Daily Archives: February 6, 2008
JT from Long Island asks…
“It would be nice if you could bring to light many Met fans’ dislike of the black uniforms, including the awful two-tiered black and blue helmets. To that end, why do the Mets insist on harping on that mid-90′s black uniform fad? 1997 called and wants its black uniforms back!”
…as i have said before, the black uniforms have never bothered me…i prefer the 1980s racing stripes, and the all white with blue caps, but the black is fine by me from time to time as well…
…the thing is, if the team abolished the color blue in favor of black, i’d probably be a little upset…however, they still use blue, they’ve just added the black…so, i don’t get what the problem is…
…the way i see it, the black uniforms are a product of my generation of mets teams…we got the thin pinstripes in the 60s, the fat racing stripes in the 80s, and the black caps and shirts in the late-90s…
…when i see the black caps and shirts and i think Mike Piazza…i think Bobby Valentine…i think of Robin Ventura’s grandslam single…and i love those memories…
…that said, i am far more concerned with who will be pitching for this team, than what they’ll be wearing…
[poll=49]
…i have to say that i didn’t expect to be this excited about the trade…i guess it was the lack of giving up a fifth prospect, and the reality that Johan Santana is actually on the Mets now that allows me to be so elated…
…this is almost as hard to grasp as the Giants winning the Super Bowl, but both are definitely real…
…this one move changes everything in the NL East, and subsequently the whole league…
…i think it’s a great trade for many reasons…santana takes a burden off the bullpen by pitching more innings per game…his aura and clubhouse presence should contribute to a winning vibe…the Mets have a bona fide ace at the top of the rotation, which makes the fifth spot much better…and now we have something to look forward to as Mets fans, instead of looking back at the train wreck that was 2007…
The Johan Santana press conference will air live this afternoon on SNY and MLB.com at 1 pm EDT.
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…i agree, Regis…however, i’m not that shocked that it happened…which could be because i did nothing but obsesses over this thing for the last few months…despite that, though, it always seemed possible to me because a) he wanted to be here, b) the Mets had to get him, and c) the Yankees and Red Sox were never that serious…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |The Johan Santana press conference will air live this afternoon on SNY and MLB.com at 1 pm EDT.
…i’ll be there, and will do my best to blog about the event…
…i will not be providing direct quotes, necessarily, though i will try…instead, i’m going to try and plug in and just blog about what the event is like, how it’s set up, who is with whom, and sort of fill in the gaps with what most fans do not get to see through their television…
Tagged SNY |Mets 2B Luis Castillo, on his talk with Johan Santana from last 
season, as quoted by the Bergen Record, New York Post and Daily News…
“I remember the day when I got traded, Johan talked to me in the locker room. We talked for 20 minutes. I explained everything. And he told me he wanted to play for the Mets. Within a week, I told Minaya, he’s a good pitcher and he likes the Mets…He’d like to play here, like to play on the Mets.”
…castillo and santana are very, very good friends, so it is not much of a surprise that luis wanted johan in New York…
…by the way, i received a lot of criticism for repeatedly saying all off-season that santana preferred to pitch for the Mets, even though i was just relaying what i was hearing from people who know him…so, i’m glad to read quotes like this after the fact, and see recent reports from ESPN and quotes from the player’s agent that essentially say the same thing…
…i look forward to watching castillo, who is said to be feeling great since having his knee cleaned out last fall…the buzz around castillo has been that he was a bit overwhelmed towards the end of last season, playing in new york, moving his family, being in pain and having to deal with ‘the collapse,’ while people looked to him to pick up the slack for Jose Reyes…this year, though, that is all behind him…plus, he’s been through a rough pennant race…and though he and his teammates lost, it was an experience he can step up from and be a leader, especially with a kid like reyes…
…castillo plays hard…very hard…and i think he’s going to have a good influence on the batting order this season…as long as he stays healthy, and doesn’t sulk…
Several of New York’s top athletes, including Mets 3B David Wright and Yankees OF Melky Cabrera, were honored last night at the Thurman Munson Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square.
Wright, speaking from the event about Johan Santana, and the ‘collapse,’ as quoted by Newsday…
“It allows us to officially kind of shut the book
on ’07…It takes away from the aura of what happened at the end of last year. He had nothing to do with last year, and he’s bringing a fresh perspective.”
In the Bergen Record and Daily News, Wright is also quoted as saying…
“The team to beat in my eyes is the team that won last year. Philadelphia took care of us last year. They took care of business in the division. Going into this year, we have to take control again of the NL East…It’s not about making bold predictions. This year, we have to take [the title] away from Philadelphia.”
…i’m trying not to get excited and create a false narrative in my mind, but i am starting to believe that this team will be super-motivated and aggressive through most of spring training and the first part of the season, if not longer, as it tries to bury the ghost of last season…time will tell, but i just sense a strong determination…and it’s about time…
John Maine and Billy Wagner recently appeared on MLB Home Plate on XM Satellite Radio, during which…
Maine said…
“Everyone knows about (Santana’s) change up, but what I noticed is he’s a great competitor. He goes out there every pitch and every batter and attacks them and doesn’t let up.”
Wagner Said…
“What (Santana) does for his team is unreal, every game he steps on the mound you expect to win. We need that excitement and he brings that - and we didn’t have that last year. We were good, but we didn’t expect to win - we just felt like the division was going to fall into place and now that we got this other piece it is great. You got to hand it to Omar Minaya and Fred Wilpon for giving us every opportunity to win, that’s great.”
For more on MLB Home Plate, click here.
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