Friday, February 29, 2008

AND AWAY WE GO.

TBF and I had made a pact: total blackout today. We wanted to be able to come home and eat dinner while watching baseball. I closed the “baseball” folder on my RSS feed (as though I had any time to even think about my RSS feed today, much less look at it) and put a post-it on my monitor reminding me to not visit my Google home page, because the score would pop up somewhere.

There. I was safe.

Except I forgot about the Captivate Network.

For those of you who don’t work in a big Manhattan office building with a fancy-shmancy elevator, the Captivate Network are little televisions in the elevators that run news and ads. They’re actually reasonably entertaining. Now, I don’t work in a building that meets that description, but I had a meeting in one. And said meeting was exhausting enough that when I walked out of the meeting and stepped into the elevator, seeing Jose Reyes in a Mets jersey drew me closer to the screen like a bee to a flower, where I learned the score.

I sighed quietly, not wanting to try to explain to my coworkers that I had just ruined my night.

Ah, well. It’s still baseball.

I am calmer this year about Spring Training, interested to watch the game but happy to let TBF fast forward after Johan and Heilman until we got to his NSMC, Mr. Sanchez. I do, however, already need to watch the television with the sound off, even if it is Gary, Keith and Ron.  I am a baseball moron compared to those three and yet it is painfully obvious to me that Pedro Martinez is a very smart man who is deliberately trying to manipulate the media and destroy the angle of “OOOOH! COMPETITION BETWEEN JOHAN AND PEDRO!! FILM AT 11!!!” but yet everyone comments on how Pedro is walking around all buddy-buddy with Johan. If I hear Kevin Burkhardt say it one more time there will be words and Gary should know better.  Come ON.

Other random thoughts:
I think Jose has gotten faster.
I cannot believe that Keith’s attention span started to wander only four innings into the first televised game of the year.
Ramon Castro is looking trim, but unfortunately, he is still Melon Head.
And while I am glad we avoided the insanity that was ST this year, I still wish we were down there today, in the warm breeze, sunglasses and sunscreen on, TBF keeping score, me taking photos.

Soon enough.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

IT IS UNKIND TO MOCK THE AFFLICTED.

However, in this particular case, I’ll make an exception.

Seriously, though, the Cardinals have some serious issues, clearly, but having LaRussa be your spokesperson on Cardinals team values regarding substance abuse is just the tiniest bit hypocritical, dontcha think? He was found IN AN INTERSECTION. ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. ELEVATED BLOOD ALCOHOL.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

ON THE ROAD AGAIN.

I am not quite sure when and how we started talking about going to Texas to see the Mets play, but it probably came out of the fact that the other possible roadtrips were more expensive. And I am also not quite sure what, exactly, about our half-conscious conversation at brunch this morning triggered a flurry of action once we got home, TBF looking at airfare, me looking at hotels and maps and proximity to ballparks. Several hours later, here’s the tally:

1) Reservation at a 5-star hotel in Downtown Houston, walking distance from the ballpark
2) Reservation at a Holiday Inn Express about 1 hour south of Dallas
3) Rental car reservation booked
4) Provisional airline schedule selected
5) Evaluated all tickets on the market at this time for Houston
6) Plans for ballpark tours to take at both Houston and Dallas
7) A map of the location of every Sonic Drive-In on the route from Houston to Dallas (remember we are the people that made a detour to stop at Sonic in Pennsylvania on the way to and from Pittsburgh two years ago)

The itinerary:
Friday: Fly out of JFK at 7am, arrive Houston 10am. Nap, ballpark tour, game, barbeque.
Saturday: Drive to Arlington, Rangers v. Blue Jays, drive 1 1/2 hrs. and stay overnight in some godforsaken town on the freeway, but said town has a 24 hour Walmart not far from the hotel, so we’ll make it work
Sunday: Drive balance of distance to Houston, arrive approx. 11am, ballgame, drive to airport, fly home

Pickings are very slim for the Astros, as 1) we now are forced into StubHub, instead of the local club’s ticket marketplace and 2) Season Ticket holders have not yet received their seats, and not everyone sells their seats before they are in hand. So we’re looking at a bunch of overpriced crap on the field level, but in row 38 or 39, which are the last rows of those sections, which appear to be what was sold in the general public sale.

Tickets in Dallas have not gone on sale yet. However, the day of the Saturday game in Dallas is a concert by a local Christian Rock group, and last year, the games that had the Christian Rock concerts sold out way in advance. This means that we will be buying our tickets in the public on-sale, because even if we end up not going for some reason, given the fact that they sold out, with the magic of eBay and/or StubHub, we could recoup our initial investment easily.

[No, we will not be attending the concert. I’m not even sure people like us would be allowed in to such a thing in Texas.]

But it is exciting to be planning another baseball trip.  Excited to be excited enough about the Mets to be wanting to be planning a baseball trip.

Anyone who knows anything about the ballparks and general vicinities in Houston and Dallas, by all means, share your thoughts. All assistance and suggestions welcome.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

TWO ACES.

How much money would the Mets make if they sold photos of that? Of course they won’t - like that awesome back-to-back image of Wright and Reyes last year that I would have paid $$$ for. Why on earth would they actually try to monetize something people would actually like to buy, and would promote the team, when you can charge everyone $2 to get into Open Workouts? [UPDATE: The Mets have link, and now that $2 is a “donation” instead. How about you donate half of the parking concession if you want to raise money for charity?]

I have to admit that I was relieved when I read the caption for the photo above and confirmed that it was posed. Not that I don’t already know what a big ham Pedro is, but for a minute I was a little worried.

Yesterday was Spring Training Photo Day, when Your 2008 New York Mets had the duties of assuming 100% forced gaiety, and posing for photos like the one above, as well as this:

That’s got to be the most, um, HAPPY image of the Mets since that promo for the All-Star Game last year. Pedro is SO skinny!

(Do you think that if he keeps posing for photos with his arm around Johan, it will make every member of the press stop asking about the big competition between the two of them?)

Friday, February 22, 2008

INFORMATION OVERLOAD.

There is such a thing as too much coverage.

I never thought I’d say that, but it’s only the first week of Spring Training and I already have information fatigue. Just like most of you, I am reading everything I can get my hands on, and I’ve resubscribed to everything I had unsubscribed from in the offseason.

I like reading different perspectives. I especially like the blogs the beat reporters kept during Spring Training last year. I felt like the blogs captured the color of what it was like to be down there. I liked hearing writers complain about how boring PSL is, I liked hearing where they went for lunch, I liked getting a feel for what they were doing, even if it was boring.

This year is different.

This year it seems that even more beat writers are down there and that every single one of them have started blogs. While you would think that would be a GOOD thing, I look at the firehose of coverage and think:

Everyone is writing the same thing.

Fair enough, if Jay Horowitz decides that he’s giving everyone access to Carlos Delgado for the day, then everyone’s going to write about Carlos Delgado. If you are down there and you are a beat reporter and everyone else is writing about Carlos Delgado and you decide to write about the security guard at one of the back fields who is from New Jersey and got married the same year the Mets started and used to have season tickets (and I’ll bet anything that guy is still there), your editor is, most probably, going to be on the phone pretty quick asking you why you didn’t write about Carlos Delgado since everyone else did. And, even if your editor is a kind and generous sort, you will post the article on your blog and then have to tolerate 99 comments asking you why you didn’t get to talk to Carlos Delgado that day.

And while you might think, well, can’t they do both, there’s a lot of copy you have to generate, and only so many hours in a day. The practical journalist is going to attend to meat and potatoes.

I never thought I’d get tired of hearing what great shape Duaner Sanchez is in, but at this point…

Okay, so maybe I’m not. But I thought I was for a few seconds there.

You know it’s bad when we’re getting a story like this filed - from David Lennon, who is probably writing the best coverage from PSL these days. I mean, the thought of Pedro dancing to Milli Vanilli (and that a beat reporter would actually meet his dare), but I’m not sure we needed a separate line item about that.

Here’s a sample from my RSS reader, to try to make my point better:

I want to know where “Santana moves right foot” and “Santana moves left foot” are.

[And - really? There’s no snow in Port St. Lucie? What would we do without one of the beat writers letting us know.]

[Okay, I’ll stop being snarky now.]

Now, I could unsubscribe from some of these feeds. But, I like making my own information choices and I don’t need someone to digest them for me (and I don’t want to have to deal with someone else’s filter, either). I just wonder what this adds to the experience, and if there isn’t a better way to do it.

Friday, February 15, 2008

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE MARCH 9.

I realize most of you reading this have this date burned in your brain. However, for my friends from other places and who support other teams, and want to come see them at Shea (or want to make it to Shea before they knock the place down), it bears a reminder. I know there are some Rockies fans and some Mariners fans heading our way.  For any of you, I’m happy to offer ticket purchasing advice in the comments.

Keep in mind that that day is when Daylight Savings ends (Spring Ahead, Fall Back!) so don’t oversleep!

We need to take a look at the calendar now and make our own plans. TBF is of course making noises now about reacquiring our Saturday plan, so I don’t know how many extra games we’re likely to pick up right now. Like everyone else on the planet, we want to be at Santana’s first start. Ideally, it would be at the home opener, and we would be set. However, knowing the Mets, who knows what they’ll decide. We may end up buying a game or two on spec just in case.

What is everyone else buying?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR.

About time.

Strange how this moment has turned from gritted-teeth well-at-least-its-BASEBALL to OMG I CAN’T WAIT.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

CITIFIELD UPDATE.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

YET ANOTHER REASON

...to love Fire Joe Morgan, as they tackle That Article everyone is talking about today, the sportswriter from Philadelphia who had clearly just obtained press credentials, had never been to a press conference, nor eaten the food in any Diamond Club anywhere:

It was all very understated, as per the local custom.

Well, the time for restraint is definitely: introducing the best pitcher in baseball to fans and media who follow the team. I’m thinking a terse press release, ("Santana signs with Mets. ‘We are pleased,’ say team officials, understatedly."), followed by an ascetic black-and-white photograph session. Water should be served (room-temperature) and then local and state police calmly but firmly escort people to the exits.

SOONER OR LATER IT ALL COMES DOWN TO MONEY.

There are certain undeniable baseball truths in our house: You Only Get One Team, The Only True Mets Uniform Is Pinstripes, You Can’t Like The Yankees AND The Mets, You Don’t Leave A Game Before The Final Out (amongst others).

Add to that: The Boras Clients Only Go For The Money.

I have tried to argue and debate this, I have tried to formulate convincing arguments. TBF will not be moved. During the entire Zito debacle, I offered many convincing, well-researched and thought-out theories about why Barry Zito would make the right choice and come to the Mets.

“It’s only about the money. Period. The Boras clients ONLY go for the money.”

I learned that he was right about this the hard way (although in the end we are all grateful daily that we didn’t cough up the money for Zito, of course).

At the end of the press conference last night, TBF says, “Now we just gotta lock up Perez.”
“I know. It’s making me nervous that we haven’t.”
He loves Oliver. He has a custom Perez shirt (because, of course, the frickin Mets can’t bother to SELL SHIRTS FOR THE STARTING ROTATION). He is one of his favorite players to watch.

I didn’t know exactly how nervous I was going to be until I read on Metsblog this morning that Senor Sabor is represented by the Great Satan. And that, of course, no, he is not interested in a long-term deal with the Mets.

Here we go again.

I love Oliver Perez. I love his goofiness, his lack of inhibition, he’s like a computer geek who’s ended up as a Major League Baseball pitcher completely by accident. I love the hops over the foul line: ebullient when he’s nailed it, fierce when he’s struggling, they say everything about his attitude and his spirit. I love that he rocks the high socks. I love when he comes to the plate, because you feel like he’s just trying so hard and that he honestly believes that he’s going to get that hit (unlike, say, John Maine, whose entire stance broadcasts, I have no fucking idea what I’m doing but I have to do this so let’s give it a go.).  I love that he was a reclamation project that everyone else had given up on, until he met the Jedi Master, Rick Peterson.

And, of course, most importantly, I love that he is Senor Sabor and what happens when he throws that ball.

I would be unbelievably sad if we lost Oliver Perez, and I know that there is nothing we can do except hope that the Wilpons will open the checkbook. The thing is, no matter how much we want Oliver, there is somebody who is going to want him more. And now we know that it will come down to the checkbook, and nothing, not loving playing in New York, not the people who he is playing with, not the thought of Johan Santana being available as a mentor of sorts, will change that.

It’s one thing to lose one of your favorite players in a trade. It’s another to lose him because Macphisto is ruling with an iron fist.