Mets 2010 Locker Room Harmony Overrated

Dave Doyle writes that the Mets harmonious locker room is completely overrated. Don’t credit Jeff Francoeur. Winning games makes everyone happy and working well together.

Whenever the Mets go on a really good run or a really bad one the media comes out in force. The latest bandwagon jumper is Mike Lupica. He’s all over the Mets this week because they’re winning and doing it in style.

The focus of his latest column is how Jeff Francoeur saved the Mets locker room. Francoeur didn’t save anything. Winning a few games saved the Mets locker room.

It really doesn’t matter if everyone likes each other or not. It’s a job to these guys. Most people don’t go to work together and get along with everyone at their job. But most can work productively with others. It’s the same thing on a baseball team. It’s their jobs. They don’t have to get along with everybody and to expect them to do so is ridiculous.

Let’s save the talk about the harmonious locker room until the Mets raise the World Series trophy over their heads. That’s when we can talk about the love-fest in the clubhouse.

Mets 2010 TV Schedule Is National

ESPN (UK)
Image via Wikipedia

The day off today gave me a chance to catch up on a column from Richard Sandomir for the Times that I haven’t gotten to yet this week. Between the hoopla surrounding the Mets resurgence and working hard this week, I just hadn’t gotten to it. But the day off is a good chance to address an important topic: the Mets have been on national TV a lot this season.

It’s especially surprising that ESPN and FOX would put the Mets on so frequently considering how pathetic they were last season. Apparently, the network execs expected a comeback when they worked out the season scheduling. Continue reading “Mets 2010 TV Schedule Is National”

Report: Mets 2010 Attendance Much Lower

Citi Field
Image via Wikipedia

The Mets had to expect some drop off from last year’s attendance. Even though the 2009 Mets were a horrible team, it was the opening season for Citi Field. The curiosity factor of the new stadium was sure to draw, and it did.

The luster of the new stadium is gone. It’s still new but not shiny and new anymore. The Mets did add some significant trimmings recognizing the history of the team. They forgot when they opened the stadium that the Mets did, indeed, exist prior to 2009. But that’s mostly fixed now.

If you’ve been to a game this season or watched on TV, you’ve noticed the abundance of empty seats. According to Fanhouse, the Mets set a new all-time low for single game attendance at Citi Field. And they’re down an average of 6,690 fans per game this year. Continue reading “Report: Mets 2010 Attendance Much Lower”

Mets Wrap Up Successful Homestand – Look Ahead

The Mets have had a big home stand against the Cubs, Braves, and Dodgers. David Daniels writes that the next series in Philadelphia could set the tone for the rest of the season.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Are we getting excited yet!?! Our Met’s are now on a 6 game winning streak and hopefully we can make it a 7 game winning streak before heading off to Philly. This was a wildly successful homestand.

Yes, It’s a little early in the year but I’m so looking forward to this weekend series with the Phillies. I love the rivalry. Considering the rough start the Mets had, catching the Phillies will make this series that much more entertaining.

Jon Niese will open the series Friday followed by Mike Pelfrey and then Johan Santana. The Phillies pitchers have yet to be announced. This lines up our top two pitchers for a crucial series that will set the tone for the entire year. Will the Phillies embarrass the Mets or will the Mets show they can play toe-to-toe with the defending NL Champs and leave Philly in first? Continue reading “Mets Wrap Up Successful Homestand – Look Ahead”

Report: Tony Bernazard Was Mets’ Scapegoat

Colorado Rockies vs New York Mets at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets 2009 season was basically a season of misery on the field. And off the field it was a complete soap opera. The biggest story of the 92-loss season turned out to be the behavior and firing of Tony Bernazard as their VP of player development.

Among the accusations against Bernazard were:

  • He took his shirt off and challenged the Binghamton Mets to a fight
  • He got into an argument with Francisco Rodriguez
  • He publicly yelled at a Mets employee when he didn’t get the seat that he wanted at a game

In the strangest firing of all time, Omar Minaya announced the firing last July 27 and then blamed it on Daily News writer Adam Rubin and his jealous desire to work for the Mets. Or something like that. It was difficult to understand exactly what Minaya was implying. Continue reading “Report: Tony Bernazard Was Mets’ Scapegoat”

Dodgers- Mets Rain Out April 26, 2010

Raining on the NYPD's 'souped up street sweeper'
Image by John Wardell (Netinho) via Flickr

The Mets and Dodgers game is rained out tonight at Citi Field. They’ll play two games tomorrow starting at 4:10pm. Get this… It’s a single admission double header. Johan Santana will pitch the first game and Oliver Perez the second.

I think it’s been a while since they’ve played a single admission double header. Let me know in the comments if you know when the last one was.

I have to assume that the recent abundance of empty seats at Citi Field played a part in that decision. Imagine how many empty seats there would be if they were charging for both games.

If you had tickets for tonight you can exchange them for any future game based on availability. Check with the Mets box office (718) 507-TIXX.

Mets Links: Carlos Beltran and Bobby Bonilla

Bobby Bonilla 1990 Home
Image by BaseballBacks via Flickr

That’s a strange title for a post. Isn’t it? We haven’t heard Bobby Bonilla’s name for a long time and we’ve probably been the better for it. It’s a great way to start a Mets Links post though.

Here are the links:

I Heart Mets – They pick up a great story from CNN of how Bobby Bonilla is going back on the Mets payroll next year. It’s part of his deferred payment plan after he was waived by the Mets in 2000. The team owes him just over a million dollars every July from 2011-2035. What a deal!

Daily News – You have to love these occasional post from Mike Lupica about the Mets. He even writes with an air of superiority to the rest of us. This one start out like a fluff piece on Jose Reyes coming back and how well he’s starting to play. Then it turns ugly on Carlos Beltran. Lupica writes that Beltran is a bad contract and he’s staying away from the team so he can come back at 100% for his contract year in 2011. He also likens Beltran to Jason Giambi’s bad deal with the Yankees. It’s a bizarre turn in the column, even for Lupica.