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More love for Terry Collins

Yesterday I mentioned that Terry Collins worries me.   Matt Cerrone (Mets Blog) asked why.  The article I link to below, as well as this one contain anecdotes that remind me of the time Philly fans called Mike & The Mad Dog to mock the Jets for hiring Rich Kotite.

I had pre-written the below before Matt asked his question.  We now join previously written content already in progress.

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My second favorite read of the week was Amazin Avenue’s Terry Collins: Destroyer of Worlds which I think was a Marvel title back when I collected ROM and Silver Surfer.  (Blogger challenge – Hey Randy from The Apple…check out what this guy does with Batman comics and see if youc an actually make Terry Collins Destroyer of Worlds)

An excerpt follows this unneccessary amount of whitespace…I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it without shrinking Galactus:

And both teams were said to be lacking a certain grit/toughness/guts/heart/euphemism of your choice. It was said that the Angels’ “core” needed to be changed, a choice of word and line of thinking that should be familiar to anyone who listens to WFAN. Once the 1999 season concluded, team president Tony Tavares was vocal and virulent in his criticism of the team. “I’ve been pretty annoyed and embarrassed by the things coming out of the locker room this year,” he said. “Maybe we have to look at how we’re training guys, and I’m not talking about fielding ground balls or pitching, but whether or not players have the traits that are necessary to win on a consistent basis.” He also referred to the clubhouse as “a day-care center”.

Thanks to Matthew Callan for writing that one and for providing a great title for an upcoming comic book series.   No go read the full thing on Amazin Avenue. I have yet to read anything about Collins that excites me.

Over to the Fantastic Four for a second.  Does anyone remember when they switched from their original blue to a dark almost black blue.   They wound up with dopey uniforms.

And M. Donald Grant never should have traded Torch for Herbie.

Anyone still with me?

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Let’s talk about the bad stuff in the Metsiverse

As most of you have picked up, I’m about the fun side of the franchise and not looking to drag the team through the mud.  Unfortuantely there’s the occassional thing that’s hard to ignore….here’s two from this week.

Charlie Samuels fired: I figured it was a done deal once I heard the word “gambling.”   There’s really nothing positive coming out of this one.  I personally frown on the selling of memorabilia but maybe this is something has gone on in every clubhiuse since 1901….but then again does it make it right?    Just sad.

I continue to worry about this story and I keep making up doomsday scenarios in my head.

K-Rod’s father in law or whatever he is sues.   I like that Carlos Pena has given us The People’s Slogan of “Man Up and Play Better” for 2011* but I am surprised that he is suing over “injuries to his “head, brain, face, neck and back.” (quoting the Daily News there)

I’ve been around a few scuffles.  Isn’t it usually that the two guys charge each other, then like 3 punches total are exchanged and then everyone piles on and breaks up the fight?   You don’t see scenes like Rocky V where to guys pummel each other.

If K-Rod can do that much damage in a clubhouse fight I am going to be sure to only say nice things about the all time single season saves leader so he doesn’t beat me up one day outside the Seaver gate…not that he would ever do such a thing.

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Bill’s end of season Mets notes

(This is one of the posts that got bumped from last week)

Some notes from Bill….who would apparently be really good at Mets post-game notes.

At the end of each Mets season, I like to look at the final stats and put them it into historical perspective.  Here are some of my observations:

R.A. Dickey

Knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey really came out of nowhere to post a record of 11-9 with a 2.84 ERA.  No one can really deny Dickey’s success in 2010, but do you realize how good his season really was in Mets history?  Take a closer look:

Of Mets pitchers’ with Earned Run Averages with a least 20 starts in a season:

Dickey posted the31st lowest ERA in Mets history;

Posted the 21st lowest ERA in Mets history not including players named Seaver/Gooden ;

7th lowest ERA since 1990 [Leiter – 2.47 (1998); Santana – 2.53 (2008); Viola – 2.67(1990); Fernandez – 2.73 (1992); Saberhagen – 2.74 (1994); Martinez – 2.82 (2005)];

3rd lowest ERA since 2000!!!!

Mike Pelfrey

Mike Pelfrey won his 15th game of the season in the Mets 147th team game.  He made 3 more starts after that, and looked like he might have a chance to win 17 or 18 games.  Pelfrey pitched well in his last 3 starts:  (7IP, 1ER; 7.1IP, 3ER; 7IP, 1ER).  Unfortunately, he didn’t get a win in any of those games and was stuck at 15 wins for the season.  So who were the last Mets pitchers to win 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 games in a season?  It longer than you think:

16 Wins – Johan Santana (2008) / Steve Trachsel (2003)

17 Wins – Al Leiter (1998)

18 – Dwight Gooden (1988)

19 – Dwight Gooden (1990)

20 – Frank Viola (1990)

David Wright

David Wright became the all-time single season leader in strikeouts with 161, passing Tommie Agee and Dave Kingman with 156.

Mets Defense

The 2010 Mets were only 5th team in Mets history to make less than 100 errors in a season joining the 1999 Mets (Greatest Infield Ever) and 2008, 1994 (strike-shortened season), 2009 teams.  The 2010 Mets also posted the 2nd highest fielding percentage in Mets history (1999 Mets are 1st).

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Collins, Melvin or Hurdle?

Catching up on my Mets news this morning I see that it is believed second interviews will go to Terry Collins, Bob Melvin or Clint Hurdle…and I guess Wally.

Terry Collins: the stuff I read scares me. Like really scares me. Then again Joe Torre was a bum until he was a genius.

Bob Melvin: I am thinking of the song vanhalen by Nerf Herder. You have Google. Go look it up.

Clint Hurdle: I guess I’m rooting for Clint Hurdle unless Wally is an actual candidate.

Hmmmm. I’m not very excited. How about you guys?

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Michael’s proposed Mets cap compromise

In the comments Michael wrote:

In the spirit of compromise, how about if the Mets wear blue caps like these

Shannon:  No way.  We almost ran Fred out of town for honoring a great man.  He’d get killed for the Dodgerness of this one even though it is in fact a 1936-39 GIANTS cap.   Can’t do it.

Michael: black caps like these

Shannon:  Well, yeah….if there must be black OF COURSE this is the way to do it.   I even own and wear this cap sometimes.   For you Piazza Generation’ers, this is a 1947-57 NY Giants cap.

It seems like Michael had some other good ideas but the links didn’t work for me (when I got around to this a week later)….he did like this uni combo….Michael, send me a guest post to [email protected] and just embed all the images.

Guests Posts welcome, it’s a long way til March:  [email protected]