Mets Extra

What Do the Late Night Mess and the Yankees Have in Common?

2010-01-14T09:51:00.003-05:00

Truth to power? I've never been a regular late night comedy viewer.

I've been to a live taping of Letterman once, but I've never played favorites with the late night hosts. I appreciate, say, that Jay Leno and David Letterman have wildly different senses of humor, but for me, both are funny for what they are.

I've also enjoyed Conan O'Brien through the years, and I was happy for him, six years ago, when it was announced he would take over the Tonight Show in 2009.

Not in any specific way -- it's not like I felt Jay was terrible and THANK GOD they were getting a new host. Just, it felt like he'd paid his dues, that Jay had had a good run, and that a transition had to happen someday, so good for us that it went to someone funny like Conan.

I take it you're all broadly familiar with what's happening with NBC; to recap briefly, they wanted to shift Jay Leno's 10pm comedy show to 11:35pm, push Conan and the Tonight Show back to 12:05am, and push Jimmy Fallon (and Carson Daly, I guess) each back an hour or so.

* * * * *

People have had very strong reactions to NBC's announcement, myself included. For some reason, it really bugs me that NBC is pulling the rug out from under Conan (after only 7 months; bear in mind that Jay got trounced in the ratings his first 18 months on the air).

At first, I was very confused as to why I might feel so strongly about it. After all, I didn't really watch either Jay or Conan with any regularity, and I quite like them both (albeit Conan a bit more).

I think it upsets me because it violates my sense of fairness, which, as neuroleadership guru David Rock can tell you, is a very strong human instinct.

"Neuroscientist Stephen Pinker has a theory about where this intense response to fairness comes from," Rock writes. "Pinker thinks that the fairness response has emerged as a by-product of the need to trade efficiently. In your evolutionary past, when you couldn't store food in the refrigerator, the best place to store resources would have been by giving 'favors' to others. Resources were stored in other people's brains, as potential reciprocal snacks down the road.

"This mental exchange was especially important in hunter-gatherer days, when protein sources arrived intermittently: a bison felled by one person would be too much meat just for his family. To be good at this kind of trading you need the ability to detect 'cheaters,' people who promise but don't deliver. In this way, people with strong fairness detectors would have an evolutionary advantage" (Rock, Your Brain at Work, 175).

Basically, we have very strong instincts for fairness and for being cheated because our ancestors had to, as a matter of survival, be able to trust that if they stored food with a neighbor, they'd get something from that neighbor in return (he or she wouldn't be a freeloader, basically).

When it comes to Conan, I think I have strong feelings about the topic because it seems he's been treated unfairly. He signed a contract in 2004 saying he would get the Tonight Show, which has started at 11:35pm for 60 years, in 2009.

Five years and seven months later, Jay's 10pm shows bombs and all of a sudden he is entitled to a move back to late night.

It just doesn't feel right. It feels to me like Conan is getting cheated out of his dream job. It might have violated my sense of fairness in any environment, but particularly with the unemployment situation in the news all the time, it's distressing to think of employers screwing people over in any context.

(For the record, I appreciate there's a massive difference between a multi-millionaire like Conan O'Brien getting laid off by NBC and a blue collar worker somewhere, but still, the one story is reminiscent of the other).

* * * * *

So what's it all got to do with the Yankees?

I've never thought about it in these terms before, but in a way, I think one reason a LOT of people hate the Yankees is because their success violates our sense of fairness.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should have 27 championships when the next winningest team only has 10, and so many others have low single digits.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should be able to spend as much money as they could ever want when other teams have fiscal constraints.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should be so thoroughly hateable.

Now, to a Yankee fan, I'm sure the Yankees' success seems VERY fair. But to a Mets fan, and to fans of all other teams, there's nothing fair or charming about it.

It's kind of like how it is with Jay Leno... you had a great run, isn't it time someone else had a turn?

- A.F.O.M.G.

Welcome to Mets Extra

2010-01-12T22:00:00.004-05:00

Exciting day for us around here.

As we announced yesterday, today we begin our new life as Mets Extra.

As you can see, there is not a whole lot that's different around here, but beneath the surface there was a tremendous amount of work that went in to making this site a reality.

For me, the real beauty of this site is that it preserves our history as Yankees 2000 as it eschews us into our new era. All of our archives are here, all those many thoughts and triumphs and heartbreaks that we chronicled are etched, still, in cyberspace.

For that, and for his patience, tremendous credit and thanks belongs to our webmaster, Oren, who handles this site's technical needs, probably without knowing why he does it.

Oren designed yankees2000.com years ago when we made the move away from blogspot, and he was the man who made Mets Extra a reality today. I don't know why he offers the help that he does, but I do know it's extraordinarily generous of him, so Oren, if you're reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you.

* * * * *

We have a few bugs left to work out, so we'll be back with regular content on Thursday.

For today, a lark. Searching for some form of insight or inspiration I Google-imaged our new website name. Of the 21 images that appear on the first page of results, I thought the following three encapsulated certain core elements of Mets fandom.

We know this one well. The unique blend of incredulity and grief that is the latest in a lifetime's worth of improbable, gut-wrenching losses.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the image tells you almost everything you need to know about being a Mets fan the past 20 some years.

Ahh yes, the money shot. Our single greatest (active) tormentor getting one right between the eyes. He was OK (which is really remarkable the more you look at that picture), which makes our enjoyment of this photo OK.

And at the last, a faint glimmer of hope courtesy of David Wright's bat, with the familiar stadium of our youth in the background.

Will 2010 be The Year? Probably not... but damned if a Mets fan can't dream.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

2010-01-11T10:53:00.001-05:00

Dear readers,

After 1,053 posts and 4 years, 3 months operating as Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse, I'm excited to announce that, effective tomorrow, this website will relaunch as Mets Extra (http://www.metsextra.com/).

The change itself was hastened by the Yankees breaking the titular curse that this website chronicled and celebrated, but in truth, it was conceived of long before.

Indeed, the idea of Mets Extra has been dinging around in my mind for a long time now. On May 24, 2006, I registered the http://metsextra.blogspot.com/ domain name, billing it as the "potential future home of Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse". It took almost 4 years but here we are.

I appreciated the wit and uniqueness of Yankees 2000 as the name, but I always had qualms about it. As readers are aware, my bailiwick here is loving the Mets, and I've always worried that a Mets fan site named "Yankees 2000" (or Yankees anything for that matter) would generate confusion and alienate potential readers.

The name change doesn't mean I've gone soft on the Yankees; I hate the Yankees, and sure enough, every now and then I'll take a post to blast them or call them or their fans out on their bullshit.

But as a subject, for me the Mets are much more interesting to write about, and the name Mets Extra reflects that.

* * * * *

So why the name Mets Extra? Well, it satisfies the one criterion for the new name (having the word "Mets" in the title and URL), but it's also a nod to the great WFAN post-game show.

I usually take the 7 train to the game, but on those occassions where I'm driving I love tuning into the program as soon as I've gotten back in the car.

I also have fond memories of listening to the show in college, back when the only games I got to watch were the ones that were nationally televised and I had to count on 660 AM somehow crossing the mountains and coming through the dial.

Mets Extra, the radio show, has always been a part of my experience as a fan, and I hope in the years ahead my take on Mets Extra, on the website, will be part of your experience as a fan as well.

* * * * *

I will always be immensely proud of the work we did as Yankees 2000. In the banner of the site the letters Y2K will be preserved, and though I will mostly refer to the site as Mets Extra or ME, I'll still drop a "here at Y2K" type of line from time to time.

As far as content, nothing is going to change. You can still expect the same type of insight and analysis you've grown accustomed to, mostly on the Mets, sometimes on the Yankees or the Giants, Jets, or Knicks.

One new feature is I'll now be accessible via email at AFOMG@metsextra.com. Come tomorrow I understand that will be up and running, and I look forward to reading your emails.

More than anything though I look forward to continuing this journey of Mets fandom with you.

It's been a great ride these past four-plus years. Here's to the next four and beyond.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Unholy Alliance, Part Deux

2010-01-10T12:45:00.000-05:00

For the second time in under three months, the Glass Man was faced with an agonizing playoff decision. Eagles or Cowboys? So much to hate. Only one team to choose.

Now, deciding between the Eagles and Cowboys was nowhere near as agonizing as choosing between the contenders of the "Bad Meets Evil" World Series we had in October. But still, it wasn't an easy call.

I deeply and truly hate the Philadelphia sports fan. Loud and obnoxious, Philly fans are among the worst in the world. And it doesn't help that their baseball team has made ours look really bad the past few seasons.

But for me, yesterday and as ever, my hatred for the Cowboys carried the day. The reason is simple: When I see the Cowboys, I see the Yankees.

In some sense the comparison is baseless. The Cowboys had gone 13 years without a playoff victory until yesterday, and aside from their early-mid 90's dynasty, have not enjoyed the same level of success as the Yankees.

But everything that's big and garrish and "look-at-us-aren't-we-great" about the Yankees applies to the Cowboys as well. Cowboys Stadium is Yankee Stadium with a football jersey on (and a slight alien-spaceship look from above). Jerry Jones is George Steinbrenner with a better diet. Hell, the two clubs are even in business together for some reason.

I couldn't get on board with all that.

And so it was that I found common cause, again, with the Philadelphia sports fan. And how do they reward me for my support? By getting completely and utterly dismantled. Again.

At least this time the showdown wasn't for all the marbles. Unlike the World Series, I could root for one team today and hold out hope that another team would bump them off tomorrow. That being the case, there's a part of me that can rejoice in the misery of Eagles fans.

But still, I wanted Dallas to lose yesterday, and I threw my weight solidly behind Philadelphia. It doesn't crush me the way the World Series did, nowhere close actually, but it's still disappointing.

Me a Philly fan? Perhaps some things just weren't to be.

- A.F.O.M.G.

44: Jerry Grote

2010-01-05T09:51:00.096-05:00

(This is the latest installment in an ongoing series at Y2K focusing on topics raised in Matthew Silverman's "100 Things Mets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die". Today's installment? Number 44: Jerry Grote.)

Why 44? In honor of the newest Met, Jason Bay.

On a scale of 1-to-10, necessity of knowing or doing before you die? 5.

Jerry Grote... not a Met I knew a ton about.

I'd heard of him before, and I guess I kind of figured he was a member of the '69 team or maybe '73. In truth, most of what I knew about him began and ended with the assonance of his name.

That all changed last night as I leafed through Matt Silverman's book for the fist time in about a year.

What do I know about Grote now? Well, from the sound of it he was a typical light-hitting catcher, but behind the plate he was as good as they got, nurturing the talent of young standout pitchers like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. He had one passed ball all season in 1968, when he made the All-Star team. And he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1992.

These things I now know about Jerry Grote, but what I'll remember most is that he is, from the sounds of it, everything the Mets have been sorely lacking the past several seasons.

"With his cap turned around (never a helmet) and bill flipped up under the mask strap, Grote pounced on bunts and pitchers like a drill sergeant," Silverman writes (115). "When he didn't like a pitch or the way a pitcher was working, he fired the ball back as hard as he could."

Silverman goes on to write that "base runners feared him and no one looked forward to a home plate run-on with the grisly Grote," who was "tough as a dollar steak".

(Think about it, is there one player on the Mets today who you might describe as "tough as a dollar steak"? Maybe Jeff Francouer; I'm not sure anyone else comes close.)

The Mets have had their share of great catchers, Mike Piazza and Gary Carter most notably. But the guy Grote reminds me of more than anyone else is none other than old Paulie Thumbs, Paul Lo Duca.

Lo Duca became a bit of a sideshow by the end of his tenure with the Mets, but for those two seasons as the Mets' primary catcher, he brought fire and energy to the team (fat load of good it did them in 2007).

Since he left, the press hasn't mentioned Lo Duca much by name, but every time they invoke the need for a scrappy player to light a fire under the Mets, they're talking about guys like Lo Duca.

And by extension, they're talking about guys like Grote. Hell, for all I know that's where the love affair began for Mets fans and their hardnosed ne'er-do-wells.

Silverman doesn't go so far as to make that connection, but it seems a logical one enough. From the sound of it, Grote was the kind-of-shitty player who nevertheless made good players around him great.

That won't get you in the Hall of Fame, but as Mets fans saw in '69, you need those kinds of players to win a Championship; winning takes more than just the Seavers and the Koosmans.

With Grote as testament, it seems the Mets knew that once. All we can do now is hope they figure it out again some time soon.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Don Mr. Met

2010-01-04T14:58:00.000-05:00

What better way to begin a new decade (otherwise a time of renewal, hope, and possibility) than with yet another story about the effed up backstory behind Citi Field?

That, evidently, was the thought at the New York Post, which produced the latest cringe-inducing headline in yesterday's edition: "Met 'mob' contracts: Shady firms got $52m to build Citi Field".

Now, my first thought was that Citi Field bashing is sooo 2009. But tip your cap to the Post, they packaged it without about as good a graphic as you'll ever see and, in so doing, instantly piqued my interest.

I mean, look at that. Bravo.

Unfortunately, the accompanying article was anything but amusing. Really, it was the latest in a series of articles that we've taken to calling "Yet Another Reason the Mets Are a Complete Joke".

Per the Post, the Mets "shelled out $51.6 million in taxpayer money to contractors shunned by the city for their ties to the Mafia, labor corruption or bribery". The Mafia, for crying out loud.

In response, the Mets released a statement saying that subcontractors were hired on the recommendation of Hunt-Bovis, who, I guess (the Post doesn't explain), was the grand poobah of Citi Field construction. The kingpin if you will.

Essentially the Mets awarded a series of contracts to companies on New York City's "caution list", which "warns city agencies of contract bidders' past problems".

This is the part where we ask, in bold faced type, who in this organization is responsible for quality control?

I mean, $7mm to Eagle One Roofing, whose principal, Damian Sabatino, was "convicted of fraud in 2001 for bribing a labor official, money laundering, falsifying business records and prevailing-wage violations" and who "also pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion in 1996"?

Or how about $5.6mm to L & L Painting Co., which "the FBI is currently investigating over an MTA contracts"? The FBI, for god's sake!

There's also the $5.5mm to Breeze National, a demolition company (perfect) whose "principal was convicted of federal bribery charges in 1988 and reportedly has ties to the mob."

It boggles the mind. How do you award contracts to subcontractors that are on the city's watch list? How do you commit over $50mm in public funds to companies with mob connections, companies that the FBI is investigating?

I might not care so much, only I worry that this disinterest in the details isn't limited to the nuances of stadium-construction. I mean, why should it be?

Just look at the way they've constructed the team in recent years. Each of the past three seasons they've spent a tremendous amount of resources on their top players, and they've gotten that part right (for the most part).

Nevertheless, when it came to the details (i.e., the bottom half of the roster), they showed the same relative disinterest that they seem to have shown in "the details" of Citi Field.

Now, screwing up a roster and awarding contracts to the mob are two VERY different things, and I don't mean to suggest they're one and the same. All I mean to say is that, with this organization, it sure feels as if the same type of problems keep turning up over and over again.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow we'll write our "hopeful new decade" piece. For today, however, we're starting 2010 on much the same foot as we closed 2009.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Thoughts on Jets-Bengals

2010-01-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, happy new year.

For Jets fans tonight, the new year and the new decade is off to a very happy start. With their season on the line, the Jets defeated the Bengals 37-0 to earn a Wild Card playoff berth.

Actually, saying the Jets "defeated" the Bengals understates it. The Jets annihilated the Bengals tonight, played them completely off the field. They sent a message to the Bengals and the rest of the league that they deserved to be in the mix come playoff time.

As I watched, I couldn't help but think of the Mets. In a very literal sense, the display the Jets put on was everything we hoped the Mets would do against the Marlins on the last day of the season in 2007 and again in 2008.

There was no drama tonight, the Jets made sure of that. They never looked scared. They played the confident, dominating football that they were capable of; the kind of football the moment demanded.

It was everything the Mets failed to do those late September days in '07 and '08.

For years the Jets have been the football equivalent of the Mets. The headlines and sports talk today bore testament to that, filled with dread and predictions of doom. Surely the Jets would collapse; they're the Jets, that's what they do.

Not this time they didn't. They have a new coach and a new quarterback, and with the win today there's hope this decade might be different.

Good for them. To this Mets fan, there's a slight glimmer of hope promised in the Jets' triumph; or at least a man can dream.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Decade in Review: Five Lessons Learned

2009-12-28T14:02:00.001-05:00

As the decade gasps out a few final breaths, presented here are five lessons learned these past 10 years.

Some thoughts on the aughts, if you will, in no particular order...

1. You can't buy a winner

At least if you're not the Yankees, who can buy anything.

But if Mets fans learned one thing this decade it's that dollars don't equal titles.

I don't have the figures in front of me, but chances are excellent that the Mets spent more money on player contracts this decade than any other team in the National League. I'd wager good money that we spent more than any team other than the Yankees and Red Sox, the latter of whom we may very well have outspent.

What do we have to show for it? One World Series run, one dominant regular season/crushing playoff loss, and eight other seasons that ran the gamut from encouraging (2005) to disappointing (2001, 2008), humiliating (2007) and completely unwatchable (2002-2004, 2009).

For all the people screaming their heads off this offseason saying we HAVE to sign Jason Bay or we HAVE to sign Matt Holliday... what team have you been watching all these years? What history are you paying attention to?

2. Famous in Japan = Futile in Queens

There's no good explanation for it, but Japanese players who come to the Mets uniformly suck.

Some of them are entertaining; I wouldn't have traded those two seasons of Tsuyoshi Shinjo (and his orange wristbands) for anything.

But most are just downright disappointing. Kaz Matsui is, of course, the poster child for the Lost in Translation-syndrome that afflicts all Japanese Mets, but there are others as well. Satoru Komiyama. Kaz Ishii. Shingo Takahashi. Disaster, disaster, disaster.

With the start of a new decade we turn our "East meets West" dreams to Ryota Igarashi, who was known as "Rocket Boy" in Japan before elbow surgery a couple years ago.

3. Mets blogosphere on swoll

It's hard to remember a world without instant media and at-your-fingertips access to all the information you could ever want, but in many respects that was the world before Y2K (the year 2000, that is).

The advent of the internet changed sports fandom. For Mets fans it meant a host of websites to provide a daily fix. Metsblog, Mets Geek, East Coast Agony (RIP), Metstradamus, Faith and Fear in Flushing, and closer to home, Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse.

In time the name of the site will change, now that the Curse is no more. But, for me, the need to write, the need for that creative outlet, has not diminished, so the site will continue into its second decade.

4. Season of the Decade: 2006

Seasons like 2006 don't come along very often; for the Glass Man, a year like 2006 may never come around again.

For the team on the field, everything just came up roses. Every night there was a different hero, didn't matter if your name was Carlos Beltran or Endy Chavez, David Wright or Jose Valentin. Every night they found a way to win. I'd never seen anything like it.

And for me, life off the field made it possible to follow that team like I'd never followed a team before. Every other year of my life I'd been in school, so the Mets had to compete with homework at night.

In 2006 I was out of college and in a job with ridiculously good hours; 9-6, essentially. I was home in time for the Mets each night. I'd hit the treadmill during the pregame show, shower up, and hit the couch in time for the first pitch. I watched virtually every game that season.

Whether or not the Mets are ever that good again, chances are I won't have another season like that where I get to follow them so closely (actually, I may have the chance in 2010 as my current hours are pretty boffo... one feels certain the team won't be anywhere near as good though).

Seasons like that don't come around very often. On the field and off, everything just came together to make my Mets experience the greatest it's ever been. I can only hope someday it'll be like that again.

5. "I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is"

Sure enough, Benjamin Button, the passing of time has many unfortunate aspects.

I turned 27 today. There's no way to play the numbers game so that 27 is anything other than "late twenties". When I started writing for this website I was a fresh-faced, look-out-world-here-I-come 22-year-old. I was a college student who happened to have graduated from college.

I'm not sure when you "become a man" exactly, and I do believe that it's an inexact science, that for each person the timing is different. Either way, I can say that some time in the past five years (probably the last three), I became a man.

Things are just different for me now. I used to live for those nights when me and my group of friends would carb up at some hole in the wall Italian place and then jaunt from one Lower East Side bar to the next.

I still love that kind of night, but they're few and far between now, and I'm an active agent in their infrequency. I take it easy more than I ever did before. These days, the idea of spending a Friday night cooking at home with my girlfriend and a bottle of red wine sounds just about perfect, and if there's a Mets game on, even better.

I don't mean to suggest I'm some domesticated bore; I still enjoy going crazy with my friends and all that. But that's not the only thing anymore is all. A change is afoot, and I'm aware of it.

Those aren't the only changes. I had my first legitimate health scare this year, when the concern was that I had intestinal metaplasia, which would have predisposed me to stomach cancer and generally have caused digestive problems for the rest of my life. Fortunately I'm OK.

Physically, my blond hair shows no sign of gray, which is a plus, but my face now bares the indents that are, charitably, a pair of laugh lines on the sides of my mouth leading to my nose; more realistically, though, they're wrinkles, and chances are there are more where they came from (update to come in 2019).

Button was right: Youth, beauty, and health don't last, and that is a shame.

* * * * *

But this decade, baseball (bless it) taught us that nothing lasts, and sometimes that's a complete pleasure. In 2004, after 86 years of frustration, New England celebrated as its beloved Red Sox captured their first World Series since 1918.

In 2005 it was Chicago's turn to celebrate as its White Sox won their first championship since 1917, ending an 88-year drought. Chicago is still waiting on its (decidedly more) beloved Cubbies to end their 101-year drought. Remember, Cubs fans, nothing lasts, and that's not always such a shame.

And remember that, too, Mets fans. With the calendar turning to 2010, it will soon be 24 years since the Mets won it all.

That's nothing compared to 86 years or 88 or 101, but to a fan it feels like a lifetime (and to many of you reading this, it probably is a lifetime).

I was 3 when the Mets won it all in '86, and I have no memory of that triumph besides what was passed down in the hallowed 1986 Mets Tape.

I'm still waiting for that first taste of champagne celebrating a World Series victory. I'm still waiting for that first phone call with Sip and Nails and all the others after the Mets win it all. I'm still waiting for that first ticker tape parade. A lot of Mets fans are, too.

Our wait won't last forever. Nothing lasts, and sometimes that's not a shame at all.

* * * * *

And that about does it.

I may write another post this week, but if not, best wishes to everyone on a happy and healthy (Mets players, take note!) new year.

- A.F.O.M.G.

One Question for Christmas Eve (and Beyond)

2009-12-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

It's been 13 days since the Mets extended their 4-year ~$65mm offer to Jason Bay, and the prize remains unsigned.

The tabloids are restless, and they're going for the throat.

Look around, they implore, the Yankees are making moves, ditto the Red Sox, Phillies, and the Mariners, and my GOD, the Nationals!

What is wrong with Omar Minaya and company, they demand to know. Every day the chorus of dissent grows louder.

That's the question offered by the press; here's the one I want to offer: what does signing Jason Bay do for the prospects of this team?

Does adding Bay make the Mets favorites for the division in 2010? I don't think anyone seriously believes that, not with the holes in our rotation.

Does it position us better for 2011? Possible, but not likely. What's likely is that Bay's 30-35 home runs becomes more like 25-30 at Citi Field, and that his defense is exposed in our spacious outfield.

I realize you can play the "glass half empty" game to discount any potential free agent, but for some players it's different.

It was different for Carlos Beltran, a young, five-tool talent from whom we doled out a 7-year, $119mm contract, or $17mm per season. Is Jason Bay the same caliber of player? With a standing offer of $16.25mm per season, that's what we're paying him to be.

We've offered to pay him to be something he's not. He's NOT a difference maker. He'd be a nice addition, a nice piece; but at $16.25, he's not a piece, he's a centerpiece. That's an important distinction when you can only afford so many "centerpiece" type contracts.

Maybe I'm wrong about the team's finances. Maybe they can sign Bay and have the financial flexibility next offseason to sign the players they'll need.

And maybe I'm wrong about Bay; maybe he is the missing link, the guy who's going to push us over the top (though I suspect if you ask Mets fans, few would believe he is that player).

But I'm tired of the press painting this as some sort of referendum on the state of the Mets.

An old definition of insanity is the inclination to continue doing the same things over and over again in spite of past failures.

Each offseason we do this exact same dance. We flirt with the top free agent on the market in what's portrayed as a do-or-die negotiation that will make or break the team's fortunes.

Every now and then it gets you to 2006; more often, though, it gets you to to 1992 or 2003 or 2007-2009. Some of those teams were disasters, others were near misses.

It's the near misses that interest me. To me, signing Bay is a one-way ticket to another near miss. We'd capitulate to the tabloids and the talk radio in December and suffer in September.

That's a trade we've made too many times.

It's time to change the way we do business, because the old way hasn't worked for much of the team's near 50 years of existence.

The only imperative is to field a team that can get you to the postseason. If adding Bay gives the Mets that team, they should sign him.

But if all adding Bay does is appease the crazies out there and land us in second place (at best), that's not good enough.

You'd think the fans would have figured that out by now. Let's just hope the front office has.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Out of Town Scoreboard

2009-12-17T09:51:00.001-05:00

Group think -- not a good thing.

It's as true in baseball as it is in anything else. One minute somebody's suggesting a crazy trade idea, the next someone else is seconding, around and around it goes and before you know it, you've just traded Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. (Whether this process accurately recounts the discussion leading to the Kazmir-Zambrano swap is beyond me, but really, how far off could it be?).

In sports as in life, it's always important to break out of your bubble and understand how a given situation looks from outside the prism of your own perspective.

As regular readers are aware, I've been pretty down on the Mets all offseason. It's not because of the moves they have or haven't made, it's because I don't think there's any combination of moves that makes them a viable contender next season.

But as I read Jeff Schultz's column in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (which originally appeared on December 11), it dawned on me. All that pessimism and negativity I have about the team, in a sense that's the group think of my perspective and about every other Mets blog/fan/media source out there.

To us the situation looks pretty grim, but with the Mets' pursuit of Jason Bay gathering steam, to Schultz the situation looks a lot rosier.

"The Mets have emerged as the top pursuer of free agent Jason Bay, the best hitter on the market," Schultz writes. "Think of this in New York: a starting outfield of Bay in left, Carlos Beltran in center and Jeff Francoeur in right."

!!

He's not being facetious here; he's actually kind of scared of a Mets team with that outfield. For all the talk about the ascendant Braves, a columnist in their hometown paper says the Braves have work to do if they're going to keep up with a Mets team with Bay (and a Phillies team with Roy Halladay).

I know nothing about Schultz; maybe he's a complete quack. But for those few shiny moments as I read his column, it occurred to me, for the first time in months (maybe years), that the Mets still have the capacity to "scare" teams. Their talent, so maligned and fraught with disappointing associations here, actually registers as good in other parts of the country.

In the end it doesn't mean a whole lot, but in an offseason where it's all too often felt like the Mets are going nowhere fast, it's... I don't know, encouraging maybe (?) to hear there are some who still view us as a team to be reckoned with.

Mets blogs/fans/media outlets haven't gotten the memo.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Wisdom of Big Tom Callahan

2009-12-15T09:51:00.000-05:00

To paraphrase Big Tom Callahan, in business you're either growing or you're dying, there isn't any third direction.

As their primary competitor grows and other big market teams make splashes left and right, right now the Mets appear to be looking desperately for that third direction.

In swapping Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay, the Phillies are a better team, but not a markedly better team, than they were yesterday morning.

Without knowing anything about the prospects involved, this appears to be a good move for the Phillies, as Halladay is, evidently, something of an upgrade over Lee, and they've signed him to a surprisingly modest 3-year extension.

* * * * *

That all said, as we look at 2010, the Phillies are still a markedly better team than the Mets. Their lineup is better, their rotation is better; maybe the Mets have an edge in the bullpen, but if there are three components of team construction you'd certainly take a good lineup and rotation over a good bullpen.

Meanwhile, the Mets have done very little to address their shortcomings. There's no new first baseman, no No. 2 starter (goodbye, John Lackey); they seem to have prioritized Jason Bay over Matt Holliday (who might get an 8-year deal? Crazy), but prioritizing isn't the same as signing, so so far, there isn't any new left fielder.

It's essentially the same team as last year with better catching depth and (hopefully) fewer injuries. Heading into 2009 a lot of us were confident the Mets would be a good, if flawed, team. It seems the Mets want us to maintain that same optimisim heading into 2010.

Here's the thing -- the 2009 team we hoped for wouldn't be a favorite over the 2010 Phillies; the Mets must know that on some level.

Once you recognize that your team is inferior, you need to start looking for ways to improve the product. I don't mind "losing" a season to rebuilding; what I mind is a situation where the team isn't looking to get better, either in the near-term or long-term.

Right now it looks like they're content to tread water this offseason, hoping that treading water is the same as finding the third direction. But Big Tom was right, there is no third direction.

Look closely at the moves the Phillies, Yankees, Braves, and Red Sox have made and it becomes clear fast: not only are the Mets not growing; ever so surely, they're dying.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The 'Anything Is Possible!!!' Mindset

2009-12-10T09:51:00.001-05:00

I think the man Kevin Garnett said it best in his courtside interview after his Boston Celtics won the NBA championship a couple of years ago.

Everything around him was bedlam. Confetti fell from the ceiling as, everywhere, fans stood applauding or took the opportunity to soak in the moment. Players hugged each other as antsy members of the media vied for interviews; eventually, one of them caught up with Garnett.

"Man, I'm so, I'm so hyped right now... anything is possible," he said, before shouting at the top of his lungs, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!"

It was a triumphant, euphoric moment, the beauty of which was that, unlike so many other athletes, KG didn't attempt to censor himself. He spoke from the heart, and the results were legendary.

I didn't quite win an NBA championship last night, but I did have my own "Anything is Possible" moment on the treadmill yesterday.

My whole life I've been a poor long distance runner. I've always been athletic, but I'm also a very big guy, and I'm accustomed to finishing the near the bottom of any competitive long-distance run. My asthma has also complicated things.

All of which is to say that there's a certain amount of psychological baggage I bring with me when I step on the treadmill. That often translated into a feeling that I "couldn't" run more than 30-35 minutes straight (for most of my life I've settled for 25 minutes), or "couldn't" do more than 4 miles.

More recently though I've been trying to adjust my mindset when I step on the treadmill. This is largely thanks to Little Miss Citi, whose participation in the Jack Rabbit club of New York City has led her on runs of 60 minutes or more.

I haven't quite reached that level, but yesterday I reached two milestones that I would have never thought I could acheive. Around lunch time I set a goal: 45 minutes, 5 miles. Why couldn't I?

It wasn't easy. I was sore from a 40-minute run on Tuesday, and again, there was the psychological component. But as 45 minutes dwindled away, I found the energy to near-sprint the final 3 minutes.

When I was done, as I did my cool down, another KG quote came to mind. It's too long to transcribe so I'll let the man say it himself:

Tired but fulfilled, it was like I'd just knocked that bully out.

* * * * *

It makes me think about the Mets. I wonder who on the Mets takes an "Anything is Possible!!!" approach to the game.

The one guy I feel certain plays like that is Johan Santana, but what about the rest of them?

Maybe it's just the past few years talking. Certainly, I wouldn't have questioned it after 2006. But this isn't "after 2006" anymore. This is after 2007, 2008, and 2009.

What we need is a team that believes it can accomplish anything, a team that isn't obsessed with a fear of failure. That starts with guys like Wright and Beltran and Reyes getting that hunger to "lay that bully's ass out". I'm not sure they've had that the past few years.

In 2010 and beyond, their "bully" is the cumulative failure that began with Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. Let's hope someday they get to knock that bully out.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Top Chef Finale Drinking Game

2009-12-09T09:51:00.100-05:00

There's a lot to be excited about this time of year. There's the holidays and the promise of time away from the office or school. Without the nightly time commitment of baseball there's time to catch up on your Netflix list~~, post to your website more often,~~ or devote more time to your personal passions / extracurricular activities.

Some would contend that there's also the excitement of the Hot Stove, and while I admit I have an extra bit of anticipation in my fingertips each time I start typing espn.com or metsblog.com, ultimately, this is a pretty uninspiring offseason for me.

Essentially, I don't think there's any combination of moves out there that makes this team better than the Phillies next season. That includes adding both John Lackey and Matt Holliday (let alone just one of them).

I'll expand on this in a post later this week, but more and more I'm coming to the conclusion that the best course of action is a 2003-2004 type offseason, filled with minor moves, no blockbuster signings, and general unexcitement.

That being the case, for the Glass Man this time of years gives me a chance to follow my favorite television shows more closely, including Top Chef, which has its finale tonight at 10pm.

It's been a great season of Top Chef. For one thing, the chefs seemed to be really strong this year, particularly compared to last season. In last year's finale there were three candidates, one of whom should have won, one of whom shouldn't have won but evidently had a chance, and another who had no business being there.

This year it's anyone's competition to win. Personally, I think Kevin deserves to win it, given that he's basically dominated the competition all season, but brothers Michael and Bryan Voltaggio are clearly very strong chefs. Each of them deserves to be there; each of them could win it all.

To ease the tension of the final hour of Top Chef, why not have some fun with it and make the action on screen a drinking game? Submitted for you here are a few rules to get you going.

I'm not sure how large a Top Chef-viewing audience we have here at Y2K, but if you have any other rules to suggest, please, submit them on the comment board.

2 drinks: Each time Kevin's food is referred to as "simple"
4 drinks: Each time Michael refers to Kevin's cooking as "simple"
3 drinks: Each time Michael insults anyone else's cooking
5 drinks: Each time you get the sense that Michael completely loathes his brother
1 drink (for sake of maintaining, to the extent possible, everyone's sobriety): Each time it's mentioned or insinuated that Michael and Bryan have a "sibling rivalry"
1 drink: Each time you find yourself wondering why Padma went with bangs
1 drink: Each time you find yourself wondering how long it took Michael to give his hair that *perfect* level of spikiness
3 drinks: Each time Tom Colicchio looks some combination of bemused and offended by a contestant's answer to a question during Judges' Table
2 drinks: Each time Kevin thanks the judges or says anything sycophantic during Judges' Table
2 drinks: Each time Bryan mentions his kids
1 drink: Each time one of the contestants says they didn't have enough time during the challenge
2 drinks: Each time a contestant, at Judges' Table, defensively insists he wouldn't have done anything differently with his meal if he'd had extra time

So that's the list; I suggest watching tonight with your unhealthiest glass of eggnog. Happy drinking and let's go Kevin!

- A.F.O.M.G.

Darren Oliver and the Mets Dynasty That Wasn't

2009-12-04T09:51:00.001-05:00

If the last four seasons of Mets baseball have proven anything, it's that winning takes 25 guys, a number that jumps to 35-40 over the course of a regular season.

To me, the single biggest difference between the 2006 team and the '07-'09 varieties was depth. Remember all the injuries to the pitching staff in 2006? Remember all the games Chad Bradford held for us in relief? How many games Endy Chavez won with a walk-off hit after Jose Valentin had tied it?

Sure, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, and Reyes all had monster years. There's no question that those guys were the driving force for that team. But around any "driving force" there's an edifice that chugs along with it; that edifice was strong top to bottom in 2006, and it's been seriously lacking ever since.

To me, a guy who epitomizes that distinction is Darren Oliver. Oliver was our long relief specialist in '06, racking up a 3.44 ERA in 81 innings across 45 games.

In one of the more puzzling moves of his tenure, Omar Minaya decided to let Oliver walk. Oliver signed with Anaheim, with whom he has posted a 15-3 record the past three seasons; in 2009 he sported a fancy 2.71 ERA, besting the 2.88 he set in 2008 (he had a 3.78 ERA in '07).

Meanwhile the Mets have had a string of altogether forgettable mop-up men since parting ways with Oliver. Aaron Sele was handed the job in '07. Jorge Sosa followed, for a time, in '08. This year it was Brian Stokes, I guess.

The decision to let Oliver walk has proven emblematic of the post-2006 Omar Minaya regime. He's done a great job reeling in the big ticket free agents, he's paid a lot of attention to guys 1-5 on the roster, but when it comes to guys 20-25, the same level of attention hasn't been paid.

You want to know why that Mets dynasty never materialized after 2006? A big part of the reason is that our top guys had to be the ones winning us the games; guys like Marlon Anderson simply couldn't do it. When our starter had an off-day, there was no Darren Oliver to hold the deficit where it was and give us a chance to come back.

* * * * *

I wrote last year that it takes a village to win a championship. Maybe moves like signing Henry Blanco and Chris Coste signal a rededication to the back end of the roster. My concern is that there's not enough dollars or players to fill all the team's holes in one offseason, and even if there were, do I trust Minaya has sufficient interest in this element of team construction?

Darren Oliver is an interesting proposition for the Mets. The Angels didn't offer him arbitration, so there should be a lot of competition for him. Based on his track record there's no reason to think he can't be a productive player again in 2010.

I'm not saying he's the answer. But in this offseason of Holliday, Halladay, Bay, and Lackey, it's worth remembering that those aren't the only guys who will be on the Mets next year. A little of those guys goes a long way; but a little of guys like Oliver and Bradford, even if it never wins you a backpage, can end up winning you a lot of ballgames.

It's too late for the mid-'00s dynasty; that ship has sailed. When the next would-be dynasty comes around though, I suspect it will be built both on superstars and talented role players in equal measure.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Hope and Doubt in New Orleans

2009-12-03T09:51:00.003-05:00

What I love about this time of year is the tradition, and it all begins with the Thanksgiving holiday.

My family's got a whole host of traditions for Thanksgiving Day itself and then, later, Christmas. But these past two years I've added two new traditions that really dress up the Thanksgiving weekend.

First is a big group outing with my high school friends the night before Thanksgiving. Started in 2008, this year we went to this all you can eat/drink sushi joint on the lower west.

After dinner was through, two of my friends rock, paper, scissored it to decide the next spot, which ended up being Sway. Normally I'm as anti-Sway as they come, but I was feeling up for anything so I didn't protest.

When we got there the music was loud, the conversation nearly impossible, and the drinks incredibly overpriced, but we were among friends. Sip and Nails came by. The Fat Jew was in attendance. The Sham Wow guy, too... random.

It was a good night. After another great Thanksgiving my second new tradition began Friday afternoon with a trip down to New Orleans, home of Little Miss Citi. It was another great trip to the Big Easy, filled with good people, good food (the beignets... my god, the beignets), and good times.

But amid all the tradition there was a complete and total first for the Glass Man. Monday night I went to my first pro football game, Saints-Patriots at the Superdome.

To say the atmosphere in the dome was electric is a complete understatement. For those who don't follow football, the Saints were 10-0 for the first time in team history going into Monday night. This isn't like the Colts or some other perennial powerhouse going 10-0, this is like the Jets going 10-0.

It's the kind of dream season we all hope the Mets will have someday; the kind of season where the team just finds ways to win each time out. The Saints are having it right now, and the town hardly knows what do with itself.

The noise in the Superdome was loud from the outset, but any time the Pats had a 3rd down or the Saints found themselves in the end zone (which they did repeatedly in a thorough dismantling of New England), the place erupted. By the end of the night the Saints were 11-0. I'm not sure New Orleans believes it.

Seated in front of us, an older fan turned to the man seated next to him and said in complete disbelief, "11-0? I know 0-11. I know 1-10, 2-9. But 11-0? Incredible."

On the way back to Little Miss Citi's parents' place, I found myself thinking back to 2006, the first time a Mets team I'd watched looked as dominant and full of promise as the Saints do right now.

All the talk now in New Orleans is about the playoffs and who they'll play and what if they make the Superbowl and forget that what if they win the Superbowl but wait a second is that even possible this is the Saints we're talking about?

They're the types of questions, as a fan, you dream of asking yourself. They're the questions that come up when you walk that line between hope and doubt. The hope is the sudden success all around you. The doubt is all the seasons that have come before, your entire lifetime of watching the team.

Mets fans get reacquainted with that feeling every so often when they field a team like they did in '06. Right now we'd all kill for that feeling again, though it feels a long way off.

For now I'll just have to be happy for the Saints, for the city of New Orleans, and for Little Miss Citi. Seasons like this, they and we know all too well, aren't as routine as holiday traditions.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Fifth Annual Y2K Thanksgiving Day Extravaganza

2009-11-26T13:16:00.000-05:00

Two items of note before we kick this thing off.

First, is it really possible that we have fifth annual anythings around here? Have we really been doing this thing that long? We won't reach the official half-decade mark until next October, but since we had our fourth anniversary on October 12, I suppose we're in for a year of fifth annuals... pretty crazy.

Second, sorry for the lack of posts this week. We just moved back into our newly renovated apartment and the internet service is shot. Time Warner Cable is coming by on Saturday so we should be up and running again next week.

That all said, let's focus on this grandest of Y2K traditions, the annual Thanksgiving Day post. As I've had reason to comment the past two years, each time I write this post the list seems to get more and more depressing. In 2005 we were riding high, promise and potential were everywhere. In 2006 we'd fallen just short but you knew the team was on the right track.

Then 2007 happened and that was terrible. And then 2008 happened and that wasn't quite as bad but still, pretty painful.

None of it compares to 2009. There is virtually nothing as far as the on-field product is concerned to be thankful for this season.

But in the spirit of the holiday, we'll give this thing a go anyway. Sure enough, there are things to be thankful for. True, most have nothing to do with the Mets, but I promise some do. So without further ado and in no particular order...

1. Jeff Francoeur

That goofy smile. The awesome post-game interviews. The run through a wall mentality. The impossible-to-spell last name. Yes, we've been waiting for a player like Frenchy since Doug Mientkiewicz flamed out as a Met four years ago.

Frenchy was a hit almost immediately upon arriving at Citi Field; he was a breath of fresh air, somebody who didn't seem to care that the walls were high or that the team was shitty, he just wanted to play. I don't care how you perform, if you play like Francoeur, the fans are going to respect you. But when you can produce like Francoeur did as a Met, there's the potential they're going to love you.

He's not there yet, but he's off to a solid start.

2. The Idea of Ike Davis

Honestly, after following this team forever and watching them develop players of significance about once every 20 years, I'm fairly certain there's no hope that Ike Davis blossoms into the first baseman we've been waiting for since John Olerud and his helment held the position.

That said, everything you read about this kid is positive. He's raking in the Arizona Fall League, but what has me so excited is the .951 OPS he put up at AA Binghamton in 207 at-bats.

They say he won't be ready for the bigs until 2011, which means that when September comes and the Mets have no chance at the postseason at least we'll have some reason to show up at Citi and cheer. There's like an 86% chance he turns into a latter day Jorge Toca, but for now he gives us, if nothing else, hope.

3. Mex Back in the Booth

In this altogether devastating season where we lost about every meaningful player to injury, the thought that we would lose Keith Hernandez in the booth for good was almost too much to bear.

I think Ron Darling said it best in an interview after Hernandez's extension, which will keep him calling games through 2012 at least, was announced. I can't find the quote unfortunately, but essentially he called Mex the key to the vaunted Gary, Keith, and Ron lineup, saying he (Darling) and Gary would be too rigid without Keith mixing things up.

I think Ron and Gary are great, but as they are the first to say, no two of them are ever as good as all three are. In an offseason that is bound to be full of disappointment, this is one transaction that worked out well.

4. Brooklyn Heights

We dodged a bullet there mid-year when me and the wife were looking for a new apartment. We stuck our toe in the Manhattan waters, but ultimately we settled upon a new apartment just a block and a half away from my old one.

Someday, I imagine, I'll want to come back to Manhattan, but for now I'm really happy out in BK (particularly with Jay-Z dropping a new album; half the point of living in Brooklyn is saying "What!!" when a rapper says something about the borough). My sister lives in my old apartment now too so I've got my siblings in a 2-block radius... it's convenient.

5. Eastern Athletic Softball League

Last night I dropped the bomb on Sip... A.F.O.M.G. had been named Rookie of the Year for our softball league. I'm not one to brag but it was pretty fun rubbing that one in.

The whole league was awesome, everything I'd been looking for in a softball league since I graduated from college. The spring season can't come soon enough. I feel like Shaq in those Icy Hot commercials -- I want another ring so bad I can taste it.

6. Day & Age - The Killers; Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne

In a sense, this is my favorite part of these Thanksgiving Day posts. Writing about the albums that defined my year makes these posts snapshots in time that remind me instantly of where I was and what my life was like when I wrote them.

It's tempting to call Day & Age, the Killers' third disc, a return to form after Sam's Town, but that doesn't give Sam's Town enough credit. Opinions were mixed on the Killers' second album, but with Day & Age they returned, in large measure, to the synth-driven formula that made them stars with their first album, Hot Fuss. Highlight tracks include "I Can't Stay", "Spaceman", "A Dustland Fairtytale", "Losing Touch", "Tidal Wave", and "Forget About What I Said".

As for Tha Carter III... well, I was new to Weezy before this year. Driving home/to Ohio for Christmas last year, B.O.A.F.O.M.G. recommended I give the album a listen. From the first time I heard "Got a million duffled up / for / the / fuck / of it / shit" I was hooked.

The New Orleans Nightmare's third album is so packed with memorable lyrics that my friend Shabasito makes a regular habit of texting me lyrics that he finds hillarious. My personal favorite is "You better keep payin' me / cuz you don't want my problems / I be wilin' like Capital One / what is in your wallet?" but there are so many contenders that could change at any time.

Anyway, since listening to Tha Carter III I've downloaded the other two albums and a few mix tapes. Highlight tracks from Tha Carter III include "A Milli", "3 Peat", "You Ain't Got Nuthin'", "Got Money", ,"Phone Home", and "Let the Beat Build". Other standout Weezy tracks include "Best Rapper Alive", "Stuntin' Like My Daddy", "Tha Mobb", "Feel Me", and "Walk In".

7. My Health

Ever heard of intestinal metaplasia? Neither had I; I'm still not entirely clear what it is, but for 6 months there was real concern that I had it.

I had this recurring stomach pain earlier in the year so I had an endoscopy done. To quote the doctor, I had the stomach of a "70 or 80 year old man"; not where you want to be at 26. In response it was no caffeine or alcohol for the next six months.

When he first handed own the prescription I didn't think there was a chance I could do it, but it ended up being a lot easier than I expected. The six months went by and when I went back in for my follow-up exam, the doctor, who said he was "stunned" and had not given me a chance, reported that I had staged a full recovery. No sign of metaplasia anywhere. The stomach of a 26 year old again.

If the 2009 Mets taught us anything it's that health is the most important thing. With the Mets succombing to injury all around me I had my own scare. More than anything else this Thanksgiving, I'm most thankful that I still have my health.

8. Readers Like You

The salvo I close each of these posts with, while cheesy, really is true. There's nothing I love more than checking the site and seeing that a lot of people have tuned in for that day's post, or that they've commented on the board.

Thanks so much for your continued patronage of Y2K. We lost Sip and Ched, but I like to think we've had a content-rich year all the same. Here's to five more years (at least).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

- A.F.O.M.G.

But What I Really Am... Is a Starter!: A Brief History of Aaron Heilman

2009-11-20T10:57:00.003-05:00

Poor Aaron Heilman.

The former Notre Dame phenom just can't catch a break, can he? First he comes to the Mets a highly-touted right hander, a first-round draft pick and the future of the Mets' rotation.

In spite of his college success, the Mets, ever wise when it comes to developing young talent, decide to alter his delivery, eliminating his sidearm style in favor of an over-the-top motion.

Heilman, always a starter throughout his collegiate and minor league career, breaks through to the big league club in spite of questionable minor league credentials. His major league debut comes on the same day as another former top Met prospect, Scott Kazmir. Kazmir shines, Heilman gets shelled.

In spite of The Game (a one-hit masterpiece against the Marlins that would fuel blogosphere starter/reliever debates for years to come), the Mets commit to using Heilman as a starter. Each offseason he asserts over and over that he's really a starting pitcher.

Before the 2006 season, the Mets give him the chance to win the job out of spring training. He dazzles in his spring audition. In his "Shooting from the Lip" column, Mike Lupica says he suspects "Mr. Heilman will win a lot of games for Mr. Randolph this year."

As it so happens, Mr. Randolph told Mr. Heilman to get his ass back to the bullpen, awarding the fifth starter job to photographing phenom Brian Bannister and his haircut.

Heilman transitions seemlessly to the bullpen, becoming a stalwart reliever and proving invaluable once Duaner Sanchez gets hurt in a taxi ride or something.

The Mets make it to the seventh game of a classic NLCS. With the score locked at 1-1 in the 9th inning, Randolph turns the ball over to Heilman. Heilman gives up an improbable homerun to Yadier Molina. October 19 becomes The Last Night of the Mets Dynasty. It's all Heilman's fault.

The offseason comes. Heilman insists he's really a starter, asks to move to the rotation, Randolph says no. Heilman has a shitty year, contributes mightily to devastating Met collapse.

The offseason comes. Heilman insists he's really a starter, asks to move to the rotation, Manuel says no. Heilman does better, Mets collapse anyway.

Three trades later, Heilman is the newest member of the Arizona Diamondbacks' bullpen. It just keeps getting better and better for him.

"Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it / And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man my son!"

Sometimes I think Rudyard Kipling wrote those words for Aaron Heilman.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Sick Six Drummer the Sickest Dude Alive?

2009-11-16T09:51:00.003-05:00

As regular readers are aware, we're pretty big fans of The Strokes around here.

It's been a quiet three (soon to be four) years for the group as a collective, but individually the guys have been banging out solo albums left and right.

On November 3, lead singer Julian Casablancas became the fourth Stroke to release a solo disc, an 8-song epic called Phrazes for the Young (that streetwise "z" ought to silence those critics who complain the band's just a group of prep school posers).

In the run-up to the release, Julian and his band, The Sick Six, played lead single "11th Dimension" on The Tonight Show. To most, the performance was notable for Julian's much-maligned dance moves.

Not so for the Glass Man. For me it was all about the man handling the sticks. Clad in an 80's era Mets jacket similar to the one a fiery 4-year-old A.F.O.M.G. used to rock in Riverside Park and born with striking, if nonetheless somewhat goofy looking, features, this guy owned the show.

But you know what, don't take my word for it. See for yourself... Exhibit A, the man in all his glory:

Exhibit B (really going for it in this one):

And Exhibit C, taking a well-deserved breather after a job well done.

Honestly, I hope this guy never changes. I looked and looked for his name but couldn't find it anywhere; if someone's got it please let me know. Hell, if someone's got contact info send that along too, I'd kill for an interview. We've got to build this drummer up any way we can.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Long Term Greedy

2009-11-11T09:51:00.000-05:00

As I read John Harper's piece about the Mets in today's Daily News (alternate title: "Spend, Baby, Spend"), it struck me that articles like this are exactly why New York teams feel they cannot stand pat during the offseason.

Actual title: "After dismal 2009, New York Mets must make splash with free agents Matt Holiday and John Lackey."

Certainly, there are a lot of people who feel this way. In a sense I'm one of them; if the Mets feel they can acquire a superlative player, I want them to do what's necessary to sign that player every time.

To Omar Minaya's credit, when it came to Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner, Francisco Rodriguez, and Johan Santana, he did that.

Last offseason there were two more superlative players available, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. Either one of those guys would have helped the Mets immensely, but they made a run at neither of them. Beyond those two, in A.J. Burnett they let a proven version of Oliver Perez pass them by while they focused their efforts on... Oliver Perez.

The question the Mets need to ask themselves is whether Matt Holliday and John Lackey are really superlative type players, because chances are good they'll have to pay them as if they are.

What would that mean for the future? If the Mets signed both of those guys are they a playoff team? If they signed both of them would they be able to make a run at superlative type players next offseason, or would they have already committed as much as they could on superlative players?

I've voiced my skepticism on Holliday before, and for some reason every time I look at John Lackey I see Kevin Appier.

If the Mets conclude that signing both of these guys wouldn't make them a playoff team they shouldn't bother signing with it. The Yankees saw that signing Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett would make them formidable the next season and for years to come. Their moves had short-term benefits but they were also long-term greedy.

Would the moves Harper's advocating have a similar benefit for the Mets? It's possible, but when I see Holliday and Lackey I don't see Teixeria and Sabathia.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Bringing Home the Championship New York So Richly Deserves

2009-11-09T09:51:00.004-05:00

We all know this decade (the Ohs? The aughts? Just two more months of this damned uncertainty!) hasn't been kind to the New York sports fan.

Sure, the Giants won a Super Bowl for the ages a couple years back, but aside from that it's been pretty slim pickins. The Mets brought home a pennant in 2000 and looked like aces in 2006, but they fell short of the ultimate prize both times.

The Knicks? Please; the team hasn't been the same since they swapped Spree for Keith Van Horn. The Rangers? They seem to make the playoffs with some regularity, but from what I gather, once there, they specialize in first or second round losses.

The result was nine mostly quiet years and ten mostly quiet months, an eternity by New York sports standards.

Yesterday, that all changed. Yesterday, the sons and daughters of Brooklyn rose up and won one for all of New York, ending the collective thirst for another championship after all these years.

Thanks in part to the intrepid first basemanship of Y2K Godfather Sippy Momo and the heroic left fieldsmanship of yours truly, Team 2 brought home the Eastern Athletic Softball Leauge title with two wins on a beautiful Sunday morning at Van Voorhees Park.

I'd heard the forecast, but, chastened by a week's worth of crisp, fall-turning-into-winter weather, when I left the house for the ballgame I was bundled up; sweatshirt, warmup pants, the whole thing.

By 10am it was as beautiful a day as we've had in weeks (months?), the kind of day that, with fall all around you and winter at your doorstep, reminds you of the warmer days left behind and offers promise of the warmer days still ahead.

It had been a great season; all fall long it was just great being out there. Ever since I graduated from college I'd been looking for a softball league. I finally found one and it was everything I'd hoped for; good level of competition, good field, all that.

More than anything though it was about the people.

It was a great way to reconnect with Sip, the world traveler. We were also paired with a former teacher of ours, Smitty, who was like the cool, young teacher while we were in school and hasn't changed a bit in that respect. Smitty's girlfriend and a friend of hers played on our team, and it was great getting to know them.

Dave the Speedster, Big John the MVP (of our team and the entire league), C.C. the Pitcher (who tossed a shutout in the title game), Jesse the Rico Brogna of the league... Otto, Mr. Clutch. Them and many others; just a really good group of people. We came together and we won it all.

For now we set softball aside. It doesn't seem fair or reasonable after a day like yesterday, but we know that yesterday was just a respite from the coming chill of winter.

When we return in the Spring it will be a new decade, complete with new hopes for our fair city's return to championship prominence. As this tortured decade draws to a close, it was nice to be part of one final redemptive act for the five boroughs.

This one's for you, New York. Now it's the Mets' turn.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Curse Is Dead, Long Live The Curse

2009-11-05T09:51:00.001-05:00

From the point the Yankees took a 7-1 lead it wasn't worth it to watch last night.

Today I won't be able to look at the papers.

When the ticker tape parade comes I'll bury my head in work.

As regular readers are aware, I was "pulling" for Philly in this Bad Meets Evil World Series. In the end, Evil prevailed, and in so doing, they broke the 9-year Yankees 2000 Curse that this website chronicled and celebrated.

The Curse is dead, long live The Curse.

What does it mean for us here?

I don't want to make any snap decisions, but I imagine in time we'll find a new URL and relaunch there. No need to update your browsers just yet; my technical know-how being what it is, we could be at Yankees 2000 for a long time to come. But without The Curse to celebrate anymore, being here at Y2K doesn't feel quite right.

It really is a shame. My disdain for the Yankees is truly immense, and the suffering of their fans (if you can call 9 whole years "suffering"... I've been waiting my whole life, or the part of it I can remember anyway) was a source of delight.

But the truth is that, for me, this site has always been more about loving the Mets than hating the Yankees. Anyone who's followed my writing here knows that. All of which is to say that the site will continue in one form or another.

At least I can take some solace in the fact that the Yankees were, by any objective measure, the best team in baseball this year; it's not like they "Yankees Magicked" their way to a crown, they simply played the best ball from May onwards.

Sigh... that's not much solace at all.

It's been a fun ride. The Curse is no more. The site will continue. Thanks for your continued patronage.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Anyone's Series

2009-11-04T09:51:00.003-05:00

I'll never understand the sports media's obsession with premature postmortems. A team falls behind 3-1 in a series and all of a sudden they're dead and buried.

Now, I appreciate that very few teams have ever overcome a 3-1 deficit in a World Series (or League Championship Series for that matter). And I understand that the majority of World Series teams are very difficult to beat three games in a row.

But to my mind, a team down 3-1 is only one win away from making it anyone's series again, as the Phillies did with a win in Game 5. In drawing it to 3-2, the Phils are in a position now where they are one win away from an even series and all the momentum at their backs.

Don't get me wrong, any team that takes a 3-1 series lead is the clear favorite to win that series. But when I see articles like Gene Wojciechowski's the other day (subtitle: "New York is turning a potential classic into a ho-hum romp toward a 27th title"), I have to wonder where the sports media's sense of certainty comes from.

Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. Sports commentators have been given to excessive hyperbole for years. Whenever they find themselves without a point they scramble for some machismo nonsense about how somebody has "no chance" to do something that's eminently doable -- why not? Says who?

I remember the articles the New York tabloids churned out in 2004 when the Yankees took their 3-0 lead on the Red Sox. Few things looked as certain as the Yankees winning the series, but we all know how that ended.

The point is that nothing is over until the final out is recorded. Reared on the '86 Mets tape and witness to too many Mets collapses against the Phillies/Braves/Cardinals than I care to remember, perhaps I'm just oversensitive to that point.

Maybe the Yankees win tonight and the writers get their preordained ending after all. I'm just saying, what's the harm in writing the obituaries only after the team is actually finished off?

* * * * *

As for now I'm looking forward to tonight. For one thing, I want Pedro to do well on the big stage against the Yankees. He's pitched too well not to be back next season, but a win tonight would cement his legacy against his principal foe. I also have a deep dislike of Andy Pettitte (very sick of his pick off move and hearing how he never loses in the big spot).

Moreover, if the Phillies can somehow come back to win this thing, can you imagine the ammo we'll have to use against Yankee fans? Like the collapse against the Red Sox, a Yankees collapse in this World Series would pay dividends for years.

In an otherwise dreadful season, it's the last, best hope we've got.

- A.F.O.M.G.

'Red Sox in 7. Mets in 7 Years'

2009-11-02T09:51:00.001-05:00

It's funny how the mind works.

On Saturday a moment from my past came careening into the present, offering insight on a much-lamented past and a glimpse of a hoped-for future.

It was October 2004, and I was working with on a group presentation in an international relations class. I was randomly assigned with a few other dudes, jocks mostly, each of them a Yankee fan.

Back in those days I jocked the Red Sox pretty hard. Between their underdoggery, their fans' hatred of the Yankees, and their employment of Doug Mientkiewicz (if that last bit doesn't make sense to you, go back to some of our posts from 2005), the Red Sox had a lot of appeal to a Mets fan disgusted with the state of his own team.

More than anything it was about being in New England, in Massachusetts where the Red Sox ties run deep. Being in that environment, so far from the Mets, who were, in turn, so far from contention, pulling for the Red Sox felt right.

So me and the other guys in the group project were trading emails, some about our assignment, others about baseball. The Yankees had gone up 3-0 in the series, and the jocks were feeling good; worse, they had begun to gloat.

Sick of their gloating and anxious to stake a contrarian position, I responded to one of their emails with a rejoinder one half hope and one half pragmatism: "Red Sox in 7. Mets in 7 years."

Time bore out the former half of that prediction as the Red Sox shocked the baseball-loving world to win the ALCS, and later, the World Series.

And now (wishful-thinking-masked-as-lament alert) it seems time may yet bear out the latter half as well. It never felt that way in 2005-2006; hell, to a hopeful fan the pieces were falling into place as early as the end of 2004.

Back then there was room to hope, room to think that the latter half of the decade wouldn't be as depressing as its first five years.

You saw the pieces falling into place with David Wright, who debuted in 2004, and you knew he'd be a perennial 30-home run guy after he got a season or two under his belt.

Omar Minaya had been hired to clean up the mess left by Jeff Wilp... er, Jim Duquette. And sure, he'd made a few disastrous trades as GM of the Expos, but he was going to have full autonomy, bitches! Problem solved!

Jose Reyes, in full Mr. Glass mode, was injured every other second, but man, you knew that if he could just get healthy...

* * * * *

It was an exciting time. My "prediction" was tongue in cheek, self-deprecating; but here we are, 5 years later and the Wright-Reyes-Minaya "renaissance" has produced exactly one playoff appearance, one deeply dissatisfying playoff exit, one franchise-staggering collapse, its sequel, and the horror show that was 2009.

As I've written before, 2010 seems like it's pretty much shot as far as the Mets making the playoffs or being any kind of serious contender.

That leaves 2011, 7 years after my collegiate declaration. Red Sox in 7. Mets in 7 years.

The first half of the prediction came true. Maybe the stars will align for the second half.

We should be so lucky.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Winning on the Road, A Crucial 'Bad Meets Evil' Caveat

2009-10-30T08:51:00.001-04:00

An important thought occurred to me yesterday as I took in the end of Game 2.

The other day I endorsed the Phillies for 2009 World Series Champion. No backpedaling on that one, but I do want to specify an important caveat/rider/addendum to that endorsement.

It is my great, great hope that the Phillies not only beat the Yankees, but also that they win the final, clinching game at Yankee Stadium, NOT at Citizens Bank Park.

Winning a playoff series on the road always kind of sucks in comparison to winning at home. For the clinching team there is no adoring crowd to soak it all in with, only the solidarity of one another and a clubhouse to soak with champagne.

That's pretty awesome in its own right (particularly, I should think, when you've clinched the World Series; of course I wouldn't know), but ask any fan out there whether he or she'd rather their team clinch a series at home or on the road and every single one of them will say at home.

That's exactly why I want the Phillies to win on the road.

Not only will they not have Phillies fans surrounding them and showering them with cheers, instead (and better yet), they'll have a stadium full of dejected Yankee fans with whom to share the moment.

It's the closest we come to having both teams lose. The Phillies (and more importantly their fans) would lose out on the thrill of winning at home, and the Yankees would just lose out entirely.

It ain't much but it's something. And this year, in this World Series, all we can do is grasp at straws.

Have good weekends everyone.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Staring at the Pinstripes

2009-10-29T07:43:00.004-04:00

One thought kept coming back to me as I watched Game 1 last night.

Anyone who thought the Phillies were going to roll over against the Yankees simply has not been watching this team the past few years.

To the dismay of Mets fans, this is a Philadelphia team that doesn't get scared, that doesn't ever count itself out of anything.

There's an old saying (or maybe it comes from "Catch Me If You Can") that the reason the Yankees beat other teams in the World Series isn't because they've got Joe D or Mickey Mantle (or Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera), it's because the other team gets caught staring at the Pinstripes.

In beating the Twins and the Angels, the Yankees beat two teams that seemed to play as if they were more than a little psyched out. Those teams were caught staring at the Pinstripes; that will never happen to this Philadelphia team.

Now, don't get me wrong--these Yankees have a lot more going for them than Pinstripes; they won 103 games this season, after all.

But the Phillies are a really dangerous team. You have to play them hard for 9 innings because they'll seize on any let-up. The Yankees caught a glimpse of that yesterday when the Phils pushed home four huge runs in the 8th and 9th innings (when they easily could have coasted behind a dominant Cliff Lee).

Tonight should be interesting; will the famed "Who's Your Daddy?" chant be back? Time will tell.

- A.F.O.M.G.