Joey's Soapbox: Hope Springs Eternal As Winter Ends

Hi, everyone!  I'm Joey Beartran.  Did you miss me?  If you can believe it, I haven't written anything for this site in over two months.  But like the groundhog, I just popped my head out of my hoodie and declared that winter's over and spring has arrived.  And how do I know that?  Because Mets baseball is back and on the air!

When we last saw the Mets, R.A. Dickey was picking up his 20th victory in the Mets' last home game and Scott Hairston was hitting his career-high 20th HR in the regular season finale.  At that point, I should have had 20/20 vision and clearly seen that neither of them would play in a Mets uniform again.  And I would have been right, as Dickey was traded to Toronto for the man with a large P on his back and Hairston signed a free agent contract to lose repeatedly in Chicago.

Since Dickey and Hairston played their last games in New York (as well as Jason Bay, Andres Torres, Ronny Cedeño and a bunch of relief pitchers), I've done many baseball-related activities to keep active with the sport I love.

Are you ready for some Mets baseball?  I sure am!

In November, I went out to Seattle with my sister Iggy.  We took an awful tour of Safeco Field and attended a Seattle Seahawks game.  It wasn't the tour of Safeco that was awful; it was the tour guide.  I actually think Safeco is a beautiful stadium and can't wait to see Jason Bay suck there as much as he did at Citi Field.  At least he'll have company in Seattle, as his teammate from 2010 (Oliver Perez) is already a rusty staple in the Mariners bullpen.

In December, I wrote a letter to Sandy Claus asking for a number of presents underneath my blue and orange tree.  I asked for an upgrade to the bullpen (supposedly accomplished), a set outfield by Opening Day (Sandy Claus must have ignored that one), the re-signing of Scott Hairston (denied), Johan Santana making more than 21 starts (perhaps that's why he's missing time now rather than in the regular season), a dependable fifth starter in the rotation (thank you for Shaun Marcum) and patience with the team's minor league talent (I'll be patient as I await Sandy's decision on that).

In January, I was invited to attend a Q & A session with the Mets front office at Citi Field.  At this event, I met a man who bore a striking resemblance to Sandy Claus, but it couldn't have been him.  If it had been, I'm sure he would have mentioned receiving my letter when I asked him to pose for a photo with me.

Where are my presents, Sandy Claus?  I've been looking everywhere for them!

The calendar has now flipped to February.  Pitchers, catchers, infielders and a plethora of wannabe outfielders have descended upon the newly-renamed Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie for six weeks of spring training.  After nearly two weeks of hitting and fielding drills, as well as sharpening up those "fundies", the Mets will finally play an actual game against another major league team, taking on the division rival Washington Nationals today at noon on SNY.

This winter has been a harsh one for Mets fans and people in the Northeast in general.  We've seen a massive snowstorm.  We've seen the defection of our best pitcher and our slugging outfielder to other teams via a trade and free agency.  We've seen Jason Bay and Bobby Bonilla become our highest paid outfielders despite Bay taking his hustle and ineptitude to the Pacific Northwest and Bonilla not giving up his day job of being a Bronx tour guide.  We've seen it all this winter, but none of it matters anymore.  And why is that?

Because today we're seeing the Mets take the field.

It's time for this ice to melt away.  The Mets are back and they're here to stay!

It doesn't matter how much you think the Mets aren't going to compete this year.  It's irrelevant if you think the only race the Mets will be involved in is the race to finish ahead of the Marlins in the NL East.  Today, everyone is on the same page.  Today, no one player is better than any other player.  Today, the Mets play ball again.  And our hope springs eternal as another long, hard winter comes to an end.

Are you ready for some Mets baseball?  I've been ready since last October.  Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks (and an order of chicken nachos).  I'm so glad the Mets are back!

Joey's Soapbox: A Perpetual Thank You To Pedro Feliciano

Pedro Feliciano, who was the longest tenured Met, is now the shortest tenured Yankee.

I'm Joey Beartran and it is my sad duty to inform you that Pedro Feliciano has signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Bronx Bummers today. The deal will be finalized once Feliciano passes his physical.

So ends the saga of Perpetual Pedro, the man who I befriended in Port St. Lucie this past winter (see photo above).

Many of you might know Feliciano as the lefty specialist who kept breaking his own franchise record for games pitched year after year. I know him as a gentleman, a man whose kindness to teddy bears was only rivaled by his ferocity towards left-handed hitters.

From the first time I met him at Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, when he held me and told me that I looked like his twin, to the time I saw him giving autographs to his teddy bear fans (see photo below), Perpetual Pedro endeared himself to me as the biggest teddy bear to put on a Mets uniform.


Now he will take his talent and love of bears over to the Bronx, where he will called upon to handle the newest lefties signed by the Boston Red Sox (Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford), as well as the incumbent southpaws (David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury).

Perhaps he will continue to pitch in 90+ games as a member of the Yankees. Perhaps age and a stronger league will cause him to lose his edge (which I'm sure Derek Jeter can help him with since he apparently has an Edge) against left-handed batters.

But there is one thing I know for sure. Pedro Feliciano may now be a member of the hated Yankees, but he will always be a Met in my heart.

Competitive on the mound and classy off it, Feliciano will be missed by Mets fans and teddy bears alike.

I tip my floppy hat to Pedro Feliciano, my twin and my friend. Good luck to you from your fellow southpaw. You will always bring cheer to teddy bears and fear to lefty bats.

M*A*S*H: Mets Are Still Hurting

For what seems like the 4077th time over the past year, the Mets' battalion has lost another of its key troops to the MASH unit. This time, it's Jose Reyes' turn to miss extended time, as his hyperthyroid condition will keep him out of action for as little as two weeks and as many as two months, as was revealed today on a conference call by Reyes' agent, Peter Greenberg.

The condition is not considered serious and Reyes will not be prescribed any medication for it. He will require plenty of rest and will be tested weekly until his thyroid levels come down to a normal level.

Even if Reyes misses the minimum two weeks, he would still need to rebuild his strength until he's healthy enough to play in a game, putting his Opening Day status in jeopardy.

Should Reyes miss Opening Day, he'd be the second regular player who will not be in the starting lineup when the Mets take the field on April 5 at Citi Field, joining Carlos Beltran, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery. Potential set-up man Kelvim Escobar will also be unavailable until at least mid-April due to a shoulder injury.



The more things change, the more they stay the same. Apparently the Mets didn't get the memo stating that 2009 was over. How else can you explain these injuries continuing? There's no WBC to blame it on this year.

Fortunately, these injuries will not keep Reyes, Beltran and Escobar off the field for a major chunk of the season (supposedly). When the Mets take the field with their ugly red caps during Memorial Day Weekend, all three players should be available to them. How they will perform is something we won't know until they cross the white lines.

Experiencing the 2009 season prepared Mets fans for the worst. These pre-season injuries/surgeries are bringing back visions of last year's reunion that took place at Citi Field. Unfortunately, the reunion I'm talking about is not the one featuring the 1969 Miracle Mets, but the one starring the 2009 Buffalo Bisons, since most of the players on the Bisons' Opening Day roster ended up reuniting as New York Mets at some point last season after each injury claimed another victim.

When the Mets added Jason Bay, fans thought this year could be different than last year. However, with each announcement of another player missing significant playing time, fans expecting to see the equivalent of Hot Lips Houlihan at Citi Field in 2010 might have to settle for Corporal Klinger instead.



There are still a little over three weeks of exhibition games left on the Late Winter Training docket. It's imperative for the Mets to focus on remaining healthy just as much as it is for them to get in game shape and practice good baseball fundamentals. (I'm talking to you, Angel Pagan!) They can't continue to lose players to injuries and expect to remain competitive for long.

These injuries almost make me wonder. When the Mets unveiled their "We Believe In Comebacks" slogan for 2010, were they referring to the team being able to come back from a miserable season to compete in the NL East or were they just being cautiously optimistic that injured players would eventually come back from their injuries before the season was over?

Let's just hope that the team doesn't believe in coming back to 2009. But with the way the injuries are popping up again in 2010, it sure looks like they're feeling nostalgic for last season.

Bears Gone Wild: Port St. Lucie Edition

Studious Metsimus decided to send one of its bloggers to Port St. Lucie to cover the Mets and their activities. Since Joey is cuter and stands a much better chance of getting away with things that might cause other bloggers to have their Blogger Union membership revoked, he was sent to Tradition Field. We now turn things over to Joey (seen in the picture to the left with Slider) with his PSL report.

Thanks, esteemed colleague! This is Joey Beartran reporting for Studious Metsimus. I had a great time covering the Mets in Port St. Lucie during Open Workouts. From sampling great breakfast dishes to delicious lunches to sumptuous dinners (and an occasional Mets player here and there), I did my best to bring you the most complete coverage of what the fan experience is like at Open Workouts. So sit back, turn on your favorite sports radio station to listen to the latest Mets pitcher getting rocked while throwing strikes and enjoy what I like to call "Bears Gone Wild: Port St. Lucie Edition".

I woke up at the crack of dawn and to my surprise, I found myself greeted with breakfast in bed. I love the smell of Corn Pops in the morning!


Then it was off to Tradition Field to see batting practice. However, there was not much action going on in the batting cages. Is it possible that Daylight Savings ended and I was the only one who didn't get the memo?


One Mets player did show up and was kind enough to pose for a picture with me. Here I am with minor league prospect Eddie Kunz. I asked him if he felt he had a chance to make the team out of Spring Training and all he did was smile and hide his pitching hand behind my back. Apparently, he was nervous to meet me because he was covered in sweat. That's okay. When you meet the only bear blogger for the Mets, I can understand if you have a sudden case of the jitters.


Later on, I met a member of the 1986 World Champion Mets. He was the starting pitcher in Game 6 of the 1986 NLCS and Game 6 of the World Series. It was an honor to meet fellow lefty Bobby Ojeda.

I talked to Bobby about how he managed to make the transition from the pitcher's mound to the SNY studio in the hopes that someday I can make a similar move from blogger to SNY on-air personality. He just smiled as I overheard him say "am I on Candid Camera?" to our Studious Metsimus photographer.


After a long day of interviewing, photo ops and wondering whose hand was where, it was time to sample the fine cuisine in Port St. Lucie. There was no shortage of fine Floridian food to partake of. Take a look for yourself...



After a wild night of hot wings and brownie sundaes, it was time to hibernate for the evening. Fortunately, Studious Metsimus had enough funds available in the budget (a.k.a. the piggy bank that serves as our petty cash tin) to allow me to stay for another night. Our photographer had to stay in the car, but I promised to share my breakfast the following day as compensation for the room.


As the sun rose and the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo-dooed, (I should know. I accidentally stepped in some of it.) it was time to get back to the field. This time, I arrived a little bit late and the players were already doing some running. Just watching them perform their drills made me tired so I decided to take a load off and rest on the warning track. Had it been batting practice at Citi Field, I would have been in a perfect position to catch a David Wright just-short-of-the-wall double.


After players were done running around (no truth to the rumor that Angel Pagan was messing up the rhythm of the drill by running too aggressively), it was time to meet some more players. I went after a few more lefties and ended up with the motherlode. (sorry, I didn't get to meet my hero, Keith Hernandez. He's the ultimate lefty and the reason why I became a Mets fan. How can any bear not love him after he was caught by the SNY cameras feeding corn chips to a teddy bear in the TV booth during the 17-inning marathon in Houston during the 2007 season? Ah, but I digress...)

First I met the man known as Perpetual Pedro. He's the Mets' all-time single season leader in appearances by a pitcher. He was also the first Mets player, past or present, to actually talk to me when he told me that I looked a little like him. Personally, I didn't see any resemblance other than the two of us wearing a "Mets" on our chests and the fact that we're both lefties. Here I am with Pedro Feliciano.


Finally, I met up with my Aunt Coop and together we were able to attract the attention of the man with the most home runs in Mets history (no, not Tim Bogar). The "Coop" de grâce of the entire trip was getting this picture with the Straw Man himself, Darryl Strawberry!

If I looked like I wanted to be somewhere else, it's because we were about to miss Happy Hour! Fortunately, we were done with our meet and greet session with Mets players, so we headed out to Duffy's for an hour of liquid happiness.

I had to stow away in the bag because I left my "special ID" at home. Fortunately, I was able to partake in Duffy's 2 for 1 offer, although I can't say I remember much after that. I don't even remember being photographed in the picture you see below to the right.



I was told we didn't do anything else after Happy Hour, so we packed up our belongings and headed back to New York. I was hoping to fly over Citi Field to get some overhead shots of the new additions for 2010, such as McFadden's, the reconstructed bullpens and the Mets Museum and Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the pilot was a Yankee fan so I couldn't convince him to change his flight pattern so that we could land at LaGuardia Airport instead of Newark Liberty.

It's okay. When he wasn't looking, I unbuckled my seatbelt and left him a surprise in the lavatory (and I'm not talking about the iPhone in my lap, if you know what I mean).


Thank you for reading about my experiences as a bear blogger gone wild in Port St. Lucie. With your continued support of Studious Metsimus, we hope to continue to bring you more exclusive content such as this year's Late Winter Training escapades. Maybe next year, our budget will increase. You can never have enough meal money.

For Studious Metsimus, this has been Joey Beartran reporting. Hope to see you all at Citi Field this season!

Special thanks go out to Sharon Chapman and Taryn Cooper for their wonderful photographs and their credit cards. Oh wait, they don't know about the room service I ordered, do they?

Johan Santana And The Four Rainouts Need Backup Singers

Attention, Mets fans! Now you can be a backup singer for Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts! It's easy to qualify. Just come down to the Tradition Field Studios, trot out to the mound, throw your best stuff down the middle of the plate and let out your best scream as you watch your pitches belted all over the field. (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Some assembly required. Must be 48" or taller to ride. Yada, yada, yada.)

Why am I making all this fuss about pitching performances in early March? Because it's alarming how the starting rotation has performed in their Grapefruit League debuts.

Early Spring Training starts are about developing arm strength, but since when did they have to resemble batting practice? To show you what I mean, here are the numbers for the starts by the four members of the starting rotation already guaranteed spots.

• Mike Pelfrey (Mar. 6): 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 K
• Oliver Perez (Mar. 7): 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K
• John Maine (Mar. 8): 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 4K
• Johan Santana (Mar. 9): 1.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 K

That's a total of 9.1 IP for the four starters. In those innings, they've combined to give up 13 earned runs and 22 hits. They have been throwing strikes, as shown by the total of three walks between the four pitchers, but they're strikes of the Rick Aguilera variety (Mr. Wild-In-The-Strike-Zone himself).

While singing the praises of Jenrry Mejia, Ike Davis and Fernando Martinez, has Jerry Manuel noticed that his starters have been getting hit hard? He can sugarcoat it by saying that they're throwing strikes, but wouldn't it be better if they were able to locate those strikes anywhere but the sweet spot of the opposing hitter's bat?

And what about the fifth starter? Whoever becomes the final member of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts has to be ready to move up the food chain should one of the Drab Four get laryngitis (which Mets trainers would say is tendinosis and require a missed start or two). Can Jonathon Niese, Fernando Nieve and Nelson Figueroa be counted on to be the fifth starter and/or step up into a higher slot if needed?

The Mets cannot afford to have their pitching staff do poorly and hope to improve upon their fourth place finish of 2009. Only William Hung can take a shoddy performance and carry that all the way to the bank. (Okay, maybe Oliver Perez can do that too.) But whereas Mr. Hung did well with his fifteen minutes of fame, the Mets will have to do well with 162 minutes of game.

As a Mets fan, I expect Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts to be able to locate their pitches more effectively as Late Winter Training continues. They can throw all the strikes they want, but without location, the shower attendants will end up becoming good friends with them.

With their debut performances, Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts are soaring up the Hit Parade. Let's just hope they ease up on the hits as April approaches.

Photo of Johan Santana by Bruce Kluckhohn.

Photo of William Hung by some photographer who wishes to be in Bruce Kluckhohn's shoes.

How The Mets Can Hit Into A Quadruple Play

Please note: This blog was originally written after Jeff Francoeur hit into a game-ending unassisted triple play on August 23, 2009. In that game, Angel Pagan led off the first inning with an inside-the-park home run that became an inside-the-parker when Shane Victorino did not pick up the ball after it was wedged under the left field wall, thinking the ball was dead.

In today's Late Winter Training game against the Washington Nationals, speedster Omir Santos hit an inside-the-park grand slam when leftfielder Willy Taveras did not attempt to pick up the ball Santos hit down the left field line.

So now I bring back this blog from August. In honor of freak plays, this is a hypothetical situation in which the Mets can hit into a quadruple play. Please try not to get a headache reading it. Enjoy!

So far this season, the Mets have lost a number of games in bizarre and improbable ways. From failing to touch third base at Dodger Stadium to dropping a potential game-ending pop-up at the new Yankee Stadium, Mets fans everywhere have been forced to revise their "I've never seen that before" lists. After Sunday's stunning game-ending unassisted triple play, I've been thinking about new ways the Mets can lose ballgames. There is one thing worse than ending a game on a triple play. They could actually hit into a "quadruple play" to end a game. If my knowledge of the baseball rule book is correct (and please correct me if I'm wrong), here's how it would work.

Say the Mets load the bases against the Phillies in the bottom of the ninth inning. For argument's sake, let's put Luis Castillo on third, Daniel Murphy on second and Jeff Francoeur on first. (I feel bad for the guy. There's no way I was going to make him the hitter in this scenario.) Let's also say they're losing 6-5, with Gary Sheffield batting and waiting on a no-out, 3-2 pitch from Brad Lidge. Sheffield lines a ball to the Cryin' Hawaiian in center field, who takes his foot out of his mouth just in time to make a highlight-reel, over-the-shoulder catch before tumbling to the ground. The umpires haven't made an out call yet because Victorino is seeing hula girls circling his head due to the impact of his diminutive body against the center field turf. As a result, the baserunners are still running the bases. Once the umpires make the out call, Raul Ibañez takes the ball out of Victorino's glove (leaving his customary tissue in the ball's place) and throws to Victorino's fellow member of the Lollipop Guild, Jimmy Rollins, who tags Murphy trying to get back to second and then tags Francoeur.

This looks like a triple play with the game ending once Francoeur is tagged out. However, Castillo scored from third base long before the second and third outs were made. Once Rollins tagged Murphy, the force was removed on Castillo. Therefore, his run would count since it scored before the third out was made. Of course, in between bites of a chocolate bar, Charlie Manuel notices that Castillo also left third base early. Therefore, he instructs the team to go back onto the field for an appeal play at third. When Pedro Feliz steps on third, the third base umpire calls Castillo out for leaving the base too early. This is the "fourth out" of the inning and prevents the Mets from tying the game. Had the "fourth out" not been made, Castillo would have scored a legal run and the game would have gone into extra innings with score tied 6-6.

I expect this bizarre play to occur at some point in September, if not earlier. If it does, please do not ask me for my thoughts on lottery numbers. That information is on a need-to-know basis and you don't need to know.

Just for fun, I'd like to ask the readers for their opinions on unusual ways to lose ballgames. Is there anything you can think of that could rival Sunday's ending? Not including this season's odd endings, what's the most bizarre way you've ever seen the Mets lose a game?

We're Off To Flee The Blizzard (To Port St. Lucie We Will Go!)

The weather outside may be frightful, but come tomorrow, it'll be sooooo delightful. While everyone in the northeast is digging their way out of the snow, I will be a special guest of The Coop in Port St. Lucie. That's right, SMFs. I'm on my way to Spring Training!

We'll be checking out the Mets players to see if they're learning their fundamentals. We'll be checking out the Mets trainers to make sure they're not the same ones as last year. We'll be checking out Duffy's for their fine adult beverage selection. (Remind me to bring my "special" ID.)

Maybe we'll take some exclusive photos with players. Perhaps I'll get a Studious Metsimus interview with Sgt. Bay of The Yukon over a plate of cheese fries with gravy. If he chooses to have poutine instead, that's his choice.

One thing we'll definitely have is FUN, FUN, FUN! When we return Sunday night, I will write my happy recap with all the details of our Port St. Lucie trip. I'm sure my colleague will write a blog or two while I'm gone, assuming he doesn't spend his entire weekend shoveling snow.

Actually, I could use that shovel to dig myself out of the Florida sand. What's that? There's no sand in Port St. Lucie? No worries. I'm hangin' with Miss Cooper! (And the Mets!) It doesn't get any better than this! See you when I get back (if I get back...)

Omir, Oh My! How Will Omir Santos Do In 2010?

As the countdown towards Late Winter Training continues, it is becoming more and more likely that the Mets are going with Omir Santos as their #1 catcher, with Henry Blanco and Chris Coste vying for the backup spot.

The Mets spent their winter break signing tenth-string catchers Coste and Blanco and let a more competent catcher like Funky Cold Molina re-sign with the Giants. As a result, Santos will now be expected to handle the pitching staff of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts as well as performing a few Omir-acles of his own at the plate.

Can he be counted on to repeat his unexpected 2009 performance this year now that more is expected from him? Let's take a look inside the Studious Metsimus Stat Box and pick out some juicy numbers.

In 2008, Omir Santos was called up to the major leagues by the Baltimore Orioles for some coffee and donuts. Since they used peppermint in his coffee (trust me when I say it's a bad combination), he bid adieu to Baltimore and said hello to the Mets. It was in New York that he got his huge break when Brian Schneider got injured, forcing the Mets to call him up to be a part of the Not Ready For Prime Time (Baseball) Players.

However, something happened on the way to the 7 train. On a team full of fragile players and David K. Wright (the K stands for "why the fudge did you strike out so much in 2009?"), Omir blossomed into a pretty decent (and clutch) hitter.

On May 23, Santos hit the most dramatic home run of the 2009 season (some might say the only dramatic home run of the 2009 season, but my name isn't "some") when he hit a two-out, two-run HR in the ninth inning off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. The umpires originally called the shot a double off the Green Monster, but video replay showed that the ball went over the wall and bounced back onto the field of play. To be honest with you, I thought the ball was called a double at first because the umpires couldn't believe it was Omir Santos who hit the home run and not a genuine power threat like...

Well...

Uhh...

Okay, let's be honest with ourselves. The umpires couldn't believe a Met hit a home run off ANYONE. Jonathan Papelbon was so upset that he gave up a home run to a Met that he immediately punched himself in the crotch. (see photo below)

Santos continued his success after Papelbon's "Crotch Heard 'Round The World" by finishing the 2009 season with a .260 batting average, seven HR and 40 RBI in 291 at-bats. Will that translate into a better season in 2010 if he gets the 400 at-bats usually reserved for a #1 catcher?

Unfortunately, looking at his minor league stats, the answer might be no. In 2,229 career at-bats for various minor league teams, Santos could only manage a .258 average, with 32 HR and 260 RBI. He hit .260 for the Mets after not being able to do that against MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING in his eight-plus years toiling in Buttsburg, Wyoming and Fartsville, Wisconsin (although the cheese being cut in Fartsville by the Wisconsin cheeseheads is quite aromatic).

Can the Mets expect more Omir-acles from Santos in 2010? Probably not. They don't play the Red Sox this season and due to the lack of catching depth on the team, there's very little chance he'll get sent back to Wisconsin to play for Count Flatula. If Santos repeats his seven HR, 40 RBI performance in 400 at-bats, that should be considered a success for him. But I'm not counting on it.

The Mets would be better off signing a more experienced catcher who can do well with a pitching staff that can be quite erratic at times. (see Maine, J. and Perez, O.) Given 400 at-bats, any catcher can hit seven HR and drive in 40 runs. But with the problems the Mets could have with their starting pitchers, it may be more important to go with a catcher who can help the Mets more with his handling of pitchers than with his handling of the bat. If the Mets give that much playing time to Omir Santos, they'd better hope he can handle the Four Rainouts portion of Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts. If he can't, the band might not get another gig at Citi Field.