It's hear folks. Like the season premiere of your favorite TV drama, the Mets are about to start the 2009 season, and like any good drama there are several interesting plotlines and story arcs for you to follow.
The main storyline which will become increasingly annoying as the season goes on is will the Mets collapse in September...again. You'll hear it on every Mets game they play on ESPN and you're bound to hear it on SportCenter and Baseball Tonight at least 83 times during the course of the season.
The bullpen is your second major plotline as the Mets basically cleaned house and just kept Feliciano and Brian Stokes. Will the money spent on Putz & K-Rod be worth the investment? I think so, but time will tell.
Finally, a minor plotline that is still worth noting is that this will be Jerry Manuel's first full season as Mets manager. It feels like it was years ago that Willie "These Are My Guys" Randolph was the helm of the ballclub. Now that Jerry has a full year to manage I think we'll see some changes in the way he manages games right from the start. I fully expect to see more hit and runs put into play, and a willingness to play the player that's on a hot streak.
It's a long season, but it all starts today at 1 p.m. I do love a good drama, and the Mets should have it in spades this season.
Let's go Mets.
Showing posts with label 2009 opening day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009 opening day. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The 25 Man Roster for the 2009 Mets
Starters= Schneider, Delgado, Castillo, Reyes, Wright, Church, Beltran, & Murphy
Bench = Castro, Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Cora, Nick Evans, & Jeremy Reed
Pitchers = Santana, Pelfrey, Maine & Ollie
Bullpen = Putz, KRod, Parnell, Stokes, Feliciano, Green & O'Day
The plan is for Nick Evans to be sent down to Triple A after four days to bring in Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter. Evidently, Jeremy Reed is seen as a better fit than Evans to start the season. However, if I'm Jerry Manuel, I keep a close eye on Reed & Marlon Anderson to see about bringing Evans back if either of these guys struggle.
So there you have it. The 25 guys who'll be in uniform on opening day. Not the most formidable squad you've ever seen, but the lineup has a balance of speed and power that I think can produce runs.
The pitching on days when a man named Santana is not on the mound will be the question mark.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Mets Fans, Be Prepared for a Very Long Season
It has everything to do with Philadelphia Phillies' fans.
Oh yes. Be prepared for a grueling road ahead. For the first time in decades, Philadelphia fans have something to boast about. Sure they were obnoxious before and have had plenty of opportunity to spew venom in our general direction, but never like this.
The difference is they're hate speak, boasting, bragging and general disdain for all things New York has a championship ring behind it. They have every right to say they're the best team in baseball. They have actual facts and statistics and box scores that they can shove in our faces to support their claims. And in turn, as Mets Lifers, we have the choking/collapse/implosion of not just last year, but also the year before that looms over us like the dark cloud that it is.
I write this so you can prepare your thick skin for the persecution that lies ahead. Case in point: This past week I looked at the calendar and updated my Facebook status to read "Dave is excited that opening day is less than a month away." A simple, innocent, baseball-loving status update.
But because of my work with the mentally ill and clinically insane, I do have some Facebook friends that are Phillies fans. And one wrote in reply: "You miss hearing the choking sound?"
And so it begins.
This may be the longest baseball season we've ever experienced, and honestly there's nothing we can do or say in return until the calendar turns to October 1 and we find ourselves in postseason play.
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