Bears On Books: Amazin' Again

Just like Mets baseball, your favorite bears who like to sit on books are back!

Happy Opening Day, everyone!  We're Joey and Iggy Beartran and we couldn't think of a more fitting way to celebrate the beginning of the 2016 campaign - a year the Mets open as defending National League champions - with a review of the book that gave us a happy recap of the previous season that the late Bob Murphy would be proud of.

Today, we'll be reviewing "Amazin' Again: How the 2015 New York Mets Brought the Magic Back to Queens" by Greg Prince.  It was a season Mets fans won't soon forget, just like this book is one Mets fans won't soon put down.

Mr. Prince, whose Faith and Fear in Flushing blog inspired the book of the same name and also laid down the blueprint for his second book, The Happiest Recap, wrote his latest work almost as quickly as it took the Mets to erase the Washington Nationals from the postseason picture.  But just because this wasn't a book that was painstakingly put together over a period of several years doesn't mean the quality suffers.  In fact, it's quite the contrary.

When Casey Stengel "perfessed" that the first words spoken by children in the 1960s had changed from "Mama" or "Papa" to "Metsie, Metsie, Metsie", he was clearly referring to Mr. Prince.  The foremost authority on all things Metsie could have written this book in one sitting and we'd believe it.  His love of the Mets permeates throughout the 215 pages dedicated to the 2015 pennant winners.

One thing that rivals Mr. Prince's love of the Mets is his love of the English language.  His pun-tastic wordplay is evident in each chapter, making a story every Mets fan remembers as if it occurred yesterday (or 155 yesterdays ago, if you want to be precise) seem fresh and new.

If a band performed at Citi Field in 2015, Mr. Prince would find a way to reference as many song titles into his review of the game that preceded each show.  Yes, this isn't just a by-the-numbers recap of the season (although numbers do find a way into the story in a way that non-mathophiles can enjoy).  Then again, it's to be expected that Mr. Prince would entertain you even when he's discussing the otherwise somber truth of the team's injury announcements.  You know, the ones that begin with "He's not going to throw today as scheduled" and end with "The Mets haven't yet announced whether they will wear a patch in his memory in 2016."

In an era where people's attention spans get shorter and shorter by the minute, it didn't take too many 60-second intervals to finish reading this book.  In fact, we devoured page after page as if they were bacon on a stick and were done with Amazin' Again less than 36 hours after we started, or about 36 hours longer than the Cubs held a lead in the National League Championship Series.  (And just wait till you get to the chapter on the NLCS.  It's totally Murphalicious.)

So as you get ready for the 2016 campaign with the memorable 2015 campaign still visible in your rear view mirror, take time out to read a wonderful work dedicated to that most recently completed campaign.  Don't be surprised if you end up shedding tears of joy after finishing Mr. Prince's book (even if you weren't just traded for Carlos Gomez).

As the subtitle of Amazin' Again says, the Mets brought the magic back to Queens.  And Mr. Prince certainly brought the magic back into our minds with his amazin' book.  We give it two very enthusiastic paws up.

Amazin' Again was so well-written, we may just have to read it again.

Bears On Books: The Happiest Recap, Vol. 1

We're bears, and we're on books.  Get it?

Hi, everyone!  We're Joey and Iggy Beartran, and we'd like to welcome you to the premiere edition of Bears On Books.  Today, we'll be giving you our review of the first volume of "The Happiest Recap" by Greg Prince.  (Or to be exact, it's a review of "The Happiest Recap: 50 Years of the New York Mets As Told in 500 Amazin' Wins, Volume 1 - First Base: 1962-1973".  But we like the abridged title because we're more into the brevity thing.)

The Happiest Recap began as a series on Faith and Fear In Flushing in 2011.  The series recapped the best Game 1s, Game 2s, Game 3s, etc. in Mets history.  For the book version of "The Happiest Recap", Mr. Prince employed a double switch and inserted the best games in Mets history, regardless of which game it was on the schedule.  (Don't worry.  The Tim Harkness game was not double switched out of the book.  If you don't know what we're referring to, just ask Harkness or Jim Hickman or Mike Jorgensen or Tim Teufel or Kevin McReynolds or Jordany Valdespin.  We're sure they'll be glad to clarify things for you.)

In the first book of the four-volume series, Mr. Prince tackled 127 games from the team's first dozen seasons that resulted in happy recaps.  In other words, the team went a perfect 127-0 in those games.  From the team's seminal days in the Polo Grounds (#SLAMWATCH  #TimHarkness) to the advent of the state-of-the-art facility known as Shea Stadium to Look Who's No. 1 to Ya Gotta Believe (and the resignation of vice president Spiro Agnew), Mr. Prince has all the bases covered.

As always, Mr. Prince paints a colorful picture using the pages of his book as the canvas.  His mutual mastery of the English language and the language of the Mets is evident throughout the book.  And his frequent clever wordplay will bring a smile to your face faster than you can say "bring on Rod Stupid!" (For more on that, feel free to flip to Game No. 82 in the book.)

Do you need an example of Mr. Prince's clever wordplay?  You know you do.  And here it is, courtesy of Game No. 83 and Tommie Agee's glove (also known as the third game of the 1969 World Series).

"Tommie Agee made one of the most incredible catches in World Series history.  Then, just as remarkably, he maintained its integrity by gripping the ball in his glove's webbing.  From the Upper Deck, it looked like the most delightful scoop of vanilla a counterman ever served up at a Baskin-Robbins.  Tommie Agee kept 56,335 who screamed for the Mets in very good humor."

Thanks to Tommie Agee's catch and Greg Prince's words, I'm now in the mood for Baskin-Robbins.

Mr. Prince has an incredible mind for all things Mets and he doesn't mind sharing that Metsian knowledge with all of his readers.  Fans young and old will enjoy reading about teams that were far worse than the Mets teams we've gotten used to seeing over the past four seasons.  Those early-to-mid '60s teams might have had poor records (and by poor, we mean they stink, stank, stunk - they stunk worse than Moises Alou's hands after he toughened them), but they were lovable.

And most important, they were ours.

Mr. Prince reminds us that winning wasn't everything for those early Mets teams.  But fortunately, they had just enough happy recaps in those first few seasons or else his first volume would have been nothing more than a pamphlet.

Sure, the Mets might go through some rough patches every now and then.  Sometimes every now and then lasts for nearly a decade.  But with writers like Mr. Prince finding memorable moments in otherwise dismal seasons, aren't you glad you've kept your fandom despite all the hiccups our team has gone through over their 50-plus years of existence?

If you haven't purchased the first volume of "The Happiest Recap", please take a trip to your nearest bookstore or just click here if you're afraid to go outside for fear of missing an inning or two of Matt Harvey's latest phenomenal outing.  Where else will you get recaps of 127 thrilling victories and short Mets history lessons on players who shoulda, woulda, coulda been stars, but instead ending up being Les Rohr and Dick Rusteck?

Karl Ehrhardt - the Mets' original Sign Man - held up a sign that said "THERE ARE NO WORDS" when the Mets wrapped up their first World Series championship in 1969.  Fortunately for us, there are plenty of words in Greg Prince's latest book, and those words show his unabashed love and passion for the New York Mets.  After you read "The Happiest Recap", we're sure you'll have plenty of loving and passionate words to describe his book as well.

We're Joey and Iggy Beartran and we give volume 1 of "The Happiest Recap" two paws up.  Way up.  Like Tommie Agee's home run in the Upper Deck of Shea Stadium up.  And yes, you can read about that shot in Game No. 57 in the book.  After all, the Mets won that game...

Studious Metsimus Presents The Happy/Crappy Recap For 2012

The Mets packed their bags three months ago.  Now it's time for us to send 2012 packing as well.  Although the Mets finished the year with a 74-88 record - their fourth consecutive losing mark - the year did not pass without a number of memorable moments.

We got to experience R.A. Dickey in every way.  He started the year as a mountain climber.  He then morphed into a best-selling, brutally honest author.  Soon after, he was featured in a compelling documentary.  All that just served as an appetizer for the 20-course meal he served up during the regular season, which culminated with a rich and satisfying Cy Young Award for dessert.  Of course, those who want seconds will now have to find the finest Canadian restaurant to get it.

We got to see David Wright prosper without Jose Reyes by his side.  We also got to see him rewarded for his efforts by becoming the first lifelong Met since Ed Kranepool hung up his cleats and took Chico Escuela's soap.  Of course, making him the richest Met of all-time kind of helped in Wright's decision.

In addition, we also got to see the progression of Jonathon Niese from so-so pitcher to dependable middle-of-the-rotation starter.  With a 13-9 record and a 3.40 ERA, Niese became a solid No. 2 starter behind R.A. Dickey.  Now that his long-term deal is signed, Niese expects to be a key figure for the Mets for years to come.

Of course, we also saw something we had never seen before.  We got to see a zero on the Citi Field scoreboard in a place we had never seen a zero before, regardless of the Mets' home venue.

The year had a bunch of reasons to be happy.  It also had its share of crappy.  Let's go over those moments, beginning with all things happy.

Twenty wins.  230 strikeouts.  Five complete games.  Three shutouts.  Back-to-back one-hitters.  If you don't know what those numbers mean, then you weren't following the Mets in 2012.  R.A. Dickey completed one of the most memorable seasons by a Mets starting pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985.  But Dickey was more than just a great pitcher.  He endeared himself to Mets fans with his intelligence and candidness.  He told it like it is.  He wasn't afraid of anything.  Then again, for someone who once attempted to swim across the Missouri River, facing the New York media was probably a breath of fresh air.  Dickey began the year climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  He ended it by reaching the top of the pitching mountain in the National League, winning an unexpected Cy Young Award.  It was certainly a wonderful year to be R.A. Dickey.

David Wright spent most of the first half of the season competing for the National League batting title.  Despite coming back to Earth in the second half, Wright still finished sixth in the National League MVP vote.  It was his highest finish since 2007, when Wright registered his only 30-30 season.  The lifelong Met will have plenty of opportunities to finish higher than sixth in the MVP race now that the Mets have signed him to an eight-year extension that will keep him in blue and orange duds through the 2020 season.

After a 16-year absence, Banner Day made its triumphant return in 2012.  Fans lined up 126th Street before the game with banners that hadn't seen the light of day since Mark Clark was the Mets' ace.  Of course, the best banner - although not the winner - made the claim that "no-hitters are overrated anyway".  I wonder what the carriers of that banner were saying a few days later when a certain Mets lefty took the mound.

That certain Mets lefty was Johan Santana.  And when he took the mound on June 1, he was pitching better than anyone could have hoped for after missing the entire 2011 season with a shoulder injury.  In his previous effort, just one day before Banner Day, Santana shut out the San Diego Padres.  Perhaps Santana saw that "overrated" banner after his shutout of the Padres.  Perhaps he had an extra bowl of Froot Loops the morning of June 1 because he liked all the "O"s in the name.  But something special was in the air at Citi Field on that Friday night, and the scoreboard reflected it with "0" after "0" after "0", and not just in the runs column.  Santana pitched the first no-hitter in team history on that magical evening, holding Carlos Beltran and his Cardinal teammates in check despite St. Louis entering the game with the highest batting average in the National League.  It was a night no Mets fan will ever forget.

As happy as those moments were, there were also some crappy moments in 2012.  Time to break out the orange and blue toilet paper to see what we can wipe up.

After finding themselves in a first place tie at the one-third mark of the season, the Mets played .500 ball through the All-Star Break.  Despite the mediocre play, the Mets found themselves only half a game behind the Atlanta Braves for the second wild card spot.  But after the Midsummer Classic, the Mets would have been happy to just play at a mediocre level.  Instead, they continued what has become an alarming annual tradition by playing poorly after the All-Star Break.  The Mets went 28-48 after their four-day summer vacation.  The only National League team with fewer wins after the break was the Houston Astros, who went on to lose a franchise-record 107 games.  The Mets didn't approach that number, but they sure played like a 107-loss team after the break.

Johan Santana provided a lot of happy on June 1.  But after that date, he was nothing but crappy.  In ten starts following his no-hitter, Santana posted an 8.27 ERA.  Opponents batted .327 against him (a far cry from the .000 batting average against him on June 1) and smoked 13 home runs in only 49 innings.  For the fourth consecutive season, Santana didn't throw a single pitch after September 2, with his 2012 season ending prematurely after allowing six runs in five innings against the Washington Nationals on August 17.

The bullpen.  Do I have to say more?  Other than Bobby Parnell, who had a 2.49 ERA in 74 appearances, the rest of the pen was constantly springing leaks.  Manny Acosta, Miguel Batista, Tim Byrdak, Robert Carson, Josh Edgin, Frank Francisco, Jeremy Hefner, Elvin Ramirez and Ramon Ramirez all made at least ten relief appearances.  None of them had an ERA under 4.24 and four of them had ERAs over 5.00.  How bad was the bullpen?  Jon Rauch allowed seven homers and lost seven games and still had the second lowest ERA of any pitcher in the bullpen.  If there were men on base and the bullpen phone rang, opposing hitters would salivate like Pavlov's dogs.  Simply stated, the three words that described the bullpen best in 2012 were stink, stank, stunk.

That's all, folks!  After this post, we'll be signing off for the year 2012.  However, we can't end this year without giving our thanks to those who have influenced us and supported us.

A big thank you goes out to you, the readers, for making this site a success.  When this site began in 2009, it averaged a few dozen page views per day.  Since then, Studious Metsimus has gotten over 200,000 page views and counting, with our high point coming this past October, when we had over 15,000 page views in that month alone.  To more experienced bloggers, that might not seem like much, but considering where we began three years ago, that's a tremendous number.  Every time someone clicks on a Studious Metsimus blog post, they have no idea what they're getting themselves into.  And that's exactly the point.  Studious Metsimus isn't supposed to be like anything else you've ever seen.  I mean, we employ a teddy bear to be our roving reporter and culinary expert.  And how many Mets sites have culinary experts anyway, whether they be warm-blooded or non-blooded?  When you're a Mets fan, you have to be a little different, and Studious Metsimus certainly takes that to another level.  So thank you once again for joining me on that ride.

I'd also like to thank our fellow bloggers for providing additional news, insight, entertainment and chicken nachos that make the blogosphere a better playground to play in.  Sites such as Mets Merized Online, Metstradamus, Remembering Shea, Kiner's Korner, The Real Dirty Mets, The Apple, Mets360, On The Black, MetsBlog, Rising Apple, Random Mets Thoughts, Kranepool Society, New York Fan In South Jersey, Metszilla, Mets Police, MetSilverman and assorted others are all worth your time.  They're all read and recommended by the Studious Metsimus staff.  And before you say "you forgot one", I have a separate shout out reserved for Faith and Fear in Flushing.  Not only do Greg Prince and Jason Fry provide us with some of the most original and thought-provoking pieces in the Mets blogosphere, but the words they use in their posts would make R.A. Dickey run for his nearest dictionary.  (And before I forget, give yourself a belated Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa present by picking up The Happiest Recap: First Base (1962-1973).  Author Greg Prince knocked it out of the park with this first of four volumes that recap 500 Mets victories over the years.  Even Endy Chavez couldn't take that homer away from him.)

Finally, I'd like to give a special thank you to my wife, Taryn Cooper, who will always be my Gal For All Seasons.  She's been a Mets fan for many years (you didn't think I'd give away her age, did you?) and an inspiration to me since before the first time we met.  I can't think of a better person who I'd want to share my Mets memories with (and hopefully create some new ones along the way).

From our family to yours, we'd like to wish you a happy and healthy New Year.  And remember, if you think you have a concussion, please take care of it.  You wouldn't want to forget that you're a Mets fan.  See you next year!

Photo by Sharon Chapman