How Did I Do?

At the beginning of the season I shared a few things to look for during the 2012 season.  Let’s see how accurate I was.

….I have absolutely no irrational beliefs that the Mets will finish better than fourth place in their division this season.

My expectation for 2012 is to leisurely enjoy each game with the hopes that I begin to pick up on signs that the Mets will contend next year, or more realistically in 2014. 

Couldn’t be more spot on in terms of my beliefs on how the team would fare overall.  Fourth place it was.  I am glad I went back and re-read this though.  It reminded me that 2014 is a more realistic year for the Mets to compete.  Not sure I’ll have the patience to wait another year however.

Ruben Tejada will play a solid, consistent shortstop defensively, and hit .270.

Congrats to Ruben.  No one can argue he was a solid, consistent shortstop in 2012.  He exceeded my expectations with a .289 average.

Daniel Murphy will boast a plus .300 batting average but will struggle at second base.  However, it will still be a better showing than Luis Castillo’s efforts as a Met.

I’m man enough to admit that I was wrong on two out of three accounts here.  I handed myself a gimme with the Castillo measurement, but Murph did not quite make it to .300 as he finished with a .291 average.  I am cool with the fact that Murphy did not struggle at second base and even seemed to get more comfortable as the season went on.

Lucas Duda and Ike Davis will both blast 20 plus homers, maybe even 30 plus.

Thanks Ike.  Lucas, I will never forgive you for making me look like a fool.  You are dead to me.

David Wright will hit .280 and his strike outs will decrease, but will still rely on the submarine heaves across the diamond that will lead to a number of throwing errors.

Looks like I am once again batting .333 on this one.  Great if I was a hitter, not so great in terms of “predictions”.  I’m glad #5 had the bounce back season he did.

Johan Santana will remain relatively healthy and pick up 12 wins.

Not very close on this one.  Maybe in 2013?

Mr. Met will serve some jail time after beating Billy The Marlin’s ass after Billy insinuates that he has always been Jose Reyes’ favorite mascot. Who names a fish Billy anyway?

Fortunately for Mr. Met, the Marlins imploded this year causing Billy the Marlin to drink heavily.  An unidentified source tells me he has checked in to a very expensive rehab center to help him stop binging on Mojitos and Pina Coladas.

Mike Pelfrey will have his last season as a starter as a New York Met.

This wasn’t a stretch going into the season.  I’m not thrilled that this came to fruition due to injury.

Tim Byrdak will be effective for a second consecutive season, largely due to the fact that he graced the first ever cover of the Midwestropolitan.com Facebook page.

Well, he was effective before he got hurt.  You’re not going to hold the cover choice against me Tim, are you?

The Mets will still be looking for a true closer, even though Bobby Parnell will have a better showing this season.

Yup and yup.  The problem here is the Mets won’t spend a lot of cash for a proven closer so they will still be searching in 2013.  As much as I like typing his name, Franc Franc is clearly not the answer.

Andres Torres will be hurt much of the season.  After all, dude is 34 years old, that’s ancient for a lead off man playing CF.

He wasn’t hurt, but he was awful.  I was particularly disappointed in his base running.

I don’t even want to discuss Jason Bay.  I am just going to hope like heck he has a good season.  He sure seems like a swell guy and I’d hate to see him have another tough go of it.

Still don’t want to discuss J. Bay.  Still seems like a swell guy.

On to 2013 boys.

Midwestropolitan West Coast Viewing Strategy

West Coast trips suck.  Although some would argue they are better than home stands.  Especially recently.

This current excursion has lead me to a reality.  I’m old.  I can’t stay up to watch these games.  Shit, I can’t even stay up to see the first pitch.

So what to do?  I’m not a cry in my beer type of guy, so I altered my approach.  For the last couple of days I have avoided any sport related media when I wake up.  I get to work and dig in to whatever tasks I have to do, fire up my MLB.Com subscription, and “watch” the game as my schedule allows.

I know what you’re thinking.  Must be nice to have a job where you can watch baseball for 3 or 4 hours.  It’s not quite that easy my friends.

Watching games in this manner consists of listening to Gary and Keith mostly. It is nice to pull up the video during a critical at bat. When I have to leave my office, I pause the game and come back.

Some may feel this means I’m not a “real” fan.  I respectfully disagree.  In my eyes, it makes me a more efficient fan.  I can fast forward through all of Jason Bay’s at bats.

And Now Deep Game 1 Thoughts

Some random observations that crossed the pea sized object inside my skull during game 1:

• The pre-game ceremony remembering Gary Carter was classy.  Well done Mets brass.
• Ah, Johan is back.  I really wish SNY would remove the pitch count graphic when he pitches.  I find myself somewhat consumed by projecting out how many innings he’ll go.  I hate that.
• Daniel Murphy can still hit.  Sweet.
• I find it ironic that the player we traded Angel Pagan for in the off-season gets picked off at first base in the season opener.  Aren’t 34-year-old veteran lead off men supposed to keep base running errors to a minimum?
• The “no shit” statement of the game:

“And that’s not what he wanted to do there.”-Keith Hernandez in the 5th inning after Johan walked the 8 & 9 hitters (the 9th hitter being the opposing pitcher).

• Johan is the only pitcher I have confidence in getting out of that situation.  Well done El Gocho.
• Who schedules a staff meeting in the middle of the Mets’ opening day?
• Cool, still zero zero  “Who’s winning?  The Bears.”  Didn’t miss anything.
• David Wright with a clutch hit.  Man it would be sweet if he has a monster year.  This is certainly a decent start.
• Jason Bay got on base.  That’s nice.
• Duda & Ike a combined 0 for 8 with 4 Ks.  Ouch.  It’s only one game though.  No biggie.
• Diggin’ the 1-2-3 save by Francisco.  Dramatic, nail-biting, saves are over rated.
• Nice win.  Enjoyed it.  Mets are STILL in 1st place.

Well, Here We Are

The purpose of this post is not to drop mind-blowing insight or tinkle in your pants it’s so funny humor per the norm.  To be completely honest, it is solely to document my thoughts heading into the beginning of the 2012 season.  My apologies to those of you that came here to have your minds blown or to tinkle in your pants.

Let it be known that on the eve of Opening Day, I feel pretty calm.  I am excited that baseball is upon us, but I have absolutely no irrational beliefs that the Mets will finish better than fourth place in their division this season.

The cool thing about this is that anything better will be a sign of over achievement which takes a lot of angst out of the equation.  Low expectations equal low stress.

My expectation for 2012 is to leisurely enjoy each game with the hopes that I begin to pick up on signs that the Mets will contend next year, or more realistically in 2014.  With that in mind, here are some things I feel could happen this year:

• Ruben Tejada will play a solid, consistent shortstop defensively, and hit .270.
• Daniel Murphy will boast a plus .300 batting average but will struggle at second base.  However, it will still be a better showing than Luis Castillo’s efforts as a Met.
• Lucas Duda and Ike Davis will both blast 20 plus homers, maybe even 30 plus.
• David Wright will hit .280 and his strike outs will decrease, but will still rely on the submarine heaves across the diamond that will lead to a number of throwing errors.
• Johan Santana will remain relatively healthy and pick up 12 wins.
• Mr. Met will serve some jail time after beating Billy The Marlin’s ass after Billy insinuates that he has always been Jose Reyes’ favorite mascot. Who names a fish Billy anyway?
• Mike Pelfrey will have his last season as a starter as a New York Met.
• Tim Byrdak will be effective for a second consecutive season, largely due to the fact that he graced the first ever cover of the Midwestropolitan.com Facebook page.
• The Mets will still be looking for a true closer, even though Bobby Parnell will have a better showing this season.
• Andres Torres will be hurt much of the season.  After all, dude is 34 years old, that’s ancient for a lead off man playing CF.
• I don’t even want to discuss Jason Bay.  I am just going to hope like heck he has a good season.  He sure seems like a swell guy and I’d hate to see him have another tough go of it.