Daily Archives: March 6, 2008
The photo album on Flickr of my four days at Tradition Field has been updated.
To check the photos, click here.
…by the way, i love the Nikon D40…
…it’s the perfect camera for a person like me, who enjoys photography, but who is not a professional…if SNY is actually able to pry it from my hands, i may have to end up buying one for myself…
…on Wednesday, i did an quick Q&A about my experience in spring training as a blogger with ‘Duk of Big League Stew at Yahoo! Sports…
…first off, my mom is going to kick my behind when she sees i’m wearing just a t-shirt in the photo, and again i didn’t shave…to her, a true professional deals in razors and sport jackets, i guess…i own neither…
…second, to read the entire Q&A, click the link above…however, i’ll post the following exchange here, since i have been asked this on e-mail by lots of people over the last few days…
BLS: Until this point, you’ve been strictly a fan…You haven’t really ventured into the Mets clubhouse or the New York media…What has surprised you? What weren’t you prepared for?
Cerrone: I think what I’m noticing is that I took a lot for granted. From what the writers do to what the players do…from the outside, it seems like it just happens. Everybody can hit a curve ball and these guys just file their reports and everything works like clockwork. But there’s actually hard work involved that I didn’t realize. I just took it for granted and that’s really surprised me. Not that I didn’t think everybody worked hard, but you don’t see it and so you don’t think about it. So it seems automatic, which I guess is a credit to the whole collective work ethic.
BLS: You’re one of the first bloggers to get this kind of access during spring training. Do you feel a responsibility not to screw it up for people who might apply for credentials in the future? Do you recognize that you’re setting a precedent here?
Cerrone: (laughing) Not until you just mentioned it. Seriously, they gave me a laptop and this camera and said, ‘Just go at it.’ Look, I’m not a professional journalist. I’m not ashamed of that. It is what it is. That rubs some people the wrong way and then others are really encouraged by it … on both sides … I’ll probably find that out the hard way what the responsibility was, but I try not to think about it. At the end of the day, the blog is just my experience as a fan. If that happens to be because I write well and they want to send me to camp, that’s great. I’ll do this the same way I do everything else … as responsible as I can.
BLS: Do you have any plans to ask for access during the season?
Cerrone: I don’t know. I’m not sure how I would even feel about that…If I can bring something to the table, then yes. But I wouldn’t want to do what the reporters and columnists do because frankly, I don’t think I’d be very good at that. I don’t just want to come and try and do what they do. If I can do something that’s different, then I’d love to do it. Hopefully what I’ve done down here has been different.
Tonight’s game between the Mets and Nationals in Viera, Fla., has been canceled due to rain.
…man, now i am really glad i didn’t make the drive…
…Update…6:25 pm…
Tonight’s scheduled starter, Pedro Martinez, will instead throw a simulated game tomorrow at Tradition Field.
…i just finished watching batting practice…Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo both did some hitting from each side of the plate…beltran looked balance, hit a few balls out of the park and seemed to be in very good spirits…
…in fact, they all did…from beltran, to castillo, to Endy Chavez to Jose Valentin, who has some serious batting practice power…
…i was standing against the dugout, but after a few rounds of work, the group begin swinging for the fences…and laughed and laughed and laughed the entire time…castillo only hit one, pulling it over the right field wall, after which he dropped the bat, did a dance and praised himself…the peanut gallery seemed very impressed…
…off to the side of the main field is the bullpen, where John Maine, Jorge Sosa and other pitchers did some throwing under the watchful eyes of Rick Peterson and Guy Conti, who did not travel with the team to Viera today…
…i asked conti why Billy Wagner is throwing from a full wind up…he said it is because wagner has been pitching for many, many years, and now feels the need to change things up…plus, throwing from the wind up allows him to throw his change-up more effectively…
…the day is over…it is pouring rain…and pouring would be an understatement…word is that it is clear up in Viera, so i expect the game to get played…however, St. Lucie is soaking wet…the players who stayed back are slowly scurrying to their cars, trying to keep dry…and i am about to do the same thing…
…a reader asked me ask this…so, here you go…
According to Duaner Sanchez, his sports goggles are made by KO Sunglasses.
…there it is, the news you can’t use…
…speaking of sanchez, i sense he is very much aware of the nickname so many fans use for him…actually, it appears some on the team also refer to him as such…which is pretty funny…
…i watched Carlos Delgado take some live batting practice today…he looked good, but casual…
…he then moved to first base, and picked a few grounders…again, nothing crazy…very, very casual…
…after which he jogged to the field, shagged some balls and stopped to talk with Darryl Strawberry for a few minutes…
…they did a lot of laughing…
…carlos then moved to the sideline to do some light jogging…
…i asked him how he felt, and he gave the standard, “I feel good,” which is better than not saying it at all…
…Pedro Martinez is driving a beautiful, jet black, Aston Martin convertible…
…if that wasn’t cool enough, he has his jersey number, 45, in the middle of all four tire rims…
…i think this may be among the coolest things i have ever seen…and i’m not even a big car guy, but cool is cool…and that is damn cool…well done, pedro…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |…i took a walk to the minor-league complex this morning, and noticed Joe Hietpas, who had been with the team as a catcher, converted to a pitcher, and was a minor-league free agent this past off-season…he is back in camp and is wearing No. 99…
…i want to see him do well, because i love the story of a no-hit catcher eventually making the big leagues as a knuckle baller…
Tagged Minors |Omar Minaya just talked with reporters from the dugout.
…to give a sense, he sits in the dugout on the bench, surrounded by 20 reporters and a camera from SNY…in this case, a reporter sat to his left and to his right, as well…it’s an old bit to them, but for me it was interesting to see…
…obviously, there were a lot of questions about who is hurt, when will they be ready, and so on…
According to Minaya, Moises Alou will have surgery and should be on a bike roughly one week later, “hopefully.” He is expected to be back in four to six weeks, as had been reporters yesterday.
Minaya said, although he has already identified a few teams who have a surplus of outfielders, if he were to make a trade it would be for a player who is not an every-day guy like Alou – but who is better than a guy like Angel Pagan – and that it would likely be towards the end of the spring, not now.
Of course, it was pointed out to him that Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds are still on the market, to which he smiled and said, “Well, we are happy with the guys we have.”
In terms of people like Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo, i.e., guys in camp who had off-season surgery, the team prefers not to rush them. The goal, as he pointed out, is for every player to be ready for opening day.
Lastly, when pressed on the issue, he said he would only begin to get worried about the team’s injuries if this is all still going on during the last week of camp.
…he can say that all he wants, but i sense from his body language and reptitive rhetoric that he knows the difficult situation this team could be in when the bell rings on opening day…and beyond…
According to the list in the clubhouse, Marlon Anderson and Damion Easley travel with the team to Viera tonight.
…that’s two who are back…let’s keep it coming…
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