Sorry everyone that my daily feature has been a bit scarce. I'm in the process of moving and working like a mad woman; neither are helpful in keeping up with blog posts. It is time to stop in and distribute a few of my XOXOs though. The Mets returned to Arizona tonight and I am all for possibly relocating the entire organization to Phoenix. Tonight was a great effort from the team. I love the Mets team we see every year at the BOB. XOXOs tonight must be shared by the left side of our infield. Reyes and Wright had absolutely phenomenal nights. Reyes may have been able to steal all the XOXOs until D-Wright's over-the-shoulder catch. Awesome. Period.

Aaron Heilman is really trying to be quite the stud these days. He's managed to rack up 2 Ass of the Day awards in a week. Really quite the accomplishment. The sight of Heilman jogging in from the bullpen makes me physically nauscous now. And Co-Ass of the Day award goes to Willie Randolph who just looks like a complete ass trying to manage this bullpen.

Don't be fooled. I didn't see tonight's game either. It's Mets vs. Nats anyway. On paper, there shouldn't be much to see honestly.  For those of you in your alternate universe who believe that Johan Santana should go 20-0 this season, you should be content with his outing tonight.  I know I am.

Jorge Sosa.

I have been missing in action for a while so I apologize.  What I will not apologize for is this post. I try to not let my personal opinions allow my daily picks for this column.  But let's be serious. The obvious cannot be avoided much longer.

The XOXOs are getting contagious. This is a fact that cannot be denied. Apparently the Mets are loving my distribution as well.  The supply is endless so they can keep winning for a while. Tonight was another good show. Good outing by Maine and some nice offensive output from those who are getting paid to do just that. The season is still too early to make a general conclusion, but I'm in a good mood. So the recipient of tonight's XOXOs should take them with a grain of salt.

So tonight was great.  Besides everyone wearing 42, which I'm sort of on the fence about, good win for the Metsies tonight.  They needed a solid victory with a nice little touch of inspiration. Everyone loves a little man tear or two.

I'm in a foul mood this evening.  Where do you even begin?  I know it's early in the season but the state of Mets fans is not good.  Especially considering that murmur of effort at the end of 2007. Excuse those of us who are slightly annoyed.  Do I get frustrated with Ollie Perez for being his usual up and down self?  Or do I get angry with every pulled hamstring I've heard about all season thus far?  Do I get dejected because the Mets are better than these teams on paper?  Wait, I know what to do....

As pessimistic as I can be at times, I like a good heart-warming story any day of the week. It's difficult having two teams to follow each night now, The Real Mets & The Baby Mets, but I still managed to focus on most of the game last night.  XOXOs are easy tonight...especially when you cause premature thoughts of no-hitters.

Some nights it's time to drop the funny business.  Thank god the Mets won that game tonight. For the sake of Carlos Beltran & Aaron Heilman...it's a good damn thing they won that game.

Well after 3 losses, the Mets finally mustered a win.  I'm glad Mike Pelfrey got the W today, even though it was far from ace-like.  I'll take a stopper in any way, shape, or form.  In all seriousness though, I want Pelf to do well.  I want him to seize his opportunities and show some guts.  So hats off to him.  Pelfrey seems like the obvious XOXO winner, but not today.  I would love to give the THM my XOXO's for breaking out of his slump...but many/most of you lack interest in the THM. I also considered giving El Duque's boot a few XOXOs for confirming he really is 172 years old. In the end it came down to one...one Kyle Kendrick.

Yada, yada. Everyone heard the news. The Mets lost to the Phils today. 3 straight losses. We can all say it's early, but I have my own opinions on this season's squad. The Mets could not find a way to beat their division rivals last season and right now, it's beginning to look a lot like '07. I'm rather numb to today's home opener. Nothing really felt right about it. Citi Field in the background. No camera shot of the subway platform. Unacceptable amounts of booing. No Professor Reyes. I just felt very dejected today.

On top of that the last opener at Shea is subjected to Rick Astley. Are you serious??!! Could have made more of a farce out of a day that should have been historic & heart-warming. Weird to see the Mets promo. department dropped the ball, yet again.

Hats off to them. The ass is on you. Sigh, Let's Go Mets. Read More...

Well, apparently all of the Eastern United States has faced rain and tarped fields today. After I got to leave work early due to the inclement weather, I raced home to get back in time for Mets & Braves: Round 1. Five minutes after I flick on the tube, Matt Yallof informs me this game is canceled too. Without baseball games, I was forced to Baseball Tonight, which would include highlights of Glendon Rusch. Yes, that Glendon Rusch. Don't look now either, but Carlos Gomez is trying to be a stud in Minnesota. Since canceled baseball games make me irritable, Mother Nature is a viable candidate for Ass of the Day. But even she couldn't outpour Ruben Gotay's man tears.

Mets win 13-0. In other words they creamed the Marlins. Lots of viable candidates for the first ever XOXO's of the Day throughout this game, but we have to narrow it down to one. Drumroll please.....

I'm returning to the Global blog to provide a new daily feature. I am known to distribute xoxo's to those who do well, which will provide us with the XOXO's of the Day when the Mets win. When the Mets don't get the W, we'll discuss the Ass of the Day. So for last night's loss we give the honor to Billy Wagner. He watched the game from the bullpen but had this valuable insight regarding Pedro and his rehab:
"It just goes to show maybe you should eat more donuts and get fat. Ya can't pull fat."
Thanks to Mr. Wagner for the health tip of the day. Let's Go Mets.

We all need something to laugh about since we've been pulling our hair out and losing sleep for much of the past week. I must apologize for being a day late, having a job and going to grad. school doesn't leave a lot of down time. But I did come across this early today that I would like to share. Baseball is full of far too many awards now. It's almost like those senior awards in high school where they made up 15,000 awards to make sure no one felt left. Well stack another funny one to the pile. Courtesy of SI, the Mets lone representative is El Duque, unless you count the glam shot of Mike Piazza from the Shea Stadium seats.

On a serious note, the Mets have to keep fighting tonight in Miami. Hat's off to Pelfrey for getting the job done last night. Let's go Mets!

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The numbers David Wright has been putting up have been incredible since the break. After rebounding from a horrendous April, Wright has been able to break out and establish himself as a consistent bat in the Mets lineup. More recently, he has carried himself as a significant leader of this team, even at his young age. Despite the spark that Jose Reyes can provide when he's on his A-game, David Wright is the cornerstone of the franchise now and for years to come. Wright's numbers don't lie and have been talked about in excess recently as an MVP candidate. But beyond David's on the field efforts, his commitment to his charitable efforts is not to be overlooked.

Each year one player from each team is recognized with the Roberto Clemente award. Without a doubt, David will be a recipient in the future. Search through the papers and you will see Wright making a community appearance almost every off day throughout the season. Just the past week he and Howard Johnson took the time to visit firemen in lower Manhattan. When the Mets arrived home from their last road trip, David Wright and his foundation held a bowling event for children and families affected by September 11th, as well.

Earlier this season, Wright held two events on consecutive nights to help raise funds for victims of Virginia Tech. I was fortunate enough to attend one of these events and see him in his charitable mode first hand. While using his time and name to raise awareness and funds, he spent two hours shaking hands, signing autographs, posing for photographs, making phone calls to those not in attendance, and thanking those who were in attendance. He was genuinely humbled and appreciative for all those who turned out to support him and his foundation.

Two years ago David created the David Wright Foundation to raise funds for MS, children's causes, and a number of other beneficiaries. He devotes time during the off-season for a number of events, including his "Do The Wright Thing" Gala held annually in December. Although his good fortune has allowed him to reach out to those less fortunate at such a young age, it should make many of us stop and consider what we can do to help others.

If you get the chance, check out his foundation website. If you have the opportunity to attend any of his events, it is an experience you will not regret. Although the effort is on the grassroots level, each of us can earn money for his foundation by using GoodSearch for general internet searches. In the space provided for charity all you have to do is enter "DWF" and verify the charity.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a big D.Wright fan. Much of that respect stems from what he does beyond the baseball diamond. He has shown his ability to be an MVP of this team in more ways than one.


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Despite many Mets fans pushing the panic button last Thursday night, just five days later the Mets are alive and well. Was the four game sweep from the Phillies finally the last straw of complacency? Was it Pedro's return to the clubhouse & rotation that bolstered the attitude and confidence level of this team? Everyone has their own theories and opinions; I believe it was a little bit of both. Either way, the Mets have finally won 5 in a row. They may have waited until the last hour of the regular season to find it, but this team has a pulse.

Make no mistake about it, the Mets bats are alive. If this was the lineup everyone raved about in April, then there is reason for excitement. The Mets have been quite balanced in their offensive approach in the past 6 days, with the bottom of the lineup putting up pretty hefty numbers. Since the beginning of the Atlanta series, the Mets have outscored their opponents 36-15. They have outhit the opposition 51-27, with 11 home runs. The opposition has 1 long ball, which came off the bat of Brandon Phillips, courtesy Scott Schoeneweis. The pitching has been strong; the defense has been solid despite a few spotty moments; the offense has been relentless. Put the panic button away.

Oliver Perez's stubborn ways are also alive and well. The rollercoaster ride that he is may be a ride we never get off. Despite all that you still have to like the kid and be content with 13 victories to this point. My only concern is that if he continues to walk 127 batters every outing, his hopes of being a part of the postseason rotation may not live much longer.

Many people have spent countless hours trying to compare the 2006 Mets to the 2007 Mets, which I believe is a complete waste of time and energy. Team dynamics, injuries, the competition, etc all vary from year to year. That is the beauty of baseball so to expect a replica of 2006 is absurd. As fun as last year was, I don't want the '06 Mets. The 2006 Mets broke my heart. Would you rather have a team that dominates all year, only to look a little flat in September like last year...or a team that goes up and down all year, only to peak at the right time heading down the stretch? I would take the latter. Only time will tell if that will be the tale of this year's team. One thing is for sure, we can take this team off life support. They look alive. There is a pennant in sight and October is just a calendar page away. This is the stuff baseball fans live for. And over the next 25 days , the 2007 Mets will begin to define their season. We'll see how long they can stay alive...or if they will make this a season that live forever.
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I can't lie. I almost forgot it's Wednesday. I haven't much to say about last night's performance from the Mets; or the night before for that matter. To add to that, I haven't had cable for about a week as I just moved. Listening to the game on WFAN only does so much for me.

What I do want to rant about it Citi Field. Normally I'm a bit indifferent on the happenings beyond Shea's center field wall. I'll miss Shea...but not too much. I'm ready for something new, something that is comparable to the other beautiful parks out there. No matter what they call it, Citi Field is going to be that thing. So each time I go to Shea I try to soak in the steep fatal stairs of the upper deck, the seats that slant towards the field because they're broken, and the never ending concrete ramps. April 2009 cannot come soon enough.

Last trip to Shea I had some time to kill in the horrendous August weather and check out the Citi Field preview. Those of you who have not gone through it, it's basically a small sample of what the field will be like. They fill you in on all the quirks, the decorative scheme, replica lockers of Reyes and Wright that will be in the clubhouse, an actual suite, etc. Unfortunately I came away a little disappointed, despite how nice and incredible in all seemed.

The seats, a 360-degree concourse, suites I'll never sit in, elite seats right above the bullpen, a right field porch that hangs over the field, restaurants abound, a new apple...it's going to be great folks. But with all this is a ballpark this is so dedicated to Ebbets Field, it's appreciative and almost offensive at the same time. The bar and grill area on the first level is named after Ebbets Field, which won't be called Field Level, rather some uppity name for Field Level. The glass will even have etched photos of Ebbets Field. The tile in the bathrooms and concession areas is a feature taken from Ebbets Field, yet adapted in blue and orange. Of course the outside of the park is derived from Ebbets Field as we all know. And then the rotunda with the tribute to Jackie Robinson. It's all well and good. I get the connection from the Dodgers to the Mets and I appreciate the attempt to honor the history. Yet at the same time I almost felt ignored as a Mets fan.

The only obvious tie over in this preview from Shea to the new ballpark was that the carpet that will be in Citi Field has the neon men from the outside on Shea on it. Okay, that's a clever touch. But even the apple will be new at this point. I know Shea is a dump; but it's been the place that the Mets have called home for the majority of their existence. Fans have come to Shea to root for their Mets for years; to watch a World Series, a Game 7, Opening Day, or just a regular Tuesday night. Some of us attended our first ballgame at Shea. There are Mets fan who are fans simply because they used to be fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers. So I understand the special place that both the Dodgers and Ebbets Field hold for many. At the same time, those of us who will be filling the seats at Citi Field for years to come grew up as Shea Stadium grew old. Shea Stadium is what resonates with us and that is our history. I want to know that part of that history will be recognized when we move next door. A new park is more than necessary. But after walking through that preview, I felt now more than ever that when Shea comes down piece by piece, a part of being a Mets fan will be gone for good. Read More...