SEE YOU IN COOPERSTOWN AUGUST 2013

The news that Mike Piazza is retiring comes 1 day of short of the 10 year anniversary of the trade that brought Mike Piazza to Shea. I will have nothing but good memories of Mike Piazza as a met, and he will go down as one of the best players we ever had.

Not only did he hit, and drive in runs, and make the Mets lineup stronger, he came to this town when the Yankees were the KINGS and made us matter again.

Piazza hit 40 home runs in a season with a whole franchise on his back. He would go on Howard Stern, he was on page 6, and of course he was on the back pages and the talk of sports radio.

"Within the eight years I spent in New York, I was able to take a different look at the game of baseball," he said in a statement yesterday. "I wasn't just a young kid that was wet behind the ears anymore. I was learning from other veteran guys like Johnny Franco, who taught me how to deal with the pressures of playing in New York, and Al Leiter who knew what it took to win a world championship."

Unfortunately the Mets never did win a world championship with Piazza, mostly because in the 2000 World Series they faced a baseball dynasty and Armando Benitez couldn’t strike out Paul O’Neil in game 1.

There was all the Piazza-Clemens stuff, and while I wish Piazza would have gone after Clemens and shoved that bat up his steroid inflamed ass, Mike had to much class to stoop to the level of the time and time again proven classless Roger Clemens.

Unless somebody digs up a boatload of dirt on Piazza in the next 5 years, guess which one of the two is going directly to the Hall of Fame and which one is going to spend all his time in the courts and disappearing ala Mark McGwire.

"He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer and certainly the best hitting catcher of our era and arguably the best hitting catcher of all time," Tom Glavine said.

David Wright said, "He was The Man in New York. He helped mold me into the baseball player I want to be and helped mold me into being a leader on the team."

Piazza was just what Mets fans needed, and he produced one of the epic New York moments with that home run against the Braves in the first game in New York after Sept 11.

The Mets didn’t always handle Piazza like the superstar he was, they screwed up the move to first base, they really didn't defend him when Clemens threw at him and they never surrounded him with the type of talent to put them over the top.

"Mike electrified New York City," Fred Wilpon said in a statement. "We wish Mike, his wife, Alicia, and daughter Nicoletta all health and happiness as he begins a new chapter in his life."

We wish there was somebody who got the whole experience here enough to say, as Piazza once did, "New York without Johnny Franco is like a pastrami sandwich without rye."

Well Wally Matthews put it even better, when he said the Mets without Piazza were like a pastrami sandwich without the pastrami.

HIGHLIGHTS OF PIAZZA'S FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAME CAREER


1993: Wins NL Rookie of the Year award as member of Dodgers.

1997: Comes in second in MVP voting.
1999: Hits in 24 straight games, tying Mets' franchise record.

Oct. 19, 1999: Hits home run to tie score at 7 in losing effort against Braves in Game 6 of NLCS.

2000: Has 15-game RBI streak, second-longest in MLB history.

Sept. 21, 2001: Hits two-run home run against Braves in first New York sporting event since 9/11.
May 4, 2004: Sets record for most home runs by a catcher.

April 26, 2006: Hits 400th career home run, while with Padres.

CRAZY MET FAN

When did I become that annoying, stupid Met fan that is doom and gloom every other day and lives and dies on every little event rather than look at the big picture and know that the baseball season is 162 games and not one at bat?

The Mets lose two winnable games to the Nationals and I’m one of those stupid callers to Mike and the Mad Dog, all out of my mind, screaming for the manager’s head and looking to offer trades of Luis Castillo, Marlon Anderson and Angel Pagan for Chase Utley.

I’ve been religiously following this team for 35 years, and we have won 1 time. So that’s 34 seasons of disappointments and failures, but never have I been taking these losses and these games as hard as I did last week. Was it the fact that last year they may have been the most talented team in the NL, and had the largest collapse in history? Is it because we went out and got the best pitcher in baseball this year and we are floundering at .500?

I see a lot of talent on this team, and at any minute they can reel off 6 or 7 wins or a 12 out of 16 couple of weeks and all will be well. They are tied for 1st in the loss column, and we still have 75% of the season left. There really is no need for me to go nuts after losing a listless 1-0 game on a Thursday afternoon. I apologize to my faithful reader(s) for the brief level of insanity.

Never can I remember the core Met fans being so quick to pull the trigger, so unhappy with every move, every decision. I think Omar has done a terrific job building this team, I think he has given Wille everything he needs, and I think this is the best team in the NL. Let’s get through this next 4 game series against Atlanta not losing 3 out of 4, lets keep giving Johan and Maine a couple of runs, and watch Big Pelf continue to blossom, get Pedro back in a few weeks, and see Ollie continue to pitch well against the good teams and there is no reason to expect anything less than a trip to the NLCS.

So in a way I feel a little silly that we win 2 games easily this weekend against a last place team and my whole out look has changed and everything is fixed, but in reality I know it’s not. But I do know they need to continue doing what they were doing, which means Reyes has to hit, Wright has to hit, and the starters have to give us a solid 7 innings each night.

I’m going to try and hold back my overreactions, both negative and positive, and remember there are a ton of baseball left to play. It was a good weekend, lets build on this against Atlanta tomorrow, and please, please…lets knock the crap out of Tommy Glavine.

Hmmm…I wonder if the Phills would take Castillo AND Heilman for Utley???

WILLIE??????

Today's Met line-up

Reyes (ss)
Castillo (2b)
Wright (3b)
Beltran (cf)
Church (rf)
Delgado (1b)
Castro (c)
Anderson (lf)
Pelfrey (rhp)



This makes me nuts...why is Marlon Anderson on the field? Unless he's 5-5 life time against Bergman (let me go look it up...nope, Marlon is 0-0 against him). You have Chavez and Alou, now I know Willie wants to give Moises a day game off after a night game, but Moises got ejected early and hardly played, and Chavez is so much better than Anderson and needs the At Bats to get on track.

I'm shocked he didn't give Wright or Beltran the day off too, and play hands of stone Easley at third. Last night I was flipping out when he brought in Heilman, I wanted to see Vargas (who hadn't even thrown 100 pitches) stay in there, so I am making sure I get this on the blog as a first guess rather than a second guess after Anderson hits into 2 DPs and misplays a ball in the outfield.

ANDERSON SHOULD NOT BE STARTING TODAY (or ever)!

WEDNESDAY’S WEEKLY WILLIE WATCH

Willie, Willie, Willie.

Let’s look back at the week Willie had.

Last Wednesday evening Willie threw John Maine out there against the Nats and sat back and get a strong pitched game to go along with a 4 run 5th inning and this one was never in doubt. Ryan Church batted second and had 2 hits and a HR and the week was off to a good start.

On Thursday we went 14, and I give Willie credit with this one, everything he did worked out well, as the bullpen was solid, he got a few clutch hits and the Mets were 8-6 for the year and 2-0 for Willie’s week.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we went into Philly and any manager is going to look smart when Santana and Perez were as dominating as they were and Ryan Howard is swinging and missing all weekend and Jimmy Rollins gets 2 ABs (don’t get all excited Corby, those are AT BATS, not abs). For the second time this year though, Willie pulled Ollie after 5 2/3 scoreless innings having not given up a run, but the bullpen was strong again as 6 relievers got the final 19 outs and Willie and the Mets were 4-0 for the week.

Sunday was a game that, although we were down 4-0 and never had the lead, still feels like it got away from us. Castillo failed at getting down a bunt (I know it’s not Willie’s fault that this flawed player is our second baseman for the next four years, and Wednesdays are not the time and place to address this, but his short comings need to be looked into soon) and Chase Utely may the second best player in the NL (behind David Wright) but taking 2 out of 3 is a sussussful series in my books. Doing it against Philly on the road is even that much more of a bonus.

Now we go to Monday and Wrigley field. In a tight game Willie goes to Aaron Heilman in the 8th, and after a Reyes error and a hit batter it’s suddenly 7-1 and we now have lost 2 games in a row. I can’t have this. Maine pitched well, and so did Zambrano, and I know the Cubbies are hot, but I can’t have this. Raul Casanova can’t hit, he’s done as far as I’m concerned and I’d rather see Joey Appio manning 2B and batting second than Jose Castillo these days. I understand Willie has to get Heilman on track, but HE MUST keep him out of close games until Heilman can get 3 outs in an inning without giving up some runs.

The Mets are 8-1 this year when Church and Pagan bat 2nd and 2-8 when Castillo bats 2nd. Every time I look at the line-up I continue to Carlos Delgado in the 5th slot. Willie needs to STOP treating all the veterans like they can do no wrong; he needs to make everyone accountable regardless of how long they have been in the league. Whatever success these players had with Toronto or Minnesota or with the Middletown Elks are meaningless to me.

I’m generally very easy going with managers and coaches (the exceptions being Rich Kotite and Jeff Torborg), but Willie’s rope is getting short. I don’t see him doing anything to fire this team up, I don’t see him motivating these players, and while I know Willie can’t control someone getting a clutch hit, or making a key play, he can hold them accountable for failure, and this is something he does not do. I can't have this, I just can't have this. It's unacceptable.

The week started off 4-0, and ended 0-3.

4-3 for the week and 10-9 for the season.

4 out of every 7 gives us 93 wins for the year, which isn’t bad, and quite possibly would get them at least a wild card, but unlike last year, Willie can’t keep doing the same things over and over again, and just hope things just get better. The rope is getting short, and Willie is not getting the job done.

WILLIE’S CURRENT SCORE = 59

WEDNESDAY’S WEEKLY WILLIE WATCH

I certainly understand that a baseball season is a marathon and not a race. Having been a fan of the Mets now for 35 years (and no I wasn’t a fan of some other team for the 20 years prior to rooting for them), I fully understand there will be ups and downs, and it’s silly to take the team’s pulse after every game.

So as disappointed as we were this weekend when Santana and Perez couldn’t get the job done against the Brewers, it’s equally unrealistic to fell joy and elation this morning after what was probably their best overall performance of the season last night as Big Pelf had his second solid start of the year, Reyes got 4 hits, Wright drove in 5 runs and Sanchez pitched a solid 9th.

I’ve always said as good at Wright is, and as important as the middle of the line-up is, when Reyes plays like he played in 2006 and most of 2007, this team is a totally different team, if he can finally shed whatever it has been that’s been holding him back the last 6 weeks or so, dating back to September 2007, this will all be moot and the Willie Watch will be more about us watching to see when they clinch rather than watching to see when they choke.

I still miss the fire, and this team needs a leader, and at this point I have to point to Willie to be that guy. I know we have no idea what goes on behind the scenes, and I never hear a player moan or complain about Willie publicly, but again, he is the head, he makes all the moves, he needs to get wins, and he will be held accountable.

Wednesday’s on this blog are all about Willie, so what has changed since last week…not to much, although I will say I was happy to see a little switch last night with Castillo batting 8th, and church in the 2 hole, plus coming off a strong game last night, and not having any specific blame on Willie for the last weekend, I’ll give Willie a little boost today, but the watch is still very much in effect.

WILLIE’S CURRENT SCORE = 67

TOP 10 FAVORITE METS

Having been a Mets fan since 1973, I starting thinking about my favorite players and I have put together this little list.

10. Johan Santana – Yes he’s been a Met for exactly one day, but are you kidding me…after the embarrassment of 2007 I don’t think there was any move this team could make to excite a Met fan again except to acquire this guy. We won’t forget the last 3 weeks of 2007, but after watching this guy pitch, and getting him in his prime, there is little doubt he will move up on this list pretty fast.

9. Rick Reed – I don’t have great memories about Jerry Koosman, and although as a kid I used to get a kick out of watching Dave Kingman hit, he was a jerk. Go back and look at Rick Reed’s stats as a Met, the guy was very solid. He didn’t walk anyone, and just went out there and got people out and was always a good guy. Cone and Leiter were better, but I always like Rick Reed best.

8. Pedro Martinez – I loved Pedro as a Bosox, and I love Pedro even more as a Met. He is one of the most charismatic players we have ever had, not to mention one of the most talented. To watch a healthy Pedro is to watch one of the greatest players of our generation, so here’s to hoping Pedro has a solid 2008, signs a new deal with the Mets and finishes his career in NY.

7. Lee Mazzilli – After Seaver was traded the Mets this Brooklyn born Italian basket catching CF was the best player we had. I still remember the 1979 All Star game (that he should have won the MVP award of) when he walked with the bases loaded against Ron Guidy and then later hit a HR off Jim Kern it was probably the first time I could remember one of my favorites doing something to actually win a game, when everyone else was watching.

6. Jose Reyes – although he is blamed for being a huge part of the collapse of the 2007 Mets, he is probably the most exciting and electrifying player in their history. When Reyes is getting on base and running the bases he makes the entire offense roll. Defensively I think he is a bit over rated, but none the less, he is a solid fielder and great to watch everyday.

5. Edgardo Alfonso – Although his “big” years were short lived, he was at one time the best player in NY, and we thought he would put up one big year after another. A clutch hitter, and top notch defensive player at both 2nd and 3rd base. After he injured his back he was never the same hitter, but 1997-2000 at the ages of 23-26 we thought we had a guy who would be a super star for the next 15 years.

4. Mike Piazza – This future Hall of famer was an offensive force to watch in his years as a Met. He always carried himself with dignity, and had a great presence in the lineup. No one ever hit the ball harder, and you never wanted to miss his at-bats. After the awful 1990 seasons, Piazza came aboard and immediately this organization has a renewed sense of respect. His home run at Shea in the first game back after 9/11 will never be forgotten.

3. David Wright – he’s only been here a few years but he has the chance to go down as one of the all time great Mets. So far he has exhibited a great “awareness” of who he is, and what he is. And what he is, is a class act with a ton of talent.

2. Keith Hernandez – The captain. After all those awful losing seasons once Seaver was gone, Hernandez came to the Mets in 1983 and was the first piece of the puzzle that brought an entirely different attitude to this team and a championship (my only in all 3 major sports as a fan in 35 seasons) in 1986. His professionalism and tenacity were by far the makings of an amazing leader.

1. Tom Seaver – the franchise and the reason I grew up rooting for the good guys and not the Yankees. I remember trying to emulate his pitching motion right down to the grass stains on my right knee, and I went to bed crying when he was traded in 1977. I was at the first game when he returned to Shea as a Red, I was at the first game when he returned as a Met, and I went to Cooperstown for the weekend to see his induction.