TIME FOR A CHANGE

I'm going to try to spice up the blog a bit this year, since we all expect 2006 to be THE YEAR, and traffic will probably hit an all-time high. So I'm starting with the look of the blog, and there will be different features that I will be letting you know about as the season draws closer. (I'm very excited about the METS-FAN-O-METER, which is still an idea in my head, but will appear in some form by the beginning of the season - it may also have a different name by then...not the blog - the METS-FAN-O-METER). I've also decided that blogs with pictures and clever links are the wave of the future (is it 'way of the future' or 'wave of the future'?). So that's where we're headed.

Also, the wife is expecting, and I don't want my child to think I'm running a rinky-dink site here. Yep, big news of the personal variety - due date is September 30 - hopefully just in time for the World Series Championship.

Mets' camp is kind of quiet these days - there's lots going on in Jets camp, but that's a story for another site.

That just leaves me with a couple of comments. Earlier in the offseason, word was that Willie Randolph was very resistant to a lineup with Carlos Beltran* in the 2-spot - he really wanted Beltran* to stay number three in the lineup. Today, though, it sounds like he's willing to consider moving Beltran* - the Daily News has a report where Randolph says he'd rather have Beltran* steal 40 bases than hit 25 homers this season.

I'm going to go on record, today, February 22, 2006, and say Beltran* will hit .316, with 21 homers, and 93 RBI, stealing 37 bases for the year. I would be more than happy with that, and I bet a lot of Mets fans would. I also bet Beltran* is hitting in the two spot for the majority of the season - it was one of the moves Randolph made last year that worked perfectly. Boy, those numbers look really good. I can't WAIT for baseball season!

I mentioned yesterday the big '86 Mets Reunion August 19 at Shea. I hope to be there - and I'll try to get pictures for johnnymets.blogspot.com. I'm not sure how many Mets home games I'll be going to this year, but I do know I will see them at least twice on the road. I'm taking a trip to California in April, and in addition to seeing an A's game and a Dodgers game, the wife and I will be seeing the Mets play the Padres in San Diego. I'm psyched about that. I'm also excited about seeing the Mets at Fenway in June - we're going to the Tuesday night game. Hopefully I'll be able to somehow score tickets for the rest of that three-game series. My goal is to see as many Mets games as possible this season. Hopefully I'll be taking some trips to New York.

This isn't an '86 Mets Roundup...just a "Former Baseball Player Update": Did you hear this comment from Darren Daulton? I'm not sure what the source is - I heard it yesterday on Jim Rome's radio show - apparently Daulton has become a bit, well, religious, and says God has spoken to him, and Daulton says (via God, I guess) the world is going to end on December 21, 2012, (12/21/12) at 11 am. I think it was 11am - the point is, it wasn't 12! And my question is, why not? If someone is going to go through the trouble to end the world on a cool date like 12/21/12, why would it happen at a weird hour? Why not 12 o'clock - or 9pm (21 o'clock in military time)? And I guess the more important question is, what has Darren Daulton been doing since retirement?