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.

TOE WATCH

I'm still not worried about Pedro Martinez*. Tom Glavine's schedule has been shifted in case he has to make the Opening Day start, which does worry me a little bit, more on that in a minute. But I'm not worried about Pedro*. He will pitch the first week of the season, even if it's not Opening Day. I just think Pedro* had an out from the WBC, and pushed it a little too far, not realizing he might not be ready for Opening Day of the Mets' season. Pedro* will pitch to batters soon, and maybe in a game following that. He's behind schedule, but he'll be OK.

Tom Glavine, though, worries me a bit. He got rocked in his spring training start Monday. Not a huge concern, but a little one. He wasn't crazy about shifting his schedule to accomodate the Mets, in case of problems with The Toe. But he did it, reluctantly. And now I think it's in his head a little bit. I think Tom Glavine is a great pitcher, but I don't think Tom Glavine adjusts to changes very well. This is what I've come up with. It took Glavine about a year and a half to pitch well in New York - the first major change in his life in 16 years. Then this week it comes out, in John Scheurholz's new book, that Glavine regretted agreeing to a free agent deal with the Mets, and the day before he was supposed to sign it, went to Schuerholz, asking what he should do. Glavine doesn't deny the story, he just says he wished he was asked permission for it to appear in the book. So that supports my thought a bit.

Now Glavine is being asked to change his schedule, something he doesn't want to do. At all. And the early returns, 4 runs in 4 innings, are not great. Just something to watch for. Hopefully Glavine will adjust.

MATSUI: I haven't heard much about Kaz Matsui in the New York papers. Could be because he's actually doing well, and we only hear the negative. He had three singles and three RBI on Monday, and drove in two runs with a hit in the Mets' 11-4 win on Tuesday.

EMBARRASSING: Driving back from New York on Sunday morning, I was able to listen to Ed Randall's "Talking Baseball" on WFAN, which is always a good listen. But there was a very unusual (for his show) and uncomfortable (for any show) moment.

Randall had (and this shows the respect most ballplayers have for Ed Randall) former players call into his show after arriving in Minnesota for Kirby Puckett's funeral. Don Baylor and Gary Gaetti called in after their planes landed. Baylor was first, and it was a little awkward, but nothing very noticeable, when Randall asked him about Game 6, and what it was like when Kirby Puckett told the team he was going to carry them on his back to win that game. Baylor, I guess, spun the question around to mean Game 6 of the 1987 World Series, in which he was a teammate of Puckett's, and in which Puckett went 4-for-4. (And until this moment, I didn't realize Puckett was 4-for-4 in that game - it's Game 6 of the 1991 World Series Puckett is remembered for...and I think Randall was asking about, as you'll see below...and in 1991, Baylor was no longer a baseball player.) So I guess the Baylor situation wasn't that uncomfortable....but.....

When Gary Gaetti came on, Randall asked him the same question, to describe the scene before and during Game 6, then what it was like to watch Puckett go out there and play a great game, with the catch and the homer. Gaetti's response was, "Ed, I hate to tell you this...but when he made that catch, and hit that home run, that was 1991. I wasn't on that team." (Gaetti left the Twins after the 1990 season - he was a teammate on the 1987 championship team.) Randall, after about 3 seconds of silence (a lot on the radio), said to Gaetti, "But Puckett was really a genuine person, on and off the field, wasn't he?" It was very awkward. But let me stress here, this wasn't a case of an ignorant reporter - it was just an uncomfortable moment for a quality broadcaster who made a mistake.

ANOTHER BALLPLAYER CALLER: Incidentally, Jeff Bagwell also called into Randall's show, and it was a very good interview. Bagwell talked about his situation in Houston this year, and he was very candid. First of all, Bagwell is definitely one of the good guys in sports. I like listening to/watching his interviews, because he always comes across very well. He talked about being traded from the Red Sox back when he was in the minors, and said Butch Hobson told him. Bagwell walked into the clubhouse, Hobson had hung up the phone, and was throwing stuff around, and told Bagwell he was pissed because Bagwell had just been traded. Bagwell also said, with the situation the Red Sox were in then, he would have traded himself for Larry Anderson, too. He also says Larry Anderson apparently has a good sense of humor about being part of one of the worst trades ever, telling Bagwell whenever he's in a slump, you'd better pick it up, or else people are going to forget who I am. I thought that was funny.

Anyway, the big news out of this interview came when Randall asked Bagwell if he feels disrespected (the Astros don't want Bagwell to play this year, because if he's too hurt to play, the Astros get back by insurance 15 of 17 million dollars owed to Bagwell) by the team he's played for his whole Major League career. He hesitated for a long time before answering the question, then said he understands the business side of baseball a lot better now than he ever did. He still doesn't have a lot of hard feelings towards the organization.

Bagwell says he feels pretty good at this point....so we'll see what happens over the rest of spring training. And hopefully this is the last Astros report for a while...why does it feel like I'm always writing about the Astros?

BONDS: My schedule's been a little jammed, and I realize I haven't had my say in the Barry Bonds deal - so hopefully I'll get around to that later in the week.

ASTROS 3, METS 2

Not that it matters, but the Mets lost to the Astros. I wish I could come up with something better to put as a headline certain days, but there's not much to write about other than the spring training games. Nothing worth mentioning out of this game.

FLOYD'S HEALTH: Apparently Kirby Puckett's death was a wake-up call for Cliff Floyd. Floyd's father suffered from kidney problems as a young man, so Floyd is getting his kidneys checked out. I don't think there are any immediate concerns, but Floyd says kidney problems are such that you could have a problem and not know about it far in advance. Floyd says he hopes others follow his lead and have any potential problems checked out.

MORE ON WYLIE: The day after I write about Rule 5 pick Mitch Wylie, the Mets' website has a feature on him....hmmm. I got a couple of things wrong - well, just one thing wrong, and a couple of more facts to add to the story. The wrong thing is that I said as a Rule 5 draftee, Wylie would have to stay on the Mets' 40-man roster...it's actually the 25-man roster, so he'd have to break camp with the team. Unless he mysteriously comes up with an injury around final cut time, ends up on the DL, and that injury lingers until there's an open bullpen spot or September call-up time. The other info is that Wylie started out in the Chicago White Sox organization and then went to the Giants. At one point, Wylie was 15-4 in AA with the White Sox. He pitched OK in AAA with the Giants last year. He's 28 years old.

FANTASY BASEBALL NEWS: Here's what I'm doing for fantasy baseball this year. First of all, my friends and I (basically, the entire readership of this site) are doing a 4-team league, using only players from the American League East and National League East. The categories are different too:
Offensive: RBI, SB, K, AVG.
Pitching: Saves, Walks, K, ERA
There are 6 total positive categories, and 2 negatives (Walks for pitchers, K's for hitters). It should be a fun league, and it should be interesting. One of the players thinks he has a "blockbuster" strategy - he will use just one pitcher, in one game, all year, and try to win all of the offensive categories, plus ERA. I'm not worried.

Secondly, the same four are also doing a "Favorite Teams" fantasy league, with a bunch of statistical categories. We draft our favorite teams (I have all of the Mets, obviously), and see which is the best fantasy team. It's the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, and White Sox. I'll keep you posted on the progress of that.

I'm not doing any serious NL and AL fantasy teams this year...I'm taking a year away from that. I'll see if I miss it, and if I need to get back to it next year. I certainly haven't missed all the usual prep work I put into the draft, which is usually this time of year. I am, though, working on some sort of baseball pool, similar to a season-long NFL pool, with weekly, or monthly, payouts. I'll let you know if I come up with anything.

Finally, here's where you get invited to play along with me. Probably my favorite of all of these baseball fantasy games is "Beat The Streak" on mlb.com. You pick baseball players everyday, and all you have to do is pick who you think will get a hit (it can be the same person everyday, if you wish). The goal is to beat Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. There are also prizes for 30, 40, and 50-game streaks, I think. I usually just play by myself, but this year, I'm inviting all of my readers, and whoever else wants to join a league, to play against each other. The person with the longest streak at the end of the year wins a johnnymets.blogspot.com hat. (If such a thing exists by then....boy, I really hope I win - I should be the one to get the only johnnymets.blogspot.com hat in existence.) It's a really fun game, and I get addicted to it every year. Unfortunately, I think my longest hitting streak is only about 15 games. I will let you know as soon as I set up a Beat The Streak League. It's awesome for nights the Mets aren't playing too - it really gives you something to root for in the other games you're watching.

BLAH BLOGS: The New York Daily News has an awful thing going online - a blog between a man and a woman, one being a Mets fan and one being a Yankees fan. They just insult each other and write crappy things. Seeing that, I realize I MUST become the official blogging partner of SNY - they need me and I need them. Still no e-mail link on their website, though - looks like regular mail is the way to go. (Also, still no word on DirecTV in the Massachusetts area....I guess I'll have to settle for Mets games, not necessarily Mets programming.)

I'm taking the weekend off - I'll be back possibly Sunday, possibly Monday.

ANOTHER 7-1 WIN

The Mets, one day after beating the Astros, 7-1, beat the Indians 7-1 on Wednesday. Not much of note from that game. More importantly, Pedro Martinez* had a good session throwing off some kind of mound - we'll see what the papers say tomorrow, but I think they're going to have to back off the "not making his Opening Day start" talk.

WBC ROUNDUP: I like watching these WBC baseball games - a real good one between Panama and Cuba when I got home from work today - I found myself rooting for Panama, perhaps because they were behind, perhaps because I dislike Cuba. Panama tied it in the 9th, but Cuba held on to win in extra innings.

While that game was ending, Canada built a big lead on the U.S., and the U.S. almost came back, but ended up losing 8-6. Now my worst-case scenario comes true - Roger Clemens pitches for a team I'm rooting for, in a clutch situation...so I have to root for him to come up lame or to get rocked early, then have the U.S. come back. Or maybe I just root against the U.S., so I can say it was Clemens' fault they lost.

What's all this Chase Field talk? The U.S. has been practicing/playing their games at Chase Field in Arizona. Is it Chase Field at Bank One Ballpark, or has Chase taken over Bank One, and there is no longer a BOB?

One last WBC note - Italy has a player named Mark Saccomano. I'm not sure if he's affiliated with a Major League team, but I think that's hilarious - and any 'Seinfeld' fan would probably think so too. I wonder if it's Bob's brother.

PROSPECT NOTE: The info on this guy is thin, so I haven't been able to dig up much on him - but watch out for Mitch Wylie. He's a pitcher who the Mets picked up in the Rule 5 draft out of the San Francisco Giants' organization. People have been raving about his stuff early on in spring training, including Ramon Castro, who caught him and started asking reporters about him. The Rule 5 rules mean that Wylie would have to stay on the Mets' 40-man roster or be given back to the Giants, so he might be making some Major League appearances - I'll keep you posted when I find out more about him.

Coming Tomorrow: Barring any big developments, Thursday I will deliver the promised fantasy baseball preview - meaning previewing what I have going on in the fantasy baseball department this coming year. Some interesting stuff - including an invite for you, the reader. So please check back!

CONTRIVED CONTROVERSY

I think Pedro Martinez* is going to make his Opening Day start. I really do. It's too early right now to start shifting the rotation so that Tom Glavine can be available on Opening Day. (The big story in the papers Tuesday.) Glavine says it's 50-50 that he will be switched into the Opening Day start, and he sounds like he'll be mad if it ends up upsetting his schedule. I think I'll start panicking next week, if Pedro* gets off his schedule (he's supposed to go two innings on Monday, I think, which is the big milestone to watch for), but for now, this is a media-contrived controversy, because with the WBC, there is really not a whole lot going on at Mets camp.

METS BEAT THE ASTROS, 7-1: Notable from this game - Kaz Matsui had two hits, including a 2-run triple. He broke his 0-for-9 start to spring training (0-for-12 if you count the Puerto Rico exhibition game). I'm telling you, though - I'd be surprised if the triple gets much play in the New York papers - they're going to play up the 0-for-9/12 streak more. There was no mention of Matsui's good at-bat, where he moved the runner up, against Puerto Rico - just the fact that he was 0-for-3.

DELGADO FALLS: So apparently, Carlos Delgado took a backwards tumble off a dais on Monday during a Puerto Rican press conference for the WBC. Come on, why have I not seen video of this? Mets star risking injury or not, anytime someone falls off a dais, I need to see that. Thankfully, Delgado was not hurt.

USA: The U.S. WBC team shut out Mexico 2-0 in their first game. It was fun to watch some baseball - even if Chipper Jones was a major contributor to the win.

MORE ON KIRBY: A dip into the mailbag for another reader's take on Kirby Puckett, who died Monday of a stroke at age 44:

"i can not help but respond to what you wrote about kirby puckett. You say most people will remember him for 1991 and for the sexual abuse allegations.
In my opinion, it is absoloutely neccesary to mention the allegations.
That SI article was shocking when it came out, not just because of the one allegation, which he was ultimately legally cleared from.. but because it was apparently a pattern of behavior.
When his wife divorced him, she sited sexual and physical abuse.. and he had the lovely habit of whipping it out in mall parking lots in front of strangers. and he was kirby puckett.. the most famous man in the state. Imagine that scene. a lady gets out of her car because she needs to get something at sears, and she sees kirby puckett, and for a split second she thinks "oh my god, kirby puckett.. i can't wait to tell my husband and sons. he's their hero".. but suddenly her thoughts change to, "why is he showing me his weiner?" How does she go home and talk to her kids and her husband?

Basically for the last two days, all i have heard about is what a great guy he was because he was short and fat and single handedly won a world series. That's all true (though i don't neccesarily think he was such a shoo in for the hall of fame).. but i have heard some ridiculous statements. Even my hero peter gammons spoke about him as if baseball talent and a smile is all that rates... and harold reynolds made the most ridiculous statement i have ever heard in my life.. "if anyone can beat this, its kirby puckett". So, clearly he went to the same medical school as bill frist (check that out.. a political tie in. dave will get it, kev will not). But that statement is inherrently retarded. because he ran fat despite being a fatty... beating a stroke should be no problem? that's just dumb.

thank you for listening,
justin"

Justin, thanks for weighing in on the Puckett situation. I was starting to regret what I had written, because everyone - everyone - speaks so glowingly about Puckett, and it's just a footnote that he had all of these allegations against him. Until I read his obituary in the paper today, I barely heard about the allegations. So I was starting to feel like I was disrespecting the dead in some way. But you're right - there was a pattern and a history of this type of behavior. And mix in a frustrating end to a career that was the only thing Puckett ever really knew, a weight problem spiraling out of control, it's hard for me to imagine Puckett had a peaceful final few years....nor was he the "perfect/great/honorable" person everyone is making him out to be. A tragic figure? Yes. A hero? No way.

Exciting day today for the family. We bought the 'ESPN The Magazine' with the picture of David Wright on the cover. We also got our first look at the baby in an ultrasound. Maybe someday soon I'll post that picture on this site. I'll probably also try to post the picture of the baby.

The Mets beat the Indians, 6-3. Cliff Floyd hit a homer, and Tom Glavine pitched three innings of one-run ball. The game was on ESPN, but I forgot to set the TiVo. Hope there wasn't anything important said that I missed.

PUCKETT: Sadly, Kirby Puckett died today at age 44. He was forced to retire early from baseball because of blindness in his eye, after contracting glaucoma, and then he put on lots of weight, and suffered a stroke yesterday. Puckett is, apparently, still a god in Minnesota...but I think outside of Minnesota he will be remembered for two things: His role in the 1991 World Series, and the accusations of sexual harrassment against him a few years ago (he was cleared). Sadly, I think that's what he'll be remembered for - not that he was a Hall of Famer.

BABY NAMES: The Wife compiled this list and sent it to the mailbag - seems fitting to publish it on the day we got our ultrasound picture. (Keep in mind the Wife roots for the Red Sox, in addition to the Mets...as well as the Patriots):

Shea
Carter
Pedro
Mookie
Chad
Becht
Theo
Manny
Curt
Beckett
Brady
Buckner
Wally
Remy
Cosmo
Omar

Our consensus favorite: Mookie.

GOOD THING THE GAMES DON'T COUNT

The Mets were clobbered twice on Sunday, leaving me with plenty to write about. I'll start with the game I didn't see - the Mets lost to the Dodgers 16-2. Cuban defector Alay Soler was among the pitchers who were rocked.

In the game that was on ESPN, the Mets lost to the Puerto Rico World Baseball Classic team, 6-1. Not quite a clobbering, especially considering the fact that half the game was Mets minor leaguers, but the big hits for Puerto Rico came off Billy Wagner. (I'm chalking it up to the fact that he doesn't have his best stuff in early March - I'm not worried.)

I'll go in bullet format, with talking points from the game:

• Lastings Milledge led off and played center field for the Mets (since Carlos Beltran* was playing for Puerto Rico), and he played pretty well. It was good to get a look at him - he moved to left later in the game, and made a nice hustle catch on a sinking liner (he dived when he didn't have to, but it was still a very nice play)
• Carlos Delgado didn't play (for Puerto Rico) - he has a sore elbow. Jose Oquendo expects Delgado to be OK for Tuesday's WBC game, Delgado told ESPN's Duke Castiglione he might not be able to play in the WBC at all.
• I was going to save this for later, but I've already mentioned Castiglione, so here goes. I'm already biased against Castiglione because he's the son of a broadcaster. Since broadcasting was a tough profession for me to crack, I feel like 'sons of broadcasters' had better earn their spots. Joe Buck has earned my respect, few others have. Duke Castiglione is wearing real thin. He'd better just report, and report well - too many times he's trying to be buddy-buddy during interviews, or acting with a schtick - just do the reports, Duke. If I have to watch you because of some favor to the Castiglione with some (and I stress some, not a lot of) talent, you'd better just do the job the way it's supposed to be done. And why is Castiglione getting so many Mets assignments? I feel like I see him all the time on Mets ESPN games. Castiglione did the game with Brian Kenny on play-by-play and Steve Phillips doing color. Phillips is good - I like listening to him in radio guest spots, and he offers some good front office insight in the booth. Kenny needs to stick to the Hot List. I'm not a fan of his play-by-play. I don't know what the broadcasting sightlines are at Tradition Field - but Kenny missed a lot of stuff during the game - it was very distracting for me. I think this team is doing the WBC games from Puerto Rico the next week or so. I might not watch those...or I will to see if Brian Kenny can do better (Believe it or not, I do kind of like Brian Kenny....or at least, I prefer him over some other ESPN personalities.)
• Back to the game - Castiglione interviewed Pedro Martinez* during the game. Pedro* said his toe was sore, but that's "to be expected". Lately, the big deal in the New York papers has been whether Pedro* will be ready for Opening Day. They're playing this up way too early - I think he'll be OK. We'll leave it at that for now. Anyway, Pedro*'s take: "If nothing goes wrong, I expect to be ready for Opening Day." On the Mets chances in 2006: "If the team stays healthy, and it starts with me, we're gonna be a hard team to beat." On unseating the Braves atop the NL East: "Winning the division is not that important. Whoever is fresh in the finals - whoever's in good health and ready to play is who's gonna win it.....winning the division isn't important." I was surprised by that comment - I know the Mets can still make the playoffs as a wild card, but you can't go into the season with the mindset that second place is OK. Win it all, men. Pedro* is a good interview, though.
• Kenny and Phillips interviewed Willie Randolph, and Randolph addressed the 2B controversy: "It's an open competition - I really feel, though, that Kaz might step up and take the job."
• During that interview, Matsui made a nice backhand play up the middle, and the throw to first to make an out. In the bottom half of the inning, after a leadoff double by Milledge, Matsui grounded out to the right side to move Milledge to third, before David Wright squibbed a single between first and second to score the run. I thought it was a good day for Matsui.
• One more thing about ESPN - they had huge issues with their chyron operator (the person who controls the words that come on the screen), specifically in the age department. When showing Pedro*'s age during his interview, they listed him as age: 340. Also, Matsui was listed as age 20 (instead of 30. Pedro*, obviously, is 34.) I guess it's spring training for everyone.
• One more interview - this one was Omar Minaya in the booth. He was a little more aggressive than Pedro*, when it comes to the division: "The team is better - We expect to give the Braves a hell of a run." When asked about the starting pitching, he said the Mets have "good starting pitching", but he's "always thinking of things" when it comes to making a move.
• The Mets have a very young kid that played shortstop at the end of this game - Jose Coronado - I think he is 17. He showed he has a gun, making two good plays in the seventh inning. One he went into the hole at short, planted himself, and fired to first. The other play was a chopper over the head of the pitcher, and he charged it nice and made the play at first. He also singled later on.
• Finally, I mentioned last week that the Mets are one of about three teams wearing a new aerodynamic helmet with air holes, which offer more protection. They look sleek. I like them. I'm trying to place where I have seen helmets like this before - either in college baseball or women's softball. Nice looking though. I think the Angels are one of the other teams wearing them.

Monday the Mets are on ESPN again - this time at 1 against the Cleveland Indians. Tom Glavine and Jose Lima are among the scheduled pitchers.

WEEKEND THOUGHTS

The Mets split their first two spring training games with the Cardinals. Saturday, they played the Nationals, and for what it's worth, Aaron Heilman, Brian Bannister, Chad Bradford, and Duaner Sanchez all pitched effectively (I think, according to the pitching schedule). Mike Venafro, who I like to watch, but I'm not sure will make the Major League team, (he's formerly of the Oakland A's) gave up three runs in the sixth....again, I think.

The eventful news from Friday night's game is that Steve Schmoll blew an 8-7 lead in the 9th inning - as the Mets lost 11-8. Good thing we now have Billy Wagner.

I imagine, since Wagner didn't pitch Saturday, we'll probably see him on Sunday in the ESPN-televised game against the Puerto Rican WBC team. Although, now that I've written that, he could be pitching in the other split squad game, meaning we wouldn't see him.

The other thing from spring training is that it seems if Kaz Matsui makes an error or doesn't get a hit, it's a big deal. If he does OK, it's not worth mentioning. I know Matsui is making a lot of money, and he hasn't performed well yet - but I really hope he wins the job, and plays well. He's got a lot going against him right now...I want to see him do well. Incidentally, I never mentioned how the Bret Boone retirement affects Matsui - it doesn't guarantee him a job, that's for sure. Anderson Hernandez (who had three hits and three runs on Saturday) is getting a real shot, and Jeff Keppinger has been cleared by doctors to start playing again. So it's still wide open.

2 NOTES FROM 'WALDENBOOKS': I was out shopping with the wife on Friday night, and we stopped into Waldenbooks. As I am wont to do, I went straight to the sports section. I saw a prospects report, and picked that up to read - I think it was from Baseball America. A couple of things caught my interest. No surprise that Lastings Milledge was rated the best prospect in the Mets' system - but I didn't realize he has a sketchy past - accusations of sexual misconduct in high school. Apparently he's been a model citizen in the Mets' organization, so that's good news. And I know Cliff Floyd has set a good example when they've been together in spring training situations, so that's good. I was a bit surprised that 2B Anderson Hernandez was only the fifth-highest ranked prospect in the organization. He's apparently all-glove, no-hit...which was pretty much the case during his 1-for-18 September call-up last year. Finally, I went to the Orioles page to look up John Maine, the prospect the Mets got in the Kris Benson trade. He wasn't ranked very high in their organization, and his numbers haven't been great in a couple of years at the Major League level. Here's the thing I'm haning my hat on with Maine, though - he now gets to work with Rick Peterson. I have yet to see Peterson fail (we'll see what Victor Zambrano looks like this year), and maybe Maine lives up to his potential by working with Peterson this spring.

The other note from Waldenbooks is that they are selling a coffe table-type book on the history of the World Series. It's basically a photo book, with pictures from every World Series. (For some reason, though, the most recent World Series have only a couple of pictures, as opposed to 10 or so from the others. Not sure why.) It's on clearance for about 15 bucks - even though it includes last year's World Series. Here's my problems with books like this, though. They're full of errors. As I usually do with books like this, I turned to the 1986 World Series page, and in one of the captions it says something like, "Mookie Wilson dodges wild pitch....he would later hit the game-winning single that forced Game 7." Game-winning single?!?!?!?! The whole premise of that World Series is that Bill Buckner made an ERROR!!!!!! My problem with books like that is if I can find an error on the one page I looked carefully at - how many other pages in the book have mistakes?! There is another case like this - a big Baseball Encyclopedia-like book, which I don't remember what it's called...but I'll find out. It noted year-by-year, day-by-day events in baseball. I looked at the October 25, 1986 entry, and it said something like the error by Buckner came in the bottom of the 9th inning (it was really the 10th). So factual errors like that in these big ol' books make me believe the authors are trying to make a quick buck, without getting all of their facts straight.

PLUG FOR NO REASON: I'm not too big on giving other people plugs, because there's no way they would ever link to my site, but I think I may have found the Saint Louis Cardinals fan version of me. I was going through some other blogs, and came across a Cardinals one: bellyitcher.blogspot.com. (I'm not making it a link - you're going to have to go through the effort of putting it in your browser if you're going to check it out.) Apparently the guy is in downtown Saint Louis, because he has pictures from his window of the new stadium - it actually looks great. Worth a trip to Saint Louis (like I wasn't going to go anyway...). He loses a bit of credibility, though, with that lineup for Saturday's game - he doesn't know who Kit Pellow is? Did he not see a Colorado Rockies game at all last year? I thought Cardinals fans were supposed to be knowledgeble about baseball. (Upon further review - Pellow was with the Rockies in 2004 - in the Mariners organization last year. My bad. But he still should have heard of him.)

That's all for today - tomorrow I'll update after the game on ESPN.

LET THE GAMES (THAT DON'T COUNT) BEGIN

The Mets opened their Grapefruit League exhibition season Thursday afternoon with a 12-7 win over the Cardinals. I know the games don't count, and I'll get real tired of them real soon, but it's nice to see actual scores of actual baseball games.

Supposedly at this point, the pitchers are supposed to be ahead of the hitters. Rare was the pitcher ahead of the hitter in this game. Steve Trachsel pitched poorly, Billy Wagner pitched well. The good news out of this game was Xavier Nady's four hits, with 6 RBI, including a grand slam. Carlos Delgado was 3-for-3.

MAILBAG/PEDRO* UPDATE:

"Dear JohnnyMets,

Just a quick email to say 'JohnnyMets called it.' Pedro pulled out of the World Baseball Classic. I guess the toe just proved too much.

Dave in Brighton"

Thanks Dave...although I'm not really sure I called it. I really thought Pedro* would pitch in the World Baseball Classic at some point. Turns out, the Dominicans didn't want to waste a roster spot on Pedro*, if he wasn't going to be available until possibly the final round, and it would have wasted Pedro*'s spring for the Mets. I didn't realize this, but Major League teams aren't allowed to use a guy in spring training if he's on a WBC roster (which I guess makes sense in all cases except for a guy who is somewhat injured like Martinez*). I'm cool with this whole thing, though, because now Pedro* can focus on the regular season, and get ready for the games that count, as far as I'm concerned.

DARREN DAULTON: Yesterday I promised more from Darren Daulton....so here it is. Turns out, the date he mentioned as the end of the world, as I'm sure you've heard somewhere by now, is the end of the Mayan calendar. But I already mentioned all of that - the new development is that yesterday I heard Daulton on Dan Patrick's show on ESPN Radio. Nearly all of the callers I heard at the end of the show called to support Daulton and tell him how brave he was to come forward with something like this, because he was subjecting himself to ridicule. Well, he sure is. I'm not buying it. I'm willing to take the risk that there will be egg on my face when the world ends in 2012.

SCHEDULING STUFF: I just discovered that Sunday afternoon, the Mets' split-squad game against the Puerto Rican WBC team (featuring Carloses Beltran* and Delgado) will be on ESPN. Monday's game will be too (against Cleveland), but I'll be working...maybe I'll TiVo that. Also, it seems I do not have ESPN Deportes, so hopefully a lot of these games in North America for the WBC will be on regular ESPN and ESPN2 so I can watch them.

I'm determined not to screw up this year on Opening Day. The Mets open up Monday, April 3, against Washington, at 1pm. I'm going to try to avoid human contact, TiVo the game (last year I had to rely on the old-fashioned VCR), and not set the TV to ESPNEWS before I watch the game on delay. See last year's April blog entry to see how I messed up on Opening Day. The good news about this year is that I have a shorter commute to watch the game.

SNY UPDATE: I don't want to have to write a letter to SNY, but there is no e-mail contact on their website (which is up and running), and I really want to be the official blogging partner of the station. Also, it doesn't appear that I have SNY on my DirecTV package...at least yet. This won't affect my ability to watch the Mets games, because I'll still get them through the baseball package - but I do want to watch all of the Mets programming (and Jets programming) the station will feature when it's not showing baseball.

This was a fast week. TGIF. I'll be updating all weekend - especially postgame Sunday. Also coming within the next week - the promised fantasy baseball updates (maybe that will be within the next couple of weeks) and some insight from the wife about our newest addition, coming World Series time. The newest addition is coming World Series time - the insight from the wife is coming in the next week. Think baby names, a la Shea Jones, offspring of Chipper.

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.

WBC FEARS

Yesterday I wrote how I was getting pretty excited to see some baseball, in the form of the World Baseball Classic - of course if there is high quality baseball on, I'm going to watch it (I need to check my listings to see if I get ESPN Deportes). But lately, I've been thinking about the wrench it could throw into my dream Mets 2006 season.

I've talked many times about Pedro* and his toe, and how I think the toe problem is a good thing as far as Pedro*'s participation in the WBC is concerned. The likes of the WBC is the whole reason Pedro* has an asterisk next to his name - and I don't want to jinx anything, but last year made me believe we could have dropped the asterisk this year.

Not so with Carlos Beltran*. He proved he was very worthy of an asterisk...but a successful season this year could result in dropping the mark. But what if Beltran* gets hurt while playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic? That's on the Mets' dime...and it would be quite fitting, with their history of free agent signings.

I haven't touched much on the Carlos Delgado signing. I'll get more into it down the road, but I'm not expecting huge things out of Delgado this year. That's why he hasn't even merited getting an asterisk to this point. Delgado will put up good numbers, I think, but they won't be typical Delgado numbers. I expect a dip in his batting average, and I'd be very surprised to see more than 30 homers out of him this year. All that said, it would be just the Mets' luck if Delgado got hurt in the WBC and wasn't effective for the duration of his contract.

Those are some big names - but what about the youngsters? THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, has already dealt with his share of injuries. Last season was a joy to see what it would be like with Reyes playing healthy. We all wanted to see more of that. But isn't his participation in the WBC (for the Dominican Republic) playing with fire? Seems that way to me.

And David Wright plays every game hard. You better believe, if he ends up replacing Chipper Jones on the U.S. squad, he's going all out for his country, if he gets to play behind A-Rod. We don't need him risking his body in any games but the Mets' games.

I guess I agree with all the WBC naysayers - the tournament is a cool concept...but the timing is poor. The ideal time for the tournament would be after the season - not instead of spring training. By the way, there are more Mets than the ones I mentioned above participating in the WBC - among them, pitchers Juan Padilla, and closer Billy Wagner (see free-agent signing Delgado, above). And as for the players I mentioned above, I'm not entirely sure what their playing status is with their countries (whether or not they're starting, etc.) The information around all that is vague...and perhaps it's because some of these players still haven't given their official commitment. I just hope everyone gets out healthy.

PERSONAL THOUGHT: I am so glad I write this thing. It really keeps my excitement for the baseball season in check. I had a conversation with a friend the other day about how the Winter Olympics really did a nice job of helping us get through the down time of winter - after football season and before baseball season starts up. This year, the New York Rangers are doing very well, so there will be some meaningful hockey to watch down the stretch, as well as some meaningful college hockey, with my B.U. Terriers hoping to do well in the post-season. There's also the NCAA Tournament. But none of that can quell my excitement for the baseball season. Writing this helps a lot, though. After each posting, I know I'm one day closer to Opening Day, and all the great things that come with it.

SNY NEWS: The New York Daily News is reporting SNY is very close to a deal with Cablevision, so it doesn't seem like SNY is heading towards the same impasse that the YES Network dealt with. Every time I read about SNY, though, I never hear about DirecTV. I'm still hoping there's no problem there. Also, I wish I could break the big news of an SNY deal - as the official blogging partner of the Mets' new network. I suppose there's still hope - I've gotta get in touch with them somehow!

COMING THIS WEEK: There are a few interesting fantasy baseball-related events/topics that I want to address with my readership. I will try to post those sometime this week.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM!

Good news, as far as I'm concerned, from mets.com Sunday. There was a big article about Cliff Floyd, and how he's convinced he will be hitting sixth this season. The reasoning: Carlos Delgado is hitting fourth, in the cleanup spot. That's pretty much as definite as things get this season. Floyd says Randolph won't hit the two lefties in a row, so that eliminates the third and fifth spots in the order, and Floyd says he definitely isn't hitting second. So he's hitting sixth. The big deal, though, is that it isn't a big deal.

I have seen a lot of maturity out of Floyd in his years with the Mets. It's not that he was ever a selfish player - I've always liked him. But he was injury-plagued, and the Mets had some very unsuccessful seasons during his tenure, so he had nothing to pursue but individual accomplishments. Last year, during the first half of the season, Floyd carried this team...and he did it because he sensed they could do special things. Now, he knows this season can be even more special...and I think he knows that his time is running short. So Floyd (and, it seems, everyone else on the team) is really playing up the "if we're going to win a championship, we're going to do it as a team". He says even though he was the cleanup guy last year, he will hit sixth if that's what it's going to take for the team to win. The "we" and "team" aspects of the article on mets.com were very good to see - and the number of players who feel this way is also very encouraging. I think a big clubhouse guy this year is going to be Julio Franco - and I think his influence is already starting to show in the way the Mets are acting.

2B UPDATE: Jeff Keppinger will be in New York Monday to have his back checked. He apparently tweaked it doing some jumping exercises...I may have to take back what I said about Keppinger taking over 2B for the Mets. This injury, combined with Kaz Matsui's conditioning really point towards Matsui winning back his job.

WBC: I was looking for some information on the World Baseball Classic today, and found the World Baseball Classic Website. It's pretty thorough, and looking through that website a bit will get you psyched for the tournament. It starts Thursday, by the way, with games in Japan. I figured out why it hasn't been talked up that much here yet (at least the games - the players who won't be playing have certainly been talked about plenty) - it's because there are opening round games in Japan, then North America. From what I can tell, the Japanese games start first, so that by the time the North American games end, the teams that come out of Japan will be able to travel, and won't be at a disadvantage when they have to head this way. The North American games, by the way, start a week from Tuesday - around March 7th.

'86 METS ROUNDUP: A couple of bits of information here - I was driving back from upstate New York early Sunday morning, and caught some WFAN programming. I was listening to a little of Ed Randall's 'Talking Baseball', live from Shea Stadium with members of the 1986 Mets (who were greeting fans buying tickets at Shea). Unfortunately, I could only hear one complete interview, but it was a good one. I heard Ron Darling talk about a few things - among them growing up a Red Sox fan, and his experience the night of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (a good story, which I will relate in a future '86 Mets roundup). And I have to apologize - the other day I wrote that Ron Darling wasn't as good an analyst as Keith Hernandez. He's a captivating speaker, at least he was on the radio Sunday morning. And I thought about his work for the Nationals, and I am realizing that the Nationals played a very boring brand of baseball. So I'm not going to hold that against him. I'm looking forward to Darling's analysis this season.

Also in '86 Mets news: Darryl Strawberry will be at the Mets' Spring Training Complex all next week in many different capacities. Strawberry is apparently a huge draw still for fans and for players. He will serve as an advisor for players, and a P.R. draw for the rest of the organization.

SNY UPDATE: I am working very hard to make sure that the Mets' new network, Sports Net New York, is going to be carried on DirecTV. I've been looking forward to this Mets' new network ever since I got the dish, and I would be heartbroken if they don't end up carrying the network. This week, time permitting, I am also going to step up a new effort: I want to be the official blog of SNY. Think about it - I can link to their website - they can link to mine! (I might benefit from that relationship a little more than them, but still....) This has some very good potential. I went looking for some information about the new network, and I will say this - right now my website is in much better shape than theirs. But that means nothing - I still want this partnership to work!

DAY TWO OF CAMP

I guess the most important thing to note from Day Two of camp was the lack of Pedro Martinez*. He had some "personal business" to attend to, and left camp, but will be back on Saturday. Willie Randolph said Martinez* was still in Florida, within two or three hours of Tradition Field. Martinez* has been a good soldier so far, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that this was something important, and not Pedro* up to his old tricks (read: pulling a Manny).

Speaking of Pedro*, and Manny, the big news in the Friday papers was that Manny would not be participating in the World Baseball Classic, and it looked "very doubtful" that Pedro* would be participating too. Well, I don't know what's up with Manny, but I said here on Thursday that Pedro* would probably play, just not in the first round (based on what I could glean from various reports). On Friday, a date was set for Pedro*'s participation - he's scheduled to pitch in a second-round game in the Classic on March 13th. I like getting one over on the papers.

There's some good stuff in the Friday papers too. It might be too late by the time many of you read this, but John Harper had an excellent article in Friday's New York Daily News basically outlining why it's impossible not to like David Wright. In case you can't get to it in the Daily News archives, Harper told how there was a photo shoot on Thursday for ESPN The Magazine, on which Wright is supposed to be the baseball cover boy in a couple of weeks, and how Wright also has an endorsement deal with Wilson, the glove manufacturer. He quoted Wright as saying these types of things bring attention to him, which means he only has to perform better. The article also talks about Wright's friendship with Cliff Floyd, and how he has stayed well grounded despite his growing fame. (I just hope he stays that way throughout his career - I would hate to see him change into the cocky athlete that has come to typify Major League Baseball.)

Here's the best thing about Wright - which is touched on in the article. He talks about how much he wants to win - and how much he wants to win for the fans of New York. He says there was a game last year, when the Mets were chasing the Phillies, and were just a game out, where Shea Stadium was sold out, and was rocking because it was so loud (say what you will about Shea, it's a dump, good riddance when they get a new stadium.......but when that place is packed and gets loud, it's an awesome place to be). He says he wants there to be 50,000 cheering like that all summer. Here's a point that comes up a lot - and in most cases I believe it. I heard this argument last on Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPNRadio. The argument: fans care more about the results on the field, in some cases, than the athletes playing the games. Athletes say they have to put losses behind them because they have to turn around the next day (or in the case of pro football, the next week) and get ready for another game. For the fans, the loss sits with them until the next win. And there's no reward, really, for being a fan. The athletes get paid, we pay lots of money - on merchandise, tickets, etc. So, in most cases, I believe a fan cares more about a game than certain athletes do. But it's players like David Wright (at this stage in his career...and hopefully, throughout his career) that appreciate the fans, and want to win as much as the fans want a win, that make it worth rooting for. So a good article on Wright by John Harper in the Daily News, with some editorializing by me.

By the way - it's that desire to win that has David Wright diving all over the field for ground balls hit by a coach during Day Two of spring training workouts,

SPECIAL: In his address to the players on Day One of Spring Training Thursday, Willie Randolph told the players that they needed to "get ready for a special season". This is going to be a fun season - I just hope everyone can stay healthy.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Kaz Matsui has reported to camp in incredible shape. He's been working with his own personal trainer - a former teammate from Japan. (In accordance to club policy, the trainer won't be able to go into the clubhouse, either at home or on the road, but Matsui is welcome to work out with him on his own time.) Matsui's condition has been drawing raves. And on Thursday, in opening workouts, Matsui hit a homer off of flamethrower Billy Wagner. Might not want to read into that too much, though - don't forget that Matsui has homered on the first pitch he's seen each of the past two seasons - so the first day of spring training is no different. Willie Randolph had a funny comment about it too - first he complimented Matsui because at this point of spring training, everyone says the pitchers are way ahead of the hitters, so for Kaz to get a homer was a good sign. But Randolph went on to say that Matsui probably got lucky, and just stepped into one. I'm going to say this one more time - and it might not be the last one. I really have always liked Kaz Matsui, from the beginning. He's started to wear out his welcome, but if he earns the starting second base job, and performs well this year, I'll be thrilled. He has been a great clutch hitter, so I can see him contributing. I would love to see Matsui at second, and let Keppinger have another year at Triple-A, and if that happens, I will be leading the "Comeback Player of the Year" charge for Kaz Matsui.

RESPECT FOR RANDOLPH: I think part of the reason Pedro Martinez* has been such a good soldier for the Mets has been the fact that he has a lot of respect for Willie Randolph, being a former player. There was a throwaway line in one of the papers about Randolph, and how the players respect him since he played the game - among the players mentioned were Martinez* and Cliff Floyd. I'm thinking back to Pedro*'s past managers - Felipe Alou, with the Expos, where he didn't act up - I'm sure he respected Alou. And breaking in with the Dodgers, he would have had to have been crazy to disrespect Tommy Lasorda. With the Red Sox, Pedro* played for Jimy Williams/Joe Kerrigan/Grady Little/Terry Francona. I don't think he necessarily DIS-respected any of those guys, I just think he has more respect for a former player (Randolph) than he did for any of the above. Just a thought.

USING THEIR HEAD: The Mets are among a few teams (I've heard the Angels mentioned as another) that will be using a new form of aerodynamic helmet this season. The helmets are supposed to help cool the head, but also provide better protection. They have air holes in them, and the Mets have one style that will actually be two-tone. Should be neat.

I'm away for the weekend, and school resumes next week, so though I will try my best to keep updating during spring training, I can't promise everyday updates. Please check back often - I'll get into regular updates during the regular season.

SCOUTING COMBINE UPDATE

Mike Tannenbaum appeared at the podium Thursday during the NFL Network's coverage of the Scouting Combine weekend.

Here are a couple of observations - not counting the fact that I've decided I don't really like Adam Schefter of the NFL Network very much.

On Chad Pennington: Tannenbaum says the Jets are actively involved in negotiations with Pennington, and they are working towards a resolution.

Pennington is due a 3-million-dollar bonus on March 3, and the Jets are trying to get him to decline the bonus and restructure his contract.

On "the plan": The Jets are comfortable with what their plan is, says Tannenbaum. He says the Jets will be where they need to be by next Thursday.

The Jets need to be under the salary cap by next Thursay - right now, they are over the cap - but not nearly as much as they were yesterday, before cutting Fiedler, Law, Fabini, and Sowell, and restructuring Curtis Martin's contract. The Jets slapped the franchise tag on John Abraham, which, if he agrees to that deal, would require more maneuvering by the Jets. By the way - teams always "slap" the franchise tag on someone. That gives it such a negative connotation. Maybe John Abraham (who is going to be traded, by the way) wouldn't be so upset with the franchise tag if the Jets "gently placed" the franchise tag on him.

On next season: Tannenbaum says the Jets will play the best players who give the Jets the best chances to win.

That's pretty obvious.

On the draft/combine: Tannenbaum says the Jets will be evaluating all players at all positions.

Eric Mangini is scheduled to be on Total Access tonight on the NFL Network - I'll see if I can catch that and add to this.

In wrapping up Tannenbaum's news conference, Jim Mora, an analyst on the NFL Network, says the Jets need to pick the best football player available with their fourth pick in the draft. They can't worry about position, since they have so many needs - they just need to pick the best player available.

Maybe a Mangini update later tonight/tomorrow....

No news out of the Mets' first spring workout, which took place Thursday morning at 9 o'clock. No news is definitely good news - we don't need to be hearing about injuries or camp mishaps on Day 1.

That said, I'll spend a little bit of time today talking about the future of the Mets.

2B Anderson Hernandez and OF Lastings Milledge are the two big Mets prospects to keep an eye on this year. Both seem to have made it through the off-season without being traded (though I wouldn't put it past Omar Minaya to trade Milledge for whatever pitchers might become available...I hope he doesn't). Both Hernandez and Milledge will be in Triple-A this season. (Milledge has yet to make it to the majors, Hernandez was 1-for-18 in his September call-up last year - but is better known for his fielding.) But I'm thinking ahead - to 2007. Cliff Floyd is playing his last season under his current contract. Negotiations with the Mets won't happen until after this season. But if Floyd doesn't re-up with the Mets, Milledge could get his shot in 2007. And the big question mark at second base could be filled by Hernandez in 2007 (providing Jeff Keppinger doesn't take it over this year and not give it up). Point is, the Mets, offensively and defensively, could be set for quite a while, considering the relative youth at all the other positions (Wright, Reyes, Beltran*, Nady/Diaz) - only Carlos Delgado and Paul LoDuca are on the wrong side of 30.

BUT - I'm not sure the Mets are built for too far into the future - because their pitching staff is getting very old. The trades of Jae Seo and Kris Benson really hurt this year's depth in the rotation, but did some damage to the rotation of the future as well. It's realistic to think that Victor Zambrano and Aaron Heilman could be around for a while, but Pedro Martinez*, Tom Glavine, and Steve Trachsel are all up there in age (35, 40, 36 this season), and could contribute MAYBE one more season after this one (depending on how successful even this year is). Billy Wagner, even, is on a 4-year-deal, which will be his last one in the majors, he says. And the rest of the bullpen isn't the greatest in baseball this year - let alone in years to come - but more on that as spring training progresses.

There's not much help in the minors - the number one pitching prospect, Yusmeiro Petit, was traded to the Marlins in the Delgado deal, and none of the other minor leaguers are sure-fire prospects. So that's one area the Mets really need to work on. There's plenty of hope for a championship the way the team is constituted this year...but I'm looking for more than just one year of glory. And for that to happen, the Mets are going to need to bolster certain areas. The good news is, the core is there - some pieces are in place - but there's lots to go to make this a team to dominate for years to come.

PEDRO'S TOE: It seems like Pedro* will not pitch in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. I had mentioned that I didn't think the toe was that big a deal, in other words - it wouldn't cost Pedro* time with the Mets, and it wouldn't stop him from being effective this year. I still believe that. But I also mentioned I think it's Pedro*'s way (along with the Mets) of not having to do something extra-curricular, i.e. the World Baseball Classic. He doesn't like stuff like that. But I do think he really does want to pitch for his country - so I think Pedro* and the Mets are reaching a compromise, where Pedro* will pitch later in the Classic, when he works up his arm strength, and when he would be more intense during spring training anyway. I think that's where we're headed, and I'm thrilled about it - because I could easily see the Mets' hopes for 2006 going down the drain with a Pedro Martinez* injury from the World Baseball Classic.

FIGHTING WORDS: Andruw Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he isn't worried about other teams (i.e. the Mets) unseating the Braves atop the NL East. He says every year they hear about different teams coming in ready to take over the division, and they never do it (citing the Mets last year and the Phillies the year before). He says the Braves have been there each and every year, and know what to expect, and know how to win, and the other teams are still learning how. He's right of course...but the Mets can use that as bulletin board fodder.

Another interesting point, Braves-related: Julio Franco talked the other day about how the Braves don't get up for any particular opponent. They treat every game the same, no matter what uniform the other team is wearing. This would be well-received advice, if he shares it with his new Mets teammates. The Mets tend to get a little more riled for games with the Braves, though those games have met with very limited success in recent years.

UNBELIEVABLE: I'm still on my mission to stop this word from being so overused. I've written about it before, both here and on johnnyjets.blogspot.com. It's especially overused in the sports domain, mostly by broadcasters. It's a crutch, when there's nothing else to say, to throw this word in to describe an event. (I've noticed it a heck of a lot in the Winter Olympics - especially in those sports where very new people are being used to broadcast - i.e. A.J. Mleczko doing women's hockey - she described everything that happened as "unbelievable"...and certain people as "unbelievable talents". They're in the Olympics - I believe they are talented.)

Anyway, it bothers me, and I'm hoping the Mets' new sports network, which I know monitors this site, will make sure their broadcasters avoid overusing the word (I must say, baseball is the sport where the word is used the least - football is the more guilty culprit). Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez are the new color men, and I'm sure Hernandez won't be using the word - he's been awesome when he's done Mets games. Darling I'm not so sure about - he was doing Washington Nationals telecasts last season, and while his analysis was good, he wasn't very exciting to listen to - I can see him slipping into "unbelievable" territory this season. I'm going to be watching for the overuse of "unbelievable" this year - and hopefully eliminate it from my own vocabulary - unless something truly "unbelievable" happens. (In case you're wondering what would be a proper use of "unbelievable", I mentioned the Cardinals' comeback/Albert Pujols' home run in the Game 5 of last year's NLCS. That is a truly "unbelievable" event - because no one saw it coming. We need to save the word for those types of situations!)

'86 METS ROUNDUP: In the season's first installment of the '86 Mets Roundup, Darling, Sid Fernandez, Howard Johnson, Tim Tuefel, and Mookie Wilson will all be at Shea Stadium Sunday morning at 9am, when individual game tickets go on sale.

ONE MORE THING: This afternoon I was watching some of the NFL Network's coverage of this weekend's scouting combine (more on that here), and I was thinking that if there was an MLB Network, I would never change the channel. Imagine - coverage of all the different spring training sites this time of year....non-stop coverage of the hot stove...classic baseball games to fill the gaps...get going on this Bud Selig!

There's a lot to update on the state of the Jets. I don't have time for all that now...time to focus on the Mets. But I didn't want to completely ignore the latest developments.

First, personally, I am mad at Herman Edwards. The Jets knew they were heading for a tough off-season, what with the salary cap problems, and the big contracts that would need to be restructured or released. I think Edwards is part coward, because he had a chance to escape all of these tough decisions by taking the job in Kansas City.

Today, the Jets released Ty Law, Jay Fiedler, Jerald Sowell, and Jason Fabini. None are huge surprises, especially Law and Fiedler. Sowell and Fabini were long-time Jets, so these moves sort of go along with the change of regime. Things are going to look a lot different on the field next year. Look for B.J. Askew to be a big factor at fullback.

Curtis Martin had his contract restructured, so it looks like he's a part of Eric Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum's plans. Mangini says he really respects Martin, and since Martin is such a good veteran influence, he will be THE guy in the lockerroom.

The big question still surrounds Chad Pennington. He didn't get cut today, so that's a good thing. March 3, I think, is the deadline for these decisions to be made...and there's still a significant possibility that he will be cut. I just can't see it. Sure, he's being overpaid right now, because he's been injured. But what he has done for this organization has earned him the right to at least compete for his job over the summer, and I think, given that chance, he will show that he is still capable of leading the offense. I know, I'm an optimist - maybe unrealistic. But he's had full healing time, and he's a competitor (not to mention a winner) - and people don't believe in him right now, so I think all of that points to a better Chad Pennington this season. Cutting him, I think, would be a mistake. As for the anonymous Jets player who compared Pennington to an "egg" in the pocket - it was probably an offensive lineman, whose fault it is that Pennington has taken the hits that have contributed to him being injured.

That's where I'll leave it for now - there's going to be lots to talk about this off-season, and if I'm not absorbed in baseball, I'll devote some time to the Jets.

TIME FOR A CHANGE

I'm going to try to spice up the blog a bit this year, since we all expect 2006 to be THE YEAR, and traffic will probably hit an all-time high. So I'm starting with the look of the blog, and there will be different features that I will be letting you know about as the season draws closer. (I'm very excited about the METS-FAN-O-METER, which is still an idea in my head, but will appear in some form by the beginning of the season - it may also have a different name by then...not the blog - the METS-FAN-O-METER). I've also decided that blogs with pictures and clever links are the wave of the future (is it 'way of the future' or 'wave of the future'?). So that's where we're headed.

Also, the wife is expecting, and I don't want my child to think I'm running a rinky-dink site here. Yep, big news of the personal variety - due date is September 30 - hopefully just in time for the World Series Championship.

Mets' camp is kind of quiet these days - there's lots going on in Jets camp, but that's a story for another site.

That just leaves me with a couple of comments. Earlier in the offseason, word was that Willie Randolph was very resistant to a lineup with Carlos Beltran* in the 2-spot - he really wanted Beltran* to stay number three in the lineup. Today, though, it sounds like he's willing to consider moving Beltran* - the Daily News has a report where Randolph says he'd rather have Beltran* steal 40 bases than hit 25 homers this season.

I'm going to go on record, today, February 22, 2006, and say Beltran* will hit .316, with 21 homers, and 93 RBI, stealing 37 bases for the year. I would be more than happy with that, and I bet a lot of Mets fans would. I also bet Beltran* is hitting in the two spot for the majority of the season - it was one of the moves Randolph made last year that worked perfectly. Boy, those numbers look really good. I can't WAIT for baseball season!

I mentioned yesterday the big '86 Mets Reunion August 19 at Shea. I hope to be there - and I'll try to get pictures for johnnymets.blogspot.com. I'm not sure how many Mets home games I'll be going to this year, but I do know I will see them at least twice on the road. I'm taking a trip to California in April, and in addition to seeing an A's game and a Dodgers game, the wife and I will be seeing the Mets play the Padres in San Diego. I'm psyched about that. I'm also excited about seeing the Mets at Fenway in June - we're going to the Tuesday night game. Hopefully I'll be able to somehow score tickets for the rest of that three-game series. My goal is to see as many Mets games as possible this season. Hopefully I'll be taking some trips to New York.

This isn't an '86 Mets Roundup...just a "Former Baseball Player Update": Did you hear this comment from Darren Daulton? I'm not sure what the source is - I heard it yesterday on Jim Rome's radio show - apparently Daulton has become a bit, well, religious, and says God has spoken to him, and Daulton says (via God, I guess) the world is going to end on December 21, 2012, (12/21/12) at 11 am. I think it was 11am - the point is, it wasn't 12! And my question is, why not? If someone is going to go through the trouble to end the world on a cool date like 12/21/12, why would it happen at a weird hour? Why not 12 o'clock - or 9pm (21 o'clock in military time)? And I guess the more important question is, what has Darren Daulton been doing since retirement?

Being a teacher in my non-blogging life, I am on vacation - February break. The beauty of February break is twofold. One, I don't have to go to work. Two, it coincides with the very beginning of spring training, so it is the perfect time for me to start up the ol' Mets site, and start talking baseball.

Clearly, Omar Minaya reads the blog (Hi Omar!), as he did not trade for Manny Ramirez, and had the good sense not to throw his hat into the Sammy Sosa ring (OK, maybe it didn't take that much sense, considering Sosa is a disaster waiting to happen on some unsuspecting team [read: Nationals], but if Minaya really did have a predisposition towards Latino ballplayers, at least he only picks the ones who don't stink, and who don't cheat, and who are actually pretty good.). I may not have addressed the Sammy Sosa thing, but I was pretty adamant that he not acquire Ramirez, so it is clear that not only Minaya reads the blog, but also that he can read my mind.

Where to start....where to start.....how about the mailbag?

"Dear JohnnyMets,

I think that this is the year for the Mets. I don't necessarily think they'll win it all this year, but I think this is their best chance. Young talent coming into its own, finally a stable bullpen, and a starting rotation that realizes it has just one more chance.

Thoughts?

Dave in Brighton"

Ah, good old Dave, e-mailing in the dead of winter. Yes, this appears to be the year for the Mets. Let's take a look at the position players, and the rotation, to consider my thoughts, and leave the middle relief for another day, because that's still sort of a mess.

C: Paul LoDuca
1B: Carlos Delgado
2B: Kaz Matsui for now, with Bret Boone invited to spring training, and watch out for Jeff Keppinger!
SS: THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes
3B: Future Hall of Famer David Wright
OF: Cliff Floyd, Carlos Beltran*, and Victor Diaz/Xavier Nady

P: Pedro Martinez*, Tom Glavine, Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano, Aaron Heilman
Closer: Billy Wagner

Second base is wide-open right now - and I think Keppinger stands a very good shot at making the major league roster, and even unseating Matsui. Here's why. At the end of the 2004 season, Keppinger played very well in the call-up playing time he got. He hit .284, even popped 3 HR's, in 116 at-bats. He was off to a very good start in Triple-A last year, but got taken out at second on what was called a "dirty slide" by either manager Ken Oberkfell or hitting coach Howard Johnson while trying to turn a double play. It messed up his knee, and he missed the rest of the year. Well, I think we will be keeping a close eye on Keppinger this spring, here on johnnymets.blogspot.com, because I think he could be the Mets' second baseman.

Other than second base, the only unsettled position is right field. Victor Diaz played well last year, getting his first extended Major League action, but the Mets traded Mike Cameron for Xavier Nady, and you better believe it's Nady's position to lose. Diaz's defense is questionable, and he has options left, so he faces an uphill battle to win the spot - where Willie Randolph says he'd rather not use a platoon.

The pitching rotation is solid.....but not deep. I've said it before, I really wish Aaron Heilman could keep coming out of the bullpen, because he was so reliable in that role last year. But the trade of Jae Seo (see posting below) means Heilman is all but assured of the number five spot in the rotation, and the trade of Kris Benson means there isn't much depth. This is something I will talk about more as the season goes on, but the last thing I want to say is I do NOT think Pedro Martinez*'s toe is something to get upset about. He's been drumming it up for a while, and while he says he wants to play in the World Baseball Classic, I don't think he really does, and I don't think the Mets want him to. So there is a legit problem with the toe, but I think it will be OK for him to pitch, and pitch effectively, come April.

As spring training progresses, I'll talk more about the Mets' roster and the players fighting for roster spots. For now, I'll give spring training updates:

--The Mets have their first full-squad workout on Thursday.
--David Wright has lightened his workload this year, so hopefully he won't go stumbling into the All-Star break like he did last year - fatigue was blamed for his slump in early July. He's taking less grounders after team workouts, and not as much batting practice. This should pay off, especially when you consider Wright should be making the All-Star team this year, instead of getting that time off (the secret's out - Wright's a star).
--By the way, Chipper Jones' son, Shea, is sick, and in the hospital, so there's a chance he might not play in the World Baseball Classic. If it turns out he does not play, Wright will be taking over Jones' spot, and that means he could be facing an even longer season of competitive ball.

The final note for today is that 2006 is the 20th anniversary of the 1986 World Champion Mets. The Mets have a nice patch that I think they'll be wearing on their sleeves commemorating the anniversary, and they also have different events throughout the year celebrating the '86 team. The celebrations culminate with an August 19th matchup with the Colorado Rockies where the entire team (hopefully, for my sake) will reunite. Some players will be easy to find - especially Hall of Famer Gary Carter, who was promoted from his successful Gulf Coast Mets stint (37-16 in his first year) to the Florida State League, still in the Mets' organization. He replaces fellow '86 Met Tim Teufel, who says he's taking a year off from baseball.

Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez will be in the Mets' broadcast booth - both will divide time as color analysts on the Mets' new network, SNY (which better be picked up by DirecTV). Also, Roger McDowell replaces Leo Mazzone as the Atlanta Braves' pitching coach this year - he will probably be unavailable for the reunion.

Needless to say, along with this year's Wright Watch and Kid's Kids features, there will be an '86 Mets Roundup on johnnymets.blogspot.com, and I'll try to keep you posted on as many of the '86 Mets as I can keep track of.

SUPER BOWL XL

SUPER BOWL XL

It's been a forgettable NFL season for me, about the only good thing to come out of it is a brand new Super Bowl matchup. So I can cross Seattle-Pittsburgh off my list (yes, there is a list...actually a spreadsheet) and hope that next year the Jets are the ones involved in another new Super Bowl matchup. (For those of you unfamiliar with my obsession, I want every NFL team to face every other NFL team, in their respective conferences, in the Super Bowl. Same goes for the World Series.)

I know there's a lot for me to weigh in on, what with the Jets' coaching debacles...I mean, changes...but I just want to put this season behind me for a bit. So I'm here to make a Super Bowl prediction, and then move onto johnnymets.blogspot.com for a while.

Back at the beginning of the post-season, I trashed Shaun Alexander as an MVP and said he'd probably cost his team a playoff game due to a fumble. I guess that hasn't happened, but he did fumble against Washington when he got knocked out...it just didn't cost the team the game (but shouldn't an MVP being knocked out of a playoff game cost your team the game...maybe he's not so V. Just a thought.)

That said, hopefully Alexander will NOT fumble and cost his team this game, because I am picking the Seattle Seahawks to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL. It's been a long road for the Steelers. I know they have a lot of emotion going into this game, what with Jerome Bettis and all, and there are going to be a lot of Steelers fans in Detroit. I know that. I didn't think the Steelers would be able to win in Indy...and then I did not think they'd be able to win in Denver. But the road's gotta catch up to them eventually. This is where it will.

Seattle is on the road too, which isn't the greatest thing. But this is a different Seattle team than the one that stunk on the road last year. Granted they weren't great away from Qwest this year, but they're a very good team. I can't believe Seattle is actually the underdog. I would take Seattle getting the points in this one easy.

I think the quarterbacks in this game are pretty evenly matched - but the edge might actually go to Pittsburgh because Ben Roethlisberger has a better set of receivers, I think, than Matt Hasselbeck. I think Seattle's got a better running game (Bettis isn't a threat until the Steelers are inside the 20), and I think people are going to be surprised by how well the Seattle defense plays tomorrow night.

I'm going with Seattle, 27-21.

I'm rooting, in a player pool that I'm in, for Jerome Bettis to score two more touchdowns than Shaun Alexander. I also need neither of the quarterbacks to throw a touchdown. I'm not sure how my pick will happen, with me still winning the pool...so I have a couple of different rooting interests in this game. I can root for the kickers to have good games. 9 field goals for the Seahawks, 3 touchdowns for Bettis.

I find it funny (or pathetic) that the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl this year as a 6 seed when, at the beginning of the year, filled with naive hope, I wrote that the Jets would need to win the division, because it's near impossible for a team to make the Super Bowl without playing a post-season home game (or even without home field advantage throughout). This was after the Jets lost in Pittsburgh, after winning in San Diego in last year's playoffs. So the Steelers have accomplished a lot already, just by getting to the big game. But I think, sad for them, it's all over tomorrow night. Let the record show that I think, at this point, I am rooting for the Steelers to win. But I'm picking the Seahawks to beat them. See you in baseball season.