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.

And Now Deep Game 2 Thoughts

Some random observations that crossed the pea sized object inside my skull during game 2:

• Too bad I missed D. Wright’s bomb, but my chicken parm was worth it.  Besides, there will be more (optimistic font).
• Thole is swingin’ it.
• Dude.
• Pradio’s homer doesn’t exactly make Warthen look like a genius.  Nice visit.
• I don’t want to mow my lawn.
• Ike needs to chill the f$%# out.  As annoying as the outside corner strike has been, it has been called all game.  Bitching out the ump will only hurt his cause.  Especially if he gets a reputation as being a whiner.  We all know he is bad ass, but unfortunately the rest of the league and especially the umps still need some more proof before he gets that call.
• Bobby’s strikeout pitch to Michael Bourn was filthy.  Man I hope he has this figured out for the long haul.
• A beer sounds nice about now.
• Dude squared.
• Keith calling out Juan Francisco for wearing his hat “half cock-eyed” was hilarious.

“Come on, look like a ballplayer.” -Keith Hernandez

• Jon Rauch is tall.  Shouldn’t he be throwing the ball 137mph?  I hope he doesn’t read this.
• Two saves in a row, Mr. Francisco.  Nice.
• It sure feels nice to start the season off with a series win against the Braves.
• Sweep?

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.

Dude

“Just write some (nonsense), man,”-Lucas Duda

Duda is quickly becoming the most fascinating player on the roster.  First, for his potential, particularly in the power department.  More intriguingly so, for his personality.

I’ve read that he is shy, quiet, doesn’t believe in his ability, has a dry sense of humor, that he only cares about playing the game, and doesn’t think too highly of all of the other non-essential parts of being a big league player.

Let’s assume what we hear about Lucas Duda’s potential from the Met’s baseball people is true for the purpose of this post.  You can debate whether or not it is a smoke screen at another time.

This means the mental aspect of playing in New York will lead to one of three things for Duda:

1. He will thrive as a Met because he just doesn’t give a shit.  The owners are a calamity of errors?  The media hover around like a swarm of locusts and have to create news on a daily basis?  Who cares.  He just wants to play ball.
2. He buckles due to the immense frustration of having to deal with the sheer volume of the ridiculousness that is playing professional baseball in New York City.   This is one aspect of following the Mets that irritates me a bit.  Things that, in the grand scheme of things, do not matter are magnified into apocalyptic levels and the players are asked repeatedly about them.  This scenario has Duda hitting .225 with over 200 strikeouts leaving pro ball to coach at a high school somewhere in California.
3. Duda winds up getting released or traded because he can’t handle dealing with the horse shit that Mets players have to put up with.  He signs with the Brewers and winds up becoming a perennial All-Star averaging 40 homers a year driving Bernie the Brewer and all of the Brew Crew nutty with excitement.

Personally, I’m pulling for scenario #1.

We’re Still Watching

At the beginning of the season, April 4th to be exact, I shared something with you that is contrary to what most bloggers believe:

“A message to new readers of this blog:

I am not a believer of forcing the issue,  in terms of providing content for this blog that is.  I do enjoy the stolen base and the squeeze bunt however.

Although I have been writing quite frequently lately, there will be times when that is not the case.  You see, I believe in quality not quantity.  The quality part is a matter of debate for some of you I’m sure.

There are a number of great Mets Blogs out in the blogosphere which helps makes this team fun to follow.  There are also a number of them out there that aren’t so great.  One reason for this, in my humble opinion, is some people tend to force the issue and post content just for the sake of posting content.”- Me

I share this because I wanted to let you know that we’re still here, and still watching.  There hasn’t been much that has inspired us to write.  New developments and interesting subject matter have been hard to come by.

There are three reasons for this:

1. The Mets are not in playoff contention and haven’t been for quite some time.
2. The trading deadline has come and gone.
3. Due to injuries, we are quite familiar with the Mets’ young talent.  In reality, their September call-ups found themselves on the MLB roster in April and June.

Just like you, we are keeping a close eye on the following situations :

• The Jose Batting Title Chase:  I am a bit surprised that this hasn’t received more attention.  After all, the Mets have never had a batting champion.  I realize it may be counter productive, but I am pulling for Jose.  I don’t care that it adds value to his side of the negotiating table.  I want it to happen.
• Is Lucas Duda A Full Time Solution In The Outfield?
• The Bench Mix:  Tejada, Murhpy, and Turner have all played well this season.  Now Nick Evans is showing his stuff for his homies as well.
• Pitching Woes:  The weak link that needs the most attention on this team.  Who stays?  Who goes?

I guess we could share our thoughts on the topics above each day.  The problem with that is, I for one, am taking this time to observe.  I haven’t made up my mind on what I think should happen and I want to play the season out before I start weighing in.

So never fear friends, we haven’t left you.  As exciting as Scott Hairston’s strained oblique is, it doesn’t make the cut.  Once things get a little more juicy, you’ll hear from us more frequently.

Until then, stay thirsty my friends.

Isringhausen, Duda, and Getting Dumped In High School

Belated Congrats Izzy

I have a confession to make.  It’s 9:05pm (eastern standard time for our west coast Midwestropolitans out there), and I just finished watching portions of last night’s game.

Does this make me less of a fan?

Nah.

The combination of this west coast swing and it being one of the busiest times of the year for my job, has taken away from the number of innings I have been able to watch.  Suffice it to say this means the in-depth, play by-play, recaps you have come so custom to receiving from me will be on a short hiatus until the Mets return to this side of the Mississippi.

I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.

For now, I’ll drop a few quick hits your way.

Quick Hits Volume 1

• It was pretty cool to see Izzy close out his 300th save.  I’m also a fan of Terry Collins giving him the opportunity to do so.  It was the right thing to do in my humble opinion.  Now it’s time to see what Bobby Parnell and Pedro Beato can do in that role.
• Did anyone else notice how cowlike Izzy and Lucas Duda were during the post game hand shakes in terms of chewing their gum?  I mean easy fellas.  You do realize you play for the Mets and are aware of their injury history the last few years right?  I would hate to see either of you find yourselves on the DL due to a freak case of lock-jaw.
• I am trying to stop myself from getting my hopes up that Lucas Duda will become a stud for the 2012 Mets.  Not because I am one of “those guys” that thrives on misery or that I don’t want him to.  It’s more of a defense mechanism.  Similar to when you prepare yourself for inevitably getting dumped by the current girl you were dating in high school.