There are two thing Mets fans and Phillies fans can agree on, one is their hatred for one and other and the other is their love for Tug McGraw. Just the mention of the name of the great Mets/Phillies reliever could make two hated rivals smile and give each other a warm embrace; such was the charisma of McGraw.

Tug died way too early in life of a brain tumor but the “Ya Gotta Believe” sprit of McGraw’s lives on through the Tug McGraw Foundation which helps those with brain cancer and other brain related injuries. One of the ways the Foundation raises money is from having folks sponsor runners in different road races around the country. In a must read  post today on Faith and Fear in Flushing, Greg Prince interviews Sharon Chapman a true blue Mets fan who is looking forward to running in her first NYC Marathon this November and is using the occasion to raise money for the McGraw Foundation.

Please check out Sharon’s fundraising page and help out any way you can.

   20 days until pitchers and catchers

Unfortunately  I missed Mets Hot Stove last night on SNY but from reading Mathew Cerrone’s MetsBlog this morning it looks like Omar did his best Alexander Haig impression to let us Mets fans know the “He is in charge” No wonder I had a restless nights sleep.

From reading the Cerrone’s post, Omar seemed fixated on the lack of any good solid free agents this off season and Minaya is right about that, it was a weak crop. The Mets did corral one of the better freebird players in Jason Bay and the Mets abstaining from any of the free agent pitchers may turn out to be the right move. Time will tell. But Omar is acting like the free agent way is the only way to fortify the team.

I don’t know if the Mets ever called the Reds or Royals to engage in talks for one of my favorite trio of pitchers I’d like to see, the pitching firm of Harang, Arroyo and Meche, but I just find it very odd that Omar feels the only way to add talent to this team is through free agents and diving in the ballplayers with disabilities dumpster.

If you really want to know what a Mets fan is really like, you must read Faith and Fear in Flushing. Greg Prince has a post out this morning that deals with the identity of our team. This part of the post says it all:

Little wonder the Mets’ identity is frayed. No wonder the Metsosphere is continuously and maybe justifiably staticky, jittery and expressing discontent. We are, by nature, a gaggle of nervous crosstalkers when we don’t have an actual season to dissect. Right now it’s all nervous crosstalk for Mets fans. We, collectively, remind me of the middle-aged ladies who’d set up card tables in front of somebody’s cabana at the beach club to which my parents belonged when I was little. (That’s the Sun Life I remember.) Those ladies indulged in nervous crosstalk, too, just like us. All we’re missing is four floppy hats, a carton of Tareytons and a few hands of canasta.

Just walking by them made me jittery, and I was only six.

After reading that passage, I can’t get the image of the Brighton Beach Baths out of my mind.

Fernando Tatis has resigned with the Mets and for less than the $1.7 mil he made last year. Nice hometown discount eh? Tatis will also change is uniform number from 17 (that he should never ever have been given) to 6 4 3.

 So come out this Tuesday Night July 21^st  at 7PM for the first installment of AMAZIN’ TUESDAY believe you need to get out and you’ll feel better for it.

I was thrilled to come home yesterday and see that my copy of Greg Prince’ book “Faith And Fear In Flushing” had arrived. As soon as I saw the front cover I knew that this is THE book for Mets fans to add to their library as nothing sums up Mets fandom like the picture of Gary Carter and Ray Knight hugging after Game 6 of the 1986 World Series and the bottom picture of Yadier Molina watching Aaron Heilman’ pitch in the 9^th inning of <reaches for a Kleenex> Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS go out of Shea Stadium. Best of times, worst of times indeed and isn’t that what being a Mets fan is all about?

This book is more about what it’s like to be a Mets fan and how it is that we became a fan of this team. In fact Greg, shows we are more than fans, this team in imbedded in our DNA we are so hooked we couldn’t leave if we wanted to.

My family and friends know how I live and die with the Mets and they get their jollies by asking me “What team would you root for if the Mets cease to exist”?  I usually turn red and start cursing as that is akin to asking which of my two children I love the most.  As there are no other kids I could ever love like mine and I could never live and die with another team like I do with the Mets.

As far as I’m concerned this book is a must read for all the younger Mets fans. You guys need to know the history of this organization. You need to see your roots. As much as we all love David Wright and Jose Reyes you need to know about Roy Staiger and Teddy Martinez. As much as you all wear your 31 PIAZZA and 17 HERNANDEZ you have to learn about 31 PARKER (Harry) and MILLAN (Felix) and by reading Faith And Fear In Flushing you will be a better educated Mets fan.

This book is for the REAL Mets fan. The fan who couldn’t wait to attain drinking age to have a cold Rheingold  or  open a bank account at Manufacturers Hanover or pick out a car at your NY, NJ Fairfield County Plymouth dealer. The fan who feels that the 7 train is the ultimate stretch limo. The fan who sits in the Upper Deck of Shea and brings his sandwich and can of soda (placed in the freezer the night before and wrapped in tin foil for the ride to Shea) The fan who no matter how bad things are going in there life can smile at the sight of Mr. Met and feel secure that Gary Cohen and Howie Rose are on the job brings us the sights and sounds of Mets baseball. The fan who could sit and listen to Jane Jarvis play the Thomas Organ and for all of us who look to the late great Tug McGraw when things look hopeless and say YA GOTTA BELIEVE!    

I am reading The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Veducci (thank you Doubleday) and what Torre talks about in the beginning of the book when he took over the team was how he pushed the point of team or individual exactly what Jerry Manuel has set out to do this spring with the Mets. Torre goes on to say that was the difference between the Highlander teams of the late 90’s to the teams he had from 2002 to 2007 there was not that focus on doing what was best for the team over what looked better on the players stat sheet. Sometimes that gets lost in all the numbers and sabermetrics that consume baseball today. I have no problem with the stats and studies in fact I am hoping by tomorrow that the mail man brings me my 2009 Baseball Prospectus, but what gets lost in those numbers sometimes is the things that make teams winners. Hitting behind runners, taking an extra base on a hit, hitting the cut off man and the cut off man catching the ball in the right position to make a throw to hold or throw out a runner, pitchers hitting their spots and picking up a teammate kind of gets lost in the numbers. I’m glad to see J-Man trying to bring that back to the Mets.

Happy Birthday to Faith and Fear in Flushing Keep up the great work !!!

Greg Prince at Faith and Fear in Flushing has been checking out a sneak preview of the MLB Network which goes live Jan 1. From reading the site there looks to be some fine programming on the channel plus the WBC and there will be live games during the season and the lovely Hazel Mae in studio.

Story in NEWSDAY today about the unknown of the nation rescission and its effect on the Mets and Highlanders and are they rescission proof? Andrew Zimbalist the noted economist believes both teams are in a dangerous territory and I agree as what fuels both teams are the high rollers on Wall St who are either broke or ready to be indicated. The story also looks at the real baseball fans like us who work hard and like to spend our discretionary funds on our favorite baseball team but the Mets have to be very careful as not to price out the hard core workingman Mets fan as that and not the Madoff scam will be the ruinations of the franchise.

On this day in Mets history, remember 1986 World Series Game 6 parachutist Michael Sergio? He was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined $500 for his stunt. Try that today and I’m sure you’d get a stiffer sentence.

Metsblog has a breakdown on the stories of the pitchers who the Mets have interest in. From the looks of things Omar’s pitching wish list looks like this:

1. Derek Lowe
2. Ollie Perez
3. Randy Wolf (who needs to get over his 3yr/$30mil asking price)
4. Tim Redding
5. An assortment of non-tender, rehabbing stumblebums.

I’m on the Derek Lowe bandwagon with his sinking fastball and slider that fits the Mets need perfectly. He is durable and consistency and even at 36 years old I’d offer him 3 yrs/$50 mil with an option on a 4^th