Bye Bye Beltran

It's been two days since Beltran became a Giant, and the team doesn't seem to have missed a beat. Duda's been proving his worth in right, and the offense has showed up in full to finish off that four game sweep in Cinci. More often than not these past two games all I'm hearing from the fans is "Carlos who?" Now I'm guilty of saying Beltran wasn't worth what the Mets got him for, and he wasn't. He was paid on one series where he really broke out. But in all he was still a big part of the Mets team since '05. Without him we wouldn't have won the NL East in '06 or come as close as we did in the years following. And keep in mind he had injury plagued seasons, which we can't really hold against him. Yet all we as Mets fans, and those who love to make fun of us (yea I'm looking at you in the Bronx and Philly), remember is that he struck out looking to end our World Series bid. The truth is he mattered to who we are as a team today, and I whipped up this video to commemorate that. So thank you Carlos, and I hope you bring your successful season to San Fran. That is until we meet again in the NLCS!

The Man Who Saved Jose

So if you're a Mets fan reading this, you may have already heard of The 7 Line. I stumbled into hearing about the company from my cousin who got a hold of a beer cozy from them, cleverly reading "Gettin' Shitty at Citi!" Since then I've become a huge supporter, one of 1,424 Twitter followers and 7,465 Facebook fans.

The founder, Mets fan Darren Meenan, started this company just a few years ago as a voice for fans, making and selling many different original shirts out of a warehouse in Queens. His shirts, several of which are also focused on the Jets and Knicks, say what official sponsors such as Nike can't. Some calling out the Mets ownership we fans have become fed up with, others simply being too racy for official sponsors to put out.

The 7 Line has been accumulating immense amounts of press as of late, having tv spots on Mets Weekly or pictures in several New York papers. Much of this press has come from what's been coined the "Don't Trade Reyes" movement. This season Meenan created a shirt design that reads those three magic words, and the shirt became a phenomenon. Don't Trade Reyes signs and shirts have created a TON of buzz in the Mets world, being mentioned/shown during games, in post game interviews, newspaper articles, and the list goes on. The message has seemed to stick as the Mets just came out yesterday saying they are 100% sure they will not trade Reyes by the upcoming trade deadline. I'd like to think the Don't Trade Reyes rallies that have been held displaying The 7 Line message have had something to do with this, since at the season's beginning Reyes was in all trade gossip.

Now I could easily go on and on about this company, the shirt designs, and the different news stories it has created this season, but I want anyone reading this to check out their store/blog themselves. So make sure you take the time to visit www.the7line.com , trust me it's well worth it. And make sure to keep an eye out at Citi for the giant Don't Trade Reyes sign Meenan proudly displays, as well at the many other stadiums the Mets may be playing at where followers make their own signs supporting the movement.

Fire Freddy

Ok so I've had a chip on my shoulder about Mets CEO Fred Wilpon for a while now. Maybe the man's just getting old and suffering from senility, but his incompetency is really showing more and more these past few years. Let's put aside for a moment the barrage of pitiful roster moves the man has authorized and focus on one single word: loyalty.

Sports Illustrated came out with an article a few months ago that really pushed my buttons. The article's description reads:

"Love for baseball and loyalty to his friends are two of the defining traits of
the game's longest-standing owner. But his long, unquestioning relationship with
Bernard Madoff could cost the Mets patriarch his fortune, his reputation—and the
team he cherishes."

Loyalty? LOYALTY?? Can someone explain this to me, because maybe I've been using the word wrong all these years. A man's personal traits do not dictate how he acts as a businessman, and this man has shown no loyalty as an owner. I'm going to throw out two names: Mike Piazza, and Heath Bell. Piazza was an icon, and is a man who's name will go down in Mets history. Yet when the time came, did Piazza get re-signed? No, he got dropped and lost the chance to retire in orange and blue. Now Bell is a more subtle case. Bell, who has been a top leader in saves the last few seasons, hates the Mets organization for good reason. When the man was a Met he got none of this mythical "respect" from the Mets organization, and was just tossed back and forth from the minors when needed to cover an injury. Just another example of what could have been (who remembers Nolan Ryan came up as a Met?).

Now one could make the reasonable argument that in many of these decisions that the GM should be held responsible, and Minaya was certainly no one to praise, but who makes the monetary decisions? Who can veto bad ideas? Now as much as I hate the Yankees, The Boss knew how to run a baseball team and they've proven their loyalty. While old and decrepit Posada's at least going to retire in pinstripes, Piazza had to fizzle out with the Padres and A's. In the 70's Billy Martin had plenty of arguments with the Yankees higher ups, but was always hired back because The Boss knew he could run the team. Meanwhile the Mets organization managed to chase Bobby V all the way to Japan!

One final note on that Sports Illustrated article, regarding "the team he cherishes." Now, we're clearly talking about the Dodgers right? I mean the man turned a stadium intended for the Mets into a shrine to his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. I remember the first time I went to Citi Field in '09. I never would've realized it was a Mets stadium if I didn't know better. A few banners and a Topps lineup thing does not a Mets stadium make.

So clearly Wilpon took whatever money Madoff didn't steal and paid off SI to publish a melodramatic story to draw sympathy. It actually ends with a quote of Wilpon saying, "Why? Why?" Well Freddy I feel as though I must ask you...

Why? WHY?!?

We're starting this already???

So I never intended to make this blog into a summary of the previous nights' game, in fact I hate when people do that. However, last night's game against the Phillies deserves mention here. Now anybody who's brave enough to call themselves a true Mets fan knows the Mets M.O: give you hope through the first half of the season, die out during the second. But it's never started THIS early. Normally they'll give you a month or so. I actually found myself thinking after a couple of nice plays by Pagan and Turner, "Well at least the defense is flying high," but no, the defense screwed us over more than our lack of offense in the end. Either way, the sloppy play was out in full force last night, and we can all just hope the guys just needed to get back into the swing of things after a longer-than-normal All-Star break.

Now am I the only one feeling like the Phillies are becoming the Yankees of the National League? I mean I may be biased in that I hate the Yankees more than any other sports team, and the Phillies are right up there under the Patriots (damn you Tom Brady...I'm tired of seeing your face selling cologne in Sports Illustrated), but the two teams just don't seem likable. Maybe it's just the low amount of class the fans seem to have. I mean all you hear from Yankees fans is "27 rings! 27 rings!" You want to make an easy $20 off a Yankees fan? Bet them they can't tell you how many rings the Yanks have, and when they say 27 say, "Nope, 26. The first one they got a pocket watch!" and walk away richer. I digress, but believe me, if this blog lasts this won't be last you hear of my hatred towards these teams.

Watching the game last night I did come to a positive realization while listening to Keith, Ron and Gary talk. They mentioned chemistry, and how this team of stragglers from AAA seem to have found it. That's what made me happy. I knew there was something different with this team I couldn't put my finger on. The Mets have been losing for a long time, but yet the fans still seem to have loved them. These past few years it seemed like something was missing, and the fan base felt it. But now they've achieved that chemistry they had in the pitiful 1960's, in the ugly 90's and early millennium. They're not just losers this year, they've come back to being lovable losers.

First Post

Ok so for God knows how long now people have been pushing me to get a blog. I was never that into it mainly because I wasn't sure what I have to write about. Then I thought, "What am I most passionate about?" and it came to me: the Mets. I've been bleeding orange and blue since I was born so it's only logical I would dedicate a blog to my team. I am skeptical however. There are plenty of fan blogs out there, so who knows if I can say anything they can't. These days any sports fan with an internet connection thinks they can be a sports writer or an ESPN commentator. But I figured what the hell, worst case scenario no one follows this and I'm just venting to myself. Just to catch anyone up who's reading this, the AllStar break just ended and the Mets start a homestretch against the Phillies tonight. Reyes is intended to return after the weekend, it's just come out that Wright should be back next Friday, Davis is still out for who knows how long, KRod was just shipped to Milwaukee, and the Wilpons still have no idea how to run a baseball team. Let's get this blog rolling...