HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY CARTER!

It's time to update you on Hall of Famer Gary Carter, as he celebrates his 55th birthday.

This year, Carter brings his act to New York, where he will manage the Long Island Ducks.

He's already started to make noise...apparently he was on WFAN in New York about a week ago and said he was upset that the Mets didn't ask him to catch the last pitch at Shea Stadium. Don't think there won't be plenty of noise coming out of Citibank Park (not to be confused with Citi Field) with Carter this close to the New York media.

Still, though, I love the man, and wish him a very happy birthday. And I also want to take this opportunity to remind you that he has had nothing but success as a minor league manager.

The Ducks season starts on April 23rd. We'll definitely be keeping you updated - and there will be a trip this summer as well.

(Also on this April 8, birthday wishes go out to Dave in Brighton.)

ANOTHER RANDOM PREDICTION

I hope you remember that I've been saying that the Reds are on the come for a couple of years now.

Because now it's the vogue thing to say. "The Reds are the team most likely to be this year's Tampa Bay Rays," I've heard said in various places...like my "Sporting News" Baseball Preview magazine, for instance (though the Reds sit fourth in their standings).

Well, I'm here to tell you that I think the Reds are another year away. Let's talk Cincinnati in 2010.

This year's version of last year's Tampa Bay Rays will be the Florida Marlins. I bet the Marlins ride their strong pitching to a second-place finish in the NL East...which will probably be good enough for a National League wild card berth.

We're picking a long-shot here, and this is a long shot, but they definitely have the starting pitching depth (and talent) to make a regular season run. It's also the end of their 6-year rebuilding cycle - 1997 champs, 2003 champs, and now it's 2009. (I just thought of that - it wasn't part of my argument coming in. But I really like it.)

The holes are plenty, but the Marlins are young enough that they have a lot of players who could break through this year and show they're more than capable of filling the holes.

And heaven knows they've shown October-type intensity when they've ruined the Mets' past two seasons late in the year.

This year it could very well be another team whose playoff hopes they ruin - in the playoffs.

A RESPONSE TO THE COMMENTS: Thanks to Dave in Brighton for the comment on Chris Davis. I really think Josh Hamilton has a come-back-to-earth-type year this year, so in my mind it's not a tremendous reach to think Davis will be better than Hamilton. Remember Hamilton's second half fade last year? That might have been more of a sign of things to come in 2009.

MY OWN PERSONAL BASEBALL PREVIEW

Unlike last year, when I made an impulse buy of a terrible baseball preview magazine the night of our fantasy baseball draft, this year I bought my trusty old "Sporting News" Baseball Preview well in advance. It has lots of editing errors, which always drives me nuts, and also doesn't have any baseball move made after mid-January at the latest, which has always bothered me, but I like its layout and I find it the best of the selection...especially with our fantasy draft always waaaay earlier than normal fantasy drafts.

But - I have mentioned this in the past - I take a different approach to reading a baseball preview. Usually I save the Mets until last, but since we draft only from the AL and NL East, I now read those two sections first. And I spend a lot of time looking at players' birthdays.

This year, it struck me that there are a lot of players with my birthday. And Gary Carter's birthday - those are two specific dates that jumped out at me. And there are also a lot of baseball players with some pretty cool birthday numbers that made me want to write about them. So here they are:

COOL BIRTHDAYS

(Inspired mostly by Grady Sizemore, who has an 8/2/82 birthday, which I discovered on my souvenir cup on my trip to Cleveland a couple of years ago)

Mark Reynolds, Arizona - 8/3/83

Jamie Walker, Baltimore - 7/1/71

Jacob McGee, Tampa Bay - 8/6/86

Huston Street, Colorado - 8/2/83 (hmm, now that I've typed that one it looks less cool to me)

Craig Breslow, Minnesota - 8/8/80

Mark Worrell, San Diego - 3/8/83

Travis Denker, San Diego - 8/5/85

Mark Ellis, Oakland - 6/6/77

Angel Salamone, Milwaukee - 6/8/86

And the Mets have a pretty strong contingent in this department:

Sean Green and J.J. Putz share a 2/22/77 birthday

Brian Stokes has a nice palindrome - 9/7/79 (Justin in NYC's birthday, incidentally, which is quite popular among major leaguers, I noticed)

And Jon Niese, potential number 5 starter -10/27/86 - I don't remember when he was up last year that he was born on the day the Mets won the 1986 World Series. That should grant him total immunity from ever being sent down or traded - Met for life. And it should definitely not go as unmentioned this year.

PLAYERS WHO SHARE MY BIRTHDAY (JULY 7)

John Buck, Kansas City, 1980

Alfredo Figaro, Detroit, 1984

Brandon McCarthy, Texas, 1983

Luke Montz, Washington, 1983

R.J. Swindle, Milwaukee, 1983

Leyson Septimo, Arizona, 1985

PLAYERS WHO SHARE GARY CARTER'S (and Dave in Brighton's) BIRTHDAY (APRIL 8)

I can't believe how popular this birthday is. It must be a day for athletes to be born, as well as creative types who excel at sedentary sports:

Carlos Santana, Cleveland, 1986

Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore, 1979

Bobby Wilson, L.A. Angels, 1983

Eric Patterson, Oakland, 1983

Kason Gabbard, Texas, 1982

Eddie Kunz, N.Y. Mets, 1986

Diory Hernandez, Atlanta, 1984

Yonder Alonso (great first name - he's a first baseman - it'd be awesome if he went to make a tag and the runner beat him by jumping over the tag - "He's safe, because he jumped over Yonder!"), Cincinnati, 1987

Chris Iannetta, Colorado, 1983

Matt Antonelli, San Diego, 1985

BOSTON: FENWAY PARK

It occurred to me recently that when I write about the new stadiums that I visit, there are a bunch I have been to before the blog existed that I've never written about. Part of the reason is because there's really no reason to review the ballparks, since they've been around for many years....but it's also not fair to them (as though they had feelings).

Fenway Park is one of those parks that I've gone to for years without singing its praises. I'm very lucky to be able to go every once in a while - every time I'm there I get a little bit of the same thrill that I got the first time I went.
Sure, the seats are small, it can be uncomfortable to sit for long stretches there, and it would have been nice to live so close to a new ballpark had they not chosen to renovate, but it still is a special place.
Friday night I had the opportunity to go with Justin From NYC, Dave in Brighton, and the Southern Bureau (thanks to the Southern Bureau's dad), and decided I'd take pictures to show on the blog. There's another thing about Fenway - from certain places in the park, it's impossible to take a bad picture. The other neat thing about Friday night's game was that it was the first for Jason Bay in a Red Sox uniform (the Red Sox acquired him at the deadline Thursday in exchange for Manny Ramirez plus much more). He got a huge standing ovation, which you can see below.
The one thing I couldn't capture in picture is how awesome the view is coming out of the tunnel to get to your seats at Fenway. I remember getting chills the first time I did, seeing the Green Monster in person for the first time, thinking about Gary Carter hitting two home runs into the screen in Game 4 of the 1986 World Series. I tried to recapture that feeling, but when I came out of the tunnel on Friday, it was way too crowded, and all I got was this:
The first time I went to Fenway was 1995. We drove up to see Red Sox-Twins. It came a few months after we saw the second-to-last regular season game at Boston Garden, which was on Patriot's Day in 1995. We drove up to see Celtics-Nets, and on the way we went on a tour of Boston University, which turned out to be my future college. Since BU was so close to Fenway, we stopped by the ticket office and bought tickets for later that summer. The Red Sox game was very hot and pretty uncomfortable, but I was so psyched to be there that I didn't notice much. I've been many times since - definitely more to Fenway in the past decade than to Shea or Yankee Stadium combined - and the same is true now as it was then - even though it has its faults (which in a ballpark that is pushing 100 years old makes it 'charming', I guess), Fenway is a great place to see a baseball game.

A TURNING POINT?

At the end of the year, will we look back at this weekend in Philadelphia as the point of the season where the Mets turned things around?

I'm starting to think maybe.

If you've read this blog for longer than the past couple of months, you know it's just not my nature to be negative (at least for very long). So maybe it's the summer months, maybe it's Dave in Brighton's optimism, maybe it's just wishful thinking - but I'm starting to believe maybe the best is yet to come for these Mets.

Because all this time I've been lamenting the fact that the Mets haven't been better than average this year, neither has anyone else in their division. The Mets begin play on Sunday just four-and-a-half games behind the Phillies, a game behind the second-place Marlins. And on Saturday night, they pulled a Philadelphia on the Phillies - coming back from behind to not just win, but pile on the Phillies bullpen - that's exactly what Philadelphia has made a habit out of doing to the Mets this past year-and-a-half.

So here's the deal - if the Mets close out this Philadelphia series strong - or at least just win on Sunday, evening their record at 44-44, we'll call it a blank slate. There's always the possibility that the second half will bring new life. The fact that the Mets even have life after such a miserable start to the season should be inspiration alone, but to this point it hasn't been.

Oh, and one other encouraging note - last year's division champs, those same Philadelphia Phillies? Through 88 games, they were 44-44. So the Mets, at 44-44 stand an even better shot at a division title, because the division is much weaker this year...and it wouldn't take a monumental collapse from the team in front of them for the Mets to finish on top.

*****UPDATE*****
Boy, they don't make it easy, do they? A 4-2 win in 12 innings (thank you Fernando Tatis) after "All Star" Billy Wagner blew a 2-0 lead in the 9th inning.

NASCAR - CATCH THE FEVER!

Two years ago, if you would have told me I would have chosen to attend a NASCAR race rather than spend a Sunday afternoon watching the Mets-Yankees game, I would have called you crazy.

But times have changed.

Thanks to Dave in Brighton (whose review of the day you can find here), I went to the NASCAR race in Loudon, New Hampshire on Sunday...and I really enjoyed it.

It is a very different experience, I'll put it that way. But the racing is pretty amazing to see in person. And although my mind drifted at different points during the race, it was far from boring to watch 40+ cars go around an oval 300 times (well, 284, but more on that later). The best part for me is that I have no real attachments to anyone, so there was no chance I was going to be disappointed - unless the experience was a disaster...but it wasn't.

We arrived at about 9:30am, tailagated for 4 hours, and then went into the Speedway. A couple of things about this - everyone tailgates. It is quite a scene. We could see the grandstand from where our car was - there were a ton of cars in the lots, but no one was inside. Everyone heads in about an hour or less before the race - everyone was tailgating. (And I just realized - for some of you, maybe going to NASCAR events is old hat - for me, this was my first race - just shy of my 30th birthday. So it was a new experience...bear with me.)

And this is the kicker - NASCAR allows you to bring a cooler inside, with as much beer as you can fit (or other beverages, but not many people weren't drinking beer). It's surreal. Also, you can leave and come back to get more beer, if you'd like.

Once inside, there are merchandising trucks all around the stands. They're your basic trucks, with the sides open, that you see outside of baseball stadiums, or other events (concerts, even)...except each driver has their own truck. (Well, not each one - some are grouped under their ownership, and some we couldn't find. I wanted a hat that had the #78 on it, but apparently Joe Nemechek doesn't merit his own truck.) I thought it would be cool if this translated to other sports - if each ballplayer had their own souvenir stand. I certainly would have had less trouble getting myself an Anthony Becht jersey had this been the case for all sports.

Then there's the race itself. What a cool experience. We had pretty good seats - right on a turn, so there was a lot of action - a couple of crashes, but a lot of action as far as drivers passing one another, or getting ready to pass. I don't know if it's because Loudon is a pretty small track or not, but it was amazing how quick the drivers came around the track. There was really no time to get bored because once everyone was around our curve, it seemed like a second later before the leaders were back.

As you might have read from Dave's entry, it was loud - earplugs saved the day. I had earplugs, and didn't have them in at first, thinking I'd put them in at the first caution or pit or something. Never had I seen such continuous racing as the first 55 laps or so of this race - our ears were ringing pretty good by the time we had a slowdown...but that's part of what made it exciting.

The one bad thing about the day was the way it ended. Storms were predicted right at the end of the race, and the race would have been completed if not for a couple of crashes. So a huge thunderstorm hit, and the race was called with all of the drivers who haven't won all year leading the race...and as a result I didn't have the best fantasy NASCAR day. I also got soaked - after spending about 10 minutes under the stands waiting to see if they'd call the race. And leaving the parking lot was a mess, so we sat for a couple of hours before we could do anything - and instead of the post-race barbeque, we just sat in the car, drenched, waiting out the traffic.

In the end, we were fed and kept somewhat dry under a canopy by nice NASCAR fans, until the rain stopped, and a 15-hour day came to an end. The ending put a slight damper on the experience (pun intended), but overall, this was awesome. I'm glad I had the experience - and I would go to a NASCAR event again in a heartbeat - especially now that I know how much time I'd have to put into the day.

A PREVIEW OF SORTS

I could have been part of a World Series preview tonight, and I thought it was important that I let you know.

The preview I am talking about did not involve the "Red" team versus the "Gray" team of the Boston Softball League (or the BSCC, I think), of which Dave in Brighton and Mrs. Dave in Brighton are team members. (Although I thank them for thinking of me as a fill-in. I like to think that even though I played pretty poorly I helped the team win because they didn't have to forfeit. The recap - Mrs. Dave in Brighton pitched brilliantly, overcame my two errors, and the 'Gray' team won.)

The preview I was privy to was a Mets-Red Sox preview. And it didn't involve the teams on the field - it involved their battle over the airwaves.

On the way back home from the game, which took me through about 63 Massachusetts towns (I still don't understand Massachusetts geography), I tuned into the Mets, on SportsRadio 660am - WFAN, of course. And fighting the Mets' reception was the Red Sox game, which tonight was on 680am, WRKO. Uh-oh, I thought. No chance of getting the Mets tonight.

Mid at-bat the reception would switch from one game to the next. This was quite different from when the Red Sox were on their flagship - 850am. But I held fast to WFAN, and caught most of an inning of the Mets-Nationals game.

In the end, the Mets pulled through. Clear as a bell from a certain point until I got home. It really was the underdog pulling through when things looked the bleakest.

I don't think the Mets would be outmatched by that much in October, if the baseball gods allowed a 1986 rematch. But it's nice to know that if they were, they would stand a chance.

TIME TO COME CLEAN

I feel I need to respond to the Southern Bureau's dig in the comments yesterday, where he seems to go overboard with the Chuck James references. For those of you who don't know, yes, that was a dig. Because I drafted Chuck James (high) in our fantasy baseball draft in January. And I think it's time to tell that story. But to save everyone embarrassment, I'll tell it in true story form, so that it comes across nearly fictional.

***

It was late January. It was cold in Boston...January cold. Four friends walked into the Boston University bookstore, looking for various knicknacks that they didn't need that they would buy just because it had their school logo on it.

John had a mission. He went straight to the magazine rack, knowing if he found the right magazine, he'd be able to spend the rest of the afternoon scouting for that night's fantasy baseball draft. John hadn't done much scouting, and he was a little embarrassed by that fact. What had been pages of research in year one of this league was down to an afternoon of scrambling to pick out the players he thought would perform best in an effort to defend his title. Well, half-title. He had to share the championship last year with Kevin.

Kevin. He'd probably been scouting since last October. Probably even September, before last year ended. That kid thinks about fantasy baseball all day, morning and night. John knew he had to work hard that afternoon to best Kevin.

He also knew Dave was one to worry about. Though he wouldn't pay much attention during the season, Dave was always well prepared for a draft. The draft played to his strengths. Stats. Spreadsheets. The rest of the season was just fluff. But John knew he had to get his players before they fell into Dave's lap. Justin, he wasn't too worried about, draft-wise. Justin knew his stuff, John knew, but he didn't prepare for a draft. He was like Allen Iverson - practice?! Justin just showed up and played.

One thing that did worry John about Justin was that he had a familiarity with the players. They all did, actually. More than he did, anyway. This was because they had spent the day before cutting out mini-pictures of all the players, putting together a tremendous draft board for the big night. So they knew the players...and not just their names, but what they looked like.

So this was the scenario facing John as he bought the magazine, and pored over it at the BU Hockey game that night. While Justin was obsessing over the Hot Dog and Jesus, and Kevin and Dave enjoyed the game, John had half an eye on hockey and the other half in his magazine.

He wasn't crazy about the magazine, to be honest. It was the "Fantasy Baseball 2008 Guide", and it gave projected stats for the players for the year ahead. The title sounded good, he thought, and you can't go wrong with projections, he thought.....if they're right. He looked at guys like David Wright, Carlos Beltran....they seemed reasonable. So he was sold.

John figured if he looked at the major players for each team, just to get an idea of their numbers, he would do OK. "Chipper Jones is made for our league," (where OBP is valued high) thought John. "I'll make him one of my top draft choices." And on and on he went. While still looking through the Braves, John came across Chuck James:

Projected 2008 stats: 15-9, 3.50 ERA, 191 IP, 61 walks, 173 strikeouts.

He did a double take.

Projected 2008 stats: 15-9, 3.50 ERA, 191 IP, 61 walks, 173 strikeouts.

He just found the steal of the draft. "I can't let anyone know about this," he thought. "If they find out about the year Chuck James is going to have, they'll take him before I can!" John became suspicious the rest of the night. He became very protective about his magazine. "I can't let them find out!"

The secret burned inside John. After the game, the four friends stopped for a bite to eat. John couldn't stop thinking about Chuck James. The draft finally came, and with the 36th overall pick, in the 9th round, John selected Chuck James.

The room fell silent.

"Not what I expected in that spot," said Kevin.

Justin laughed.

John got defensive. Now he felt stupid for believing a magazine prediction. He immediately realized he could have picked Chuck James up off the waiver wire.

In the grand scheme of things, not much was lost....except for John's pride. He would now join Dave in the annals of "Making Strange Picks Way Too High"...matching the Shea Hillenbrand pick Dave had made a couple of years earlier. And John still stood by the fact that James will have a good year - once he gets back from AAA Richmond, and fully recovers from the Tommy John surgery that wasn't mentioned in the magazine he hurriedly bought at Barnes & Noble at Boston University.

2008 PLAYOFF/AWARDS PREVIEW

Above you see my picks for division winners (you already knew those, from the previews), and wild cards (you didn't already know those). I think Atlanta and Cleveland emerge as the wild cards, and you can also see that I think Cleveland is able to rebound from last year's heartbreak (revenge over the Red Sox - in a best 3-out-of-5, where maybe they're better suited to beat Boston) to make it to the World Series, and lose to the Mets. Again, only because of Johan Santana. If not for him, this would be an Atlanta-Detroit World Series, based on my new theory, and the Edgar Renteria trade (thanks for picking up on that theory a couple of weeks ago, Dave in Brighton. But there's no way I could have gone Florida-Detroit). Here are my other picks:

NL MVP: Johan Santana will certainly get a lot of votes here, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say Ryan Braun gets the award, as he will lead the Milwaukee Brewers to their playoff appearance.

AL MVP: A la Justin Morneau a couple of years ago, this year it will go to Travis Hafner.

NL CY YOUNG: This is where Johan Santana gets his hardware. They might as well engrave the trophy now.

AL CY YOUNG: Because he's on my fantasy team this year, Roy Halladay.

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: I really have no idea who the rookies are this year. Just looking randomly at a list of rookies in 2008 I'll go with this Jay Bruce of the Reds. He's an outfielder, and maybe he'll lead the resurgence I think they'll have.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: I don't know. Jacoby Ellsbury.

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: I think Joe Torre might get some sentimental votes, and if the Dodgers play better than last year, which I think they will, he might get some legitimate votes as well.

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: John Gibbons. I actually had to look this up to make sure he was the manager of the Blue Jays. But he is, and I think a couple of second-place team managers get "Manager of the Year" recognition this year.

ALMOST AS PERVASIVE AS STEROIDS

Not too long ago, had you asked me what cribbage was, I would have responded, "That's bed time at the 'House Sponsored by DirecTV'":

Wow. I can't believe how clean that room looks in that picture (from before The Baby was born). It's a disaster right now. Nevertheless, turns out there's a different kind of cribbage, and it's sweeping the Major League Nation. It looks like this:
It also involves cards, and at this point, that's all I know about the game of cribbage. But I'm going to learn more, because I think it's becoming cool.

I got the first hint of cribbage in relation to baseball when I heard that my favorite manager, Terry Francona (2 days in a row!), plays it before almost every game. I think it was a habit/superstition thing where Francona played Dustin Pedroia in cribbage before every game last season.

Then, it was reported that the game has made its way into the Mets clubhouse.

Before I get into that, a word on John Maine. It was also reported that last week was the first time John Maine had ever used the internet. He didn't even know what it was used for until last week. I like Maine, and I think I'm liking it even more that he's kind of an aloof space case. (And the good kind of aloof space case - the one whose actions don't affect the rest of the team.) He spends his days (when he's not throwing, which is four out of five days, for the most part) doing crossword puzzles and throwing around big vocabulary words. He also proclaims himself the best chess player in the clubhouse now that Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, and Mike DiFelice are gone. Although Aaron Heilman insists he's a challenge.

Which brings us back to cribbage. Heilman says he'll beat Maine at his game (chess) this year. But apparently, Heilman's game is cribbage. So speculation out of spring training is that Heilman will gladly take on all comers in cribbage....but I don't think everyone knows the game yet.

Well, I think that's about to change. I suspect, once this becomes more and more common knowledge, cribbage is going to take off like Texas Hold 'Em a few years back. And I'm getting in on the ground floor. And I know exactly who I can learn the game with and practice against - Dave in Brighton. He excels at stationary sports. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dave in Brighton already owns a cribbage board (or whatever it's called).

IN PRAISE OF TERRY FRANCONA

If I could choose a team of only players I liked (and inspired by Dave in Brighton's fantasy baseball team, I'm working on one), the manager would be Terry Francona. In spite of myself, he has become my favorite manager in the game.

When it comes to managing Major League Baseball teams, one of the most difficult jobs is manager of the Boston Red Sox. All Francona has done in his 4 years with the team is win, and make the job look easy.

He started behind the eight ball in my eyes. I did not like the fact that Grady Little took the fall for the 2003 ALCS loss by the Red Sox. But then the Red Sox introduced Terry Francona, and he said all of the right things. He didn't let the Boston media run away with stories. When he'd lose his temper with the media he sounded like a dad who was disappointed in his kid.

Francona doesn't lose his temper much. You see it every so often - and that's how you know an umpire has made a bad call. That's when you see Francona come out to argue. He handles the players and their eccentricities (read: Manny Ramirez) in a classy way. It always plays out behind closed doors. He'll never air dirty laundry, and even when a player starts a potentially controversial situation (like Curt Schilling or CoCo Crisp this spring), you get the idea he took these guys aside and told them things will work out - but to keep everything in-house.

Francona is just flat-out likeable. You want him to kick the chewing tobacco habit (he lost a bet to one of the Red Sox owners last year because he couldn't quit during the season...not for lack of effort - but even finding out about that through the media was like pulling teeth - he doesn't talk about himself). You want him to quit so that it doesn't negatively impact his health.

He also said all the right things when it came time to extend his contract, which should have happened immediately after his second world championship in four years, upon the completion of his eighth straight World Series win (against 0 losses). He didn't want it to be a distraction as the Sox began spring training.

On Sunday, February 24th, the Red Sox gave Francona a three-year contract extension. If I were them, that would have happened a lot sooner, and for a lot longer than three years. But they made the right decision, and they'll be a team to worry about for as long as Francona is at the helm.

SPRING TRAINING ON SNY: I lucked out today and was able to catch most of the Mets-Braves spring training game on SNY. A few observations:

1) Mike Pelfrey has looked great this spring, and he looked great today. Part of me keeps reminding the other part of me that it's still spring training, and we're still at a point where the pitchers are ahead of the hitters. Also, I needed to remind myself that he did the same thing to these Braves last September, so maybe Pelfrey just has the Braves' number. But the other part of me was very excited - Pelfrey threw strikes, he got groundouts, and he broke a lot of bats during his three scoreless innings. It was very encouraging - and part of the talk was about how Orlando Hernandez's situation isn't improving (he has various ailments), so it could be realistic that Pelfrey breaks camp with the team. (One caveat - the Mets won't need a fifth starter until mid-to-late April, so maybe Hernandez isn't behind schedule...and he'll be ready when the Mets need him.) Nevertheless, I would be confident in Mike Pelfrey if he is the Mets' fifth starter this year. More than confident, based on what I saw today.

2) One area where I won't be confident is first base. Carlos Delgado has had a recurrence of the hip injury that kept him out most of last September. So he's not playing right now, but the Mets aren't making a big deal out of it. The problem is, they're thin at first base. And on Monday afternoon, Michel Abreu started at first. He's not good. Abreu has been in the Mets' system for a few years - I always saw his name and thought it was Michael. But it's Michel. Pronounced like "Michelle". But he dropped a pickoff throw from Pelfrey, and he looks like he's working too hard to catch throws from the infield on routine grounders. Not a good sign for a first baseman. Hopefully Delgado's not too hurt, but if he is, the Mets need first base help.

3) Spring training games must be frustrating for broadcasters. This game featured Kevin Burkhart and Keith Hernandez (no Gary Cohen, in other words), and it's spring training, so there's a lot of feature-y stuff to talk about. Not to mention Burkhart's primary role is the sideline reporter, so he's got plenty of stuff to talk about during a slow spring training game. But the players keep swinging at the first pitch. Almost to a tee. Maybe the game slows down when there's all bench players/youngsters trying to prove themselves in the game late, but I didn't stick around to find out. Anyway, Burkhart and Hernandez kept starting stories, and they kept having to go to commercial in the middle of them. Frustrating, I would imagine.

A BIG WEEK AT SHEA

If I were to rank the biggest off-season week in the history of Shea Stadium, this past week would be number one.

I expected the Mets would try to steal some headlines from the Giants by introducing Johan Santana on Monday, but in reality, we all know you can't compete with a Super Bowl championship. So Monday and Tuesday were out, as far as the Mets were concerned.

But the Mets made the most out of the short week.

On Wednesday, it was cliche-o-rama, with Johan Santana, as the Mets introduced their new ace, who will wear number 57, and who knows the team will take it "one game at a time", and they're going out there "to have fun". You've heard it all before - everything he said had been said many, many times before.

As much as Johan was an unexpected surprise these past few weeks, the Mets made the big announcement I've been expecting for a long time -
Billy Joel will perform the last concert at Shea Stadium. It's not when I thought it would be - "Last Play at Shea" will be held on Wednesday, July 16th, which is the day after the All Star Game, which I keep forgetting will also be in New York (at Yankee Stadium). Tickets go on sale in a week - I have to be there. Everyone in my family will be on some sort of phone trying to get tickets....I guarantee it. I also guarantee that during the concert, Billy Joel will make some sort of reference to the previous acts who performed at Shea, including the Beatles, and will probably pay them homage by covering a number of different groups' songs.

The only thing that will make this year at Shea better is closing it down with a World Series championship. How great would it be if the National League is able to pull out the All Star Game win in Yankee Stadium, granting the Mets home field advantage in the World Series, against whoever, allowing the Mets to win a World Series at home, in the last game at Shea, in Game 6 or 7 of the World Series? (I'll answer my own question: It would be awesome, but I'm not getting ahead of myself....the past two years the World Series was my expectation, and we all know both years fell well short. And I sure would love a World Series sweep - if it takes the Mets winning it on the road, I'll be OK with that.)

BEDARD TO SEATTLE: You probably remember that Erik Bedard is one of my favorite players in baseball these days. You might be shocked by what I'm about to say. First of all, it seems like Seattle gave up an awful lot for him - 5 players in exchange for Bedard. He's very good - but even the Mets got Santana for less. (I know nothing about the prospects - but 5 for 1 is a deal for a special type of player...and I'm not sure that's Bedard.) Now, I like Bedard a lot. But I get a bad feeling about him now going to the American League West. Don't get me wrong -I'll be rooting for him, and I'm actually excited that every fifth day I'll have a reason to watch the 10pm games....but I'm not sure he'll have as much success as he did in Baltimore.

COMING SOON: This e-mail has prompted me to lay out a schedule for the next few days (it also includes a clever play on words involving the name of the blog):

"Dear JohnnyMets,

Enough football and baseball. Where the heck is the five-part NASCAR preview to run under the headline 200 Miles (per hour) from the Citi?

Sincerely, Dave in Brighton"

First of all, it's just one part - but we're just two days away - it'll be posted Sunday night, a week ahead of the Daytona 500. Saturday will be a piece unrelated to any sport in particular, and then Monday night will begin about a month-long preview of the Mets. And pretty much all baseball all the time from there on out.

FROM THE FANS - DAVE IN BRIGHTON

Well, the Super Bowl is drawing ever nearer, and the weirdest Super Bowl bye week I've experienced is drawing to a close. I'm getting inundated nonstop in New England with Patriots coverage, my family is getting Super Bowl coverage in New York for the Giants, and I'm stuck here having to hear all about it while not really caring.

We'll do a last "From the Fans" segment, though, this time from Dave in Brighton. Dave has been in New England for the same length of time I have, and as he explains, he had no prior loyalties preventing him from blending right in to a winning football culture:

I didn't even watch football at all until fall of 2001. My roommate at the time in Brighton was dismayed by this, so he told me that '01 would be the season I would start being a fan. His first instruction: "Pick a team." I figured all the Pats games would be on TV, so I went with the Patriots.

I will point out that at the time I made the decision, the Patriots had been to two Super Bowls but won none, and the team was still in the post-Pete Carroll doldrums.

Seven years hence, there have been six post-season appearances, three Super Bowl wins, and one undefeated season. In short, the Pats have made it easy to be a fan.

So what's it like? I may have come late to the party, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy it.

I think sports fans find a shared identity in the bad times, mainly because only one team wins each season. But now I find myself in a place that plans victory parades before the game is even played. It's been nice to only identify with the good times. I'm sure that bothers some people, but what do you want me to do? Stop rooting for a team because it's good? Heck no. I'll stop rooting when they're bad. Duh.

Safe to say Sunday's game will come down to a field goal. I'll go Pats 31, Giants 28.

Dave in Brighton is also a talented blogger. He has filled in on the rare occasion that he watches a Mets game that I am unable to see.

AN UNRELATED BASEBALL NOTE TO OMAR MINAYA: Omar, give the man what he wants. If Johan Santana wants 7 years, you give him 7 years. If he will take 6, but only for an extra $10 million, you shell out the money. Don't even let it get close to the Friday, 5pm deadline. Please.

A WINTER BLAST

The draft is over, and the weekend visit/mini-BU Reunion is over. And I can't wait for baseball season.

That's always the result of this weekend and its activities - when Dave in Brighton, Justin From NYC, and the Southern Bureau are all up for the weekend, we catch a BU hockey game, and then have our baseball draft. I need to spend a minute updating you on our draft:

We do things a little differently - for about the fifth year now, we're doing this league using only teams from the NL and AL East divisions. And we don't use the traditional stats. This year it's:
OBP, R, RBI, SB, and K's on offense and W, SV, ERA, K, and BB for pitchers.

There are other minor rules, involving which players are eligible for the league based on trades and free agent signings and such. You may think we're crazy for holding our draft in January, before the dust settles for the season, but we think it's part of the deal. For example, the Southern Bureau drafted the rights to Johan Santana, so while I still hope the Mets land him, if my suspicion that he won't even be traded turns out to be true, I won't be too upset.

And Dave in Brighton is being punished by the baseball gods. In the one year he does a traditional draft, instead of employing some sort of blockbuster strategy in which he tries to game the system, it looks like the Orioles are on the verge of pulling off a blockbuster trade. Or two. (And I think Dave has Brian Roberts, but I know he has Erik Bedard.) Both Bedard and Roberts look like they are going to be shipped out of the division, punishment to Dave, in my eyes, for drafting Bedard before I could. So it looks like I'm already charmed this year, because I wasn't even considering the Bedard trade (to Seattle) as I prepared for the draft...and I would have been left in a lurch had I taken him in the draft. And Dave went from having an awesome team to now having a team with two very big holes.

Who did I end up with? Well, a few Mets, no one earth-shattering, position-player-wise - Brian Schneider and Moises Alou...but I also got Pedro Martinez*. I was able to get Jonathan Papelbon, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Chad Cordero and Ryan Zimmerman again, holdovers from last year's co-champions. Former Mets also dot my team - Scott Kazmir, Cliff Floyd, and Lastings Milledge. I'm also psyched to see what happens with Matt Garza for the Rays and Scott Rolen in Toronto. That trophy is here to stay.

I know it's boring to go over fantasy stuff...but I'll only do it occasionally. Expect another update mid-season. I'm very excited to get to baseball - but there's one more week where the focus will be on football. Being in the "stuck in the middle" position that I am, as a Jets fan watching the Giants and Patriots get ready to play in the Super Bowl, I have the advantage of knowing many Patriots fans and many Giants fans. Two of each will weigh in this week with special guest blogs this week. It'll start late Monday/early Tuesday with The Wife.

THE DRAFT WEEKEND

Due to the fact that 80% of my readership will be spending the weekend at my house, I'll be taking the weekend off. But it's not like I won't be doing anything sports-related.

This weekend is the big BU Reunion, where Dave in Brighton, Southern Bureau, and Justin in NYC all come up for a BU hockey game and we hold our East Coast Bias fantasy baseball draft.

You may remember the heartbreak of last year where I lost my season-long grip on first place in the final weeks of the season and then had to share first place because I came up one pitcher's strikeout shy of winning on the final day of the season. It's better than finishing second, but it's still just a tie...and especially painful because due to a school event, I missed starting Pedro Martinez* on the final Wednesday of the season, and, I think, Jon Lester - and there's your strikeout.

I have the trophy (seen at left), but I still feel like I'm sharing it. I want to win it all this season, by myself, and it starts with the draft on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, I don't even remember what the stats are going to be that we need to keep track of. All I have is a list of names - no stats. Darn schoolwork. I'll be busy in the next 24 hrs...

COVER BOY

Another Met will grace the cover of a video game. This time, Jose Reyes will do the honors. Unlike the last time, I will not be rushing out to buy this game. (The enthusiasm for that game lasted about a week...it has collected dust ever since. Chalk one up to The Baby.)

I'll take advantage of this news, though, to comment on the Winter Meetings....

Anyway, the Mets were quiet during the Winter Meetings, other than to have Omar Minaya raise false hope at times (giving Mets fans reason to believe the Mets still had an outside chance at Johan Santana), or telling us that the Mets are set the way they are right now (doubtful).

I do believe the Mets have a chance at Santana. I don't think he's going anywhere now until the trade deadline. Unlike Mark Buehrle, I don't think Santana will work out an 11th hour deal with the Twins. He will be traded, but it will come later. And I think the Mets have a real shot, and....full circle here....I think the MLB 2K8 cover boy still could be wearing a different uniform by the end of the season.

Sorry I didn't update during the meetings like I thought I would. My mind is focused on the two weeks left until winter vacation. We're getting there...

FOOTBALL NOTES: I'm not a betting man, but for entertainment purposes only, I'd take the Steelers plus the points this week. I think they might beat the Patriots. If not them, I think the Patriots might finish the regular season undefeated. And if they do, I have a feeling they're going to lose in the playoffs. Just my two cents on that.

ANOTHER BLOG: Joining the Southern Bureau (see the 'Orange Couch' link to the right), and Dave in Brighton (naturalbl0g), Justin From NYC finally has his blog. I say finally because of the four of us, he's the one who should have had one from the beginning. It's about politics, and it's through 1010 WINS in New York. See the link at the right - Talking Politics. Should be lots of fun.

BOOK REVIEW

QUIET STRENGTH: THE PRINCIPLES, PRACTICES, & PRIORITIES OF A WINNING LIFE
By Tony Dungy, with Nathan Whitaker

I just got around to reading this book last week, and I really blew through it...and I really enjoyed it. I have to thank Dave in Brighton, and Mrs. Dave in Brighton, because it is through them that I got this book. They were nice enough to get me a gift on my big 29th birthday party this year (7/7/07!), but unfortunately, I already had the book they got me. (I guess they didn't read the blog carefully enough.) But I exchanged that book for this one over the summer, and now I've finally read it. So everything worked out.

This book started out rocky (the italics are direct quotes):

"...before we begin, I want to make sure we're starting at the same place. The point of this book is not the Super Bowl. In fact, it's not football."

What?

"This book is not only about me, either."

Well, then what is this book about? Football and Tony Dungy were the reasons I bought it!

"It's about the things I've learned, the mistakes I've made, and the heartaches that have made me lean into the Father's presence. I hope that when it's all said and done, you'll see that it's really all about Him."

Oh no! I've been tricked into a book about religion!

But not totally, and really, it was a good book.

Now, I have a pretty high tolerance for the religion piece, so I don't know that I can be a fair judge of whether or not Dungy beats the reader over the head with religion throughout the book. I will say he mentions it a lot, but not overwhelmingly so. The man's religious, and that comes across loud and clear. But he's also a good guy, who treats people the right way, and that makes anything he says more tolerable.

The best parts of the book were some of the inner workings of the NFL. There's a really good part when Dungy talks about the 1996 draft with Tampa Bay, when they end up 'settling' for Mike Alstott. The Jets were actually involved, screwing up the Bucs pick by taking receiver Alex Van Dyke when they had previously agreed to trade the pick so the Buccaneers could get Texas A&M running back Leeland McElroy. He went to the Cardinals, and Tampa ended up with Alstott. I'd say that non-trade worked out OK for Tampa, not so well for the other teams involved.

The connections between all of the coaches was pretty interesting too. Dungy worked with a number of people on different levels of different staffs. He didn't have the kindest words for the type of workhorse Marty Schottenheimer is, and of course, Dungy and Herman Edwards are close friends, so the former Jets coach features prominently in the book. If you can stand the religious talk, or at least be able to scan through the football portions of the book while skipping the religious parts, I'd really recommend the book.

HOW BAD ARE THE JETS RIGHT NOW?: Here's how bad the Jets are right now - the Jets, 2-9, are 1-and-a-half point underdogs at the 0-11 Miami Dolphins. Ouch.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: Southern Bureau is not alone thinking that Shea is a dump...and he's entitled to his opinion, but for me, it will always be a special place. I can never categorize it as a dump, and that's not me being 'politically correct', it's just the way I feel.

HOW I SPENT PART OF THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, Boston University took on Cornell in what was billed as "Red Hot Hockey: A Rivalry Renewed". My brother came through big time, using a connection to get me and Justin From NYC two tickets in a luxury box. For a while we thought we'd have the box to ourselves, but then other people showed up. Wildly - not only were they BU fans...they were also people Justin knew from BU - one was a guy who he and the Southern Bureau took under their wings and helped grow from radio intern to someone who now does something for a Redskins radio network. BU, having a terrible season so far, won the game, 6-3. This was our view from the suite:

WELL, THAT WAS QUICK

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox on winning the World Series. I really thought the Rockies would make something out of that...but they barely showed up. Click on the link to the right that says "Orange Couch". The Southern Bureau did a nice job of breaking down the World Series in his pick on his blog...although he admits to letting his heart get in the way a little, he made the right calls. I should have seen this coming...but I didn't.

The layoff definitely hurt the Rockies' hitting...but it didn't help that they were facing Josh Beckett early on also. Their pitching was pretty bad.

The Series was so quick that I didn't even have a chance to offer a bet to one of my co-bloggers...either the Southern Bureau or Dave in Brighton, who are both Red Sox fans...or even The Wife. Maybe we can still work something out, since I'll admit that I would have lost whatever we bet.

I could have let the Southern Bureau cash in on his bet in person, too. How's this for an impulsive move? The Southern Bureau came north Tuesday for the Red Sox championship parade. That's awesome. I had to be with the Baby, so I couldn't meet up with him, but I admire his move from afar. Great work, Southern Bureau. (Dave in Brighton also attended said parade, but who are we kidding...he's from Brighton. It would be news if he didn't go.)

I need to weigh in on a few other things that have been making news lately:

A-ROD
I agree that it was in poor taste that the announcement that A-Rod was opting out of his contract came during the World Series. But the media made way too big a deal out of it...they could have let it sit until after the World Series - they chose to play it up. Also, I would have bet money that the Yankees were waiting for a couple of hours until after the World Series ended (and the Red Sox won) to try to steal some headlines by naming their new manager. Perhaps they waited a day after they saw how A-Rod got slammed by not waiting with his news. It just seemed like a Yankees way to steal headlines - and trust me, as a Mets fan, I know the Yankees are a well-oiled machine when it comes to grabbing headlines away from their rivals.

Also, I hate to even bring this up, but this occurred to me, and I think it needs to be mentioned. Jose Reyes was not himself the last couple of months of the season. You hate to think it, but I'm sure the front office was wondering what was up. Now the best shortstop in the game is available. The Mets have to be in the conversation, since they're one of only a handful of teams in the majors who can afford Rodriguez. Do the Mets think about trading Jose Reyes for some stud pitchers somewhere, while his value is at its peak, and then sign Rodriguez? I am not in any way endorsing this move - I just thought it might have some fragment of the way the Mets' front office might be thinking.

Something needs to be shaken up after last season's collapse...do the Mets do something this dramatic? I think that I hope they don't...but I'm not really sure how I feel. The ending to last season...and then the impending steroid report results....it all has me a bit bothered, and I'm not sure I'll know how I really feel about baseball and the Mets until spring training rolls around. And I don't know that I'll care very much if Alex Rodriguez is a Met and Jose Reyes isn't. But I won't know until this stuff actually happens.

One last thing - a lot of Red Sox fans I know are saying they absolutely do NOT want Alex Rodriguez on their team. They're throwing around words like "cancer". I don't know if A-Rod is that big of a clubhouse cancer - how can he be? He's just not that big of a personality. I just think he's selfish...and that probably doesn't endear him to teammates...but I don't think he tears teams apart. I think he just folds in tough situations, and ends up letting his team down at key moments.

MANAGERIAL MOVES
So Joe Torre is out in New York, Joe Girardi is in, and Joe Torre is now in in Los Angeles, and Grady Little is out. And Don Mattingly is following Torre to L.A. The two guys that got the worst out of these deals are two guys I like a lot. I like Grady Little. I don't know why, I just do. And I think he got a raw deal in Boston. But that's ancient history. Too bad it didn't work out for him in L.A....who knows if he'll ever find success as a manager. (Meanwhile, I was about to write about what a great job Terry Francona has done with the Red Sox since succeeding Little, but Bob Ryan beat me to it with a great article in Tuesday's Boston Globe. So I won't waste my time.)

Then there's Don Mattingly. I always liked Mattingly. For a long time, I was a Yankees and Mets fan - I harbored no ill will towards the Yankees at all. People always said, "How could you like both New York teams?" They never played one another, so I thought it was easy to like them both. They both represented my city. But then Don Mattingly got old fast. And the Yankees showed him the door. I can't remember the details of his departure as I write this, but one day Don Mattingly was a Yankee, the next he wasn't even invited back to spring training, if I remember correctly. So now, another unceremonious departure later, I just feel bad for the man. He's a Yankee...and I don't think they treated him right twice. That's why I stopped rooting for the Yankees...just in time for their great run of World Series titles. But I guess it's a good thing that happened - because otherwise I would have been quite confused in the 2000 Subway Series (don't worry...I would have rooted for the Mets).

It will be interesting to see how Joe Girardi does in New York after the fiasco in Florida where he clashed with ownership while doing a wonderful job managing a young group. There are elements with this Yankees team that are the same (young players, interfering owners?), but it's a mostly veteran team of which a lot is expected. So that's different.

FINALLY, A PICK: The Yankees-Dodgers is too obvious, with that managerial connection. So the early frontrunner for my World Series prediction for 2008 is Braves-Tigers, following the Edgar Renteria trade.

NOT DEAD YET

I really can't believe that it's come down to this, but here we are. John Maine stepped up big-time on Saturday, going 7-and-two-thirds no-hit innings, before giving up only a dribbler to third base...one infield hit (along with a career-high 14 strikeouts), as the Mets beat the Marlins, 13-0. Talk about sending a message...although I would have much rather had those 13 runs spread out over some of these other games.

Later on Saturday, the Washington Nationals held on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, to force a tie once again atop the National League East standings. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Nationals franchise, deep down, because of the Expos roots and the affiliation with Hall of Famer Gary Carter. With Saturday's win, and if they can pull out a win on Sunday against the Phillies, I will forever root for them whenever they are not playing the Mets.

So on Sunday it will be Tom Glavine versus Dontrelle Willis in New York, while in Philadelphia, the Mets will be hoping Jamie Moyer continues his season-long struggles against Jason Bergmann.

On Saturday, the Mets earned for themselves a chance to play themselves in to the post-season. All they have to do is win, and they will either go straight to an NLDS series, or play a playoff game on Monday against the Phillies. I don't even want to think about the scenarios if they lose...but there is potential that they will still have a one-game playoff with a loss.

John Maine showed us his big-game ability in the post-season last year. He proved he's a big-game pitcher again on Saturday - stepping up big-time when the Mets needed him. Now, facing another seemingly elimination game on Sunday, the Mets have Tom Glavine on the mound - they can't do much better than that.

The Southern Bureau sent me a message on Friday night saying his dad was at Friday night's game, and the Mets showed no emotion. It showed on television too...the Mets looked awful. Because of blackout restrictions for the Saturday national game, I couldn't watch Saturday's game, but I was able to catch some of the radio broadcast, and it seemed like the Mets fixed whatever their problem had been. Then, there was more fire added when Jose Reyes got into it with Miguel Olivo, the Marlins' catcher. The benches emptied, the only punch thrown was Olivo trying to get at Reyes, but there was a spark. More signs of life out of the Mets than we've seen in about a month. (Dave in Brighton was at this game - almost seeing in person his second career no-hitter. Lucky guy - he saw the benches clear. Don't think I've ever seen that. He's just lucky that way.)

Also, completing what's been a good season for him, Lastings Milledge had two home runs. He has shown a lot of maturity this year (his recent suspension for arguing a strikeout call notwithstanding), and it was nice to see him contribute in such a big game - because I still think the Mets have to get someone of value for him - I just don't see how he fits into their future plans.

So it comes down to Sunday - Mets need a win, and hopefully a Phillies loss. I have to figure out a way to watch the Mets and Jets simultaneously...but I guess that should be the worst of my problems. Hopefully there will be good news to write about on Sunday night.

AN ODE TO MIKE MAROTH

I have never been a good fantasy baseball/sports player. I play too much with my heart, and not enough with my head...and usually that comes back to bite me in the end. It's my Achilles Heel when it comes to fantasy sports. Mike Maroth is a perfect example of playing with my heart, not with my head.

You may remember Maroth as the young pitcher on the 2003 Detroit Tigers who challenged the record for losses in the season. He refused to sit out down the stretch, battled through the rest of the season, and finished with a 9-21 record for a team that lost 119 games.

I had Maroth on my team that year, and the next. I think my big rationale was that we weren't punished for losses, and I liked the fact that he went out and pitched every fifth day, and considering he lost 21 games, he didn't pitch horrendously. Maroth, if I remember correctly, was often the victim of one bad inning, where things would fall apart, and his ERA would rise as a result. But over the course of the season, Maroth improved, and on a better team he would have done much better. I was working in the TV sports business at the time, and there were times when Maroth would be taking no hitters into the sixth or seventh innings, and it would cross the wires as such...before he would implode (but the AP Sports Wire would alert when a pitcher had a no-hitter after about six innings). So I saw promise in Maroth, and I rewarded him by always making sure he was on my fantasy team.

I think most people do this - they develop a loyalty to a certain player who doesn't really help their team, but who they feel like they can reserve a spot on their fantasy team's bench for, just to say he's on their team. For me it's Maroth. For Dave in Brighton, if his blockbuster strategy allowed it, it would be Oliver Perez.

I think my loyalty, and my pulling for an underdog like Maroth, stems from a life of rooting for underachieving baseball teams and football teams. Sure, the Mets and Jets are doing well now, but the majority of my life has seen them struggling. I've stuck with them, though, and it's made me more loyal, more likely to block out the bad stuff and focus on the good. That's the way it was with Maroth.

Last year, he was pitching as well as anyone on the Tigers' staff as they made their dominant run through the American League, off to a 5-2 start with a 4.19 ERA...then he got hurt. I think he showed what kind of a pitcher he could be. And I think the St. Louis Cardinals saw that. And I think they made a great trade on Friday, acquiring Maroth from Detroit for a player to be named later. Unfortunately, with Maroth a Cardinal, my days of pulling for him may be nearing an end. I will, though, be keeping a close eye on his starts.

ANOTHER TRADE: On the radio show Thursday (www.blogtalkradio.com/johnnymets, I talked about how this weekend the Mets would be getting the A's' lineup at full strength, because Milton Bradley had just come back from injury. Well, I didn't realize there have been some issues between Bradley and the A's, and now he's been dealt out of Oakland - to the Royals, in exchange for pitcher Leo Nunez.

COMMENTS/E-MAIL: Hilarious comment by the Southern Bureau. I've not deleted Rodrigo's comment just so the Southern Bureau's stays relevant. And then there's this e-mail from Justin from NYC - always entertaining when Justin's in the inbox:

"time for another addition of "Justin was just as screwed up as johnny when he was a kid"

As far as the baseball card situation...

I can tell you the exact date of this occurrence.. cause it was the night Letterman debuted on CBS: August 30, 1993.

I slept at my friend Izzy's house that night, so we could watch the big show. (Billy Joel was the musical guest, by the way) But at about 9 o'clock we started leafing through his baseball cards. Both of us had boxes and boxes of cards.. as well as albums completely filled up. We decided to draft teams. So we grabbed a handful of random cards, spread them out on the floor, and drafted our teams. I have no idea what we were gonna do to determine which team was better, but we picked anyway. Well, that took about an hour.. but we wanted to keep going. So we grabbed another handful.. and started adding to our teams. 25 guys on the major league roster, and 25 on the minor league roster. Well, soon.. we each had a major league team, a AAA team, a AA team and three A teams. Then the trading began. All i remember is that he held me up for hours as I tried to acquire Mike Myers, cause i needed a situational lefty for my AAA team.

(Myers was a tigers farmhand at that point).

So.. we got so into it.. We barely watched letterman. It was background noise while we wheeled and dealed..."