Daily Archives: May 29, 2008
At MiLB.com, minor-league guru Jonathan Mayo still predicts that the Mets will select 
OF Ike Davis from Arizona State with their first pick in the 2008 MLB Draft on June 5.
According to Mayo, “Word is the Mets are looking for some college hitters who can move quickly.”
For more on Davis, including video, go to MiLB.com, where he is described as having ‘a sweet left-handed swing that should generate more power in the future.’
From what I can gather, though they prefer to draft a college bat, the Mets are also very interested in 18–year-old SS Anthony Hewitt, who was born in Brooklyn, grew up a Yankees fan, and currently attends Salisbury School in Connecticut.
In fact, Hewitt has met with the team at Shea Stadium a few times already, where he also took batting practice.
For more on Hewitt, including video, go to MiLB.com, where he is described as, “A terrific athlete with a good arm, most feel a move to the outfield is likely so he can just go out and develop his considerable offensive tools.”
By the way, speaking of Mayo, he recently released the book Facing Clemens, which will give you a sense of what it’s like to stand in the box and face Roger Clemens.
Tagged Minors |
For all of your walk-off details, from last night’s walk-off win, check out Mets Walk-Offs and Other Minutiae.
According to Metstradamus, the Heil-O-Meter is at full throttle.
In a post to Brooklyn Met Fan, Adam writes:
“(I) was lucky enough to be in the house…and I gotta say I was super impressed by the fan energy within Big Shea. It was almost as if the Faithful decided to will positive energy back into the Mets…and I think it worked. At game’s end the ramps were playoff raucous with fans bellowing chants of “Let’s Go Mets” as we all exited Shea.”
By changing his website’s name from MetsGeek.com to RaysGeek.com, Eric Simon was mentioned in USA Today.
At ArmChairGm, Dan provides some weird facts about last night’s game, such as, “The Mets’ pitchers were better than the Mets catchers – on offense.”
Lastly, according to Kevin Kernan in the New York Post, Willie Randolph should follow his instincts, like Joe Torre.
On Tuesday, Johan Santana said he would not pitch unless the team’s media relations director, Jay Horwitz, wore the infamous bright orange, pimp-line blazer, which was left behind in the trainer’s room and last worn by Jeromy Burnitz, Cliff Floyd and Pedro Martinez.
According to Santana, the jacket would bring the team good luck.
Horwitz wore the jacket, and the Mets won the game, after which Willie Randolph told reporters that Horwitz looked like ‘a pimp.’
Last night, Horwitz was encouraged to wear the jacket again, and again the Mets won the game.
In other words, Horwitz has no choice but to wear this jacket for as long as the team keeps winning.
…i have had the pleasure of meeting jay…he’s a stand-up guy, who has been a part of the Mets family for a long time…i always appreciate his advice, and love the fact that he is ‘playing a role’ in the team’s on-field success…
Bobby Valentine will be a guest on WFAN’s mid-day show, live at 11:15 am EDT.
…my guess is that he’ll be on to plug the documentary, The Zen of Bobby V, but i certainly hope the show’s hosts talk to him about whether he is willing to return to American baseball…
…frankly, i cannot for the life of me figure out why he would be…from what i understand, he earns around $10 million a year in Japan, between his salary and endorsements, plus he is a huge icon over there…
…what’s more, he is like a cult figure among Mets fans now, too…why risk that…if he came back to the states, should he become tired of Japan, it would make more sense for him to be in television again, like he did with Baseball Tonight…actually, how cool would it be to have him and Mike Piazza, while also having Lee Mazzilli and Darryl Strawberry, occasionally in studio on SNY…a little bit of the 80s, a little bit of the late 90s…
Pedro Martinez allowed two runs on four 
hits, while striking out six, through six strong innings for Single-A St. Lucie tonight.
He tossed 82 pitches, 67 for strikes, and gave up all four hits in the fourth inning.
Martinez is scheduled as Tuesday’s starter for the Mets in San Francisco against the Giants, assuming he recovers well from tonight’s minor league start.
For more on Martinez, check out Newsday, the New York Post and the Daily News.
To watch clips from Martinez’s outing for St. Lucie, as well as his post-game discussion with reporters, click play below:
Tagged Pedro Martinez |In a win last night against the Marlins, Scott Schoeneweis, Aaron Heilman, Billy Wagner and Duaner Sanchez pitched six innings of relief, allowing just one run and one hit.
Heilman has not allowed a run in his last two appearances, during which he has struck out seven while giving up just one hit in four innings.
…sanchez was throwing hard, too…lots of fastballs…lots of life…he allowed a home run to Alfredo Amezaga, who is hardly a power hitter…amezaga swung through a hard, inside fastball on the previous pitch, but got a hold of it moments later…other than the result, sanchez looked great the entire time…
Schoeneweis, on the team, as quoted by the Daily News:
“You could pack it in and pout or you could join together and try to pick each other up and play inspired baseball. And I think the last couple of nights I think we’ve played that way. Hopefully it carries over.”
By the way, this season, the Mets three left-handed reliever, Schoeneweis, Feliciano and Wagner, have a combined for a 1.37 ERA, while striking out 45 batters in 59.2 innings pitched.
…thanks to adam k for the math…
Tagged Scott Schoeneweis |As I wrote last night, it was only fitting that Fernando Tatis would walk to the plate with the theme to Superman playing from the stadium’s speakers – because, in 
the 12th inning, with one out and the Mets down by a run, he turned on a fastball, pulled it in to the left field corner, David Wright and Carlos Beltran ran home to score two runs, and the Mets walked in to the locker room with an outstanding, much-needed, come-from-behind win.
Willie Randolph, regarding Tatis, talking to reporters after the game, said:
“You’re always happy for guys like that. He’s been around the game for a long time, and had some really good years for different teams. I just told him that when we sent him down, ‘You’re going to be back soon. I just got a feeling that you’re going to make a contribution.’ I felt in my heart that he’d be big player for us.”
To watch Kevin Burkhardt’s interview with Tatis, on SNY, just moments after the walk-off hit, click play below:
Last night had a totally different feeling compared to any other game this season – and it wasn’t just the final result. It was entire game, start to finish.
Endy Chavez, who hit a game-tying, solo home run in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, told reporters after the game:
“The ambiance over here is changing, it’s more positive. I know we have good talent down here and we just have to work hard and show it on the field.”
Since the first pitch on Tuesday night, and continued through last night, this team has a had an extra bounce in its step, and the crowd at Shea Stadium has started to feed off of it as well.
I’ve heard from lots of people who attended both last night’s game and the night before, and they all are saying the same thing: the team looked pumped, the crowd was alive and the energy was back.
Jose Reyes, who also hit a home run last night, speaking to reporters after the game, said:
“It is big, because we win the series too. To come through like that, to win that game, it’s huge for us. Tomorrow, we come with a different energy to the game…Hopefully we can continue to play like this against the Dodgers.”
What’s more, the team is smiling, joking around, laughing and looking more confident.
For instance, in his post-game discussion with reporters at his locker, Jose Reyes looked over his shoulder to find 
Ramon Castro holding an SNY microphone like a reporter. Seamlessly, a reporter asked, “So, how did Ramon Castro do tonight,” to which Reyes responded, “Good, he did good,” while laughing.
It’s nice to finally relax, exhale, laugh, have a little fun and not think about ‘drama’ for at least one night.
David Wright, on the win, talking after the win:
“It was a phenomenal job of being resilient, and answering every time they scored a run or made a big pitch we matched it. That’s the way you get that confidence back and get that swagger back…These are types of games that can jump start you, that can get you going. It spring boards you in to tomorrow…I’m extremely proud of the way we battled, never rolled over, never died.”
Billy Wagner, talking to reporters after the win:
“I mean, there was a different feeling about how we were playing. The whole game, even when we were down, we were like, you know, there’s a different
feeling here. And you can tell, guys were doing a lot of things, you were getting a lot of aggressive play.”
In other words, for the first time all season, it sounds to me like this team is starting to believe in themselves. Baseball is so much about confidence. Their problem so far, while somewhat structural, has mostly been about confidence, playing tight, worried, under pressure, and so on. Last night, they looked free, confident and determined, and that simple emotional switch could end up being the most significant difference going forward.
To watch SNY.tv’s exclusive Post Game Extra, hosted by Gary, Keith and Ron, including highlights and quotes from last night’s win against the Marlins, click play below:
