The Mets Police

I’ve got nothing to say but it’s OK….this hat would look pretty good with an blue NY on it.  Ball logos on caps suck.

A re-post form 2021

Tim McCarver fixed Ralph Kiner.

Ralph had become a cartoon character.  An old guy in his 60s who would get names wrong and called a sleepy game.

Then along came Tim.  Tim knew how to pull stories out of the man.  Suddenly this retired baseball player had STORIES.  Did YOU date Liz Taylor?  Ralph did.  And Tim would ask him about it.  (Read this recap of Ralph’s HOF Dating Career)

More about Ralph when we get to him.

Tim also taught us kids of the 1980s about baseball strategy.  There was some first-guessing and some second-guessing.  He wasn’t just passively sitting there.  Baseball on TV got a lot more interesting.

I know that by the time Tim’s national television career ended that people wanted him to shut up, but in the 80s, Tim was some great television.

Oh no Tim McCarver passed away.

If you are of a certain age, you learned a LOT about baseball from Keith Hernandez, but you REALLY learned a lot by Tim McCarver telling you what Keith was doing, and by explaining other things.

I know in later years (the Fox years) Tim fell out of favor, but that Tim, Kiner, Zabriskie booth was a strong one – and let us never forget that Tim McCarver rejuvenated Kiner from being a joke and really poor announcer who misspoke a lot, to the elder statesman storyteller Ralph that you remember.

It was Tim who taught us things like not making the first or third out at third base – you might be like “yeah no kidding” – but it was that sort of thing that he would teach us and we would remember.

You were always happy to hear Tim McCarver call a Mets game.

The other reaction I had was: Wait we put Gary Cohen in the Mets HOF before McCarver? That’s a major oversight. One of them revolutionized Mets broadcasts and the other has called a lot of games and has friends on the committee.

Like many things Mets, it will be a little too late, but something Steve Cohen should fix this afternoon.

If you’re a little too young, MLB.com did a good profile of Tim.

You guys put in Gary Cohen ahead of Tim?  Seriously?  Come on committee.

Carlos Beltran who once told Michael Kay…

“Looking back now—yes, we did cross the line,” Beltrán said. “I made my statement about what happened in 2017, and I apologized … This happened in such an organic way for ourselves. We all did what we did. Looking back today, we were wrong. I wish I would have asked more questions about what we were doing, I wish the organization would have said to us, ‘What you guys are doing, we need to stop this.’ Nobody really said anything—we’re winning.” (Via SI.com)

FLUSHING, N.Y., February 16, 2023 — The New York Mets today announced the team named Carlos Beltrán a special assistant to Mets General Manager Billy Eppler.

Beltrán, 45, played with the Mets from 2005–2011 and ranks sixth on the club’s all-time list in homers (149), RBI (559), extra-base hits (374) and OPS (.869), seventh in slugging (.500) and eighth in runs (551) and OBP (.369).
“Carlos had an exceptional playing career, including several special years here in Queens,” Eppler said. “I’ve known Carlos for many years, and I’m excited to add his unique perspective to our Baseball Operations team.”

Beltrán was a nine-time All-Star, three-time Rawlings Gold Glove winner, a two-time Louisville Silver Slugger and was the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year during his 20-year playing career with the Royals, Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Yankees and Astros.

Carlos managed the Mets for a few hours in 2019.  At the time the club said, “It became clear to all parties that it was not in anyone’s best interest for Carlos to move forward as manager.’

But hey, times change, and whatever it takes.  This is who the Mets are.

The Mets are playing it off that this is a good deal…

Is it though?  Are you like, oh cool – two tickets are $57?

Friend of the Blog Ceetar wisely pointed out that Steve showed off by running a (local insertion) Super Bowl Ad.   Thus, the Mets have to back it up with some sort of attempts to sell tickets.

You may also recall that Jon Heyman had reported the Mets sold over $1,000,000 in tickets after the Mets “signed’ Correa.   Today is 4 days after the Super Bowl – don’t you think if the Super Bowl Ad were successful that Heyman’s sources would have fed him how well the ad was received and how many millions of dollars were spent on Mets tickets?

The Mets also continue to feature Lindor, who you may recall booed Mets fans, in a move that I don’t understand when they have options like Pete, Jeff, Scherzer, Verlander, and Sugar who everyone loves now.

Speaking of marketing, check this out…