ExWNYer

He should change it to 'Josh Deez-Nuts'...

Certainly not the ghost of Michael Thomas...

Thanks! I have been to the old Three Rivers Stadium (yuck), Rogers Centre/Skydome (beautiful view of the Toronto skyline), Nationals Park (meh), Camden Yards (GORGEOUS!), & now PNC Park. Two years ago we were in California wine country and were in San Francisco when the Mets were playing the Giants at Oracle Park. I wanted so badly to go but our agenda was already full and I was the only Met fan in the bunch. Oracle was/is on my bucket list and it's supposed to be up there with Camden & PNC Park so I was a little bummed in not going but I think the Mets were swept in that series anyway. Would love to go to Wrigley & Fenway someday. I was staying with some friends of friends in Boston in 1994 who lived in a place with a view of the Citgo sign at Fenway but we did not get to a game. I'm not sure if they were even in town. I was there to see the Bills narrowly beat the Pats* in a shootout at Foxboro. I believe it was Drew Bledsoe's rookie season with New England.

I was there in 1987 to see the Mets at Three Rivers Stadium. The tickets were like $8. 😂 I still have the ticket stubs somewhere. I went to Pittsburgh again in the 1990s but not to see any sporting events. My brother-in-law is a diehard Stiller & Pirate fan. He goes quite often and already told me that the exits and bridges are confusing as hell so I will be contending with that, as well. Ugh... I have wanted to see PNC Park so hopefully the Mets don't let us down. Thank God we were not there Friday night. Yikes. Good to see Diaz back and we should get to see Alvarez on Sunday as Torrens caught today and had a good game. He's been their best backup catcher in ages and they got him from the Skanks for cash.

@Gugny @SinceThe70s @Another Fan My 22-year old son (diehard Mets fan) and I are headed to Pittsburgh early tomorrow morning. We'll be taking in the Mets games on Sunday (1:35 PM EST) & Monday (12:35 PM EST) at PNC Park. We've been to MLB games at Sahlen Field (Rays & Blue Jays) and at Rogers Centre (Tigers & Blue Jays) but this will be his first time seeing the Mets in person. Send positive vibes our way fellas! LGM!!!

I agree with you that i won't sweat it either if they drop this weekend series. I guess what I meant by litmus test is that the Astros are as hot as the Mets right now so I'd like to see how they fare against their mirror image at the moment. I'm still worried about the bullpen holding up for the next eight games with Diaz (dumbass) and Drew Smith out. The offense needs to continue to rake to give the arms some wiggle room. Thanks for the J.D. Martinez kudos. It may not have been my original idea but I was 100% for it, as you know. Something I wanted actually worked out. lol This team would be nowhere without his bat and veteran leadership. He's been a godsend. Also, it's amazing how much better the pitching staff has been with Francisco Alvarez in the lineup. The kid can hit and handles the staff like a dream. He's on his way to becoming a superstar. Lastly, a fun tidbit...the HR celebration song the Mets' Jose Iglesias wrote ('OMG' by Candelita) that they're playing after victories at home, drops/begins streaming on Friday, June 28th at 4:00 PM (social media, YouTube, Spotify). LGM! 😎

It's been a fun month of June and ,kicking the living crap out of the Skanks was the cherry on top. This team is finally hitting. Coming into the year, the thought was that they would score but have issues with the pitching. The present iteration of this team is about what was expected for the year by Vegas sharps...a few games over .500. They are as likely as anyone right now to secure one of the Wild Card spots. This weekend's series with the resurgent Astros will be a good litmus test. If they continue anything like this the rest of the way, I wouldn't deal anyone and would look to bring in a couple of low cost arms to supplement the bullpen, hope to get a WC, and maybe a Round 1 victory. A 2023 Diamondbacks-like run would be fun. Regardless, I wouldn't be attempting to upgrade at the cost of any top-end prospects and that's not Stearns' m.o. anyway. If they begin to falter, I would definitely sell off some pieces to get assets who could eventually be part of a younger core or who could shipped out for a "big fish" for the core. I'm not giving away Alonso or Severino for pennies on the dollar. If somebody is not willing to pay up for them, I would ride it out until the end of the season. At least we're having fun again and that's all I asked heading into the year. LGM!

@Gugny Happy Father's Day, gents. I hope you all had a great day either with your kids, your dads, or both (if you're lucky). I had not heard that about Grimace @SinceThe70s. That's funny. I also didn't know that Grimace was still a thing but it's comforting to know that some things from our childhood still remain. lol IMO, there is more than a good chance that a team below .500 makes the playoffs this year, @Another Fan Entering play today, there were only four teams in the NL with a record above .500. With their win today, the Cards got to .500 and with their win, the Natalies got to within one game of .500. Interestingly, there were only seven AL teams with records above .500. There are a handful of powerhouse teams right now (Dodgers...yawn, Skanks...ugh, & Phils...puke....Go O's!) and everybody else. This is a bizarre year. I can't watch a Skanks/Philthies WS. I...just...can't. Speaking of bizarre, our beloved and schizophrenic Mets have had a bizarre and confounding season, even by Mets standards. After their 0-5 start to the season, they went 12-3 over the next two weeks and then fell right back into the toilet and fully into the sewer until this latest two week stretch where they've won nine of their last eleven and gone 11-4 overall to get within four games of .500 themselves. I don't believe much in the power of "players only meetings" but the team has gone on this mini-run since Lindor called the meeting. Maybe there was some merit to it...or maybe it was Grimace...or maybe...just maybe, this band of overpaid misfits is finally starting to play up to the backs of their baseball cards. Whatever the case, I just hope it continues and they decide to add to this roster rather than sell for the second straight year. Color me cautiously optimistic but still skeptical. Two, two-week stretches months apart are still not enough to get me to buy in all the way. But it's been an entertaining two weeks. And welcome back from the dead, Edwin Diaz. LGM!

@Gugny Ciao! We got back from Italy a week ago Saturday but I just haven't felt much like visiting the boards or posting. The trip was awesome...the people, food, art, history...everything was amazing. There is just too much to see and do in one trip. I watched both of the games against the Phillies just because they were in London and on early which was nice. Watching at 10:10 AM on Sunday was cool. I fully expected them to lose Saturday against Ranger Suarez and, not surprisingly, that came to fruition. I will say that they had ample opportunities to get to Suarez but left plenty of men on base in crucial situations. They could have easily scored 5 or 6 runs against him but they are not clutch. They are piss poor at the little things...making productive outs with sac flies, etc...when it matters most. When they got down 3-0 on Sunday I really thought that game was over but I watched to the end and was shocked that they held on to win, which was a pleasant surprise. It was a wild ending. When they went to the bottom of the 9th up, 6-4, I told my younger son "I guarantee they find a way to lose this game." Glad I was wrong but it didn't look like I was going to be. We've seen that movie way too many times this season. That said... I know they are not far out of the last WC but, unless they are at least .500, I can't even entertain that possibility. They are just too inconsistent. At this point, they could ship out every player except for Francisco Alvarez (and maybe Alonso) for all I care. They are just not entertaining and the core sucks and needs to be changed, IMO. I don't ever need to see Jeff McNeil in a Mets uniform ever again. And they can DFA Quintana, too. I don't know what happened to him but he is hot garbage. He at least used to be serviceable. They won Sunday despite him lasting a whopping 3 2/3 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on a puke-inducing 6 hits and 2 walks. Going into the game he was 1-5 with a 5.17 ERA. He was fortunate to get a no decision. Hit the bricks, pal. I remember watching that Padres game. It was way before all of these "pay for" regional sports networks. Our cable company in VA carried WOR (Mets), WGN (Cubs), & TBS (Braves). Got to see almost every Mets game. Those were the days. The two things that stood out for me watching the clip of that game were: 1) The old rules where the catcher could just block the entire plate and how the baserunner could just bowl over the catcher, if said backstop were in the way. You had to be tough hombre to wear "the tools of ignorance" back then. 2) The catcher that game was current Mets bench coach John Gibbons. He got annihilated on that play and still managed to hold the ball for the out and get the double play by throwing a dart to third. He was a tough SOB.

Thanks, appreciate it! Diaz was one of the few things I was looking forward to this year and that has already gone bust. At least Christian Scott looks like he might be worth getting excited about going forward. We'll see. So far, he looks like the real deal.

Thanks! If I see him I'll tell him that his former team is back in their rightful place as the overpaid embarrassment of the NL. 😁

@Gugny @SinceThe70s @Another Fan Up 4-2 in the ninth, Diaz blew another save against the damn Phillies tonight and the Mets lost 5-4 in ten. He's already allowed three HRs on the year and is looking more like pre-COVID Diaz than 2022 Diaz. Oh well, fug it. We're flying from Richmond to JFK in the morning with a layover and then on to Rome. Rome, Florence, Venice, & Tuscany await...free of Mets aggravation. Take care fellas, see you online in a couple of weeks. Ciao!

@SinceThe70s Yeah, I was disgusted. A no-no into the 8th and not only did they find a way to lose it but the salt in the wound was that Diaz is the one who blew it. Even had he held in the 9th, they would have found a way to lose it in extras anyway. That 12-3 stretch after the 0-5 start was an anomaly. I'm with you Gugs. I was excited to finally be witnessing a legit no hitter. Santana would have lost his had replay been around then and the other is a combined no hitter which I don't even count. I can't believe that a franchise that has been around since 1962 and has a rich tradition of good pitchers has nothing but those two flukes. <sigh>

Per Pro Football Network (as of 8:55 PM):

Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State - Cardinals Rome Odunze, Washington - Bears Ladd McConkey, Georgia - Panthers Brian Thomas Jr., LSU - Bills Xavier Worthy Texas- Jaguars Bonus Bills pick - Brian Thomas Jr.