New York Mets

Clearly, it's time for Jimmy Breslin to update his wonderful book about the 1962 Mets, Can Anybody Here Play This Game?

It’s time for a sequel about the 2009 version of New York’s National League baseball team—the team whose second baseman, Luis Castillo, gift-wrapped Game One of the Subway Series and handed it to the Yankees, 9-8.

Either you watched Castillo’s comedy act on television or in person Friday night at Yankee Stadium or you’ve seen the video:

Last night was about as grueling a game as you can play, and considering the offensive show that the Phillies put on, the Mets were fortunate to pull the game out. Johan Santana was not at his best, but he kept the team in the game, and a Ryan Church homer in the seventh made the difference.

Tonight is a new story. The Mets will go to battle with the Phillies’ cream of the crop, Cole Hamels. Hamels is coming off his best start of the season, when he five-hit the Manny-less Dodgers in a complete game shutout.

Today, I’ll keep things short and sweet.

Remember this day Mets fans.

June 10, 2009

This was the day you had nothing to complain about. As fans we have spent the last few seasons dissecting this team for flaws and we always find at least one. To be honest, I am sure if you really go over last night's 6-5 victory over the Phils you will find a few warts, but if you choose to do so, you will be missing the point of last nights win.

The Mets played with fire: Johan and Frankie saw to that.

The Mets and Phillies squared off at Citi Field and, as usual, the game was very eventful.

Two of the more striking aspects of the game were both unusual, one was good for the most part, but the second part is a bit alarming, even though they won the game.

The seven home runs generated by both sides in a pitcher-friendly park was the first part.  It was good to see the Mets generating runs and hitting well on a Santana start, even though he surrendered four home runs himself and was not as sharp as usual. 

The Daniel Murphy/Fernando Tatis platoon perplexes me. It’s not just because Murphy already looks to be a better defensive first baseman, although that does help.

It seems Tatis hasn’t been solid defensively anywhere he’s played this year. He’s not a liability, but he’s not good either. Sometimes you have to look at the upside.

The best case scenario for Tatis is that he’s a solid guy off the bench, and can spot start at first or in the outfield a couple of times and contribute offensively.

The Mets offense exploded in the first inning this afternoon, scoring five runs before Livan Hernandez even threw a pitch. Hernandez took the ball and ran with it, shutting out the Nationals over seven innings in a 6—0 win at Nationals Park.

The Mets did exactly what they needed to do today, as they pummeled the Nationals by the score of 7-0. They immediately produced out of the box, and they were assisted by a couple of shotty plays by the Nationals’ defense. Livan Hernandez was excellent in his seven shutout innings, and the Mets tacked on.

This was certainly the statement that they needed to make with the Phillies coming into town on Tuesday.

If your dad needs money, go ask  Mickey Mantle. See what happens.
                  
Mickey Mantle don’t care about you. Why care about him?
                  
Nobody cares.

-Sonny "A Bronx Tale"

This slide show will rank the best hitting seasons in Mets history.

Similar to the previous article, which listed the best pitching seasons, a player will only be ranked once.

When you think of the Mets history, pitching is usually the dominated vision.

But the Mets have had their share of outstanding hitting seasons, which is why it was difficult to rank these seasons. I would say that any of the top 5 ranked players can is fitting to be #1.

Now on to the list...