N.Y. METS ~ State of METropolis Report; Part IV

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

METropolis; Year Nine A.D. - (After Doubleday)

If you are familiar with Head-Butting Mr. Met, or not, welcome to...

"The Age of WILPONianism"

and the continuing sagas of...

The Saul B. Katz Dilemma

...DUN, Dun, dunnnn!

State of METropolis Report

PART III
Positional Players

PART II
Pitching

PART I
Manager-Front Office-Ownership

PART IV  ~  THE FANS and TRADITION:

Ownership Toying With Our Tradition 

and Trying Our Patience.

Vol 1. Sub; VIII-XII?

VIII. - BANNER DAY


After a fifteen year absence, Banner Day; an important and fond link to our past and tradition, and one which ties the Mets to an earlier era of baseball; is returning to Polo Grounds  Shea Stadium Citi Field.  

Banner Day; Shea Stadium - 1994

The reason why they discontinued the event in the first place was because the signs and banners were becoming increasingly "too negative" according to the team back then.  After Met Fans suffered literal embarrassment due to acts committed by several team members between the years 1992 through 1995, and the overall woeful play that accompanied them as a whole, was it any wonder Fans increasingly used Banner Day as a venue to vent their frustrations?  After all, the Internet wasn't the outlet it is today.  It's a good thing too.  Those years were literally like Delta House at Flushing University but in the most negative ways.  So if there was anyone to blame for the air of negativity hanging over Flushing that needed to look themselves in the mirror first, there were two GM's during that time, a Team President, two adversarial partners, and a collective Front Office that was always bickering with each other, to choose from. 




It also proves some things never change around here.  Lest we forget the Wilpons banned newspapers from the clubhouse a few years ago so as to not have the players read negative press about themselves.



But dare I say the decision to bring back a tradition very unique to the Mets' organization should be applauded.  Great move by the Wilpons!  But really, let's be true to ourselves and say it was the least they could do.  Let's keep this real.  Because this falls right in line with a recent history of neglecting this team's past.  While the decision to suspend Banner Day was made under the old regime of Doubleday and Wilpon, it was the beginning of a trend towards more neglectful decision making in the future regarding what Fans deemed important and treasured about their team. 



Just for fun, might I remind you, then GM Al Harazin came so very close to receiving ownership's approval to officially change the dominant color scheme of our NY Met LOGO/patch to black.  But ultimately ownership feared the repercussions.  Yeah...  I take great pride in our team logo.  I believe it to be one of the finest in all sports.  But I digress.



Back to the point; - The Mets' Hall of Fame was figuratively brushed aside by the Wilpons.  Tommy Agee was the last inductee in 2002.  Nelson Doubleday was still around for that one.  Then since the full ownership of Fred Wilpon took effect, the doors were figuratively chained up till 2010.  Finally, Gooden; Strawberry; Frank Cashen; and Davey Johnson gained their due enshrinement.  Established in 1981 by this very ownership, they maintained a somewhat regular process of enshrinement for twenty years.  But for the seven years sandwiched between 2002 and 2010, nary a word regarding the Mets Hall of Fame was ever spoken again.....until......



The grand-daddy of all mindless, neglectful, derelict, oversights and Fan insults occurred when the Wilpons swung open the doors to their neo-Ebbets Field without of course, the New York Mets' Hall of Fame anywhere within the building.



Want more?  The original big red Home Run Apple, which grew on fans in the thirty plus years since it's debut at Shea Stadium, became symbolic of a very friendly place for Met Fans to come out and watch their team.  But to begin the post-Shea era, our Apple was originally packed away out of view, down in a corner beyond the bullpens, and below the center field bridge at Citi Field, like an old Victrola player buried in your grandpa's basement.



Want more?  How about not replacing the Met Championship and winning banners formerly in the right field corner of Shea Stadium.  Those never found their way back to the walls of Citi Field in that first season.  Did they?  No.  A slight omission?  Sure, if you're being kind.  But the fact remains it was another oversight in a growing pile of Metropolitan omissions.  No Dodger or Jackie Robinson omissions; ...only Met omissions.



These four items of discussion share one common denominator.  The fact that the New York Mets Hall of Fame has since opened it's doors (...and it's very nicely done by the way); and the original Home Run Apple is now properly positioned in a much more prominent place in front of the Citi Field plaza; and the championship banners were painted back on the walls; and the fact that we are finally getting our beloved Banner Day back, are all the direct results of Fan outrage!  And in classic cause/effect, wholly reactive corrections were hastily initiated by ownership.  All the re-decorated trimmings you see on and about Citi Field today are because the Fan base quite literally flipped out.  The Apple has been relocated and the Banners got painted because the Fan base quite literally flipped out.  And after demanding Banner Day back for years, ownership finally relented.  Or did they?



Getting back the privilege to parade our sentiments on one of mom's old bed sheets or some other home-improvised signage should be celebrated indeed.  However, past practices have not only made me question why the tradition was suspended in the first place but it prejudices me into receiving the news with one raised eyebrow.  Were it not for the Wilpons being in such dire straights, and desperate for Fans to show up and pay the reduced, yet still outrageous prices they ask for admittance to a game, would they have still considered bringing Banner Day back otherwise? 



Say team fortunes had turned out differently after the 2006 season.  Other than our requests and demands continuing to fall on deaf ears, would we be talking about having Banner Day again today?  Think about it.  Doesn't this wreak of the Wilpons trying to get in our good graces again?  You know what they say; Desperate times call for desperate measures.



Even though potential Banner Day participants will no doubt be screened; censored; and or flat out rejected; chalk one up for the Fans anyway.




IX. - RETIRED NUMBERS


There has been a long-time yearning among Met Fans to have at least one more member join the ranks of the New York Metropolitans' retired numbers club.  Of course, Casey Stengel's number thirty-seven and Gil Hodges' number fourteen were the first two gentlemen to receive the distinction.  Tom Seaver, who entered the Hall of Fame in a landslide, remains the only player have his number retired by the Mets.  And maybe rightfully so.  That's for us to debate as many Fans believe it's finally time for another.



In no particular order, these are the candidates I most often hear spoken of by Mets Fans:
Jerry Koosman - Kieth Hernandez - and Mike Piazza.  I also have a personal candidate of my own, for I would like Tug McGraw's number retired as well.



I do not sense Met Fans want to retire the big three post-haste.  Mike Piazza's HOF status is still yet to be determined.  If he goes in as a Met, of course that pretty much seals the deal for him.  There has however been a long standing debate whether Jerry Koosman and Kieth Hernandez should have their numbers recognized as well.



In Jerry Koosman's case, my answer is an unqualified YES.  He's actually one of the best left-handers to ever throw a baseball; period.  In the case of Keith Hernandez, he's among the three or four most influential and impact players this team has ever had in all their fifty-year history.  And like many things in sports, the ring's the thing.  So maybe he deserves it too.  But I'm not as committed yet like I am with Jerry Koosman.  I guess I was younger and more impressionable.  But if I feel Keith's number should indeed be eventually retired anyway, then why not just do it soon.  Right?



Retiring some numbers would be a fine way to put a bow on the first half-century of Mets Baseball.  Which ones?  We'll continue debating.  I know this however, along with the current three retired numbers, this class would accurately reflect and neatly encapsulate three distinct eras and be representative of the best from this organization's last fifty- years without any fear of watering down the honors due a Tom Seaver; Hodges; or Stengel; for having a uniform retired.




X. - UNIFORMS


I'm not trying to be a Debbie-Downer, but the Mets only got this three quarters correct.  With the unveiling of next season's 50th Anniversary uniforms, I was reminded how beautiful our traditional uniform looks minus the black.  And in that regard, the pinstriped home uniform and the old road versions are home runs.  But the Mets' insistence to go with their solid white Brooklyn Dodgers alternates with blue piping still does not sit well with me.



What ever version or variation of Mets jersey they care to sell in the gift shop matters not to me.  Hell, I own two.  But what the team wears on the field does matter to me, and in a very big way.  This is just me speaking here, but I want those alternate whites done away with.  Or at a minimum, made to be worn as the occasional change of pace.  It's as if these have become the norm, and we are left craving our old pinstripes that the team gifts us with on a weekend or at their discretion. 



And while I'm at it, I want all the black trim elements of the on-field, home as well as road uniform, and the softball uniform if you will..., eliminated all together...for good.  I'll buy one.  That's what they really want anyway.  But please Mr. Wilpon, don't make them wear it.  Once a week? - If we must.  But please, let us stick with our traditional uniform as our standard.  For the time is long over due that this organization start setting standards in something; .....anything.



Period.




XI. - CITI FIELD


From the beginning, I thought the outfield contours, dimensions, and quirks were way too contrived.  It's not like the chop-shops across the street necessitated all that.  In light of the alterations Sandy Alderson the Mets have announced, I myself would have just lived with the mistakes made in the original configuration of Citi Field and reconfigured my team.  Twenty seasons from now, Citi Field would have had an interesting story to tell regardless.

However, what I originally didn't like was the left field wall's gradual upgrade starting in the corner and extending towards the Great Wall of Flushing.  So if pressed to make changes, I would have leveled off the initial portion of the left field wall and incorporated two right angles between the foul pole and the Great Wall.  Additionally, I would have just lowered the Great Wall, but not by much.  Shaving five feet or so would have sufficed to preserve the original idea of a high wall.  And without a doubt I would have leveled-off the center field wall and not have placed the new Apple in straight away center field.  Otherwise, I would have kept the right field Modell's Zone as it was.



The Mets have also announced the outfield walls will also be getting a fresh coat of Met Blue paint.  Gone will be the Black covered walls lined in Orange; - a feeble attempt to pay homage to the New York Giants.  That gesture by itself was impotent, not to mention the relevance was not easily detectable by most fans today, unlike the unmistakable Dodger motifs which dominate the building.



With the changing of colors, Citi Field will have rid itself of any and all reference to the New York Giants.  With such an emphasis on the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Mets still miss the ball on embracing all of it's National League Baseball heritage considering the Mets played their first two seasons at the Polo Grounds and more importantly, borrowed the inter-locking NY on their caps from them. 



Of course the story goes we took orange from the Giants and Blue from the Dodgers.  While generally accepted as fact, the color scheme also happens to be the official colors of NYC; white; blue; and orange.  As we are the NY Metropolitan BBC, there's probably less of a Giants' influence in that respect than we give the legend credit for.  However, the idea of celebrating and incorporating all New York's National League heritage still remains a good idea with Met fans.  There's never been issue with that idea.  It's how Fred subconsciously makes us and our Mets feel second fiddle to his boyhood heroes; the Brooklyn Dodgers; that irks us because it comes at our Met expense.




XII. - PRICING


I've been going to games on a regular basis since 1975.  From 1977 through 1981, my Yankee-fan Pop split season tickets with a buddy; - field level behind the visiting dugout.  Rooting for a bad team NEVER stopped me from going to the ball park and enjoying a Mets game.  And as a paying adult, I was always more than willing and happy to buy my ticket through the years.  I've watched some good teams along with many lousy teams. 



With the passage of time, of course ticket prices rose from the time I was eleven years old.  But ticket prices remained manageable throughout my lifetime right up until my last game at old Shea Stadium.  The old blue Loge Section at Shea and Mezz box seats were always one of the greatest ticket purchases ever.  And even in the orange field level seats, there was never a great divide between the "one-percenters" and the rest of the "ninety-nine"...(to borrow OWS terms).   Throughout the life of Shea, if you so desired field seats, they were obtainable even at the premium price of the day.  But the cost was never obscene like it is now, and the atmosphere never made someone feel like those in attendance around them wanted the lower classes and less well behaved banished to the proletariat section.  Eewww, how R... Roman.



All matters in pricing and cost at Citi Field have changed that.  While not quite as obscene as what the Yankees charge for nine innings, the Mets followed suit (albeit to a slightly lesser degree) with egregious pricing of their own.  Even though the organization has taken steps towards lowering our price, even those with the best intentions to attend multiple games per home stand, the cost of attending a game is still much too prohibitive for the common fan's weekly budget.  If a Met Fan attended Shea Stadium frequently before, odds are that same person has to pick and choose only a select few games at Citi Field now, or is having another aspect of his/her quality of life affected in order to afford a game(s).



This phenomenon is not ticket price Darwinism.  The cost of going to a game did not slowly evolve into an event this costly; not in baseball anyway.  Like I said, everything was still copacetic when games were still being played at Shea.  This is a Citi Field phenomenon and the dynamic of newly built parks.  There is the obvious debt that needs to be paid off, which naturally gets passed off on us.  But many owners studied and tried cashing in on the after-market prices for their tickets.  What those knuckleheads failed to realize was that's what people were willing to pay for a Yanks/Red Sox game on a one game basis, or Mets/Phils - when it meant something....on a one game basis - a one time event.  It's something they thought they could corner themselves by just charging the secondary market price up front. - And for EVERY game!  In effect they are also taking the havoc ticket brokers have wrought out on us.






Mike.BTB

N.Y. Mets ~ The Long Lost Mets Codex

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET


NEW YORK METS:  They Have Embarked On Three Official Rebuilding Processes in Their History.  But Since the 1990's, It Seems to Have Become a Dirty Word In Flushing.  And As a Result, They've Lost Their Way.


After the Mets finished toying with other teams' legacies; finishing last every season; and setting records in embarrassing fashion over their first few years of existence, Joe McDonald; Whitey Herzog; Bing Devine; Johnny Murphy; and a host of respected scouts set about on a concerted effort to procure and develop skilled prospects.  Adherence to their plan of minor league development garnered names like Jerry Koosman; Tug McGraw; Bud Harrelson; Cleon Jones; Nolan Ryan; Gary Gentry; and others.  With a little bit of luck landing Tom Seaver and some key acquisitions along the way, the Mets parlayed their efforts into a Championship.


Retooled with some new young players and savvy pick-ups like Felix Millan; Rusty Staub; John Milner; and Jon Matlack; the Mets almost pulled off another World Series victory in 1973; falling short by one game against the A's.


But by 1975-76, the Mets recognized age was creeping up on them.  Newer, younger players, like John Stearns; Lee Mazzilli; Craig Swan; and Mike Vail were starting a transition toward youth.  Then in 1977, Tom Seaver demanded a trade out of New York because he found his bosses insufferable.  This triggered the full blown jettisoning of the last remnants of the Miracle Mets between 1977-1979 and initiated the second rebuilding of the Mets with a total commitment to the farm system.


However, the decision to totally rebuild the Mets through the farm system for a second time was thwarted by ownership's decision to finally sell the team.  By 1979, the mandate to freeze all expenditures was put in place and Joe McDonald's hands were tied regarding bringing free agents to N.Y. or making trades that would raise payroll.


Before Joe McDonald's work here in Flushing was finished; upon the purchase of the team by the Doubleday/Wilpon group heading into 1980; he drafted and developed a good many number of key components to the 1986 Championship team.  As mentioned, Lee Mazzilli enabled us to get Ron Darling and Walt Terrell.  Terrell in turn got us Howard Johnson.  He drafted Niel Allen who in return brought Kieth Hernandez to Flushing.  He drafted Hubie Brooks who helped land the Mets Gary Carter.  He selected Calvin Schiraldi in 1980 who later was traded for Bobby Ojeda.  He drafted Wally Backman; Mookie Wilson; and Jesse Orosco.  Among those that got away were guys like Mike Scott who was traded for Danny Heep and Jeff Reardon who was traded for Ellis Valentine.


Then, Frank Cashen made his mark with a continued minor league investment and drafted Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.  And of course, give Frank Cashen credit for utilizing what Joe McDonald left behind.  So in retrospect, the two men, through vigorous minor league development, chipped in and built another Championship team for the Mets.


The third time the Mets officially committed to a minor league focused rebuilding effort came in the mid-1990's when Joe McIlvaine was General Manager.  METroplis was in total agreement with the movement.  It was supposed to have been built with Generation-K as it's foundation.  But the movement failed miserably as we know with few people to blame.  But during that time, players were drafted that inevitably landed us Mike Piazza and some components of the 2000 team.

Since then, Rebuilding has become a dirty word in Flushing.  It's become a like a lost codex burned by Spanish Conquistadors.  So what I described winds up being the complete history of the Mets' rebuilding process over the years in the Homeric oral tradition only. 


No time in between the Steve Phillips years to the present has been classified as a clear cut rebuilding process.  Additionally, after David Wright; Jose Reyes; and Scott Kazmir; the well went dry until the current crop of minor leaguers drafted by Omar Minaya started to be called up to the majors over the last two seasons.


I know what Omar Minaya was trying to do.  He was trying to align a transition of the old to new in the years between 2010 through 2012.  He just didn't get to stick around long enough to realize his plan.  Don't forget, we're still watching his blueprints in action.  Aside of jettisoning some parts of Minaya's team, Sandy Alderson is still babysitting Omar's team and grand scheme.  All Omar's contracts were designed to expire within a year or two of each other as his minor league draftees became ready for the majors.  And that is more or less, where we are now.


Sandy Alderson has had one Winter Meeting; An Amateur Draft; and a Trade Deadline thus far.  And we are still wondering what his plan might be.  Does he consider rebuilding a dirty word also?  Does he have something else in store us?  Or will he return to the ancient but proven Met Scriptures like a true renaissance man and REBUILD the Mets?  Can we finally lift the Dark Age stigma imposed on the word Rebuilding?



Mike.BTB

Speaking into a "Hot Mike" again..

Not too long ago, Bernie Carbo, yes the Bernie Carbo that hit a game tying 3 run home run for the Red Sox in game 6 of the 1975 World Series against the Reds, shared his story with us about how he played almost every game stoned/high out of his mind.  The latest revelation stemming from that story is how Carbo now admitted he wanted to pay a couple of "mafia" types $2,000 to break the arms of Keith Hernandez in retaliation for Kieth's testimony against Carbo dating back to the Cocaine Scandal of the early 80's.  Kieth had testified he was introduced to cocaine by Bernie Carbo.  For that testimony Bernie wanted Hernandez's arms broken.  When Carbo brought up the idea to the "gentlemen" who would have carried out the deed, they were agreeable enough to do it, after a couple of years that is.  Yep!  The guys talked Carbo out of the deal by getting him to understand if the hit was put on Hernandez so soon after the testimony, of course they'd seek Carbo as suspect number one.  Today as Bernie Carbo is making all this known to us, he says if  he should come in contact with Keith Hernandez, he would tell him he was sorry for introducing him to the drug and causing him to have problems with it.  Read about the whole thing here.

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My how the times have changed.  I offer you this little anecdote I heard this morning.  I do not know the full context this following bite was a part of.  I'm assuming it had something to do with the recent TASERING of a fan in Philly.  I could be wrong,  I tuned into the radio show in time to hear this clip

involving Duke Snider Duke.  (I'm paraphrasing Warner Wolfe)

...'after a Dodgers game against the Reds in Cincy...the fans were allowed on the field after the game.  A fan confronted Duke Snider and said to him, "You're Gutless!"  Duke said a few unsavory things back to this fan.

The fan proceeded to take a punch at Duke, and missed.  As Duke once told the story, he said he had his glove rolled up in his hand and popped the fan in the mouth 'really good'.  That fan was held over night in jail.  Both had to appear in court the next day.  The judge recommended the two just shake hands and end this like gentlemen.  Duke was agreeable to that.  The fan, who suffered a broken dental bridge from the punch asked the judge 'What about my mouth?'  The judge's response to that question?  The judge said, "I don't know.  I am not a dentist.  Case dismissed!"   We all know how something like that would have played itself out today.  Don't we?

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Not only does Charlie Manuel throw the Mets under the bus with the stealing signals saga, Bud Selig decided he was going to give the Philadelphians 3 more home games this year.  The G-20 Summit will be held in Toronto this year on the same dates the Phillies are scheduled to play the Blue Jays.  MLB basically wants nothing to do with any potential chaos due to protesters and those who take things a step farther.  Instead of finding a neutral site for the two teams to play as MLB decided to move the series, Selig decided to play those games in Philly as Toronto acts as home team.  Thank you Bud Selig!  Because that is so fair right?  Toronto is entitled to the gate.  Without checking the schedules, are you telling me Chicago's two parks, Buffalo-which would draw a bigger crowd than Toronto ever will this season, Cleveland, Boston or Pittsburgh couldn't host this series?  No. - Because the zany and wacky long standing rivalry between Philly and Toronto needs to be held in Philly; giving them 3 more games in their own stadium than the rest of the division will have.  I can see MLB's point.  Canadians have a way of burning down their downtown districts and tipping cars and what-not after their hockey teams inspire such action with a win OR loss.  The outcome of the game isn't as important to them as the final tick of the clock marking zero point zero zero; Time for them to Wild-Out!  Ay?  All the protesters, activists and hooligans flooding into town for the summit will no doubt be something worth avoiding.  But Selig Meister Meister Selig should have come up with a better place than Philly's park; somewhere like SomberTown!.  Selig is just appeasing the Jays knowing the joint will probably sell out.  Thank you Dud Selig.  May I have another?

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That's it!  All HAIL has broken loose.  HAIL is just a complete and utter mess.  He has more problems than a math book!  The pitcher formerly known as Oliver Perez has finally been taken out of the rotation.  Things have not gone well for him at all.  There was a sign here and a sign there he might turn a corner.  But those signs really read DEAD END when you got closer to read them.  Two starts ago it was the weather.  Ollie doesn't do well in the cold.  In that game he walked 7 batters in too few innings pitched and looked plain ol' pathetic.  So this is what the team went with;- it was the cold....Too cold for Ollie.  He's HAIL damn it!!

So everyone said his next start in Miami was going to be just what the Doctor ordered.  Some good old fashioned tropical climate was going to warm Ollie's bones and he was going to pitch more 'gooder'.  That was the plan!!  Honest!  This is the way the team was spinning it.  Well Doctor, Ollie needs a miracle not penicillin.  OK - Miami.  You are there!  Did you smell that?  It was Ollie stinking up Big Fish Stadium like hot garbage in a closet!  So much for the climate control theory.  Next move?  Mets said is the bullpen.  ME?  That won't help.  What's he going to get?  Mop-up duty?  He won't be the 8th inning guy?  He's not the 9th inning guy?  He's not a one batter lefty specialist to get one lefty bat out.  Is he John Maine's personal long relief specialist now? (He should be!).  There is no effective innings set for Ollie to continue fooling himself  as a pitcher in our bullpen.  Get him to accept a demotion to the minors.  Let him start a few more games in Buffalo.  The bullpen will just not help him.  He just doesn't fit any job description and the opportunities are sporadic at best.  How do you pitch out of your troubles as a starter like that?  Send him to AAA with his consent.  Make him understand then bring him back after 3 or starts.

(Today's post game note:  You can include RAIN back into the daily forecast along with HAIL again.
John Maine was miserable today once again.)

And while I'm at it.  Just like I said folks, the Mets can not beat the Nationals and the Marlins.

It's un-B-Friggin-lievable!!  This is going on for years now.  Today's loss ensures we lost the last two series after taking a series from the Giants.  We finish with the Fish tomorrow.  Then two with ATL followed by more Nationals.  After that?  NY Yankees and Inter-League play.

Did I tell you I'm getting a little sick and tired of Inter-League?

Next post.

BTB

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