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About This Club

A public club to discuss all things baseball.
  1. What's new in this club
  2. For reasons that go way beyond not having high expectations for the team this year I’d consider myself more a casual kind of Mets/baseball fan. That being said I always enjoy the first spring training games. It’s more a reminder to me Spring is near, the days get longer, and more sunlight. This winter was rough for me. I got Covid twice during it. Even an RN friend wasn’t aware you can get it under 90 days from onsets. So yeah bring on baseball. LGM!!
  3. @Gugny @SinceThe70s @Another Fan First Spring Training game of the year for our Mets! At Port St. Lucie vs. St. Louis 1:10 PM EST. An official NY Mets podcast dropped for the first time today. It's called 'Meet At The Apple'. First episode is hosted by Mets play-by-play man Gary Cohen and he interviews owner Steve Cohen on a number of topics including Pete Alonso. This is a good listen and I would recommend it, fellas. Here are the details of the podcast going forward: "Meet at the Apple with your hosts Vito Calise (@VitoFCalise) and Jonathan Baron (@JMB9191) every Monday and Thursday with exclusive access to the Mets! This is not your everyday baseball podcast; you can get the stats anywhere… Here you’ll get an inside look into the players you love to watch beyond the diamond highlighted by a weekly appearance by Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza!" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/meet-at-the-apple-new-york-mets-official-podcast/id1732076793 LGM!!!
  4. Always appreciate your perspective - didn't come off as argumentative at all. I have no issue with differing opinions, actually just the opposite - love to hear them. Sometimes they change my perspective, sometimes not.
  5. I still think they are just doing their due diligence and nothing will come of it but we'll see. I just think that they need someone like that, if they really want to vie for a WC spot. If they're really willing to punt on the playoffs in 2024 then I'm fine rolling with Vientos, Alvarez (on non-catching days), Marte (if he's ever healthy), & whomever else. I am good with your rotating preference, as well, I just want another stick in the lineup to provide some much needed pop. I apologize, if I was not clear...I was not trying to be argumentative. BTW, look at Martinez' stats for the last couple of years. He is still playing at a very high level, despite an off year a few seasons ago. I would be happy if they signed him but not crestfallen if they didn't. Who knows, if they sign him, he may continue the long legacy of hyped FA acquisitions who don't live up to their billing and turn into a Met 'JAG'. In any event, pitchers and catchers report this coming Monday! LGM!
  6. @ExWNYer Looks like Mets are in line with your thinking regarding DH: https://nypost.com/2024/02/06/sports/mets-talking-with-j-d-martinez-as-possible-dh-option/
  7. Awesome, thanks for sharing! I meant to respond sooner but life intervened. Looking forward to hearing about your day at PNC. That's top-of-list of the many stadiums I've never been to. As to feeling bad/guilty: another one of my lines after my boys chose to follow my Bills fanhood was that it was a form of child abuse that I'm ashamed of. They grew up during the drought. But we watched the Dalton/Boyd play together and it was amazing and by and large it's been a fun ride ever since.
  8. I looked it up Tom was a broadcaster for the Yankees from 1989 to 1993 You were right about McCarver he was a broadcaster for them from 1999 to 2001 but I have zero memory of that at all
  9. My dad never forced the Buffalo teams on us, we were just born into it like most WNYers. Likewise, I never forced my sons to follow my teams but I am thankful that they chose to cheer for the Bills, Sabres, & Mets. They have never lived a day in WNY...born and bred in VA...but they are forever tethered to WNY and the familial roots on my side of the family. It is great to have something that will always bond us no matter where life takes them. They have been to several Bills games at the stadium and this past season we went to see them at FedEx for the beat down of the Washington FootballCommanderSkins. Last hockey season. my younger son & I went to Raleigh to see the Sabres play the Hurricanes (his idea). This year, we will all take in our first Mets game together at PNC Park in Pittsburgh over the 4th of July when we make our annual pilgrimage to Jamestown to visit my aunt (Dad's sis) & uncle. While I love that we all root for the same teams. I also feel bad/guilty sometimes knowing that they are in for a lifetime of heartache like their old man and late grandpa...then I tell myself that it builds character. 😉
  10. I think you're right about Seaver, but that synapse isn't firing completely for me so I can't say for sure Did McCarver also go from the Mets booth to the Yankees? I credit McCarver for teaching me so much about the game. But I grew tired of him. He was like a pit bull on a soup bone. In the 8th inning he'd still be harping on something that happened in the 2nd inning.
  11. I know I found out from you as well WFAN doesn't carry the Mets anymore. I was inquiring why they don't have the weekly manager segment they used to have. You know Mike and the Dog and then just Mike. I know Tom Seaver did commentary on some Mets game in the 90s but I want to say he did some Yankees games as well on WB. I kind of vaguely recall that.
  12. For sure Mets were on WOR/9 and Yankees were on WPIX/11 for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when it flipped but these days when the Mets are on broadcast they are on WPIX/11. It's something I've never gotten used to. I grew up with Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner and Lindsey Nelson. Yankees had Phil 'Scooter' Rizzuto and Bill White. My favorite Scooter story is that he would score the games and at some point it came out that one of his notations was WW. When asked he said it stood for Wasn't Watching.
  13. The early 90s is when I started watching. Yeah I recall it was WOR or Channel 9 based out of Secaucus, New Jersey for some games. The rest of the games were on Sports Channel NY which also had the Nets/Devils on it here in New Jersey. And similar to you that was a premium channel back then that our household didn't have. Ironically I learned much about baseball watching the Yankees as MSG was carried in our cable plan. So most following the Mets back then came from listening to Bob Murphy back then. I think there was a year or two the Mets were on WB11 for some games. That was always primarily a Yankees station. It wasn't until 2006 when the Mets premiered the SNY station that came in our household I could watch all the games. Or at least had the option
  14. TBH, I think both approaches are fine depending on the roster make up and who's available. For this Mets team I like the DH by committee route but that may be in part because I'm scarred by Ruf/Vogie. I never pushed the Bills on my kids, I figured since we are out of market that wasn't fair to them. I'm thrilled that they chose them anyway. But when it comes to baseball the line I used was "You can root for any baseball team you want - as long as it's the Mets".
  15. Did this change over the years? It was WOR back in the day. My dad was from Dunkirk and I grew up in WNY as a kid. My dad is the reason my brother & I grew up as Bills and Sabres fans. He wasn't really into baseball but became a Mets fan in the '80s because of my brother and me. We were in Virginia by then (his job took us here). That was the infancy of cable and we had WOR for the Mets games and could also see them play the Cubs on WGN and the Braves on TBS. Those games were all televised over cable, if your subscription included those channels. Those were the days. In any event, I always thought it was cool that not only did our dad influence our choice in sports teams but we also influenced his. RIP, Dad.
  16. So was anything other than being a Mets fans for your son unacceptable? Lol. My Dad certainly played a part in me liking the Mets. And the Bills for that matter. He was a big Met fan since the start of the team in 1962 and I have fond memories of watching the games on Channel 9 UPN with him as a kid listening to Ralph Kiner. As I'm approaching middle age now the Mets are one of the safe topics if you will my Dad and I touch on. Hell, in all our conversations over the years the Mets are probably the #1 topic we've touched on. I'll just stay there's other things going on in the world we might disagree upon but the Mets are always a safe topic if you will. He's not nearly the fan that he used to be but he's still interested in them for better or worse.
  17. Noted. We disagree on how to handle DH and that's fine.
  18. Didn't think you were. All I've been suggesting is that I think with the right roster you don't necessarily need to use one roster spot solely for DH. I was using Bobby V as an example of a guy who I think could get the most out of the DH position in that scenario.
  19. I loved Bobby V. I'm not debating his managerial skills.
  20. Yikes. IMO bullpens these days are pretty much handled the same way he handled them - although obviously bullpens are taxed more these days. But that aside I was referring to his use of positional players. His use of the rotation and bullpen was entirely predictable (except for that time he left Leiter in an inning too long), his lineups not so much. Which is kind of how analytics treat lineups these days - put the best lineup out there each night based on matchups.
  21. And he did it over 20 years ago. For better or worse, the game has changed. Rotations and bullpens weren't handled the same as they are now either.
  22. JMO but a manager like Bobby Valentine would not only make the bolded realistic but help the team thrive. Hell, he did it without a DH.
  23. I actually said, "Go out and at least sign a one or two year stop gap." This year would be the one year. Two would have more than likely been a team or player option to get someone like Turner or Martinez to sign. One year would have been my preference and then reset/reassess for 2025. It's not realistic to think that they will just constantly rotate and decide on game day. Nobody has it every day but it's standard for a guy to more or less hold it down like any other position. They plan on that guy being Vientos this year whether or not we like or agree with it and I'm sure Alvarez will get some ABs there on days he's not catching, as he should.
  24. Fair enough, you did mention Soler previously, but you also mentioned Turner as a two year stopgap, thus my question to you. I think my problem is I don't see DH as a position that needs a long term solution. And I have no interest in developing Vientos (or anyone else for that matter) as a DH. Much easier to sign a proven vet that can't field. My preference is to not have a guy that's designated as the designated hitter. Better if we we have enough depth and positional flexibility to decide who the DH is on game day. Only way I change that opinion is for a guy like David Ortiz or Edgar Martinez. I could be wrong, but I think those guys are rare.
  25. "Signing an aging proven vet hitter to a high end contract" is exactly the opposite of what I meant by properly addressing the position. That is a stop gap, as were Ruf and Vogelbach. There was absolutely no excuse to have those two at DH last year on what was billed as a WS contender. None. That was a travesty and they were negligent in addressing the position. So, yeah, it was ignored. Maybe we don't actually disagree and it's just a matter of semantics, I don't know. Right now, Vientos is just Ruf and Vogelbach with position flexibility. If he turns in another near .205 year, then he is obviously not the solution. If he rakes then great, the problem may be solved. If not, it had better be fixed one way or another in 2025, if that really is the year they plan to "go all in". I said I'm fine with them using him this year, if they are retooling and don't really plan to compete but they've sent mixed messages. They don't want to go all in but they want to be competitive, whatever that means. As currently constituted, they are set up to be no more than the last WC at best if everything breaks their way. Not likely but hopefully the journey turns out to be an entertaining one. I said in my original post that my preference was Soler, a younger guy with power and the capability to hit for some average. At least someone of that ilk who can provide some lineup protection for Alonso. They are still woefully short on power.
  26. So what would constitute addressing DH properly? Signing an aging proven vet hitter to a high end contract? If so, presumably it's someone who can hit righties and lefties? BTW, not challenging you, just picking your brain. For the record I'm not arguing that the position is unimportant but I disagree that it's been ignored - more like poorly filled with the likes of Ruf and Vogelbach which not only didn't provide a proven vet hitter who could hit righties and lefties but also limited us defensively.
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