Johan Santana is profiled and featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 2008 
Spring Training Issue.
To read the online column, go to SI.com, which reads: “Happy Days: Johan Santana Lifts the Mets Without Throwing a Pitch”
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…first off, hats off to Lee Jenkins, who is the author of the column, and who use to cover the Mets for the New York Times back when i first started MetsBlog.com…lee was always super supportive of this site…he’s an outstanding writer, which i have said time and again, and i’m glad to see him in SI…
…second, lee is right…it’s amazing how just one acquisition helped lift the spirits of this franchise, from ownership to the fans…so much so, that i still can’t help but wonder what might have happened had santana not been traded to the Mets…and worse, been traded to the Yankees…fortunately, we’ll never know…
{ 65 comments }
Its cause we can’t wait for baseball. Lets go mets
I can wait. I’m a little disappointed MLB chose to re-use the same spring-training caps from last season. The flaps over the ears confuse me.
two words SI curse
There is no such thing as a curse. Don’t believe the hype.
Some curses are more compelling than others. The most compelling curse–in my opinion–centers around a car.
The vehicle, in which, James Dean killed himself had a cursed history long after Dean’s death (see wiki).
at least hes not on the cover of madden, then id be worried
Curses are made to be broken!
Just need a little black cat to prance out in front of the visitors dugout while the Phillies are in town….
(Isn’t a Philly, a girl horse? So, they are the Phil. Girl Horses?
Who came up with that?)
aw crap, we’re screwed! Thanks, SI
ya 2 bad the season doesnt start for another 2 months
curses are BS!
oh you must be the guy from ESPN who works with Joe Morgan but at this exact second I can’t recall but will in like 3 minutes.
Hey, do ya remember that last year, we had that goofy cover with Omar and the Diversity Crew? You all know what happened after that.
Yeah, the SI cover curse *really* killed the NY Football Giants.
Oh…wait.
I was saying that before and after the Super Bowl… I’d say most teams that win championships are on an SI cover at some point during the season in which they win.
That being said, Let’s Go Mets!!!
I love your witty screenname. It’s just like the cereal.
I rather look at the SI swimsuit edition.
Is Johan in body paint or a swimsuit???
hopefully youre a girl
Why? Got a problem with alternative lifestyles? & I was gonna ask u out.
no youre right and I don’t (even if youre joking). my bad on that.
The idea of a curse will make it that much sweeter when we win the World Series
“that wasn’t rain,” Said Rick Peterson, “that was healing water”
lol, this guys is friggin hilarious…EVERYTHING is some sorta similie or metaphor. If he stays on for years to come, he’s gonna go down in Mets folklore, i’m tellin u…this guy with his maps for finding ways, and his noah’s arcs, and healing waters…he’s gotta write a book
Don’t forget this one from later in the article:
“Peterson read Eastern philosophy and drew sketches of his players.”
Wasn’t Dice-K on the cover of the baseball preview issue last year? champion. And if I recall correctly, Pujols was on the cover of the baseball preview the year before, but I don’t want to talk about how the Cardinals did on ‘06.
“use to” > useD to
when does this issue come out? or is it out already?
hits newsstands Thursday.
This isn’t the preview, but your point is right on. For good measure, last year’s Spring Training issue featured the Cubs and prized acquisitions Lou Piniella and Alfonso Soriano. They were ‘cursed’ with a division title.
No, no curse…just another for the collection!
Btw – not only has Johan lifted the Mets spirits without throwing a pitch, but he’s also got Yammerin’ Hank Steinbrenner sqiriming before the calendar hits March. This guy is going to make us all remember the George that reigned from 1973 through October 1996….
“The Bronx Zoo II; The Sequal”
Yeah, Hank is definitely getting all panicky. Omar should call him up and tell him Santana for A-Rod and Cano.
Peyton Manning was on the cover of SI with the headline “Yes He Can” (or something similar) before the Super Bowl.
Jimmy Rollins was on the cover in early October with the headline “Why Rollins is the MVP”.
Papelbon was on the cover the week after Rollins.
Giants were on the cover 2 weeks before the Super Bowl this year.
How’d it work for those guys? If there was a jinx, it’d have to be true every single time.
In another article in SI, they already are calling Manny Acta one the top 5 managers in baseball…
“Acta is a competitive advantage for the Nationals, a rare manager who thinks deeply about baseball, about his roster, and about every move he makes. That advantage is currently wasted on a roster that has about 65 wins in it, so you can’t expect miracles. The hope is that the talent base grows to match Acta’s talents before the organization decides to “make a change” for the sake of doing so. He’s already one of the five best managers in baseball.”
Willie MUST win a pennant at the min to keep his job for 2009
how is he one of the five best managers in baseball and only has one year of managing experience? Those must be some good prerequisites.
does anyone think that the dancing in the dugout must end?
reyes has vowed to stop or at least tone it down.
no…not if they’re winning/struggling…
*not struggling
The bugs on the ground do, almost certainly.
Exactly Dwright, its okay when your team is rolling, but just know when to tone it down. I like to see Chad Johnson celebrate, and it is all well and good when they win, but it looks silly when these guys are celebrating on crappy losing teams.
Manny’s name is on the door over at CitiField
Should it be Johan or Omar on the cover? Last year was not the worst scenerio, the Mets played a good season and although disappointing at the end, I still remained confident in my team to stay at a competitive level.
Now with the acquisition of a Johan pitching caliber to our rotation, Im still pinching myself and realize the greatness he brings to an already above average well rounded team.
The more I think about the reason it was even possible to add Santana to the Met salary was by adding the low cost starting position players in Scheidner and Church . I always liked church and recognized his capacity to improve, but to be honest, never cared for Scheider. Well Im very confident in Omar’s judgment and recognition because of him being so familiar with the expos organization and opting to promote Schiener and Church from the AAA Nationals (expos).
Giving up on Mildridge? Well he was out of options and not ready for the big leauges. Mildridge brings value to a club when he contributes for the time he’s signed at a low salary. Mildredge needs time to find his way and will contribute for a AAA team, and the one available is the Nationals.
Very petty. And to call Milledge the incorrect name is incorrect.
The arrival of Johan Santana has been long awaited by almost every New Yorker, let alone sport fan. To top it all of he is headed to the New York Mets, the underdog team in New York. The Mets aquired him for practically nothing. With the aquisition of Santana “The Mets are the team to beat in the NL East”.
your English is geting better and bettter, Carlos. How’s your mole?
For anyone interested:
I’m doing an all questions answered thread at my blog http://www.metsprospectus.blogspot.com
I’ll answer any questions on Mets Prospects, or even the major league club/ future if you want.
everybody thinks you are Paul Loduca. Tell the world that you are really him.
No offense, but the fact that you have written Milledge, Gomez, and Pelfrey off as failures makes me question whether I ought to even keep reading. If you remember, Reyes was awful when he was first called up. If this guy is tearing up the minors, and Alou goes down for 6 weeks, what do you do? Play Ben Johnson? Endy Chavez? Angel PAgan? No thank you. You cant rush him, but you cant overprotect him if he is clearly ready. You also seem to think that AAA is a more talented level then AA, which really isnt the case. AA is mostly younger up and comers, while AAA is a lot of veterans not good enough to play in the bigs anymore (Jose Lima, Chan Ho Park, Geremi Gonzalez, etc.). Too say they should not even entertain the thought of calling up Martinez until 2010 is silly. You monitor the situation.
yanks didn’t need santana. they have an hgh-pumped pettitte.
Yanks needed Santana because:
1) Wang lost his arbitraion case. He is angry and feels degraded.
2) Pettitte feels degraded by HGH stuff.
3) Mussina Feels degraded by being used in a dimished role (last year) and having Ian Kennedy waiting in the wings with his exact motion.
4) Phil Hughes is hit or miss (but i’m neutral on him now).
5) Who is their number 5? It’s never gonna be Joba.
Furthermore;
Arod can’t ptich.
LETS
go
METs. 08
I was just going to say what somebody else said. Dice K was on the cover last year and he did pretty well (winning a world series). My favorite issues of SI is when they have the preview for baseball, football, and basketball — really the only 3 I buy all year. I can not wait til Friday, I’ll definitely be picking up this one. (Let’s hope they pick us to win the division!)
This isnt the baseball preview issue like you are thinking. Its the Spring Training issue. I havent seen it yet, but I dont think it ranks the teams, players, etc.
Why pay full sticker price at the store. Get a subscription.
It’s only a curse if you believe in it…
You gotta believe…
just not in that..
The SI curse is baloney, or Bologna, if you prefer. The Madden curse? Now THAT’S a curse.
Exactly!
People think Santana is so special. How much appeal would he have lost if he was 30 now? Does our society have a problem with 30? Why is Yahoo (Stock Ticker: YHOO) stuck at 29 (for days)?
I really can not wait until the season starts. Just to think that the first Spring Training game is just a week away excites me. This team has potential to be great. Better than the 06′ team, and that’s saying a lot.
When we get to the year ‘10 — what are we going to call it? There just is no abbreviating 2010. You can’t say, back in ‘10 like you say back in ‘08. We will have to wait til the 20’s until we can stop saying, “back in twenty- ____.”
So I love your screenname. It takes us from Shea, to Citi, to a new decade with a new way of saying the year.
Very Progressive.
more importantly, what are we gonna call this decade when we look back on it? The O’s? That Aught’s? The Two Thousands? The Boston Got Lucky Years? The Bushies? Seriously people, this needs an answer…
not be a smarta** but people alread call it the 2000’s
The Savior of Port St. Lucie! I know Johan is from Venezuela, but maybe we should refer to him as “El Salvador”!
Boooooo…
We can call it the age of Johan.
Seriously like if Hilary wins the election, people in 100 years will look back and say, the first female president was elected during the age of Johan.
I’m still so frustrated and I know folks are probably getting frustrated with me regarding these semantics. I just think “expecting” to win the World Series sounds too “all knowing” – obviously it raises the “expectations”. Yes, we should accept no less than that goal from the NY Mets and should accept no less than for them to do everything they can to achieve that goal. And yesterday, maybe I didn’t express myself clearly, but in regards to confidence, there was a quote from Billy Wagner where he nails it in saying that the Mets were overconfident and on autopilot. I’m just a bit concerned that these guys are either thinking that now that they’ve got Santana, they have this wrapped up or that deep down they are all have such totally destroyed psyches that this is the only way that they can try to compensate, by making stupid comments. Look Beltran is a good guy and a great player – no doubt. It’s good that they’re all thinking positively. Santana was the one who knew what to say and I commend him for that:. “He insists that the Philadelphia Phillies are still the favorites to win the National League East this season, while acknowledging that the Mets are uniquely motivated.”
A great article that I will treasure!
Cver, I see where youre commin from… Yesterday you kind of freaked out but its understandable. I love the confidence this team has now and please believe Im fully confident in this team as well but the games are played on the field and not on paper. Its a Looooong season… I was really surprised to see posters talking World Series.. Cmon people.. If thats initiative for other teams to want to beat us harder than I dont know what it is… Teams and the media want so badly for us to eat our words. I just hope when these guys get in a slump (Which will happen. Baseball is a game of failure), they wont panic…
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