nyfaninsjersey3

I have always been a NY fan since I can remember. I grew up close to Philly, but I first experienced watching sports in the early days of cable. When I saw Keith Hernandez get a game winning hit, I was hooked. This was before the 86' Mets, when the Mets still were just promising and not highly expected to succeed. I know the times have been tough for me, but I don't regret it. If I had to be one of those Philly fans that acts like they know it all and has to yell to debate, than I'd just rather not follow sports. If that's my only option. Fortunately, it's not. I can choose to follow other teams and be an educated fan. I, however love the NY teams through thick and thin. Although it's been more bad lately than good, I don't look back. No regrets.

The New York Mets have unofficially announced that they are shopping for another lefty for the bullpen. This comes after word that the player with major league experience that they already signed for the bullpen, Kelvim Escobar, is complaining of a “weak arm”. The news of his arm status really doesn’t come as a surprise, however, given that Escobar was supposed to be the answer to the bullpen woes and replacement of J.J. Putz, it is troubling. The Mets sudden interest in Ron Mahay or Joe Beimel makes sense, but it is just like the Mets to be on the defensive. They make maneuvers based on not foresight, but hindsight. They have a player with some question marks, who they sign, and then when he goes down or doesn’t perform up to par, they go shopping. As opposed to just signing the free agent that doesn’t have question marks.

I’m not talking about injury replacements for healthy players, such as trading for a pitcher when Duaner Sanchez went down a few years ago. I’m not even referring to Gary Matthew Jr after Carlos Beltran decided to opt for surgery when most of the offseason behind him wasted away and only a month or so until reporting to Florida. The franchise makes this a every season scenario. They respond rather than attack. This is the mindset of a smaller market team, it is not supposed to be the mentality of a major sports franchise in one of the major cities, let alone the biggest city in the country. This conservative mindset on the free agent and trading market is a major reason the Mets have roster trouble and are one of the older ball clubs in the league. However, there are many more reasons, deeper organizational reasons, that the franchise as a whole is in disarray. It starts at the very top and reverberates all the way down through the franchise, from the owners to the peanut vendors.

There must be a change in this organization for the future to be brighter. I’m not suggesting different ownership, as I truly believe that the Wilpons, though clueless at times, do care about the team and the bigger picture. They may not always know or care what the average fan wants, but they do care about the health of the organization, their product, and the future of it. That is a good start, but my prediction is, despite what they promised Minaya and Manuel, if the team doesn’t get off to a good start, they may be shopping for new “baseball people”. That would be a good start.

While searching around the web one night, I came across some interesting facts that two dates this week hold in New York Mets history. The first is February 24, 1966. On this date in Mets history, the Braves franchise signed a pitcher. That seems inconsequential to a Mets fan, however, the contract was voided, opening up the way for the New York Mets to draft and eventually sign Tom "Terrific" (The Franchise) Seaver. I’m sure that the people who will read this really don’t need a glimpse of who Tom Terrific is or the impact that he had on the franchise that is the Mets, but for those of you who have never heard of him, allow me to introduce you. First, though, what planet were you on for the last 40 years?

Tom Seaver is the New York Mets all time franchise leader in several categories including ; all time Wins, strikeouts, E.R.A., Games Started and W.H.I.P. to name a few of his accomplishments in the all time Mets categories. He also is the leader in such single season Mets history stats such as: Complete Games, Strikeouts and Innings Pitched. He lead a team of no name lovable losers from the depths of despair in the early years of the franchise to the miraculous glory of 1969. He is a winner and was a formidable presence on the mound and still is one in the clubhouse years after. I can’t begin to say how much I regret that he was before my time, There are not many pitchers that even belong in the same category as Tom Seaver, let alone should draw a comparison to him. He is an elite, with only a very few names. The world of baseball did him and Mets fans justice by placing him in his rightful place with those elite in Cooperstown. He deserves it. I just wish some of him would rub off a little on Mike Pelfrey.

The second date is Sunday February 28, 1975. On that day, 35 years ago, the New York Mets bought King Kong. That’s right Dave Kingman. The same Dave Kingman, who after two separate stints with the club, is fourth all time on the Mets homerun list with 154 of his 442 total career homeruns. The 154 with the Mets was more than he hit total for any of the other three teams he played for. He had 389 R.B.I’S and over 500 hits with the Mets in his 6 seasons in Queens. He was versatile, productive and twice acquired by the Mets on the same date in two separate seasons (1975 and 1981). He came from the same college as ‘the Franchise” Tom Seaver, USC. His last season with the Mets was, unfortunately I must say, my first watching them. I am sorry that I didn’t have the chance to watch him in Queens longer, but thanks to modern technology, there is always a place to go in order to see highlights or stats of both he and Seaver, if you really dig for them.

That is the beauty of the computer age, but that is a story for another blog entry. Fast forward 35 years to the current Mets roster, and you will see poor defense, undisciplined plate presence and a general lack of production. He is a throw back to a different age, an age where players understood the effort and hustle it takes to just be competitive. I’m not saying the current squad doesn’t give effort and hustle, but a little more could always help. Hopefully the players this year will heed the lessons learned from the barrage of old-timers parading into spring training. You never know when it may sink in and make them a contender.