Monthly Archives: March 2008
The Mets defeated the Marlins by the score of 7 to 2 in Miami.
For a complete box score, click here.
To watch 
‘s exclusive Post-Game Extra with Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen, click here.
…santana was outstanding…yes, i was thinking and talking about a potential no-hitter as early as the first out…i’m sorry, i can’t help myself…the guy just has such strong command of all of his pitches, which i think may actually have been helped out by the wind swirling through the stadium…hey, whatever works…he’s a real ace…it’s almost hard to believe…
…David Wright, who hit a three-run double, already has the eye of the tiger…which i like…
…it was great to see Angel Pagan and Ryan Church step up early, both of whom drove in a run while batting back to back in the order…i thought church couldn’t to hit lefties…guess not…
…Gary Cohen painfully and appropriately referred to the Phillies as the National League East Champions, after which he said, “If that doesn’t make you sick, I don’t know what will.”…classic, gary…absolutely classic…
…speaking of the booth, i guess Keith Hernandez will rock the zip even during the regular season…i’m impressed…he actually looks a bit like my dad with his hair that way, which is weird…
…lastly, the bullpen looked great, aside from Matt Wise, who allowed two hits and got just one out…otherwise, Jorge Sosa had his slider rocking, Aaron Heilman looked like a closer and acted as such, and Scott Schoenweiss did what he should only be doing all season, which is pitch to and get out left-handed hitters…
…nice win…strong start…keep it going…
The Game :
The Mets kick off the 2008 season on the road with a series against the last team they faced in 2007, the Florida Marlins, starting at 4:25 pm EDT.
The Lineup :
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- LF Angel Pagan
- RF Ryan Church
- C Brian Schneider
- SP Johan Santana
The Pitchers :
LHP Johan Santana makes his regular season debut for the Mets. Santana was 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA in 33 starts with the Twins last season. This is the third consecutive Opening Day start for Santana. He won his only career start at Dolphin Stadium last season (June 24th) allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits over 6 IP while striking out seven and walking one. Santana had a 3.15 ERA in five spring training starts.
LHP Mark Hendrickson gets the Opening Day nod for the Marlins, the first Opening Day start of his career. Hendrickson was 4-8 with a 5.21 ERA in 122.2 IP for the Dodgers last season. He was signed by the Marlins as a free-agent. Hendrickson has two career appearances vs. the Mets, both in relief. He had a 1.69 ERA in 16 IP this spring.
The Notes :
The Mets are 29-17 on Opening Day — the best winning percentage of any team.
The only previous Opening Day meeting between the Mets and Marlins was on April 5, 1999 — the Marlins defeated the Mets 6-to-2 — current Met and former Marlin 2B Luis Castillo went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
The Mets are 12-10 all-time in season openers on the road.
Todd Hundley and Darryl Strawberry are the all-time Met leaders in home runs on Opening Day, with four each.
Former Met and Marlin IF/OF Jeff Conine will throw out this afternoon’s ceremonial first pitch.
The Bleachers :
For a live chat, head over to the Hot Foot Bleachers.
…so, the name discussed on this blog incessantly over the winter finally makes his regular season debut…that said, all the punditry takes a break today…opening day is a special occassion to just sit back and enjoy baseball’s return…Johan Santana’s debut is just icing on the cake as far as i’m concerned…albeit, expensive icing…
…enjoy, and as always, let’s go mets…
…i will soon be heading over to Butterfield 8, where more than 100 readers of this site will gather to watch the Mets take on the Marlins in Game 1 of 162…i’m actually nervous that there may not be enough room…
…honestly, i am a lot more excited for today’s game than i thought i would be…i mean, i love opening day…who doesn’t…but this is a different level of excitement…sure, having had the opportunity to see the intro SNY will air before today’s game helped…seriously, do not miss it…i watched it, and felt like i just received a talking to from General Patton…regardless, i feel like today is the day we can finally start turning the page on last year…i actually had a hard time sleeping last night, from being a bit anxious, and i don’t even play on the team…
Of the 5,000 fans who responded to a poll on MetsBlog.com last week, 40 
percent said, “At least advance to the World Series,” when asked to give a level of success that will satisfy expectations in 2008.
Meanwhile, 13 percent said, “Win or World Series or bust.”
…in other words, more than half of the fans who responded expect the team to make the world series…that’s a lot…it’s not silly-Yankee talk, in which the overwhelming majority of Yankee fans expect a ring, end of story…but, for a fan base that has not been to a world series seven and a half years, it worries me a bit when more than half may expect an appearance now…
…that said, i understand why this is the case, since it is the naturally progression when you consider the script since 2005…
Lastly, according to the same poll, 27 percent said, “At least advance to the NLCS,” which is where 2006 ended, while 17 percent will happy with an NL East pennant.
…personally, i just expect the team to play as hard as they can and give 100 percent…because, if they do that, they’ll win…
For more on expectations, check out Ted Berg’s latest column at SNY.tv, in which he writes, “The only thing I know I’ve learned in 20 years of following baseball is that I shouldn’t expect anything.”
…like i did last year at MetsBlog.com, i asked a collection of bloggers and columnists to help answer a series of Under-Over Scenarios for 2008…
…this year, i am happy to feature answers from two of MetsBlog’s guest bloggers, Regis Courtemance and Mike Nichols, as well as Ken Rosenthal from FoxSports.com, Buster Olney from ESPN.com, Bob 
Klapisch from the Bergen Record and Ted Berg from SNY…
1) On-field, bench-clearing brawls between the Mets and Phillies: 1.5
Over: Buster Olney
Under: Ken Rosenthal
Under: Bob Klapisch
Under: Ted Berg
Under: Matthew Cerrone
Under: Regis Courtemanche
Under: Mike Nichols
…i like it, buster…i like it…i would like to vote the over as well, but i just don’t think it’s going to happen…but i like the way you think…
2) Number of starts made by Orlando Hernandez for the Mets: 20.5
Under: Buster Olney
Under: Ken Rosenthal
Under: Bob Klapisch
Under: Ted Berg
Under: Matthew Cerrone
Under: Regis Courtemanche
Under: Mike Nichols
…yikes…none of us think he’ll start more than 20 games, which is basically another way of saying he’ll be hurt a lot more than last season…carpe diem, Mike Pelfrey…
3) Number of wins for John Maine: 15.5
Under: Ken Rosenthal
Over: Buster Olney
Over: Bob Klapisch
Over: Ted Berg
Over: Matthew Cerrone
Over: Regis Courtemanche
Over: Mike Nichols
…to me, the question is more about whether he’ll hold up during the dog days of summer, which clobbered him last season…reports suggest maine is stronger, plus he has all of last season, for better or worse, under his belt…he’s a smart kid, who’ll listen to Rick Peterson…if he stays healthy and focused, he 
should breeze to 15…
4) Johan Santana’s ERA: 3.00
Under: Bob Klapisch
Under: Matthew Cerrone
Under: Ted Berg
Under: Regis Courtemanche
Over: Ken Rosenthal
Over: Buster Olney
Over: Mike Nichols
5) Number of days Pedro Martinez will spend on the disabled list: 15.5
Over: Buster Olney
Over: Ken Rosenthal
Over: Teg Berg
Over: Regis Courtemance
Under: Bob Klapisch
Under: Matthew Cerrone
Under: Mike Nichols
…i was on the fence with this, and would probably have said, had klapisch not said less…because klapisch watched pedro very closely, and seems to have a better handle on what make the man tick than any one else…so, if 
klap says less, i’m saying less…i hope he’s right…
6) Controversies surrounding Billy Wagner, because of comments made during his weekly appearance on ESPN 1050: 2.5
Over: Buster Olney
Over: Ken Rosenthal
Over: Bob Klapisch
Over: Ted Berg
Over: Matthew Cerrone
Over: Regis Courtemanche
Over: Mike Nichols
…i look forward to these interviews, because i expect them to be a fairly clear window in to what is happening in the locker room…which is probably why we all said, ‘Over.’…
7) End-of-year home run total for Carlos Delgado: 25
Over: Ted Berg
Over: Regis Courtemance
Over: Mike Nichols
Under: Matthew Cerrone
Under: Ken Rosenthal
Under: Bob Klapisch
Under: Buster Olney
…i just don’t trust his hip…i think it’s going to bother him all season, at least to the extent that it does not allow him breathing room to get in to some good habits…i hope i am wrong…
8] Total Mets wins: 92.5
Over: Bob Klapisch
Over: Matthew Cerrone
Over: Ted Berg
Over: Regis Courtemance
Over: Mike Nichols
Under: Buster Olney
Under: Ken Rosenthal
…in the end, this is all that matters right…brawls, controversies, era’s, etc, who cares…win more than 92 games, make the playoffs and work hard to win a ring…that’s what counts…good luck, guys…
Thank you to Bob Klapisch, who covers the Mets for the Bergen Record; Buster Olney, who writes a fantastic blog for ESPN.com, among other things; Ken Rosenthal, a.k.a., the one-man rumor mill, from FoxSports.com; Ted Berg, who reports on the Mets for SNY.tv; and, of course, Mike Nichols and Regis Courtemenche from MetsBlog.com.
Willie Randolph has issued a statement to his team’s fans, via Mets.com’s fan newsletter.
Among other things, Randolph says:
Tagged Willie Randolph |Our team is ready to go. That’s the message I want to send to you Mets fans as we prepare for today’s opener in South Florida. The goal this year is to make our final season at Shea something special and I think we can…We all hated the way last year ended for us. For 98 percent of the season we were the best team in our division, but we let it slip away. When I spoke to the team this spring I didn’t look backwards that much, I tried to look forward so we can all learn from what happened. The lesson is simple: don’t take anything for granted and don’t expect things to happen just because you think they will.
The season is here. It’s time to make it happen.
Hope to see you back at Shea in April,
Willie Randolph
Starting today, on Ch. 98, Comcast will finally add 
to it’s lineup in the Hartford area.
Meanwhile, Cox Communications in Connecticut continues to refuse SNY, denying thousands of Mets fans the chance to watch the team…again.
…what’s worse, from what i recall during my time in Middletown, CT, most of CT is subject to blackout rules on MLB Extra Innings, so signing up on MLB.com, etc, does not work either…basically, if you live in this part of CT, you roll craps at every turn…
For more information on Cox, SNY and CT, go here, where a group of local fans are doing what they can to get their cable provider to change course.
Tagged SNY |…last season, i railed against Shea Stadium’s decision to steal from the Red Sox and force Sweet Caroline down our throats during the eighth inning of every game…you know the rant…if not, go here…or don’t, because it will hopefully all be a thing of the past thanks to the following:
This season, the Mets ask you to vote at MLB.com and answer the following question:
“What sing-a-long song should the Mets play during the eighth inning in the final season at Shea?”
…personally, i think there is way, way too much music played at Shea Stadium as it is…also, the poll question implies that having a sing-a-long is some sort of requirement…last i checked, baseball can be played without a sing-a-long…in fact, i prefer song-less baseball…but that’s just me, i guess…
…nevertheless, if a sing-along must occur, i prefer they stick with Meet the Mets, as they do earlier in the game, and leave it at that…end of story…it’s the only song that matters…
…so, i encourage you to submit Meet the Mets in the Other Option category, just to reinforce the point…frankly, i’d rather sing Meet the Mets twice, then any of the songs on the prepared list…
To vote, go here, and do so by noon on Monday, April 7, when the voting booth closes.
Tagged Shea Stadium |Of the 19 experts at ESPN.com, from Steve Phillips to Jayson Stark 
to Peter Gammons to Buster Olney, 10 pick the Mets to win the National League East, while five pick the Mets to win the Wild Card.
Of the nine who did not pick the Mets to win the division, only two picked the Phillies while the rest chose the Braves.
Meanwhile, of the 15 who pick the Mets to make the post-season, only seven pick the Mets to make it to the World Series, of whom only one – Enrique Rojas – picks the Mets to win it all.
Also, Gammons, Rob Neyer, Bob Klapisch and six others pick David Wright to win the National League MVP – and of the 19, 13 pick Santana to win the National League CY Young.
…honestly, i am far more worried about the Braves, who have a very solid, experienced pitching staff, and a nice balance of young talent and veterans in the field…and until Bobby Cox retires, i will never sleep on his ability to drive me crazy…
…that said, i believe the Mets have the best team in the division, and if they play the way they are capable, they should be able to stave off the other four teams…
…as for the individual awards, they don’t mean a whole lot to me as a fan of the team…that said, i’d be very happy for wright, very, very happy if he wins the MVP, and if santana does not at least contend for the CY Young, well, then something went very wrong…
Naturally, with a new season set to begin later today, and with 182 days since the final game of last season, the Daily News, Newsday and New York Post remember ‘The Collapse.’
David Wright, speaking about ‘The Collapse,’ as quoted by Steve Popper in the Bergen Record:
“It’s in the past. There’s nothing we
can do about it. Unfortunately, it’s something that is on the majority of guys in here’s résumé. But, we have to move forward and look forward to 2008. It’s got to be a learning experience so when we get down to the wire this year, we use what we learned last year and how we failed last year as a positive for us.”
…the only way the Mets will stifle talk of last season will be to plow through the first month’s worth of games…a strong start will put every one at ease…every one…however, a rocky start will be like ripping the scab of an old wound…it will be seen as the continuation of a narrative, which started last summer, as opposed to a fresh beginning, which is what we all feel and are hoping for today…
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