I came across this documentary which looks at the making of the greatest music video ever created. You have to click the "watch the entire film for free" button to view the entire video.

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I think that in the first half of the season the Mets basically did what they needed to do to remain competitive in the second half and possibly make a playoff run. After starting out 5-13, they spent most of April and May trying to fight back to .500, and have basically hovered at or around .500 ever since. They’re going into the break at 46-45.

They were of course plagued by injuries to guys like David Wright, Ike Davis, Johan Santana and Chris Young which probably should have marked the end of their season, and probably should have placed the Mets 15 games under .500 at this point, but thanks to some unexpectedly good play from guys like Dillon Gee, Justin Turner, and Daniel Murphy combined with the MVP numbers of Jose Reyes and quality pitching from Chris Capuano, Jon Niese and R.A. Dickey, the Mets were able to stay afloat (unlike the Marlins who went 5-23 during the month of June). Taking into account the low expectations coming into the season and the injuries I think that Met fans have to be pretty happy with the first half of the season. If they can get David Wright, Ike Davis and Johan Santana back healthy in the second half, the Mets could be a good candidate for a team to make a late season run for the wild card. If it looks like those guys aren’t going to come back and produce like we expect them to, then the Mets should work on trading at least Beltran and K-Rod and anyone else that might bring back some talent or help dump salary.

Last season the Mets were 8 games over .500 at the All Star break and things were looking great… they finished a pathetic 79-83, so obviously it could go south in the second half like last year, but to me this team has shown that they are not the same team as last year, they fight back late in games, they get hits with runners in scoring position and two outs and the pitching is much improved. In either case, I'm looking forward to the second half of the Mets season this year. Read More...

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Did anyone catch this "mistake" by SNY at the end of last night's Mets game?



As many of you will instantly realize, that "opening day and here's the first pitch" audio clip was taken from this now infamous Family Guy episode...



Unbelievable... at least it was cut off before the "and the season's over" part played... Read More...

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Obviously I'm a big fan of Keith Hernandez both during his playing days and now that he's in the booth.

But somehow I didn't know this existed... Bloomberg Sports has a series of clips featuring Keith trash talking about fantasy baseball... it's pretty sweet.

Here's just one of the many great clips...

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There is talk that Jerry Manuel will attempt to use Jose Reyes in the three hole in the beginning of the season at least until Carlos Beltran returns from the DL.

Jose is one of the best lead off hitters in the game. As I have documented before, as Jose Reyes goes, so go the Mets. Personally I think Reyes is best suited to leading off, getting on base, and causing havoc on the base paths, batting him third can only mean that in a good situation, other runners ahead of him will prevent him from stealing bases. That being said, I think I understand Jerry's logic.

The way the lineup looks with Reyes batting first is a mess. Assume you bat Reyes first and the combination of Wright and Bay in the 3-4 slot or the 4-5 slot. In those cases the Mets will have to either bat...
1) Luis Castillo, Angel Pagan, or Daniel Murphy in the 3 hole, or
2) Daniel Murphy or Jeff Francoeur in the 5 hole.
both options are bad.

Reyes
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Wright
Bay
Francoeur
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Catcher
Pitcher

Reyes
Castillo/Pagan/Murphy
Wright/Bay
Wright/Bay
Francoeur/Murphy
Francoeur/Pagan
Castillo/Pagan
Catcher
Pitcher

If you slide Reyes down to number 3, then you lead off with Castillo and Pagan 1-2, Reyes third, and bat Wright/Bay in the 4-5 spot, you can then put Francoeur in at 6, Murphy at 7 the catcher and pitcher at 8 and 9.

Castillo
Pagan
Reyes
Wright/Bay
Wright/Bay
Francoeur
Murphy
Catcher
Pitcher

The other benefit of this is to lead the game with three switch hitters with a little speed, and plus Castillo taking pitches at the top...

So I see where Jerry is going with this, but I don't know whether screwing around with Reyes in the lineup coming off the injury is such a good idea. Read More...

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Our friends over at Mets Police really got me thinking Mets fans...

I've always been a big fan of the Mets interlocking NY logo. You'll notice it appears in the top corners of this website. I like it much better than the logo used by that other team in New York, but I digress.

The other day, Shannon came across some photos from the Mets equipment truck showing the interlocking NY logo where the outlined Y clearly overlays the outlined N.

At first I didn't think much of it, figuring it had been used before. As it turns out Shannon was able to track down some older photos with the same logo.

Typically, whenever the NY logo is used it appears that the N and the Y are on the same plane as seen here. Notice that this is the case regardless of the color pattern or outline and drop shadow used.

The only place the NY logo appears is on the Mets caps. (although the old Mets patch did have the tiny NY on it). I took a look at my collection of Mets hats the other day and was shocked to find something I had never noticed before...

Since the logos on the caps are stitched on, the N and the Y are not in the same plane. On most hats, the Y clearly overlays the N, as seen here, here and here.

But as it turns out, sometimes this is not the case...

Some caps, clearly show the N overlaying the Y... here and here.

It gets better... I came across an older black cap (black bill) that I own which shows the Y on top of the N on both vertical ends of the N, but the N on top of the Y at the diagonal. Seen here...

I can't believe I've never noticed this before, but it leads me to wonder have the on field hats always used the Y over N logo, or did they ever wear caps with the alternate NY logos? My guess is that the alternates have only been put on replica hats, and the fans have just never noticed. Read More...

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Calm down Mets fans... I've never seen a fan base get so upset over a trade that involved a mediocre middle relief guy for a fourth or fifth outfielder. The Mets needed another outfielder not only to fill in for Beltran but just in general a team shouldn't only have one backup outfielder.

We're only picking up $2 million of Gary Matthews contract. In fact we're actually paying Kelvim Escobar and Ryota Igarashi more money than we're paying Gary Matthews Jr. So the money is certainly not an issue.

Speaking of those two relief pitchers, the acquisition of those guys essentially eliminated the need for Stokes anyway. We've got an abundance of right handed relievers to choose from this year, nobody should be losing sleep over the idea of losing Stokes.

This was a good deal for both sides. Is Gary Matthews my first choice to be our backup? No, but I can live with him there. Read More...

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With the 2000's gone, I'd like to talk quickly about the games of the decade that stand out in my mind.

Game of the Decade

Without question, I'm giving the overall best game of the decade to October 16th, 2000. It was Game 5 of the 2000 NLCS, Series MVP Mike Hampton pitches a complete game three hit shutout, Todd Zeile's three run double in the 4th put the Mets up 6-0. Rick Ankiel throws two more wild pitches in the 7th (after throwing 5 pitches to the backstop in the first inning of game two) effectively ending his pitching career. The Mets dominated the whole game winning 7-0 and taking home the NL Pennant for the first time since 1986. I was there. From the fourth inning on, big Shea was electric as everyone anxiously awaited the pennant. There was nothing like it.

Best Regular Season Game

The best regular season game of the decade goes to June 30, 2000 (The 10 run inning). Three games back of the Braves for the division, the Mets were trailing the Braves 8-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning on fireworks night at Shea, on any other night many of the fans would have gone home. Mets tie the game on a series of hits and four straight walks, Mike Piazza comes up to the plate with the go ahead run on base, and you just knew it, Piazza caps the inning with a three run homer to go ahead 11-8, Mets win and pull to within two games of the Braves. I was there for that one too...

The best game in a losing effort

As much as this game might be the worst game of the decade, that we still have yet to recover from, on October 19, 2006, the Mets played in one of the most exciting games in all of baseball for the entire decade. Of course the Mets lost Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS on Yadier Molina's two run homer off of Aaron Heilman and Carlos Beltran's subsequent bat on the shoulder, but Mets fans will remember this game for one defensive play by Endy Chavez, at the time dubbed the "play of the franchise" by Gary Cohen, and a surprise gem from Oliver Perez. Oh right I was at that game too... I'm still waiting for Beltran to swing.

Honorable Mention

The first game in NY after 9/11 with the Piazza home run
The Benny Agbayani homer in the 2000 NLDS
The 2006 clincher
Maine near no hitter before the 07 collapse (which included a brawl)
Santana's gem before the 08 collapse
10/22/2006: The Mets trailed 7-1 and Delgado hit a grand slam for his 400th home run, and trailing 7-6 in the 9th, Beltran wins it with a two run walk-off

Those are just some of the games that stick out in my mind... thoughts? Read More...

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According to Mike Francessa's "major news", pending a physical Jason Bay has agreed to a 4 year deal worth 66 million with the Mets.

Jon Heyman has also confirmed that a deal has been reached.

Joel Sherman is reporting the deal has a 5th year vesting option.

I've said since day 1 that Holliday is the better player, but Bay is the better deal. Holliday will likely sign a much longer contract for more money per season (probably more than 5 years at more than 100 million). Considering out commitments to Santana (who is still owed 98.5 million over 4 years or 118 million over 5 years if we pick up the 2014 option), plus Wright and Reyes have more money coming their way. Its hard to believe the Mets could really afford to give Holliday such a high cost/long term contract. Plus I think Jason Bay is a guy who can be a leader for this team, which is obviously something that has been missing the last few years. Read More...

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According to the daily news pitching coach Dan Warthen had this to say about Oliver Perez and his participation in the WBC;

"He came into camp in good shape. I thought he was throwing the ball well when he left, but I was a little bit reticent when he left here, and my worries have come to fruition," Warthen said. "I think he needs the camaraderie of people that push him.

"I think he's out of shape, the arm is out of shape. It's a combination. Since he's come back we really haven't seen the life out of the hand, the ball is just not jumping out right now....I think he's gained a little weight and needs to start pushing himself a little more."

I'm guessing Warthen isn't a big fan of the WBC to begin with, then again what pitching coach is?

Perez threw 92 pitches over 3.2 innings, gave up 6 runs and walked 6 during Wednesday's loss to the Tigers.

According to Warthen, Perez wasn't doing his workouts on off days during the tournament.

The bigger question here is Oliver Perez who was just signed to a 36 million dollar contract, goes to play for Mexico in the WBC, how is it that he isn't doing his workouts to get in shape for the regular season? You know the one that actually matters.

This is why teams don't want their pitchers in the WBC. Nobody on team Mexico is looking out for the Mets interests in getting Ollie ready for the season... the guy only pitched in 2 games over a 19 day span, and in one of those games he threw 85 pitches before finally being yanked.

Ollie better be ready for the opening week of the season. Maybe this criticism from Warthen will motivate him a little bit. Of course, Warthen has already shown himself to treat pitchers differently than Rick Peterson, which is probably a change for the better. Read More...

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Bhahahahahahahaha

Ok now that that's out of my system, for the second time, the Dominican team (made up of all stars like Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Edison Volquez, Robinson Cano, Miguel Tejada etc.) lost to the team from the Netherlands (who's best players are Sidney Ponson and Rick VandenHurk, and all but three have no major league experience).

The good news of course, is that Jose Reyes and Fernando Tatis are now out of harms way and wont be over exerting himself for a pointless tournament.

The other upset is Team Italy defeating Team Canada.

I was actually kind of surprised to see the talent the Canadian team had assembled this year. Justin Morneau, Russel Martin, Jason Bay, Joey Votto, Matt Stairs, Corie Koskie, and Pete Orr are all Canadian? who knew?

But Team Canada lacked pitching talent, and lost to Italy's powerhouse of Nick Punto and Frank Catalanotto. Lets be real, the best player Italy has in that dugout is hitting coach Mike Piazza.

You know, as funny as it is to see these star studded teams lose to teams with just a few major leaguers, I think it highlights an important problem with the World Baseball Classic. The fact of the matter is, the teams with less major league players should win most of the time.

Seriously, to these single A, Japanese league and Latin league players the World baseball classic is like their World Series, it is their opportunity to show the world what they can do, and why a major league club should take a shot on them. So naturally these guys are preparing themselves from months in advance, they are giving 110% for every game. Of course they are going to beat these major leaguers who A) don't really care about the tournament, B) Use the tournament as warm up for the regular season, and C) Aren't playing 50% let alone 100%.

There's really nothing they can do to fix this problem, no major league player is ever going to put the WBC before the regular MLB season. And if they only used amateur players or minor leaguers, it wouldn't garner enough interest from the fans to even warrant having the tournament in the first place.

Of course, the Commissioner wont admit this publicly, but Major League Baseball secretly wants these teams from the Netherlands, Italy, China, Australia, Panama, and South Africa to upset the powerhouse teams. That helps to promote the sport world wide. If team USA, Japan or the Dominican won it every year, it doesn't do much to promote the sport to other countries in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Read More...

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The Mets have released right handed reliever Duaner Sanchez.

I saw this coming following Sanchez's bad outing Monday in Port St. Lucie, where the Orioles smacked him around during his one inning of relief, where he had basically no velocity and no break on any of his pitches.

Duaner was one of the most effective relievers in baseball in 2006 not giving up a single run in his first 21 innings of relief and pitching to a 2.60 ERA before he was involved in a taxi cab accident which sidelined him for the remainder of the year.

He was never the same pitcher.

He re-injured himself trying to come back and missed all of 2007 as well.

According to Metsblog, the move will allow the Mets to save $1.6 million on their 2009 payroll. Read More...

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Jerry Manuel announced today that Johan Santana will start Thursday's spring training game against the Marlins. The game will be broadcast live on SNY.

Barring any setbacks, it seems like Johan is back on track to pitch on opening day.

The Mets buzz on WFAN and SNY the last day or so has been whether or not Johan is rushing back, or if they were babying him too much. I say let the guy pitch. Babying pitchers is one thing when your dealing with a young prospect, but Johan is an all star and a veteran. He knows when he's ok to pitch, if he says he's fine, then give him the ball, and let him pitch.

Take that Dan Warthen... Read More...

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For last week's results... click here Read More...

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Mike Pelfrey has been sidelined with a lower left leg strain since last week.

He's now walking around with a boot to take pressure off the strained muscle.

Pelfrey hopes to throw Wednesday, and then make a start on the weekend.

Ugh... I can only hope this is just some early pre-season wear and tear, and not some larger issue like a mechanical problem with his delivery. Read More...

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To view the results from our last poll click here Read More...

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Ok, I've been very quiet about my distaste for the World Baseball Classic, everyone knows the reasons people hate it; potential injuries, nobody wanting their players to play, it's right before the season, it cuts into spring training, nobody gives a crap who wins (including the players) etc.

These are among the common reasons people hate this pointless tournament. But as it turns out there is a new reason to hate it even more...

MLB is implementing a few new rules for this years WBC the most disturbing is this one...

starting with the 13th inning, each half-inning will begin with runners on first and second base, with the batting order intact. The applicability of the rule to the championship game of the tournament is under review by the rules and regulations committee.

Yes you read that correctly, in fact here's the MLB.com news story just so you know it's legit...

What the hell is this? This is dumber than the shootout in the World Cup. What is the batting team supposed to do? Put two random players on base? Maybe the last two batters from the previous inning? This isn't even baseball, you start with a runner in scoring position and nobody out? Are teams gonna bunt with the leadoff hitter to stay out of the double play and advance the runners into scoring position?

Dumb... Read More...

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Pitchers and catchers are due to report to Port St. Lucie in 19 days, and the Mets still have not landed a number 2 starter for their rotation.

Even more starling is that there are still over 100 free agents available. Just think about that for a moment; 100 players have no idea what team they will be playing for just 3 weeks from now. (Assuming they find a club by the start of spring training). Read More...

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Dear Omar,

As I wrote the other day, Mets fans want to see Oliver Perez or Ben Sheets in this rotation next year. Unless you pull off a trade, any other pitcher is not acceptable in the number 2 slot.

You have said yourself that you are focused almost exclusively on the Mets rotation. So any competent person would understand that to mean that you would be pursuing the number 2 starter that the rotation badly needs. Instead you're wasting time on guys like Freddy Garcia, Casey Fossum, Rob Mackowiak, and Cory Sullivan among other career minor league players. Are the Buffalo Bisons looking for a new GM? I think you'd be perfect for the job.

Please explain to me how any of these guys is a more important priority than Perez or Sheets? Is it more important to sign a guy who may pitch upwards or 30 games for the New York Mets, or a guy who will struggle to keep from being cut from a minor league team?

I will repeat this to you one more time... you already messed up with Lowe... sign Perez or Sheets or pack your things and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

With love,

Mets fans everywhere Read More...

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In an effort to create a team of weak hitting left handed outfielders, the Mets have announced the signing of Rob Mackowiak to a minor league contract.

In just 53 at bats last season with the Nationals, Mackowiak hit just .132.

Hopefully he will never play for the Mets in 2009... Read More...

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