My Favorite Posts (Mike's Mets)

Saturday, October 21, 2006
By Mike Steffanos

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 these are only my own writings. For writings from other contributors to this blog, please click on their respective Authors link.

May 2008
Tim Marchman Gets It Wrong 5-5

April 2008
It All Started With Pedro 4-3
Evaluating Omar, Part 1 4-4
Evaluating Omar, Part 2 4-5
Not Getting It Done 4-6
Evaluating Omar, Part 3 4-7
Reality Check - 156 Games to Go 4-9
Asterisk* 4-10
Evaluating Omar, Conclusions 4-11
Booing Fools 4-13
Crazy Love 4-15
Book Review: 101 Reasons to Love the Mets 4-20
Offensive Ineptitude 4-23
Curtains for Delgado?4-28

March 2008
Book Review: Mets Fan 3-1
What Now? 3-6
On Bob Being a Dick 3-7
It's the Community, Stupid 3-12
"Wanting It" More 3-14
More on Bob Costas 3-15
Bob Costas Clarifies and Amplifies 3-18
How to Predict the NL East 3-27
Book Review: The Knuckleball From Hell 3-29
Opening Day Wishes 3-31

February 2008
Omar's Job Is Just Beginning 2-1
Lessons from Another Sport, Part 12-5
Lessons from Another Sport, Part 2 2-8
Thank You, Roger 2-15
Words 2-18
Ollie's Future 2-21
Reviews: Banned in the Bronx 2-24
Twisted Logic 2-27

January 2008
Season Pitching Stats for Triple-A Pitchers 1-1
Out With the Old 1-2
Lies and the Lying Lard Butts Who Tell Them 1-9

December 2007
The Milledge Deal -- The Day After 12-1
Post-Winter Meetings Thoughts 12-7
The Incredible Shrinking Blogger12-17

November 2007
2007 - The Unhappy Recap, Part 1 11-6
2007 - The Unhappy Recap, Part 2 11-11
Yorvit Torrealba? 11-14
Hasta La Vista 11-19
Catching Up On the Week 11-24
2007 - The Unhappy Recap, Part 3 11-28
'Tis the Season for Ridiculous Rumors 11-29
I Hate This Deal 11-30

October 2007
An Appalling September for SNY, Too 10-1
You Never Write, You Never Call... 10-15
Hypocrisy 10-17
A Hatchet Job and a Departing Lefty 10-26

September 2007
The Good Luck Charm 9-5
There IS Crying in Baseball 9-11
Win or Go Home 9-18
Those Aren't Robins Overhead 9-20
That's My Boy 9-25

August 2007
Not Ashamed of the Old Girl 8-7
Season Pitching Stats for Triple-A Pitchers 8-11
My Personal Tribute to Bob Ojeda 8-13
Playing With a Purpose 8-20
David versus the Deuce 8-21
Tough Town 8-24
Riding the See-Saw 8-29
It Ain't Easy Being Orange and Blue 8-31

July 2007
Confessions of an Amateur Dabbler 7-2
Mets at the Break: Starting Pitching 7-10
Mets at the Break: The Bullpen 7-11
Rickey Will Save This Club 7-12
Milledge 7-16
Ralph 7-17
A Hollywood Ending to a Decent Western Swing 7-23
A Belated Look Ahead at the Final 2 Months 7-24

June 2007
No Excuse for Sleazy Journalism 6-1
Mets Pitching 55 Games In 6-5
(Not) Taking Care of Business 6-7
Disliking Bud (Again) 6-15
Season Pitching Stats for Triple-A Pitchers 6-20
Oliver, Carlos and John 6-26
Trouble in Paradise? 6-29

May 2007
Sympathy for the Heilman 5-3
Our Maine Man Takes the Maine Event Throwing Mainely Fastballs 5-5
There Is No Moral High Ground with Steroids 5-11

April 2007
The Times They Are A-Changin' 4-3
R-e-s-p-e-c-t 4-4
Washed Away 4-16
Jose: Not So Bad After All 4-17
Mets Pitching 20 Games In 4-26

March 2007
Hit the Mascot 3-1
The Pretend GM Speaks 3-3
Selig Just Doesn't Get It 3-5
Steve Phillips, Boy Genius 3-11
Much Ado About Nothing 3-12
Not Much of a Legacy for Duquette 3-15
This Thing Can Actually Work 3-19
The Unbearable Brightness of Being a Mets Fan 3-29
Bad Information 3-30
The Fun Starts Tomorrow 3-31

February 2007
2007 Bullpen Preview: Jorge Sosa 2-2
2007 Bullpen Preview: Billy Wagner 2-6
2007 Bullpen Preview: Other Candidates 2-7
Four Other Names for You 2-8
2007 Bullpen Preview: Chan Ho Park 2-10
Optimism 2-13
2007 Pitching Previews: Summing It All Up 2-14
2007 Bullpen Preview: Marcos Carvajal 2-17
What's the True Value of That Prospect? 2-19
Hope and Hype in the NL East, Part 1 (Braves Preview) 2-21
Hope and Hype in the NL East, Part 2 (Marlins Preview) 2-22
Hope and Hype in the NL East, Part 3 (Phillies Preview) 2-23
Hope and Hype in the NL East, Part 4 (Nationals Preview) 2-24
Hope and Hype in the NL East, Conclusions 2-27

December 2006
Of Mercenaries and Scapegoats 12-1
The Mets Really Don't Need To Do Anything Crazy 12-5
Book Review: The Best New York Sports Arguments 12-9
Maybe It's Time to Stop Grumbling Over the Price of Pitching 12-10
Analysis: The Bullpen So Far 12-18
Why Is Scott Boras So Evil? 12-20
Holiday Weekend Ramblings 12-23
Life Without Barry 12-27
A Quiet Nod to Omar 12-29

November 2006
Eating Those Innings 11-2
Book Review: The Great New York Sports Debate 11-3
DVD Review: NY Mets Vintage World Series Films DVD 11-3
Oh Buster, You So Crazy 11-12
A Seller's Market for Pitching 11-14
Older and Less Athletic 11-19
Analysis: The Mets Hot Stove Season So Far 11-22

October 2006
Hand-Wringers Need Not Apply 10-4
Sorry, But You're Only Getting Half of the Story 10-7
We Already Knew It Was Our Town 10-9
Juice 10-13
Tune Out If You Must, but Please Shut Up 10-17
We Now Pause For a Moment of Sanity 10-18
Enough Talking 10-19
The Day After 10-20
Some Thoughts on Old Lefties 10-24
Book Review: Little League, Big Dreams 10-25
Why We Didn't Tune In -- One Fan's Perspective 10-29

September 2006
Myths and Legends: The Pitcher's Duel 9-1
More Myths and Legends 9-2
The Predictable Collapse of a House of Cards 9-7
Down and Out in Atlanta? 9-10
The True Lack of Class is Shown by Those Pointing Fingers 9-11
Willie Should Be Manager of the Year 9-14
Just Enjoy It 9-15
Your 2006 NL East Division Champs 9-19
A Special Night with No Apologies 9-19
The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow, Too 9-29

August 2006
Opinion: The Reyes Signing 8-3
Booing Utley 8-6
Please Make Up Your Mind About Omar Minaya 8-7
Of Stat Geeks and Train Wrecks 8-14
Revenge of the Nerd? 8-18
I'm Happy That the Mets Are Not the Yankees 8-21
No Sympathy for the Devil 8-24
How About Letting the Mets Name Their Stadium? 8-30
In Defense of Defense 8-31

July 2006
"Do Something" Is Not a Roadmap for Organizational Success 7-5
It's Time to Fire Omar Minaya 7-10
No Sarcastic Title Today... 7-11
Payrolls Out Of Balance 7-18
Jose Valentin Gets Some Well-Deserved Love 7-21
Numbers Aren't Everything 7-22
The Pot Calling the Kettle Black 7-23
1984 7-27
The Braves' Posturing Is Just Swept Away 7-30

June 2006
Stop Being the Punch Line of Their Cruel Joke 6-1
Raissman Makes a Good Point, Then Carries It Too Far 6-2
Milledge -- Unkind to Animals and Small Children? 6-5
Fear Not, Bob Raissman Will Protect Us From Lastings Milledge 6-7
Savor the Good Times, Mets Fan 6-13
Things to Do in Atlanta When You're Dead 6-15
A Father's Day Mets Memory with a Twist 6-18
Tales of Arrogance in the Big City 6-27

May 2006
Pitching for a Winner 5-1-2006
On a Long Night in Flushing, the Braves Find Their Own House of Horrors 5-6
Why MLB's Revenue Sharing Concerns Us All 5-8
May We Now Turn the Page On the Kazmir Trade? 5-16
Mike and the Mad Dog in the Mets Booth: Bad Idea 5-17
Retro Review: The Bad Guys Won! 5-19
Trachsel Looking a Lot Like Pre-Makeover Glavine 5-24
A Moment of Silence for a Dream 5-26
Where Are All The "Experts" Now? 5-30
Stop Confusing Major League Baseball with the NFL 5-31

April 2006
Gotta Believe It's Getting Better 4-2
Putting the Sandman to Bed 4-4
Think Before Booing 4-7
Review: New York Mets 1986 World Series DVD Set 4-8
Beanballs and Sandmen 4-10
Killing Two Birds with One Stone 4-19
Why Do We Keep Doing This To Ourselves? 4-20
Review: Baseball Between the Numbers 4-20
Kaz Gets to Visit His Happy Place for One Magical Night 4-21
It Really is Okay to Say Something Stupid Occasionally 4-24
The Ted Doesn't Seem Quite As Scary Anymore 4-28
It's the Braves Fans Turn to Go Crazy 4-29

March 2006
They Can't Take That Away From Me 3-3
Mets Must Find a Way with Less Pedro 3-5
Life After Mike and the Mad Dog 3-13
I Want My SNY 3-15
Key New York Mets Free Agents and Trades (1981-2005) 3-19
Review: The Last Nine Innings 3-22
Farm Production 3-23
Review: Pedro, Carlos, and Omar 3-24
What Does Fred Wilpon Owe Mets Fans? 3-28

February 2006
Let's trade Jose Reyes before it's too late 2-1
Your time is gonna come... 2-10
Sandlot 2-12
I think I'm going to like Lo Duca despite myself 2-16
Just how good is Jae Seo? 2-17
Brave New World? 2-21
Define "fair" 2-25
Take your slide rule and shove it 2-28

January 2006
Major League Franchises Need to Be in Major League Cities 1-14
Loudmouth fans don't speak for me 1-27
Omar's Latin Conspiracy? 1-29
Why build a new stadium when all it needs is a coat of paint? 1-31

November 2005
Should the Mets Trade Lastings Milledge for Manny Ramirez? 11-22

Comments (2)

Great job this year. The blog has been fun to read. Definitely appreciated the non-condescending approach you took in writing your opinions, recapping games and so on. My favorite parts were when you called out specific columnists/ reporters on their obvious agendas, bias or continuous errors. It would always remind me of what author Chuck Klosterman wrote about sportswriters,

"The worst part about being a sportswriter [is that] after a few months the players merely become literary devices. The worst part about being a sportswriter is that no one will ever have a normal conversation with you for the rest of your life."

Many times we saw examples of this. The Lo Duca scandal. The Kazmir trade. The Milledge rookie mistakes. It's good to see that someone is reading between the lines when someone like Wallace Matthews writes one of his columns on the Mets.

I am already looking forward to next year.

Posted by Chris | October 23, 2006 11:05 AM

Thanks, Chris. I always acknowledge that without the beat writers and columnists we'd have nothing to talk about here, but I do feel they're fair game when they play their games. I don't even read Wallace Matthews anymore.

Posted by Mike S. | October 23, 2006 12:57 PM