Phillies spending only 2 days in first all year, the last two of the season! Ergo, the 2007 Mets executed the worse collapse in the history of Major League Baseball.

Be glad KTE and TH threads are the furthest things on my mind right now Kase!

Yeah, it is. Also Al Leiter is among the Season 3 roster. The impressive roster for Season 3 includes a list of sports heroes ranging from Heisman trophy winners to World Series heroes to hockey and boxing hall-of-famers to an Olympic gold medalist. They include: Brady Anderson, Jamal Anderson, Kenny Anderson, Kurt Angle, Jessie Armstead, Joe Carter, Derrick Coleman, Paul Coffey, Sean Elliott, Nick Van Exel, John Franco, Arturo Gatti, Jeff George, Allan Houston, Rocket Ismail, Al Leiter, Charles Oakley, Christian Okoye, Dan Majerle, Marty McSorley, Warren Moon, John Randle, Mitch Richmond, Bob Sapp, Jimmy Smith, Pernell Whitaker, Ricky Williams, and Rod Woodson.

Not a fan of Nitkowski being a Born Again huh? (Reference to CJ being profile # 0666 in UMDB)

Heh, I was playing the devil's advocate, but I was saying that I can see where the fans that are giddy about Beltran saying it are coming from. They see it as a sign that things are changing from last year, that the feelings of boredom that Carlos Delgado spoke about last summer won't happen this year. That along with reports of Jose Reyes "stepping things up" this winter, as well as this quote from David Wright in today's Post Q&A : ]Q: Did you change your offseason training routine? A: I stepped it up a notch. I eliminated all the promotional and endorsement stuff where I had to travel. I wanted to do everything I could to not allow another collapse to happen Yeah it is all cosmetic and a PR thing to appease fans after the worst collapse in regular season history, but would you rather them not talk, and continue acting in the malaise that caused the collapse in the first place?

Frayed Knot wrote: Others get all excited (as some on the radio did yesterday) taking this as a sign that their guy is super-duper psyched for the coming year. Too be fair, there are fans out there looking for some spark of life, and anger, from anyone on the Mets since early last summer not named LoDuca. This is a team that performed the worst regular season collapse in the history of baseball, you should see some bulletin board fodder from them, just to show that the page has been turned and the team truly is angry about what happened.

That was Butch Huskey's debut game Bonilla in left.

Clearly the Art Howe error hurts, but I'd be shocked if the Mets weren't right around .500 so far for the decade! New York (A) St. Louis Boston Anaheim Oakland Minnesota Atlanta Houston San Diego Los Angeles Arizona San Francisco Philadelphia New York (N) Chicago (N) Chicago (A) Florida Cleveland Colorado Detroit Texas Toronto Cincinnati Milwaukee Seattle Baltimore Montreal/Washington Pittsburgh Kansas City Tampa Bay

="AG/DC"]I like Willets idea. What do you say, Yankees? Are you yella? Keep in mind, the Yanks have played seven seasons since and have come up short every damn time. So Willets has a Point. For laughs in 2001 I started calling the new millennium the Metlennium as a way of saying that the Yankee Century was over and the Mets were primed to have a period of time that they could call their own (note, it took the MFY until 1921 to get to their first World Series, and 1923 to get their first championship, still plenty of century left). Well, the fact of the matter is that since the Yankees beat us in 2000, they have yet to add a 27th title, therefore right now they are suffering: The Curse of The Metlennium!

Close games though 4-3, 6-5, 4-2, 3-2, 4-2. Lucky break here or there (looking right AT YOU TIMO!) who knows. But the Mets weren't smoked or anything.

Courtesy of ESPN Mets' Martinez proud of domination during PED era Associated Press Updated: February 14, 2008, 8:55 PM ET PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Pedro Martinez knows his place in the Steroids Era. "I dominated that era and I did it clean," he said. "I can stand by my numbers and I can be proud of them." No longer the No. 1 pitcher on his staff, Martinez reported to spring training Thursday with the New York Mets and soon was asked about baseball's doping scandal. The three-time Cy Young Award winner said he hasn't paid much attention to the fallout from the Mitchell report, and he didn't watch Roger Clemens testify before Congress on Wednesday. But Martinez said he'll probably get caught up on his computer now that he's in camp. Martinez did have some pointed words, however, for the reporter who once called him a prima donna. "I have a small frame and when I hurt all I could do was take a couple of Aleve or Advil, a cup of coffee and a little mango and an egg -- and let it go!" he said. Martinez's point: He wasn't going to try human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance. In fact, he would welcome a more stringent drug-testing program in baseball. "I wish that they would check every day. That's how bad I want the game to be clean," said Martinez, who had his best years with Montreal and Boston from 1997-2003. "I would rather go home [than] taint the game." He's not ready to go home just yet. Wearing sunglasses and all-black workout gear on a sparkling afternoon, the right-hander played long toss and chatted with manager Willie Randolph before plopping down on a picnic table to meet the media. Back in the clubhouse, there was a Valentine's Day bounty waiting at Martinez's locker, complete with balloons, a teddy bear and two bouquets of flowers. Entering the final season of a $53 million, four-year contract, the 36-year-old Martinez said he'd like to keep pitching for the Mets beyond 2008. "It's going to be all dictated by my health," he said. "If I'm healthy, I still have a couple years left. ... If I don't finish as a Met, I think it's going to be a long haul to find another team or whatever." Martinez said he feels better than he has in almost a decade -- before his right shoulder gave him any problems at all. But he's not sure he'll be able to make 30-plus starts this season. "Nobody's guaranteed to do that," he said. Maybe a new partner will help. The Mets recently acquired two-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana from Minnesota, a move that should take pressure off Martinez, who missed most of last season following shoulder surgery. "Ahh, I can breathe," Martinez said. "I'm extremely happy to have Johan here. It's like a big glass of cold water when you're thirsty. "I can't wait to give him a big hug and tell him, 'Hey, we're together.' One from the left side, one from the right side." Still, Martinez isn't planning to play second fiddle to anyone. "I know Johan is an ace. And when I get the ball, I'm an ace," he said. "When I get the ball as a starter, I'm the guy styling." Martinez's rigorous rehabilitation took a toll on him last year. He returned to the mound late in the season, going 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA and 32 strikeouts in five starts. "When I came back I was still beat up from all the work. I was still stiff," Martinez said. "I was healthy, but I was mentally and physically fatigued." And he was embarrassed by the team's historic collapse. The Mets squandered a seven-game NL East lead with 17 to play and missed the playoffs, coughing up the division title to Philadelphia on the final day of the season. "I'm not used to it. I was born a winner. I don't want to go down like that," Martinez said. He doesn't think the team choked or got scared. "You could call it lack of concentration, fatigue," Martinez said. "We failed because we got tired and at the end of the year we didn't know how to mentally prepare for those 20 games." He said the Mets need to pay back their fans for that flop, and he's glad they added a workhorse like Santana to help. But Martinez wouldn't make any predictions, unlike Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins last offseason. Rollins boasted that Philadelphia was the team to beat in the NL East, then backed it up by winning the NL MVP award. "We have to make Jimmy swallow his tongue," Martinez said with a smile. Notes Santana threw off a mound at the Mets' complex. The first official workout for pitchers and catchers is scheduled for Saturday. ... OF Ben Johnson agreed to a minor league contract with the Mets and was invited to spring training. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

KC wrote: Go have it with yourself. Wow, prickly much today?