HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's What To Look For in 2008

I'm not here to offer predictions for the baseball season - it's too early for that. I will say that 2008 is looking to me like a must-win season for the Mets. If they don't win this year, I think it might be a while. If they do win this year, I think they might be able to defend a title in their new park. But I'll explain that logic later on in the year.

While we're on the subject of the new park:

I think it's a fair assessment to say that I've driven past the Citi Field construction about 20-25 times without taking a picture for the blog. Each time, I tell The Wife, "Argh! We forgot to take a picture. We have to do it on the way back!" And then we forget. We either flat-out forget, or don't have the camera ready in time, or something stands in the way. But this Christmas trip, we did have the camera ready, and took a few shots. Photography credit goes to The Wife.

We therefore have our first thing to look for in 2008 - the last year of Shea, and the completion of Citi Field. The shell of the new stadium is becoming more and more visible, and the outer buildings (what I imagine will be offices and such) are taking shape (you can see that to the right of the construction, to the left of Shea).

Now, the new Yankee Stadium is nearing completion, too...and they are just as far along as the Mets are. I drove by there on a trip to Jersey a few weeks ago, and was surprised at how far they've come (the Bronx is not as much of a drive-through area for me as is the area where Shea is - five minutes from my parents' house). I think the new stadium in the Bronx is going to do wonders for that area.

But that's another thing to look forward to in 2008 - I totally forgot about this until I saw the logo and merchandise advertised in a MLB catalog:
Of course, I wish the game were at Shea, but I like that it is in New York. Perhaps, being in the summer, when I have no school and am more than available, I can work out a trip down there, and perhaps some sort of ticket. It might make up for the fact that I entirely missed the Boston All Star atmosphere the summer before I permanently moved here.

There's another minor thing that took place over the baseball off-season that you might not have noticed, and I haven't had a chance to include it here yet.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are no longer the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They've dropped the "Devil", therefore becoming just the Tampa Bay Rays. I think they've also adopted a new mascot - a more recognizable "Ray" than the one they already have.

Hopefully, 2008 will be a good year for Mets fans. There's one added bonus, which you can think about anytime you write out the date. My uncle mentioned to me this weekend that he couldn't wait for 1955, when in school he could write Joe DiMaggio's number every time he wrote the date (I guess writing '5' '5'). I always think of dates in terms of consecutive numbers, or repeat numbers - so I would have been looking forward to 6/7/08, or 8/8/08. But now I realize, this is the "Year of Gary Carter" - #8.

Happy Year of Gary Carter to you and yours. I leave you with the other pictures of CitiField (click them to make them larger):

WHY NOT GARY CARTER?

Earlier this month, the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League named Von Hayes their new manager. Among the other names on the short list of candidates for the job was Hall of Famer Gary Carter. Carter was supposedly very close to getting the job, but Hayes pulled ahead and was able to land the position.

The talk, and this is a reasonable point, is that Hayes was selected because of his incredibly popular stint with the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1980's, and that goes a long way in drawing fans to an independent team like the Barnstormers. But I would counter with the argument that Carter is a Hall of Famer, and he doesn't just pull in the local Pennsylvania fans...he's a national draw. I know right now I have no interest in attending a Barnstormers game...but if Gary Carter were managing the team, I'd be making a trip to Lancaster. This is also the league that includes the Long Island Ducks and Bridgeport Bluefish...so chances are I would even catch one or two Barnstormers road games.

So why else might a team pass up Gary Carter for Von Hayes? Could the reasons be the same as why a major league team might pass up Gary Carter as their hitting coach (the Colorado Rockies last year), or first-base coach (the New York Mets)? Or why a Triple-A level team might pass him up as manager (the L.A. Dodgers' affiliate)?

At first glance, Carter seems like a great candidate. His track record is impressive - managing two years at the lowest minor league levels, he posted very impressive records:
2005 (Gulf Coast League): 37-16, first round playoff exit (0-2)
2006 (St. Lucie Mets)
1st Half: 40-30
2nd Half: 37-32
Postseason: 5-0 and won the championship

He's also savvy with the media. In fact, I think this media savvy could be his strongest point...and his weakest. No manager in the world would be more willing to talk to the media, win or lose, after a game, than Gary Carter. He loves the press. No question about it. But that might also be a drawback...in this day and age, where someone as ornery and secretive as Bill Belichick (different sport, I know, but the parallel can be made) is having so much success while giving the media hardly anything to work with, a team might not be looking to hire someone so willing to talk.

I also think there's a stigma that no one wants to work with Carter, and this is what bothers me the most. I think Carter was a little too much of a go-getter as a player, too willing to kiss up to the right people. It made him a success, no doubt about it, but I think now that some of the people in important positions are his former peers, instead of the people he was kissing up to, he's sort of receiving a little bit of what those people felt he had coming. Perhaps they have an idea that Carter thinks he's better than them...and maybe he doesn't do too much to dispel that thought. But something like Carter turning down a Double-A managing job with the Mets, maybe that turned people off - who does Gary Carter think he is, does he think he'll go straight to the majors without paying his dues? I don't know what the problem is.

This bothers me, especially the fact that I believe so many baseball people aren't crazy about Carter (which is just my assumption...it's not a fact, but when you hear people/broadcasters/former players talk, you get that impression) because as far as I can tell (and with the bias that Gary Carter is my childhood sports hero), Gary Carter is a nice guy. For all his faults, he's not going out and doing bad things - he's a good role model, and I'm glad he's mine. I just wish I could continue seeing him involved in the game at the major-league level again.

TRADE NEWS: The Minnesota Twins and the Tampa Bay Rays made a trade Wednesday, where Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett went to the Rays, with Delmon Young and Brendan Harris going to Minnesota. I think this is a great trade for both teams, and I also think it means the Twins are working on other things....namely, a trade of Johan Santana to the Mets for Jose Reyes. I don't know whether or not it's possible, but I do know that Brendan Harris played a lot of second base last year, and if the Twins put him at second (Luis Castillo was dealt at last year's trade deadline, as we know), they'll still need a shortstop after dealing Bartlett. Reyes? Perhaps.

The Mets also added a reliever Wednesday, trading for Brian Stokes from the Rays. Stokes had a 7+ ERA last year, so I don't know how much relief he'll provide, but the Mets are involved in this trade market, that's for sure.

GOODBYE, TOM: One last note - Tom McCarthy, the Mets' radio announcer with Howie Rose, for the past two seasons, has left the Mets to go back to Philadelphia with the Phillies. I always liked him. Too bad. I wonder if Ed Coleman now moves up to permanent game-calling status, and his 'Mets Extra' pre-and-post-game shows get handed off to someone else. Could be a big shift on the radio side.

Scott Kazmir knows I'm watching. He knows this is the first time I've been able to watch him since the Mets traded him to the Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano. He's been saving his best effort for tonight, because he knew I'd be watching very carefully, ready to write about what a crappy trade this was if he pitched well.

It was a crappy trade. What a crappy trade. Scott Kazmir is shutting out the Red Sox through six innings right now...pitching the best game of his short, short career. He's got 9 strikeouts, no runs, and he's given up just three hits. I really thought the Red Sox would knock him around - a lot. It remains to be seen at this writing if Tampa Bay holds on to win the game, and get Kazmir his second major league win...but Kazmir was very impressive on Tuesday night.

Other impressive nights - Kris Benson (so far) and David Wright. As I write this, Wright is 3-for-3, with his 12th homer of the year, and Benson has shut out the Braves through five innings. Back-to-back good starts for Benson - he knows free agency is right around the corner.

One e-mail to get to, which I'll print now since I don't know when I will get to a computer again (if you've been checking out johnnyjets.blogspot.com, which I know you have, you know my computer was stolen):

"Dear johnnymetsmail,
That cheesesteak story was disgusting. I just feel sorry for your wife having to sit next to you for that whole game. I loved the pictures from Philly, but I wish there were some of your beautiful wife.
The website is a great resource for Mets fans and extremely well done and up to date. However, seeing as how you live in the Boston area, I think that you should address the needs of Red Sox Nation also. Some Red Sox related features would be much appreciated.
What is you take on the Sox this year? Do they have what it takes to finally win it all. What did you think of the Nomar trade? Did it make the Red Sox better or worse? Wouldn't they have been better off to get some pitching in return? Additionally who do you see the Sox resigning in the offseason and who will leave? Who do you see those players signing with? Furthermore, what offseason moves could the Sox make to become a better team? Is Roger Clemens coming back next year?

Sox Fan From Shrewsbury"

Thanks, Sox Fan. First of all, get over the cheesesteak. Everyone needs to get over the cheesesteak. Sometimes, you just make a bad food choice when you visit a new city...and you have to deal with the consequences. But it's time to move on. As for the Red Sox questions, I think you have johnnymets.blogspot.com confused with "somecrappyredsoxwebsite.blogspot.com". This is a quality Mets site, and you should really respect that. However, considering that 100% of my readers are Red Sox fans, I will indulge you:

I think the Red Sox are quite good this year, however, I think they will fold at some point, whether it's over the final weeks of the regular season or in the post-season. I have no evidence to support this theory, because the Sox are a very good team, but they didn't do it last year, so they never will do it. That's how I feel. That team is cursed bad. The Nomar trade was great, because Nomar is a @#!$&!? #(!@##?>!. They're a better team without that jerk. Pitching in return would have been good, but the defense is improved, which sort of helps out the pitching anyway. Is it coincidence that since the trade Derek Lowe has been pitching a lot better (probably, since I think Mientkiewicz has been hurt, and Cabrera can't be making that much of a difference when Lowe's on the mound). As for the off-season, I don't know who the Sox will sign - I forgot to ask Theo the last time we spoke. But I'm 99% sure Carl Pavano is signing with the Yankees. I do think Varitek and Lowe are gone. I think Varitek will sign with Milwaukee, and Lowe will sign with the Tigers (random guesses - I have no friggin' clue). For the Sox to become a better team, there's really nothing they can do. They had a great team this year and last year, but they are just fated to never ever win. It's sad, really. And Roger Clemens is a jerk. I don't care whether or not he comes back next year. I hope someone throws a shattered bat at him.

Thanks for reading, Sox Fan in Shrewsbury, and everyone else. We'll see when I can access a computer again, but I'll try to do something again before the end of the week. I'm posting early, but the Devil Rays are on their way to a win, and the Mets are up 7-0. David Wright is now 3-for-4.