Hey all, Coop here. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted to MD&D, but in all fairness, I haven’t been posting to my own blog (My Summer Family, shameless plug).
See, I’ve been having trouble getting my game face on for 2009. Although the ending of 2008 was not nearly as painful as 2007, I have been shellshocked for many reasons - one being, I was in denial about the last two seasons. Other reasons is that, I’ve been missing Shea Stadium and in denial it is no longer here (although pictures tell me otherwise). Well, I feel like I’m just being roped in for more of the same, the venue may have changed, but the heartbreak is the same. Not to mention, we decided not to go to the spring training. I’m officially ambivalent about those feelings.
But baby, color me pretty — and by “pretty” I mean blue and orange — as Divas and Dykstraw are going on the road!!!
Since most Mets fans I know are refusing to set foot in Philly this year, the next best thing to a road trip would be to Washington, DC. And wouldn’t you know it? That’s where we are going!!
So ok, I have to admit, I am a bit excited to have these plans, albeit in three months. But still, something to look forward to.
Can’t wait to get back in full gear. In the meantime, check out my site for my annual Keys to the Season segment.
A bit late here chiming in, but have you been following the Matt Cerrone-Mike Francesa brawl that recently unfolded in webby and radio lands? Okay, “brawl” overdoes it, but the story’s here.
Now MD&D friend Joe over at Mets Today has the perfect solution: Dueling! Apparently he lives right near where Aaron Burr dueled Alexander Hamilton to duelly death back in 1804.
Of course, in modern times, aren’t these nasty spats usually taken care of via breakdancing? The dancing I would pay to see. Either way, I’m saying Matt has it hands down.
There was once a song that said All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth…well all I want for the Mets 2009 season are these guys:
Derek Lowe
Jon Garland
AJ Burnett
Adam Dunn / trade Carlos Delgado
Aaron Heilman as a starting pitcher (don’t laugh)
Ichiro (apparently, people in Seattle don’t appreciate overachievers)
JJ Putz/Huston Street/Brian Fuentes (either of the three will suffice — as Dykstraw likes to say, all three would be delicious icing…he may also use an expletive ro DESCRIBE the icing, but i won’t use that since you probably get the reference already).
Interestingly enough, I left off some of the “sexier” names like Manny and K-Rod. Honestly, we all know K-Rod is a disaster waiting to happen. He rocks, don’t get me wrong…You just know that the second he comes here that arm-trouble we are all waiting for will happen sooner than later. And then what?
As for Manny…do we REALLY want that kind of baggage here? He’s 37, will want at least four years, and we can watch him basically admire his long fly-ball outs that are home runs in every other stadium?
I’d rather try to trade for Matt Holliday. But you all know what will happen, as I was discussing with a Mets fan coworker a few weeks ago. WHEN we get Manny in some kind of dramatic last-minute deal, I’ll be all “YEAH MANNY! HAIL MANNY!!!!”
Until then, I think my wish list is incredibly reasonable and would provide some excitement at CitiField for 2009. In the meantime, visit My Summer Family for my defense of Omar Minaya.
The Divas and Dykstraw were all at Shea that last fateful Sunday, though not sitting together. Still, after the “Shea Goodbye” ceremony–which we agreed somehow made us feel a teeny bit better–we gathered past Gate E for a group MD&D hug. Coop got these pics of us saying goodbye to Shea:
But now that the goodbyes have been said, to both our season and to our rough-and-tumble-but-still-loveable stadium, I’m getting excited to see what our team will look like in 2009. What will the front office do to make us better? I’m sure my fellow Diva and Dykstraw will have a laundry list of players they want to see in Mets uniforms.
I have one. One wish. An easy wish to have, you will agree, but it’s one I really, really want. This change alone would make me optimistic for 2009. This would be last year’s Johan deal. Or, rather, the complement to the Johan deal. The power to back up the finesse. The RBI guy. The clutch hitter. The right hander. The outfielder. Everything we need besides a relief pitcher.
Yup, I want Manny. Really, really want Manny. If we can only make one crazy expensive deal, I say forget Sabathia. I’d even say forget Francisco K-Rod Rodriguez. What good is a closer if we can’t drive in enough runs to get him to a save situation in the first place? The bullpen wouldn’t have been as much of a problem this year if the team had scored more runs, but over and over again, those runners were left on 1st, 2nd, 3rd. We needed someone to come through for us. We needed a Manny.
So I’m willing to roll my eyes at his Scott Borasness and his reputation for being a little punk. Do I approve of the way he treated the Sox? Of course not. He was being a brat and a horrible teammate. Would he infuse our clubhouse with goodwill and cheer? Unlikely. But he may just saturate it with confidence instead. And after a couple years of jocular good will that got us nowhere, right now I’m willing to take bratty confidence over back slapping camaraderie.
…the brewers aren’t gonna win the next two games on short rest. and if they do, they ran the table and they deserve the wild card. but if they don’t, we have to win two - one with the best pitcher on earth, and one with all the other pitchers on earth - and then let the chips fall where they may.
it’s not the best of odds, but, compared to two out, nobody on, down by two, it’s not so bad.
shea has never given us anything without a fight. and she’s not gonna start now.
I know, it’s a bit premature to discuss roster changes when there is a crucial three-game SEASON (yes, you read that right — all bets are on tonight, it’s a new season…till Sunday) starting tonight. But an interesting article came on SI’s FanNation today about how Ichiro Suzuki was almost “taken out” by his teammates.
Seattle Mariners have currently the worst record in baseball. That is not even an exaggeration and I am sure their bragging rights this year was taking two of three from the Mets in June. But that’s not all — Ichiro has been the one bright spot on this whole team for the last few years coming (save, maybe King Felix or El Gocho or El Rayo, whichever one he is — our own Johan is the other one). Outside of our own Jose Reyes, he is one of the elite leadoff hitters in the game. He gets on base a ton and plays hard.
So I guess having roided-out jealous teammates who neither play hard nor get on base a ton is enough to get you “whacked.”
So barring him batting leadoff, I think Ichiro would be a good fit for the Mets. The Japanese marketing factor is one. There are currently no Japanese representatives on the Mets and have been lacking since Hideo Nomo left town years ago (eek). Of course, Bobby V is revered in Japanese culture and is a former Met manager. That would bring not only dollars to the stadium but one of the best players in baseball to a team that desperately needs guys to get on base and be threats.
So Ichiro for ‘09? We’re gonna need some outfield help then…but that is all I talk about 2009 until, you know, the “new season” ends Sunday…
Okay, so this is the big game, the [NOUN] of the season. If they [VERB] this one up, I swear to [DEITY] I will so [VERB] the [NOUN] out of everything in sight. Come on, Mets. Stop [VERB]ing every time you’ve got a man on [NOUN]. Please bullpen, stop being so [ADJECTIVE], [ADJECTIVE] [NOUN]. And maybe the offense could [VERB] a little in a [ADJECTIVE] situation.
Don’t get me wrong, I still [VERB]. I haven’t given up [NOUN] yet, even though the team is trying to [VERB] my [NOUN]. Come on, boys. [METS PLAYER], starting hitting clutch. [METS PITCHER], put up or get your friggin’ hands off the ball. You’ve got 4 games left to [VERB] this [NOUN]. Get it done so we don’t have to friggin’ [VERB] ourselves.
I believe this clip would have been from Sunday’s game, Sept 14th. I remember sitting in loge and seeing cheering and mayhem going on over by right field. What could have been happening? Mystery likely solved.
This from Hugging Harold Reynolds: “At a recent game one super fan apparently ordered the meal of one ‘Shea Shausage’ and 17 beers. After passing out everyone in his section, led likely by his best friend, began messing with this guy by stacking cups on his head. Please view the nearly ten minute video (it is worth all ten minutes) as fans ignore the action on the field and pose for pictures with this passed out diehard.”
