The Captain.
There's not much more that needs to be said about David Wright that you haven't already heard if you're a fan of the New York Mets, or just a fan of baseball. The man was everything about a leader that you could want in a human being playing a game for a living. He never retreated from a tough question. He never quit trying even after a stress fracture in the back, spinal stenosis, shoulder and neck surgeries. He always was there for his teammates. He led by example. His baseball acumen had him on a Hall of Fame career track, but those aforementioned injuries derailed any chance of that years ago.
Last night the fans returned the favor to Wright for one last time at Citi Field. A packed house of over 43,000 brought signs to show their adoration of him, serenaded him with cheers, and stood while applauding the greatest position player the Mets have ever known. Apologies to Carlos Beltran, who came up with Kansas City before joining the Mets as a free agent.
Wright drew a walk in the first inning, and you would have thought he hit one over the Shea Bridge from the response it drew from the crowd. In the second inning he handled his only chance in the field, making a smooth throw across the diamond to retire the Marlins Bryan Holaday. He'd come to bat one final time in the fourth. He popped out to Peter O'Brien, who snagged the ball in foul territory and was vehemently booed by the Citi Field faithful on a level that rivaled other hated opponents in Mets history like Chase Utley and John Rocker. He took his place in the field at third base one last time in the top of the fifth and was removed by Mets manager Mickey Callaway to a standing ovation. He embraced his infield partner Jose Reyes and then made his way to the dugout, where all of his teammates awaited to shake his hand one last time as an active player.
Wright's career highlights are numerous for me and most other die hard Mets fans. His first hit, way back in 2004, a double down the third base line at Shea Stadium against the Montreal Expos. His amazing barehanded, over-the-shoulder catch while on a dead sprint in San Diego has to be a top 10 defensive moment of all time. His walk-off hit to beat Mariano Rivera and the crosstown rival Yankees in a regular season Subway Series matchup. He probably wins NL MVP in 2007, but the Mets epic collapse in losing the division to Philadelphia cost him. His monstrous home run in Game 3 of the 2015 World Series that had Citi rocking like the Shea days.
Here are my favorite moments. I witnessed Wright homer in person only twice, since I live in South Florida I only catch a few games per season. He hit a three-run bomb in 2008 as part of a 13-0 Mets win over the Marlins. Dinger number two would come in June of 2014, as Wright provided the only run of the night to support Zack Wheeler's shutout of the Fish. His heroics for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic stir up some fond memories of me drinking heavily in an Irish bar in 2009 and going completely batshit when Wright drove in the winning run to avoid elimination against Puerto Rico. His grand slam in the 2013 WBC also brought me to my feet as Captain America was truly born there. When Wright returned from a long DL stint in 2015, he hit a mammoth home run in Philadelphia in his first plate appearance back. I was watching on my phone while waiting for my flight to leave LaGuardia Airport when he launched that ball to the fucking moon. I may have scared some of the airport security with my outburst. Finally, in Game 1 of the 2015 NLDS against the Dodgers, I happened to be visiting New York and watching the game with a ton of other fans at a small bar in Bellmore. Wright ripped a two-run single putting the Mets up 3-0 and giving all of us some breathing room. I've never enjoyed high-fiving and hugging a bunch of strangers any more than that night.
Thank you for the memories, David.
Thank you, Captain.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Spreading a little Mets love on Valentine's Day
On this Valentine's Day, I'm not here to write about flowers, boxes of chocolate, or one of those cute, stuffed teddy bears holding a big, red heart embroidered with those three little words your significant other wants in her ear. Maybe it's the fact that I'm going on seven years without a steady girlfriend or maybe just because I never needed a Hallmark-generated holiday to tell the women I've loved in life how I felt about them. I'd much rather take the time writing about my true always and forever. The love that always returns to me in mid-February as pitchers and catchers report to spring training and lasts (hopefully) into late-October. Yep, I'm talking about baseball. More specifically, the New York Mets.
In 2017, the Mets were an absolute disaster. Injuries, poor performances on the field, trading away talented players for small returns, and even a rally dildo in the locker room (See, this clearly is a very special Valentine's Day blog). It was the kind of relationship you'd like to set on fire and never speak of again. So, I won't. 2018 is here and Cupid will be firing his love-inducing arrows into the asses of Mets' fans everywhere today that look to baseball as their true love.
There is plenty to possibly love about the 2018 version of the Mets. Leading that love fest is the new man in charge. manager Mickey Callaway comes over from the Cleveland Indians, where he served as pitching coach to the best staff in the majors last year. That staff lead the majors in team ERA and strikeouts. His exuberance for the game and being installed as field general of the Mets has been evident since his introductory press conference. Yesterday, when asked about his current pitching staff, he said, "This is the best group of arms and stuff I've ever seen." I'm swooning over that glowing endorsement and Mickey's words in general about this team and is plans to restore it to relevance.
That brings me to the pitching staff. Last season was a blazing dumpster fire for nearly everyone not named Jacob deGrom. Noah Syndergaard was his typical dominant self until the end of April when he tore a lat muscle that caused him to miss most of the season. He returned in September to toss a couple of innings and was able to pop triple digits with his fastball, so the Mets should have a solid 1-2 punch with Thor and Jake the Great at the top of the rotation.
Now, things get dicey. Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Robert Gsellman, and Seth Lugo all suffered through injuries and huge stretches of ineffectiveness. They've all reported to camp healthy and early reports or promising. Mets beat reporter Rich Coutinho tweeted that Harvey looks great and the late movement on his fastball that made him so effective in past years has returned. Matz, who had the same ulnar nerve surgery this off season that deGrom had prior to last season, says he's good to go, and should be the lone lefty in the rotation. Wheeler, Gsellman, and Lugo are healthy and will battle for the remaining spot, or spots, if Callaway sticks to his plan of using a six-man rotation at times. The bullpen will be lead by the once-again healthy Jeurys Familia, lefty Jerry Blevins, last year's late-season addition AJ Ramos, and free agent Anthony Swarzak, who came over after a career year with the Milwaukee Brewers.
On offense, the longball, which chicks and dudes alike dig, has become all the rage in MLB. The Mets will have no shortage of home run power with a healthy Yoenis Cespedes leading the way. Cespedes was hampered by various leg injuries last year, but still smacked 17 homers in just 81 games. Michael Conforto earned his first All-star game appearance during his breakout season that saw him bash 27 homers while posting a .939 OPS in just 373 at bats before a freak shoulder injury ended his year in late-August. Free agency brought back Jay Bruce and his 36 long balls on a three-year deal. Todd Frazier also signed on for the next tow seasons to provide high OBP, great defense at third base, and yes, more home run pop. A full year of former top prospect Amed Rosario at shortstop will provide better infield defense, and if he can improve his patience at the plate, the lookout for a star in the making. There could be a battle for the first base job in spring between newly-added veteran Adrian Gonzalez and young prospect Dominic Smith. Smith showed up to camp "in the best shape of his life", but Gonzo has the inside track with his proven track record in the bigs.
The training staff was also revamped in the off season, as head trainer Ray Ramirez, aka the Grim Reaper, aka Mr. Walking Boot, was relieved of his duties. At the very least, this has to improve the Mets mojo, right?
There will be plenty to love about the 2018 Mets if all falls into place. 2015 and 2016 saw a World Series trip and a wildcard berth, respectively, with many of these same players, so it's not completely crazy. So to all my fellow Mets fans out there without a valentine today, take solace and place your love in the Mets. Just hope that they show us some love back in 2018.
LGM
In 2017, the Mets were an absolute disaster. Injuries, poor performances on the field, trading away talented players for small returns, and even a rally dildo in the locker room (See, this clearly is a very special Valentine's Day blog). It was the kind of relationship you'd like to set on fire and never speak of again. So, I won't. 2018 is here and Cupid will be firing his love-inducing arrows into the asses of Mets' fans everywhere today that look to baseball as their true love.
There is plenty to possibly love about the 2018 version of the Mets. Leading that love fest is the new man in charge. manager Mickey Callaway comes over from the Cleveland Indians, where he served as pitching coach to the best staff in the majors last year. That staff lead the majors in team ERA and strikeouts. His exuberance for the game and being installed as field general of the Mets has been evident since his introductory press conference. Yesterday, when asked about his current pitching staff, he said, "This is the best group of arms and stuff I've ever seen." I'm swooning over that glowing endorsement and Mickey's words in general about this team and is plans to restore it to relevance.
That brings me to the pitching staff. Last season was a blazing dumpster fire for nearly everyone not named Jacob deGrom. Noah Syndergaard was his typical dominant self until the end of April when he tore a lat muscle that caused him to miss most of the season. He returned in September to toss a couple of innings and was able to pop triple digits with his fastball, so the Mets should have a solid 1-2 punch with Thor and Jake the Great at the top of the rotation.
Now, things get dicey. Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Robert Gsellman, and Seth Lugo all suffered through injuries and huge stretches of ineffectiveness. They've all reported to camp healthy and early reports or promising. Mets beat reporter Rich Coutinho tweeted that Harvey looks great and the late movement on his fastball that made him so effective in past years has returned. Matz, who had the same ulnar nerve surgery this off season that deGrom had prior to last season, says he's good to go, and should be the lone lefty in the rotation. Wheeler, Gsellman, and Lugo are healthy and will battle for the remaining spot, or spots, if Callaway sticks to his plan of using a six-man rotation at times. The bullpen will be lead by the once-again healthy Jeurys Familia, lefty Jerry Blevins, last year's late-season addition AJ Ramos, and free agent Anthony Swarzak, who came over after a career year with the Milwaukee Brewers.
On offense, the longball, which chicks and dudes alike dig, has become all the rage in MLB. The Mets will have no shortage of home run power with a healthy Yoenis Cespedes leading the way. Cespedes was hampered by various leg injuries last year, but still smacked 17 homers in just 81 games. Michael Conforto earned his first All-star game appearance during his breakout season that saw him bash 27 homers while posting a .939 OPS in just 373 at bats before a freak shoulder injury ended his year in late-August. Free agency brought back Jay Bruce and his 36 long balls on a three-year deal. Todd Frazier also signed on for the next tow seasons to provide high OBP, great defense at third base, and yes, more home run pop. A full year of former top prospect Amed Rosario at shortstop will provide better infield defense, and if he can improve his patience at the plate, the lookout for a star in the making. There could be a battle for the first base job in spring between newly-added veteran Adrian Gonzalez and young prospect Dominic Smith. Smith showed up to camp "in the best shape of his life", but Gonzo has the inside track with his proven track record in the bigs.
The training staff was also revamped in the off season, as head trainer Ray Ramirez, aka the Grim Reaper, aka Mr. Walking Boot, was relieved of his duties. At the very least, this has to improve the Mets mojo, right?
There will be plenty to love about the 2018 Mets if all falls into place. 2015 and 2016 saw a World Series trip and a wildcard berth, respectively, with many of these same players, so it's not completely crazy. So to all my fellow Mets fans out there without a valentine today, take solace and place your love in the Mets. Just hope that they show us some love back in 2018.
LGM
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