The Mets Police

Oh man the internet is fun.  I'm half-asleep this morning on that first cup of coffee and I see a bunch of 'David Wright to Red Sox?" type items on twitter (I'm @metspolice).

Seems that this guy wrote one sentence in the Globe.   Here's the sentence:

1. Seems like David Wright is no longer a great fit for the Mets (because of Citi Field), but he would be for the Red Sox (because of Fenway)

That's nice.  It even makes sense.  Sure David Wright banging balls off the green monster is a good idea.  Peyton Manning would be a great QB for the Browns next season.   Now let me tell you why I think Jose Reyes will be the first man on Mars....at 26 years old he is just coming into his prime.  His natural athletic ability suggests he'll more easily adapt to a long-term space mission than you or I...plus with the Mars mission being at least 15 years away he can finish ou his Mets career before focusing on NASA in his 40's.


Can you imagine what would happen if the Mets announced Wright were traded?  I'll even give you a Seaver deal...you can have John Lackey, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and two prospects. 


Actually if the Red Sox called with that you'd have to look at it wouldn't you?  Ha!


Anyway, all this is for a 3am call to WFAN.   


I find myself in a weird place this morning....my brain thinks that Reyes/Wright/Bay/Beltran/Francoeur/a decent Castillo can carry Murphy and the catcher.   Then again me, you and Sports Illustrated had the Mets winning the 2009 World Series.  It all comes down to pitching.


Main Mets Police page
Follow us on twitter @metspolice
Facebook page
send ideas/guest columns to shannon at metspolice.com

Some shots from the crowd of the David Wright beaning.  Thanks to kjs and Googling God for sending over.  I hope David is ok.



Bondy is right.  There's no reason to rush Wright (or anyone) back.  Fans will be just as cranky at 68 wins as they will be at 78.






























































Main Mets Police page
Follow us on twitter @metspolice
Facebook page
send ideas/guest columns to shannon at metspolice.com

Thanks to M.S. for sending this over.  It appeared in the ESPN Insider which you need to subscribe to, so I don't want to be uncool and post it....but the gist of the article is that when Wright is hot he crushes fastballs when ahead in the count...

But during this slump, Wright has seen 11 fastballs in the strike zone, in hitters counts. And he's taken eight of them!
• He's taken two fastballs in the strike zone when up 1-0.




and then they break out the count several ways.  Interesting stuff, and the insider is cool to sign up for, and I suggest you do, and read the rest of the article.

(I wrote this on Friday so I could hit the beach so if Wright hit 5 home runs last night and you're like "what slump" that's why.)

www.metspolice.com
on twitter @metspolice
send ideas/guest columns to shannon at metspolice.com

Quick stuff because it's a rare night to turn Mets brain off:

1.  I admit to sometimes being stupid.  I couldn't find the link to the Sweet Caroline poll.  Sparks let me know:

The sing-along poll is at the bottom of the Mets.com home page, just to the right of center, in a box labeled "Mets Poll."

If you can't see it, it may be because you have a browser app masking it.





and Adam adds

Yep - it's the poll at the bottom, second box from the right.

Back to stuffing the ballot box for Curly Shuffle - I mean, Meet the Mets. 

Either is fine with me.  I'm casting my vote to Meet the Mets because I think it has a better chance of winning.  My personal choice is Curly.  We used to win championships with that playing.



2.  As I said I don't wanna bog down so my quick take on Franco vs. Wright is that Franco just goofed himself out of being a member of the organization, John Franco Day or whatever else he dreamed of.  Now he's in the Gary Carter club.

I'm too lazy to write more so y'all can read about it here:

Wright dismisses Franco's comments

ESPN - ‎2 hours ago‎

AP MILWAUKEE -- The New York Mets already are riddled with injuries and struggling to win. Now former teammate John Franco is piling on -- but Mets third ...

Ex-Met Franco says team lacks leadership

Newsday - David Lennon - ‎5 hours ago‎

MILWAUKEE - John Franco has traded his captain's C for a special advisory role with the Mets, but that didn't...

Franco: Mets lack leadership

New York Daily News - Adam Rubin - ‎6 hours ago‎

John Franco weighed in on the Mets' woes on the MLB Home Plate channel on SIRIUS XM Radio with hosts Kevin Kennedy and Jeff Joyce. ...


I'm heading back upstairs before Mrs. Mets Police yells at me for always watching baseball and being on the computer.   I bet some of you can relate.


www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

This too I cribbed from Uni Watch.  So you guys all bookmark Uni Watch and visit them every day so they don't get mad at me.  Plus their site rocks.

Here are some Mets fans at a recent game in Baltimore. What's with the yellow Wright jersey?   I don't see any way to justify that being made.

I guess it's cool that the guy's chick is into baseball enough to wear a Wright jersey (I'm assuming she's with someone) - but yellow?

UPDATE:  as several readers pointed out, this is an All-Star game jersey from the year the ASG was in Pittsburgh.  I still wonder anyone would buy such a thing. I don't get the ASG jerseys at all.  I guess this year we'll be getting blue and red ones (Cardinals).


www.metspolice.com
@metspolice on twitter

Thanks to Mets Walk Offs for sending this over.

"It took an adjustment," said Wright, according to Gammons' blog. "The idea is to hit line drives gap to gap. That's what I've concentrated on and not worrying about hitting balls to the warning track for easy outs. I've found two things. The first is that because the outfield is so huge, I'm getting some cheap hits at home. The second is that it's going to help us on the road because you get into good habits in a pitchers' park. It's a lot easier going from a pitchers' park to a hitters' park than vice versa."

The whole Wright article is here on ESPN.

By the way, if you like Mets Minutiae, definitely check out the Walkoffs site.   Plus I appreciate Walkoffs for always getting back to me when I have dumb questions like "how many times did Tim Bogar get on base due to catchers interference?"

More amazing is that Walkoffs liked Neil Allen.



www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

After yesterday's look at homegrown players on Opening Day, I started to think about what the Mets All Time Homegrown Team might look like. To recap, I am defining a homegrown player as someone who had their first major league appearance in a Mets uniform.

(Yes I know that a "true" homegrown would be someone who came all the way up through the Mets farm system - but honestly, I don't have the time or patience to do that level of research.)

So here's my full 25 man roster:

STARTING LINEUP
SS - Jose Reyes (755 Games)
2B - Edgardo Alfonzo (1,086)
3B - David Wright (703)
RF - Darryl Strawberry (1,109)
C - Todd Hundley (829)
1B - Ed Kranepool (1,853)
LF - Cleon Jones (1,201)
CF - Mookie Wilson (1,116)

BENCH
Bud Harrelson (1,322)
Lee Mazzilli (979)
Wally Backman (765)
John Milner (741)
Hubie Brooks (654)
Ron Hodges (666)

ROTATION
Tom Seaver (401 Games, 198 Wins)
Dwight Gooden (305, 157)
Jerry Koosman (376, 140)
Ron Darling (257, 99)
Jon Matlack (203, 82)

BULLPEN
Jesse Orosco (368 Relief Appearances, 107 Saves)
Tug McGraw (325, 86)
Jeff Innis (287, 5)
Aaron Heilman (280, 9)
Roger McDowell (278, 84)
Craig Swan (184 Starts, 45 Relief)

Feel free to debate - I know there are some guys I left off (Wayne Garret, Bobby Jones for example)

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

I'm a little sleepy, but I thought this was neat.  Mike Schmidt, the best baseball player I ever saw (note I didn't qualify position) thinks David Wright is a Hall of Famer.

The Daily News has the whole thing here.

Schmidt says:

"I think you've got yourself a future Hall of Famer there on the Mets."





www.metspolice.com

What can you say about the Mets - They are playing great!   Clearly the managerial change has made a big difference,  The players aren't throwing Willie under the bus, but they keep talking about being relaxed.  Jerry has gotten more out of the scrubs, I mean role players.   If he can only get into OverReyes's head and straighten him out we might have something.   This other Reyes, UnderReyes, seems spunky.   They could use another outfielder, and I don't see Four Inning Pedro lasting until November 1st, so if there's a scrap heap pitcher out there - grab him.

Maybe Jerry could threaten to stab Shawn Chacon if he acts up.   Don't roll your eyes at the suggestion - if the Mets could get Manny Ramirez they would - both guys shoved an executive - one just happens to be a better ballplayer.

Then again I wouldn't mind seeing Omar go all Queens on Chacon if he pushed him.   Maybe Chacon could push Charlie Samuels for issuing the hideous black uniforms.

A shout out to ESPN for the 8pm start.   I predict the Mets and Rockies will break the record (51 minutes) for shortest game ever played.  A night game before the break - you'll see a lot of first pitch swinging.   Seriously, don't be surprised if this game is like two hours and ten minutes.


Dare I even think to wish for 9 in a row, AND first place?  That would truly be amazing and a good job of Jerry and The Gangstas.


Wayne Hagin: Do we dig him?   I'm still not sure.  He seems nice, but somehow generic American sportscaster.   He doesn't annoy me at all, but every now and then he says something that reminds me that he ain't from these parts.  On Friday night he said "down in the Bronx" while sitting at Shea.    Nope.  On Saturday, Howie was talking about how shea looked nice when full.  Although Wayne said it was "charming" he didn't seem convincing - again that "nor from 'round here" vibe I get.   If anyone has any thoughts on Wayne click comments below.

I was trying to learn more about Wayne and found some mixed reviews here:  Wayne

I love David Wright and he should be the captain but let's be real - he was the 33rd person put on the All Star team.

Of course there are no pictures but the Mets claimed there were 48,000 (paid) at Shea on Thursday.   I was watching on TV and saw a lot of empty upper deck.

The "kids" in my office tell me they love the Home Run Derby and don't care about the All Star Game.  I on the other hand have zero interest in the derby.

The players hate that once again This Time It Counts.

Loge 13 had some great 1964 articles about Shea this week.   Click:  Loge 13

Mike's Mets wrote about John Stearns.  These darn kids who don't know who Lee Mazzilli is and like the Home Run Derby won't know Stearns.  Isn't he due back in June?  (you either appreciate that line or have no idea what it means.)   Link:  Stearns 

Still sad about Bobby Murcer's death.  In the 70's I was paying attention to Lee Mazzilli and John Stearns so I'm not hip to all things Bronx Bombers - I didn't realize how well he played in the game after Thurman Munson's funeral.   A three run homer and the walk-off hit.   Cool.

The New York Sun had a decent piece about the end of Yankee Stadium: Sun Article

USA Today wrote about the price of tickets at Yankee Stadium III:  Yankees Tickets

COO Lonn Trost says about 24,500 seats won't incur a price increase going into next season, including the grandstand ($20-$25) and bleachers ($12). That means nearly 28,000 seats will cost more. Trost says about 26,000 seats will be priced at $50 or less. Still, word of the pricier seats has gotten out, rankling some fans.

Who are the Packers kidding?  They say they won't let Favre be a free agent....and they won't make him the starter.   Yeah there will be no pressure on Aaron Rodgers with Favre QB2 on the bench.

Even Joe Montana went to Kansas City (ugh).   I guess Favre will be traded.   Glad Marino didn't go to the Browns that time.

Speaking of Joe Montana - his son  Nicholas Montana is a QB.  Maybe there's hope for the 49ers some day.

Poor 7 year old kid got hit by a foul ball at his first game.  I hope he's OK.  I hope baseball doesn't overreact and add too much netting.   Story here:  Kid Hurt At Wrigley.   Get healthy Dominic.

The Mets Police are always right.   Look back to June 4th and you'll see a post warning that Wagner might be the only All-Star.    Wright might still squeak in, but OverReyes does not deserve it.

Across town I feel bad for Mike Mussina.   With 11 wins and the game in his home stadium, he deserved to be there.

This nonsense where fans vote for the 32nd man is silly - didn't we all just vote for two months?

MLB.com says:

David Wright, The Captain, on the doubleheader loss:

"It's unacceptable to want to win a division and not rise to the momentum we had this weekend. It's not one thing or the other. It's overall...We had all the momentum in the world coming into this series and we couldn't do anything with it."

"It's mediocrity. We have to do a better job of maintaining some consistency and going out there and pitching well and hitting well on a consistent basis."

Star-Ledger doesn't agree about The Captain.

About this Steve Politi is right: "Somebody," Wagner said on his weekly radio spot, "needs to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough.'"

The fans probably should give up waiting for David Wright to take a stand, too. He had another chance yesterday to act like the captain of this team, but clearly, that's not his personality.

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2008/05/leader_needs_to_step_up_to_pla.html

The Captain talks like this: "We've got to go out there and play better that second game. Arroyo pitched great, but to be a team that we want to be and we need to be ... offensively, we've got to get a little more done. If we have to manufacture runs, we've just got to do something. We won the first one. Offensively we did well. But the second one's disappointing."

The manager is OK with focusing on Pelfrey's "best outing of the year."

So we sail along playing .500-ish ball la la la la la la it's only May la la la la la.

Who's The Captain you ask? You know who it is. That's why he's The Captain, number 5, David Wright.

2009 presents an opportunity to start fresh in a new ballpark. Some suggestions:


1. Embrace Mets tradition. This is no longer an expansion team. 45+ years. The Dodgers left a half-century ago. Let Los Angeles have them. Focus on the Mets. 1969, 1986. You've done a good job embracing 1986 on SNY, now do so with the team. Have some days to honor the guys we all love - Keith, Mookie, Wally, Gary....even invite Straw and Gooden back (when he's available).


2. Put a Met in place as manager. No more Yankees. I'm openly in favor of Mazzilli. How about Backman? Carter. Hojo. Fans will love it.


3. Stop with the black uniforms. White pinstripes at home, the current road uniforms with a blue hat for the road. If you want to sell black or yellow or polka dots stuff at Modell's that's fine. Just look like a baseball team on the field.


4. Create "The Mets Way." When knuckleheads arise, rid the franchise of them. No more Vince Colemans. The Mets did a good job getting Milledge out. If Pedro can't be bothered to show up and wave on Opening Day then good riddance.


5. David Wright is The Captain. This franchise lacks a career long franchise player. Let's keep him here forever and let him be the captain. He doesn't need a cheesy C on his jersey, but let it be known he is the man. Even if he just has OK stats for his career, the fans love him. Let us love him for a long time.


6. Tell Seaver to show up. If it takes paying him $50,000 per appearance like the Yankees had to do for Joe DiMaggio, then do it.


7. Bring the Apple. Why does management fight on this one? Bring the apple. yes we know it doesn't work so well. It's ours and we want it there, just bring it.

About a week and a half ago we published who are the real and the fake owners of numbers 1 - 4 for the Mets http://themetspolice.blogspot.com/2008/04/whos-1.html

As this is an angoing series, here are numbers 5 through 10 (once again thanks to Mets By The Numbers):

5
Rightful Owner(s): Davey Johnson & David Wright
Rent-A-Met: John Olerud

Comment: Wright will never be the only owner of tha number regardless of what he does. As for Olerud, most of that 1999-2000 team was rented.

6
Rightful Owner(s): Al Weiss & Wally Backman
Rent-A-Met: Daryl Boston

Comment: Sadly Wally is still persona non grata in most MLB circles. As for Boston......nop, got nothing

7

Rightful Owner(s): Ed Kranepool & Jose Reyes
Rent-A-Met: Juan Samuel

Comment: I still cringe when I think about all we gave up for....ugh...Juan Samuel. Hell I still remember where I was when I heard the news (on a train between Limerick and Galwayin Ireland. I think I screamed.)

8

Rightful Owner(s): Nobody
Rent-A-Mets: Yogi Berra & Gary Carter

Comment: Yogi was and always will be a Yankee. Gary - as much as he may have loved NY and was the final piece of the 86 puzzle - was an Expo.

9

Rightful Owner(s): Todd Hundley
Rent-A-Met(s): Joe Torre & Todd Zeile

Comment: Torre the player was a Brave - Torre the manager was a Yankee. The fact that he transitioned as a Met doesn't make him a Met.

10

Rightful Owner(s): Rusty Staub
Rent-A-Met: Nobody

Comment: Rusty wore 4 with his first stint, but was in 10 much longer. And yeah, he was an All-Star 6 times elsewhere and never with the Mets - but he played more years here than anywhere else.

11 through 15 next week.