ONE MORE GO-AROUND

I'm sure it hasn't gone unnoticed that it's been hard for me lately to keep up with '200 Miles From the Citi'. Part of this has been a busy home life, but I'm not going to lie - the Mets have been less and less inspiring to me as the season has gone on.

I think I'll address that another day. For now, I'm going to build on some feel-good momentum from last night and touch on a few topics that have been on my mind:

Last night, thanks to a class gift, The Wife and I were able to go to the Red Sox-Marlins game at Fenway Park. Despite the fact that the Red Sox missed the boat on building a new facility, there's always something special about watching a game at Fenway, especially at night, with the light towers. (Maybe because of 'Field of Dreams', I don't know).















It also helped that we had good seats, which is always a better viewing experience at Fenway.

As a nice bonus, last night also happened to be the 500th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park, so we received a commemorative baseball (on the way out the door; the Red Sox are not stupid) and other little giveaways throughout the night - we ended up with a free burrito. Rare giveaways at a place that doesn't really need to draw crowds with free items, so that was nice.

It made me think, though, that the Red Sox, while definitely successful between 2003 and 2009, have a bit of an advantage in that a sellout only needs to be 40,000 tickets sold (or less - 38,000+, I think). While that's more than teams like the Marlins and Nationals could dream of, I wonder how many other teams have had 40,000 for six straight years without being sellouts. The Yankees come to mind - even with their well-known troubles selling tickets this year, they are still over 40,000 a game. Just throwing that out there.

Some other things that have been on my mind:

Last night we happened to catch Brad Penny pitching for the Red Sox. With John Smoltz coming back into the Red Sox' plans for their rotation, rumor has it that Penny is expendable. (There are other options, but the Penny ones have caught my interest the most.) One of the teams rumored to be a destination for Penny is the Mets. I can't tell you how angry it would make me if the Mets traded for Brad Penny. They could have had him, on the cheap no less (unlike Oliver Perez and his 9+ ERA, high salary, and overall ineffectiveness), as a free agent. If they trade someone to get Penny, it might be the final straw that breaks the back of my already high level of frustration with the team.

Finally, you may remember a few years ago when I critiqued all of the Major League Baseball broadcasts. I didn't comment much on the Marlins guys, but I did mention that I was not a fan. They have not climbed the ladder too much in my view, and as I watch their 'sideline' reporter on occasion - I believe it's Craig Minnervini - they've dropped further. He creeps me out. One time in Arizona stands out in particular for me, when he leered at all of the girls in their bathing suits in a poolside interview. Well, that stuck with me, and it didn't go unnoticed last night when he made sure to introduce himself to Red Sox sideline reporter/former model Heidi Watney. Something tells me he doesn't go out of his way to make sure he gets to know the other male sideline reporters (which, it occurs to me, is not an extensive list beyond him) in the league.

So hopefully I'm getting back into updating the site more often. For some reason I hit the 5-year anniversary and maybe even a wall at the same time.

Again, I'll get into this more in a future post, but I'm feeling pretty upset with the Mets lately, though my enjoyment of baseball is still at its peak. Part of my issue is that it still feels odd for me watching the Mets play home games - I feel like I don't recognize anything.

Next week brings another trip to Citi Field. We'll see how things go after that trip. I'll have pictures and a new update on the new ballpark for sure by the first of July...but I will be updating before then as well.

MEDIA NOTES

I have a few things on my mind that are media-related, but let me just get this out of the way - the Mets don't get any congratulations for sweeping Washington and taking first place back. That's what they should have done. They need at least 3 out of 4 this weekend in Pittsburgh...but a sweep would be best-case scenario.

MIKE & THE MAD DOG

I'm pretty down about the end of Mike & The Mad Dog on WFAN in New York. I'm also disappointed that I just missed catching the beginning of today's show on YES - I was putting my daughter down for a nap and just caught a phone call between Mike Francesa and Chris Russo ending. Hopefully that gets played again.

Mike & The Mad Dog is what I pretty much grew up listening to as far as sports radio goes (actually, any radio - I didn't get into FM radio until much later in life). I always enjoyed the show, and like I do often with my sports teams, I defended Mike Francesa and Chris Russo when people put them down, even though I knew the person might have been right about what they were saying. Older now, I see their faults, but I still think they provided quality radio. (And having to listen to sports radio in Boston now, I realize how far and away better WFAN does things than other markets in the country - or, at least, better than Boston.) I'm 30, the show's been on for 19 years. I've spent a sizable chunk of my life listening to Mike & The Mad Dog...I'll miss it.

I'm sure Mike Francesa's show will continue to be fine on WFAN, and I'm sure Chris Russo will do fine wherever he goes (rumors are Sirius). And I'm sure they'll both be good shows to listen to - but it won't be the same.

UPDATE: Awful Announcing has the YES video of Chris Russo's phone call to Mike Francesa at the top of the show Friday. I listened to a couple of hours of the show, it was good stuff. A lot of the callers directed their affections, though, at Francesa - I thought it should have been more of an appreciation for Russo. Whatever.

The other thing, while I'm on the topic of media, is that www.awfulannouncing.com does a great job critiquing the media. I have a link to it on the right-hand side of the page - check it out every so often if you're interested.

OLYMPICS
I don't really have much to say about the Olympics coverage in general, though it seems that NBC is doing a fine job.

What I want to comment on is how much I enjoy watching Cris Collinsworth these days. I have come totally full circle on him. I used to strongly dislike anything he did - mostly from his work on 'Inside the NFL' on HBO. Maybe he said something bad about the Jets once that I held against him - I don't know. Maybe he came off as arrogant...I think it's a bit of both.

But ever since he started doing NFL Network games, he's started to grow on me. Maybe it's because he was the good alternative to Bryant Gumbel, who was just awful (and now gone), but he was flat out great, not just good compared to his partner. And now, whenever I watch the Olympics (I'm not watching a ton, but I catch the studio stuff every now and then), I'm happy when I see Collinsworth on - he's doing a great job there too.

REVIEW: ONLY A GAME

A few months back, I got an iTouch. It got me back into iTunes, and I discovered the world of podcasts. At first, I was downloading everything ("Best of ESPN Radio", "Best of Mike & Mike", interviews from "Mike & The Mad Dog"), but quickly learned that there was not enough time in the day to listen to everything. Especially during the school year.

I did, however, have time for a weekly podcast, and made it a point to listen to NPR's "Only A Game", which I knew of, but knew very little about. So I gave it a listen. And I really liked it. Even though my podcast obsession has died down, I still make a point of listening to "Only A Game" each week. Sometimes I save a bunch for the car rides to New York, sometimes I listen as I mow the lawn, sometimes I pop it on iTunes when I'm on the computer. It depends. But I listen to it solely off the podcasts - I couldn't even tell you when it's on regularly. (Check your local listings.)

I thought it was time to write about this, because it's been long enough that I can now tell I really enjoy the show, and it's not just a fluke. (And I apologize if you've been listening for years and you think I'm a dope for just getting this now.) I also wanted to take a break from the Mets mess.

The host of "Only A Game", Bill Littlefield, can be hokey, I guess, but it's all part of what makes the show enjoyable - he's a good hokey, willing to poke fun at what he does not know as well as what he does know, and able to keep everything in perspective. He laughs a lot, too, which is pretty contagious.

The part about the show that impresses me the most, though, is that it offers a take on sports and sports events that I wouldn't usually pay attention to. And I appreciate it. I wouldn't read about women's basketball in the paper or online, but I'll listen to a 7-minute segment on the sport. (I also should pay more attention to the sport, since I'll have two girls at home in a matter of months.)

I also consider myself someone who knows a lot about sports and sports history. But every other week or so, the show features something that I'd never known about, and I appreciate that. I appreciate that it will find something that, not just me, but hardly anyone has ever heard about. It takes work, and it's well done.

Bottom line - the show makes me feel smarter and more knowledgable 90% of the time I listen to it.

Unlike the current news about the Mets, which makes me feel dumber every time I tune in. Yes, that's Jerry Manuel stabbing Willie Randolph in the back on the back cover of the "New York Post". Funny, I don't remember seeing that live. And how did he get the knife through security? (The article is typical 'Post' stuff - don't bother with it. This Tony Bernazard character is a problem, huh?)

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.

ESPNEWS - EMPHASIS ON THE 'NEW'

I watch an inordinate amount of ESPNEWS. Not so much now, but usually over the summer, with nothing else to do, I'll leave it on for background noise. I like the fact that when there is something happening immediately, like a press conference or whatever, usually I can turn it on and I'll know they won't cut away from it. I also depend on their crawl for all of the scores for my baseball pool.

With the baseball season well underway, I've been watching ESPNEWS more lately. I don't usually watch for highlights, though I catch a lot of what I miss flipping from game to game while they show the highlights while I'm looking for my scores. It gives me what I need without ever having to watch SportsCenter, which I haven't enjoyed since I was 15. So I knew this change was coming - it didn't blindside me - but I didn't think it was necessary - a big format change that falls under the "If it wasn't broke, why did you fix it?" category.
I didn't think there was anything wrong with ESPNEWS when it was the orangey screen (on the left). They showed the scores I needed, and they had the appropriate content on the air. I don't have an HDTV, so the fact that it wasn't available in high definition didn't bother me. Now, the screen is heavy on the blue (on the right), there are more crowded graphics, but it still gives me the scores I need, so I don't mind that much.

What bothers me is that in doing this drastic change, ESPN took something that didn't have many flaws, and made it worse (the graphics they put on there - the face of the person who the news on the crawl is about, or the logo of the team, for example - make it a very busy screen), and didn't fix the flaws that did exist. Here's what I mean:

1) I hate it that ESPNEWS has this great crawl, but airs commercials that require the crawl to be dropped (Looking your way, Bowflex). Everytime a score I need is nearing, I go into my chant: 'Don't drop the crawl, don't drop the crawl'. I shouldn't have to do that. The information should stay on my screen...and they should either show commercials that don't require the crawl to be dropped, or keep the crawl up, commercials be darned. (And, yes, I'm aware that they probably think I'll stay around to watch my score the next time around - I do - therefore, watching more of their content. And furthermore, the commercials are the ones paying the money. But I don't care.)

2) There's no rhyme or reason to the scores right now. They'll show NCAAM, then NBA, then NHL, then NCAAM, then NASCAR, then GOLF, then NCAAM, NBA, and NHL again all before the MLB comes up. I don't get it. Don't use me as a pawn to see all this other stuff - give me my friggin' scores. I don't need to see men's basketball three times before I find out how the Padres-Giants game turned out.

3) This is one of the most frustrating things. ESPNEWS was notorious enough for calling something "Breaking News" if it happened at 10am, keeping the news on the bottom right-hand side of the screen for hours, and at 10pm still having it labeled "Breaking News". Now, it's even worse - it takes up the bottom part of the screen as "Breaking News". Another case of breaking something that wasn't broken in the first place...no pun intended.

I'm still watching, but it's tough - I have a feeling I'm going to have to solely rely on the SportCast Wireless Scoreboard soon enough for my baseball scores.

ONE MORE ESPN RANT WHILE I'M AT IT: Versus isn't completely innocent in this one, either, just to get that out there first. I was eagerly anticipating the NHL Playoffs beginning tonight, until I found out that the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game was on Versus. That means I needed to rely on DirecTV not blacking out MSG, where I was hoping to watch the Rangers-Devils series. Unfortunately, it was blacked out once 7pm hit. Now I have to figure out who to call and complain to - DirecTV, the NHL, or Versus. Because this is an instance that deserves a phone call or a letter. What other friggin' league blacks viewers out of their post-season? The most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. I need to rely on Versus!?! to show me the Rangers?!?! And now I have to make a phone call....I don't even like ordering a pizza on the phone. Stupid NHL. And I blame ESPN for not renewing its NHL contract - where I'd have more options - there's no such thing as Versus2. Not that I hold grudges or anything.

ARTICLE REVIEW

The Mets are 2-3, after a disappointing weekend in Atlanta. Too early to draw any conclusions. We'll re-evaluate after the Mets take on the Phillies and the Braves at Shea this week.

In the meantime, I read an article in New York Magazine this week about the Mets. I actually read it Sunday night, and I think it was a week old. I wouldn't go searching the internet for it.

The part about it that bothers me is that on the cover, it advertises an article on the "Post-Choke Mets". That makes you think the article will be about the Mets' approach to the season, no? Well, the article is another story, literally. The first sentence talks about last September's collapse, and the rest of the article is about the pitching rotation, with Rick Peterson as the central figure, shedding light on the Johan Santana acquisition.

The picture here is probably the best part of the whole article - not sure why I like it so much, but I do like it.

The article is all about the pitchers' personalities, and how they might do in the coming season. So just two games in, it was already dated, after Pedro Martinez's* injury.
There's nothing in there you didn't already know. Some of Peterson's approach to coaching pitching is interesting - there's a bit about the psychology of a pitcher.

Overall, I say skip it - which is a good thing, because I guess the new one is already out, and this one is old news.

MEET THE METS - PEDRO MARTINEZ*

A preview of the 2008 Mets, presented in the expected batting order, followed by pitching rotation, followed by impact bullpen/bench players. Today we focus on starting pitcher Pedro Martinez*.

2007: 3-1, 2.57 ERA, 32 K's, 7 walks, 28 IP

I think now is a very good time to take a look at the Pedro Martinez* signing, and how it has played out for the Mets.

2005: 31 starts, 15-8, 2.82 ERA, 217 IP, 208 K, 47 BB

2006: 23 starts, 9-8, 4.48 ERA, 132.2 IP, 137 K, 39 BB

2007: 5 starts, 3-1, 2.57 ERA, 28 IP, 32 K, 7 BB

First and foremost, I stand by what I've said all along - while I wasn't thrilled initially when the Mets signed Pedro Martinez*, it is because of Pedro Martinez* that so many others followed suit, and it is because of Pedro Martinez* the Mets came within an eyelash of the 2006 World Series (even though he didn't pitch that post-season), and it's because of Pedro Martinez* that the Mets were in the position they were in this off-season to acquire Johan Santana. Everything has a cause/effect relationship, and Pedro Martinez* signing with the Mets got the ball rolling on a number of things. So even if (God forbid) the Mets do not win this year's World Series, in the final year of Pedro*'s contract, it's because of Pedro* that they will be in the position to do so in the coming years.

That said, this is a big year for Pedro* in the eyes of fans a little more short-sighted than that. And I can't really blame them. He wanted four years, and that fourth year was a big question mark because of injuries. The Mets took the risk of getting four years out of Pedro*, giving him the four-year deal. At this point, Pedro* can only give them three, because last year was just five starts long for him. Things would have been different had the Mets made the playoffs, which was the plan, but it didn't work out that way.

I also need to clarify the 2006 numbers. Pedro* was better than 9-8 that year - he started the year 5-0, and could have been 9 or 10-0, but the team (offense and bullpen) didn't support him, leaving him with a string of no-decisions. (In 2005, too, don't forget he had to suffer through Braden Looper closing his games, and could have been better than 15-8).

So overall, Pedro* has pitched very well as a Met. This year will be different, though, because there's no pretending he is the Pedro* of old, who can get an upper-90's fastball past you. Pedro* will try to win this year on experience, guts, and guile.

And I think Pedro* will do OK on his experience, guts, and guile. He is a very smart pitcher, and knows what he is doing on the mound. I think the end of last year was a preview of what we can expect from Pedro* all this year - and I don't think a low-3.00 ERA and 15 or so wins is out of the question. I have also written about this before, but I think it helps tremendously that Pedro* is the number two pitcher on the staff.

Was the Pedro* signing a good one? I say yes. Especially if that fourth year turns out to be a championship year for the Mets, and Pedro* is on the mound pitching well for the Mets in that fourth year in the World Series.

SPRING TRAINING TELEVISED: I love what the Red Sox station, NESN, is doing - I saw that this morning they were airing a couple of hours of spring training workouts. I tuned in for a little bit and saw some batting practice and some pitchers throwing. It might be a little much if they do it more often than this, but I'll tell you this - if SNY were airing some of the Mets spring training workouts, I'd be tuning in to every second of it. Hopefully this sets a successful precedent that other teams and their networks start following.

RATTLING THE CAGE

If you're a Patriots fan, or a casual observer of the NFL, perhaps you're thinking anxiously about Tom Brady spending his time away from the team with his girlfriend Gisele in New York City. 'Of all places!' you might say. 'New York City!? Why, isn't that where the Giants are from?!" Well, yes it is.

And if you're a Giants fan, you probably love the fact that Tom Brady spends his off days in New York City. 'He's away from his team,' you say. 'He's distracted, and he has to hear the New York media constantly badgering him....' Wait. Stop right there. He hears it, and I don't think that's a good thing. Because I'm sure he's going to use it against you.

Exhibit A: Tuesday's New York Post:

Not only does the newspaper put Brady and his foot cast (air boot, whatever....it's a precaution that will be long gone by game time in two weeks) on the cover with the headline "Who's Afraid of Tom Brady Now?", but the accompanying article has the headline "Flowery Tom A Posy Patsie". Good work, New York Post. Your Giants press credentials should be revoked.

Exhibit B: Q104.3's promotion:

A classic rock radio station in New York City is encouraging fans to print out and cut out a mask of Bridget Moynahan, a la the Jessica Simpson face masks in Dallas to taunt Tony Romo, or the bimbo masks at Fenway Park to taunt A-Rod. You may remember, or need reminding, that Bridget Moynahan is Tom Brady's former girlfriend who he impregnated, then broke up with, and has spent all of his free time in New York City instead of, as The Wife points out, in LA to see his child. So this might actually be an effective taunt (masks of the baby might haunt him more, to be quite honest), but that's the second thing happening so far this week that is bound to piss off Tom Brady.

Exhibit C: Because I'm sure Brady is reading the New York papers, getting himself psyched for the week and a half off - Gary Myers in the New York Daily News on Tuesday, predicting Giants 31, Patriots 28 in the Super Bowl. I'm sure that'll tick him off, too.

And Brady's got a front-row seat, spending his time in New York. Don't think the man who can motivate a 16-0, 3-time Super Bowl champion team can't turn this stuff into an outrage that will psyche his team up. Don't rattle the cage.

Tom Brady doesn't often have two bad games in a row. Heck, he doesn't often have one bad game in a row. But he's coming off a bad game in the AFC Championship against San Diego. That means he's NOT going to play poorly in the Super Bowl...in fact, he'll be above the top of his game. And this all is just playing with fire.

EXPOSED

I'm thrilled the NFL decided to put tonight's Patriots-Giants game out as a simulcast, so it is available to every football fan, and not just those of us who have DirecTV. There are two reasons for this, in my book.

First of all, I'm thrilled because it's the right thing to do. One of the great things about the NFL is that it's so accessible. Can't get tickets to your local team? Well, the game will be on free TV. No other league is like that. (Most every game in every other sport is on cable, a few markets notwithstanding.) (Second parenthetical note - if you can get tickets to your local team...if it's not a sellout, it isn't on your local channel - it's blacked out. I think that's fantastic, too - go support your team in person.) So this game has a tremendous amount of interest, and it was only going to be available to a small fraction of fans? That wasn't sitting well with me, and I'm glad the NFL made the decision to put the game on CBS and NBS (it's also on ABC by me...and Channel 9 in New York). I'm not sure it was an issue that merited Congress getting involved, but that's another story for another day.

But the main reason I'm thrilled about this is that it's the last game of the season for the NFL Network, and maybe it will result in Bryant Gumbel's last game on the NFL Network. Not only will the aforementioned small fraction of people with the NFL Network get to see how awful Gumbel is at play-by-play, but now every NFL fan who cares will get a taste of it. And that is satisfying - Gumbel won't be able to hide behind the fact that no one gets the Network to keep his hideousness a secret. Unfortunately, to this point (I'm writing with the score 7-3 Giants, right after the Patriots just kicked a field goal), Gumbel hasn't been terrible. But mark my words....he will.

ON THAT SUBJECT: Drove back from New York today, and listened to the UConn-Wake Forest bowl game on the radio on the way back. I don't remember the names of the broadcasters - but they were friggin' awful. Man. I didn't know what was going on 3/4ths of the time. Especially frustrating because after the 10-0 halftime lead, UConn's 24-10 loss hurt me badly in my bowl pool.

COMING THIS WEEK: I'm off this week, so I plan a week full of updates on the blog. And therefore, I will withhold my wishes for a Happy New Year to you and yours for now.

AIG ON TBS

AIG is running this ad campaign during the playoffs on TBS where they sponsor a graphic that highlights what former players are doing now. It's basically "Where Are They Now?" with a different name...which I don't know, but plays off the idea that AIG helps you through your retirement. And it's pathetic.

I haven't been watching a ton of the playoffs, but I've caught this thing a couple of times. Graig Nettles: Enjoys babysitting his grandchildren and making charity appearances. Fred Lynn: Makes charity appearances.

You'd think either they would seek out the former players who are doing great things, or once they saw the responses they were getting from participating players, they would have tried to dress it up a little more.

(I can kind of imagine a former player sitting there, filling out the questionnaire sent by TBS/AIG.
Questionnaire: What have you been doing since your baseball career ended?
Former Player: Cursing out the current players for making millions.
Questionnaire: What do you do in your spare time?
Former Player: Charging as much money as I can for autographs. By the way, are you paying me for this?


This turns into "Makes charity appearances in his spare time" on the air.)


The one thing that now really bothers me about the Mets not making the playoffs (yeah...just this one thing) is that I guarantee one of these features would have been about Hall of Famer Gary Carter during a Mets playoff game...but now I'll never know.

IN PRAISE OF THE ROCKIES

Just so you know, I was going to write this no matter what the result of Game 1 of the Phillies-Rockies NLDS series was. It just so happens I'm writing this tonight happier than I otherwise would have been.

Had the play-in game ended in regulation, at a reasonable time, I would have written this then. A family situation in New York postponed the posting another day. But here it is.

I am hereby throwing my support behind the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series.

The Rockies are the anti-Mets. Where the Mets tanked over the final few weeks, the Rockies surged - they won 13 of 14 to force the play-in game, and then won that game. And then they won Game 1 of the post-season against Philadelphia, in Philadelphia. I believe there is another link between the Mets and Rockies, other than the fact that one has disappointed me to the extreme, while the other has impressed the heck out of me: I think it was against the Mets that the Rockies proved their worth and started feeling their oats.

The Mets and Rockies met very early in the season - in April, and the Mets took two out of three, because back then, the Mets were supposed to do that sort of thing. But then, in the beginning of July, with the Rockies 4 games below .500, everything started to click for Colorado. They beat the Mets 6-2, 11-3, and 17-7. I sort of wrote that off as a fluke at the time, but ever since that meeting, I've had half-an-eye on the Rockies, and I haven't been surprised at what they've done....because of that meeting. (Remember, they also swept the Yankees in Colorado, too.)

Since that Mets series, which was right before the All Star break, the Rockies have gone 51-30. (I didn't even realize until right now that it was also the exact halfway point of their season. How about that?) Some people (dad) think teams have to pay their dues before they root for said team to win the World Series. I haven't had this discussion with my dad to see if he thinks the Rockies have paid their dues...but it doesn't matter to me. I don't buy into that too much, anyway (I used to take pride in the fact that the Mets were the quickest expansion team to win a championship - in existence in 1962, winning in 1969...but that's long since past).

But even if I did, I would argue that by virtue of their awful pitching and awful pitcher's park their dues have been paid. And that's why johnnymets.blogspot.com is endorsing the Colorado Rockies as world champions this year (also...whoever they play from the American League would constitute a new matchup).

ANNOUNCERS: I searched a lot for that play-in game on Monday night before I realized it was on TBS. And I was only half-listening to the game when I realized I recognized the announcer's voice...and then it took me an unusually long time to process that it was Don Orsillo, the Red Sox play-by-play television guy. Good for him for getting on the national stage. I think he's gotten to be a very good announcer over the years. Solid. Also, a nice guy - I've met him a couple of times...including when I was working a morning shift just hours after Aaron Boone's home run in 2003. He could have been a jerk that morning and I would have understood - but he was extremely nice. At an ungodly hour. That earns points in my book.

On a down note...I was watching the Red Sox tonight, and though I never got the actual name or the graphic to prove it (again, only half-watching), I could never mistake that voice: Ted Robinson. Guess I can catch up on some TiVo shows during the Red Sox series - I don't want to see/hear Robinson. I'm beyond him.

MUSIC REVIEW: I am a Matchbox Twenty fan, in that I enjoy every single song they've put out that has made it onto the radio. I've never bought one of their albums, even though I've enjoyed everything Justin From NYC shared with me of theirs when we did our radio show together, believe it or not, about a decade ago. Not a protest or anything, just didn't get the albums. Anyway, Tuesday the Matchbox Twenty greatest hits album came out, and I was all over it. "Exile on Mainstream" is awesome - the six new songs are all very, very good, and the other 11 songs are all songs I love. I highly recommend it. It was great company for me on the round trip to New York Tuesday into Wednesday.

REVIEW: 'WAIT 'TIL NEXT YEAR: THE SAGA OF THE CHICAGO CUBS'

I spent my last day of summer vacation, in part, watching a documentary about the Chicago Cubs on HBO. It's been on for a while, I was just never able to catch it in its entirety.

The documentary reviewed the longtime suffering of the Chicago Cubs and their fans...spotlighting a few fans in particular.

It was a pretty good documentary, and the Mets were featured in a pretty good amount of it, as a lot of time was spent on the 1969 collapse. The following is my review, in bullet form:

• I think the thing that is worth mentioning first and foremost is that Cubs fans still hate the Mets because of 1969. I guess it's reasonable, since I hate the Cardinals because of how they've beaten out the Mets over the years (1987, last year, for example), but it seems a bit extreme. First of all, it's been almost 40 years. Secondly, the Cubs played horribly down the stretch that year - I'm sure there are scapegoats on that team. Here's a story that exemplifies the stupidity of the hatred - Bryant Gumbel was a featured Cubs fan in the documentary. He talked about doing a 'Game of the Week' with Tom Seaver, and how he couldn't stand to be in the booth with Seaver. Seaver at one point asked if he had done something to tick off Gumbel, and Gumbel told him it was 1969, or something to that effect. The irony here, I think, is that from all I've heard, Bryant Gumbel is the most hated man in show business. So go ahead and hate Seaver. Idiot.
• Another point about 1969 that I had never thought about - some of the players, Ron Santo in particular, said that the players were tired that year. They talked about how they were dragging towards the end of the season, and a big part of why the Cubs couldn't be successful was that they were always playing in the sun, during the day, and there were no night games. I'm not sure about that - sounds like fishing for an excuse...but it's an interesting point.
• Of course, the documentary focused on Steve Bartman for a few minutes, and how some fans blame him, others don't. How about this - watching the video again, I'm realizing that there was a fan who reached farther than Bartman, and interfered with Moises Alou more than Bartman. And he's gotten a free pass. Someone hunt down that guy and ruin his life.
• Finally, there was one fan, who is a cardiologist, who has been to 17 Chicago Cubs fantasy camps. Those are the events where old guys go to Florida to play baseball for about a week with former players from their favorite teams. And this guy has been to 17. That's a bit much. Now, when I was a kid, I thought those fantasy camps reeked of desperation. I still do...kind of. But I've reached a conclusion that if someone were to send me to a fantasy camp, as a gift, I would gladly accept the gift...and I would enjoy the fantasy camp. I'm kind of convinced it's the only way I'm going to meet Hall of Famer Gary Carter. I think I would also only go if someone I knew was going with me - I think it would be more fun that way. So - bottom line - I would go...but I wouldn't go 17 times.

OVER THE WEEKEND: I mentioned earlier in the week that I spent Sunday at a sporting event I had never before attended...it was the final round of The Barclay's golf tournament. It was pretty awesome. I had never before been to a golf tournament, and it's very similar to the U.S. Open tennis tournament - you have access to the entire place - practice at the driving range, practice at the putting range, you can follow certain players, or you can set up camp at a hole and watch everyone come through. I would definitely go to another golf tournament. It's very reasonably priced, and if the weather is good, it's a great day. The fact that the day I went was the final round of the first ever PGA Playoff tournament is just icing on the cake.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT SHEA

August 24th seems like way too late in the season for me to be attending my first Mets game of the season. It is, but such was the case this year. At least it was a good one.

Oliver Perez pitched an excellent game agianst the Dodgers, Jose Reyes single-handedly manufactured the first two Mets runs, David Wright homered for the third, and Billy Wagner held onto the game for the save. (We weren't around for the ninth inning, but that's another story for another day.)

The story on Friday night was our seats, or, really, what weren't our seats. Here's what happened. This has been in the works for a while. Let me give you a slight bit of background - my parents' best friends are a couple they have known since they were kids. They both had sons the same year - 1978. So my best friend growing up was their son. We've grown apart - different high schools, different paths since high school, me leaving the neighborhood for Boston (although I do want to do this type of thing again - it was great to hang out again), but we always went to Mets games together as kids. Every great game I saw growing up, I saw with Steven - the day after the Mets clinched the NL East in 1986; the day SpiderMan got married before the game, then Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson had their face-to-face collision; even football/hockey - we were together the day we saw the Jets lose to the Colts, 9-6 in the rain, then ate dinner at Rusty Staub's restaurant in Manhattan on the way to Rangers-Devils (the Rangers won, 2-1). We met Rusty Staub that day - another story for another day.

Anyway, we wanted to do a reunion-type game, so me and my dad and Steven and his dad went to this game together. It was great. Steven's dad was able to get us a window table in the Diamond Club - the Mets' restaurant at Shea. I had never eaten there before, so at least I had the chance to do that before the place gets torn down. The buffet was good - the only problem was that it really didn't feel like you were at a game, despite the fact that the game was going on right outside the window. Also right outside the window - Rusty Staub! He walked by on his way to his seats. He looked a heck of a lot better Friday night than he did when we met him and he signed autographs for us. And since I'm dropping names, I'll throw this one at you - Keith Hernandez took the elevator to the press level with us as we were heading to the Diamond Club.

Next, Steven's dad talked to an usher, and we were out sitting in the press box level in the Diamond Club seats. Not quite like sitting in a luxury box, but pretty good. Cushioned seats, waitress service, good sightlines. Much more like sitting at the game - since you're part of the crowd.

The one thing about the Diamond Club is that it's so secluded. If you're not looking for it, you'd never find it. And as a result, you'd never find the Mets Hall of Fame, where this is located:

I'm not sure I've ever told the story about my attendance at Gary Carter's induction into the Mets Hall of Fame. Another story for another day. Anyway, I hope the Mets Hall of Fame is more prominently located at CitiField.

The only other negative about the night was that I didn't get as good a look at the construction of CitiField as I would have liked. I did get this one shot below (note the upper deck garbage/people catcher at the top center of the picture), but I don't feel like it does justice to the tremendous progress being made. You can really make out the shell of the ballpark these days. The best thing for you to do would be drive up the Whitestone Expressway -that's always the best view I get, but I'm always driving, so I can't take the great picture.

SATURDAY AT SHEA: As I was in New York for the weekend, I was able to watch the Mets-Dodgers national telecast on Fox Saturday afternoon. Tim McCarver was doing the game, and during the third inning, Fox reunited McCarver and Ralph Kiner for the inning. Unfortunately, this happened during some high-stakes poker after the fantasy football draft, so I didn't hear much of it. Thanks to the Southern Bureau for making the effort to let me know about this event - I had read about it in the Daily News the day before. But if the Southern Bureau or anyone else who saw/heard it can write in and let me know how Kiner fared in front of the nation, I'd appreciate it. I hope he was as enjoyable as I've been telling you he is.

ASK TIM & RALPH

I'm a little upset with my mom right now.

When I was young, the majority of Mets games were on WWOR-TV, Channel 9. The broadcasters were mainly Tim McCarver and Ralph Kiner, with a rotating cast of others, Steve Zabriskie is the first to come to mind. This is why I have a sentimental attachment to Tim McCarver, despite the fact that so many people don't like him - he reminds me of 1980's Mets baseball.

In the late 80's, or thereabouts, WWOR-TV started a segment during Mets games called "Ask Tim & Ralph". In the segment, viewers were encouraged to send a postcard with your name and address and a question for Tim & Ralph. I don't remember whether the segment was meant for viewers to try to stump Tim & Ralph with some sort of trivia (as we shall see, this is how I interpreted it), or if the viewer was meant to seek analysis of a situation, like, "Is this Juan Samuel really worth the Mets trading Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell?"

I wanted to get a question on the air. I don't think the question that was selected won anything, other than the glory of the sender seeing his or her name on TV, and Tim & Ralph answering their question on TV. But that was good enough for me in the late '80's. So I sent in my question, and waited for my name to turn up faithfully, every game, waiting for the segment to come on...then never seeing my question.

I only sent one postcard, so my chances were probably one in a million. But that one always had me clinging to the hope that one day I would see my question come up in a bottom-third graphic, and there would be my name on the TV! The segment lasted a couple of years, if I remember correctly, and I remember thinking it must have been a popular segment, if they never had the chance to get a 9-year-old's question on the air.

This failure became my punchline. I had a cousin who was lucky enough to get down on the field and meet some Yankees. I used to tell her, "Wow. You're lucky. I couldn't even get my question on 'Ask Tim & Ralph'." Whenever someone had something good happen to them, that was my response, "I couldn't even get my question on 'Ask Tim & Ralph'."

Turns out that one in a million chance was actually a zero percent chance. My parents, as you well know, are cleaning out the house. Last weekend, when we were visiting on our way back from vacation, my mom came up to me and said, "John, look what I found, isn't this cute?!" And imagine my surprise when she showed me this:


She never mailed it. I never had a chance.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: In response to the Southern Bureau's comment - Rochester had a really good free breakfast buffet at the Marriott Residence Inn. I can't say enough good things about Residence Inns - love them. That's about all I have to say about Rochester. Except I much preferred driving through western/upstate New York than western Pennsylvania.

ENDY MAKES SURE METS' FIRST EXTRA-INNINGS GAME ISN'T A DRAG

Mets 2, Rockies 1 12 innings (NYM: 13-6, COL: 8-13)

By this time last year, the Mets had played about a dozen extra-innings games (slight exaggeration). Tuesday night, the Mets played their first extra innings game of 2007, and made staying up later than expected pay off.

In the bottom of the 12th inning, with runners on second and third and two out, Endy Chavez laid down a perfect drag bunt to bring home Shawn Green, and the Mets kept themselves a half-game in front of the Braves in the NL East with a 2-1, 12 inning win.

The dramatic win was set up by some drama in the 10th. After Billy Wagner had given up a run to the Rockies in the top of the 10th, Damion Easley hit a pinch-hit, 2-out, 2-strike home run to tie the game at 1, and force more extras.

The 12 innings (and the tenth inning comeback) nearly made you forget that Orlando Hernandez turned in an outstanding start in this game. El Duque went 7 innings without giving up a run, surrendering just 4 hits, walking two, while striking out 5. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh in one of many early failed Mets rallies. They blew a lot of chances to win this game early. But that's not to take anything away from Rockies starter Aaron Cook, who also went 7 scoreless innings.

The win was the first in the young career of Joe Smith, who gave the Mets two-thirds of an inning, retiring the two batters he faced. Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis also had scoreless outings in this one.

It should be noted that in the 11th inning, with the winning run at second, David Wright had a great at-bat. He managed to work a walk, but he fouled off a few pitches, and looked the most locked-in I've seen him look all year - sort of like David Wright last year. It made me wonder if there's been something else on Wright's mind all month - because Tuesday night was the first night I really felt he looked like himself. For what that's worth. He finished 2-for-4, with one strikeout.

The Mets and Rockies play an afternoon game on Wednesday, getaway day. Mike Pelfrey against Josh Fogg.

Extra Sugarfree Gum johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Damion Easley. Easy call here - without Easley, Endy never gets a chance. Can't do much better than one at-bat, one home run...and in a very important spot.



MONDAY NIGHT'S RESULT - Mets 6, Rockies 1

VALENTIN'S DAY - Jose Valentin earned johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game honors with a homer and 4 RBI. He was 1-for-2, scoring just once - he had a sacrifice fly in addition to a 3-run homer, single-handedly lifting the Mets to a 4-0 lead by the 4th inning.

John Maine benefitted from Valentin's outing, as well as Carlos Delgado's first home run of the season, improving to 3-0 on the season, and the Mets jumped back into first place, a half-game ahead of Atlanta.

I was a bit under the weather, sorry I didn't write. I'm feeling better Tuesday night, but I'm told this bug I have could last 7-10 days. Bad headache, coupled with a nauseous feeling. It may or may not include vomiting. It did for me.

TURNING TWO...HUNDRED: I've been thinking about this all season, since the Mets turned four double plays on Opening Night in St. Louis. I finally did the math tonight. I thought the Mets were on pace to set some sort of record for double plays turned in a season. They are, if my calculations are correct. They're on pace to turn more than 200 double plays right now - the team record is 171. So there's a new feature this year, and it's called "Turning Two...Hundred":
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: 2 SEASON TO DATE: 26 TEAM RECORD: 171

**OK, there's a problem here. The Mets' media guide has the team record at 171, done twice - in 1966 and 1983. But mlb.com says the 1999 Mets had 294 double plays - reasonable, since that was a great defensive team. But mlb.com also has every 1999 team as the top 30 in double plays all time. So I think something is wrong there. I need to straighten this out before we take Turning Two...Hundred too far off the ground. I also need to get the all-time record straightened out, too, because I'm having a hard time believing the 1999 Devil Rays turned almost 400 (although they probably allowed a lot of baserunners...)

SNY: I haven't commented on this yet this season, but Lee Mazzilli has been doing pre-and-post-game studio work for the Mets on SNY this season. I can't comment on his performance, because I usually don't watch the pre-and-post-game studio work. The past couple of days, I've caught a bit of the pre-game shows, and for some reason, Dave Gallagher is doing the job. I haven't been too impressed...but I'm more impressed that he has remained visible enough to actually have a high-profile job like this. Dave Gallagher - I hold a grudge against him because I think he was the first Met to wear number 8 after Gary Carter. He was one of the "ordinary guys" I always think of, too, when I think of the early-90's New York Mets...Bill Pecota, Jeff McKnight, Dave Gallagher. I seriously considered naming one of my fantasy teams after him, but went with Jeff McKnight, because I really do hold that number 8 thing against Gallagher, unfair though that may be.

STERLING: God forgive me for the following: So I was listening to a lot of WFAN in New York over the weekend (Thursday through Saturday, truth be told). On Thursday, driving down to New York, I got to hear a little of Joe Benigno's mid-day show - I enjoy listening to him. They were giving John Sterling crap because of his call of the previous day's home run by A-Rod...actually, maybe this was on Friday...I'm getting my days confused. Regardless, they were making fun of the call where Sterling was saying..."An Aaaaaa-Bomb, for Aaaaaa-Rod." Now, I think Sterling is a dope, and can't stand listening to a Yankees game on the radio. But on Saturday, Benigno had Sterling on his show, and was interviewing him, and I'll be darned if it wasn't a great interview. Sterling came across as intelligent and knowledgeable. I can't believe it - it almost made me change my opinion about him. But then I started to dislike him even more, because if he's that coherent in an interview, he should be enjoyable to listen to during a game.

Also on WFAN, on Friday (I confused my days in the above paragraph, I apologize...but I know Sterling was interviewed on Saturday, when Benigno was filling in for Russo, and I know I heard the following on Friday), Mike & the Mad Dog interviewed Theo Epstein heading into the Yankees-Red Sox series. It was a fantastic interview. Epstein was great, and when Chris Russo asked him about the Doug Mirabelli trade (for Cla [Russo actually pronounced it like it is spelled, instead of 'clay', which I thought was hilarious] Meredith and Josh Bard), Epstein was honest, and called it an awful trade for the Red Sox. He went on to say that the Red Sox will never be impatient again. The intelligence and honesty that Epstein showed in this interview made me remember why I liked listening to his press conferences when I was working in TV. And showed why the Red Sox are lucky he came back as general manager.

BEAT THE STREAK: I take personal responsibility for David Wright's 0-for-15 slump. It was all because I kept picking him for Beat the Streak. He finally got a hit Tuesday night, so he's off the hook. I have a one-gamer, and I go with Jimmy Rollins to tie my season high on Wednesday.

GOOD OLIVER

Mets 7, Braves 2 (NYM: 11-5, ATL: 11-6...Mets 1/2 game up)


If Oliver Perez can stay under control this season, I maintain he will be a valuable member of the rotation. Perez bounced back from his 7-walk performance in his last outing to shut down the Braves (again), improving his record to 2-1.

Perez didn't dominate - he gave up 9 hits over 6-and-two-thirds innings, but he only gave up 2 earned runs, and here's the important part - 9 strikeouts, 0 walks. We'll need to watch his control all year long.

Perez also benefitted from a comfortable lead. After being shut down by Tim Hudson on Friday night, the Mets' bats woke up again, pounding out 11 hits (10 against starter Chuck James), and scoring 7 runs. Carlos Beltran was 4-for-5, missing a chance at his first career 5-hit game, and Jose Reyes was 3-for-5. Reyes also stole his 9th base of the year. I just hope we don't ever take Jose Reyes for granted - he is THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED.

David Wright hit 2nd, as Paul Lo Duca is still mending, and was 0-for-4 (guess I still have the magic 'Beat the Streak' touch/jinx, killing people's real-life streaks - the 26-game streak came to an end Friday). Damion Easley started at second base, and homered. Ramon Castro homered again in relief of Lo Duca. Everyone is contributing - and the guys who aren't contributing will very soon. (Neither Carlos Delgado nor David Wright have a home run yet this season. Wright, at least, is hitting, albeit not for power. Delgado is hitting just .209.) (A secondary parenthetical thought - "projected stats" are a little ridiculous. It's funny to see that Alex Rodriguez, based on his stats to this point, is "projected" to hit 122 home runs. But it's silly to see that Delgado is "projected" to hit 0.)


MARRIOTT RESIDENCE INN JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: It could very easily have been an offensive player, but you want Carlos Beltran? Check espn.com. My 'Player of the Game' honor goes to Joe Smith. His line? One-third of an inning, 1 strikeout. Why does that merit an honor? With the Mets up, 7-2, and after Scott Schoeneweis had just walked Chipper Jones to load the bases, Smith was brought in to face Andruw Jones. Smith was described on WFAN as "cool as a cucumber", never changing his expression, and he struck out Jones to end the inning and the threat. Looking at the bigger picture, Smith's ERA is 0.00 in 10 appearances. And Mets relievers have allowed just 4 out of about 30 inherited runners to score. I think Inherited Runners-Scored is just about the most accurate and worthwhile stat to judge relievers by, and the Mets are doing awesome in that category right now.

FRIDAY NIGHT

The Braves beat the Mets on Friday night, 7-3, in a dominant outing by Tim Hudson, who earned johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game honors. Hudson has been great so far this year. Hudson's numbers on Friday night: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K's, 0 ER. His ERA on the year is 0.62, and he is 3-0 on the season.


The Mets and Braves play the rubber game on Sunday - John Smoltz against Tom Glavine. I get the game on TBS, not on DirecTV. I'd rather a few channels before I watch the Braves broadcast, but watching the Braves broadcast is preferable to no game at all.

OTHER DOMINANT PITCHERS: Cole Hamels of the Phillies is very impressive. Last year he was very good, then had a pop in his elbow, if I remember correctly, and was shut down for a while. He's off to a good start in 2007, and on Saturday against the Reds, he pitched a complete game, striking out 15 in the Phillies win. He's a very good young pitcher who I like watching, even though he plays for the Phillies. I just hope he's able to stay healthy...especially in light of the Mariners' Felix Hernandez leaving with an elbow injury on Thursday night.

OVER THE AIRWAVES: So the rescheduled weekend in New York became a Friday overnight in Connecticut to attend a funeral. The TV in the Marriott Residence Inn had YES, but did not have SNY, so we watched the Red Sox-Yankees, while listening to the Mets-Braves. I had to play with the clock radio for a while, though, before I could tune in the Mets. What I stumbled across before finally finding WFAN:
1. Reds-Phillies (Phillies broadcast...I think)
2. Yankees-Red Sox (on one FM station, and a few AM stations)
3. Blue Jays-Orioles (Baltimore broadcast...I think)
4. Indians-Devil Rays (Cleveland broadcast...I think)
5. Finally, Mets-Braves on WFAN.

I never realized so many stations could come through on a little clock radio in a hotel room. I need to experiment with my radios around here and see if any of those can come through all the way to Massachusetts.

BEAT THE STREAK: My David Wright jinx continues until Sunday.

CAPITOL OFFENSE

Nationals 6, Mets 2 (WAS: 3-9, NYM: 7-4)

At no point this year will it be OK for the Mets to lose to the Nationals. I know it's going to happen more than this one time, but it shouldn't happen. The Mets need to rack up as many wins as they can get against Washington, because the division will be tighter this year than last, and wins against the Nationals (or more importantly, losses against the Nationals) might make up the difference in the division.

That said, it's not the end of the world that the Mets lost on Saturday, it's just disappointing when the Mets lose a game they should win. The Mets outhit the Nationals 11-8, including a 2-for-4 afternoon by David Wright, whose hitting streak is now at 23 games - one away from the team record (but it's spread out over two seasons).

Also, the Mets were in this game late, despite the score. (I should mention I didn't see any of this game - there's one annoying thing about the DirecTV/Extra Innings Package - Saturday afternoon games are blacked out because of the FOX Game of the Week. I hate that. The games that start at one are almost off the air when Fox goes on - why black it out? So I'm forced to watch Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy for 25 minutes? No thanks. I'll just turn on the game after four and miss the top of the first inning...give me back my 1pm start.) Anyway, in the eighth, down 6-2, with two men on and no one out, David Wright apparently drove one to the wall in center, and to my understanding, Ryan Church robbed him of a homer - or at least extra bases (2-for-4 and this for Wright - starting to get hot?). Then there was a double play. So the Mets went down fighting.

Speaking of fighting...the umpires, apparently, thought there was going to be some. After giving up a 2-run homer to Chris Snelling in the 6th, Orlando Hernandez hit the next batter, pitcher Shawn Hill, in the hands. The umps threw him out of the game immediately. The way I understand it, El Duque did not want to hit Hill (though it looked awfully incriminating). El Duque protested to the ump, and then from the dugout told Hill he didn't mean to hit him, and I guess Hill accepted El Duque's apology. The Nationals and Mets have had much bad blood in the past, but I think those days have gone the way of Cliff Floyd and Jose Guillen. So this was basically a non-event, but since Hernandez got thrown out, I had to mention it.

The weather is very threatening Sunday. I give it a 0-10% chance that the Mets will actually play.


SONY PLAYSTATION JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Shawn Hill gave up a bunch of hits, but managed to pull out the win. His line: 7 innings, 8 hits, but only one walk, 2 earned runs, and 5 strikeouts. Hopefully this is the only time this year this award goes to a Washington player.


MLB 'O7 THE SHOW: I didn't think I'd ever buy another video game. Then a combination of a number of events (tax return, a trip to Best Buy, a week off from school) gave me a hankering for video game baseball. So upon arrival at Best Buy (to buy a video camera to record the things The Baby does that I will be too busy playing video games to notice), I called the Southern Bureau to find out what baseball game I should invest in. He said "MLB The Show" was a good one, but all I saw was 2K7's game. I asked the Southern Bureau if "The Show" was the EA Sports game. He informed me, as though I should have known, that EA does not do a Major League baseball game anymore, they just do NCAA baseball. So I was about to pull the trigger on the 2K7 game, with Derek Jeter on the cover, when the Southern Bureau informed me that "The Show" had David Wright on the cover. Hold the phone. But the game was nowhere to be found. Here's how the conversation goes:

Southern Bureau: "Johnny, you gotta get the game with David Wright on the cover."

Johnnymets: "Yeah, I know. But then I'd have to go to another store. I don't think The Wife will want to do that. I should just get this one."

Southern Bureau: "Go to another store, come on. Didn't The Wife sign a marriage contract or something that says she has to do stuff like that?" (It should be noted that the Southern Bureau is not married.)

Johnnymets: "I think I've pushed that envelope about as far as it goes."

Turns out there was a Toys 'R Us across the parking lot, so I ran over there. They didn't have the game either. I convinced The Wife to allow me one more stop, and they had the game. So I've played it, and I'm already 0-3. I've figured out all of the game play, it's hard, but I'm getting it. The rosters are good (solid Triple A roster - Pelfrey, Humber, Milledge), there are good stats, and even all-time records, which I love. Stupidly, though, I still insist on playing games when I'm on the phone. This has never been a good idea. And as a result, El Duque took a 4-0 lead into the 9th inning in the third game against St. Louis, heading for my first win, and he proceeded to let three guys get on, then a grand slam, then a homer to Pujols to win it. Oops. Never, EVER talk on the phone during a video game. Very frustrating. But it's a good game.

BEAT THE STREAK: I have to wait and see with Piazza later on Saturday, and I'll try to avoid a weather problem on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will be past Pittsburgh, and I'll go with Jason Bay in a doubleheader.

REFLECTING ON OPENING DAY AT SHEA

The Daily News had an advertisement all week leading up to Opening Day at Shea Stadium, "What's your favorite Opening Day memory?" I have one, but I didn't think it was worth sending to
them, when I have my own forum for writing it. So, since Tuesday is an off day, here is my "favorite Opening Day memory", followed by some Opening Days I attended that are worth mentioning:

I think this happened in 1996. It was definitely one of my high school years, and I think this was the one. The game was great (more on that later), but I had to get to the game first.

The characters involved are me, my dad, the nun in the dean's office, and the dean, let's call him Mr. G. I went to a Catholic all-boys high school in Flushing, and the dean was the type of guy who, whenever there was a Mets afternoon home game, would patrol the stands at Shea, looking for the guys who cut school to go to the game. I don't know if he did this so he could watch the games himself, or if he was really that anti-truancy. I think a little of both. Regardless, I was a good student, so I didn't think it was a problem that my dad would pull me out of school to go to the game.

Things haven't changed much in the past 11 years. Sure I'm married now, and a dad, and working full-time, but Monday, Opening Day at Shea 2007, and Opening Day at Shea 1996 were similar in my life because only one thing occupies my mind: Mets, Mets, Mets, Mets. In 1996, I watched the clock, knowing that when 12 noon hit, my dad would be pulling me out of Mr. Sullivan's Global Studies class.

At noon, I got the note to go to the dean's office. "Yes!" I thought. I stopped at my locker, packed up my books, put on my Mets hat, and walked to the office. The nun was sitting there.

"Your dad is here to pick you up," she said, not looking up from her papers.
"OK," I said, grinning from ear to ear.
"This wouldn't be to go to the Mets game, would it?" She asked, suddenly staring me down.
"Yes, it would, as a matter of fact," I replied, still smiling.
"Mr. G. is not going to be very happy about this," the nun said.
I didn't know what to say, so I signed out, and walked out of the building, still pretty darn happy. My dad was outside the door, waiting for me. He didn't look as happy as I was.
"Hi Dad!"
"Look serious," my dad said.
"Why?" I asked.
"I just told the nun we had a family emergency we had to tend to."

I hope that story translates as funny as it unfolded 11 years ago. (And I know it sounds like a punch line, but I swear it's true.) My dad still feels awful when we tease him about lying to a nun. I didn't get into trouble...I was a nerd. I think Mr. G. realized that. But the 1996 game was one of the better Opening Days I attended.

• 1996 - The Mets were playing the Cardinals and fell behind 6-0. It was a cold and misty-rainy day, and all I wore was a windbreaker (I had a stupid idea that if we were going to a Mets game, I shouldn't be wearing a heavy jacket. When we left that morning, I remember my mom and dad both insisting I wear something heavier, and I told them I was fine. I wish I had worn a heavier jacket. This is always the game I think of when I think, "Am I dressed appropriately for this baseball game?"). So I was pretty miserable. But the game turned out well - the Mets scored 7 unanswered to win the game, 7-6, and this was the game that Rey Ordonez made one of the better plays I've seen - taking a relay from Bernard Gilkey in left field and firing a strike to Todd Hundley to nail a runner at the plate. Ordonez's relay was FROM HIS KNEES - and it happened in front of us (we were not in the bottom section, but we were sitting along the third base line).
• 1993 - I insisted we HAD to go to this game, because it was the first ever for the Colorado Rockies. The game was pretty boring - but Dwight Gooden pitched a shutout and the Mets won 3-0.
• 2001 - I went to this game with Steve from NYC, his fiancee, Lauren from NYC, and The Wife (before she was even The Fiancee). We saw the Mets raise the National League championship banner in front of the Atlanta Braves. It was pretty sweet. The Mets won. I think Mike Piazza had a big game.

I'm sure there were other home openers, but those are the ones that stand out in my mind. The next home opener I plan on attending, no matter what I have to do to get there, is when the Mets open CitiField. I HAVE to be at that game.

BOOF: Boof Bonser is pitching for the Twins on Tuesday night, against the Yankees. He's already given up a homer to A-Rod, and three runs in two innings.

BROADCASTING: I keep forgetting to mention this. I've never been a big fan of the Red Sox radio booth. But I might start listening more. The Sox still have Joe Castiglione calling their games on the radio, but he is now joined most games (and I'm not sure how the rotation works) by Dave O'Brien, formerly of ESPN, who is very good. The guy O'Brien splits time with is one of those guys who has no experience, and it makes me mad that he has the job and I don't. So I'm not going to listen to games he does, unless I'm listening for him to make a mistake. But O'Brien is good, so that's much more tolerable than Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano.

BEAT THE STREAK: I JUST this second logged onto espn.com to check on Andruw Jones, and as I was looking at the scoreboard, Jones homered. Yay. So I have a one-gamer. I'm going with Moises Alou on Wednesday - he has good numbers against Adam Eaton, and has been swinging the bat well.

I won't be watching much of Wednesday's Mets game, but I'll do my best to update after the game.

BOUND TO HAPPEN....

Braves 5, Mets 3 (NYM: 4-1, ATL: 4-1)

I knew the Mets weren't going to go 162-0, but I still wanted to see just how long they could stretch the season-opening win streak. I guess it was just four games. But the Mets were done in by one of the things that keyed them to their 4 straight wins - their defense.

The Mets looked all set after the top of the first, after jumping out to another 1-0 lead - this one from an unlikely source: a homer by Paul Lo Duca. Tom Glavine gave it right back, though, and you could tell by the way he was working that career win number 292 was not going to come easy - of course, it didn't come at all.

The Braves' first started with an innocent grounder to second, which turned into their first baserunner when Carlos Delgado dropped the throw from Jose Valentin. Kelly Johnson then came around to score on a grounder to short. Matt Diaz homered in the second to give the Braves the 2-1 lead, and the Mets their first deficit of the season.

In the fifth, the Mets did their manufacturing run thing, after a leadoff walk by Jose Reyes. He stole second, went to third on a grounder to second by Lo Duca, and then scored on a single by Carlos Beltran. The Mets knocked around John Smoltz, but he seemed to get the outs when he needed to.

Unfortunately for Glavine, the outs couldn't come because of his defense. After no errors in 4 games, the Mets committed two on Saturday. In the bottom of the sixth, with the bases loaded, Shawn Green dropped a Matt Diaz fly ball that allowed one run to score. The next batter, Woodward, flew out to right off Pedro Feliciano, and Green made a nice running catch, but the ball was deep enough to score a run to make it 4-2. Then Joe Smith came on and got a groundball, but it was too slow for Reyes to make a play, so the Braves took a 5-2 lead. All 5 runs were charged to Glavine, but only two were earned.

The much-improved Braves bullpen held the Mets to one run the rest of the way, though the Mets did threaten Bob Wickman in the ninth. Trailing 5-3, Carlos Delgado walked, and David Wright singled (extending his hitting streak on an otherwise horrid day - 3 strikeouts against Smoltz). With two outs and runners on second and third, Green lined one towards right field, but the ball was snared by Craig Wilson at first. A tough way to end the game, but it showed the Mets still have that ability to come back late in games, and you still get the sense that they're never out of a game.

CHICK-FIL-A JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: No one really stood out in this one, so we'll go with Matt Diaz, who had a homer and lifted the fly ball that Shawn Green dropped. At least he put it in play, and you have to give him some credit for that - chances are the then-go-ahead run would have scored anyway. Diaz finished 1-for-2 with 2 RBI and a run scored.

NOTES ON THE GAME: The Braves have no true leadoff hitter, now that Rafael Furcal is gone. They also have no true second baseman. Kelly Johnson is playing second and leading off, but I also noticed this on Friday night, when Chris Woodward was the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter. That's a step back from Furcal, and Marcus Giles at second.

ALSO THE WAY I FEEL: Tim Kurkjian was guest host on Mike & Mike In The Morning the other day (I think it was Thursday), and the subject of the DirecTV/other cable providers Extra Innings packages came up. (An aside: I find the Mike & Mike show to be much more tolerable when someone like Kurkjian or Buster Olney is on for the entire show rather than the regular Mikes...but that's another story for another day.) Kurkjian said he has DirecTV, and the day he got it, he says, "was, other than the days my kids were born, the greatest day of my life." So, he said, it wouldn't be right for other people to not have the opportunity to get the package. I agree.

SNY 2007: Friday night was my first chance to see a Mets game on SNY. Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, and Keith Hernandez were in the booth, and were very good (for the amount I saw before I fell asleep). A couple of notables:
-Slightly newer, snazzier graphics.
-Good ads - one, a tribute to Ron Darling for being named best New York sports analyst (I think, I was a little fuzzy on the award). The other was hilarious - it was a cartoon of Cohen, Darling, and Hernandez sitting on the couch watching the game, and Hernandez keeps saying, "I sound great. Wow, I'm doing a great job." And Darling and Cohen end up taking off Hernandez's mustache, and the announcer says, "Watch the Mets with Gary, Ron, Keith, and Keith's mustache." Good stuff. I hope there are different commercials like that each week. Hilarious.
-Also, forgot to mention this, so might as well here - Lee Mazzilli is the new studio analyst this year. I haven't seen enough of his work to comment yet.

1986 ROUNDUP: I don't remember seeing him all last year on camera, but Roger McDowell is still the Atlanta Braves' pitching coach. They showed him on Friday night, and either Keith or Ron said, "Roger smiled a lot more as a player." I thought that was funny.

MORE BROADCASTING: Caught the Reds' games over the weekend, and Grande was doing the games. Wonder what kind of a rotation they have going there. I'll have to keep an eye on that.

A WORD ON THE WEATHER: This year is more extreme than most, but I feel like every year there's a hubbub about the season-opening weather, and moving all of the openers to warm weather cities. Now, I don't know that that's a foolproof option - I hear there's a chance of snow in Arlington, Texas, for the Red Sox game Saturday night, which is surprising to me, but I feel like this is always a controversy in April every year, and then it dies down and is forgotten. I do feel, however, that this year has been extreme, as I mentioned above, extreme not only in weather, but also in outcry over the weather. And I think there will be some fallout - especially since Cleveland and Seattle are losing a game because of the weather, and because Victor Martinez got hurt in the bad weather, AND because of the controversy on Friday surrounding the weather and the way the game was called off. I don't know how much fallout, but I feel like the situation won't die away so easily, and maybe there will be some change next year.

BEAT THE STREAK: After no hits Friday by Xavier Nady and on Saturday with Derek Jeter, I'm going with as sure a thing as I can on Sunday, with the Cleveland doubleheader. I'll take Grady Sizemore - all he needs is one hit in two games to get me started.

A BETTER MAN THAN YOU OR I

I have some strong feelings about Bill Belichick, the former HC of the NYJ, today, one day after the Jets lost to the Patriots in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs. I realize in advance that some of this sounds like sour grapes...well, it sort of is. But it doesn't just stem from Sunday's game - it's been building up inside me since the man to the left's one-day stint as Jets head coach. Here are my rants:

The Man Doth Celebrate A Bit Too Much

Did the Patriots win the Super Bowl on Sunday, or win another Patriots-business-as-usual-first-round-playoff-game? I think it's the latter, but watching Bill Belichick at the end of the game made it seem as though the former took place. Belichick is usually a bit more reserved at the end of games than he displayed Sunday, unless the Patriots have just won the Super Bowl. Now, it's no secret that this game meant a lot to him, because he was upstaged in November by his former protege, Eric Mangini. But Belichick was showing up the Jets by whooping it up on the sidelines after Asante Samuel's interception return for a touchdown and after his team sealed the victory. He won the playoff game, but trust me - the Jets noticed Belichick's reactions and will not forget them. Speaking of celebratory moods...

He's Really Happy For You

Belichick also redefined class at the end of the game. First there was this:

Bill putting all the controversy to rest with a good ol' heartfelt hug for Mangini after a win. I'm sure he would have done the same if his team had lost. As a matter of fact, I'm sure Bill put this whole issue to bed and will never have to address it ever again, because, hey - he hugged Eric Mangini.

I did hear, however, that after the game, since he was done playing for the season, another former Jets coach, Bill Parcells, called up Belichick and was quoted as saying, "Billy, you call that a hug?":

That's just passion right there, folks.

Then, there's this, seen to the right. Because he's such a classy fellow, Belichick sought out Jets quarterback Chad Pennington to give him a handshake and congratulate him on a job well done. I give Belichick the benefit of the doubt - I bet had the Patriots lost, he would have sought out Pennington to congratulate him, too, and wouldn't have left the field in 3 seconds. He probably didn't even know cameras were trained on him when he sought out Pennington, that's how much he blindly let his heart lead him...Oh! Speaking of cameras:

Kenny Rogers and Bill Belichick Have More In Common Than Just Being My Arch-Enemies

I couldn't get a still picture, but you all saw it, and can watch it again here. This is where I am going to lose the sarcasm piece - I'm so glad, if Belichick fooled everyone at those other times, that his true colors shone through at this moment. It's HIS fault that there are a zillion cameramen waiting to see how he greets Mangini - he has no right to push this guy out of the way.

Finally, I just want to put in my two cents on the whole Belichick-Mangini thing. People have said Belichick is mad because Mangini left to take a job within the division...which other people counter by saying Belichick did the exact same thing. On Saturday night on NBC, Peter King said the thing that makes Belichick so upset is that Mangini broke an unwritten code among members of the Bill Parcells coaching tree - don't mess with my players. They say he did this by talking to members of the coaching staff, taking guys like Matt Chatham to New York, and by tampering with Deion Branch. Now, if the Branch allegations are legitimate, that's a fine reason to gripe...but I think it's the only one. I'm obviously not a football coach, but I think an unwritten rule like that is crap - you want to go out and get the best players and win - you have to be ruthless, in my opinion. If, indeed, Parcells followed that rule and waited on Vinatieri (too long, it turned out) because he wanted to give the Patriots a shot to re-sign him, he probably cost his team an NFC East title and a home playoff game. That's not smart coaching to me, that's stupid team management. I find it hard to believe these guys play by those rules - but that's what Peter King says.

And if that's how Belichick feels, he should look in the mirror. First of all, no two ways about it, he screwed the Jets in 2000. Just screwed them. And the reason he left the Jets was to get out of Bill Parcells' shadow. But then he proceeded to rebuild the Patriots with Parcells-type players. Sure, he added his own, but the veteran types were Parcells guys.

Anyway, if that's what's got Belichick so mad, so be it. It just gives the Jets extra incentive when they play the Patriots. And he didn't help his case in future matchups with his actions on Sunday.

One last thing - I can't really blame Belichick for wanting out of Parcells' shadow. Parcells treated him awfully bad. I have a friend at NFL Films these days - I recommend to him a piece on their relationship - because NFL Films has some good stuff from the late 80's, early 90's Giants, and Parcells was flat-out mean to Belichick. I saw some of it on that NFL Network special I mentioned that I saw on the '90 Giants. I'm sure there's tons more. So Belichick has a case there.