A Joey and Iggy Beartran Thanksgiving (2018)

Happy Turkey Day from Joey, Iggy and the original Snoop Dog!  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

Hello, Mets fans!  We're Joey and Iggy Beartran.  As you know, Thanksgiving is the best holiday of the year, mainly because it gives us a chance to pig out and not feel guilty about it.  You know, kind of like the Wilpons not feeling guilty for always leaving their wallets at home every time free agent season arrives.

Iggy and I don't have pockets, so at least we have an excuse not to carry wallets around.  We do, however, have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

So finish off that stuffing, don't hog all the white meat (saying that for a friend) and move away from the TV since none of the football teams you root for are playing today.  Instead, tell your family that you have to leave early to start your pre-Black Friday shopping and then spend a few minutes of your day reading about what we're thankful for.  There's always Cyber Monday for you to actually do that shopping, just like there's always the 2024 season for the Wilpons to sign the best players from the 2018 campaign.

Here we go!




       The Peanuts crew re-enacts what guests are being fed at a Wilpon family Thanksgiving.



Joey:  I'm thankful that the Cy Young Award voters realized that Jacob deGrom was the best pitcher in the National League, despite what his won-loss record said.

Iggy:  And I'm thankful I live in New York and not San Diego, where that one loser who voted for Max Scherzer lives.  He thinks wins matter for starting pitchers.  Of course he likes wins.  After all, it's a win for him that I'm not out there or else I'd have whacked him in San Diego.

Jacob deGrom tips his cap to all who gave him a first place vote; all 29 of you.  (Elsa/Getty Images)

Joey:  I'm thankful our Studious Metsimus colleagues took us to the Show Me State to visit Busch Stadium and Kauffman Stadium.  I now have just six stadiums left to complete my tour of all 30 ballparks.

Iggy:  And I'm thankful we made it out of Missouri alive.  After all, the Mets lost both of the games we attended in St. Louis and we were constantly reminded of the Mets losing the World Series to Kansas City in 2015.  I also got an upset stomach for what passed for ballpark food at Busch Stadium.

Joey was less than satisfied with the potato knish and the Mets' performance in St. Louis.  (EL/SM)

Joey:  I'm thankful we got to see David Wright retire on his own terms.  After two-plus years trying to get back to the big leagues, he was finally able to put on his Mets uniform once again and come off the field a final time after playing his customary third base position during the season's next-to-last game.                   

Iggy:  And I'm thankful David's final press conference didn't go down the same road that Mike Schmidt took during his.

                 YouTube video posted by James Lorenz.  Tears by Michael Jack Schmidt.

Joey:  Finally, on a similar but non-Mets related note, I'm thankful we got to see Adrian Beltre at Citi Field just after he collected his 3,000th hit in 2017.  Beltre recently announced his retirement after 21 seasons in the big leagues, and it was an honor to see a future Hall of Famer in action while he was still on top of his game.

Iggy:  And I'm thankful Chase Utley retired without getting another World Series ring.  Now that he's no longer playing, he'll have plenty of time to touch second base since he still hasn't done that since October 2015.

Newly retired Chase Utley will now only have himself to beat up instead of opposing players.  (Juan DeLeon/Getty Images)

Even though the Mets were less than mediocre for a second consecutive season, the team still gave us plenty to be thankful for.  Class acts like Jacob deGrom and David Wright will always make the Mets easy to root for, even when they're not scoring any runs for deGrom and he doesn't get the wins needed to please Mr. San Diego journalist guy.  I do, however, hope Clueless Joe gets a Hall of Fame vote because there's no way he's voting for Utley and his 1,885 hits to make it to Cooperstown.  Hits matter to dinosaur voters like him.

And that's all for today, folks.  From our family to yours, we'd like to wish you a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  Please be sure to keep your leftovers refrigerated and the spare keys to your home somewhere our paws can get to them.  After all, writing Turkey Day blog posts can make bears quite hungry!

LET'S GO METS!!

On frigid days like today, I kinda wish the baseball hot stove was actually a real stove.  (EL/SM)

When The SUMMER Is Gone, MY FAMILY Will Remain

See the glowing Mets fan to the left? That's no David Wright fangirl. That's the Coop, writer extraordinaire. For the past three years, she has shared her thoughts on the Mets and everything associated with the team on My Summer Family, one of the most unique and respected Mets sites around.

However, it has come to our attention that the Coop has retired My Summer Family, as announced in her most recent work, "Roll Call 2010: A Very Special Post".

The Studious Metsimus staff could only think of one word that could describe our feelings accurately regarding this surprise retirement, and that word is...

Sigh...

My Summer Family was always one of the first places we would turn to for thought-provoking, insightful and entertaining pieces on the Mets. Where else could we be told to "just forfeit" to avoid suffering from "Post-Traumatic Mets Disorder"?

The Coop was never afraid to tell it like it is, even if it involved using language that only soon-to-be Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven would love.

There has been an overwhelming display of love and support for the Coop from the blogging community. From Joe D at Mets Merized Online to Greg Prince at Faith and Fear in Flushing, there has been no shortage of respectful goodbyes for the writer known to the Studious Metsimus staff as "The Better Half".

Wait. The Better Half? What, you didn't know? That's right. The Coop and I have taken the plunge and tied the knot in an Amazin' Met-rimony.

For those of you who don't understand my not-so-cryptic previous paragraph, I'll come right out and say it. WE'RE MARRIED, Y'ALL!!

Although our wedding day was on Cinco De Mayo (which celebrates the Mexican Army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862), there was one particular Mexican-born pitcher who was not invited to the day's festivities. Sorry, Ollie.

So the My Summer Family era has come to an end. But don't worry. Although you won't see the My Summer Family blog anymore, the Coop will find a way to make her presence felt. Whether it be applying for the still-vacant Mets' GM position (COOP FOR GM!!) or trying to arrange the latest Citi Field Sit Out, her unique perspective will always be at the forefront of any discussion on the state of the Mets. If you build it, Coop will come.

Ted Williams retired after hitting a home run in his final turn at bat. So did Todd Zeile. There's now a threesome in that department (Señor Solly and Bert Blyleven would certainly approve of that statement), as My Summer Family is going out on top.

Retirement is never easy. Just ask Mike Schmidt. (see video below)

Congratulations to an excellent writer, a passionate Mets fan and the most incredible and loving wife in the world. I'll try my best to continue what you began at My Summer Family here at Studious Metsimus, but I know I'll never compare to you.

You have been my inspiration, my muse and my reason to continue writing about anything that pops into my head regarding the Mets. The sun has set on My Summer Family, but it will never set on us. I love you and wish you the best wherever that takes you. Just promise to take me along for the ride.

Studious Metsimus Has Statsimus Maximus

Dudes, do not try to say the title of this post five times fast. I will not be responsible for whatever injury your tongue suffers and I will certainly NOT be driving you to the Hospital For Special Surgery (unless if you can get me an autograph from one of the many Mets players who hang around their gift shop).

Here are a few final stats from the 2009 season:

With the season-ending sweep of the Astros, the Mets finished their first season at Citi Field with a winning home record. The three-game drubbing of Houston gave the Mets a 41-40 record at home. (They were 9-11 in the 20 games attended by members of the Studious Metsimus team.) Of course, that 29-52 road record kind of put a damper on things.

Daniel Murphy led the team in home runs this season with 12. This tied the franchise record for fewest home runs by a team leader. In 1977, Steve Henderson, John Milner and John Stearns led the Mets with 12 home runs apiece. In June 1998, Sammy Sosa hit 20 HR by himself. On the bright side, Daniel Murphy has never had the shadow of steroids following him, just the shadows of his stint in left field and this awkward photo.

As reported by Studious Metsimus three weeks ago (click here for proof...we wouldn't lie to you), David Wright's power outage did indeed become historic. He finished with 10 HR this season after hitting 33 HR in 2008. That marked the first time in major league history that a player with at least 500 at-bats in consecutive seasons hit as many as 33 HR the first season and as few as 10 HR the following season. Wright had 626 at-bats in 2008 and 535 at-bats in 2009. On a positive note, Wright didn't break the all-time strikeout record this year. Mark Reynolds of the Diamondbacks did with 223 Ks. We won't get into the fact that Reynolds also found the time between strikeouts to hit 44 HR with 102 RBI.

If Carlos Delgado played his last game in a Mets uniform, his last appearance as a Met came in May. The last player with as many home runs as Carlos Delgado's 473 HR to cut a season short in May was Mike Schmidt when he announced his retirement from the Phillies in 1989. Fortunately for Delgado, he took the inveitable news of the end of his season with a little more dignity than Mike Schmidt did.

Angel Pagan had a nice half-season for the Mets as an everyday player. In 343 at-bats, Pagan hit 22 doubles, 11 triples (one of only four major leaguers with as many as 11 triples) and six home runs. Getting thrown out on the bases for taking stupid chances has not yet been recognized by Major League Baseball as an official stat so Angel will not be embarrassed in this blog.

I personally like the dude. Not only is he a good hitter, but during Saturday's rain delay, he personally signed autographs for EVERY SINGLE FAN that stuck around for the game to resume.

Studious Metsimus was there and took an exclusive photo of Pagan signing those autographs (see photo above). He even signed one for the guy in the picture who was more interested in the yellow raincoat than the major leaguer standing three feet away from him. Stay classy, Angel Pagan!

Finally, we can't finish this without mentioning Nelson Figueroa. If I told you the Mets wouldn't have a single complete game shutout at Citi Field until the last game of the season, Nelson Figueroa would probably not be the first name rolling off your tongues. (Plus, if you didn't listen to me at the beginning of the blog and decided to say the title five times fast, nothing would be rolling off your tongue right now!)

Therefore, the final stat of the day is the number one. Nelson Figueroa tossed the one and only complete game shutout at Citi Field this season, one week after Pat Misch pitched the only other complete game shutout by a Met in 2009 against the Marlins in Florida.

For his efforts in the season finale, Figueroa was awarded with a shaving cream pie to the face. Although Figueroa laughed it off, Studious Metsimus was told by an unnamed source (who turned around when we called him Oliver Perez) that it was the team's subtle way of telling him to shave his eyebrows a little.

Congratulations to Nelson Figueroa for his excellent performance to end the season and also to Oliver Perez for not trying to do like Jose Reyes by making a failed comeback attempt only to exacerbate his previous injury. Then again, given Studious Metsimus and its hate/hate relationship with Señor Perez, perhaps he should have attempted a comeback.

Well, SMFs. That's all for the 2009 season. Don't fret. We'll still be here blogging about all things Mets. If there's a story out there to be made fun of, we'll fart all over it. If there's breaking news to report, we'll break it some more and then send it over to the Hospital For Special Surgery. And if Oliver Perez is out there, just shoot him and put him out of his misery.

Thank you for your readership and your support. Never forget...Angel Pagan: classy. Mike Schmidt: wimpy. If you remember to fly like an Angel, you won't be treated like a piece of Schmidt. Byeeeeeeeeeee!