Mike's Mets

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
By Mike Steffanos

When the Mets get on the road, the two Carloses flex their muscles and become one of the most feared one-two punches in baseball. Once they enter the kryptonite-laced confines of Shea Stadium, they take on a depressingly mild-mannered personality. Unfortunately for the Mets, that translates into a much more difficult task scoring runs in front of the home town fans who have become desperate for something to cheer for.

There are a lot of different theories around for why this is so. One of the most popular has to do with the booing at home. I'm no fan of booing players who are not guilty of egregious sins against the hometown club, but I tend to doubt this one. There was more booing at home last year, and the club performed well at home relative to their final record. (Although I would still argue that cheering struggling players rather than showering them with boos would pay dividends in the long run.) So what can it be then?

In an article about Willie Randolph in the Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch gives the following as one of the reasons that Willie doesn't let himself or the team get too high over the recent success:

Randolph is convinced, "guys who've never won before, they don't know how to handle [big leads]."

I suspect that's the biggest reason for the struggles at home right now. You look around at the important players on the team, and they have little history of post-season success. Wright, Reyes, Beltran (except for 1 phenominal year) and even Delgado -- still looking for his first post-season appearance -- haven't played under the scrutiny and high expectations that go along with being regarded one of the best teams in baseball so early in the year. It will be interesting to see if these struggles at home will continue to be a theme for the season, or if the Mets settle down, relax in front of the home-town fans and give us what we want to see.

Note: this posting is being discussed in the MetsMerized Mets Talk Forum.

SI.com: Jose Reyes
Tom Verducci answers the following question:

Can a guy with a .338 on-base percentage be the best leadoff hitter in the National League? The question occurred to me recently as I watched the Mets' Jose Reyes score from second base on a dribbler to third against Philadelphia. When a throw home squirted just beyond the reach of catcher Sal Fasano, Reyes, never breaking stride, zoomed home with what really was a stolen run.

Despite the fact that one GM told Verducci that the only thing special about Reyes was that he "runs fast and he plays in New York", Verducci thinks there's more to Reyes than mere stats reveal.

Bergen Record: Xavier Nady
J.P. Pelzman quotes the Mets RF on his first game back in the lineup:

I feel OK physically. Now it's about finding my swing. On some at-bats, I saw the ball well. On some at-bats, I was not quite there. I'll take some extra swings [before the game today] and go from there. It's just a matter of getting back in there and finding your comfort level.

Newark Star-Ledger: Evan MacLane
Eli Gelman profiles the 23-year-old soft-tossing lefty who is trying to force his way into the Mets thinking. Evan MacLane shares his goal for the year with Gelman:

Win 15 games and be a September call-up. When September rolls around, I want (the Mets) to have to make a decision. I want to be good enough in their eyes that it will be a tough decision to make for them.

Mets.com: Wright and Reyes Honored
Jenifer Langosch reports that Jose Reyes and David Wright shared NL Player of the Week honors for the week from June 12 - 18.

Mets Geek: Struggles at home
Eric Simon examines the disparity in the performance of Mets hitters at home and on the road.

Getting Paid To Watch: Another Book Excerpt
Former Mets assistant trainer Bob Sikes has an excerpt from chapter 2 of his book posted.

More Mets Stories:
SportsSpyder Mets
Pro Sports Daily Mets