What Mets fans talk about when not talking about the actual games.
Steve, is this what you want the brand to be?
You’re in charge. Pete works for you.
Pete Alonso debuted a new shirt before today’s game.
He said it’s already available on https://t.co/lkkp8jCRf6. pic.twitter.com/ezLQxUIVTP
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) June 11, 2021
A few people were giving me the business on twitter last night asking why I am like this. I shall answer.
Once, a long time ago, last century, before you were born, the Mets won the World Series. It was really great. They came from behind in Game 6 and 7 and I think I saw an actual miracle. Anyway it was great.
The Mets had this you pitcher, he was the best you’d seen in a long long time. You’d even think of Tom Seaver when you saw this kid.
Then he didn’t show up at the parade. Nothing to worry about, we were told. He just overslept or something.
35+ years later I am still waiting to feel that amazing feeling again.
Fast forward to last night – and I keep thinking of one of Springsteen’s newer songs. “One minute you’re here, next minute you’re gone.”
One minute JDG is mowing down everyone and knocking in the runs himself. As fun as baseball gets. Then suddenly he’s out of the game and the next thing I know I am googling scary things about flexors.
Then I watched the postgame. Oh, Jake know all week that he didn’t feel right but it’s ok he knows how to manage it. Deep down inside I think of the kid who overslept to miss a parade. Am I really supposed to believe this story? How many skipped starts and short starts does Jake get before I’m allowed to worry without twitter getting mad at me. Maybe he comes back in 5 days, maybe 10. Who knows? But will he be right? Will the Mets take care of him and save him from himself, or will they giggle as he throws 102 to some 19 year olds in a rehab start like that’s not insane?
So that’s why I am this way. I’m content to be the crazy old wizard out here in the desert who has seen it all. I’ll watch as you kids put Matt Harvey and Pete Alonso in the Hall of Fame, and they can go hang out with Strawberry and Gooden there.
Do you really think the Mets are going to handle this correctly? Even me asking that question will make people mad. That’s OK, I’ll go back to my cave. I like it here. You kids go fight the Empire. I know the First Order will just replace it. I’ve seen it all…..including a Mets World Championship.
RHP Nick Tropeano has been claimed off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants…He has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. The West Islip, NY native appeared in four games with the Giants this year, going 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA (one earned run/6.0 innings) with two walks and two strikeouts…He had made three starts at Triple-A Sacramento, going 1-0 with a 2.79 ERA (three earned runs/9.2 innings) with five walks and 13 strikeouts…Tropeano owns a 14-14 career record with a 4.22 ERA In 53 games (39 starts) in the majors…He was originally selected in the fifth round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros out of SUNY Stony Brook.
RHP Tommy Hunter has been transferred to the 60-day IL.
The Mets will play 25 of their next 33 games in NYC prior to the All Star break…which is bad for Vulgar Pete Alonso as he only has one home run and 3 RBI here in the Big Apple where superstars perform and wannabes hit 1 HR and have 3 RBI.
Pete Alonso socked his 10th home run off the season on Wednesday…He has homered in back-to-back games, hitting three home runs in that span…He has recorded 79 home runs in 263 career games in the majors…Alonso now sits 24th on the team’s all-time home run list…Keith Hernandez is next at 23rd with 80 home runs…He has hit safely in all eight of his starts since returning from the 10-Day IL…Overall, he is batting .371 (13-35) with nine runs, four home runs, 12 RBI and a walk in nine games since returning from the IL…Alonso is batting .287/.366/.513 with six home runs against right-handed pitchers this year. The Mets did not mention his home splits, but I will. 1 HR and 3 RBI.
THE SUMMER OF JAKE: Jacob deGrom owns a 0.62 ERA (four earned runs/58.0 innings) this season…It is the lowest ERA ever in a pitcher’s first nine starts of a season…He has an 0.57 WHIP this season through nine starts, the lowest WHIP by any pitcher through his first nine starts of a season since at least 1901 (min 40 IP)…Courtesy of MLB…He has struck out 93 through his nine starts this season…He became the first pitcher with that many strikeouts and that low of an ERA over any nine-start span since earned runs became official…Courtesy of Stats, Inc and he’d better not be cheating. Heard some people comparing him to Seaver on the telecasts. No good ever comes of that.
With the accusations that maybe perhaps Jake is up to something, the Mets might want to rephrase this in their game notes…
GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL: Has fanned 45.4 percent of the 205 batters he’s faced this season… No other qualifying pitcher has struck out more than 37 percent of his batters faced…Only three other pitchers have faced at least 180 batters in any nine-start span and struck out at least 45 percent of them: Gerrit Cole (2019), Chris Sale (2018) and Pedro Martinez (1999).
The Mets second best 1B (Dom is first) James McCann is 14-38 (.368) with eight runs, four doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI, two walks and a 1.189 OPS over his last 10 games…Over his last 15 games, McCann is batting .302/.339/.660 with eight nine-base hits…McCann hit one home run over his first 33 games with the club and has hit five in his last 13 games.
Well, I try to post something every day, and there’s nothing going on and I have work to do so this is something. This cap is on sale today for $18. I have seen worse.
The Mets were in Baltimore where they had to face their #1 pitcher (with John Means on the IL), let’s check the stats…
Matt is looking good.
And the game is underway….oh no….
But he MAKES THE CATCH
and The Dark Night is pleased.
Lindor then walks, and followers of Mets Police know that Matt Harvey does not do well with runners on base.
It’s a matchup of two of my all-time favorite players….Matty Baseball vs. Vulgar Pete and….
Gary Cohen lies and says it’s Outta “Here” which it is not. Gary in Citi Field where Pete has only hit one Home Run. This is Camden Yards where even I can hit a home run and Matt’s face says it all.
That’s Pete’s TENTH Home Run of the season….and Pete knows I need some new images fo Pete Alonso Hating blog post….
Dom makes the second out and then McCann hits a bloop….can the defense save Matt a second time? No!
But Billy McKinney sounds out and its a nice tidy 31 pitch inning for Matt. 2-0 Mets. On to the second…
Pillar singles to lead off. Someone named Mason Williams or something is apparently on the Mets (stupid cheap Wilpons) and he strikes out for the first out. Then a DP (Matt loves those) gets Matt out of the inning and we don’t get a single screen grab of Matt! The Dark Knight is back baby! On to the third…and the second time through the order which NEVER goes well.
Villar leads off with a double, so there’s a man on second and none out. I think we all know how this is gonna go.
Lindor strikes out and should be DFA’d as his punishment. Then Vulgar Pete steps in. Pete singles and it’s first and third and one out. Dom is terrible and flies out. 2 down and Matt looks like he’s got this!
Or maybe not McCann singles to make it 3-1….and the Wednesday Night crowd at Fells Point won’t be looking to take anyone home tonight.
Billy McKinney who somehow starts every day for a team owned by the stupid cheap Wilpons Uncle Steve singles and well look at this face…
That’s the look of a man who has banged his last supermodel. But the pain is not over yet Matt. We all know what’s coming. We feel it in our bones. I have been warning the Orioles about this for months but they didn’t listen. But we all know…
Oh my. Have you ever seen a freeze frame like that? Look at that ball. Gary Cohen lies to the audience and says the ball is out of Citi Field (aka “here”, where Gary is) but its actually out of Camden Yards. It’s a 3 run homer.
But you know what Matt? The Orioles obviously have nobody to eat innings and are going to lose 110 games, so guess what….nobody is coming to get you.
Mason Williams somehow starts for the stupid cheap Wilpons Uncle Steve’s Team and makes the third out. And let’s take a long hard look at Matt Harvey as we may never see him again in the major leagues.
“Unfortunately, I pitched like [expletive],” Harvey said.
That’s not me doing a bit, that’s what he said.
It’s been a couple years now of being really horse[expletive],” Harvey said. “It’s frustrating, the amount of work that I’m putting in between starts. Especially with the start tonight, I felt good, I had good stuff. Like I said, I missed spots.
“Those are the frustrating ones where you feel good and you feel like — I was throwing 95, 96 mph and got hit around. Those are the tough ones, the ones that I’ve been out of mechanics, there’s a reason for that and I guess an excuse for not pitching well. But for tonight, it was, I felt good. I just missed spots in situations where I can’t, and I did. It cost us the game.” (via Baltimore Sun)
3 innings, 7 runs all earned on 8 hits. A walk and two strikeouts. His record is now 3-7 with a 7.41 ERA and I am starting to think that maybe he’s not The Next Seaver.
Pete Alonso though? Surely to become the 9th player in MLB history to hit 50 HRs more than once. Call Cooperstown.