Joey's Soapbox: No More Mr. Nice Bear

You may know me as the cute half of the Studious Metsimus staff. I'm the roving reporter and the culinary expert of the staff. I write about all the fun aspects of being a Mets fan, like meeting players and eating chicken nachos at Citi Field.

But I was at Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals and witnessed many things that made my fur crawl. That's why the poofball hat is coming off. It's no more Mr. Nice Bear!


Willy Taveras

If you look up the word "slap hitter" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of Willy Taveras. He makes Luis Castillo look like Albert Pujols (a permanently limping Albert Pujols). Before Saturday's game, Taveras had accumulated 2,609 at-bats in the major leagues and had only driven in 124 runs. To say Taveras is a good run-producer is like saying Ted Nugent is a good spokesman for PETA.

So what did Willy Taveras do against Oliver Perez and the Mets on Saturday? He drove in all four Washington runs! Needless to say, it was the first time in Taveras' career that he collected four RBI in one game.

Willy Taveras batted eighth for the Nationals during the matinee. In 2008, Taveras led the National League with 68 SB (breaking Jose Reyes' three-year reign as NL stolen base king). Why would a team bat a speedster in the eighth spot? BECAUSE HE CAN'T HIT! Taveras is like the modern day Willie Mays Hayes. All flash and dash, but no hits and grits. On Saturday, Taveras showed some grit and came through in two different RBI situations. Because Oliver Perez wasn't more careful with the man batting directly in front of the pitcher, he was burned by the one-dimensional Taveras.

Strike one!


Tyler Clippard

In 2007, the Mets were playing the Yankees in an interleague series at Shea Stadium. The Mets were coming off their first season since 1988 that they were playing baseball after the Yankees had played their final game. After taking the first two games of the series, Mets fans were poised for a sweep of the hated Yankees.

When the Yankees announced that Darrell Rasner would not be making his scheduled start because of a broken finger, Mets fans salivated at the thought that some no-name by the name of Tyler Clippard would be starting. (Yes, I know it's a contradiction to say he's a no-name and then name him, but is this blog called "Studious Metsimus Reader Soapbox"? No, it's called "Joey's Soapbox", so I don't want to hear anyone correcting me!)

Of course, the Yankee Clippard pitched beautifully in his first major league start, giving up only three hits over six innings and the Yankees avoided being swept by the Mets.

On Saturday, Clippard (who was voted by his high school classmates to be the one most likely to play Sloth in "The Goonies" remake) faced the Mets again, this time as a member of the Washington Nationals.

Clippard faced them in relief of starter John Lannan, after Lannan pitched five shaky innings. Maybe he used some of One-Eyed Willy's treasure, (this is different than One-Dimensional Willy, who was mentioned earlier. Pay attention, people. That was just another "Goonies" reference.) but Clippard was outstanding against the Mets once again, pitching three scoreless innings and striking out seven batters.

Perhaps Tyler should change his last name from Clippard to Klippard, because he seemed to corner the "K" market at Citi Field. No Met batter struck out during the first four innings. Then Sloth came into the game and made the Mets whiff early and often. As if Citi Field wasn't windy enough, the Mets' bats had to generate more wind from all the swinging and missing!

Strike two!


Willie Harris

Even a casual Mets fan should know who Willie Harris is. He is the outfielder's version of umpire Angel Hernandez, meaning he lives to screw the Mets. First, he made this game-saving catch as a member of the Atlanta Braves on August 9, 2007.

The ninth-inning shot hit by Carlos Delgado would have been a dramatic game-tying home run. Instead, it became a long out and helped preserve a 7-6 Braves victory. In a season where the Mets lost the division title (and the wild-card) on the final day of the season, any additional victory could have sent the Mets into the playoffs. Willie Harris' catch might have been just as crucial to dashing the Mets' postseason hopes as any of the million games they lost after the "17 games to go" point of the season.

Then on May 15, 2008, Willie Harris made this catch against the Mets, this time as a member of the Washington Nationals, but also at Shea.

The catch on a ball hit by Ryan Church helped preserve a 1-0 win by the Nationals, spoiling a brilliant effort by Mike Pelfrey, and led to Billy Wagner's infamous "you should be talking to those guys over there...oh, they're not here...big shock" post-game comments.

By the way, the Mets lost the wild card to the Brewers on the final day of the 2008 season. One more victory during the season, yada, yada, yada...you know where I'm going with this.

Fast forward to Saturday's game against the Nationals. Josh Willingham had started in left field for Washington and had failed to make this catch on a ball hit by David Wright.

Since Willingham is not known for his defense, Willie Harris was inserted into the game as a late-inning defensive replacement. In the ninth inning, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs. Up came Rod Barajas, who had hit two home runs against the Nationals in the series opener on Friday night.

This time, Barajas smoked a line drive to left field that Gary Cohen immediately called as a base hit on SNY. The only problem was that it wasn't. Willie Harris was in left field, not Josh Willingham. There's no need to post a picture of what happened. I think you already know.

Why do I hate Willie Harris more than the average Mets fan? Perhaps the photo below will explain it for me.

That's right. I was at all three games where Willie Harris snatched potential victories away from the Mets. There are no words for how I feel about Willie Harris. In fact, I will say nothing else about him other than...

Strike three!


I want to be a nice bear. My fans expect that from me. But sometimes the Mets make it impossible for me to keep the cuteness façade up. Saturday was one of those days.

My Studious Metsimus colleague tells me that I should remember that the 1986 Mets also started out with a 2-3 record before they turned it around and ended up winning 108 regular season games and the World Series. He might be right, but those Mets never had to face Willy Taveras, Tyler Clippard and Willie Harris.

All I know is that if the Mets continue to lose games they should win, Mr. Nice Bear might never come back. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Call Him Nelson Phigueroa

Do you see the mug shot to the left? That's a photo of Brooklyn native and now former Met Nelson Phigueroa that was taken during his first tour of duty with the Phillies back in 2001. There will be a new version of this photo soon, as the Phillies claimed Phigueroa off waivers from the Mets earlier today.

He becomes the latest Met castoff to hook up with the Phillies, after Pedro Martinez did the same last year and won his first five decisions for the Phillies, including an eight-inning, 130-pitch effort against the Mets in a 1-0 victory last September. That game mathematically eliminated the Mets from postseason contention.

Phigueroa had one of the best seasons of his career for the Phillies in 2001, winning a career-high four games and finishing with a 3.94 ERA in 13 starts.

The Phillies plan to have Phigueroa on their 25-man roster as they have been decimated with injuries to their pitchers. Starter Joe Blanton and relievers J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge are all currently on the DL, creating the need for them to acquire a pitcher with major league experience.

Mets fans will remember Phigueroa for his numerous fill-in appearances whenever an extra starter was needed and his local boy charm. Studious Metsimus will remember him for his season-ending complete game shutout against the Astros last October 4 (the only complete game and shutout in his major league career) and this failed attempt by his teammates to shave off his eyebrows. (see photo, right)

With the Mets currently employing Johan Santana and The Four Rainouts, the departure of Phigueroa might loom large should Maine, Perez, Pelfrey and Niese pitch ineffectively. That being said, Phigueroa might not be a Phillie for long, especially after their injured pitchers return.

First it was Pedro Martinez. Now it's This Little Phiggy's turn to go red. The Mets didn't need him in the rotation now. Let's hope they don't regret it if Phigueroa comes back and gives the Phillies a Pedro-like performance in 2010.

Gary, Keith & Ron: Always Ready To Pitch In For A Good Cause

In the broadcast booth or on the field, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling were and still are Mets legends. For years, they've been a part of the Mets community. Now they're pitching in to help a community that's less fortunate.

Gary, Keith & Ron (as part of the Pitch In For A Good Cause Foundation) will be supporting the Nourishing Kitchen of NYC in 2010.

For those of you who do not know about the Nourishing Kitchen of NYC, it is a non-profit food program for all residents of New York City. Nutritious meals and educational programs are given to anyone seeking nourishment, regardless of age, sex, religion or financial status.

Whether a person is in need of a hot meal or a course where he or she can learn how to prepare that nutritious meal, the Nourishing Kitchen of NYC will be there to provide for them.

Pitch In For A Good Cause (sometimes known as Gary, Keith and Ron) will be hosting events at Citi Field to raise money for the Nourishing Kitchen of NYC. In addition to these fun events, GKR sells attractive products that Mets fans (both human and a certain Mets bear blogger) will love while helping a worthy cause.

Studious Metsimus correspondent/supermodel Joey Beartran has already supported the cause. (That's Joey in the photo below modeling a shirt that he borrowed from one of the GKR bears up for sale here.)
Why don't you pitch in for a good cause as well? Help a less fortunate member of your community by making a generous donation to help the Nourishing Kitchen of NYC. You'll help provide a hot meal to the hungry and classes for those who want to learn how to eat healthier.

Gary, Keith & Ron help paint a colorful picture during Mets telecasts. Let's help them do the same for the less fortunate. Together we can all hit a home run for New York!

Mets Stroke Johnson To Continue Opening Day Dominance

On a gorgeous day for baseball, the Mets played their home opener hoping to erase their bitter memories of the 2009 season. They provided the fans with quite a show, as they defeated the Marlins and their nemesis, Josh Johnson, by the score of 7-1.

That 7-1 score matches Johnson's new career record against the Mets, as the Mets had not been able to defeat the Marlins' hurler until today. Johnson had always been a master at baiting the Mets into swinging prematurely. Prior to today, the Mets and their bats appeared to shrivel and hide against Johnson, who was undefeated against the Mets in nine career starts. It took ten attempts, but the Mets finally exploded against Johnson, climaxing with a four-run sixth inning.

The Mets didn't take long to bring the Flushing Faithful to its feet. After a 1-2-3 inning by Johan Santana in the top of the first, David Wright took a juicy Johnson offering and deposited it over the right field fence, barely staying on the fair side of the not-so-foul pole. It left Wright only nine home runs short of last year's total, but more importantly, it gave the Mets the early 2-0 lead.

After Santana and Johnson put up zeroes over the next four innings, the Marlins finally got to 'Han the Man in the top of the sixth.

With Chris Coghlan on base, Jorge Cantu lined a shot down the left field line. There was no question that the ball was fair, but the call at second left a little to be desired. As shown by the photo below, second base umpire Jeff Nelson was so enthralled by Luis Castillo's orange wristbands that he missed Castillo's tag of Cantu for what should have been the third out of the inning.

Studious Metsimus tried to get an interview with the vision-impaired umpire but was turned away. However, our gossip reporters found a way inside the umpires' dressing room and overheard this conversation.

"I hadn't seen wristbands like that since Tsuyoshi Shinjo played here. How could I not be fascinated by them?"

We tend to believe our outstanding gossip reporters, so lay off Luis Castillo for not selling the play to the umpire. Also, stop bringing up the fact that he didn't use two hands to tag Cantu. That bit is getting as old as Jamie Moyer.

The Mets went into the bottom of the sixth inning with the slimmest of leads, but a 2-1 game quickly turned into a 6-1 lead, thanks to some first base follies by the Marlins.

On a day in which four military members sang the National Anthem, the Mets paid tribute in their own way. First, Sgt. Bay of The Yukon tripled to lead off the inning, followed by a walk to Pvt. Matthews. The walk to Gary Matthews Jr. was the last issued by Josh Johnson, as he was replaced by Clay Hensley.

After a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly plated the Poutine Patriot, Hensley tried to pick off Pvt. Matthews at first base, but threw wildly to first baseman Gaby Sanchez, allowing Matthews to scamper to second base. He later scored on a double by Rod Barajas, making the score 4-1. A single by pinch-hitter Angel Pagan brought Barajas home and led to a quick shower for Hensley.

On came Dan Meyer to put out the fire. Of course, he decided to put it out with gasoline and got burned. It looked as if Angel Pagan had run himself into another baserunning blunder when he was caught running towards second base by Meyer. However, error #2 at base #1 pushed Pagan over to third base. Alex Cora then drove in Pagan with a groundout to short.

Since bad news always comes in threes, Luis Castillo reached first base safely when Gaby Sanchez committed the third Marlin error of the inning. The third error did not result in more scoring, as David Wright flied out to left field to end the inning.

Here's a quick recap of the final three innings. One tack-on run by the Mets, two solid innings of relief by Fernando Nieve and everyone's fav'rit Reservoir Dog, Mr. Pink(eye), coming out of the bullpen to put the game in the books.

As seen in the photo above, the post-game celebration led to an interesting discovery. Apparently, Mets' first base coach Razor Shines is a fan of the robot. When Mr. Pink(eye) tried to do his usual jump n' bump with Shines, he was surprised to see the coach in the middle of doing a celebratory robot dance. If this becomes a new tradition at Citi Field, similar to the pogoing at the plate done by players after a walkoff home run, you can thank the Razor for it.

With today's win, the Mets continue their Opening Day mastery. They have now won 32 out of their last 41 Opening Day games. More importantly, they were finally able to defeat Josh Johnson for the first time. Juan Marichal can now rest easily. His 19-0 record against the Mets to start his career will not be surpassed by Josh Johnson.

Johan Santana was on the mound and back to his winning ways. David Wright re-discovered his power stroke. The new additions (Sgt. Bay of The Yukon, Pvt. Matthews and Draft Dodger Rod Barajas) were at attention and served Mets Nation well. Baseball is back at Citi Field and we can't be any happier.

Notes and anecdotes: The Mets premiered their new cream-colored home uniforms today. They are now 1-0 in those jerseys, putting that uniform one game ahead of the Mercury Mets in the all-time jersey standings.

As is customary on Opening Day, each member of the team (including coaches and other on-field personnel) was introduced in a pre-game ceremony. Almost every person introduced was greeted with cheers. Who were the loudest boos reserved for? All of the trainers and physical therapists.

Darryl Strawberry threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a rousing ovation. Had Dwight Gooden not gotten into trouble with New Jersey's Finest, perhaps he would have been tabbed to throw out the season's first pitch.

Pictures Of The More Mets-Centric Citi Field

Greeting and salutations, Mets fans! Today, the Studious Metsimus staff attended the Pre-Season Workout at Citi Field. We were surprised by all the changes at the ballpark and we have the pictures to prove it. Enjoy!

The first thing we noticed when we approached the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was the new placement of the Shea Stadium Home Run Apple. Doesn't it look so much better under a blue sky with the sun shining on it?


The Mets changed the names of the VIP entrances to reflect the three numbers retired by the franchise. The first base VIP entrance was renamed "Hodges". The third base VIP entrance was renamed "Seaver" and the left field VIP entrance was renamed "Stengel". Below is the former left field entrance with Casey Stengel proudly displayed over his name on the entrance.

The new bricks along the fanwalk feature the greatest moments in Mets history. Here are some of those bricks, including the infamous Game 7 of the 1986 World Series brick, which incorrectly credited Sid Fernandez with the Game 7 win before it was changed to the brick shown below.

We took pictures of all the new banners outside the ballpark as well, but we don't want to spoil everything for you. Besides, wouldn't you rather see what the new Mets Hall of Fame and Museum looks like?

The Studious Metsimus staff was quite impressed with the exhibit. Joey even appeared in some of the photos although I think he was trying to end the museum tour and sample the new food additions (which you will see later). Here is a small sample of the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum.








Now it's time to move on to the new additions on our near the field of play. From the Shea Bridge to the new script "Mets" on the CitiVision, there was no shortage of changes to make Citi Field look more Mets-friendly than it was in 2009. Of course, Joey still found a Brooklyn Dodgers reference, but I don't think fans would complain about this one.




There were some cosmetic changes to the field as well. The Mets lowered the centerfield fence in front of the home run apple from 16 feet to 8 feet. They also reconfigured the bullpens so that the visitor's bullpen was not hidden behind the Mets bullpen. Now the two bullpens are side-by-side and both teams can view the events taking place on the field without any obstructions blocking their views.

Finally, as promised, here are the food selections sampled by Joey. Let's give the keyboard over to our culinary expert, Joey, as he takes you through the news food selections and prices.

Thank you, esteemed Studious Metsimus colleague. This is Joey Child, who may or may not be related to your Studious Metsimus correspondent, Joey Beartran. Family trees for bears are far more complicated than human ones. I decided to sample the new additions at Box Frites and I must say, I was quite impressed. They now offer poutine. (although they refer to it as "disco fries". There is no truth to the rumor that I was humming "Macho Man" by the Village People as I was sampling these delicious frites.) Below is a picture of the poorly-named, but rich tasting "disco fries", followed by the new garlic-parmesan fries, followed by my lunch break.

Now it's time to reveal the new prices for food at Citi Field. The petty cash tin at Studious Metsimus will be emptier sooner than later, but for these great selections, it's worth it. If you remember some of the food prices from last year, you'll notice that most items went up in price anywher from a quarter to a dollar. Here are our exclusive photos of the new prices at various food stands. You may also notice new choices (like Goya beef empanadas at the Hot Dog stand and cheese fries at Shake Shack) which we will sample at a later date.



For those who want to know why there are no pictures of McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, that's because when we went down there, it didn't appear to be finished. The Studious Metsimus gossip reporters (betcha didn't know we had gossip reporters, didya?) overheard two Citi Field employees saying that it wouldn't be finished until the second homestand, which begins April 19 against the Chicago Cubs. Whether or not this is true, we'll find out when we go to Opening Day.

So Citi Field is finally looking more like a Mets ballpark. With the addition of the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum, the new entrances and bricks outside the stadium and the new and improved food choices, Mets fans will finally feel like they have a home again. Whether or not those fans will help give the Mets a home field advantage is yet to be determined. One thing for sure is that the Mets finally tried and succeeded in making Citi Field less of an Ebbets Field-lite and more of a worthy successor to Shea Stadium. Now it's up to the players to keep the fans in their seats with good play on the field. Regardless of how the team performs on the field, Mets fans will surely enjoy their experience at Citi Field in 2010.

As the slogan for 2010 goes, "We Believe In Comebacks". For the staff of Studious Metsimus, we approve of the improvements at Citi Field and we believe in coming back to Citi Field this year. Hope to see you there!