Let's Go Mets... it's almost opening day!
 

Who do you root for, and why?

I'm a Met fan, born and raised. My family are all Met fans and geographically Shea Stadium used to be the closest park for me. Though now I live in Manhattan, a short train ride from Yankee stadium, I'll never become a fan of that evil empire. But it makes for good rivalries at the local bars.

Thank you for not supporting the evil empire! I do not like the blatant purchasing of championships.

As for me I used to be a Twins fan but after the strike and moving to CA I have fallen for the A's. They may not spend the most but they always field a good team and play tough. The stadium may be shit but I go to the park to watch a game, not gaze at the stadium. The Giants are all fine and good if you are bored but if you like baseball the A's are the team out here. I still like the Twins but find it hard to care when the owners keep whining about how they need public $ for a new stadium.

Go A's !!!! I'm from NY, but I've been an A's fan since 1969. I had the yearbook, "The '69 Swingin' A's". In little league I was a base stealer and track team guy. Bert Campanaris was The Man. Loved those fast looking white shoes. The recent book "Moneyball" about the A's GM is really great.

My whole family were Mets fans. I hated the Mets. A's beat them in the World Series. Was a Yankees fan since 1960, but lost that after living in Pittsburgh 12 years and seeing the league from the Pirates view. The Pirates went to the NL championship 3 times and then lost everyone to free agency, hadn't had a winning season in 16 years.

I'm a Warriors season ticket holder, so I'm not thinking about baseball yet.

As for Minny, my brother lives there. We went to the Steelers @ Vikings in December.

1986 was a great year.... I graduated high school (c'mon senior year was great, right?) and my team, the New York, Mets, was the Goliath of the season. Would Boston be their David? Thank you Bill Buckner for game 6. Many years rooting for the underdog team paid off. And it was great that the Yanks sucked through the 80's, and Steinbrenner was an outcast. (I was a teenager then, now I don't really hate any team, it's just a sport and entertainment.) Ah, that Met team should have been a dynasty. Damn drugs and egos.

Rock Steady, I remember the A's beating the Mets in 1973. I was 5. I don't remember 1969. Tom Seaver is still my favorite player of all time. Saw him pitch many times. Got a picture with him at a Hall of Fame weekend where he did a little interview and answered questions from the audience.

What's better than this time of year, where hope springs eternal? PLAY BALL!

Let's meet here often this year and talk baseball.

Jeb, how are the A's looking this year? So much talk about Barry Bonds, I forgot the A's are a great team to root for. I'll go look them up in the Baseball preview SI issue. :)

Angels Always!

Right on Rock Steady. Moneyball is a grand book IMO. I still sort of a Vikings fan too, even though I don't particularly like them. (They always have scandle / failure, don't represent real Vikings in anyway, have been softened by sideline heaters and playing in doors, etc.).

The A's are looking to win the division and possibly go quite a bit farther. The Angels haven't really improved. Texas could be dangerous now that they have some pitching. Seattle is a joke. Main problem the A's have had is with putting out a competitive team for a whole season. They CAN do that but in previous years injury would take it's toll or they couldn't rest anybody because they were chasing the leader in the division. Then by the time they did make the playoffs they were very exhausted and easy to knock off. This year their depth is excellent. Best in a long time for sure. Bradley, Payton, Kotsay, Kielty and Swisher mean they have a good buffer against injury and can rest any outfielders needed. Pitching wise the top 5 is solid: Zito, Harden, Haren, Blanton, Loaiza. In the bullpen is Duchscherer, Kennedy, Saarloos, Calero, Witasick and of course Street closing. The great thing is if any pitcher should get injured they team could choose either Saarloos or Kennedy to fill in. Plus there is Frank Thomas and some guys (Kendall, Swisher, Crosby) who should find their groove this year. It's a very good time to be an A's fan :D

I started with the Evil Empire, I'll stick with them! I do however have the Mets AA team up the road here. It is a great place to see the game. Juan Samuel is managing this year. :cool:

Why are you a Yankee fan, Griff?

My Little League coach took us to Yankee Stadium in '77. That was my first pro baseball experience so the deal was closed then and there.

I do get that baseball needs to change something about the free agency system and revenue sharing when well run organizations like Minnesota are not doing well. Unfortunately, baseball is a good ole boy set up with a great deal of incompetence protected by monopoly. There are major markets pretending to be mid/small because of poor management. A team like Seattle with it's huge asian market potential should not be running firesales. I'm not sure how you blow up MLB but it should be done in the interest of competition.

Baseball is safe from the Yankees this year anyway because they'll need to score 9 or 10 runs a game to win. Pitching and defense wins championships and NY has neither.

I am a Cardinals fan through and through, having been born and raised in St. Louis. Of course, all eyes in the baseball world will be on our fair city in a week and change, when the new Busch Stadium opens. It's a beaut...they just put the Stan Musial statue in place yesterday.

I also have soft spots for the O's and Phillies...I lived in DC pre-Nats for a year and Philly for 5. I also like the Nats because they've been through the ringer for so long. At least MLB is putting some money into them to make them competitive.

Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!

Went to the Angels at A's game when we were still in the playoff hunt, and we won that game. I was in row 12 near the batter's box shouting the above phrase and others. Other fans in my section starting chanting Beat LA also. In the 9th inning the whole stadium was pretty loud. As we were leaving, another fan said to me "Nice heckling".

I'm a Portland Trailblazers fan; we invented the phrase Beat LA!

No Doubt. We had no expectations last year after losing all those guys. But, the four rookies came through really great.

2005 - Huston Street kept the AL Rookie of the Year award in-house. Oakland's poised closer became the second consecutive winner from the Athletics...

A's had four great rookies last year. OF/1B Nick Swisher could have won it also. He and P Joe Blanton received votes. 1B Dan Johnson was a hitter too.

With the new owners, they purse strings have been loosened a bit. They signed the veteran depth Jeb already mentioned.

It's a good thing for Frank Thomas that he doesn't have to face Zito's curveball anymore. The last two games they faced, he struck out like 5 straight times against a diet of all curveballs from Zito.

This is going to be tough for Giambi.

I thought we'd do decent. I mean it's the A's, we always make a run for the division. Wasn't prepared for how lousy the first half would be but I was equally unprepared for how great the second half would be. All in all I guess my prediction was not far off.

Oh yeah. All the new pitchers came a long way. There is always some first year advantage (hitters don't know your pitches) but the way they all improved leads me have high hopes. Swisher and Johnson and Crosby should continue to improve as well.

Griff: totally with you on the inequity of the teams. The Yankees spent ~4x more than the Twins and A's for 2005! The whole chart is here. Some interesting things to note like how much the Giants, Phillies and Mets spend and how little it gets them. And how the very bottom teams really don't have a chance.

The Mets were hampered by the one thing that can still hurt them this year. Poor coaching decisions (especially with relief pitching) by Willie Randolf. At least this year we got rid of Looper and have Billy Wagner.

Good joke for young baseball fans:

What are the last two words of the National Anthem?



"Play Ball!"

That plagued the Giants too. Bottom of the 6th mush-for-brains Alou would yank the pitcher and send in a reliever for 2/3rds inning, the switch. New guy gives up two runs? Keep him in! If he gets out of a jam yank him. Total stupidity.

Injuries, bad managing and bad front office can all keep teams from succeeding. The Giants have had many chances to get some quality players but always get a mediocre player cheap and they flounder. I attribute a lot of this to them trying to build a supporting cast around Bonds.

Almost game time! Orosco throwing to Gary Carter, opening day ceremonial pitch.

Hey, why can'tcha drink beer in Citizens Bank Park?

Cuz the Phils lost the opener

(The beauty of this otherwise lame joke is that you can use it pretty much every year)

Maybe the A's should have spent more... considering the score last night. :biglaugha

Can the Mets hold onto first place?? Game 2 starts in less than an hour!

A fluke I assure you. The Yankees (and Red Sox for that matter) can unleash huge totals like that anytime. In fact pitching around the league is so weak this year it looks like it will happen frequently based on the first 3 days of games.

These last two A's games were great. Tuesday night it was all tied up 3-3 in the 9th. Huston Street came in and got through the inning. Before the A's came to bat the radio announcers were commenting on how nasty the clouds looked. Soon enough the rain came. Then the A's got two men aboard before Scutaro came up. He hit one over the fielder to drive in the winning run and as he was celebrating it really started pouring! Fucking epic.

Last night Scutaro (SS filling in for Crosby) made a fantastic play grabbing the the ball on his far right, jumping, turning and firing and on target throw to first for the out. It probably made the highlight reels. If it didn't something is wrong. Later in the game Big Hurt (Frank Thomas) came up and drilled a pitch that looked like it would for sure be gone. It came down inches below the marker above the scoreboard for a double scoring three runs. That in itself was great but the best part was the big smile Frank had when he hit it. Those moments make me love the game. :sniff:

FIRST PLACE METS!

Pedro pitching tonight, and I have tickets for Tuesday's game.

20th Anniversary of the 1986 Mets!

YEAH BABY

Mets are more or less on fire! How was the 7-1 victory Steve?

The AA Binghamton Mets are kicking butt as well.

BINGHAMTON -- For 10 anxious pitches, Jay Caligiuri battled Reading Phillies relief pitcher Talley Haines.

With two out in the ninth inning, a full count and the potential winning run on third base, the Binghamton Mets' third baseman kept fouling off pitches, keeping alive his at-bat.

Finally, on pitch number 11, Caligiuri ripped a base hit to left field, scoring Carlos Gomez and capping an 8-7 come-from-behind victory for the B-Mets on Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium.

"I love (that situation)," Caligiuri said. "I'm not in trouble in that situation, the pitcher is in trouble. He's got to get me out. I can relax and just get a good pitch to hit." linky

YEAH!! Another win!

Oh, and Jeb.... I have tickets for this coming tuesday's game at Shea. This week they're in DC... too far for me to travel. But I'd go there if someone wants to give me tickets. :)

Long at bats rule :D How is the Mets farm in general? It seems lots of teams don't have good young talent they can bring up. Oakland is well known for drafting well and Minnesota for making good trades / scouting.

Oh, this Tuesday. I demand a full report ;)

The Mets have run some remarkable talent through here in the last few years like Jose Reyes and David Wright. They seem to be good judges of pitching talent until the parent club trades them for washed up hitters. Our favorite guy here was Mike Jacobs who got traded over the winter. He was a consistantly clutch hitter. Right now they are hyping Carlos Gomez. We haven't had buzz like this since Reyes was here. Lastings Milledge moved up to triple A last year. He has wicked speed, I saw him bunt for a base hit, steal second and third on succesive pitches, and score on a passed ball. I don't know if he will hit at the major league level but as Whitey used to say speed does not slump.

B Mets press page

Prospects!

David Wright really is going to be a big name by the end of this year. The Mets are on a tear, hope they can keep it up.

I saw my first ever baseball game at Shea last September when they beat the Cardinals 7-2.

So I think I'm a Mets fan now, for a Brit used to football and cricket, it was brilliant :)

The Warriors and the A's play 100 feet of each other. Friday was a dual event. There were 18,600 of us at the Warriors and 14,000 at the A's. It was too cold for baseball.

It took over a dozen games for a Pennsylvania team to win a game.

Good year to get become a Met fan! Welcome aboard!

I heard the San Francisco team, in an attempt to win the World Series, is going to be renamed to the Orange Sox.

No team has ever been in first place by 5 games after having only played 12 games before. BEFORE THIS YEAR'S METS THAT IS!

I love baseball!

I was there for all 9 innings, with a cute girl. Thank God she came with, because the Mets played very flat, losing 7-1.

Oh well, I may go to the day game today.

As far back as i can remember, I've been a loyal Angels fan. From California to Anaheim, through thick and thin. A suprising world series!!

I remember the first time I watched them. It was right after the exhibition stadium shut down here in Toronto, and they just built the Skydome.
I kinda like the Blue Jays, but Toronto's first match to be played was against my Angels, so I bought a ticket with some friends and went, and what a match it was! 3-0 for Toronto, Ninth inning, bases loaded, 3 and 2 count, and the Angels get a grand slam home run! Lemme tell ya, there weren't too many people jumpin' up and down, hell, some of my friends had already left thinking it was over. Anyhow, looks like an exciting season for us... we certainly have the scoring ability, and we have various pitchers that can win games, who knows? we might win the pennant!

Hey can anyone give me a good reference for Jebediah? He's not an axe murderer or anything? If not,....

Jebediah, maybe we can go to an A's game sometime? Maybe in June when they start winning again?

OMG Rock Steady! Don't you know I'm not to be trusted?

Sounds like a good idea but I'm way in the North Bay and vehicleless :( My friends are planning to go to a game sometime, maybe we can meet up then?

:lol:

That's what they get for consistantly building their old team around one old player.

Mets take two from the Braves this weekend. Starting tonight with Pedro over Smoltz!

While the Braves haven't impressed me thus far (this year) the Mets certainly have.

Albert Pujols is the greatest baseball player there is right now. The sooner you all accept that, the better off everyone is. :)

so far it seems that way, but i can debate that with 3 players.

So far this year it's Pujols, but it's a long year and shit happens. Shelton (cooling off now), Swisher (getting more walks now) and Gomes have all caught my attention so far.

I'm biased because I'm a Cardinals fan, but Pujols has been a beast every year since he came into the majors. Unfortunately, he had to play second fiddle to that silly bitch in SF. Not anymore.

by the end of the season, guerrero or rodriguez may prove to be the best.

I know what Pujols has done. He does it against my fantasy team quite often. Still, he's not won a championship (typically elevates the great players) and a lot can happen. There was a time Frank Thomas was THE player in the game.

I don't buy the whole "a championship proves a player" argument. A championship requires a team. The Bulls sucked until they built a team around Jordan. Gretzky won those Cups in Edmonton thanks to Messier, Kurri, Tikkanen, Fuhr, etc. It just takes the right pieces...unfortunately for Thomas, he had to be on the outside to get that championship ring.

I don't believe it either, but the media sure does. Unless you're going to break a major record (Bonds) or wins a championship Pujols will be a Dan Marino. He has the team around but the pieces just haven't fallen in place.

What's so great about Albert Pujols?

Also, the Met game was awesome. Pedro 5-0. Great 9th inning tonight!

wtf is wrong with wagner these past two games?
the ny mets relief pitching is now looking a little thin.

He's the consummate baseball player: he hits for power and to get on base, he can play 5 positions, good defense, great team player, gives back to the community, and he's a general good guy.

Go Pirates!

although the mets send glavine to the mound, the should lose in atlanta this evening, as they face the unbelievably good this year thomson, who in the last 23 innings has allowed only 2 runs, 14 hits, and struckout 15

Glavine was awesome. Mets shut out the Braves, beat them twice in Atlanta. Can Trachsel manage a sweep today?

call it what it was
thomson pitched an almost perfect game
7 innings 3 hits, 6 strike outs
mets won 1-0

on the other hand relief pitcher wagner hasn't thrown a hitless inning since 4 games ago ...that's 5 hits in three innings, somethings wrong with this relief pitcher.
trachsel is lookig pretty good this year, but you know the mets have to start hitting the ball.
you know that they will go in a slump otherwise, you must.
it'll probably be right after the series of matchup's with the pirates.

a more interesting matchup in cincinnati today where ramirez takes on houston's bucholz.
but i doubt the score will run that low as there are some hot hitters on both sides

not quite a sweep there.
2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 errors ..not lookin' too good