TICK....TICK....TICK

I'm still crazy busy, but I had to put my two cents in. This is part of the article from espn.com about Willie Randolph's recent comments:

"Is it racial?" Randolph asked in the column, written by The Record's Ian O'Connor. "Huh? It smells a little bit."

"I don't know how to put my finger on it, but I think there's something there," Randolph said in the column. He cited the example of former New York Jets coach Herman Edwards as a coach who was initially successful, but did not last long when the Jets started losing. He also noted the treatment of former New York Knicks coach and GM Isiah Thomas, saying "Isiah didn't do a great job, but they beat up Isiah pretty good. ... There's something weird about it."

There's nothing weird about it, Willie. Win some friggin' games. Herman Edwards was fine until he started losing. Isiah Thomas never won. Where were the racial comments in 2006 when you were winning the division?

Apparently Randolph has backed off these comments, but the fact that he would play the race card at all is so disappointing. And this coming after Billy Wagner last week....this team is a mess right now.

I also formed a radical idea on my way home from work today. I can't even believe I'm going to say this...but the Mets might as well just sign Barry Bonds. They can't get much more unlikeable as a team than they are right now, and it wouldn't mess up the clubhouse chemistry any. These guys clearly hate each other and aren't responding to their manager. Might as well throw Bonds into the mix. I don't know where he'd play, but they need some kind of spark. Bench Delgado, make Bonds play first. Sign him just before interleague, make him DH, and see what happens. Moises Alou will probably be hurt again soon.

The Mets' 2008 season is not going like I'd hoped.

MITCHELL REPORT REACTION I

I think I'll break down my opinions on the Mitchell Report into a bunch of different postings. I don't know that this was the earth-shattering document a lot of people were expecting. I think it was about what I thought we'd see...but it left me with a lot more questions than answers. I'm pretty sure there have been Mets since the mid-90's who have used steroids other than Mo Vaughn and Matt Franco (surprise there - never would have expected that). But I'll get into that more another time.

What I want to spend my time on in Part I is Roger Clemens. First of all, it seems like a lot of people are shocked he was on this list. Really? I might be shocked that he started as early as when he was in Toronto...but not shocked at all that he was there. (P.S. - Why haven't I heard anyone yet using the words, "Maybe Dan Duquette was right.....?")

I am glad Roger Clemens was named in the report mainly for one reason (though there are a lot of other reasons right behind this one)....a white player needed to be prominently featured in this report. And there were a couple. But Roger Clemens compares favorably to Barry Bonds, talent-wise.

I get so tired of hearing about the race aspect of Barry Bonds and steroids. People were saying, "If Bonds was white, he wouldn't be treated this way...." Part of the problem is that Mark McGwire fell off the face of the earth, while Bonds was still playing and was a live target - so there was no white target. (Jose Canseco goes into a separate category, because he was the whistleblower.) Well, this should now take the race issue out of it, because Clemens is getting hit from all angles. His Hall of Fame candidacy is being questioned now, and that should ease the criticism that Bonds is being singled out because he is black. And if it doesn't, or if Clemens is given a pass...then this country still has a serious problem with race, and this will become prime example number one.

A NOTE ABOUT STEROIDS: Early in the day on Thursday, an e-mail made the rounds naming a bunch of high-profile major leaguers as being mentioned in the report. A couple of the names turned out to be accurate, but most were false - because if you name enough players, you're going to hit a couple. I hate that. You could name players all day and come up with a few that are guilty....and a couple who are still guilty who weren't named in the report. While I still feel that most of the players I mentioned on the blog last week probably took steroids, I have deleted that part of the entry, because I don't like the fact that anyone can throw names around and bring down people's reputations unsubstantiated. I know I don't have a ridiculous number of readers, but I felt like taking that down was the right thing to do. I wrote that in an emotional moment, when I was ticked off about this whole steroid thing. I will continue to write about steroids, and the report, but I will keep my thoughts about who else could have/probably did take steroids to myself, and stay with what has been published.

SNORE-E-ALBA

I need to be completely honest with you - this Yorvit Torrealba signing doesn't instill me with a huge amount of confidence heading into the 2008 baseball season.

Torrealba is a career .251 hitter, with 30 career home runs and 173 career RBI. I hate to say it, but when I heard about the signing (or I guess when I heard that he would be signed...it hasn't technically happened yet), I actually wished that Jorge Posada was going to be the Mets catcher next year. (For the record, Posada had 20 homers last year alone, and 183 RBI over the past two years.)

Offensively, I don't think a Torrealba-Ramon Castro (who the Mets are also expected to re-sign, and give more playing time) rotation would be any worse than Paul LoDuca-Castro...maybe a lower batting average, but not a huge drop-off. Baseball-reference.com compares players - and the number one comparison to Torrealba is former Met Jason Phillips. Just what the Mets need...Phillips revisited. Maybe after Carlos Delgado is gone, which is looking like it can't be too soon, Torrealba will make an ill-fated move to first place, a la Phillips.

The Mets made the right decision moving away from LoDuca - he's getting old, and the off-field stuff was becoming a huge distraction. Torrealba's defense is supposed to be above-average, so at least he's got that over Posada...but even so, Torrealba doesn't have the greatest percentage throwing out runners.

I can learn to love Torrealba. The one thing that stands out to me about him is his clutch hitting - I feel like he had a lot of clutch hits for the Rockies, and every time I saw them come back late in a game, I feel like Torrealba was involved. That said, I'm not tremendously confident that he is what the Mets need. And there's one huge factor that will be make or break as far as me liking Torrealba, and it's why I chose the picture above to show him. His jersey number with the Rockies (and before that, with the Giants) was 8. If he knows what's good for him as far as gaining my fanhood, he'll either pick a new number with the Mets, or show a LOT of respect for the number 8 of Hall of Famer Gary Carter.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am very, very surprised that Alex Rodriguez is going to remain a Yankee. I can't imagine he'll be very well-received in the Bronx, though.

I am not at all surprised that Barry Bonds has been indicted. Is it really that big a deal? Who didn't see that coming?

Finally, with Jake Peavy winning the National League Cy Young Award so decisively, it made me wonder...when a player wins unanimously, is it even worth listing the second and third place finishers?

BONDS & 756 = EVERYTHING WRONG WITH PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

Barry Bonds hit career home run number 756 on Tuesday night, and in so doing, he gave us a prime example of what's wrong with the sports world.

I understand that times change, but I just wish there was less celebrating "me", and more humility (2 days in a row with humility - this is becoming a theme). And let me say up front that I realize this happens with my team and with players I like as much as it does with the players I don't like (see: Bonds)...but this one happened on the world stage, and I think it's embarrassing.

When Hank Aaron became the Home Run King, he ran around the bases like he had done it 714 times before. There was no celebrating until after the fact. Here's the moment...

You might not be able to tell, because the batter in the picture above isn't celebrating immaturely, but he just hit a ball out of the park.

Then there was Tuesday night. Barry Bonds became the "Boom King", so to speak (a little 'Flight of the Conchords' reference for you in there...I couldn't help thinking of "Boom King" every time anyone used the words "Home Run King" Wednesday morning), as he launched one to left-center off the Washington Nationals, and stood and watched it, raising his hands in glory, looking like, well, the fan in the first row:

I understand that this is a great accomplishment (all tainted aspects aside), but how big does your ego have to be to be this self-congratulatory? I really can't stand that every time they show this record-breaking home run, you'll see grandstanding to this degree. The man in the picture above deserves a baseball in the ear, not applause. I don't care how many home runs you hit - that's unacceptable.

Speaking of unacceptable, when did it become common practice for people to maul each other for these baseballs? (That's a rhetorical question - I know it was when these baseballs started fetching upwards of a million dollars.) I can't believe the pushing and shoving that goes on. There are women being knocked around, kids with crowds pushing in on them...when I see scenes like this, it makes me think I should never take my daughter to a ballgame. I've talked about how uncomfortable it sometimes makes me to go to games these days...I won't dwell on this...but I just feel like it gets worse and worse. It's just unsafe.

I can't go without saying this, though - the man who got the ball was from Queens, New York (as he told everyone in the area).

And didn't it seem like the cops were a little rough with him, too? I don't think there can be enough security at events like this.

YANKEES-BLUE JAYS: Seems like the Yankees also thought there might be a chance Roy Halladay would make it three days in a row where A-Rod got plunked. Rodriguez was not in the starting lineup for the Yankees-Blue Jays game on Wednesday night.

PEDRO*: Pedro Martinez* made his first rehab start in Port St. Lucie on Wednesday night - through 3 innings, he gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs. That's a bit startling...but better in his first rehab start than his first major league start back.

THIS ONE COUNTS

THE 78TH ALL STAR GAME

It's been a few years, but Major League Baseball is still going with the "This One Counts" tag for their All Star Game, as though this is the only one that has ever counted. It bothers me. I remember writing about this last year...they really should go with "It Still Counts", or something like that.

But like it or not, the All Star Game matters, especially to a team like the Mets. And like last year, the Mets had three players in the starting lineup Tuesday night who could have a major influence on the game in Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran. I'm writing this in advance of the game, so I can only hope, but with the Mets' closer on the roster, if the National League should take a lead into the 9th inning, I hope that Tony LaRussa would allow Billy Wagner to close out a win, and give the Mets the chance at home field advantage in the World Series.

A COUPLE OF WORDS ON BARRY BONDS: I forgot to write about this when the votes for the All Star Game were tabulated, but I think there was something fishy going on when Barry Bonds suddenly surpassed Alfonso Soriano on the last day of voting to get into the starting lineup. I suspect if he wasn't starting, Tony LaRussa might have left Bonds off the roster, and I feel like someone at the MLB offices had an eye towards history, and wondered how it would look if the year he became the all-time leader in home runs, Barry Bonds was not even in the All Star Game. So I think there was some ballot box stuffing going on in those offices.

Meanwhile, he's kind of the "host" player for this game, being the Giants representative for the game in San Francisco and all. That's kind of like the guy no one likes in college, but who's still pretty important, who throws a party, and you still go, because all your friends and colleagues are going, and it's still going to be a great time...but he's still the "host". The other All Stars must feel in the back of their minds bothered by that part of it...although, according to the articles I've read, Jose Reyes was excited by the prospect of batting in front of Bonds, and Carlos Beltran was looking forward to picking Bonds's brain about hitting.

ALL STAR DESIGNING: Kudos to the designers of all things 2007 All Star Game.

I love the batting practice jerseys the players wore during the Home Run Derby...and I love the logo (all seen at left). I guess with these new ballparks, and all of their quirks, it's kind of a playland for the people who design these things.

I love how the Golden Gate Bridge was worked into the jerseys.


Another word about the All Star uniforms...I love how in the baseball All Star Game the players wear their team's uniform. I love that contrast on the field - where it's just whites and grays, but all different.


FORMAT: You've probably noticed some changes to the site. I'm hoping that we can increase traffic a bit, but I've also just upgraded the look a little. Obviously, there have been some major changes, like the colors, but there are also some new features on the right hand side, among them:

-links to some of my favorite sites (updating still in progress)

-a feed from mlb.com that updates the latest Mets news, because, as I wrote about a week or so ago, I'll be writing in more general terms, less specifically about the Mets' day-to-day results

-a link at the top right to the site e-mail and the blogtalkradio show

-I've also changed the name of the blog, since "John's Mets Page" wasn't too exciting. It's a change a long time coming. I'd appreciate your feedback, and if you have a name that might grab people, and you think it's better than "The Official Unofficial New York Mets Site", send it in. I'd love some suggestions. I like what I have right now, but I'm not married to it...I feel like it's a little long. So send along your suggestions...and thanks for reading!

EL DUQUE, METS COME UP BIG VERSUS GIANTS

Mets 4, Giants 2 (NYM: 34-18, SF: 25-27)

After suffering their first shutout of the season on Wednesday night, the Mets bounced back on Wendesday, beating the Giants, 4-2. The Mets have won every series they have played this year against teams that are not in the National League East.

The game did not start out in an ideal way - after three batters, the Giants led 2-0. Orlando Hernandez, though, found a rhythm. After a two-hit first inning, El Duque gave up just a walk (erased on a double play) in his seven innings. He only threw 95 pitches...which doesn't seem possible when you consider how rocky his first inning was.

The Mets answered the Giants right away, too. After the Giants' 2-run first, the Mets put up two. It all started with Jose Reyes - a leadoff walk, stolen base, advance on a groundout, and scored on an infield single. I think I was getting dinner ready at this point, because I missed this play, but I think it was on the infield single that Carlos Beltran bumped knees with Rich Aurilia, and he later left the game with a bruised knee. The bruise wasn't enough to prevent Beltran from scoring from first, though, on a double by David Wright (his 13th of the season), tying the game at 2.

The Mets then scored another 2 in the second - an RBI single by Jose Reyes, and then an RBI bunt single by Endy Chavez. When Beltran left the game, he was replaced by Carlos Gomez, and that gave the Mets a top three in the lineup of Reyes, Chavez, and Gomez - incredible speed.

Ben Johnson got his first start for the Mets - in left field - and was 1-for-2, with a run scored. Joe Smith held the lead for Hernandez (who improved to 3-1), and Billy Wagner converted his 13th save.

I am pleased to report that Barry Bonds leaves New York with the same amount of homers he came with.

The Mets are not far off the pace of their best records ever through so many games. They are at 34-18 through 52...they were 33-17 through 50. In 1986, they were 35-15. Right now they're on a ridiculous pace. The Diamondbacks come to town next. They are playing pretty good baseball, too, but the Mets have their number.

I probably won't be updating over the weekend - going to New York City for a Relay for Life at Astoria Park Saturday overnight into Sunday. Let me know if you're interested in sponsoring with a donation of about 10 bucks. My sister put together some teams...I couldn't make it down last year, glad I can pitch in this year.

Blog Talk Radio johnnymets.blogspot.com Player of the Game: I don't think I have much choice here but to give it to El Duque. He was that good after the first inning, and led the Mets to this win. I can't believe that with the lineup this Mets team has, that this honor has gone to a pitcher so many times so far this year.

Wednesday night's player of the game was Pedro Feliz, he had all three Giants RBI - outshining Barry Zito's 7 K's in 7 innings of 6-hit, shutout ball.

WHAT A STEAL: Thursday night, Jose Reyes picked up his 29th stolen base, but was also caught stealing for the 6th time this season.

MONTH OF MAY: Another month is complete. Here's how it stands:
April: 15-9
May: 19-9

Can't really beat that, as months go.

BEAT THE STREAK: I keep losing track, but I think I'm at 7 games, maybe 8, after Matt Holliday had a single in his first at-bat. I'm taking Carl Crawford on Friday night.

11TH - OURS

Mets 9, Giants 7, 11 innings (NYM: 14-7, SFG: 11-10)

The Mets came back, took a lead, blew a lead, then took a lead again on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco. In the end, they headed to Atlanta (after an off-day Thursday) with a win, but it could have been costly.

Brian Bannister gave up 3 runs in five innings, and also drove in two runs during a 2-for-3 afternoon at the plate. But it was after he doubled in the top of the sixth, when he was running home to score the go-ahead run, that he came up lame, barely able to make it down the third base line with the Mets' 4th run, with a hamstring injury (big credit to Bannister, though, for gritting it out and getting across the plate despite the pain he was in). Bannister left the game immediately (replaced by Aaron Heilman). I'll keep you posted on when he will come back - but the Mets are having hamstring problems - first Carlos Beltran* and now Bannister. I'd hate to see Bannister be out long - first of all, because the Mets aren't deep in pitching, and secondly because he's fun to watch pitch. I think the latest I heard is that Bannister would be re-evaluated in Atlanta.

Billy Wagner blew a save in this game but all 3 runs he gave up were unearned, coming after a David Wright error with a man on and 2 out in the 9th. After the error, Wagner gave up a pinch-hit, 2-run homer to Barry Bonds (number 711 career), but the Mets got clutch hits from Chris Woodward and THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, in the 11th to win it. The Mets also got great work from the bullpen - particularly Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver, in extra innings.

14-7 is the Mets record. That's good for a .667 winning percentage. That's 2 wins every 3 games. The Mets have the potential to keep that up all year. That's scary...for other teams.

MAILBAG: I almost don't believe my eyes - after about 2 years away from the site - Steve from New York is back in the inbox!!! And we welcome him back with open arms:

"Johnnymets -

As you know, I am a long time Mets fan and am used to them making terrible trades. Clearly, Kazmir for Zambrano is very close to top of the list. What is driving me crazy is that everyone in NY sees that Zambrano is horrible except for Randolph and Peterson. What are the two of them smoking? How much longer can this follishness continue? While listening to WFAN earlier today, I learned that the Mets are planning the weekend rotation to be Martinez - Glavine - Zambrano, Fri - Sun respectively. Normally, Sunday's game would be pitched by Trachsel, which is his 5th day. As most Mets fans know, Trachsel does well and likes to pitch on his 5th day. Instead, the Mets braintrust has decided to push Trachsel back a day, instead of skipping Zambrano all together, (which they would have been able to do because of the day off).

What are your thoughts and how long can the Mets fans let this nonsense go on?

PS - The FAN was saying that one of the reasons, besides stupidity could be that they want to keep Zambrano away from the Shea crowd as long as possible. That might be the smartest thing they have done all season (however, it will probably be to the detriment of the team)

PPS = If Bannister can't start on his next scheduled date, do the Mets bring Heilman from the bullpen for a start?

Steve"

Steve - The way I see things with Zambrano right now is, the Mets can't win every game. So Zambrano is that equalizer, allowing them to lose every fifth day or so. (I'm only partly kidding there.) I've said it before - this is the year where the Mets learn whether or not Rick Peterson's work with Zambrano will pay off. (So far, not so good.) I couldn't listen to WFAN today, obviously, but I did get the Mets game on SNY. And Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez were saying that Steve Trachsel will pitch on Sunday, on his regular fifth day, and Zambrano would just be skipped. I'm not sure who's right - them or 'FAN, but now Bannister's injury throws a wrench in things, if he ends up being out for a while.

I do NOT think Heilman should be thrown in for a fill-in start. If he's going to be starting, I agree with what Hernandez said on SNY - it shouldn't be a permanent thing. The thing is, the way Duaner Sanchez has been pitching, I'd rather see him take over Heilman's role, Zambrano be a permanent reliever (where I liked the way he looked last year), and Heilman starting every fifth day. I think that's the best the Mets could do.

Thanks for writing, Steve! Keep it up.

ELSEWHERE AROUND THE NL: Some sweeps worth noting. The Reds beat the Washington Nationals, completing a 3-game sweep, behind a 1-hitter by Bronson Arroyo. I don't want to pat myself on the back, but I did say I thought Arroyo being traded by the Red Sox would light a little bit of a fire under him. He's now 4-0, and has pitched brilliantly.

The Brewers swept the Braves. The Mets have been struggling a bit lately (1-2 vs. Atlanta, 2-2 vs. the Padres), but it's nothing compared to what the Braves have been doing. They're now 9-12. The Mets need to twist the knife a little bit this weekend in Atlanta - a place where they haven't had much success in recent years.

Finally, the Cardinals swept the Pirates, but Jose Hernandez hit a homer off Jason Isringhausen in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game. (The Cardinals won in the bottom half.) I'm telling you - the Cardinals bullpen is flawed this year. That will eventually cost them.

FROM THE AL: This stuff about Kevin Mench is great. I've always liked Mench - I always used to pick him up as a spare outfielder whenever I used to play fantasy baseball with current baseball players. He got off to a very slow start this season - 0 HR, 0 RBI in his first 10 games, I think. Turns out, he was wearing uncomfortable shoes - they were too small for his feet. So he misses five games, switches shoes, and has been on fire. He hit a grand slam Wednesday, and has homered in six consecutive games. What a riot.

THE KID'S KIDS: St. Lucie Mets manager and Hall of Famer Gary Carter has his work cut out for him. The Mets' 2005 first round pick, pitcher Mike Pelfrey, who has been pitching very well (winning Monday night) has been promoted to Double A. Managing in the minors has to be very tough with all of that roster upheaval due to promotions, demotions, etc.

On Wednesday, Carter's Mets scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth (awesome managing!) to beat Jupiter, 5-3. The win makes the Mets 13-6, and vaults them into first place.

Other Kid's Kids (and Dmitri Young's brother): Delmon Young, Devil Rays prospect and current Durham Bull, threw a bat at a home plate umpire after being called out. I'm not sure how the bat was thrown, or how the umpire is doing. This was a replacement ump - the minor league umpires are on strike - as a matter of fact, another replacement ump was involved in an incident with the Norfolk Tides, the Mets' Triple A affiliate, when Victor Diaz collided with him at first base. The collision forced Diaz to miss four games.

SNY PROGRAMMING: For the first time, during Wednesday's Mets game, I saw an SNY programming commercial showing that the Mets would be showing lots of Classic Mets games from 1986 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of that team. They should show classic games non-stop - instead of that drivel they call "Daily News Live". I'm psyched, needless to say.

PIC OF THE DAY: I need to write some stadium reviews from the West Coast - Thursday is a Mets' off-day, so that looks like a good time to write them, but for now, enjoy this pic from our trip:


I do believe the Padres have the least intimidating mascot in the Majors. Although, Padres fans could probably make a good counter-argument......

BEAT THE STREAK: I picked David Wright because he owned Jason Schmidt, but the Giants went with Matt Morris instead. Wright finally doubled in the 8th, to keep my streak alive - now a 5-gamer. I'm going with the history again on Thursday - Mike Lowell, a career 6-for-13 hitter against Paul Byrd.

Busy week at the ol' House sponsored by DirecTV (which still doesn't have a deal with SNY, and which is also using one of its own broadcasters to blog for it, so I think I'm out...and I never even sent a letter), so this will be a couple of bulleted updates.

WYLIE RELEASED: The Mets got rid of Rule 5 project Mitch Wylie. This hasn't gotten a lot of play yet, I happened to catch it on the transaction wire. Wylie needed to make the 25-man roster for the entire season, or else be returned to the team from which he came - the Giants. Though he impressed the Mets, I guess he wasn't going to be a valuable roster addition, so he is gone. Now I think he has to pass through waivers, and the Giants can take him back...I'm not sure how that works exactly. But with the press Wylie got early on, he'll probably latch on with someone. I'll try to keep track and give periodic updates on his season.

BONDS: The latest from Barry Bonds is that his life has been shattered by these latest allegations. Big whoop. What I really wanted to write about Bonds, though, is that he treats the media like a cancer that he wants to avoid his entire career (moreso in recent seasons, it seems), and then when he has a reality show to promote, or wants to appear like a victim, he uses the media to his advantage. And they let him. I don't like it.

KC - "WE DON'T NEED TO BUY A VOWEL": The Kansas City Royals continued to bolster their roster with really long last names. After an off-season in which they acquired Doug Mientkiewicz and Mark Grudzielanek (on the same day, no less!), the Royals claimed Tony Graffanino off waivers from the Red Sox. The good news, per my request, the Mets didn't get Graffanino, thereby further muddying the second base chase.

A WARNING: I am noticing some nasty postings on my comments sections. I'll give it one more day, and if these appear again, I'll get rid of the comments. And people can just e-mail me, like we always have, and we'll be fine.

FUN & GAMES: MLB.com finally has 'Beat The Streak' up and running, but there doesn't seem to be an option to create a "league". If that appears later on, I'll surely create one and invite you all to join, but if it doesn't, I still encourage you to play, and keep me up to date on your progress. I'll update you daily on my picks - starting Sunday night!! We'll use the honor system.

FINALLY...: Because the Phillies don't scare me, I have no problem putting their promotional ploys on this site. Leading up to Opening Day, they are pushing Phillies PR around the city of Philadelphia. It's called "Paint The Town Red", because red is a team color. So as part of the promotion, the team painted the Philly Phanatic red. I don't know if this is a permanent change. But here it is:

TOE-RIFFIC

OK, maybe terrific is a little too much to describe Pedro Martinez*'s day, but it makes for a good pun. And I wanted to be the first to use it.

Pedro* threw 61 pitches on Wednesday, and everything went well. He faced batters, and is on target to start throwing in a game soon. The Mets haven't ruled out Opening Day yet, but it's less likely Pedro* will miss more than a day or two at the beginning of the year.

METS 8, NATIONALS 5: The Mets won their spring training game on Wednesday over the Nationals. Aaron Heilman pitched four scoreless innings, giving up just three hits. I am excited about Heilman in the starting rotation. I liked him out of the bullpen last year, but I'm really starting to think Heilman has a chance to be one of the most valuable Mets this year. And he's pitching really well this spring, for what that's worth.

BONDS: I don't know how I feel about this whole Bonds thing. I do NOT like Barry Bonds - that's first of all. Never have - even when he was a Pirate. I do not feel bad for him that all of this stuff is coming out. I do question the motivation here, though. These writers are writing a book about steroid use in baseball, basically. It just so happens their target is someone who probably has shunned them multiple times through his career in San Francisco. I wonder if baseball players were all nice, accomodating guys who all cheated, would all this stuff still come out?

When it comes down to it, I'm glad the book was written. I want to be able to return to the days when a 50-homer season was legit, and special. I want suspicion to be cast on Bonds everytime he steps on a baseball field. I want suspicion cast on other players who suddenly bulked up the past 10+ years....even though I know I'm not going to like hearing who some of those players are. I just wonder what the true motivation was for this book, "Game of Shadows", in which the stories about Bonds all came out. What's good for baseball, or revenge by a couple of sportswriters?

NCAA: I'm so psyched for Thursday's start to the NCAA tournament. I wasn't happy with the way my bracket turned out, but who knows - it's not like I do well every other year, when I'm happy with my bracket. So maybe this is the year. I have Duke, Villanova, North Carolina, and Gonzaga as my final four - we'll see. Big upsets the first couple of days include San Diego State over Indiana. Just so I'm on the record. UNC-Wilmington should also beat George Washington. And I took Northern Iowa over Georgetown - I don't know why.

SNY LAUNCH: Forgot to mention that while I was in New York last weekend, I walked past the new SNY studios with Justin from NYC. It seems like it'll be a nice setup, with an open studio wrapping around the corner facing the street. (I wish I knew I was going to be there, I would have dropped off my letter of intent to be the official blogging partner of SNY.) Thursday, March 16th, is the launch of SNY. Still no word on whether or not DirecTV will air SNY - it doesn't look like it will happen by the time of the launch...unfortunately. So I won't be able to watch it's first minutes on the air....but you know I'll be watching the minute DirecTV picks it up.

BILLY, BARRY, AND BOONE....AND MUCH MORE

Leading off, good news leading up to the World Baseball Classic - Billy Wagner is not participating. Wagner withdrew from the WBC on Wednesday, saying he didn't think he'd be effective enough this early on. He says he's not a good pitcher in March, and didn't want to bring down the U.S. team. I'm glad he won't be suffering a season-ending injury during the WBC, but part of me was hoping Wagner got that "bad pitching early on" out of the way in the tournament, and was ready to go by the time the Mets' season started.

Secondly, 2B Bret Boone retired Wednesday, saying he just didn't have the motivation to play anymore. Boone's numbers have fallen off dramatically the past couple of seasons...just saying....I don't think he was going to give the Mets those types of huge numbers this year. Actually, I'm willing to bet he wouldn't produce anything close to those numbers. And he was probably thinking the same thing.

Lastly (in my opening remarks, anyway), one day of Barry Bonds dressed like a woman for 'Giants Idol' was amusing. Day Two, on Wednesday, was borderling disturbing. Also, take note, ESPN - Pedro Gomez isn't suited to doing anything that isn't remotely serious. He looked pained trying to smile in his stand-up (on-camera piece) in his 'Giants Idol' report from Arizona.

IN OTHER 'BALLPLAYERS I DISLIKE' NEWS: Roger Clemens is pitching for Team USA in the WBC. With the Astros the past couple of years, and now with the U.S., I've decided I am tired of rooting for the team Clemens plays for, while rooting against him. I don't want to root for him to pitch poorly, get knocked out in the second inning, and then root for the Astros/Americans to come back and win. So despite my like of the Astros (in other words, they're a team I usually don't mind rooting for), I will root for no further Astros success until Roger Clemens is no longer on that team....unless they call up his son Koby. And speaking of Koby....are you kidding me that he homered off his dad the other day? And then Clemens brushes him back? Yeah, how long have they been planning that media coup? For 18 years, probably.

AND NOW TO 'BALLPLAYERS I LIKE': Al Leiter is entering the rotation of Team USA - replacing C.C. Sabathia, who withdrew from the team along with Wagner. That'll be fun to watch - I like rooting for Leiter still.

HE'S NUMBER ONE: The talk out of the Atlanta Braves' camp on Tuesday was that Tim Hudson will be the team's Opening Day starter, taking over the number one role from John Smoltz. Smoltz said he's fine with it - he's just happy to be starting and healthy entering the year. You may remember Smoltz' arm almost fell off at the end of last year's playoffs. (Hopefully the Mets will give Smoltz plenty of time to rest this year, with a nice October off.) Meanwhile, I was surprised to read that Hudson will be the Braves' sixth Opening Day starting pitcher in the past six years. I thought there'd been more stability there recently.

COMMENTS ON THE 'COMMENTS': It's only fitting that Kevin would be the first to comment - he's done so much for this site out of the Southern Bureau (also, the publicity he has given the site is unmatched - both on the web and over the airwaves). More on him later. As for The Wife, I'm anticipating many a comment from her, and yes, I do feel very bad for Mrs. Wilk. But this is a Mets site, darn it, not a 'Scrubs' blog.

AS PROMISED, MORE FROM KEVIN/MAILBAG/'86 METS ROUNDUP: Three topics in one shot here - first, the e-mail:

"Johnny...

You going to see this movie??

http://www.game6film.com

Before you get all excited - watch the trailer. I think its a Red Sox love story. Ugh.

kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Chief."

Well, I watched the trailer. If you're going to do the same, I recommend you treat yourself to the "Large Trailer". Why would you choose the small one, that's what I want to know. Go ahead - check it out....I'll wait.........

As you might expect, I have lots of thoughts on this movie. First of all, it's a brilliant concept. I love the idea - "What were you doing that night?" It's great. But I think it's all wrong here. First of all, the game seems to serve as something of a backdrop (I have no basis for this, but that's what it seems like to me), and I feel like it would be torture for me to see the movie (which, of course, I'm probably going to do anyway). I think I'll be sitting there with my antennae up looking for any clues as to what it was really like to be a Red Sox fan at that moment - or looking for factual errors....or trying to re-live that night. It's an obsession for me. So I think I will be disappointed. But I have to check it out anyway.

Next, if you explore that site (how long did it take you to even figure out where the links were? I dragged my mouse across the screen about ten times before I realized those words on the newspaper were the links...but that's just me. I thought it was a big screen that was just promoting the "Where Were You?" contest.), you'll see that you can read other people's submissions about where they were. This is another obsession of mine - I like hearing about the champagne and T-shirts being hurried away from the Red Sox clubhouse after the Mets tied it up....Keith Hernandez in the clubhouse after making the second out....Ron Darling's yet-to-be-told on johnnymets.blogspot.com story about that night.

I skimmed through the stories about where people were, and I came across one that particularly struck my fancy - a guy who was a freshman at BU, from New York, living in Warren Towers (a dorm at Boston University where I and every one of my readers has lived...unless my readership increases dramatically soon), surrounded by Red Sox fans (both true blue and wannabe). He has a good story going, and answers my question about what it would be like had the Mets been any good when I was in college in Boston...but he loses me when he insists that Ray Knight was on third base after the wild pitch to Mookie Wilson. The wild pitch advanced Knight to second, not third, and he scored when the ball went through Buckner's legs. Now, the other fact that disappoints me about this guy is that he insists that Wilson would have beaten Buckner to the bag (which I agree with) had Buckner caught the ball. But he says that would have won the game for the Mets. All that ensures is that Knight would have gone to third, and Wilson would have been at first for, I think, Howard Johnson. So at best HoJo wins the game - at worst it's extra innings. I hope that guy doesn't win the contest - because he needs to get his facts straight.

Speaking of getting facts straight - I have a very poor long-term memory, unfortunately. I know people who can remember things from when they were 2 or 3 years old. I have trouble remembering much about when I was younger. So, sadly, I'm not sure where I was the night of Game 6. Chances are, I was at home, or at my friend Steven's house. I know we watched some of the World Series at Steven's. I feel like those were Games 1 and 2, though. Either way, I need to talk to my dad and try to remember about the night of Game 6. I can't believe this hasn't come up before - but I DON'T know where I was. I sure do remember the game, though - perhaps all of my future watchings of Game 6, on ESPN Classic and on tape, etc. - have diminished my original memory of the event. But that's probably a topic for the day I appear on Dr. Phil, with my wife and future child - as to why my obsession with the '86 Mets makes me an awful husband/father.

Oh - one more thing about that movie - seeing Bebe Neuwirth in the movie would probably also confuse me, because while the guy Michael Keaton plays is cheating on his wife with Neuwirth, I'm going to be thinking that Neuwirth is cheating on Frasier. Because if that movie is taking place in '86, she's Lilith, darn it.

I need to go to bed - it's too late for a school night - but coming tomorrow, I'm going to try to touch on Wednesday's Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, on which I heard Dan talk to Darren Daulton for a little bit. And callers came to Daulton's defense!

A quick post tonight, because I want to go into the other room and watch 'Scrubs'.

I'll start with something I've been forgetting to mention the past few days. What with the new look of the site and all, I've added a new feature. There is a spot to comment on my daily postings, at the end of each days posting. You just click where it says "comments" and write what you're thinking. You don't have to, and I still hope people e-mail the site, but if something strikes you immediately and you want a say, go for it. You should know, if it's something inappropriate, I do have the power to override comments. Also, if the comments thing doesn't take off, I'll get rid of it. It's something I thought I'd try....for some reason, I opted not to do that when I first started the site...we'll see how long it lasts.

As for e-mail, don't forget that once a week we dive into the e-mail-bag (sometimes more than once a week!). The e-mail address is johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com

WEST COAST UPDATE

A couple of things struck me, out of spring training in Arizona:

GIANTS IDOL: The San Francisco Giants held a "Giants Idol" at their spring training complex Tuesday morning. From what I could tell, it was Giants team members competing in a singing competition in front of judges. Among the judges, Barry Bonds dressed in drag, as Paula Abdul. Now, I dislike Barry Bonds. Strongly. But for him to come out in a tube top and wig, and to play the part with some humor - it bodes well for Giants' team chemistry. He earned my respect for a minute, at least....probably a little longer with his teammates. Still, to hear his teammates talk about how good it was for Bonds to participate in something like this, it gives you the impression of what a bad teammate he usually is.

PADRE PIAZZA: I also saw an ESPNEWS feature on new San Diego Padres catcher Mike Piazza. I'm glad he's not in the East, because I love rooting for him - I hope he does well out in San Diego. I don't expect he'll put up big power numbers, but I hope he's able to bring his average back up and drive in some runs. The ESPN piece didn't mention this, but it sprang to my mind while watching - Funny that the Padres, managed by Bruce Bochy, are the team that took the gamble on Piazza, allowing him to be an everyday catcher. Bochy, a former catcher, probably is able to relate to Piazza. Hopefully for him, it's not living vicariously through Piazza for some unachieved dreams.

I think that's it for tonight - nothing else major came out of Port Saint Lucie today, anyway. Time for 'Scrubs' - I love that show.