middayLinks: Gum, Gooden, Angel, Reyes
First, at Pick Me Up Some Mets, Zoe provides a few photos and video from Luis Castillo’s Bubblegate.
According to this MySpace page, “Joe Smith is God.”
…hat tip to Steve Popper’s Amazin Stories for the link…
Next, in a lengthy – but outstanding – column for the New York Post, Kevin Kernan catches up with Dwight 
Gooden and his son, Dwight Jr., who is working to start a rap career with the help of his father.
Kernan writes of Gooden: “Life consists of helping Dwight Jr. with his music career, going to his daughter’s high school softball games, his sons’ Little League, AAU baseball and basketball games, helping the teams out, and his grandson’s T-ball games and staying straight…He begins each day with meditation to stay calm.”
Also in the New York Post, Bart Hubbach provides a profile of Angel Pagan, who entered the day batting .400 this spring.
In the Journal News, John Delcos writes about Jose Reyes, and the shortstop’s new, more professional approach to baseball, while talking with David Wright, Willie Randolph, Tony Bernazard and Jerry Manuel, who is quoted as saying:
“Last year was a painful time for him, but growth can sometimes be painful. He’s going to be better for it. You can see it with him now. He seems to have a renewed focus.”
Lastly, in a post to MLB.com, Marty Noble catches up with 1B Mike Carp, who is currently in minor league camp.
