The Metsgrrl website has been nominated for a Weblog Award for “Best Sports Blog of 2008″ and she is up against some stiff competion so we Mets fans need toband together and vote early and often (no hanging chads please) so hit it and click it
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If I’m ESPN and a producer of their BASEBALL TONIGHT show I’d be sweating a bit that after just five days MLBN’ Hot Stove Shove has become must see TV for all baseball fans. I really like Harold Reynolds and ESPN made a big mistake letting him go. What’s the problem with a little grab ass in Bristol? Hell if I worked there I’d be chasing Rachel Nichols all around the campus. HR loves baseball and he loves talking baseball and it comes through the TV in something stronger than HD, PASSION.
Joe Magrane has the makings of a very strong game analyst. I always felt that he and Dewayne Staats while doing Rays games very vastly underrated. Victor Rojas runs a tight desk moving the discussions from chair to chair. Trenni Kusnierck will take time for me to warm up to because my girl Hazel Mae is the total package. And then there is Mitch Williams.
No good Phillie-ass kissing Mitch Williams. I can see where Williams is just going to piss me off all season with his Phillies loving ways. Last night HR, Joe Magrane and Wild Thing were discussing the New Years resolutions for the NL East teams. When it got to the Mets, Wild Thing wigged out big time with the same old Cheesesteak bullshit about Jose Reyes and his antics. Give props to HR for knocking Wild Thing down a peg while defending Jose, Jose, Jose. The voice of reason was Magrane who kind of poo-pooed the antics angle for the Collapse I & II and put the blame where we have been saying it should be in the clubhouse and the veteran leadership.
If that wasn’t enough for a Monday bonanza, none other than Scott Boras took a trip to Secaucus to plead his case for his millionaires in waiting. HR, questioned Boras on how he could be looking for #1 starter money for Kevin Lowe when he’s not an Ace? Boras did a little dance and jive and the best he could come with is the disgrace that is Barry Zito. If that’s his defense in getting Lowe the dough he wants, then Omar has them both by the cajones.
I wish I could get in side the head of Lastings Milledge and rearrange some of the furniture in there and toss out the bassinette and changing table and put some big boy stuff in there. Milledge is going to be challenged by the Nationals and Elijah Dukes for the Nats centerfield job and I would guess a spot on the DC 25 man roster. If he fails he’ll either be dealt or released. I have told kids that have played for me in leagues that just when you think you’re all that, remember there are 1,000 guys out there better than you and just because you have some talent but your attitude sucks will be the difference of making a team and being cut. You have to be one outstanding ball player (Manny Ramirez) to have a piss poor attitude to make in the big leagues. I’ve never met Milledge or dealt with him but from folks I know who have told me he has been a big dick head. Time for LMillz to man up and grow up and be a big leaguer, if not the Atlantic League ain’t so bad.
Joe McDonald posts some pics of the dismantling of Shea. This is like watching a family member die a slow death just put us and Shea out of our misery already.
From a link at the BBTF site I found Tim Marchman’ new website so to Repoz and Marchman, thank you!
So J.C Romero went into the local GNC bought some kind of supplement, took it and is now banned from playing for the Phillies for 50 days. According to Romero, he called the Union and told them what he was taking and they thought it was fine. He spoke with the Phillies training staff and they found nothing wrong with the supplement either. The one place Romero didn’t go for guidance was the Hot Line that is set up by MLB that is the be all end all of what’s approved and disapproved under the new and tougher baseball drug code. This is why when you have a tooth ache you don’t go to the chiropractor. First, Mets-killer Pat Burrell goes to Tampa and now Romero in lock up maybe the Philly worm is turning?
Saw this on the Sox & Dawgs site. There is a pettion out there to get Ted Williams’ likeness on a postage stamp. Go there and sign it as if there ever were a real American hero it’s the Splendid Splinter and he should be honored on a stamp.
Don’t forget to make a not to join me and Joe McDonald on Thursday at 9PM EST for Pro Baseball Central on Blog Talk Radio.
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{He said, Patches
I’m dependin’ on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it’s all left up to you}
This piece of shit is the new patch that will be on the Mets uniform tops to commemorate the first season of $iti Field.
I could have gone into any kindergarten in the city and come out with a better design.
All this does is prove my case that there is not one ounce of creativity in this organizations markenting division.
Derek Lowe saw this patch and told Scott Boras that he now wants $20 mil a year to wear a Mets uniform due to this embarrassing patch.
(A big tip of the Mets cap toMetsBlog for the link)
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Still a bit stunned after watching the Celtics lose to the Knicks last night at MSG. Memo to Al Harrington, I know last night was the highlight of your career but remember, come April you will be sitting on your couch while the C’s are deep into the playoffs so get your popcorn ready. I’m pretty sure that the Knicks will be raising banner on the 14th before the game with the Wiz to commemorate the victory over Boston.
So while we wait for Scott Boras/Derek Lowe to produce a counter offer to the Mets let me alert you to the fact that Pro Baseball Central will be back this week on the air this Thursday night at 9PM (EST) on Blog Talk Radio. So join Joe McDonald and yours truly for our first PBC of 2009.
Yesterday, in the Daily News they had a piece on Anthony Young and it was good to see Ol’ A.Y. is alive and well and to reflect on his 27 consecutive loses which was a hard to believe 16 years ago.
Over at NYBD Frank Maniscalco has a fantasy baseball column up and some details of a Fantasy League that Frank will be running. Also check out the NYBD show from last night on the Hot Stove with Mike Silva and Howard Megdal.
Mets Geek has an in-depth piece on RHP Sean Green who came over with J J Putz from the Mariners and will take over the Joe Smith role. Green could be a big part of the late inning Mets pen.
I love how the Mets Police has gone on the war path over the awful black Mets jerseys. Really, with the new ball park opening this year it’s time to ditch the black. The Mets should stay with the pinstriped classic uni for home games with either the snow whites for Sunday games with the all blue cap, orange top button and NY on he front and the road uni should be left alone but if you want to tweak that you could go with a gray top and pants with orange/blue stripe on the pant leg with the classic orange NY on the left breast. I’d even go with the old NY Giants all black cap with the orange NY for the road cap well. Anything is better than those awful looking black jersey’s. Wow all of a sudden I have the urge to listen to Peter Allen records.
Hopefully by the end of the week (Please Omar sign Lowe/Manny/ Orlando Hudson and trade Gimp Castillo on Thursday) there will be some movement on the free agent logjam or we will all need a good colon cleansing soon
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{A-I-D-A. Attention, Interest, Decision, Action. Attention - Do I have you attention? Interest - Are you interested? I know you are, because it’s fuck or walk. You close or you hit the bricks. Decision - Have you made your decision for Christ? And Action.
A-I-D-A. Get out there - you got the prospects coming in. You think they came in to get out of the rain? A guy don’t walk on the lot lest he wants to buy. They’re sitting out there waiting to give you their money. Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it?}
Blake from Glengarry Glennross.
You could change the name to Omar from the NY Mets as it pertains to the Derek Lowe/Scott Borras negotiations. So it seems that Lowe/Borras are not very happy with the 3yr/$36mil contract the Mets have offered but to me it’s more years and more money that anyone else has put on the table. In fact Lowe has stated he wants AJ Burnett money but the problem with that the only team offering stupid money is the Highlanders and they don’t seem to want Lowe or maybe they do but not at the stupid money price of $16mil per.
According to Boras, the Phillies and Braves are in the running for Lowe’ services. If the Mets played in the AL East Boras would tell us the Highlanders and Red Sox were serious bidders. If the Mets played in the Middle East Baseball League, Borras would tell us the Israeli’s and the Palestinians are serious bidders.
Oh of course there is the “Mystery Team” that may be the Milwaukee Brewers but of all those teams mentioned only the Mets have made an offer. So my question to Scott Boras is “Where are the fucking leads”?
If any team wants to give Lowe 4yr/$64mil go right ahead and as much as I wanted Lowe on the Mets there is no way in hell I’d give him that deal. In fact if I’m the Mets GM I say here is 3yr/$42mil then I’d flip over a three minute egg timer and tell Lowe/Borras that when that timer goes off so does my offer.
Derek Lowe wants $16mil a year for four years and I want to brush my hair out of my eyes. Neither one is happening.
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I’m having my living room renovated next week (my wife has some Highlander in her DNA as most people are cutting back on spending we are tearing apart our whole living room from the ceiling to the walls to the floors and remaking it at a cost that will have me strolling downtown Staten Island in hot pants and high heels to make extra dough) and I have had to move a lot of stuff down to my basement a/k/a The World Headquarters of The Eddie Kranepool Society. One of the items I brought down was a stereo receiver, turntable and speakers. I didn’t use it must upstairs because my family is not a big fans of the music I like which runs from Heavy Metal/Punk/ and 60’s Rock n Roll. But now that I moved all of these components downstairs I’m spinning vinyl like I’m Murray the K. So as I type this post I am enjoying DERRINGER LIVE with Robin Trower VICTIMS OF FURRY on deck. Now on to the post:
I’m coming to the realization that when spring training begins late next month in Port St. Lonesome, Manny Ramirez will not be walking through the clubhouse door. So it looks like the Mets will go with a Dan Murphy/Fernando Tatis platoon in LF which still makes me a bit queasy. I love Murphy and would love to see him play everyday at first base (Trading high on Delgado will come back to bite Omar in the ass this season ) but Tatis really has to prove to me that he is not a deal with the devil player. I still say losing him and Damien Easley was the most overlooked reason for Collapse II but that doesn’t mean he will pick up where he left off plus right now the 6-9 spots in the Mets lineup scares no one but Mets fans:
Tatis-toss up
Schneider-sucks
Castillo-blows
Pitcher-automatic out
Mike Silva posts today that with the Dodgers restructuring the contract of Andruw Jones that it could be a sign that the Castillo-Jones deal is alive and what Jones would mean to the Mets especially if it means the Mets sign O Hudson. I just wonder what Fat Andy has left in his ample tank and could he co-exist with Carlos Beltran in CF? Remeber the last time the Mets played two centerfielder’s it was a Headbanger’s Ball.
Speaking of Manny, Henry Shulman of the SF Examiner has the Giants-Manny scenario laid out here.
Metsmerized Online has a Q & A that Larry Jones did with the Sporting News and Larry is not shy about his feelings toward the Mets, Phillies and Highlanders. I’ve always had a healthy respect for Jones even though he is an all time Mets killer but he’s a no bullshit kind of guy and I like that.
Last night I went to the Prudential Center for the first time to see the Devils play the Montreal Canadiens (a Christmas gift from Mrs. Kranepool Society) and I have to say it is one spectacular venue. I love the wide open concourse with plenty of room to walk around and how it connects right into the seating area which has plenty of leg room. I loved the organ music before the game and between periods intermission as it gave that old time feel to being at a hockey game, plus the urban setting is something I love in fact I may have been the only one in my family that was looking forward to going to Newark. The atmosphere in the arena was so much better than any time I’ve been to the Meadowlands, which always gave me a feeling of being in the middle of no where because I guess it is in the middle of no where. There were loads of Habs fans at the game most of whom were on a package trip to NYC for New Years, and they were loud and raucous.
There were a few annoying things though. They have this guy who runs around the arena and dances and carries on like an real asshole between play stoppage. He has on about 30 t-shirts that say “Jersey’s Team” on them and he whips them off while he dances in the aisle and throws them into the stands. My wife said if one of those sweaty t shirts come near her she would kick his ass. My wife is my Dave Semenko. Then they have these “cheerleaders” who dance in the concourse. It’s real cheesy and the ‘cheerleaders” are all way to skinny (I like my ladies with some junk in the trunk) and should have a funnel cake or two. They don’t open the doors to the arena until an hour before game time I guess I’m so used to Madison Square Garden (I’ll be there tomorrow to see my Boston Celtics and to plead with Doc Rivers not to let Stephon Marbury anywhere near his team) where there is lots of people and you can hang out at ice side and chat with Al Trautwig or John Giannone and watch warm ups. You can’t do that at The Rock as you have to have a ticket for that section to get in but you can hang out on the lower concourse and watch the warmups/game from there while having something to eat or drink.
The best part though, from my garage to the front door of the Rock is just 17 miles. Easy to get to and back from. I’ll be making more trips there I’m sure.
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If you are a fan of college football and are in favor of a playoff system instead of the ridiculous BCS bullshit rankings then you have two things going in your favor, the NHL Winter Classic and MLB Network because after what used to be college football’s showcase day New Years Day is dominated with news of the Blackhawks-Red Wings game at Wrigley Field and the launch of MLB Network.
The only drawback last night for the debut of MLBN was the mug of the Nutty Professor on the screen at 6PM. The 30 second countdown, a montage of players with the numbers 30 (Nolan Ryan) to 1 (Ozzie Smith) was great with the exception of number 3 (Evan Longoria) how could it not be the Bambino? The Hot Stove Show was terrific (even with Rosalita Leiter on the dais and a cameo by Jimmy Rollins) Harold Reynolds was close to Dickie V like in his enthusiasm and Victor Rojas (Cookie’s kid) looked very comfortable as a host. You can see that MLBN come spring training will be destination TV and every night during the season as the network has cameras at all 30 ball parks so post game interviews with players and a mangers will be plentiful.
Watching the Larsen Perfect Game was a late Christmas/New Year’s treat but it took a bit to get used to. No centerfield camera in those days and no replays were the biggies for me. One part of the telecast that should still be implemented in today’s game telecast was the lack of crowd shots. The camera was focused on the field the whole game making for a more enjoyable watch. Big contrast in pitching styles by Sal Maglie and Don Larsen. Maglie had that windmill windup that was popular back then but Larsen had more of a step and throw approach and no real wind up. Both teams seemed to have issues with home plate ump Babe Parrelli’s strike zone. When 28 year old Vin Scully was on the screen the first thing I thought of was how he looked just like Conan O’Brien. No chatter between pitches by either Scully or Mel Allen. Talk about a game of inches, Sandy Amoros and Duke Snyder just missing home runs to right field could have altered history. Also Mickey Mantle with a running catch in left center and notice the 457 sign in that gap at Old Highlander Stadium. Also the monuments in centerfield and the scoreboard on the left field wall. For the most part, the batters stayed in the batter’s box between pitches but I thought Larsen was like the Steve Trachsel of his day in his very deliberate way he worked.
The interviews with Yogi and Larsen by Bob Costas were good although I think I’m Yogi-ed out by now with all his Yogi-isims and the fact that Berra has slowed down a lot and maybe it’s time he stopped giving interviews. Larsen seemed a little embarrassed when Costas went over the litany of Hall of Famers that were on hand that day as if to say if it weren’t for this perfecto Larsen would have drifted in to obscurity. It was surprising that Larsen admitted he didn’t realize he pitched a perfect game but then it was brought out that the last perfect game in baseball was over 30 years before this one.
I loved the ads and I nearly fell off the sofa when I saw that pocket size Baseball Encyclopedia that came with the Gillette razor because I have a copy of it. When my mother was moving and I was cleaning out her apartment I found it in a draw and I never knew whose it was or where it came from. After seeing the ad I have to figure it was my father’s as he always used a Gillette razor and blades. That makes the book even more special now.
MLBN is running the Larsen Perfect Game all day today but I guess starting next week there will be more diverse programming but either way MLBN is on my favorites list.
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Everybody awake? How’s that hangover? That’s one thing I don’t miss from my drinking days as club soda has no kick but you wake up fresh the next day and what used to be a day to watch college football bowl games is now a day to watch the NHL Winter Classic and the debut of the MLB Network.
As a kid I loved New Years Day Bowl Games because there was real meaning to the games and at the end of the night there was a National Champion. Today, with the exception of the Rose Bowl (I’m a big JoePa fan go Nittany Lions!) I couldn’t care less about any of these games. My focus today is the Blackhawks and Red Wings from Wrigley and hopping that next year the Winter Classic is played in NYC.
As expected Derek Lowe told the Mets that 3yr/$36 mil is not enough for his services and of course we’re not surprised. I’m not going to get my draws in a bunch with this as I know and we all know that the Mets will be the last phone call Scott Boras makes before Lowe signs any place else. It’s a slow dance and there will be a lot of foreplay before this union is consummated.
There is a petition on NYFS begging the Skill Sets to open the coffers for Manny Ramirez. I know the Skill Sets have a few minions who scourer the ‘net to see what the fans are thinking so hopefully one of those geeks stumbled over here to see that the fans base wants the ownership to man up for Manny.
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First and foremost a Happy and Healthy New Year to everyone and a huge thank you for your support of this site and of Pro Baseball Central and my wish to you is good health and happiness and hopefully post season baseball for our Mets.
Finally Omar has reached out to Scott Boras and Derek Lowe with an offer. While the Mets offer of 3yrs/$36mil is nowhere near the reported 5yr/$90mil that Boras was looking for, it is a starting point. The Mets do not want to go more than 3 years with Lowe and with the big boys on the sideline (Highlanders and Red Sox) this looks like advantage Mets. I could see a scenario where there is a 4th year option and maybe the money goes up two or three million with Omar telling Scot Boras he’s doing it as a face saving measure and let Boras know he “owes him one” but it looks like this will get done soon.
Then it will be interesting to see where Omar turns next. The longer Manny Ramirez sits out on the open market the more pressure there is on the Skill Sets to get in the Manny game. Word is leaking out of the air tight front office bunker that Omar wants to get Manny in Blue and Orange but the stumbling block is getting the Skill Sets to release the purse strings. If Manny slips through the Mets hands due to Jeffey and Freddie not giving Omar FULL AUTONOMY to make this deal and Manny Ramirez signs with GOD FORBID the Highlanders or goes back to LA for a 2 year deal I am putting the Mets on notice that whatever past posting here toward management they thought were venomous and nasty will look like love letters compared to the carpet bombing I have in store for them if they pussy out with Manny. I’m not looking for them to go more than 2yrs for Manny so I don’t think that’s outlandish.
Long time reader of this site Nik Kolidas has a new Mets blog Kiner’s Korner which not only has a terrific layout but the content is first rate. Click on the link and bookmark the page and thank me latter.
Outstanding job by Amazin’ Avenue with their detailed comparison of Oliver Perez vs. Ben Sheets. If or when Derek Lowe signs with the Mets adding Ben Sheets to a 2yr deal would an outstanding outside the box move by the Mets. Which means it won’t happen.
Over at Mike Silva’s NY Baseball Digest there are a couple of items that are must reads. First Mike has a posting on January as the Month of Manny and this passage should be e-mailed to Jeffey Skill Sets or better yet I would love to hand deliver it to him and shove it in his face to make sure he gets the message:
{The Mets, although improved, might need something to get past their 2007/2008 failures. Johan Santana should have done it, but the dour Willie Randolph negated all good will from that coup of a signing. The excitement of having two closers is nice, but putting Ramirez in left field would create a fresh buzz to the new ballpark. Imagine opening day and Manny hits a three run homer in the first. They may need to check the new buildings structure to ensure it’s ready for that kind of punishment. Manny would take a solid lineup and make it great. There is that g-word again. Unfortunately, there is no Hank Steinbrenner in the Wilpon family. Even an engaging salesman like Omar MInaya has been unable to convince Fred and Jeff on Ramirez. The fans remember Vladimir Guerrero and the winter of 2003. Maybe another rally with Craig Carton at Citi Field would help the Wilpon’s remember.}
BRAVO MIKE!!!!!
Also on NYBD is Frank Maniscalco who will be the sites Czar of Fantasy Baseball this year. You may know Frank as Frankie The Sports Guy and now he has added fantasy baseball to his ever growing résumé.
Good to see Charles Barkley getting that last DUI of 2008 out of the way early.
