Month: March 2008

Post Game: Mets 7 Marlins 2

Johan Santana gets the win in his first start as a Met. Hopefully, that’s the first win of many.

The crowd was about 60-70% Mets fans. We had the “Let’s Go Mets” chant going for most of the game. As expected, Dolphin Stadium is much nicer than Shea. There were no traffic problems even though the crowd was over 38,000.

I wish I got to see the replay of Jose Reyes stealing second. It looked like he was safe from my angle.

I was surprised how many Johan Santana shirts have been sold already. There were a ton of them out today. I’ll have to try to find some jersey sales statistics. If you know where I can find that, let me know.

I got a lot of great pictures to post on this site. For starters, I’ll show you this one.

Johan Santana Warming Up

On Deck: Game 1 Preperation

Mets at Marlins     4:10pm     Santana vs. Hendrickson    TV: SNY

Much like the Mets, I’m preparing for the first game of the season. I’m connecting to the painfully slow Internet connection in my hotel searching for some information about the Mets opening day game.

Bart Hubbach reports for the Post today that Johan Santana and the rest of the team worked out at Dolphins Stadium yesterday.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” he said with a smile yesterday after the Mets’ workout at Dolphin Stadium. “There are a lot of expectations, and I’m fine with that. I know exactly what I have to do.”

Today is the day that we’ve been waiting for as Mets fans. Today clears the slate from last seasons “Collapse”. Now that’s history and Willie Randolph and the team will be evaluated by baseball historians in much the same way that Gene Mauch and the 1964 Phillies are.

Now we get to finally move on. There have have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of articles and columns and books written about “The Collapse”. That’s all over now and a new season begins.

Today is Day 1 of the run for the 2008 World Series victory.

Roster Moves: Down to 25 Players

New York Mets pitcher Michael Pelfrey before a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.Image from Wikipedia

Updated: March 31, 2008

Here’s a breakdown of the moves that the Mets made today to get down to 25:

  1. Raul Casanova made the major league team
  2. Brady Clark made the major league team- he also changed his number to 44
  3. Ramon Castro was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21
  4. Duaner Sanchez was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 27
  5. Orlando Hernandez was placed on the 15 day disabled list retroactive to March 29
  6. Brian Stokes was designated for assignment
  7. Fernando Tatis was sent to minor league camp for reassignment
  8. Ricardo Rincon was sent to minor league camp for reassignment
  9. Nelson Figueroa was sent to minor league camp for reassignment

Mike Pelfrey gets the fifth starter spot but they won’t need him until April 12th. I would guess that he’ll get some long work in the bullpen until then to see if he can establish some consistency before they need a fifth starter. El Duque could even be back to make that start if Pelfrey continues his shaky performances from the spring.

I’m glad that Fernando Tatis didn’t make the team. I just don’t see that he adds value especially after losing Ruben Gotay. I really liked Gotay and thought he could make a contribution. He’s going to come back to bite the Mets with a big hit at some point this season.

The Mets Report: Live From South Florida

I apologize for lagging on my posts today. I’m in south Florida for opening day 2008. It’s a thrill to be here for Day 1 of the run for the World Series. I’m catching up now on the news of the day including the roster moves. More on that later.

If you’re here in Miami for the game stop by the field level behind the Mets bullpen. I’ll be the one with the Mets standard hat (black with blue bill) and the black Johan Santana shirt. Oh wait, Dolphins Stadium should be filled with Mets fans! I’ll be one of many with Santana shirts.

Hall of Fame Plaques in Memphis Today

The National Baseball Hall of Fame brought Jackie Robinson’s and Larry Doby’s plaques from Cooperstown to Memphis today for the Civil Rights Game.

Fans were allowed to view the plaques of the two players that broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. From MLB.com:

“Our hope is that a fan will come and realize that Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson weren’t just fictitious historical creations,” Hall of Fame spokesman Brad Horn said. “That they are indeed men who, in spite of the challenges they faced, excelled. Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson are not in the Hall of Fame because they were pioneers. They’re in the Hall of Fame because they were exceptional baseball talents, and that baseball talent was only brought to life because they were given the chance.”

The Hall has only allowed Roberto Clemente’s plaque to go to Puerto Rico, Juan Marichal’s to the Dominican Republic, and Ted Williams to Fenway Park after he died. It’s a very special event for plaques to leave the Hall.

“It’s very rare in general to have a plaque leave Cooperstown,” Horn said, “primarily because when a visitor comes to the museum, we want them to feel that they’ve seen the entire experience. But this is such a historic opportunity for us to educate fans here in Memphis, fans of the game, about their contributions on the baseball field.”

I saw most of the game on ESPN today and there appeared to be a good number of Mets fans there. Major League Baseball is thinking about moving the game around to different cities in future seasons and possibly making a regular season game the Civil Rights Game. I think both are great ideas.

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Post Game: Mets 3 White Sox 2

John Maine looked good again today. Carlos Beltran had a big two-run homer.More importantly, Major League Baseball and ESPN did a great job presenting the Civil Rights Game. I really hope that baseball can turn things around in the African-American community and start attracting the best athletes in that community to the game again.

I read a good story from CBS News about the Nationals new stadium being located in a predominantly lower class African- American neighborhood. It’s worth a read.

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Packing My Bags For Florida

I’m on my way to Florida for the road opener in Miami. It’s amazing how easy it was to get field level seats. $28/each to sit right behind the Mets bullpen. If I get there early enough I’ll get to see Johan Santana warming up right in front of me!

I’ve been looking at the weather for Monday and it’s calling for the usual south Florida mix of sun/clouds/rain. It would be the ultimate disappointment to have opening day rained out. I’ll keep checking the weather websites for continual updates. At this point, I should probably even put them into my browser’s favorites.

It’s a far cry from getting seats to the opener at Shea Stadium. The Mets only offer that game as part of a seven game package at minimum. Certainly, the Florida Marlins team is a far cry from the Mets. I’m wondering, after Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla, how many of their players that I’ll even recognize. There’s no more Dontrell Willis or Miguel Cabrera to see. The Marlins sent Cameron Maybain down to preserve another year without arbitration even though he’s one of the best young players in the organization. It’s a shady move, but I guess the Marlins have that luxury if they know they’re going nowhere this season.

I’ve never been to Dolphins Stadium before either. I’m thinking that it’s nothing special… The typical multi-purpose stadium built more for football than baseball. The Marlins have been talking about moving out of there for years. But I’m sure that it’s nicer than Shea Stadium. It’s only been in use since 1987. I’ll find out when I drive down Dan Marino Boulevard into the parking lot.

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The best part about seeing the opening day game: I’m guaranteed to see Johan Santana’s first game as a Met! Santana’s presence here could transform the franchise the way Mike Piazza did when he arrived in a trade with the Marlins ten years ago. The next six or more years will be remembered as the Johan Santana years without a doubt.

I’ll be sure to take some pictures and post them on the site as soon as possible. If anyone else will be in Miami this week give me a shout. I’d love to hear from you.