This Mets fan has stayed mum for too long...

I've stayed mum for too long. I have long neglected this platform that could potentially reach millions, and so it's time I start using it for the greater good.

It was mentioned in passing and in jest today that perhaps the New York Mets -- my New York Mets -- should be contracted from Major League Baseball. As a long-suffering Mets fan, I can see that this kind of thinking emanates from one of two places: 1) A NY Mets fan who just wants to end the pain and misery; or 2) Fans of other teams merely having fun at our expense.

Either way, I guess the point of fact is this: Yes, the Mets have fallen on hard times. Yes, they set a new world record for injuries begotten by inept medical care. Yes, Madoff took all of the Wilpons' money, and even though they still want ours, they don't want to spend a dime. Yes, Omar Minaya turned one of the best things to happen to the team -- firing Tony Bernazard -- into a meteoric PR disaster. Yes, they lack fundamentals in every phase of the game. Yes, they can't beat the San Diego Padres, the Arizona Diamondbacks, or even the Newark Bears at this point..........

But with all that said, is contraction the answer? No.

Despite all of the misery, despite this wasted season, despite two straight epic September collapses, despite Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and despite all of the years and years of heartache and suffering since the 1986 championship season, I know in my heart of hearts that the New York Mets will one day come out of this soon-to-be-23-year drought, and they will get back to what made them so Amazin' to begin with.

I dream of a scrappy team that takes no prisoners on the field, managed by a man with the intellect and heart of a Japanese warrior. I see a freer, wiser man than he was before, still clever but without all the needless ploys, liberated from plastic glasses and mustache disguises as this franchise rises to meet their true destiny as World Champions once more.

This team, and this man, will overcome all of the arrogant Senseis and juiced-up Johnny Lawrences of the world, and they will take back this New York Town that they once owned, albeit for a fleeting moment, albeit soon-to-be-23-years ago.

So when you say contract the Mets, I say Mets, it's time to do the right thing and bring in the man we know is waiting, just waiting to come back home. It's not time to contract, it's time to sign the contract that will make all of this a distant memory.

It is a Flushing rallying cry that is worth the redux, and that cry is, "BOBBY V! BOBBY V! BOBBY V!"

I'll see you all again on Valentine's Day!

--CB40

Mike Mussina's Hall Of Fame Case - Part 1

Last week CB40 sent around a bulleted list of sports points and complaints and one of the items ended up sparking a long e-mail firestorm. The bullet was:

Chris
--WFAN CALLERS -- STOP IT! MIKE MUSSINA IS NOT A HALL OF FAMER!!!

At first, I let this go. I don’t usually get in to Hall debates because of the stupid subjectivity. But, eventually I found the arguments against to be so bad I had to respond. Some of these writers you'll know. I'm not going to really identify any of them because I'm not entirely sure they want their names out there. I will note background info where I can. These will be unedited save for capitalization and spelling.

Justin
Mussina would be a Hall of Famer if he pitched three more seasons and reached the 300 win club.

Chris B
Maybe, but I even hate that Glavine is going in. Smoltz and Maddux were much better than he was. And, again, a guy like Schilling and Pedro deserve it for their short-term dominance, rather than these guys who just hung around long enough to compile without ever dominating.

Mussina a compiler? Can you really call a guy who had one of the best seasons of his career in his last year a compiler? Still, not quite enough to get involved. Especially as some other list members made the points I was going to make.

Peter
Citing Mussina’s Wikipedia page.
Mussina's candidacy for the Hall of Fame has come under recent debate. "Do I compare to some guys who are in? I think I do," Mussina told USA Today in 2006. The only other pitchers to match Mussina's 17 seasons of 10 or more victories are Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Don Sutton and Steve Carlton; all are Hall of Famers except Maddux, who also retired after the 2008 season and thus is not yet eligible. Of the 23 eligible pitchers who have at least 265 wins and an ERA of 3.69 or less, 20 are in the Hall of Fame. Mussina's consistency is often overshadowed by the dominant peaks of contemporaries like Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson. Baseball writer Tim Kurkjian stated on the August 3, 2008 edition of Baseball Tonight "He's a Hall of Famer. I've looked at the numbers and he's in."

He is the oldest pitcher to ever win 20 games in a season for the first time at the age of 39 in 2008. He never won the Cy Young Award, but finished in the top six of Cy Young voting eight times. Mussina also came tantalizingly close to pitching a perfect game and winning a World Series, having lost chances at achieving both in the 9th inning in 2001.

Only five pitchers in the history of major league baseball have as many victories as Mussina and a better winning percentage: Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander,Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson.

Greg
There may be a movement brewing where guys who were quiet and got the job done will gain votes vs. guys that chased home run records and stole headlines. If he doesn't get in on numbers, he may get in for being the right kind of guy for the voters in the years coming up. I say he gets in, but don't care that much except that I think he's one of the good guys and would be happy for him.

At this point – it seemed like the debate would be friendly. Perhaps neutral and the Sports Musings group would come to the conclusion that he’s a pretty good pitcher and it could probably go either way. Until this point, I hadn’t even chimed in… I’d just been reading the opinions. But then, the godfather of the e-mail list chimed in. Chuck is the resident hardcore Yankee fan. Loves sports, loves predicting, and as we learned in Atlantic City, loves red wine.

Chuck
Moose is not a Hall of Famer. Period. End of story. Actually, in my book, he isn't even close. He is the classic two or three starter that hung around a while and pitched on good teams. Also a terrible big game starter.

And agreements started rolling in.

Chris B
Chaz, I agree with you, 100%. Wow. ;-)

Justin
He would have 300 wins if o's gave more run support

And only one disagreement

Peter
He also pitched in the best division in baseball his whole career and still amassed 270 wins and the 6th best winning % of any pitcher with that many wins. That’s impressive. I’m sorry. People can knock him all they want but not many pitchers can say they pitched as well for as long as he did.

And this is where I finally had to join the fray. The talk about wins had become just too much.

Tom
The "wins" stat is the most retarded hall of fame statistic ever. "Hey, let's use this stat which largely has nothing to do with pitching to figure out how good of a pitcher you were." If you insist on using them, though, 120 games over .500 is pretty ridiculously awesome.

And thus arrived Coogan.

Coogan
Is it me or is he not as good as Bert Blyleven was? And BB isn't in ... ...

Interesting debate, though. Agree it could either way and I wouldn't be offended if he got in.

To end part one, I'll present the e-mail that got myself and my friend Mike fully in to the debate. Remember: hardcore Yankee fan.

Chuck
Ok, I'll play this installment of why Mike Mussina is not a Hall of Famer:

• 0 rings.


• Carried a staff 2 times 1996 and 1997.


• 0 Cy Youngs.


• Limited All-Star appearances.


• Rarely even the third best guy on the staff.


• One good post season start in the ALDS vs the A's in 2001. He even sucked as an Oriole against the Yanks.


• Pitched well in relief against the Red Sox in 2003. But wasn't even the best pitcher in the game -- Rivera was.


• Played for teams with almost a 600 winning percentage and won 20 games once last season.


• Nibbled all the time.


• Was slow to the plate.


• Never took responsibility for letting the team down.


• Retired not because he didn’t want to play anymore or he couldn't but rather because he wasn't getting paid.


• Bolted the Os for more money.


• Held the Yanks hostage after the 2006 season.

In part two, Hulse and I dismantle the previous e-mail and former IP/411 writer Mark U joins the fray -- with the bad guys.

Reflections on Citi Field

Below is a great review of Citi Field by another muser. As we get this blog started we're still signing folks up. If you like this review, encourage the self proclaimed "Luddite" to sign up.

***********

OK I got to see Citi Field last night, and my impressions are below. Overall I give the stadium very high marks. They did a fabulous job. These comments are purely about the stadium -- I'll leave out the debates over economics and the necessity of a new stadium for another time:

-- The Jackie Robinson Rotunda is excellent, and I don't see it as a problem or overdone at all. As Mike said, he broke the color barrier in NY. It makes sense for the Mets to honor him since he was on one of the NL teams the Mets replaced. Outside of the rotunda there's nothing else overwhelmingly Robinson. No griping necessary about this, IMHO.

-- There is loads of space. And you really can still feel like you're involved when you go to get food, beer, etc. They're even playing it on the radio in the bathroom (useful when the beer and burgers need a little time to finish making their way through your system).

-- Aesthetically its gorgeous, especially from the outside. I really liked getting off the subway and looking at a beautiful brick facade (with many Mets pictures lining the outside, for anyone worried about nothing celebrating the Mets), flower beds, benches and open space. Beats the crap out of knowing you have to traverse thin walkways around concrete walls to get to a gate that always seem far away. Although I found myself sentimentally pining in the original direction I used to walk.-- I love the bricks laid out with messages from fans.

-- They did lie about obstructed views. There are many. Not a big deal, just annoying that they touted how there were no obstructed views.

-- Beer is really f'ing expensive. $7.50 domestic beers. Ouch!

-- Lots of space, and plenty of room to hang out before and during the game (clearly more conducive to drinking, which of course is why they charge $7.50 a beer).

-- Plenty of food choices, unlike the limited selections of Shea.

-- MUCH easier to walk up a few flights of stairs (I was in the upper deck) than to go up the old Shea ramps.-- Entrances all around and they seem more well-managed.

-- Weird not seeing the subway out in right like you used to; makes it tough to tell when lots of people are coming late or when the seats are clearing during a lousy game (as if any of that matters).

-- Not sure whey they don't have a K-corner scoreboard, unless I just missed it.

-- Gonna be tough to hit home runs, but outfielders will have their hands full when balls ricochet around.

-- When you get to the upper decks there really isn't the incredible legroom they spoke about, but you do have a cup holder for your beer.

That's about it. Glad I got to see the first ever Mets win at CITI Field. Let's Go Mets!

Top 10 Overrated Mets Prospects

via a yet registered fellow muser....

in no particular order the top 10 most overrated Mets Prospects:

alex escobar
floyd youmans
billy beane
shawn abner
gregg jeffries
lastings milledge
alex ochoa
ed yarnall
ed hearn
matt peterson

additions? subtractions?

Phillies TV man Kalas dies at 73

Phillies TV man Kalas dies at 73

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4064793

WASHINGTON -- Longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas has died at the age of 73, team president David Montgomery said Monday.

Kalas, who had also filled a voiceover role for NFL Films since 1975, was taken to a hospital Monday after passing out in the broadcast booth before Monday's game against the Washington Nationals.

Montogomery's voice was cracking as he said "we have lost our voice."

The 73-year-old Kalas, known for his distinctive "Outta here!" call on home runs, was found by the Phillies director of broadcasting at about 12:30 p.m., Montgomery said.

Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Before that, he was an original member of the Houston Astros' broadcast team from 1965-70.

In 2002, he received the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the game.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.