TODAY'S THE DAY!!

Follow "johnnymets" on Twitter for constant updates from Citi Field.

I'll be there before 4pm, probably, with the updates starting shortly thereafter. Game starts at 7pm.

BUMMER: I just read that Harry Kalas died this afternoon at the age of 73. One of my favorite broadcasters - loved listening to his voice. I hope the Mets make an adjustment to their plans tonight and do the right thing with a moment of silence in memory of the Phillies broadcaster.

And knowing nothing about Kalas other than what he did for a living, I'd have to think there couldn't be a more appropriate place for him to go than a ballpark.

Series Recap - Florida Marlins

April 10: Marlins win 5-4
April 11: Mets win 8-4
April 12: Marlins win 2-1

Mets record: 3-3

Beast of the East? : Don't look now but the Marlins are 5-1 with all the wins coming in the NL East. Jorge Cantu joked they might win 161 games.

So Close : Both Met losses come by just one run. They say good teams win close games. But then again - who is "they" that always says that?

Surely You Can't Be Serious : The Mets lone win this series came because of Livan Hernandez. Yes - THAT Livan Hernandez. I'm serious - and don't call me Shirley. That same Livan Hernandez had an ERA of 6.05 last season for the Twins and Rockies. Put it this way - if the Mets are counting on Livan Hernandez to bail them out, its going to be a long season.

Ace vs Staff : The Marlins might have one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball (Braves manager Bobby Cox thinks so), but its clear the Mets have the best pitcher. Johan Santana was awesome on Sunday, but couldn't get the run support. So the question is, would you rather your rotation was one amazing pitcher and four so-so's, or five pretty good's? 2009 could be the year we find out the answer.

Next up : three games vs San Diego Padres. Its the home opener Monday and in - case - you - hadn't - heard - already, Johnnymets will be there.

- SB

ONE DAY AWAY

We were driving past Citi Field on Saturday, and couldn't resist pulling over to check it out.

From the outside it reminds me mostly of San Francisco, with the high, gated doorways. I never went inside AT&T Park, though, so it just reminded me of that from when we walked around the outside.

We parked and walked over to the team store...which is awesome.

From the team store we could look into the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. You could see the escalators that lead up to Field Level. But everything was shut down.

It was quite a tease for Monday's game.

I can't wait.

I'll have Twitter updates all day Monday via text, if you want to know what I'm thinking as I experience the park for the first time.

BIG WEEKEND: Celebrated a championship for a team I root for for the first time in 15 years last night as Boston University's hockey team won (in dramatic fashion, tying the game with 2 goals in the final minute, then winning in overtime) 4-3 over Miami of Ohio. It's the first championship I've cared about since the Rangers in 1994. Which is really pretty hard to believe. Hopefully this is just the start of a period of prosperity.

STILL GOING STRONG

Some Mets number 5s help me recognize 5 years of blogging:

I distinctly remember how the blog started. I was sitting with The Wife (then the fiancee - I've been blogging longer than I've been married), surfing the net on her laptop, saying, "I want to write about the Mets. How do I start my own website?" She said, "You can start a blog." So I did. That happened on April 11, 2004. The site has come a long way, I think, since those mini-game recaps.

In 5 years we've seen the rise of David Wright, the closing of Shea and opening of a new stadium, Carlos and Pedro* and Johan, and disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. (Not to mention the Jets' share of disappointments...as well as the birth of two children.)

Hopefully the enthusiasm with which I've started off this year stays with me until late October.

A World Series championship would be a nice way to celebrate the end of our fifth season.

FINALLY COMING TO BLOWS?

I’m not trying to stir up trouble. And all things considered, I’d rather the Mets fought with members of another team than among themselves.

But I have a bad feeling that this is the year Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado finally come to blows in the dugout or in the clubhouse.

I’ve written about this before, and I’ve never been fond of it...and I can’t imagine it’s not getting old for Reyes.

Any time Reyes makes a bad throw, or even a throw that makes Delgado move the slightest bit off the bag, Delgado stares down Reyes. It happened again on Wednesday night, when Reyes threw a ball to Delgado’s right that Delgado didn’t even make a good effort to get in front of. It could have easily been an error on Delgado, but it was scored a throwing error on Reyes. Delgado gave Reyes a look as if to say, “Enough with the bad throws.” The camera I saw (I was watching Fox Sports Ohio, the Reds’ channel) showed a reaction shot of Reyes where he gave a look back to Delgado.

Now, I don’t know anything about their relationship. Maybe they have worked this out in the past that Reyes says he needs the reminders from Delgado to get pumped up and make good throws. It certainly seems that the next time after these situations Reyes throws a strike to Delgado.

But if I were Reyes, I wouldn’t like it. It might have flown when he was younger, but he’s a veteran now, and probably doesn’t want to be treated like a rookie. And Reyes has shown a resistance to authority - remember Jerry Manuel’s debut in Anaheim, when he tried to lift Reyes from the game and Reyes publicly pouted? He wouldn’t fight a manager, but he’d fight a teammate.

One other thing that bothers me about this situation is that it’s one thing for Delgado to shoot a look when someone else isn’t perfect, but he’s not perfect himself. He is notorious for coming off the bag too quickly on forceouts - too close for comfort in some instances. Wednesday night (I fell asleep, but read about this afterwards...I’ll try to watch the video) he got called on it, in the 9th inning, when he came off the bag to throw home after a throw to first.

I bet no one shot him a look....but I hope someone did.

OTHER THINGS: I love that the Southern Bureau is fully on board writing this season...David Wright had a double Wednesday night - too early to count those game-by-game, but the first one's worth mentioning (Ryan Church already has 3)...Just an absolute tragedy for the Angels. I wouldn't be surprised if this derails their season.

Series Recap - Cincinnati Reds

April 6: Mets win 2-1
April 8: Mets win 9-7
April 9: Reds win 10-8

Mets record: 2-1

The More Things Change... : THE BULLPEN HELD A LEAD!!! Omar Manaya probably chewed his fingernails right off as the Mets clinged to a one run lead in the opener. But J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez did what no one could do last season and held on in the 2-1 win. To make things even better - they did it again the next night.

...The More They Stay the Same : But all chances for a sweep were quickly killed by Oliver Perez. His Thursday afternoon line - 4.1ip, 8er, 5bb. Tough to come back when your starter puts you in an 8-4 hole. And the Mets couldn't.

Go, Go Delgado : Carlos Delgado getting the season off to a good start. Hitting .429, 6rbi, and a HR in the three game series.

Back from the Dead : The debate in the preseason was who would win the NL East - The Mets or the Phillies? Despite their bullpen meltdown Wednesday, the Braves served notice that they will be a force in the NL East as well. The Braves outplayed Philadelphia for a game and 6+ innings before a train wreck of an inning cost them a sweep. The NL East could be a three team race.

Next up : three games at Florida Marlins

- SB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY CARTER!

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

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

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

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

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

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

COUNTDOWN...

6 MORE DAYS!!!!

The weather is scaring me...but weather.com tells me Monday will be partly cloudy and 51.

Good enough for me.

I'll have a lot to update in the next couple of days...keep coming back.

EARLY RETURNS PROMISING

Without making too big of a deal out of one game, I'll just say that this was exactly the type of game the Mets didn't win last year.

Five and two-thirds from Johan Santana with just a one-run lead...you might as well carve in stone the No Decision.

Especially with the Mets having trouble scratching out runs.

But the bullpen was the star of the show, and the Mets were confidence-inspiring in the final innings.

Now, there's a difference between Cincinnati in April and Philadelphia in September, and Santana starts aren't really a question (we need to see what the Mets look like the other four nights)...but I'll take it.

Because come September every little win adds up, and every loss gets magnified. And a year ago, this would have turned into a loss that would have haunted the Mets all season. Right now, it's a good win.

SURPRISES:

-I'm following Pittsburgh this week closer than I otherwise would have because of the New Baseball Pool (no, I didn't pick them, but I'm rooting for them to take out a lot of people), and that was an impressive comeback in the 9th inning. Moreso, it was a terrible outing by this guy Motte for the Cardinals.

-I think the new Twins uniforms are nice. Didn't expect to see new unis in that game. That's always fun.

-For what it's worth after one game, the Yankees looked terrible. Whoa. That was a stinker.

OPENING DAY REFLECTIONS: So I don't know if I have seasonal depression or what. But I can tell you that I'm 100% happier right now that I have baseball to watch than I was without it. I love my family, love spending time with my daughters and wife, but I missed baseball terribly. And I'm ecstatic that it's back.

Southern Bureau's 2009 Mets Preview

The Southern Bureau's 2009 Mets season preview is brought to you by the official house band of 200 Miles From the Citi - Matt Sucich with the Vanderettes.

HARMONIUM - The new Citi Field is probably going with pre recorded rock music and not the traditional ballpark organ music, but that's not what really matters. How will the new Citi Field play? Will it favor hitters or pitchers? Having seen some of it on tv yesterday - the large wall in left field made it feel like a pitchers park - but with Oliver Perez pitching, it was still 6-0 Red Sox in the first inning. So who knows? But I'm wondering how quickly it will take the Mets and Jerry Manual to adjust to the new digs. Could possibly set the Mets back a few games.

...AND LOVE - ....and hate. Didn't take long for Mets fans to turn on this team. In that same article in the previous paragraph it reports that the Citi Field faithful are already in September boo'ing mood. Perez was boo'd off the mound (as well he should have been). But I think that could be a big factor with this year's team - how long will the fans believe? They're obviously gun shy - and rightfully so. The last two seasons have been pretty heartbreaking - you only need to read Johnnymets to know that (see 2007 and 2008). While every Met fan does love their team, a slow start could ruin the confidence of the fans and lead to a summer full of empty seats at Citi Field.

STUPID OUTFITS - We've been over the sleeve patch, but I'm happy to see the Mets have gotten rid of their black alternate uniforms. The Southern Bureau hates alternate uniforms - always feels like a slow pitch softball uniform to me.

ALL TIME GREATEST - Yeah...we're all looking at you, David Wright (maybe not in that picture). Its your year to step up and win something. Individually - you're great. I've been in two fantasy baseball drafts this year, and you went first in one, second in the other. I'm sure there are dad's in Queens right now trying to convince their wife to let them name their newborn "David" or "Wright". But at some point, you've gotta win a big game. You're probably already one of the Top 20 players in Mets history (maybe not - Johnnymets or Daddymets could probably correct me), so its time to make that next step.

SETTLE DOWN - As Johnnymets pointed out in a recent post, Sports Illustrated believes the Mets are winning the World Series. Not good. Sports Illustrated has a habit of doing this - and its never works out well for anyone - especially the team they pick.

As a Red Sox fan who sat through several years of "The Red Sox will win it all" issues from Sports Illustrated, its not fun. On the left - that's the 2000 Preview. The title: Why the Red Sox Will Win the World Series (Really!)

Turns out: not really. They finished 85-77 and didn't make the playoffs.

To be fair to the cover boy, it wasn't Pedro's* fault. He won the Cy Young and finished 5th in MVP voting.

Anyways - before we all get too excited about Sports Illustrated, lets all settle down and realize they really don't know much more than anyone else.

NEW YORK IN THE FALL - But with that all said, hopes should be high for some October baseball in Citi Field. They have a much improved bullpen, a great lineup top to bottom, an ace in their pitching staff, and a pretty good manager. Perhaps this is the year the Mets can finally get over the hump.

So will we see playoff baseball in New York in the Fall? I think it all falls on starting pitching. If they can get good starts from #2-#5 in the rotation, they'll be there. If not, it will be a long year with no playoffs at all.

- SB

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.

TWO QUICK THINGS

1) I hate to remind everyone...but I have bad memories of the Mets opening the season in Cincinnati, as they'll do tomorrow (weather permitting...I guess it's supposed to snow there).

You might remember this, in 2005, Pedro Martinez's first start with the Mets. I guess it can't get much worse than that...

(Interestingly, in that post, I picked Jeremy Reed to be 2005's AL Rookie of the Year...he's now breaking camp with the Mets.)

2) Just took a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks' April schedule - they have a chance to jump out to a pretty quick start (not that that served them well last year) - 18 of their 22 April games are at hom. That's amazing! They have just one road series all month - 3 games in San Francisco...and have a road trip that starts on the last day of the month.

Time to get this season going!!!!!

I KNEW I LOVED SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Over the years, Sports Illustrated and I have had our ups and downs. We went through a stretch where I just wasn't reading it, so I cancelled the subscription. When I had time again and renewed the magazine, my free gift was stolen in the mail and they never made up for it.

But all is forgiven.

Sports Illustrated is picking the Mets to win the World Series.

I actually can't disagree with much that Sports Illustrated has picked in terms of this year's standings. If I were to have gone through the standings, I would have had the Mets over the Angels in the World Series, like they do (and like I've had every year since 1999, probably).

They also have the tight race in the AL Central that I'm predicting, though the records of the teams there were significantly lower in their opinion than in mine.

So I'm thrilled...at least someone is on board with the Mets, besides me.

But, technically, I haven't picked the Mets to win the World Series. Just in case that matters when it comes to karma.


THE YANKEES OPENED THEIR STADIUM, TOO: Justin in NYC was there for the Yankees' exhibition game at their new stadium last night. He wrote about it here. Part of me wants to ignore the fact that I wasn't at the 'first-ever' game at Citi Field (or the second-ever, or the third-ever, if you count the St. John's game)...but I'll be at the first game that counts, which is good enough for me.

METS SIGN SHEFFIELD

I guess it's time to get away from the previews and become reactionary.

And I'll say up front - I don't love the move the Mets made, signing Gary Sheffield.

I do think Sheffield has something left in the tank. It's funny this happened - yesterday I was all set to write about the team that acquires Sheffield...but did another preview. Here's what I would have written:

A couple of weeks ago the Boston Globe did a small profile on Sheffield, and how he was fired up this year and ready to put last year's disappointing season behind him. I bought in so much that I made him a last-round pick in my fantasy draft. I figured once he hit homer #500 and put that behind him he'd have a good season.

Then, after what I didn't realize was a pretty poor spring, the Tigers released him, and I heard a couple of rumors about where he would end up - mostly Cincinnati or Philadelphia. And that didn't make sense to me - as much as Sheffield was willing to suck it up in Detroit, he said he wanted to be an outfielder, but I think it's pretty clear everywhere that he would be better off as a DH at age 40. So a National League club didn't seem like a good fit, not to mention the damage a Gary Sheffield could do to your clubhouse. So I was partly rooting for him to infect Philly...and I held back from writing what a good missing piece he could be for the Reds (the veteran bat the very young team needed in their lineup) because I thought the negative influence he'd have on the players would offset the positive.

Now he's the Mets' problem. I find it disruptive - they have Daniel Murphy in left, Ryan Church in right, with Fernando Tatis spelling either/or. Sheffield, defensively, would be a step back from any of the three. Sure, I still think there's pop in the bat...but I worry because Sheffield has worn out more than one welcome. And I don't think Jose Reyes needs another person like Sheffield as a teammate - he doesn't seem to handle those guys too well.

I'm willing to give Sheffield a shot and the benefit of the doubt. But I wish I didn't have to.

METS OPEN CITI FIELD: Notwithstanding the fact that I didn't realize the Mets-Red Sox exhibition game tonight started at 6 instead of 7, and NESN has had technical difficulties most of the night which have prevented me from seeing everything....I love Citi Field. It looks really good. I can't wait to go there in a little more than a week! It does look weird to see the Mets in their home whites and not in Shea.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: I thank "Total AL East Homer" for reading and making their comment - but my point isn't that the three teams atop the AL East will be competing for the division and the wild card with their 95 wins - it's that the other two teams in the division will be 20 games back. In the AL Central, I think top to bottom it has a chance to have everyone in contention until the final days of the season. Unlikely, but I think that's the most competitive division in terms of ALL of the teams battling it out.

RANDOM PREDICTION: AL CENTRAL

The American League Central will be the most competitive division in baseball in 2009.

Let's break this down - in the AL East, the Orioles and Blue Jays will be below .500. In the AL West, Seattle is terrible. In the NL East, the Nationals will be bad, the NL Central has the Pirates and Astros, and the NL West is the worst division in baseball.

Bringing us back to the AL Central:

The Twins barely missed the playoffs, losing a one-game playoff to the White Sox, who enter the season as defending division champs. The Indians are now two seasons removed from their disappointing ending to the 2007 season and can't be counted out as a threat. This is the year the Royals get back above .500. And then you have the Tigers, who have to be chomping at the bit to avenge last year's disaster of a season.

I think, if it's mathematically possible, you have 5 teams right there that play better than .500 ball all year...making the AL Central the most competitve division in baseball in 2009.

For the sake of argument, here's my order of divisions in terms of competitiveness:

1) AL Central
2) NL East
3) NL West (the Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Rockies really all could win the division)
4) AL East (a very good 3-team race)
5) NL Central (a bunch of teams have a chance, but none are all that good...that's right, Cubs. Win a playoff game sometime then we'll talk)
6) AL West (the Angels comfortably win this division...maybe even the American League)

ANOTHER RANDOM PREDICTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RANDOM PREDICTION FOR 2009

Perhaps I mis-titled this segment yesterday. I don't really think these are bold predictions - they're more random predictions. So I'll continue in this new vein to tell you:

The Best Player on the Texas Rangers in 2009 will be Chris Davis.

The reason this is so random is because I was all set to declare Davis the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year. But then I realized, to the best of my knowledge, that he qualified as a rookie last year (and received no votes for ROY). But I thought he put up some impressive numbers -

In just 80 games (295 at-bats), Davis hit .285 with 17 homers and 55 RBI. Project that out to a full season, and I think he gets 35 homers and 100+ RBI - pretty good for someone you haven't really heard of.

And if you have heard of him, I'm sorry that I missed the boat. Those numbers just caught my eye.

Now excuse me while I add Davis to my fantasy team.

BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR 2009 - #1

OK. Let's cut the charade. If I picked the divisions again this year, you know who I'd end up picking to win everything. So I'm going outside the box this year with some bold predictions. And I'll stay away from most things involving the Mets.

Also, I'm running out of time to go on the record with any kind of picks...season starts in less than a week, and I can't believe I'm finally writing that.

So, without further ado - my first Bold Prediction for 2009 is: Neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees will win the 2009 World Series.

I am aware of the tremendous social risk I take in writing that. Sad as it is, 80% of my readers are Red Sox or Yankees fans (God bless you, Steve in Queens, for knocking down that percentage). But I'm not making the pick to spite you all, or because I hold any sort of grudge that in the 23 seasons since the Mets last won a World Series you all have celebrated 6 world championships and a couple of other league championships, as well as plenty of playoff appearances.

In fact, one of those teams, and quite possibly both, will probably make the playoffs. It will in all probability be the Yankees. But I don't think either team wins the World Series this year. Or even gets there.

It's wrong to base assumptions on the World Baseball Classic, but I think part of the WBC was a harbinger of things to come for the Red Sox. Lots of little tweaks from Kevin Youkilis to Dustin Pedroia...and I feel like it's going to be that type of year in Boston. I feel like someone will be suffering from some kind of nick or bruise most of the year, and they'll never really get to the point where they are as good as they've been the past couple of years. Which means they'll still be good, but not championship-level good.

As for the Yankees, I feel like they have the potential to be this year's version of last year's Tigers. They could be a huge disappointment. Of course, they could get everything to go right and be the best team ever...but these types of spending sprees never seem to go that way, do they?

So I think the age on some of the Yankees will catch up to them (Jeter, Damon, Pettitte, Posada), and that will be a little too much for the new guns to make up for.

I'm not sure who exactly will win the World Series, but I'm feeling pretty confident the AL champ will not come from Boston or New York.

THE NEW SCENE

As far as pictures taken from the car go, this is not one of our finer efforts, but the last time we were down in New York, about two weeks ago, we snapped this picture of Shea-less Citi Field on our way back:
It was weird seeing just one stadium in that spot...even though for my whole life there was ever only one stadium in that spot.

But there it is. The new view from the Whitestone Expressway. And The Wife is celebrating because she'll never have to take another picture from the car there again.

FIRST PLAY AT CITI

This thought occurred to me the other day, so I want to make sure I broadcast it before anyone else does.
I don't think there's a better way to open up Citi Field on April 13th than by having Billy Joel sing the national anthem. He was the 'Last Play at Shea', he should be the 'First Play at Citi'. I checked his touring schedule - it doesn't seem like he's doing anything for the month of April. Maybe he's keeping himself free for just this type of occasion. I hope the Mets get him. And for good measure, I'll say keep that symmetrical theme going...Tom Seaver threw out the last first pitch at Shea...he should also open the new stadium.

Incidentally, it bothers me a little bit that the first game at Citi Field will be a St. John's game...this weekend, I think. I understand the need to have some run-throughs before the stadium opens to fans for good, but aren't next weekend's exhibition games against the Red Sox enough? Other than the disaster that was Frank Viola's years with the Mets, and John Franco's tightrope act, there's never been a St. John's-Mets connection - it's a historic game that will make no sense in the history books.

I'm sort of glad the Red Sox are the team playing the Mets next weekend, too - I'll be able to see the games on NESN here, and get a sneak peek at Citi Field. By the way - the Mets sent my dad tickets to a practice at the new stadium the morning of one of those Red Sox games - concessions will be open. Another test-run...another reason the St. John's game doesn't need to happen first.