Join Steve Keane and Joe McDonald tonight at 9PM ET for another edition of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL. We will dissect the latest snubs by Bengi Molina and Joel Pineiro of the Mets and we will discuss which way the Mets will now turn to solidify their starting pitching and a front line catcher. We will look at which Mets prospects could rise from a spring training to make the final 25 man roster and a host of other Mets and baseball news,

 

You can join in as well with comments and question by calling in at (646) 595-4462.

 

If you can’t join us live you can download the podcast at The Eddie Kranepool Society, BlogTalkRadio or at our PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL site.

Join Steve Keane and Joe McDonald tonight at 9PM ET for another edition of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL. We will dissect the latest snubs by Bengi Molina and Joel Pineiro of the Mets and we will discuss which way the Mets will turn to solidify their starting pitching and a front line catcher. We will look at which Mets prospects could rise from a spring training to make the final 25 man roster and a host of other Mets and baseball news,

You can join in as well with comments and question by calling in at (646) 595-4462.

If you can’t join us live you can download the podcast at The Eddie Kranepool Society, BlogTalkRadio or at our PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL site.

 

Tonight, tonight, tonight it’s PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL, our first show for the new year. Joe myself and Joe McDonald tonight at 9pmET on Blog Talk Radio as we discuss the Jason Bay signing, the Hall of Fame voting and what will be the next move made by the Mets front office. Our call in line will be open for business so call in and join in the conversation at (646) 595-4462. If you can’t join us live, you can listen to the podcast right  here at Kranepool Society, at our Pro Baseball Central site or at Blog talk Radio   

 

 

I am pressed for time this morning as I have to leave work early and next week is a very short work week for me (just two days!!!!!) so I have ton of work to finish.

 But last night we had a great show on PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL that lasted 2 hours. The first part of the show we talked Mets and the moves to be made and more importantly who is going to make the moves. Listen to Joe McDonald us in on who will be making the important moves and who could be making the future moves for the Mets. Also Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue joined us.

 

The big question of the night on the show was will the Mets go the way of JACKS 99 CENT  or Bergdorf -Goodman.

 

 

The second part of the show dealt with the recent Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto Prize Fight from last Saturday night as we were joined by Rich Mancuso of NY SPORTSDAY who was in Vegas to cover the fight. If you are a Boxing fan you will love listening to Rich give his Sweet Science insight. Just click on the link on the upper right hand side of this site to listen in.

 

Check out my Week 11 NFL BEST BETS on NY FOOTBALL BLOG.

Tonight at 9PM ET we are back with a Hot Stove Edition of PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL on Blogtalk Radio.

 

Joe McDonald and I will be joined by Rich Coutinho of ESPN1050, Rich Mancuso of NY SPORTSDAY and Eric Simon of Amazin’ Avenue.

 

We will discuss what has transpired so far this off season for the NY Mets and look ahead on what moves the team needs to make to get back into contention in the NL.

 

You can join in as well by calling in at (646) 595-4462.

 

So join us live at 9PM ET on Blogtalk Radio or via podcast on our PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL site or right here at Kranepool Society for 90 minutes of  Mets Hot Stove talk.

 

 

I was an 11 year old 6th grader at P.S. 105 in Boro Park Brooklyn. Our teacher, Mrs. McGuire, brought in the big ass city issued black and white TV so we could watch part of Game 5 of the World Series with the New York Mets one win away from completing one of the greatest seasons in baseball history. 

Last night on PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL, Lenny Nesslin of LenNYs Yankee blog and Rich Mancuso of NY SPORTSDAY were our guests as we discussed the Highlander-Angles ALCS. At one point during our discussions Myself, Joe Mc Donald and Rich, three big time Mets fans, wondered if the worst day of our baseball life, a Highlanders-Phuck Phaces World Series comes to fruition, who would we’d root for or in other words what is the best case scenario for Mets fans?

Between the three of us, it was unanimous; there is no way in world that we could ever root for the Phuck Phaces. Now it’s not like we are going to be donning “SWISH-O-LICIOUS t shirts or lighting votive candles in Monument Park but the consensus was the Highlanders were the lesser of two evils. Now if it’s Highlanders-Hollywood Bums, then there is no question that we will join our owner in rooting for the former tenants of Mc Keever Pl, in fact we are hoping if the Brooklyn Dodgers of Los Angeles win the World Series we can get a good seat at $iti Field for the raising of Dodgers World Series flag on opening day and the unveiling of the George “Shotgun” Shuba statue outside the RF gate.

Back to this date in 1969. It’s times like these that I feel bad for the younger generation of Mets fan. Believe it or not kids, the Mets were THE TEAM in town once upon a time. As a young gutter snipe growing up in Brooklyn, Highlander fans were mocked and ridiculed. It was all Mets all the time in the papers, the NY Daily News ran COLOR front pages just for the Mets. COLOR FRONT PAGES!!!! The moon landing didn’t get a COLOR FRONT PAGE!!!! ( I guess you realize that COLOR FRONT PAGES in the Daily News were a HUGE event)

I remember hearing Curt Gowdy calling Game 5 and hearing the fans screaming in that last inning. But the images that stick with me as I watched on TV was Cleon Jones making the catch in LF and dropping to one knee and the fans pouring out of the stands and covering the field. The next day the stories were of fans tearing up the sod and digging up home plate and the pitching rubber. Where are those artifacts today?

The post game celebration was legendary not just for the new World Series champs but for me as well. The site of Seaver, Kossman, McGraw and my man Kranepool pouring beer and champagne on each other led me to the kitchen where my mother was making dinner. (Mom was never a big sports fan but with three sons the woman washed more uniforms than most clubhouse personnel in fact she excelled in getting grass and blood stains out of white uni tops) and to the fridge to grab one of the old man’s Rheingolds. My mother then screaming at me “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and me telling her, “Relax Ma, I’m not going to drink it, I’m just going to pour it on my head like the Mets. They won the World Series Ma! They’re World Champs!!!!!

I was very lucky as I went to a ton of games as a little kid and many were during the season of ‘69. My brothers being 20 years older than me, took me to games and most of the time we sat in box seats in the field level. Whenever I’m asked about my fondest memories of Shea Stadium the memory that always sticks with me are the Friday night games I went to when the Dodgers or Giants came to town. There was a Madi Gras atmosphere at Shea. Mrs. Payson was always stationed at here seat next to Mets dugout. There was a Dixieland Band that would roam the stands, fans would yell LET’S GO METS thru their Mr. Met megaphone, and in between innings Jane Jarvis would entertain us with melodies on her Thomas organ. No awful teenybopper music screeching from the sound system, no one talking on their phone or checking their CrackBerry during a second and third no out jam, no racing garbage trucks. None of that, just baseball and baseball fans enjoying both their new found love, the Amazin’ Mets and lamenting the love their loss, the Bums and ‘Jints.

 

There used to be a homeless guy who hung out in front of Shea Stadium who had a sign that read “No need to lie, I need a beer”. I loved the honesty of that guy so much that I always threw a buck in his cardboard box. I bring this up because like my man who can’t lie about wanting a brewski, I feel the same way about the Mets.

 

I could have my own sign “No need to lie, I love the Mets and will buy tickets next year”. The Mets have announced they will cut the price of ticket to season ticket holders by 10-20 % it’s a nice gesture but they could do more. Of course they could out and bring back Roy Halladay and Adrian Gonzalez in a trade and make us all forget the stink of this season. Now I know that’s a tall order and if either one came back in a trade  I’d be more than happy, but the one thing that management can do that doesn’t cost a dime and would go a long way towards making being a Mets fan more enjoyable would be to be honest with it’s fan base.

 

Sure cutting ticket prices is a start but I’ve gone over a litany of requests I’ve made to make going to a Mets game (more polite stadium workers, more accessibility to players, bringing back former Mets for autograph sessions not just the stars, letting the Triple A and Double A team play a weekend at $iti while the Mets are on the road to name a few) a more pleasurable experience but being honest with the fan base cold go a long way to cull the anger that Mets fans have toward the team and the organization.

 

In John Harper’s column in this morning Daily News, he rehashes all the blunders from this season. At the end of the column he called on the Skill Sets to go into the clubhouse and rip his paid employees a new asshole. From your mouth to Freddy Skill Sets ears John.

 

Last night on PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL, Joe McDonald and I had the pleasure of talking to former Met, Art Shamsky. We spoke about Shamsky coming over to the Mets via trade from the Reds and about the 69 Champions and we discussed Shamsky’s book “The Magnificent Seasons” which is about NY sports in 1969 when the Mets, Jets and Knicks all were champs. Also on the podcast is my rant about not trusting the Skill Sets and a spirted discussion between Joe and I over Daniel Murphy (what you’ve had enough Daniel Murphy talk?) so check out the podcast here on the upper right of this page or go to PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL and download the show on iTunes.

 

I’m going to $iti tomorrow for my last game of the season. It’s not just the game before the last game of the year for the Mets but it’s also Gary, Keith and Ron Event Day as well. This should be the best day in the history of $iti Field.

I don’t know if it’s just frustration or that there is in power struggle between J-Man and Omar but some of Jerry Manuel’s moves have me puzzled. His choice of Fernando Tatis as and everyday player and burying Daniel Murphy on the bench is ridiculous. Tatis has been a great addition to the Mets but for Christ sake he ‘s not Lou Gehrig, he’s a very good utility guy who produces when used sparingly. Please, FREE DANIEL MURPHY at put him at first base. Same with Ryan Church can you leave the guy in RF? Let F-Mart platoon with Sheffield in LF because as great as Sheff has been he’s is 40 years old and can not play every day.

So now John Maine joins the walking wounded with a “tired arm”. How much you want to bet this is another line of happy horseshit from Flushing ?

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Don’t tell me that Nelly Figs is coming up for Maine. I don’t care what Jon Neise’ numbers are in Buffalo bring him up and let him pitch and stop burying this kid. ENOUGH OF NELSON FIGUEROA already!

You’ll read no more criticism of D-Wright or Carols Beltran here as both of these guys have stepped up and gone above and beyond the call of duty. If I were managing a team against the Mets I’d never give either guy a pitch to hit I’d take my chances with the other six guys in the lineup.

 

 

 

Maybe it’s that phenomena of the Mets playing down to the competition as they come off a 2-4 abbreviated road trip against the Bucs and Nats the suck and suck more teams of baseball and now the biggest three weeks of the Mets 2009 season starts tomorrow here in the Greatest City on the Planet against the Phucking Phillies in the biggest series of the season.

 

To start off this series I sat with an enemy correspondent , Bill Bear of Crashburn Alley who has been a guest on PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL and a guy I like to e mail back and forth during the season as I like to be an annoying ball breaker but even though Bill has a major character flaw being a Phucking Phillies fan he’s a good guy and is always great when he comes on PBC and I like his in depth stat work on Crashburn Alley so click here to read the Q & A I did with Bill .

 

Over at Jorge Says No they have a very good interview with Wally Backman who is now managing in the Northern League for the Joilet Jackhamers. Backman of course would love to get a shot at a big league managerial job and the hard work as a player and perseverance as a manager at the most obscure outposts of baseball only make his resolve stronger. Maybe some day he will be back in Flushing where his work ethic and passion for the game would be a boost for the organization and the fans.

 

Doug Branch at Mets Merized Online is getting drawn and quartered for a post that suggests that the Mets might look at being sellers and if they do maybe Carlos Beltran would be the guy to trade. Well if you read the comments Branch is called out for not only suggesting that the Mets become sellers but think about trading Beltran. I won’t speak for Branch but as for myself I’ll say I don’t want the Mets to be sellers and I don’t want to deal off Beltran but as I wrote in a post over the weekend maybe it’s time for the front office and ownership to take stock in what it is the team and what this franchise is looking to accomplish. The reason I think like this is that as much as I think Omar Minaya has done a pretty good job he could do much better and I never feel like there is a plan in place or a course of action for this team. Sure Omar went out and retooled the bullpen to the point it’s one of the best in baseball but he never addressed the need for a left fielder with power and seems to be more enthralled with finding players left on the side of the curb than being creative in making a deal for bona fide major league talent.

 

It is good though to see the Mets fan exuding passion like the commentators are doing on that site and of course here. Too bad that ownership is to inept to realize what a great fan base they have.

 

 

The Mets Police checked out the cuisine at Highlander Stadium and found it to be overpriced and bland just like its tenants.

 

After watching my kid’s soccer games yesterday I had to make a trip to the mall to buy a sports jacket (one that didn’t have METS or an NY on it but a sports jacket that adult men wear. The two that I own are way too big and my son is graduating from grammar school this Friday and I need to dress up like a grown up so hence the sports jacket. I guess it’s a shame that a soon to be 51 year old man owns just two pair of slacks but 12 pairs of jeans, and has more than 200 t-shirts and maybe three dress shirts, one pair of shoes but  2 pair of Cons’ 3 pair of running shoes, 2 pair of basketball shoes, and 2 pair of baseball cleats and the only neck ties I have are hand me downs from my brothers. I’d be more than happy to live everyday in shorts, a t shirt, flip flops and my Mets cap) when I returned home I relaxed by watching the Padres-D’Backs game that went to 18 innings. I picked the game up in the 10^th inning and when it ended in the 18^th I realized the D’Backs bullpen did not give up a hit from the 10^th to the 18^th inning an extra inning no hitter! The D’Backs blew a 6-0 lead and the Padres had shortstop Josh Wilson pitch the 18^th and he almost got out of jam with two on and 0-2 count on Mark Reynolds before Reynolds put one just over the right field wall. Wilson by the way was a D’Back just a month ago before he was claimed by the Padres. Even stranger was of the 27,000 plus who were in attendance for the beginning of the game morphed into empty seats by the 18^th inning.

 

I’ll leave you with this from Henry Aaron on the release of Tom Glavine and the apology from John Schuerholz:

 

“I wouldn’t have said anything if I were John Schuerholz. I think that was a mistake, because it was a no-win situation in his case, as much as [Schuerholz] tried to patch up the differences,” Aaron said. Then he laughed, adding, “This is the first time I’ve ever been on management’s side. I mean, Glavine got paid very well through the years to play here, and there’s never a good way to handle these situations. But if you’re the Braves, you’ve got to throw those kids out there and let them pitch. If you’re Glavine, you have to be gracious enough to step aside.”

 

Why don’t the Glavines of any sport do so? “The hardest thing for anybody — especially athletes — is to wake up in the morning and realize everything has stopped for them,” Aaron said. “The cheering. The booing. The traveling. All the things that you used to be doing are no longer there, and it’s hard for you to realize that, along with the idea of losing all of the money that I made. It’s just not there any more.

 

 

Join us tonight  at 9PM EDST for PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL and our guest Bert Sugar as we talk about his new book Bert Sugar’s Baseball Hall of Fame: A Living History of America’s Greatest Game (Running Press) We will also talk about the Mets-Pirates mantinee at PNC and the injury epidemic hitting the Mets. Listen live at Blog Talk Radio or listen to the podcast here or at the Eddie Kranepool Society.