Mike's Mets: October 2006 Archives

New Agreement Offers Incentive for Bad Teams to Get Better

One thing that we heard repeatedly was that the previous version of revenue-sharing in major league baseball actually discouraged struggling small-market teams like the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates from trying to become more competitive. Large-market teams such as the Mets watched as their revenue-sharing dollars were pocketed by the ownership of...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Road Trip

Sorry I didn't post earlier today. I went to New York City to be interviewed by the Mets Weekly people. It was an interesting and somewhat humbling experience. Funny, but when someone sticks a camera in your face your I.Q. can drop a few points really quick. In any case,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Why I Picked On Mookie (And Don't Regret It)

I've been taking a little heat for voicing some displeasure with Mookie Wilson for his choice to wear the Cardinals clothing while cheering on his stepson Preston during the World Series. I voiced this opinion in this paragraph from my Saturday post: Yes, I know. Mookie is cute and cuddly....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Why We Didn't Tune In -- One Fan's Perspective

Newsday's Mark Herrmann takes local fans to task for failing to do our duty, Judy: Don't blame the Cardinals for this World Series being so bland. Don't get on the Tigers just because the Series got lower ratings than professional poker exhibition games. Please, please don't even think about saying...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The Baseball Calendar Turns To 2007

The baseball season ended last night with a whimper, as the representative of the "superior league" couldn't even find it in them to muster up a good fight. I no longer have to hear for the one zillionth time how Cardinals fans are the best in baseball. They can go...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Mets Hot Stove: No Interest in Zito?

In today's New York Post, Mark Hale cites a source with the Mets that they will not be pursuing free agents Barry Zito or Alfonso Soriano or seek to deal for Manny Ramirez this winter. Hale gives the following reasons for each: The Mets will need a top starter and...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

The Jewels of the System

It's still fairly quiet on the hot stove front, but there were a couple of good articles today on some kids who may well be the future of this franchise. In the Bergen Record, Steve Popper discusses the choices the Mets will have to make with Lastings Milledge. Lastings is...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Book Review: Little League, Big Dreams

Little League, Big Dreams Inside the Hope, The Hype, and the Glory of the Greatest World Series Ever Played Author: Charles Euchner Hardcover, 320 pages, Sourcebooks, Inc. The first book that I reviewed on this site was Charles Euchner's excellent The Last Nine Innings, which used the seventh game of...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 7:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Some Thoughts on Old Lefties

There are a couple of 40-something southpaws who are occupying my thoughts this week for very different reasons. One of them did not endear himself to Mets fans when he pitched here a few years ago, and the other one finally earned our respect over the past two seasons after...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Surgeries All Around

There was a surprising amount of Mets news that came across my newsreader today. On Mets.com, Marty Noble reports on the four Mets -- Carlos Delgado, Aaron Heilman, Chris Woodward and Paul Lo Duca -- who went under the knife today. Delgado had surgery on his right wrist to alleviate...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mets Hot Stove: Those Whacky Rumors

For those of you that live for trade rumors, Mark Healey at Gotham Baseball is firing up The Rumor Mill a little early this year. Mark tries to discern which players both New York teams may be targeting. A couple of interesting names he has come up with are San...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The Stove Slowly Warms Up

I found quite a few of those "looking ahead" type of articles today, despite the fact that the World Series has just started. Daily News: Rubin's Plan Adam Rubin offers up four things he believes the Mets should do in the off-season. Let's look a them point by point: 1....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

My Favorite Posts

The following are some of my personal favorites from this blog, arranged chronologically from most recent down to the oldest. Some of these I considered my best writing, while some are here because they seem to capture an important event or theme from when they were written. Please note that...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Decisions, Decisions

The Bergen Record's Steve Popper offers a list of Mets players not under contract to the team for 2007. Here they are by position: Pitchers Tom Glavine Steve Trachsel Orlando Hernandez Chad Bradford Darren Oliver Guillermo Mota Roberto Hernandez Catcher Mike DiFelice Infielders Jose Valentin Chris Woodward Outfielders Cliff Floyd...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Day After

It feels weird not to have another game to look forward to after all these months. The baseball season may indeed be an exhausting marathon, but when it's over it leaves a void. I'll watch football, basketball and hockey. I'll watch some college games, but it's like eating low-fat versions...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 7:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Ride Is Over For 2006

Cardinals 3 - Mets 1 Cardinals Win NLCS 4-3 I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to seeing Oliver Perez pitch next year after spending a whole spring training with Rick Peterson. I don't think I've ever been more proud of the efforts of a Mets pitcher. Despite...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Enough Talking

I started reading some of the local and national takes on last night's game this morning, but had my fill of it really quickly. Other than a well spent half hour checking out some of my fellow Mets bloggers, that's it for my reading for the day. I get the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

There Will Be A Tomorrow

Mets 4 - Cardinals 2 NLCS Tied 3-3 John Maine facing Chris Carpenter was supposed to be an overmatch. Tony LaRussa bragged about Carpenter after game 5, while the pundits wondered whether Maine would wilt under the pressure. Everything seemed to be going the Redbird's way in the first when...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

We Now Pause For a Moment of Sanity

As you could probably tell, I'm a pretty big Mets fan. My 72-year-old Mom, however, makes me seem like a dilettante in comparison. She's not a fan that would be classified as cerebral by any stretch of the imagination; she simply roots for the Mets with raw emotion and heart....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

A Golden Opportunity Squandered

Cardinals 4 - Mets 2 Cardinals Lead NLCS 3-2 Sorry guys, I've tried three times to write something in-depth on tonight's game, and I keep coming up empty. This was a game where Glavine was obviously not sharp from the get-go, leaving everything up, and yet the game was there...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Tune Out If You Must, but Please Shut Up

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting tired of all the stories being written about how "unwatchable" these playoffs are? Sorry if we're not producing a show that's compelling enough for the rest of the country. If I might make a suggestion, if you feel that you aren't...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your NLCS

I think there were many folks who just expected the Mets to go away and die after disheartening losses in games 2 and 3 of the National League Championship Series. They were especially confident that the Mets bullpen, so severely overtaxed in game 2, would take a backseat to the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

Not Dead Yet

Mets 12 - Cardinals 5 NLCS Tied 2-2 You had the feeling that everyone was expecting Oliver Perez to blow up, the Mets bats to freeze up, and the Cardinals to jump out to a commanding 3-1 lead in the NCLS. Then the Mets decided to go off script. Perez...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Trachsel Stumbles Badly

Cardinals 5 - Mets 0 Cardinals Lead NLCS 2-1 The Mets season is hanging by a thread right now. Steve Trachsel pitched them into a deep hole early, and the offense was almost non-existent. About the only thing that went right for Trachsel last night was picking off David Eckstein...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Heartbreaker

Cardinals 9 - Mets 6 NLCS tied 1-1 As regular readers know, I was at the game last night. It was a great game up until the final outcome. I was disappointed, but not totally destroyed by the loss for a few reasons which I'll share with you here. First,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Glavine Shuts Down Cardinals

Mets 2 - Cardinals 0 Mets lead NLCS 1-0 Note: Please see my previous post for my experiences in being at the game last night. I'll be going to tonight's game, too, and have to leave shortly. I'll hit the key points here on last night's game. Tom Glavine was...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Juice

I promise a recap of last night's game before too much longer. I didn't get home until after 3 AM, and am trying to catch up on some work. For the moment, I'll just share a little of my experience as a life-long Mets fan at his first playoff game...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I'm Going to Today's Game

For the first time in my 38 seasons with the Mets, I'll be attending a playoff game tonight. Since I live fairly far from NYC, I'm not going to be back until very, very late tonight. So if I don't answer comments or don't get the game post up until...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Game One Postponed

Mother Nature has thrown a monkey wrench into the plans of MLB, postponing tonight's game until tomorrow night. Here is the official press release from the Mets web site: Game 1 of National League Championship Series postponed Game 1 of the 2006 National League Championship Series between the St. Louis...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tragic News about Former Met Cory Lidle

I had an exchange of emails earlier today with "Tom", who appreciated what I had to say about enjoying the playoffs. As Tom wisely pointed out, "... too often we view these games as life and death...and it's crazy...". Although this exchange had nothing to do with the sad news...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Let the NLCS Begin

The Mets have submitted their roster for the National League Championship Series that begins tonight. The official press release on this is on-line at Mets.com. It seemed that a large number of those who followed the team thought that Cliff Floyd would be left off, but that has not proven...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Unburdened by Expectations, Just Having Fun

Our old friend Wallace Matthews is back, beating on the "anything less than a title is a total failure" drum. I'm sure there are at least some of you out there buying into this. While I understand the thinking, I would wonder why any of us would chose to be...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

We Already Knew It Was Our Town

A lot has been made, given the respective fates of the Mets and the Yankees this past Saturday, over which team now owns New York. One side will tell you that the Mets have taken over by outlasting the Yankees in the post-season. The other side insists that the Yankees...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Mets Pull Off the Improbable Sweep

Mets 9 - Dodgers 5 Mets win NLDS 3-0 The Dodgers were the hot pick going into this series, even before scheduled game 1 starter Orlando Hernandez tore a muscle in his calf the day before it started. The Mets has an answer for all of those who came to...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Sorry, But You're Only Getting Half of the Story

It seems like almost everyone picked the Dodgers coming into this series, and some of the few who picked the Mets changed their minds when Orlando Hernandez went down with the infamous NLDS eve calf injury. Granted, the Mets were facing somewhat of an uphill battle going in, but much...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The NY Mets Vintage World Series Films DVD Giveaway

Earlier in the year, the folks at A&E Home Video/MLB Productions generously allowed me to give away a DVD boxed set of the 1986 World Series. They have another Mets DVD coming out. This one is a single DVD with the highlight videos from both Mets World Series victories --...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Glavine Takes Care of Business

Mets 4 - Dodgers 1 Mets lead NLDS 2-0 The Mets have taken the first two games of their series against the Dodgers using a simple, time-tested baseball formula -- they're making the plays and their opponents are not. Oh yeah, and our Hall of Fame bound lefty outpitched their...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

More Work to Do

The great thing about the playoffs is that you have so little time to bask in the glow of a great win before you're worrying about the next game. Still, as I wrote last night, that win ranks up there with some of my personal favorites all-time. It seemed like...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Someone Forgot To Tell the Mets They Had No Chance

Mets 6 - Dodgers 5 Mets lead NLDS 1-0 A funny thing happened on the way to the Dodger's expected NLDS series win -- they forgot to win the first game. The Dodgers' bandwagon may be rocking with all of the geniuses jumping aboard, but the Mets sent notice this...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Hand-Wringers Need Not Apply

Yes, I know that it sucks that Orlando Hernandez is out for at least the first round of the playoffs, and the Mets will be going into battle without Pedro Martinez and El Duque. Instead, we will open our first playoff series in six years with John Maine on the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Final Regular Season Grades -- New York Mets Position Players and Manager

Note: I feel as terrible about Orlando Hernandez' injury as anyone, but will take my cue from the Mets players and proceed with business as usual in this space. There are already enough in the media willing to wring their hands or twirl their moustaches over the latest bad news....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The Year of the Calf

I'm not sure who's responsible for all these calf injuries to Mets pitchers, but someone's head is going to have to roll here. After Pedro had problems with both calves -- and, incidentally, that right shoulder thing, also -- now El Duque is questionable for tomorrow's start after injuring his...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Final Regular Season Grades -- New York Mets Pitchers

Our illustrious commenter "Micalpalyn" correctly pointed out to me that it was time to get off my rear end and post the final regular season grades for the Mets. We'll start with the pitchers, including all 13 guys who took a start for this team: Starters Tom Glavine After a...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Suspect Math

I've mostly decided to join the Mets in taking today off, at least from blogging. I had a lot of work to do for a couple of clients, and I'm bored with all of the endless speculation on what might happen. Besides, I find it somewhat hard to understand how...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

162

Mets 6 - Nationals 2 Final Record 97-65 The Mets finished the 2006 regular season the same way they started it, with a win over the Washington Nationals. The victory was their fourth in a row, and number 97 on the year. The victory total ties the 1999 wild card...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Glavine Sharp, Wins Number 290

Mets 13 - Nationals 0 Tom Glavine had a flawless final playoff tune-up, and the Mets offense enjoyed their most productive game of September as the Mets cruised by the Nationals in RFK last night. This was the strongest Tom Glavine we've seen in quite a while, going back to...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mike's Mets

New York Mets discussion, news and historical perspective -- now getting by with a little help from my friends.

October 31, 2006

New Agreement Offers Incentive for Bad Teams to Get Better

October 30, 2006

Road Trip

October 29, 2006

Why I Picked On Mookie (And Don't Regret It)

Why We Didn't Tune In -- One Fan's Perspective

October 28, 2006

The Baseball Calendar Turns To 2007

October 27, 2006

Mets Hot Stove: No Interest in Zito?

October 26, 2006

The Jewels of the System

October 25, 2006

Book Review: Little League, Big Dreams

October 24, 2006

Some Thoughts on Old Lefties

October 23, 2006

Surgeries All Around

Mets Hot Stove: Those Whacky Rumors

October 22, 2006

The Stove Slowly Warms Up

October 21, 2006

My Favorite Posts

Decisions, Decisions

October 20, 2006

The Day After

The Ride Is Over For 2006

October 19, 2006

Enough Talking

There Will Be A Tomorrow

October 18, 2006

We Now Pause For a Moment of Sanity

A Golden Opportunity Squandered

October 17, 2006

Tune Out If You Must, but Please Shut Up

October 16, 2006

Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your NLCS

Not Dead Yet

October 15, 2006

Trachsel Stumbles Badly

October 14, 2006

Heartbreaker

October 13, 2006

Glavine Shuts Down Cardinals

Juice

October 12, 2006

I'm Going to Today's Game

October 11, 2006

Game One Postponed

Tragic News about Former Met Cory Lidle

Let the NLCS Begin

October 10, 2006

Unburdened by Expectations, Just Having Fun

October 9, 2006

We Already Knew It Was Our Town

October 8, 2006

Mets Pull Off the Improbable Sweep

October 7, 2006

Sorry, But You're Only Getting Half of the Story

October 6, 2006

The NY Mets Vintage World Series Films DVD Giveaway

Glavine Takes Care of Business

October 5, 2006

More Work to Do

Someone Forgot To Tell the Mets They Had No Chance

October 4, 2006

Hand-Wringers Need Not Apply

October 3, 2006

Final Regular Season Grades -- New York Mets Position Players and Manager

The Year of the Calf

Final Regular Season Grades -- New York Mets Pitchers

October 2, 2006

Suspect Math

October 1, 2006

162

Glavine Sharp, Wins Number 290

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