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Benjamin Grimm wrote: It doesn't seem that complicated. The ultimate goal is to push the all-time .500 point to April 1962. The further back the Mets push the date, the closer to the goal. Yeah, that part I get. The Mets are 300+ games under .500 and so to reach .500 all-time, they'd have to do a lot of winning. And if they ever reach .500 all-time in our lifetimes, a heckuva lot of unconscionalbe out of their minds winning. I get all that. Where I'm mixed up is in response to my Yankee posts. I don't get why that's supposed to be a desirable goal for the Yankees, what with them already 2,000 or 2,500 games over.

This is making my head spin for no good reason. The Mets are more than 300 games under .500 all-time. But if you conveniently don't count a lot of the eaarly bad losing years, I guess you could say that the Mets are a .500 team all-time. I'm struggling with the point of this, really.

Edgy MD wrote: I'm not sure why we'd want that date closer.... I bet the Yankees would want a closer date. They're 2,000+ games over .500 all-time.

Another How Good Are the Mets piece ledes with Colon: [fimg=333]http://exhibitions.nypl.org/lunchhour/archive/files/c7466b6a525b9126e3130907c4b2ca35.jpg[/fimg] Daily Intelligencer the sports section April 22, 2015 5:49 p.m. Four Surprises Propelling the Mets� Hot Start By Joe DeLessio [fimg=544]http://img1.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2015/04/22/22-bartolo-colon.w529.h352.2x.jpg[/fimg] With two of the best young pitchers in baseball anchoring their pitching staff, the Mets were supposed to improve this season, but they weren't supposed to be quite this good: They're off to an 11-3 start, which includes a perfect 8-0 record at Citi Field. It's extremely early in the season, of course, but at the moment, the Mets sit atop the N.L. East standings, and are tied with Detroit and Kansas City for the best record in the majors. It's also their best start since 1986, when they'd go on to win a franchise-record 108 games en route to a World Series victory. Even without David Wright, their captain who's been on the disabled list since last Wednesday, they've put together a nine-game winning streak heading into tonight's matchup with Atlanta. They're not doing it all with smoke and mirrors, but several Mets are exceeding expectations in the early going. Here, a look at four such players � and how likely they are to keep it going. A 41-year Old Who Is Pitching Like an All-Star At 41 years old, it's a minor miracle that Bartolo Colon is still in the majors at all. His 285-pound frame has held up remarkably well over the past two seasons � he made 61 starts in 2013 and 2014 combined � but so far this year, he's been a lot better than serviceable. In three starts, he's pitching to a 2.25 ERA and a brilliant 0.80 WHIP. He's walked just one batter in 20 innings of work, while recording 18 strikeouts. Can he keep it up? At that level, no chance. But he's made a habit of defying the odds late in his career, even after sitting out 50 games in 2012 and early 2013 for a PED violation. He is just two years removed from an All-Star selection with Oakland, so even relying heavily on his fastball, he could remain a key contributor to the otherwise young rotation. A Questionable Off-Season Acquisition Who Has Been Red Hot Michael Cuddyer, 36, signed a two-year, $21 million deal in the off-season � a move that many criticized, since it meant the Mets would surrender a first-round pick in this year's draft to his former team, the Rockies. Cuddyer, a terrible defensive outfielder, only played 49 games last year thanks to three separate trips to the disabled list. And though his offensive numbers had been impressive in recent years � he won the batting title in 2013 � they were at least partially boosted by his playing home games in the thin air of Denver's Coors Field. So far this year, though, Cuddyer's been earning his money: He's batting .306 with a very good .840 OPS. During their current winning streak (a small sample within a small sample), he's batting a team-best .379. Can he keep it up? Probably not. As pointed out by Jonah Keri, he has a ridiculous .452 batting average on balls in play, suggesting there's an element of luck to his hot start. The sample sizes are small, but for a guy with a projected slash line of .271/.325/.450 according to the ZiPS projection model, he's almost certain to come down to earth soon. A Slugger Who Is Unexpectedly Leading the Team in Batting Lucas Duda doubled his previous career high with 30 home runs last season, but transforming himself into a slugger came at the expense of hitting for average. After batting .292 during his first full season in the Majors in 2011, he hasn't hit higher than .253 since. He had reason to expect his power numbers to increase even more this season: The Mets moved in the right-center field fences prior to Opening Day, and the left-handed Duda tends to hit for power to right and right-center. So what's happened so far is strange: Duda has just one home run � but has been a stellar all-around hitter, batting a team-best .327 among qualified hitters, with seven doubles and a .916 OPS. Can he keep it up? At 29, Duda should be right in the prime of his career, so putting up his best numbers to date isn't out of the question, especially since his power numbers should improve. Worth noting: Duda has historically struggled to hit lefties, but so far this year (again, in a very small sample), he's 5-for-10. Those numbers, at the very least, will dip as the season goes on. A Fill-In Closer Who Has Been Perfect in Save Opportunities That Jeurys Familia has been strong early isn't a shock: He finished seventh in rookie of the year voting last year thanks to a stellar season out of the bullpen. But he's pitching in a role he wasn't expected to be in: Jenrry Mejia was supposed to start the season as the Mets' closer, but he was placed on the disabled list shortly after the season began and a few days later was suspended 80 games for testing positive for the steroid Stanozolol. Manager Terry Collins had previously suggested that the closer role would go to Bobby Parnell when he returned from Tommy John surgery. But Familia, who took over the job with Mejia unavailable, has been so reliable that Collins now says he'll keep it even when Parnell re-joins the team. In eight appearances so far, Familia has six saves in as many opportunities, with a WHIP of 0.78. Can he keep it up? Sure. Familia, 25, proved he could pitch in the majors last year, and so far at least, he's handled the added pressure of closing just fine. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/04/four-surprises-propelling-the-mets-hot-start.html

102K views · 2.2K reactions | BREUER Met Fan Recap!!! | Jim Breuer WWW.FACEBOOK.COM BREUER Met Fan Recap!!! Another Met recap from Jim Breuer.

Edgy MD wrote: Being an .800 team on a 10-game winning streak has it's historical advantages. One of them is that, with every win, the Mets erase some of the red on their historical ledger, pushing back the date further to which they can claim being historically a .500 team. This might be a positive development for the Mets franchise, which, as noted, is some 300+ games under .500 all-time. But for a team whose overall record is above .500, I would think that it'd be preferable if that ".500 date" were closer, rather than farther away. Just win, baby.

The 2015 Mets story is going national. [fimg=233]https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/espn-grantland/img/grantland-logo@2x.png[/fimg] Echoes of �86: Are the Mets Really This Good? [fimg=533]https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/mets-celebrate-win.jpg?w=1011[/fimg] Every Bartolo Colon start is an event. Watching a soon-to-be-42-year-old pitcher do anything at the major league level should be compelling enough. But when that pitcher throws fastballs 87 percent of the time, you wonder how he can possibly survive in the big leagues with such a limited repertoire. When he�s listed at 5-foot-11, 285 pounds � but almost certainly weighs more � you rub your eyes in disbelief. And when he comes up to bat, lunges into a pitch, and bloops it into right field for a run-scoring hit � well, that�s the stuff baseball fans� dreams are made of. Fourteen games into the season, the New York Mets might be the most fun team in baseball � and the large, lovable, illogical Colon serves as the perfect symbol for them. The Mets own the season�s longest winning streak in the majors at nine games and the best record in the National League. Their 11-3 mark is tied for the best start in franchise history with the 1986 team, the last Mets club to win the World Series. For a team with six straight losing seasons, no playoff berths in nine years, and just one in the past 15, this is a big deal. The Mets might actually be good, and much like their Opening Day starter�s continued success, it�s been delightfully surprising. The Rotation Despite a 2.25 ERA and 18-to-1 strikeout-to-walk rate, Colon still doesn�t qualify as the staff ace. That honor, of course, goes to Matt Harvey. From the moment he crashed the majors with a brilliant late-season debut in 2012, Mets fans have honored each of his starts with the moniker #HarveyDay. And when Harvey returned for his first start of 2015 after missing more than a full year because of Tommy John surgery, it escalated to a full-blown party. Watching Harvey operate, it�s easy to understand the near-reverence for his abilities among the Mets faithful. At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, prototypical size and strength fuel his blistering 97 mph fastball, in addition to a changeup that drops down to 88 and a beautiful Koufax-esque mid-80s curve. In his first three appearances, he�s walked one batter over 18 innings, while striking out 24 and allowing seven earned runs and 17 hits. He outdueled Washington�s Stephen Strasburg in that first start and made Bryce Harper look like an overmatched hack. Through two weeks, it�s safe to say Harvey is back: Fans are already dressing up like the Dark Knight and chanting his name before he even throws a pitch. After Harvey, Colon probably isn�t even the no. 2 starter on the staff; that�s Jacob deGrom. A ninth-round pick by the Mets in 2010, deGrom was never considered an elite prospect, failing to garner a single top-100 ranking from any major prospects-ranking outlet. And his minor league numbers didn�t suggest future stardom, either. When the Mets called him up last May, it initially looked like deGrom would work out of the bullpen. But then starter Dillon Gee hit the DL and the Mets were forced to throw deGrom into the fire. He earned his team�s trust and fans� love from day one, making 22 starts and striking out 144 batters in 140.1 innings, with just 117 hits, seven homers, and 41 unintentional walks allowed en route to winning the National League Rookie of the Year. He�s shown no signs of slowing down this year, posting a microscopic 0.93 ERA through his first three starts. While his fastball doesn�t have the same blinding velocity as Harvey�s, deGrom�s 94-95 mph offering has been incredibly effective thanks to his pinpoint control: Of the 109 pitchers with as many innings pitched as the 26-year-old since the start of last season, only six have squeezed more value out of their fastballs. We�ll blare the small-sample-size horn every day from now through July, but the numbers put up by New York�s top three starters defy belief: 59 strikeouts and just five walks, combined. Granted, MLB�s compensation system is often vague --- and young, dominant players are frequently brutally underpaid, but watching Harvey and deGrom steamroll everyone in sight for relative pennies becomes doubly mesmerizing when compared to, say, $28 million starter Justin Verlander. Although they�ve been unbelievable, we did expect the Mets� starting pitching to be really good. New York has so much starting pitching talent that Zack Wheeler�s absence1 hasn�t been felt at all, and the team is able to keep monster prospects Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard waiting in the wings at Triple-A.2 Even now, with the team in first, the question coming into this season remains the same: Does the rest of the roster have enough talent to mount a playoff run? The Rest Last year, the Mets finished a sub-mediocre 21st in park-adjusted offense. The biggest trouble spot was left field, where the Young Black Hole sucked untold amounts of life from the offense.3 In response, the Mets signed Michael Cuddyer to a two-year, $21 million contract over the winter. That move was puzzling, to say the least: Cuddyer turned 36 years old just before Opening Day. He has ranked as one of baseball�s worst defensive players for years and seemed far better suited for DH duty than the everyday outfield job the Mets offered. He missed all but 49 games in 2014 with thigh and shoulder injuries. And to top it all off, the Mets surrendered the 15th overall pick in the amateur draft for the right to handsomely compensate this aging, injury-prone, range-challenged outfielder. So far, Cuddyer is batting .306/.370/.469, but much of that hot start is fueled by an off-the-charts .452 batting average on balls in play. Earlier this month, Mets GM Sandy Alderson told me that while his new left fielder wasn�t going to win any Gold Gloves, Cuddyer would likely hit well when healthy. Alderson also said that if the team hadn�t given up a draft pick to sign Cuddyer, the alternative likely would have been to trade valued prospects for a player who wasn�t necessarily much better. That second point is debatable � Nelson Cruz was available, for one � but compared with what the punchless Youngs offered, even 130 games of a healthy Cuddyer could tack a few wins onto the Mets� ledger this year. As the Wilpons are still digging out of the hole Bernie Madoff left them in, the rest of the offseason was basically dead quiet. The club entered Opening Day with one of the 10 least-expensive payrolls and, other than Cuddyer, the same below-average lineup as last year. Standing pat, then, didn�t seem like the way forward, but if you squinted hard enough, you could see Alderson�s thinking, financial restrictions or not: Ruben Tejada and Wilmer Flores occupied most of the time at shortstop last season, and neither did anything of note with the bat, but the 23-year-old Flores was once a Baseball America top-50 prospect and hit a solid .292/.334/.440 in the minors. David Wright batted just .269/.324/.374 in 2014, the worst offensive season of his career, but a lot of those struggles were due to nagging shoulder injuries, and Wright, who was an elite hitter in the two previous seasons, came into the spring healthy. Combine that potential improvement from the left side of the infield with the emergence of slugging first baseman Lucas Duda and acrobatic center fielder Juan Lagares, and through the still-small sample of 14 games, the Mets are essentially a league-average offense. With top-five starting pitching and a so-far stingy bullpen, that might be all they really need. So What Next? Just a few weeks into the season, the team�s depth is already being tested by injuries. Wright and starting catcher Travis d�Arnaud both hit the disabled list in the past seven days. Wright�s hamstring injury isn�t expected to fully heal for at least two more weeks, and d�Arnaud is likely out until June.4 And with Jerry Blevins (forearm fracture), Vic Black (shoulder), and Bobby Parnell (recovering from Tommy John surgery) all out at least a few more weeks � in addition to Jenrry Mejia�s 80-game suspension after testing positive for Stanozolol � the bullpen is suddenly looking thinner than you�d hope. In addition to some health-related fallback, skeptics could point to some schedule luck as a big reason the Mets� hot start won�t continue. The Nationals were missing three of their best players when they dropped two to New York to start the season. The Marlins look so dysfunctional, they might already be considering a managerial change. And the Phillies are the terrible Phillies. With that level of competition likely to improve as the season goes on, and multiple injuries thinning out the roster, there�s an argument to be made that we�ve already seen the best of the 2015 Mets. The good news here is that as long as Harvey and deGrom are healthy � and Colon5 continues to defy multiple laws of science � the Mets can go toe-to-toe with nearly any other team on pitching strength. Plus, there are contingency plans in place in the high minors, with Matz, Syndergaard, talented second baseman Dilson Herrera, and others just a phone call away. And there�s even enough depth for Alderson to test the trade waters if Cuddyer�s health fails him, the pen needs reinforcements, or some other problem crops up. In other words, if the starting pitching keeps humming, look out. As ESPN Stats & Info�s Mark Simon recently noted, the Mets are 8-1 in starts made by Colon, Harvey, and deGrom. What would happen if the Mets won two-thirds of the starts made by any two of those three pitchers? According to Elias Sports Bureau, there have been 25 instances over the past 20 seasons in which a team won at least two-thirds of the starts made by at least two pitchers (minimum 30 starts per pitcher). Of those 25, 24 made the playoffs. So go ahead, Mets fans, and do your best Bartolo impersonation. Dream big, really big. http://grantland.com/the-triangle/mlb-new-york-mets-bartolo-colon-matt-harvey-jacob-degrom/

[fimg=233]http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150421-163815/images/foundation/logos/nyt-logo-185x26.svg[/fimg] On the Night Willie Mays Hit No. 660, It Was Just Another Number By DAVID WALDSTEIN APRIL 22, 2015 Willie Mays as a Met in 1972. He hit the final home run of his career the following year. Credit Associated Press As New Yorkers filed into Shea Stadium that night in 1973, there was much more for fans to think about than an aging baseball star�s home run total. It was Aug. 17. On that day, the Soviet Union had successfully tested a nuclear missile that could split into multiple warheads. The daily dose of Watergate news was on front pages again, the Vietnam War raged, and on a rooftop on the East Side of Manhattan, an 8-year-old boy was murdered, adding to a growing sense of chaos and fear in the streets. Sports may be a diversion, but the Mets were not doing their part to distract the troubled populace. They were 12 games under .500, in last place in the National League East, and they lost that night, too, to the Cincinnati Reds, in agonizing fashion. An article in The New York Times said that for the Mets, the game �produced some of the bitterest memories of a memorably bitter summer.� But something remarkable happened in that game. It had occurred twice before in baseball, and it is about to happen again. A player � in this case, Willie Mays, 42, in the final act of his career � hit his 660th career home run. The number held no significance at the time. Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron had reached that total, but both men then zoomed passed it. Aaron reached 660 in 1972 � also against the Reds � but by the time Mays reached it, Aaron had passed 700. Ruth reached 660 in 1933 at age 38. In 2004, Barry Bonds became the fourth player to reach and pass 660. Now Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees is poised to join them. Rodriguez hit his 658th career home run on Friday night and is two short of that gleaming 660 signpost that Mays planted beyond the Shea Stadium wall almost 42 years ago. Passing Mays was supposed to be a landmark occasion for Rodriguez, full of fanfare, merchandising and extra cash. But the moment now seems destined to pass modestly, just as it did for Mays, although for different reasons. Rodriguez, of course, was suspended for all of last season for his role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. The Yankees do not intend to pay him the $6 million marketing bonus in his contract for reaching 660 home runs (and later, for reaching 714, 755 and so on). The Yankees are arguing that the milestone is no longer marketable because of Rodriguez�s transgressions, and, for the most part, they have studiously ignored it. Similarly, 660 was not a milestone when Mays reached it on that mild summer evening in 1973. It became one only after his season, and his career, ended. �I�m sorry, I don�t remember that home run, exactly,� said Felix Millan, the Mets� second baseman, who made a great diving catch to help prevent Cincinnati�s Pete Rose from carrying his hitting streak to 18 games. �We knew he had a lot of home runs, but that one didn�t stand out.� The home run was described as a line drive to right-center field off Don Gullett, the ace of the Big Red Machine, and it brought the struggling Mets their only run in what turned into a 2-1 loss in 10 innings. No one knew it would be Mays�s final home run, but it was possible to guess as much. He was 42 and beaten down by 22 years of hard-charging, theatrical baseball, mostly for the Giants. He finished the year batting .211 with six home runs in 66 games. Years earlier, some believed Mays would be the one to catch Ruth and his 714 home runs. But that mantle fell to Aaron, a contemporary whose career intertwined so closely with Mays�s for the 20 seasons they lit up the National League together. In fact, on the day that Mays hit No. 660 at Shea, Aaron hit No. 703, against the Expos at Parc Jarry in Montreal. A headline in The Times read, �Aaron: 11 Homers to Ruth.� When news of the feat was posted on the scoreboard at Shea that night, it drew polite clapping from 36,803 fans at Shea Stadium. The applause they gave Mays upon his less glamorous home run was said to be thunderous. But both home runs drew attention in the news media. All of the major newspapers mentioned the Mays home run, noting it was his 660th. The Daily News had Aaron�s home run spread across the back page in an early edition, but later put the Mets result over it, highlighting Mays�s homer. Newsday, in an article that bumped up against ads for films like �Enter the Dragon� and �Day of the Jackal,� described how the fans, upon seeing the announcement on the scoreboard for Aaron�s 703rd home run in Montreal, �didn�t have the goose bumps that Willie gave them.� The New York Post ran a small box on the back page with a photo of Mays rounding the bases. The caption read, �Willie�s Night,� and described a tremendous ovation. It was not treated as a milestone, but for the fans, it was something special, a glimpse back to the greatness of a departing superstar, perhaps the best who ever played. �Willie was loved in New York,� said Ed Kranepool, Mays�s teammate and close friend. �Aaron was a great player, but he didn�t have Willie�s flair. And, of course, New York fans remembered him from his days with the Giants in New York. He was an icon coming back.� The Mets held the lead Mays gave them through eight innings, but the Reds tied it in the ninth and won in the 10th, after Hal King�s pinch-hit homer. The game was also notable because Mays, who was playing first base, was run over by Reds catcher Johnny Bench at the bag. Both men went down hard but remained in the game. For Mays, that was a feat in itself because of all the wear and tear on his body. �He spent a lot of time in the trainer�s room getting rubdowns,� Kranepool recalled, although he, too, could not remember the home run. �His lower half was pretty much gone by then.� In Montreal, Aaron�s homer was the 1,377th extra-base hit of his career, tying him with Stan Musial for first on that list. Aaron speculated that Expos Manager Gene Mauch told pitcher Steve Renko to throw him only fastballs because a 39-year-old would not be able to hit them. �But I know I can still hit,� he said, and he was right. He hit 52 more home runs over the next three seasons, passing Ruth the next spring. Rodriguez is on a course to join Aaron as the third player to catch Mays after the 600-homer plateau. Aaron tied Mays at 648 on May 31, 1972, then became only the second player behind Ruth to hit 649 home runs at the time. He did it with a grand slam on June 10, 1972, leaving Mays behind forever. �Bad Henry had to do it in grand style,� the Newsday report said. When Rodriguez passes Mays, some will call him bad, too, noting that he had the advantage of performance enhancers. Aaron was 38 when he hit No. 660. (Coincidentally, Aaron�s 661st home run came against Gullett.) Rodriguez will turn 40 on July 27, and he is in his 21st season, one fewer than Mays. �He hit a lot of home runs,� Kranepool said. �I don�t know how he did it. But if he�s passing a guy like Willie, then that�s a pretty incredible thing to do. I guess you�ve got to give everyone their due.� After Mays hit his 660th, he played in only 12 more regular-season games and rapped out five more hits, all singles. His ending was painfully near, but the Mets recovered from their memorably bitter summer to have a happy autumn. They won the pennant. Mays had three hits in 10 postseason at-bats, including a single to drive in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning of Game 2 of the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, one of the three games the Mets won in that series. It was Mays�s final hit. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/sports/baseball/on-the-night-willie-mays-hit-no-660-it-was-just-another-number.html?_r=0

This Mets squad's practically unwatchable. All they do is win. What the hell's so fun about that?

Saw this hat on the web: and figured it was a Harvey thing. Then I saw this: and this: and then the same cap in some other, but not all, MLB team flavors.

Megdal, referencing Madoff by noting how no one's talking about him, on Harvey's Citi Field debut: Harvey returns, and Citi Field sounds like Shea By Howard Megdal 7:51 a.m. | Apr. 15, 2015 The Mets fans in blue Matt Harvey jerseys starting gathering in a Citi Field parking lot a little before 3 p.m., drinking and dreaming. A workday could not prevent many people from extending the experience of Harvey's first home start of 2015. And though Harvey was far from perfect in his return to the same mound where he started an all star game in 2013, something more significant washed over the 39,489 who ventured to the game, an absurd 6-5 victory for the Mets that ended with two Mets regulars out due to injury and a catcher playing third base. Harvey allowed Citi Field to sound and feel like Shea Stadium, a place where Mets fans were often disappointed but never quite so fatalistic as they became following a pair of late-season collapses, a place where the name "Madoff" was never uttered anywhere outside the owner's box, and where the Mets were a baseball team, not a financial cautionary tale. That is the magic of Matt Harvey, and why the Mets are so right to focus so much of their marketing effort on him. Harvey, instantly excellent when most pitchers struggle to adjust to the major leagues. Harvey, even better in his second season. Harvey, somehow with better command and a new pitch following Tommy John surgery this spring. And so, the Mets' promotional plan revolves around Harvey like an everyday player. Harvey pitching Tuesday. A Harvey t-shirt giveaway Friday night. Harvey pitching again Sunday. If the Mets could get away with using him to close Wednesday and play shortstop Saturday, they would, as long as they could also advertise it. And after all the injuries Tuesday night, maybe they will. But Harvey does what no player since Carlos Beltran took the called strike that ended the 2006 season could do: he makes Mets fans forget about the losing, and the debt, and the broken promises of ownership. Matt Harvey makes believers of those who watch him. Even with many fans stuck behind the metal detectors that delay entry to Major League Baseball's parks in 2015, the roar that went up when Harvey took the mound to begin the game had no precedent at the new ballpark, now in its seventh season. Even the highlights of the intervening seasons�R.A. Dickey's Cy Young run, Johan Santana's no-hitter�didn't quite put the team's reduced circumstances out of anybody's mind. It was a diversion, not a path. And Harvey, too, may be just that. But when he pitches, rising to every occasion, the possibility of pairing Harvey with something more important than an exhibition all star game, or a midyear subway series game against the Yankees, or an effort to sell more tickets to the second home game of 2015 is impossible to put out of one's mind. Fans stood and cheered Harvey for the entirety of his warmups, for the first pitch�a strike, naturally�and the loud Harvey chants in a half-full Citi Field boomed louder than any of the few sellout crowds in the building's history. A strikeout, then another. All things seemed possible. The analogue in orange and blue is Dwight Gooden, who never actually pitched a no-hitter for the Mets, and Nolan Ryan, who didn't either, but eventually tallied seven. Don't believe me? Ask Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, now Phillies manager, who threw out a comparison to those two when describing how his hitters should prepare for Harvey prior to the game. Chase Utley ended perfect game dreams with a home run into the right field stands, a place he's never struggled to reach at Citi Field, but fans didn't boo. Rather, they were shocked, as if the feat itself had been an optical illusion. No matter�Harvey followed with a strikeout of Ryan Howard, who's made a career of hitting right-handed pitchers, with a 98 mile per hour fastball. For Harvey on this night, it was more about battles than dominance. The Phillies scored again off Harvey in the second and fourth. Phillies pitcher David Buchanan hit a pair of Mets, and Harvey responded, with one pitch planted in Utley's back that brought the crowd to its feet once again, the "Harvey! Harvey!" chants louder than before. Terry Collins was ejected from the game. Everything felt like it mattered in a way few things have since the Mets commenced their six losing seasons at their new home. There's been a reserve in Mets fans, especially in the new building, that the circumstances of the team has exacerbated. Impact players, whether Jose Reyes or Carlos Beltran or R.A. Dickey, were mostly evaluated in terms of when they'd be leaving. Seasons were endured with hopes of winters to add to the lacking talent base. Most stayed away. Harvey was a beacon within those times, but now he is a pitcher on a team that's given fans the most reason to hope of any in the Citi Field era. This is not some problem with the building�ask Mets fans of a certain age how Shea Stadium sounded in 1979. And typically, downtrodden franchises require success for this transition. Matt Harvey, at least for now, allows Mets fans to believe each time he takes the mound that this transition has already happened. And on a night when a pair of Mets left due to injury, Michael Cuddyer and franchise icon David Wright, the celebration continued late into the night, even when Anthony Recker, a catcher, was forced into his first professional action at third base. The crowd had thinned out by then, Harvey departing after six innings, the rest of the Mets not quite so compelling yet. But not even a home run by Jeff Francoeur could draw out the boos. This from a fan base that in recent years booed Aaron Heilman preemptively when he'd go 2-0 on a hitter. Nor could the departure of Wright, who voluntarily left the game, dampen spirits, at least in the crowd. Considering Wright played a month with a broken back several years ago, and played most of 2014 with a severe shoulder injury, that was a bad sign, one Collins called "a major problem" after the game. "If it wasn't major, David Wright wouldn't open his mouth," Collins said with a mixture of regret and pride. Still, if Wright was down, what was striking as well was how disappointed both Collins and Harvey himself sounded about a start in which Harvey allowed only three runs over six innings, didn't walk a batter, and struck out eight. "Everyone in this room has had an adrenaline rush at some point, at some time," Collins said. "And it beats you down. From all the hype and stuff he's been through, there has to be a letdown. There has to [be] at some point...I've had too many great pitchers tell me, the first start's easy, the second start's hard. Tonight, we saw with one of the best pitchers in the game, that the second one was hard." Or as a low-key Harvey said to reporters when it was all finished, "It's not like I'm not ever going to give up a run." http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/04/8566032/harvey-returns-and-citi-field-sounds-shea

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Associating yourself with Batman-- Nolan-version-- is ... self-aggrandizement; ... and it's like you're trying to say, "Yeah, I'm a badass"... Harvey would never say that. Instead, he'd say: "Um .... yeah ... you know ... obviously I'm a badass".

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Jeez, seven games out barely two weeks into the season, the Marlins are practically eliminated. Serves them right for calling players-only meetings on April 16. No team deserves shit luck like them. If Miami and the Mets were reversed, Terry'd be out of a job already.

Jeez, seven games out barely two weeks into the season, the Marlins are practically eliminated.

Edgy MD wrote: Mets are not the only red hot team in the league, as their two new fellow division leaders are also aflame, particularly the top-spending Los Angeles Dodgers. San Francisco is floundering, and they've installed our old bud Angel Pagan as their number three hitter. They seem to have a solid starting eight, but they miss Hunter Pence daily and dearly. PlaceTeamWLPCTGBNGBSTRKGL10 WL10 LHEATDiv WDiv LPCTLg WLg LPCT1[fimg=25]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/NYM.png[/fimg] New York103.769��W88216103.769103.7692[fimg=25]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/ATL.png[/fimg] Atlanta84.6671.5 1.5W164763.66763.6673[fimg=25]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/WAS.png[/fimg] Washington 67.4624.06.5W155655.50055.5004[fimg=25]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/PHI.png[/fimg] Philadephia49.3086.012.5L137237.30037.3005[fimg=25]http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/MIA.png[/fimg] Miami310.2317.016.5L437-128.20028.200 PlaceTeamWLPCTGBNGBSTRKGL10 WL10 LHEATLg WLg LPCTDIV[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/67/thumbs/34fklmt62f7bpq20uisaruz8d.gif[/fimg] New York103.769+1.5+1.5W88216103.769DIV[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/72/thumbs/2281.gif[/fimg] St. Louis83.727+2.0+2.0W5731283.727DIV[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/63/thumbs/tayw0n3tsg72i7bwr6ef4u5y3.gif[/fimg] Los Angeles93.750+1.5 +1.5W7821563.0001[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/51/thumbs/2265.gif[/fimg] Atlanta84.667��W164763.6672[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/73/thumbs/x5qgaefxmvbsmrkzw3k8qggwr.gif[/fimg] San Diego 85.615��W173885.6153[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/58/thumbs/ej4v6a8q5w5gegtf7ilqbhoz7.gif[/fimg] Colorado75.5830.50.5L355275.583T4[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/54/thumbs/4l0rcedpoe42tn9sh5kwbl6hg.gif[/fimg] Chicago65.5451.01.5L164565.545T4[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/50/thumbs/fh73oczerrqvptlk706emifth.gif[/fimg] Arizona76.5381.01.5W164776.5386[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/71/thumbs/7xkp9hnp9jq11e1zia4tdcqjh.gif[/fimg] Pittsburgh46.4002.57.5W364934.429T7[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/578/thumbs/x1hlmovt2m0mgs7ghwzgu6lht.gif[/fimg] Washington37.3003.512.5W155625.000T7[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/56/thumbs/706.gif[/fimg] Cincinnati37.3003.512.5L437-137.3009[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/70/thumbs/2256.gif[/fimg] Philadelphia39.2504.519.5L137227.222T10[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/74/thumbs/2296.gif[/fimg] San Francisco310.2315.023.5L1190310.231T10[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/54/60/thumbs/nrndw0ev7vb42le2dbx5i9a62.gif[/fimg] Miami310.2315.023.5L437-128.20012[fimg=55]http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/53/1477/thumbs/147714251970.gif[/fimg] Milwaukee210.1675.528.5L528-3210.167

Edgy MD wrote: An ironic upside to a surplus injuries is, if you can hang in there, healing players are always on the way back. Great. Maybe we should stick deGrom's right arm in a wood chipper.

Frayed Knot wrote: I'm constantly amazed that fastballs to the hands don't break bones every single time! bump.

The Sadecki Spot in the 21st Century. Tom Seaver's 2015 Gypsy Queen card:

How do you know? The .300 hitter will have a higher SLG and perhaps OPS. Need more info. And not necessarily true, even with those scant numbers you post.

Nobody? Read that Chalmers book Lunchie's reading.

"Fuck that shit. I don't say 'Who's David Wright?' I say 'Who the fuck is David Wright'?" [fimg=666]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ0x91rFZBF_AHNu9XyPIxZR4loDnhd-4v8tZu9mQGd4FFUNXUudw[/fimg]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Vic Sage wrote: Look, I'm very happy Duda has had 10 good games and so has gotten off to a strong start, but he's a lifetime .250 hitter, so lets not designate him the face of the franchise for the next decade just yet. Fuck that, he's the fucking MVP and the Mets are on pace for 113 wins. Who's the fucking MVP?

Vic Sage wrote: Look, I'm very happy Duda has had 10 good games and so has gotten off to a strong start, but he's a lifetime .250 hitter, so lets not designate him the face of the franchise for the next decade just yet. Point well taken. But I'd take Duda over Wright in a bet over who's the best hitter going forward over the rest of their careers.

Zvon wrote: *sob*I remember Lucas when he was just another idiot who couldn't hit.*tears of joy*#allgrowdup Lucas Duda absolutely raked it at every level of pro baseball he ever played at. Sometimes though, he'd need some time to adjust. The man can hit.* Just don't put him in the outfield, thank you. "What does a feller need to do to get his own thread around here? And who's David Wright?" [fimg=566]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ0x91rFZBF_AHNu9XyPIxZR4loDnhd-4v8tZu9mQGd4FFUNXUudw[/fimg] *Righties, anyway.

Frayed Knot wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Why does every home game IGT say "Home Opener"? How many home openers are there? If we do it creatively we hope to able to string this run of 'Opening Events' until sometime into mid-May so as to fool the masses into thinking they're buying into something special and increase our kickback cut of the gate receipts. What Mid-May? This could go on all season long. There'll be the Syndergaard Home Opener in the Summertime. And then the Matz Home Opener after that. And another home opener for Montero's emergency start.