The Mets Police

OK, so maybe they don't really love the Yankees per se, but the Royals - and the rest of the teams in MLB - have got to really love one aspect of the Yankees winning - it means more money for every team.


Literally within 10 minutes of the final out, MLB blasted an email touting 2009 World Series Championship gear. Since this first email, I have also received emails about World Series Pins and a special Sports Illustrated package.

Why does this make the Twins happy? Because of an agreement that Bud Selig negotiated with all the owners almost 10 years ago. MLB doesn't have full revenue sharing. However, when it comes to any online activity - and that includes all online shopping - the proceeds are divided evenly among all teams.

The Yankees are the most marketed and marketable franchise in baseball. A Yankees WS Champion tee will sell far more than a Phillies one would have, let along the Twins for example.

So...Yankees win....MLB.com sells more merchandise......Oakland gets a bigger check.


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According to Fox 5 NY the city will host a ticker tape parade for the Yankees on Friday morning at 11 am.

As is the tradition, the parade will move up Broadway - the Canyon of Heroes - from Battery Park to City Hall, where Mayor Bloomberg will welcome the team.


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Yes I am a Mets fan.

And yes I root against the Yankees.

However I will also give credit where credit is due. The Yankees had a hell of a year and as a baseball fan first and foremost I will congratulate the winners of the World Series.

That said, this off-season just got that much worse.

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One of the nice things about my trip to Fake New Yankee Stadium is that my seat had a TV above me...and I was able to capture a picture of Scoreboard Tara.  Tara does some pre-game stuff and well I'm not sure exactly how she got the gig.










Mrs. Mets Police's pink camera doesn't zoom too well...somewhere in there are Yogi and Michelle Obama.  The Yankees are the best at ceremonies.  Remember the 2008 Shea Opener's high school band?







This one is a little sharper.   Nice seats, right?












This is outside on 161st at the unimpressive Babe Ruth plaza.   The Babe deserves better.












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I went to Game 1 of the World Series...got super-lucky on Ticketmaster and got in for face value!

My seat was nearby this Sushi stand.   Really?










Instead I went over here...but blew this off and went to Nathans.  I'd like to thank the mayor for posting calorie counts....I was going to get an order of fries until I saw the 1200+ calories count..which by the way is like getting 6 hot dogs.

I got a beer (small $6) and a dog and still got darn close to $10.  Sheesh.




That's Mrs. Mets Police's pink camera in case you are wondering.











And here's the view from my seat (behind the handicapped area, not in it - we'll get into that tomorrow).











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A throwback edition of alternate caps.  These from the 1910 Yankees.  I never knew they wore red, always assumed it was white in those black and white photos.  I wonder if we'll see a 100th anniversary of this cap day next season?







Here's the 1934 Phils.  If you wore this to a game I would think it was cool, however if I saw you on the street I wouldn't know this has anything to do with the Phillies so you would not get props.







This one from 1912.   Not bad.  I wouldn't heckle you if you wore this.









1946 Phils.  Not bad at all.  Wearable.

Back tomorrow with some truly awful caps.









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I woke up this morning and Junior asked who won the game.   "ummm....Yankees."

"What was the score?"    I had no idea.

I vaguely remember Joe Buck saying something about using a Hughes in a non-save situation and I vaguely think it was 1:40am.

Poor Junior, he spent the entire day looking forward to watching the game but I had to chase him before first pitch.

I know Fox doesn't control the weather.   They do control this "start before 8" spin which is allegedly 7:57 but  why don't you stare at your watch tomorrow night at 7:56:59 and see what's on TV.  I did hear Buck and McCarver float a fairly strong "how late are we gonna start?" vibe around 9pm.

Tonight the game starts at 8:20 because.....it's a school night?  Because someone out ther actually needs football highlights after watching 7 hours of football?  In the 21st century are you really getting your scores from Terry Bradshaw?  

The Yankees might wind up playing 11 games in about 30 days.  That's not baseball.   My kid has seen about two innings.  His dad has seen about 60% of them, usually the first 6 and then the last out (Joe Buck must raise his voice).

Is this why we follow the sport?  Is the idea to have fans falling asleep during the biggest moments?

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This next hat is nice, it's orange and blue and has the traditional....oh wait I thought this was a Mets preview for a second.   Why would any Yankees fan get a cap in these colors?







You know your friend that lives in Pittsburgh but still loves the Phillies?









Remember that episode of Batman where the Joker bought the Yankees?   Also suitable for Lakers/Yankees fans.









This cap falls under my "if she's really cute" rule.   On a dude no way, but if the Phillies chick looks hot in this, it is workable.









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Nobody likes beating traffic more than I do. I often joke about  leaving in the bottom of the second - but last night there I was, watching Posada strike out in a half empty stadium.









I got off the subway and took a tour around real Yankee Stadium. It's very sad. It is draped in black mesh and has no lighting on it. If you're from out of town you might not even realize what it is.

One thing I got a kick out of was the official demolition sign.  Property of parks department based in....Flushing Meadows Queens.   Ha! That's the kind of thing that usually goes the other way. I took
pics and will get them up in the best few days.



So, across 161st which was always a nothing street and now is like Main Street (a generic Main Street not the one in Flushing) in a good way. Big, open, lots of energy.

The new building looks great from the outside as you approach it.  Really nice on the outside (cough).

Spent 30 seconds in the unimpressive Babe Ruth Plaza. The only thing that is stopping the Tom Seaver Plaza from being just as good is that we don't have a sign declaring you're in Seaver Plaza. If there are
Yankees Police out there you guys should bitch about this one.

(Put standings flags on Citi please..like at Shea).


Entering the great hall is nice. I like what they've done with the banners (read the Yankees articles over there on the right or wait a few days for new ones) and in many ways it is what Citi lacks.

Then you go inside and I don't care what you call the place, it isn't Yankee Stadium.

Sure, the mind plays tricks and I started having false memories that in reality took place a block to the south - but I still maintain the concrete design looks like the Washington Metro.  Dull, boring, functional, no soul.

The Yanks do a great job plastering memories everywhere and I should take David Howard to a game (Dave let me know if you're free) but then I looked up to see the traditional bunting on the uppers and it isn't there. Why? Because there's an advertising ribbon. The bunting has moved down to whatever  Yankees call their Mezz. Is that bad? No. Should they not have  advertising? I'm realistic. However that's not Yankee Stadium.

Sat in my seat and decided that when you go to a Yankee game you have to sit on the lower level. The uppers are so far removed and cold and windy and unfinished looking that it isn't enjoyable. I was
downstairs and had a great view.

I sat next to a cool man from Puerto Rico whose name I didn't catch but I thought he looked and sounded like Omar Minaya so I enertained myself with that idea.   I also met a cool dude from Memphis who told me
they did put tickets on sale at the box office. He got his at 5:30 (!) so you might want to spend the $2.25 and see if you get lucky.

There was some insane security and I'll leave out any descriptions out of respect for the officers. It was a level I have never seen at a sporting event.

The Yankees have so much history they can blow the doors off the Mets so it isn't worth comparing (I mean if Seaver dies then who is "the man?"  Piazza?). This time they trotted out Yogi.

The player introductions at fake new Yankee Stadium didn't rock the way I remembered. Paul Olden is the wrong Voice of God replacement - again, too generic.  Looking out at "standard modern stadium" with Paul, I was thinking that except for the true Yankees like A-Rod and Damon, we might as well be at a Nationals game.

So the game went on and you all know how that went.  I laugh at the Yankee Panic out there today, y'all will be fine.  I'm also not hating on the Yankees - they went out and got actual C.C. whereas the Mets would get the the Japanese C.C. - but the new stadium is fake...and the crowd.....

Where are you people going?  In the 9th it was me, Omar from P.R. and a dude from Memphis.  No sign of the typical Yankees fan (look up right now, there's probably one in eyesight) and no sign of ghosts.  Why are the Yankees fans leaving early?  Isn't the World Series the whole point of rooting all year?   Maybe my Flushing mentality thinks a World Series game is something so rare it should be treasured, and you guys are spoiled and trained by Rizzuto.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, glad I went....but this ain't Yankee Stadium.

(fixed the typos - iphone's spell-check gets aggressive sometimes).

I'm laying off Seaver for a while because he showed up at the final game at Shea and played the role well.  Here's what he has to say about The Rays:

"[They are] very analogous (to the 69 Mets)," Seaver said. "Because of their pitching and defense, and defense up the middle, they're in every game. We were that way. It's a nice story, a great story -- young guys with talent who believe in themselves and have a strong manager."

Read the rest on mlb.com

I spent much of the summer admiring the Rays.   They were younger and sexier than my team and looked like they were going places.

Now that the World Series has come and the Rays are there I realize I just don't care.   I've watched zero pitches of the first two games.

Rays, it's me, not you.  I hope you win, but I won't be there for you.

The headline is mine.  The rest of it a link to a cool article here comparing the coming of age of the Rays and the 69 Mets.

I understand the analogy that these Rays are the ’69 Amazin’ Mets of this generation, but I don’t necessarily buy into it. Yes, like the ’69 Mets, the Rays have come from an entire existence of being in last place to where they are now, but I just believe these Rays are better than those Mets were, and will be legitimate contenders for a longer period of time than those Mets were.

Of course, it never hurts to have a pitching staff that includes Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan, Tug McGraw and Ron Taylor as the ’69 Mets had. And though the 22-year-old Ryan did go 6-3 for those Mets and did pitch 2.1 scoreless innings in the World Series that year, his importance to that particular staff has kind of grown with legend. The Mets did, after all, trade him (for Jim Fregosi?). Still, not a bad spot starter and long reliever to have.

What we have in these Rays is the post-steroid era blueprint for success: Homegrown talent with baseball skills and athleticism to boot. Power is not emphasized as home runs will take care of themselves. What the Rays hone are baseball skills and awareness, defense and pitching. Speed is not an option; it’s a requirement.

Click here for the rest. 

Bad call by baseball to push back Game 6 of the World Series so that Fox can sell ad-time to a presidential candidate.

This isn't about the election, this is about greed.

If Colgate offers Fox twice the money to push back game 7, I bet Fox would ask MLB to push that game back too.

Mets Police Junior has yet to watch an inning, and I'm not watching the ALCS right now because I'm going to bed.

Late starts will cost you the next generation of fans.

Tell Sen. Obama he can have 22 minutes not 30.

What? It's only May! How can I make such a bold and rash statement. The Mets obviously don't believe it, they keep saying it's still early and thay aren't panicing yet.

Well wake-up guys, baseball is a game of numbers and the numbers don't lie. The chances of you making the playoffs at this point are slim.

Since 1996, the first full season under the expanded playoff format, 63 of the 96 playoff teams were already in a playoff position (division leader or wild card) on Memorial Day. Only 34% of teams that made the playoffs in the last 12 years overtook other teams after Memorial Day.

It doesn't get better. Teams that were able to come back and make the post-season were an average of 4 games back in the Wild Card standings on Memorial Day. As of Monday, the Mets found themselves 5.5 out. Only 10 of the 96 playoff teams were 5.5 or more games out at this time - or 10.4%

What about if we look at just the National League, because we know the leagues are very different. At first it does look a bit better - there has been slightly more more volatility as almost 40% of playoff teams were not in position on Memorial Day, including all 4 last year.

But just like before, if we look deeper at the numbers the story only gets worse for the Mets. The average position for these 19 teams was 3.5 games out of the WC. Furthermore, only 5 NL teams - the 96 Cards (6.5), 03 Marlins (8.5), 05 Astros (10.0), 07 Cubs (6.5), and 07 Rockies (5.5) - overcame deficits equal to or greater than the Mets current position.

It's not just about how many games behind you are though, but also how many teams are in front of you. The 19 NL teams that came back after Memorial Day held an average of 5th place in the WC standings - the Mets are currently in 8th.

What does all this mean? Unless management does something dramatic to turn this team around (such as getting rid of Willie for starters), the last game at Shea Stadium really will be September 29th.