Predictions for the 2009 Mid-Summer Classic

The All Star Game is here (yawn). Let's hope it's not as long or as boring as last night's home run derby. Here are my predictions for this year's all star bash:

• David Wright will strike out at least once
• Albert Pujols gets the largest ovation
• Chase Utley swears on camera...again
• The phrase "steroids era" is used at least once in the broadcast
• Tim McCarver will make me want to break my TV
• Tim McCarver mention catching Bob Gibson
• Johan Santana will not pitch
• Ryan Howard hits a home run
• Mariano Rivera is hailed as the greatest relief pitcher to walk the face of the earth
• Joe Buck will remark how the Cardinals' fans are the greatest baseball fans on the planet
• Roy Halladay trade talk will start in the first inning
• The pre game show will go too long
• The National League will lose

Link: Time for Tim McCarver to Go

I can't stand Tim McCarver. Even in elementary school, I remember hating this guy and wondering why on earth he was an announcer for the Mets. He's the nails on the chalkboard of baseball commentating.

If Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan are ever in a booth together, I might throw my TV out the window.

Brad over at Bugs and Cranks has taken my distaste for Tim McCarver to a new level. He argues that it's time for Tim McCarver to go, and I can't agree with him more.

By the way, kudos to Brad for sitting through the Sox/Yanks game on Saturday. You're a better man than I.

Click here for Brad's post.

Link: An Ode to Kiner

Brad Bortone over at Bugs and Cranks, who is as witty a blogger as you'll find online, has put together a fantastic post highlighting the genius of Ralph Kiner and what we've come to know as "Kinerisms."

Pretty much every Met fan that has grown up watching the Mets has listened to Kiner call a game at one time or another. He's been old for the last 30 years, but there's something endearing about the guy. I remember as a kid asking my dad who on earth this crazy guy was calling games with that other really obnoxious guy (a.k.a. Tim McCarver).

It wasn't until I knew more about baseball that I realized that this is one of the games greatest players who had the unfortunate luck of being stuck on some of the worst teams in history.

In any case, you have to read Brad's post over on Bugs and Cranks and I guarantee you it will take you back to some of those Kiner classic moments.

Second Half Predictions

It's time to gaze into the Mets Lifer crystal ball and share with you predictions of the Mets second half that are guaranteed to come true:

1. Moises Alou will not play another game for the New York Mets this year.
2. Luis Castillo will walk with the limp of a three-legged caribou.
   
3. Ryan Church will become a spokesperson for Tylenol.
   
4. Billy Wagner will blow a save in a game that really does count.
5. I will hate Tim McCarver more with each passing morning.
6. The Mets will wear those silly navy blue hats even though they look stupid.
7. Matt Wise will be asked for ID upon arriving at Shea Stadium.
8. Omar Minaya will take 15 minutes to answer one simple question before the trading deadline.
9. Mike Francesa will recommend the Mets trade Jose Reyes for no good reason.
10. Chris Russo will moronically agree with #9.
11. Jerry Maneul will drop kick an umpire if the Mets get another blown home run call against them.
12. Wayne Hagin will be responsible for an accident on the NJ Parkway because a Mets fan fell asleep while listening to his broadcast.
13. The names, Matt Holliday and Xavier Nady, will be uttered more times than Marlon Anderson and Scott Schoenweis.
14. People will continue to lie and claim that they will miss Shea Stadium. (Three words: Shea Stadium bathrooms)
15. Ron Darling will star in yet another Sovereign Bank commercial where the actor playing the employee will not know whether to pronounce it "Sov-rin" or "Sov-ern" bank.
    

Thank You Ralph Kiner

Tonight is Ralph Kiner night at Shea Stadium, and no one is more deserving of a night of recognition.

Ralph Kiner has been one of the voices of the Mets since their inception in 1962. I remember as a kid having Kiner & Tim McCarver (who I can't stand) call pretty much every regular season game for the Mets. At the time I used to make fun of Kiner because from time to time I thought he was to old to be broadcasting. I remember one time he uttered his famous "Going, going, gone goodbye" for a home run, when the left fielder actually caught the ball on the warning track.

But as I got older and learned more about baseball I realized what an incredible talent Ralph Kiner was as a player. He had the unfortunate luck of being on an awful Pittsburgh Pirates team throughout his career, but his accomplishments rank him as one of the top ten baseball players of all time in my book.

As Kiner began to call fewer games I found myself enjoying his commentary more and more. The stories he has to tell and his dry sense of humor are a lost art in the days of Fox Saturday Baseball telecasters.

The stories of Kiner's corner after every Mets game are classics to be heard when Kiner recounts them to Gary Cohen & Keith Hernandez in the booth. I know that very few of today's younger baseball fans will learn about Ralph Kiner, and it bothers me to think that this man's legacy will be lost amongst steroid scandals, asterick-marked records, and pure greed.

Ralph Kiner is a class act and one of the most gifted players to ever take the field. He's been there for many of my Mets memories and I hope you'll enjoy his guest appearances in the booth as much as I do.

Enjoy your night, Ralph. You deserve it, and it's long overdue.