Think about this for a minute, the Mets have lost their closer for the remainder of the season and maybe part of next season and instead of panic and angst, Mets fan are celebrating like the team just won the NL Pennant. Francisco Rodriguez has torn ligaments in his right thumb, HOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any other season the scramble would be on to find someone to pitch the 9^th inning, instead Mets fans are full of optimism that the team will void Rodriguez contract. Fans don’t even care if they can legally do this it’s more like the want to see Rodriguez suffer and maybe that the great legal mind of David Howard can take on the MLBPA and win, what could be the most important contest the Mets have been involved in two years. 

Speaking for myself, I don’t care if the Mets have to pay K-Rod the rest of this year and next, although I’d think if the Mets could win a case against Rodriguez a ticker tape parade down Roosevelt Ave would be appropriate, I just want to see the front office show some fight and send a message that they actually give a shit about the team and are tired of being portrayed as bungling douche bags.

Maybe the tide is turning in Flushing, as the Mets not only signed their number one pick RHP Matt Harvey but they went over slot price as well.

As another Mets season goes down the shitter, what better time to worry about next years contract right? That’s what’s on the mind of Pedro Feliciano. Daily Pedro will be a free agent after this season and is looking to re-up with the Mets and raise up his salary from this years $2.9 mil. I’m sure Feliciano will be looking for a healthy bump in pay and years but at what point do the Mets say farewell as the price in both cash and time becomes prohibited? A LOOGY on a mediocre team is a luxury you don’t really need so it’s more the Mets missed the boat at the trading deadline by not dealing Feliciano. I’m pretty sure you can find a Quadruple A or league average player to play the LOOGY role for a fraction of the price of Daily Pedro.

Same with Minaya, how does he stay so calm? At some point shouldn’t he address the team and read the riot act? Doesn’t it bother him that just about every Mets fan thinks he’s a shit ass GM that only knows how to throw money at free agents and sign over the hill players?  Does he enjoy being in charge of a team that is made the punch line of jokes in all of baseball?

What about the owner? Does Jeffey Skill Sets enjoy be called a douchebag by me and other fans? Doesn’t get he ever get pissed that he is portrayed as a buffoon and spoiled little rich kid that evey Mets fan wants to punch in the face?

Is there anyone associated with this organization that ever gets mad? Besides Crazy Freddie? If ownership had a quarter of the passion and fight of it’s fan base, this team wouldn’t be in the sad position it’s in now.

You know what makes it worse? The Phillies and Red Sox have been decimated by injuries but both teams are still in the think of a pennant race. You know why? Because their players have boulders for balls unlike our Mets who I hate to say it, are cowards and I can call them cowards and losers and any other name I want and any of the MSM can show this post to the players, GM, or owner and they won’t do a damn thing about it.

Hey Omar, Hey Jerry, Hey Jeff, Hey David Wright any of you guys feel froggy, then leap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A must read for you today is Greg Prince’ piece on his Faith and Fear in Flushing site where he lays it all out about this season and about who we, as Mets fans are.   Remember Mets fans, “we’ve got no place else to go” Classic Greg, Classic!

I’m in the middle of Red Sox Nation here on Cape Cod as many Bostonians are here on vacation. They are all hopped up for the four game series this weekend with the Highlanders which as a Mets fan puts me at a big disadvantage. Just a about every  reastaurant here shows Red Sox games on tv and I mean from big formal places to the fish joints on the side of the road the “Sawx” are a way of life out here. I’ve been wearing my Mr. Cap and I get some looks, some head shakes and some “we’re sorry’s” as well. I’m thinking of sitting outside a store on Main St in Hyannis with a cardboard sign that says METS FAN PLEASE HELP with my Mr. Met cap on the ground and see how much money I can make.

I’m exhausted. After sitting through last nights game, then heading home and getting to bed about four hours before I needed to get up to go to work, I’m going to need three XL Dunkin’ Dounts coffee’s to get through the work day.

My day at Citi Field started out with a great surprise. As we were walking from the car to the front of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Ed Kranepool. Yes, THE Ed Kranepool, my FME (Favorite Met Ever). He was with a bunch of people and was busy distributing tickets to them when I went over to say hello. I reminded him that we met at a luncheon at Gallagher’s for the 69 Champs and that I run this blog named after him, he started laughing and said “Oh now I remember you” we just chatted for a minute or two before we shook hands and bid each other well.  That was my “Let It Be” moment as a Mets fan. Just when I wonder is all this worth it, as I get more and more aggravated with the ownership, front office and manager and question why I actually give a shit about this team, I hear that song in my head:

When I find myself in times of trouble,

Eddie Kranepool comes to me,

Speaking words of wisdom,

Let it be, let it be.

After my Kranepool encounter, we then took a stroll through the Mets Museum. This was just my third trip to Citi Field this season (now that my baseball season has come to a close with a second round ousting in the playoffs, I hope to make a few more trips this summer to Flushing) but the first time I had the time to go a look around the Hall of Fame. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed. I love the fact that the two World Series trophies are on displayed for us, the great unwashed, to look at and enjoy instead of the days at Shea when the swells in the suites and Diamond Club, the folks who have zero attachment to them, had them in plain view. I also like how the plaques are made just like the one’s in Cooperstown. The display of Mets uniforms of the past is a treat as well and the baseballs from the first and last games at the Polo Grounds and Shea Stadium scream of our history. I don’t say this too many times but bravo Mets management on putting together a great place for Mets fans to relive and learn Mets history.

A few thoughts on last night’s game:

This team is madding. How does Johan Santana go from throwing batting practice in the first inning to morphing back into an Ace from innings 2-5?    

We sat in seats last night that allowed us access to the Caesars Club, as my wife said we needed to splurge since it was my birthday. Our seats were great, section 326 between third and home, but I’m just not cut out to be among the people who frequent that area. We may have been the only ones in the section actually watching the action on the field.  I was not impressed with the surroundings of the Cesar’s Club either. The furnishings look like the came off the set of Mad Men, with the couches and coffee tables that looked just like the furniture in my living room when I celebrated my 6^th birthday in 1964. One very nice feature though was the air conditioning which was welcome relief on a stifling night.

I also grew weary of telling all the “Johnny Come Lately” Mets fans that life story of Mike Hessman.

I’m sure Jerry Manuel has all sorts of facts and figures in his binder that he keeps in the dugout. I am also sure that on one of those pages there shows Pedro Feliciano gets pounded by right handed hitters to the tune of .333/.446/.405 and that Raul Valdes, even though he’s a lefty, has success versus righties  .206/.322/.284 so why was Feliciano left to face El Hombre? I can accept not walking Pujols but why not go with Valdes? It’s your nightly “Gangsta’ Jerry’s Head Scratcher of the Game”.

I have really, really REALLY had enough of Luis Castillo.

Jason Fry has a great post on the events of last night game in D.C. and the fact as Mets fans we are on the edge of our seats when the Mets have a late inning lead. Part of it is our paranoia over the bullpen but the bulk of our fear is the way Jerry Manuel misuses his relief core. I also find it hysterical that some of the comments on that post are chastising fans for calling our the managerial flaws of Jerry Manuel with the simplistic refrain old “hey the team is winning he must be doing something right”  but the don’t list what those “right things”. Folks the Mets are winning in spite of Manuel, it helps that D-Wright has found his game elite game and Angel Pagan has matured and that Big Pelf, Jon Niese, Ike Davis and even Ruben Tejada have mature and given this team the shot of young blood we have been craving.

By the way Manuel should be fired for even thinking of replacing Ruben Tejada at second base with Luis Castillo when Castillo comes back. Even I don’t think Manuel believes that but it’s more like another of “Jerry’s Games” to force the front office to make a move, like he did with Ollie P and John Maine, remember he is a Gangsta’

Believe it or not the Washington Nationals are on the verge of signing El Duque. I guess Luis Tiant ask for too much money.

The first primary is complete and Howard Megdal received 65 % approval vote at Amazin’ Avenue and 68 % approval at NY Baseball Digest. Proving that Met want what Howard has pledged to deliver LOGIC, TRANSPARENSY, and PASSION .  Next weeks primary is set and your voting places are at the AabFab Metsgrrl site and at Mets Minor League Blog. It’s your constitutional duty as a Mets fan to vote and remember id Howard were the Mets GM today, Ruben Tejada would play every day and Oliver Perez would be his baseball Ambassador to Mexico.

I have no baseball games this weekend so I am watching this great Germany-Argentina World Cup match then Mets-Strasburg then off to Lend Me A Tenor on Broadway. Life is Good.

Unfortunately last night, Doug Glanville had a family emergency to tend to and had to cancel his appearance with me on This Call To The Bullpen but we are both working on finding another day for Doug to come on the program to talk about his book The Game From Where I Stand (Henry Holt/Times Books) and we hope to have that hashed out in a few days. So I had to decide, cancel the show or just go on and rant for an hour and the hour rant won out. So if you want to hear me talk about Jerry Manuel, playing games that count in Puerto Rico, Bobby Valentine and Wally Backman, then check out last nights This Call To The Bullpen.

don’t forget to check out the THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN shop at Cafe Press

It’s game like last night that stirs the demons of my Mets soul. I want nothing more than to stand on Broadway decked out in every piece of Met clothing I own and celebrate the ticker tape parade that no other city in the world gives to his championship sports teams. What has me conflicted is, if that happens, then Jerry Manuel will be the Mets manager for a minimum of three more years. Last nights game showed just about ever deficiency in Manuel’ game. Stephen Hanks of Mets Merized Online lays each and every flaw (save maybe for number one and the author agrees that my be picking at nits as well) from not running for Rod Barajas and even the pinch hitting for Ruben Tejeda but the big one for me was using Frankie Rodriguez in the 8th inning last which goes with Manuel’ “throw a reliever against the wall and see what sticks” bullpen management.

We are starting to get inundated with Cliff Lee rumors, not just every day but just about every hour. I don’t think there is a Mets fan out there who doesn’t want Lee on the team, as his presence alone will make the Phuck Phaces and Squaws go “GULP”. But at what price would you pay for this rental Ace? At this point there is no way you can trade Angel Pagan. Saying that, when Carlos Beltran does come back, Beltran is THE CENTERFIELDER and he is the centerfielder until he shows he physically can’t play the position any longer. However, Beltran will not be out there day after day so Pagan gets say two days a week in CF, then another couple in the corners with more time in RF. Beltran is not a corner outfield and there is a huge difference between playing CF from playing a corner outfield spot as we saw with the horrific collision between Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran back in San Diego a few years ago. Pagan has played corner outfield so the transition is easier for him.

The price on Roy Oswalt may not be too high but Drayton McClain is an Al Davis clone. He wants to shed payroll but he hates to part with his good ol’ boys like Oswalt and Lance Berkman, even when both player say it’s best for the organization to trade both of them.

The most intriguing move would be to get Carlos Zambrano as the Cubs would move the high strung Z and take players non grata, Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. The problem is when all the contracts change hands it could cost the Mets $18 mil for Z . Ted Lilly is attractive as well after pitching a great game last night so there are some options for the Mets (Jeffey Skill Sets and John Ricco that is I still say Ricco is running the baseball ops with Jeffey and Omar has been relegated to high paid scout)

How did you feel about Jerry Seinfeld in the booth with Gary and Keith? The best part about Seinfeld in the booth is he’s an honest to goodness Mets fan. He wasn’t there to plug a movie (looking at you Kevin James) or a TV show, he was there as a Mets fan.

I thought his line to Keith when Jose Reyes hit his home run was classic:

  ”Yes! Jose Reyes cruising around third. Keith Hernandez is not liking this. Always whining about the Reyes homers. I love ‘em! Always love a homer no matter who hits it … Boom! You have got to love this.”

Seinfeld may have gone a bit overboard gushing over Gary Cohen, to the point where it seemed Cohen was getting a bit embarrassed but he was correct when he said that Gary, Keith and Ron (and don’t forget the Great Kevin Burkhardt as well) form the best announcing team in sports.

Too me the line of the night is when he talked about Lady GaGa and how they cleaned up his suite after she soiled it with her presences:

 “Everything’s fine. We brought the bedbug dog in. What’s his name? Rusty, the beagle? Now everything’s clean.”

That made me laugh out loud.

Too bad they didn’t  take calls in the booth as I’m sure Uncle Leo would have dialed

Every casual Mets fan can rattle off the names of great pitchers in Mets history, Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, Gooden, Darling, but the die hard Mets fan has guys that when they  here the nam,e one of those cartoon clouds form over their head with reminisces of terrific performance of the past. The mention of their name is usually followed with the refrain “What ever happened to that guy”?

Don Cardwell was one of them, a journeyman who pitched for three full and part of a fourth season for the Mets back in the late 60’s and was on the ’69 World Champion team as a spot/starter long reliever. Cardwell was better than his record and was one of those guys who when called upon either won a game for you or at worse kept the team in a game.

Ron Taylor was another ‘69er who was key in the pen and today is a physician in his naïve Toronto and works for the Blue Jays.  His problem was he was overshadowed by a young, brash fellow reliever, Frank (Tug) McGraw

George Stone came to the Mets with Felix Milan in one of the most underrated deals in Mets history (Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry were shipped to Atlanta) and went 12-3 in 1973 and his misuse by Yogi Berra in the 1973 World Series still bothers me to this day. 

Rick Reed, Skip Lockwood, Craig Swan, Bruce Berenyi, Bill Pulshiper, Izzy and Neil Allen are guys who I think about now and then, about the contribution to the Mets teams they played or how some like Reed came out of nowhere or Stone who had the year of his life in 1973 or Lockwood an very underrated reliever or poor Puls’ one of the Titanic Trio along with Izzy and Paul Wilson, the ill fated Generation K. Craig Swan the Ace of some bad pitching staff of the late 70’s. Berenyi, a June 15^th pick up in 1984 when the Mets were starting to turn things around and became pennant contenders. All these guys forever etched in my Mets fan memory of players. Now we have one more pitcher who I can add to that list, R.A. Dickey.

If the Mets go on to win a seat at the post season table, R.A. Dickey will have played a major role. Dickey is the kind of pitcher I’ve always wanted the Mets to have. He looks like a guy right out of Bull Durham. The long hair, three day stubble, the southern drawl, a real dirtbag and I say that with the utmost affection. Sometimes a guy starts to realize he has nothing to lose anymore and stops listening to others and just goes out and does things the way he wants, and it works, you just have to root like hell for him. I even like the fact that he knows Jerry Manuel wanted no part of him on the team and Dickey saying, He could care less what Manuel thinks as he doesn’t pitch for Manuel he pitches for himself and the team.

Who knows maybe in the year 2020 at Old Timers Day, R.A. Dickey will be welcomed with a huge ovation as he’s introduced or maybe he will be a guy that pops in my head when I see a homeless guy with a cap pulled down to his eyes and stubble on his face bringing cans and bottles in for nickel deposit and say “I wonder what ever happened to R.A. Dickey.”

Whatever happens, it’s a joy to watch this Mets team play. As we head toward the end of June, that Mets are a mere ½ game out of first place. Let the summer fun begin!

The Mets wrapped up a fine weekend in Baltimore with a three game sweep in front of a friendly crowd of Mets fans who made the trip down I-95 to Camden Yards, I’d love to get on the Orioles but I feel for ex-Met Juan Samuel and recently axed manager Dave Trembley because my youth baseball team is having an Oriole-like season so I just want to say misery lovers company fellas’

It’s games like today that show the huge step that Big Pelf has made this season. Last yer he would have fell apart as his command was off and he just did not look very comfortable on the mound but Pelfrey proved how important the mental side of pitching is. There are days when your physical tools are on auto-pilot and then there are days like to day where you physically misfire but you have enough savvy to make adjustments and keep yourself and your team afloat. Sure we all love those 3 hit 10K shutouts but sometimes watching a guy keep his team in a game on brains is a real museum piece as well.

I’m usually not one to vote for the All-Star Game but after the surge that David Wright is on I feel it’s my duty as a Mets fan to stuff the ballot box. David Wright deserves to be the starting 3^rd baseman for the National League in Anaheim.

  I always point to the death of Hodges on April 2,  1972 as one of the two darkest days (the other was June 15, 1977 and is you don’t know what happened on that date you are reading the wrong blog asshole) and the day the promise of the Mets organization died.

I also remember as an 8 year old Mets fan/Brooklyn gutter snipe, going to Hodges wake with my firends and our dads. We wore our baseball uniforms and walked past the resting Hodges and just cried like it was a family member, HELL he was a family member.

As Mets fans we bask in the fact that Hodges was not just the man that led the Mets from misfits to champions but he was also one of us, as he lived with his born and bred  Brooklynite wife Joan in Mill Basin, It’s a shame that Mets ownership doesn’t put together a campaign to get Gil Hodges into Cooperstown where he belongs.