A SNEAK PREVIEW INSIDE CITI FIELD (UPDATED)

A couple of reasons this is unusual:

1) Two postings already before noon on a Sunday (and I wouldn't be surprised if the Southern Bureau posts before the day is out).

2) An image of Citi Field that wasn't taken from a moving car.

As mentioned earlier this week, the sister and the brother-in-law got to go to the Mets open practice at Citi Field this morning - she sent me this picture, for which I'm grateful.

Is it possible to be in love with a building? If so, I am.

UPDATE - My sister sent three more pics:




The significance of this last picture is that my sister used to spend Mets games at Shea counting the airplanes flying overhead. Her Citi Field count has started, I guess.

A WII LITTLE CHRISTMAS

My sister bought Wii recently. So, naturally, I told her to host Christmas so we could all come over and play it. I dubbed it a "Wii Little Christmas", a bit redundant, but we had mini cookies, little hot dogs (Wii-ners), and my brother and his girlfriend got me a mini deck of cards as a gift. It was fun.

And the Wii is awesome.

Afterwards, the Wife confided that for a long time she thought about getting me a Wii for Christmas. But she couldn't justify the cost, what with two children and all, and the time we'd need to play it. I can't argue with her - we barely have time to watch a half-hour sitcom a week, let alone play video games in our spare time (though, somehow, I manage to watch about 20 hours of football a week.....). So I'm not upset with her.

But it is something I'm thinking we should do down the road. Because it's great. We played Wii Sport, but that was all I really needed to see.

I played a few rounds of Wii Tennis with my brother, and I handled him pretty well. Then we (Wii) played some bowling - my brother and his girlfriend, the Wife, and I - my brother kept rolling strikes - I think he might have broken 200 in one game. Can't figure out how he was so successful. But he whooped us pretty good. I came in second place in two games - I think my high was 159.

I hit a home run off my brother's girlfriend in baseball, then knocked her out in boxing in a tense 3-round match. I then knocked out the Wife in the first round - she barely had time to pick up the controller before she was on the ground.

So a Wii Little Christmas was a hit. I over-ate (ironic, maybe, considering it was supposed to be small), had a great video game experience, and got to spend some time with the family. It's a Wii-nderful Life.

SHEA MEMORIES: AN INTRODUCTION

The first in an occasional series.

I'm not going to sit here and defend Shea Stadium as one of the best ballparks of all time. Deep down inside, my dream of visiting all the different ballparks probably came about when I was younger because in my subconscious I might have been thinking, "There has to be something better out there."

But the bottom line is, Shea is where the Mets play, and for me, it will always be special. That's why I was psyched when The Wife mentioned going to Thursday afternoon's game. I realized that I won't have many more opportunities to visit Shea this year (this will in all likelihood be my last visit for a game - Billy Joel won't be the same - unless somehow the Mets can swing the playoffs and I can swing getting down there for them), and this is probably the only time The Wife and The Baby will be there. And with her pushing eight months pregnant (The Wife, not The Baby), I wasn't going to push it - so it being her decision, I'm loving it.

The suggestion for Thursday, though, made me think about my favorite memories of Shea. And I'm only considering events I attended, so I'm not going to talk about things like 1969, 1986, or anything involving the Jets. I'll do this once a week or so (maybe more) to share with you why this cookie-cutter ballpark will always be one of my favorites, right up there with the current jewels in Houston and San Diego.

My first memory (these are in no order) doesn't refer to a specific game, but moreso the times I spent at Shea when I was younger.

We lived very close to Shea, and through work, my dad had on-and-off again season ticket packages. So we went to a lot of games when I was younger - I'd say roughly 10 a season. Maybe more...some years less. Bottom line - I spent a lot of time at Shea, and often it was with my brother or sister. (Once a year we took about five of my friends in July for my birthday party.) And there was a period of time where my entire family (aunts, uncles, 10 cousins all together) went to either a Mets or Yankees game. Those were great.

I was into the games...often, my brother or sister (or both) weren't. Certain patterns developed over the years, and I see them as I thumb through old scorebooks (I always kept score - for a rough estimate of how many Shea games I went to, between 1986 and 1996, when I went away to college, I amassed 60 scorebooks. I kept score less as I got older, so I think it's still an accurate estimate of how many Mets games I went to per season.).

Anyway, back to the patterns - here's a look at a sample from 1991 - turns out this scorebook is from a Dodgers-Mets game, and you'll notice Hall of Famer Gary Carter, as well as Darryl Strawberry, are playing for the visiting Dodgers. I vaguely remember this game, but only after I pulled out the scorebook. (It also brings back painful memories of an early indication that Gary Carter talked too much - I think this was the series where Keith Miller made a costly error for the Mets that allowed the Dodgers to win the game, and Carter gave him a classless "Thanks, buddy" or something like that, then made a public show of apologizing. Actually, that might have happened in Los Angeles, because I seem to remember Carter boarding a Mets bus to apologize. But that's another story for another day.)

If you care enough to look closely (for some reason it's not clicking-and-enlarging), you'll notice a couple of things. First of all, there is an elephant at the bottom - for some reason I took to drawing elephants and monkeys (no monkey on this day) in between innings to keep my sister entertained.

In addition to flawless scorekeeping, you'll also notice on the left-hand side, below the Dodgers roster, a tally. This was something my sister invented while with my cousins at one of those games where everyone went - due to Shea's proximity to LaGuardia, there were a lot of planes that crossed overhead throughout a game. So I allowed her to keep a "Plane Tally" on my scorecard - a big sacrifice on my part. I have to believe there were more than 10 planes during this game - but maybe, ironically, the baseball game diverted her attention from the plane game.

I realize these are pretty individual memories, but I hope reading them stirs up something in your mind about some place that you may take for granted. Because the more I think about it, the more I realize that Shea Stadium played a significant part in my life...and while I'm looking forward to Citi Field, I'm going to enjoy looking back on my experiences at Shea.

STILL LOSING...

My outlook is a little rosier today, despite the Mets losing again to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Perhaps because I made it through the day without crashing a car into anything. Perhaps because another issue we had on Tuesday at the House sponsored by DirecTV was resolved. I forgot to mention it on in Tuesday's posting, but the hot water was out. That was fixed early Wednesday. Perhaps it's because I found the old "Umlauts" standings from 1999 between johnnymets, the Southern Bureau, and Justin in NYC.

"Umlauts" was a game whereby you had to throw a CD (usually played with the "Umlauts" CD, so called because it was only identified by a U with umlauts over it) onto a shelf across a hallway. The shelf was divided up into different squares and rectangles, and you earned more points for getting the "Umlaut" to settle into the smaller areas. It was tougher than it sounds, but by the end of the year, we were experts. The game took place at Boston University's radio station, WTBU. The creation of this game, sadly, may have been among our greater accomplishments during our college years. At least I know it was for me. So, since the parents are cleaning out their house during a renovation, all my old stuff is popping up...and the "Umlauts" standings were a recent find. Very exciting. For the record, Justin finished in first place in the standings.

I think the preceding two paragraphs illustrate the point I was going to make tonight. I've just spent two paragraphs talking about a game I made up 8 years ago...I'm afraid that I'm no longer the true blue Mets fan I've always been. Or...I ask the question, what makes a true blue fan? I used to think I was going to lose my status as "#1 Mets Fan in the World" if I missed one pitch during the course of a game, even if it was the late innings of a blowout. Now I'm lucky if I can stay awake past the seventh inning stretch...let alone the first pitch of a west coast game. Worse still, I might not even care when I see the score in the morning whether the Mets won or lost. What does that say about me?

I've become someone who rationalizes losses - if the Mets lose to the Phillies and Cole Hamels is pitching, for example, I say, "Well, if they were going to lose, at least it's to someone on my fantasy team." I didn't even realize until this morning that the rest of the National League East is right back on the Mets' tails because they've won just one game so far this month (although that may serve more as a commentary on my common sense than anything else). And it didn't make me run down to the computer to issue a call to arms on the blog.

I think steroids has a lot to do with this. I think slowly I'm separating myself from what I've been very close to, so that I'm not as disappointed as I might have been when names I've convinced myself were not involved get released as being involved in the scandal. I know fatherhood has been a major part of this, because I look forward to seeing my daughter every day far more than David Wright or Jose Reyes. But her bedtime is 7pm, just in time for the east coast games, and if something else comes up, I'm not as disappointed about missing the game as I once was.

So I'm having a fan identity crisis. Maybe all I need is the Mets to come back East, play at reasonable times, and get back to playing exciting, winning baseball. Maybe that's this weekend when they're playing the Yankees.

All that said, though, it only makes me more confident that the Mets are going to win it all this year. I wanted this blog to be a running record of the season - with Players of the Game following every game, all year long. I've lost that option, because I've missed so many postings. I missed major events of the season such as the emergence of Carlos Gomez, the surprise contributions of Jorge Sosa, and the Endy Chavez injury. So because of that, based on the way things work out for me, this will be the year the Mets win it, and I will only have a partial history recorded. It will have to suffice, but it could have been much more. Does that make me less of a fan? I don't know. I do know that the johnnymets of a year or two ago would have said that it certainly does.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: Thanks to everyone who commented on the return posting from Tuesday. The Sister even weighed in! FYI, the 'system' she refers to in her comment is her so-called 'system' for the "New Baseball Pool". I'm convinced she picks a random team each week - she claims to have a 'system'. I know people enjoy leaving comments on the site, but also don't forget that you can e-mail at johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com.

AT LEAST HIS NAME'S NOT DICK: I keep forgetting to mention this, but every so often, the guys in the SNY booth will bring up a certain player from the Chicago Cubs who played in the late 70's, whose name happens to be Pete LaCock. Usually Keith Hernandez instigates it. But they'll allude to him, call him Pete or something, but never mention his full name. This has been happening for about a year, about once every other month...not very often. Last week, they did it again, and Gary Cohen, in what I'm guessing was coming through on an off-air bet that he couldn't say the name and keep it together, came right out and said, in response to Keith's hint at the player, "You're talking about Pete LaCock, right?" Well, they all lost it. And Hernandez goes, "Sorry folks."

I don't know what to make of this. First of all, I laugh every time they hint at his name...it makes me think of my old internship (the same internship for Southern Bureau and Justin in NYC), where the executive producer had LaCock's baseball card prominently posted in the office. But I also cringe, because Hernandez probably got Cohen in trouble for the whole thing. I like to think that Cohen is a little more professional than he gets when Hernandez is around. Again, I'm going to apologize for devaluing Ron Darling when he first came to SNY from Washington. He has been one of the best analysts I've ever seen/heard. I can take or leave Hernandez these days.

BEAT THE STREAK: I'm still playing, haven't really threatened Joe DiMaggio. I'll post this again when I get past 8 games, maybe.

BRAVES OUTSLUG METS IN PITCHER'S DUEL

Braves 9, Mets 6 (ATL: 12-6, NYM: 11-6...0.5 back)

Tom Glavine - still 7 wins shy of 300 for his career. The Mets bullpen - worse than it was on Saturday. David Wright - still under the 'johnnymets.blogspot.com Beat the Streak jinx'. Sorry about that.

This was a see-saw game - and the Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game. Tom Glavine left a pitch up high, and Kelly Johnson jumped all over it to lead off the game with a homer.

In the 5th, Shawn Green tied the game with a solo homer off of John Smoltz. At that point, Green was 11-for-23 in his career against Smoltz. The fifth inning was exciting - after the homer, Jose Valentin had a long flyout to the wall opposite field in left, then Tom Glavine hit a roller down the third base line. Smoltz jumped off the mound, barehanded the ball, and threw a strike to first to get Glavine. It was some play. Jose Reyes reached, then Paul Lo Duca blasted one to the right-center gap, and it bounced over the wall for a ground rule double - it would have scored a run otherwise. So with runners at second and third, Carlos Beltran took a third strike -the strikeout that tied Smoltz with Cy Young on the all-time list.

In the sixth, Jeff Francoeur had a 2-run single, making it 3-1, Atlanta, off Glavine.

In the bottom half, Carlos Delgado singled, then David Wright struck out (0-for-12 since his hitting streak ended). Moises Alou singled, putting runners at first and second. Shawn Green walked controversially, and when Bobby Cox argued, he got ejected from the game (127 career, four from a major league record). With the bases loaded, Jose Valentin made it 3-2, Braves, with a single. Then, after Julio Franco pinch hit for Tom Glavine and flew out, THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED lined a ball down the right field line - 3-run triple, the Mets were ahead, 5-3, and Tom Glavine could win the game. (Paul Lo Duca added an insurance run.)

No way the Mets could lose the game now...they just don't lose games like this. Well, they lost this one. In the 7th, Ambiorix Burgos got two quick outs, then got a fly ball to right field. Shawn Green jumped for it, when he didn't have to (he was on the run, but it was a routine fly ball), and it went off his glove....and it wasn't ruled an error. Scott Schoeneweis came on, gave up a walk, then a 3-run homer to Edgar Renteria. 6-6.

In the 8th, Aaron Heilman served up a 3-run homer to Kelly Johnson, following an error by Jose Valentin. (Valentin has been very sure-handed, so this is the exception, not the rule. Looking dopey in right field has almost come to be expected out of Green.) All of the runs were unearned, but Heilman lost the game.

The Mets mounted a mini-rally, but came up short. With two on in the 8th, Jose Reyes and Paul Lo Duca failed to get a run home. In the 9th, Bob Wickman struck out Carlos Beltran in a 12-pitch at-bat to lead off the inning, walked Carlos Delgado, got David Wright on a fielder's choice, gave up a single to Moises Alou, then got the tying run, Shawn Green, to ground out to short.

The Mets have lost just two series this season, and they've both been to the Braves. That doesn't bode well, if only because it lets the Braves believe they still have some sort of a shot. The Braves have played better than I thought they would to begin this season...but I don't think they'll have staying power.

The Mets are now a half-game back of Atlanta, but they can do some damage this week - they host Colorado, then go to Washington. It's John Maine against Taylor Buchholz Monday night.

Kelly's Roast Beef johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: Kelly Johnson killed the Mets on Sunday. He was 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI, a walk, and three runs scored. Clearly he reads the blog and took offense to me saying earlier in the year that the Braves don't have anyone who can lead off for them.

CITI FIELD UPDATE: The fact that the Mets will have a new stadium soon is quite possibly the most exciting thing for me since 1986 as far as the Mets go. Every time I drive by Shea now as I head to my parents' house in Queens, there is more and more progress on the new stadium.
That was one of the things I was looking forward to in going to the game on Friday night - seeing the construction over the outfield wall. Unfortunately, I couldn't go to Friday's game. However, my sister went to Sunday's game against the Braves, as the Mets held their annual Autism Awareness Day. (My sister does fantastic work with children, day in and day out...many of the children she works with have some form of autism. Last year The Wife and I went to Autism Awareness Day with her, and we saw Tom Glavine versus Dontrelle Willis. But I digress.) My sister took a couple of pictures with her cell phone, forwarded them to my cell phone, and I was able to get them into my e-mail, and now onto the blog (I feel like Jack Bauer). So I present you with the latest visual proof that the Mets are, in fact, building a new stadium.








COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: Please ignore the dumb postings that may end up having me discontinue the "Comments" section. Also, don't forget you can e-mail the site at johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com.

As for the Southern Bureau's comments on David Wright's homers...I can't tell you why he's not homering. I'll only say that if he wasn't hitting at all, I'd be worried. When you look at Wright's numbers since last year's All Star break, he has just 6 homers since last July. Now, he has tended to fade late in the seasons, so maybe he's made an adjustment, and is keeping himself fresher for the second half of the season/post-season. Also, Southern Bureau, maybe it just serves you right for drafting him and not allowing me to have him on my team.

BEAT THE STREAK: David Wright has to get a hit eventually, so I'm taking him against Buchholz on Monday. My longest streak so far this season has been 2 games. That's disgusting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Mets 3, Nationals 2, 11 innings (NYM: 43-42, 8 GB; WAS: 51-34)

The Mets are on their way. They did exactly what they needed to do this week, taking three out of four games from the Nationals, in Washington, bouncing back nicely from the disappointing weekend against Florida. The only thing better would have been a Mets sweep - and that darn near happened. The Mets also got help from Pittsburgh, who beat Philadelphia on Thursday, dropping the Phillies to .500 and into last place in the NL East. (Not that I'm afraid of Philadelphia...as a matter of fact, the Phillies don't scare me.)

But let's get back to Washington. The Mets took an early 1-0 lead, after THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, walked to lead off the game (by Gary Cohen's unofficial count on the radio, it was only the second time this has happened all season), stole second, took third on a Mike Cameron sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a Carlos Beltran groundout. Talk about manufacturing a run! Jose Vidro gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead in the 3rd with a 2-run double, but the Mets tied it later on a Mike Piazza RBI double. Piazza was swinging the bat well Thursday - the Mets need more of that.

So the game stayed tied for a while. Kris Benson pitched very well - getting himself out of a couple of jams, most notably, with the bases loaded in the fifth, getting Carlos Baerga to ground back to him to end the inning. Roberto Hernandez pitched the eighth, scoreless. Heath Bell did a great job in the 9th and 10th, and ended up getting the win. Braden Looper was once again VERY good in the bottom of the 11th - dare I say I am starting to gain confidence in him? This was a big series, and he picked up three big saves.

If you missed the top of the 11th, you'd better turn on ESPNEWS and check out the highlight. Crazy. With Carlos Beltran* on second and Cliff Floyd on first, and one out, Mike Piazza lifts a pop-up just out of the reach of Jose Vidro beyond second. It rolls to Jose Guillen, who barehands it, guns it home, and just misses Beltran* at home with the go-ahead run. The ball bounces in front of catcher Brian Schneider, but he picks it up, and nails Piazza, who tried to take second on the throw home. Piazza's out, but that's not all. Shortstop Jamey Carroll then catches Cliff Floyd coming home for the third out of the inning. With the Mets taking the lead, and then ending the inning on the same play, Looper had no time to get warm, so Heath Bell comes back out to take his warmups, and then after the warmups, Randolph subbed in Looper. Frank Robinson didn't like it - he argued...but I'm sure he would have done the same thing.

I like the fact that the Mets were aggressive on the bases in the top of the 11th - I wouldn't call any of those plays a bad baserunning play (much easier for me to say since the Mets won the game). But the Mets also won Wednesday night...in spite of some horrid baserunning. The Mets should have had a HUGE fifth inning (I think it was the fifth), but Ramon Castro got caught off first base after he had a big RBI hit, and then Marlon Anderson (who has otherwise been friggin' brilliant) got doubled off second base on a fly ball to right field. Those were bad baserunning mistakes - the Thursday baserunning were aggressive, at least. Although I will say Mike Piazza shouldn't be trying for any extra bases ever. He's lost more than a step the past couple of years - he is S-L-O-----W.

Marlon Anderson, it should be noted, finished this series 8-14. I believe that computes to somewhere in the .550 range. And he looks better being a fake first baseman than Jose Offerman ever will.

Pedro Martinez* will not be going to the All Star Game, claiming short rest (he's starting on Sunday). Whatever. Probably better for the Mets season...I agree with Peter Gammons, who said that Pedro*'s loyalty is to the Mets, and he's got to stay healthy. My only problem with it is that this is Pedro*...doing what he wants to do. He doesn't want to go to the All Star Game, so he doesn't go.

The Pedro thing probably breaks Dave from Brighton's heart - he wanted to see Pedro* face his former Red Sox teammates. Speaking of Dave - here's an e-mail:

"Dear JohnnyMets,

The series with the Nationals and a comment by Fox Saturday broadcaster Sean McDonough (Boston misses you Sean, if you're reading) prompted this question.

The Nationals have scored 340 runs, fewest in the NL. They have allowed 340. The Mets have scored 364 runs. They have allowed 358.

The Nationals are even, but 51-32. The Mets are +6 but 41-42. What gives?

Signed,Dave in Brighton"

First of all, hate to call you out in front of both of my readers, but it was ESPN Holiday Baseball Special broadcaster Sean McDonough (he was doing the Fourth of July game) who brought this up. (Who, incidentally, was way off his game on Monday doing the Mets game - probably because of the lack of air conditioning in his booth. I'll give him the benefit of that doubt - because he's better than he was Monday. Just saying. Sorry if I offended you, Sean - in case you're reading this.) But you're right - it's mind-boggling that number. Bill James and Rob Neyer, I'm sure, have addressed this abnormality, and if they haven't, they should. And if I've learned anything from those sabermetric types, it's that this thing will even itself out...and if for no other reason, that's why I believe the Nationals will soon be coming back to the rest of the pack.

Another note about the Nationals - the Mets 3-2 win ends a streak of about 12 consecutive wins in one-run games by the Nats. The Mets took away a lot of the Nationals' mystique this week.

And finally, I know I take a lot of shots at broadcasters on this site - I just want to show I'm not 100% anti-all-broadcasters. Howie Rose and Gary Cohen sure do paint a picture when you listen to them. Much better than any other team's broadcasters that I've listened to on the radio for extended periods of time...they make car rides to New York on days when the Mets have day games awesome. It's like I'm watching the game.

The Mets need to take at least two out of three in Pittsburgh - a sweep would be 100 times better. johnnymets.blogspot.com will be there. Approximate arrival time in Pittsburgh - 5-ish. sisterofjohnnymets.blogspot.com wants to go to a certain restaurant she heard about in Pittsburgh - this might be happening Friday night, then I'll watch Friday's game. Saturday is the game we'll be in attendance. Sunday is a lot of driving - hope to be back in New York before Sunday's game is over...then it's the long ride back to the House sponsored by DirecTV. Don't expect a posting on Sunday night. I've been working on a couple of stories for the All-Star break - maybe instead of writing about the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, I'll write about PNC Park. I am declaring it my favorite before even going (Houston's park is my former favorite), just because I love those bridges over the center field wall.

THE KID'S KIDS: This is not a typo - the Gulf Coast Mets beat the Gulf Coast Nationals 20-6. Record is now 9-3. Boy can Hall of Famer Gary Carter manage. For my 16th birthday, Gary Carter sent me an autographed picture (somehow my mother arranged it.) For my 27th, he gets me a 20-6 win. Nice job, Gary. But a 21-6 win would have totaled my age....still, I appreciate the effort. Incidentally, it looks like the Mets have the Nationals' number this year on all levels of baseball.

You stole my computer and thought you'd keep me from writing, did you? Well, you were wrong. My wife was kind enough to lend me her work computer for the night so I could check on my 1-0 fantasy football team, and my week one pool win. So I thought I'd update the site while I was at it. (And if you have any designs on breaking in again and stealing this computer, be ready to get a baseball bat across the face.) A special thanks to my sister for rooting the Jets to victory as she attended her first season opener, and then writing about some of it on the site. Thanks for being more grateful in the backup role than LaMont Jordan.

So, obviously, the weekly schedule is again in upheaval. There was no e-mail, but I forgot to print this one last week, so I'll do it now. It's signed Al Montoya, in Ann Arbor, MI...I think it's not the Montoya the New York Rangers drafted to play goalie, but since the NHL is out of business for the next couple of years, maybe it actually was him:

"There is absolutely ZERO chance that the Jets will make the Super Bowl. You know it. I know it. The American people know it. Save this email, so you can rub it in my face in January, but only if you also promise to re-print it when the Jets either a) get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs or b) fail to qualify for the postseason altogether. ("FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR THE POSTSEASON!!!" A little "Airplane" humor for you there! It would've worked better if several people could've written it at the same time. Oh well.)"

I got an angry e-mail from Montoya the next day after I failed to print this e-mail last mail day...I misunderstood. I thought I was only supposed to print this to RUB IT IN HIS FACE. That's right. I'm not backing down, buddy. You watch...just watch. And I will promise to re-print this if.....ah, it's not even worth writing...it's not going to happen.

Anyway, reading today's Daily News reminded me that I haven't even mentioned Paul Hackett in my season previews. Well, now he's been mentioned. I am not ready to give him too much credit, because he did what he's supposed to do - use his offensive weapons and win the game. The Daily News article had a weird stat in it though - Sunday's game was just the tenth time the Jets have reached the 30-point mark since Herman Edwards and Paul Hackett have been working together. That's 49 games. Just 20 percent of the time. I wonder what the league average is on that...but it seems like the Jets should be scoring 30 points a little more often. Hopefully it will be a common occurrence this season.

Last week I started a picks section, where I pick the games against the spread. I'll continue that, since I got no negative feedback (the good thing about no feedback at all is no negative feedback), and since I enjoy it. Last week, I started out 8-1, before losing every 4 o'clock game, and the last three 1 o'clockers, but rebounded to take the Sunday and Monday night games. 10-6 overall last weekend - that still would have won me some money - but, of course, this is for entertainment purposes only.

I can't make any promises about the next time I'll be writing, but hopefully I'll be able to post something again by Friday, previewing Sunday's 4 o'clock game in San Diego against the Chargers.

Jets 31, Bengals 24

This is John's sister substituting for John. Unfortunately, the regular postings are going to be interrupted due to the unfortunate break-in at John's apartment, resulting in the robbery of John's laptop. Johnnyjets.blogspot.com haters are suspected.

John was very pleased with Sunday's game. Curtis Martin was unbelieveable, rushing for 196 yards on 29 carries - he's going to have a big year. Chad Pennington looked shakey at times, sharp at others, but came through in the win. And it was great to see Wayne Chrebet come back, making 2 catches for 29 yards.

The defense was good enough, playing pretty well against the run. John was a little disappointed that they didn't put a lot of pressure on Carson Palmer, because he looked too comfortable, and in all honesty, played a really good game. The defense gave up a few big plays but overall was very effective.

Next week the Jets are in San Diego to play the Chargers. Hopefully, John will be able to get on a computer and update the site again before then.

Mets 7, Astros 3 (53-58, 10 GB)

OK, new plan. If the Mets win every game from here on out, and everyone else in the NL East loses every game the rest of the way, playoffs, here we come! The Mets beat the Astros Tuesday night at Shea Stadium, and the Braves, Marlins, and Phillies all lost. (The Expos won, but they're so irrelevant, unless they're beating the Mets 19-13.) Anyway, that's what we'll cling to now. I know the season's over, but they're not called the Miracle Mets for nothing. Let's see what they can pull from their rears this year, these Miracle Mets. FYI, the Mets are just 7 and a half games out of the Wild Card, trailing just the Cubs, Padres, Giants, Phillies, Marlins, Astros, Reds, and Brewers. That's like the entire National League.

So, lots of highlights Tuesday night. It was actually a pretty good game to watch, or at least the first hour and 45 minutes was, which was all I got to see. I left the house after the Mets took a 4-3 lead in the 4th. David Wright had a huge game, 2-for-4, with a homer, and 2 RBI. (That's now 4 homers, en route to 755+, and 12 major league RBI for the future Hall of Famer.) Wright drove in the go-ahead run with a sharply hit single up the middle, following up the exact same thing by Mike Cameron one batter before.

Let's just briefly talk about Tom Glavine. As poorly as he pitched last year, 2004 has to be the worst year of this guy's life. First of all, he's pitching great, but can't catch a break because the Mets don't score runs when he's on the mound. He's 8-10, with a 2.92 ERA. That's just wrong. Then, there's what happened to him yesterday. His cab gets into an accident right outside LaGuardia airport, and he goes to the hospital with stitches in his cut lower lip and no more two front teeth. He's out of the hospital right now, but will miss Wednesday night's start. Just a bad year for Glavine. And now the johnnymets connection: For those of you who attended the big johnnymets wedding, you may remember my sister had a cast on her wrist. She broke that wrist in a car accident right outside LaGuardia airport. From what I hear about the Glavine accident, the accidents happened in pretty much the same spot. So I'm basically like Tom Glavine's brother at this point. (FYI, my sister is recovering. The cast is gone now. And she still has her two front teeth.)

Well, it's Wednesday, which means it's time to check the mailbag.

This e-mail comes from someone calling himself Scott, who would be my former roommate who tried to steal $600 from myself and Kevin from Wilmington. But being that I hate the man, I don't believe it's really him. But let's see the e-mail, shall we:
"John...
Does it bother you that the future "ace" of the Mets pitching staff has a girl's first name?? Check it out....Kris is short for Kristin!!! I have a girls last name...and I can tell you, its never been a problem for me. I mean...look at my life. I was a success in college, success as a roommate, and now...well, if you only knew what I was up to!! Anyways...girls first name on the ace....bother you?? Scott Salley - parts unknown"

Well, "Scott", it does bother me actually, that Kris is short for Kristin. This is an unbelievable development, folks, which I'm very grateful to "Scott" for pointing out. He refers to the ESPN player page for Kris Benson, and sure enough, that page shows his name as Kristin James Benson. There's no doubt, though, that Benson is all man. He is, after all, married to a former Penthouse model. So I guess Kristin can slide.

Well, speak of the devil - if it isn't Kevin from Wilmington. Here's what Kevin writes:

"Johnny.... Big time fan of your site. Keep up the great work. Anyways....I don't want to say "its over"....but "it don't look good" after this weekend's sweep. So....Let's look ahead to next season. With Hidalgo and Benson both free agents...will the Mets keep both or either or neither?? Will they make a run at Carlos Beltran?? What do you see the Mets lineup and rotation as for next season?? I'll hang up and listen. kevin - Wilmington, NC "

Wow. A legitimate e-mail. Well, Kevin, to be honest, I've been so focused on this season that I haven't been looking ahead too much. But next year is promising....and a little unsure. I think the Mets definitely keep Benson. Hidalgo, I'm not so sure about. As Steve from Manhattan points out every time I speak to him, the Mets wouldn't pay for Vlad Guerrero, why would they pay that much money for Hidalgo? It's a good point, but the way Hidalgo is playing for the Mets right now, they would probably hate to let him go. As for Beltran, I don't see that happening. I think everyone's happy with Mike Cameron in center field, especially lately. So here's what I'm seeing for next year:

2B Kaz Matsui
SS Jose Reyes
3B David Wright
1B Mike Piazza
RF Richard Hidalgo
LF Cliff Floyd
CF Mike Cameron
C Jason Phillips
Pitching Rotation: Tom Glavine, Kris Benson, Al Leiter, Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano

It's a pretty good-looking rotation, my only worry is that Leiter and Glavine might be having their last good years in 2004. But we'll have more on this in the season preview here on johnnymets.blogspot.com in March. And, yes, I do believe David Wright will be batting third in 2005. Speaking of the future Hall of Famer, Dave from Brighton writes in again:

"With David Wright on track to spend a half season with the MajorLeague club, will he be in the running for Rookie of the Year honors. If not, would he still be eligible next year, even though he'll have a half season of experience under his belt?
While we're on the topic, what would you project for him next year, stats-wise. If he can have a 6 RBI game every day, that would put him on pace for approximately 1,000 RBI. Is this impossible, or just unlikely?"

Dave, Dave, Dave. That's just stupid. Everyone knows 1,000 RBI in a season is just unlikely, especially when we're talking about Wright. As for Rookie of the Year, David Wright is going to have to go gangbusters for the rest of this season in order to add that award to his Hall of Fame resume. The rules, I believe, are a player can't have 130 major league at-bats or 45 games on a major league roster and still be considered a rookie. So Wright's a rookie right now...and won't be in 2005. As for a projection of stats, I would say he's going to be a consistent .300 hitter, 30 homers, and 130 RBI. What else would you expect?

One final note: The Mets are wearing patches on their left sleeves for the rest of the season simply saying "Bob Murphy", written around the outside of the Mets emblem. Very classy. And before Tuesday night's game, the Mets honored Murphy with a video montage - it was very good. Well done by the Mets. And on Wednesday at 2PM at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, there is a public memorial for Murphy. Just FYI.