2021 New York Mets Thread

[Defense Wins Championships]

Sorry Mets fans. I wanted to see you guys win those 12 in a row so bad. 

On a side note. Win or lose. I freaking hate extra inning rules. 

Since when did baseball = automatically placing a runner on 2nd base without making them earn it first?

Because it ruins the game and the way it's supposed to be played. 

A.) It forces the pitcher on the mound to have to pitch from the stretch?

B.) That's horse crap. 

Take care Mets fans 3-1 was a nice little momentum builder and hope to see you guys again later on. 

• Rays vs Mets. 2021 World Series. Battle of the underdogs.

(to piss soon to be 4th place Yankees fans off and Dodgers fans off too). 

[Jetsfan80]

Like some of you, I’d given up on this season already, but I accidentally listened in on ESPN Radio briefly tonight (5th & 6th innings) while I was headed home from working a college soccer exhibition game.

As a few of you know, I live in NC (been here since coming down to attend UNCW starting in 2004) and don’t have the mlb.tv package so the only times I watch the Mets these days is when a few local transplant fans I’m friends with decide to head to a bar to watch.  The one thing I miss about living in Jersey where I grew up was the ease of being able to watch every game, always with my Dad, who also lives in NC with my Mom after moving down in 2010 (my sister and her husband are in NC as well).

My Mom and sister didn’t care much about baseball but I will always remember fondly watching and attending Mets games as a kid with my Dad.  Dozens of games at Shea and a handful of Mets road games, and talking to friends at school about it the next school day, were simply some of the best parts of growing up; and this during a very good period of Mets baseball (1996-2004 for me).

Anyways….6 no-hit innings out of Taijuan tonight, yet was there any doubt that with 1 run of support he’d cough it up the next inning and we’d go on to lose?  

Your 2021 Mets, folks.  Putting it lightly, it’s such a shame the season went in this direction.  And it’s laughably bad that we were still in 1st place just 2 nights ago.  What a terrible division.  

[Maynard13]

On 8/15/2021 at 12:55 AM, Jetsfan80 said:

Like some of you, I’d given up on this season already, but I accidentally listened in on ESPN Radio briefly tonight (5th & 6th innings) while I was headed home from working a college soccer exhibition game.

As a few of you know, I live in NC (been here since coming down to attend UNCW starting in 2004) and don’t have the mlb.tv package so the only times I watch the Mets these days is when a few local transplant fans I’m friends with decide to head to a bar to watch.  The one thing I miss about living in Jersey where I grew up was the ease of being able to watch every game, always with my Dad, who also lives in NC with my Mom after moving down in 2010 (my sister and her husband are in NC as well).

My Mom and sister didn’t care much about baseball but I will always remember fondly watching and attending Mets games as a kid with my Dad.  Dozens of games at Shea and a handful of Mets road games, and talking to friends at school about it the next school day, were simply some of the best parts of growing up; and this during a very good period of Mets baseball (1996-2004 for me).

Anyways….6 no-hit innings out of Taijuan tonight, yet was there any doubt that with 1 run of support he’d cough it up the next inning and we’d go on to lose?  

Your 2021 Mets, folks.  Putting it lightly, it’s such a shame the season went in this direction.  And it’s laughably bad that we were still in 1st place just 2 nights ago.  What a terrible division.  

You bring back cherished memories of ‘69 through ‘73 at Shea. Went to numerous games with my dad back then. Shea was electric. Good times! This has been such a strange year for the Mets. There’s a term called ‘timely hitting’ in baseball. The 2021 Mets are the antithesis of this.  Last year the pitching was awful and they hit a ton. The expectations were high this year. Yet, they can’t hit their way out a paper bag. And while they are lingering around .500 and were a 1st place team pretty much the whole year, they did compete well against the cream of the crop. Still, they are an incomplete team with numerous flaws: sketchy starting pitching, lack of team speed, poor on base percentage, terrible hitting. Some fixes and tough decisions will have to be made. What do they do with Conforto and RF and LF? With the DH in play next year, Dom can be moved to 1B and Alfonso to DH. That improves infield defense. What about Baez? Will they sign him? He’s going to be very expensive. And of course the starting pitching is a total mess and could be a disaster going into next year with stifling contracts. Sandy will have his hands full this off-season. 

[Jetsfan80]

14 hours ago, Maynard13 said:

You bring back cherished memories of ‘69 through ‘73 at Shea. Went to numerous games with my dad back then. Shea was electric. Good times! This has been such a strange year for the Mets. There’s a term called ‘timely hitting’ in baseball. The 2021 Mets are the antithesis of this.  Last year the pitching was awful and they hit a ton. The expectations were high this year. Yet, they can’t hit their way out a paper bag. And while they are lingering around .500 and were a 1st place team pretty much the whole year, they did compete well against the cream of the crop. Still, they are an incomplete team with numerous flaws: sketchy starting pitching, lack of team speed, poor on base percentage, terrible hitting. Some fixes and tough decisions will have to be made. What do they do with Conforto and RF and LF? With the DH in play next year, Dom can be moved to 1B and Alfonso to DH. That improves infield defense. What about Baez? Will they sign him? He’s going to be very expensive. And of course the starting pitching is a total mess and could be a disaster going into next year with stifling contracts. Sandy will have his hands full this off-season. 

It’s cliche but sports just bring people together, or at least used to.  I don’t have that kind of joy for the game I used to have.  Too much money is involved and there are too many issues with the modern MLB to count.  There’s some aspects of the game giving a glimmer of hope; the increased velocity is certainly very exciting stuff.  But largely it’s just such a different game now.  Different CAN be good sometimes but not in this case. 

My Dad and I barely watch or talk about baseball these days (except at the collegiate level) despite baseball being each of our first loves as kids.  And that’s sad.

Hopefully things get better and the Mets shift their philosophy in a big way this offseason.  

 

[Maynard13]

3 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

It’s cliche but sports just bring people together, or at least used to.  I don’t have that kind of joy for the game I used to have.  Too much money is involved and there are too many issues with the modern MLB to count.  There’s some aspects of the game giving a glimmer of hope; the increased velocity is certainly very exciting stuff.  But largely it’s just such a different game now.  Different CAN be good sometimes but not in this case. 

My Dad and I barely watch or talk about baseball these days (except at the collegiate level) despite baseball being each of our first loves as kids.  And that’s sad.

Hopefully things get better and the Mets shift their philosophy in a big way this offseason.  

 

I'm just an old softie. Diehard loyal to the Orange & Blue. Those Mets games I shared with my dad were the epitome of our relationship.  Hw wasnt a hands on dad and wasnt a real big baseball fan as he was an immigrant from PR and didnt grow up as a sports nut. One thing we had in common though: We both DESPISED the Dark Side.  I mean this guy HATED the Yanks with an unbridled passion, mostly because in the 60's they didnt have any Hispanic players.  Anyways the game has changed - People change - Things change. What ya gonna do but go along with it.  One thing I would love to see again is the Mets pre game intro . That always just got me in the mood LOL     

 

[section314]

3 hours ago, Maynard13 said:

I'm just an old softie. Diehard loyal to the Orange & Blue. Those Mets games I shared with my dad were the epitome of our relationship.  Hw wasnt a hands on dad and wasnt a real big baseball fan as he was an immigrant from PR and didnt grow up as a sports nut. One thing we had in common though: We both DESPISED the Dark Side.  I mean this guy HATED the Yanks with an unbridled passion, mostly because in the 60's they didnt have any Hispanic players.  Anyways the game has changed - People change - Things change. What ya gonna do but go along with it.  One thing I would love to see again is the Mets pre game intro . That always just got me in the mood LOL     

 

Great post.Some of my favorite memories with my dad revolve around going to Shea. Most memorable was being at game #5 in 1973 watching the Mets win the pennant vs the Big Red Machine. I was 15, and at the time, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of the whole thing. Dad will have passed 6 years this coming December. I’d give anything for 5 more minutes with him at any ballgame, anywhere. 

[faba]

Well the collapse continues with no end in sight with the schedule coming up. Degrom going out seems to have totalled start of the wipe out of this team

[section314]

17 minutes ago, faba said:

Well the collapse continues with no end in sight with the schedule coming up. Degrom going out seems to have totalled start of the wipe out of this team

That and the FO doing zilch at the trade deadline.

[Maynard13]

2 hours ago, faba said:

Well the collapse continues with no end in sight with the schedule coming up. Degrom going out seems to have totalled start of the wipe out of this team

Whats very scary is that deGrom migh not even pitch the rest of the year and if his arm doesn't rebound, would need yet another TJ surgery.  That would sideline him for 2022.  And he's no spring chicken either. This could totally set this team way way back.  

[Lith]

2 hours ago, section314 said:

That and the FO doing zilch at the trade deadline.

The worst part about this is that the collapse is happening now.  Had it been a month ago, we would could have been sellers at the deadline and restocked the system (kind of like the Cubs did, but not to the same extent). 

Instead we added a couple of pieces which have had little impact, and we are going nowhere.  To me, either you go all in at the deadline, or just sit it out.  All in would have meant adding a frontline starting pitcher which would have helped this team so much more than Baez.

[faba]

Baez is the streaky player that we have already throughout the lineup. For once can we get a consistent hitter that makes contact

[Maynard13]

5 hours ago, Lith said:

The worst part about this is that the collapse is happening now.  Had it been a month ago, we would could have been sellers at the deadline and restocked the system (kind of like the Cubs did, but not to the same extent). 

Instead we added a couple of pieces which have had little impact, and we are going nowhere.  To me, either you go all in at the deadline, or just sit it out.  All in would have meant adding a frontline starting pitcher which would have helped this team so much more than Baez.

Who's Baez ?

[Maynard13]

5 hours ago, Lith said:

The worst part about this is that the collapse is happening now.  Had it been a month ago, we would could have been sellers at the deadline and restocked the system (kind of like the Cubs did, but not to the same extent). 

Instead we added a couple of pieces which have had little impact, and we are going nowhere.  To me, either you go all in at the deadline, or just sit it out.  All in would have meant adding a frontline starting pitcher which would have helped this team so much more than Baez.

You know they are going to sign Baez. Lindor more than likely went out of his way to bring him over.  They are very close friends and its going to have a huge impact on the payroll. Baez wont be cheap and he is really not the type of hitter this team needs.  We KO more than any other team is my guess.  And we are just not a smart hitting team. That trade made ZERO sense and his signing makes ZERO sense.  This team is going to go through some hard times over the next 2-3 years and will have to restart.  

[JustInFudge]

Can we go back to the nostalgic conversation and not the reality of this season?  lol  It's not getting better anytime soon either.  

 

[Maynard13]

3 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

Can we go back to the nostalgic conversation and not the reality of this season?  lol  It's not getting better anytime soon either.  

 

It will change...for the worse...before it gets better. 

[JustInFudge]

Just now, Maynard13 said:

It will change...for the worse...before it gets better. 

I just keep telling myself, at least we didnt wait till Sept.

[Lith]

6 minutes ago, JiFapono said:

Can we go back to the nostalgic conversation and not the reality of this season?  lol  It's not getting better anytime soon either.  

 

Back to the nostalgia -- and since we are playing the Giants in SF, it reminds me of the first road game I ever went to. 

I was 10 years old on a family vacation in SF in the summer 1971.  Mets were in town, so mom and dad got tickets, took me and my sister.  Mets lost, but Willie Mays had a huge game for the Giants.  Mays was 40 years old by then, well past his prime.   But that night, he had 3 hits, including a double, triple, stole a base.  Next season he was a Met and a shell of the great player he once was.  But for that one evening, he was young again.  And I got to witness his greatness live for at least that one night.

[Jetsfan80]

I've got one nostalgic story in mind, @JiFapono.

In the summer of 2007, following my junior year at UNCW, my Dad decided on a "road trip" for the 2 of us.  We flew into Milwaukee for game 3 of a Mets-Brewers series, then from there took the train to Chicago for a 3-game Mets-Cubs series.  A friggin fantastic extended weekend.  It was a bad season for the Mets as we all recall, and things spiraled shortly after that Cubs series.  But we caught a few really cool moments.

A summary of events on that weekend (I checked baseball-reference to assist me with the game-related info, my memory isn't THAT good, lol): 

Thursday, Aug 2:  (Mets-Brewers):  37-year old Damion Easley hit an inside-the-park HR in the 6th inning for the Mets on the way to a 12-4 Mets win.

• My Dad and I walked to Miller Park for this one.  This is unusual because there's no way to walk to this stadium.  You have to get there via highway.  But we didn't want to call a cab and decided to figure it out.  We may well be the only people ever to walk to Miller Park.  After the day game, we went to a restaurant called the "Safe House", recommended by a friend of mine originally from Wisconsin.  When you go to the restaurant they make people do silly/humiliating things before gaining entry, which are then shown to the patrons inside for their entertainment.  Coney Island, I believe, originated this idea, as they had people go into a theater and do something silly/humiliating, which was then shown to those already in the theater.  Clever.  So, I had to "pat down" my Dad, lol.  The food was solid.  

Friday, Aug 3 (Mets-Cubs):  Mets win again, 6-2 behind a strong pitching effort by El Duque. 7 different Mets got at least 1 hit.  

• The Cubs really hate the Mets, as you're probably all aware, due to the NYC-Chicago "Second City" rivalry.  My Dad was well aware of this but I didn't learn it until we got to Wrigley.  A large contingent of us Mets fans were there, and we annoyed the Cubs fans all series with "Jose, Jose Jose  Jose!" chants.  At a certain point a fan near me yelled "SHUT!!  UP!!"  It was hilarious.  No one is more annoying than a large group of Mets fans, to which I take a lot of pride.  They all hated us.

Saturday, Aug 4 (Mets-Cubs):  Mets lose this one, 6-2.  However, Moises Alou, at the age of 40, became the oldest player in Mets' history to have a multi-HR game, which supplied the only 2 Mets' runs.  It was Alou's 2nd multi-HR game of the season, meaning he of course broke is own record in this one.

Sunday, Aug 5 (Mets-Cubs):  The big one to cap off the weekend.  Tom Glavine's 300th win.  Mets win, 8-3.

• We had to leave in the 5th inning of this one to make sure we caught our flight.  But it was so cool to be a part of history.  After Glavine, there was only other pitcher to get to 300 (Randy Johnson, 6 years later), and it is going to be almost impossible for there ever to be another 300-game winner.

[Jetsfan80]

@JiFapono Forgot to mention we are a lot of good Chicago pizza that weekend, plus made a trip to the first ever Cheesecake Factory.  Yeah it’s a chain now but it had sentimental value to my Dad and I that would take a little while to explain, lol.

I forget what else we did that weekend for fun but gimme a break, it was 14 years ago!  lol.  

[Lith]

15 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

@JiFapono Forgot to mention we are a lot of good Chicago pizza that weekend, plus made a trip to the first ever Cheesecake Factory.  Yeah it’s a chain now but it had sentimental value to my Dad and I that would take a little while to explain, lol.

I forget what else we did that weekend for fun but gimme a break, it was 14 years ago!  lol.  

Good Chicago pizza.  In my mind, that is an oxymoron.  Having lived here for 20 years, I have grown to dislike it more and more with each passing year.  Was okay as a novelty at first, but the novelty has long since worn off.

I was at the the Cubs game day before Glavine's 300th win.  Hope you had a chance to enjoy Wrigleyville.  And I may have been at the Milwaukee game you mention.  I am about 90 minutes southwest of Milwaukee and usually catch a game or two when the Mets are in town. 

Those father-son weekends are special.  I have done a bunch of baseball/football trips with my son and win or lose, they are great memories.  The one that stands out was 2015.  Had tix to fly into NY for Jets-Redskins on a Sunday afternoon in October.  Saturday night was game 1 of the LCS at Citi Field against the Cubs.  Picked up a couple of tix for that game.  Mets won 4-2 behind Matt Harvey.  Next day, Jets beat the Skins.  Got a call from a friend that weekend when he saw I was in town.  He had an extra ticket for Game 2.  So after the Jet game, I dropped my son off at the airport and headed back to Citi Field for another W.  3 games, 3 Ws  in just over 24 hours.  I miss 2015.

[Icer]

Uncle Steve calling out the hitters for sucking on twitter. You love to see it

[section314]

11 hours ago, Jetsfan80 said:

I've got one nostalgic story in mind, @JiFapono.

In the summer of 2007, following my junior year at UNCW, my Dad decided on a "road trip" for the 2 of us.  We flew into Milwaukee for game 3 of a Mets-Brewers series, then from there took the train to Chicago for a 3-game Mets-Cubs series.  A friggin fantastic extended weekend.  It was a bad season for the Mets as we all recall, and things spiraled shortly after that Cubs series.  But we caught a few really cool moments.

A summary of events on that weekend (I checked baseball-reference to assist me with the game-related info, my memory isn't THAT good, lol): 

Thursday, Aug 2:  (Mets-Brewers):  37-year old Damion Easley hit an inside-the-park HR in the 6th inning for the Mets on the way to a 12-4 Mets win.

• My Dad and I walked to Miller Park for this one.  This is unusual because there's no way to walk to this stadium.  You have to get there via highway.  But we didn't want to call a cab and decided to figure it out.  We may well be the only people ever to walk to Miller Park.  After the day game, we went to a restaurant called the "Safe House", recommended by a friend of mine originally from Wisconsin.  When you go to the restaurant they make people do silly/humiliating things before gaining entry, which are then shown to the patrons inside for their entertainment.  Coney Island, I believe, originated this idea, as they had people go into a theater and do something silly/humiliating, which was then shown to those already in the theater.  Clever.  So, I had to "pat down" my Dad, lol.  The food was solid.  

Friday, Aug 3 (Mets-Cubs):  Mets win again, 6-2 behind a strong pitching effort by El Duque. 7 different Mets got at least 1 hit.  

• The Cubs really hate the Mets, as you're probably all aware, due to the NYC-Chicago "Second City" rivalry.  My Dad was well aware of this but I didn't learn it until we got to Wrigley.  A large contingent of us Mets fans were there, and we annoyed the Cubs fans all series with "Jose, Jose Jose  Jose!" chants.  At a certain point a fan near me yelled "SHUT!!  UP!!"  It was hilarious.  No one is more annoying than a large group of Mets fans, to which I take a lot of pride.  They all hated us.

Saturday, Aug 4 (Mets-Cubs):  Mets lose this one, 6-2.  However, Moises Alou, at the age of 40, became the oldest player in Mets' history to have a multi-HR game, which supplied the only 2 Mets' runs.  It was Alou's 2nd multi-HR game of the season, meaning he of course broke is own record in this one.

Sunday, Aug 5 (Mets-Cubs):  The big one to cap off the weekend.  Tom Glavine's 300th win.  Mets win, 8-3.

• We had to leave in the 5th inning of this one to make sure we caught our flight.  But it was so cool to be a part of history.  After Glavine, there was only other pitcher to get to 300 (Randy Johnson, 6 years later), and it is going to be almost impossible for there ever to be another 300-game winner.

20 years from now, the benchmark for starters getting in will be 150-175 wins.

[section314]

1 hour ago, Icer said:

Uncle Steve calling out the hitters for sucking on twitter. You love to see it

To@Lith’s point yesterday, too bad this collapse didn’t start 3 weeks ago. Maybe would could have gotten rid of Conforto, Davis and McNeil, and never even thought about Baez.

[Jetsfan80]

4 hours ago, Lith said:

Good Chicago pizza.  In my mind, that is an oxymoron.  Having lived here for 20 years, I have grown to dislike it more and more with each passing year.  Was okay as a novelty at first, but the novelty has long since worn off.

I was at the the Cubs game day before Glavine's 300th win.  Hope you had a chance to enjoy Wrigleyville.  And I may have been at the Milwaukee game you mention.  I am about 90 minutes southwest of Milwaukee and usually catch a game or two when the Mets are in town. 

Those father-son weekends are special.  I have done a bunch of baseball/football trips with my son and win or lose, they are great memories.  The one that stands out was 2015.  Had tix to fly into NY for Jets-Redskins on a Sunday afternoon in October.  Saturday night was game 1 of the LCS at Citi Field against the Cubs.  Picked up a couple of tix for that game.  Mets won 4-2 behind Matt Harvey.  Next day, Jets beat the Skins.  Got a call from a friend that weekend when he saw I was in town.  He had an extra ticket for Game 2.  So after the Jet game, I dropped my son off at the airport and headed back to Citi Field for another W.  3 games, 3 Ws  in just over 24 hours.  I miss 2015.

I didn’t know any better about the pizza; I was only 21, lol.  And at the time living in NC (going to school at UNCW) for 3 years by then, away from all the good NY/NJ pizza.  Plus my Dad and I are easy to please.  I will always prefer NY-style pizza though.

Thats cool we might have been at the same games!  We did not make it to Wrigleyville, unfortunately.  ?

And you aren’t kidding about 2015.  Special year and so cool you got to experience it with your son firsthand!  Memories to treasure and pass down, for sure.

[faba]

You want nostaglia. when i was young my Dad cut out the milk cartons for me and him to go to some games.

[Rangers9]

When the owner starts calling out the team you’d think the players and org have to listen. If this doesn’t shake them up what will. The guy is frustrated esp after spending money and making moves and losing while the Yankees win.  So Steve Cohen can speak softly but he does carry a big stick. He can and will fire all of them if this continues. 

[Maynard13]

13 hours ago, faba said:

You want nostaglia. when i was young my Dad cut out the milk cartons for me and him to go to some games.

Now that’s some serious nostalgia - you win 1st prize 

[Maynard13]

6 hours ago, Rangers9 said:

When the owner starts calling out the team you’d think the players and org have to listen. If this doesn’t shake them up what will. The guy is frustrated esp after spending money and making moves and losing while the Yankees win.  So Steve Cohen can speak softly but he does carry a big stick. He can and will fire all of them if this continues. 

Ohhhh they be some changes coming. You can count on it. 

[Maynard13]

13 hours ago, faba said:

You want nostaglia. when i was young my Dad cut out the milk cartons for me and him to go to some games.

That’s pretty cool. I recall that. In my pre Mets days, in the early to mid 60’s when I was just a young chap 7-10, the kids in the hood used to go to the yankee games via Con Edison and sit in the CF bleachers 600 feet CF lol man that was like a mile away from home plate. We went to dozens of games back then. The yanks really SUCKED LOL ? at that time- post their early 60’s WS wins. Mantle was declining but got to see him play. I remember Mel Stottylemeyer, Tom Tresh, Horace Clarke. Were great times and saw so many great players from that era. When Seaver became a Met, I was forever Orange and Blue. 

[Grandy]

Can someone give deGrom some ibuprofen already?

[Rangers9]

When Steve Cohen took over not a big surprise he fired Brodie although you’d think he’d give him another year but not a move most Mets fans opposed. But the big surprise was bringing back Sandy a guy famous for underachievement and staying within the Wilpons bottom line. The Mets did get into one World Series under Sandy who made the deal for Cespedes that put them into a position to win. Whether or not that deal was worth it considering  how little effect he had as a player afterwards. He had one good but not great year for the Mets in 2016 and the Mets had an ok year making the Wildcard game (which they lost) off of an 87 win season. Rumors are Cohen is interested in getting a big name person to be in charge of the franchise one name rumored is Theo Epstein. 

[Maynard13]

3 hours ago, Grandy said:

Can someone give deGrom some ibuprofen already?

Should have never let Wheeler walk. They give Stroman 20 M instead of signing Wheeler. Stupid is as stupid does. 

[JustInFudge]

From 47-41 at the All Star break to 60-62 currently....you have to try to be that bad.

[Rangers9]

What's frustrating is that almost all of these games are so similar. No matter who is pitching the Mets cannot score esp the first 5 innings of the game in other words they can't hit starters. 

[Lith]

Just another August day for the Mets.  deGrom moved to 60 day DL and another loss.  At least we play the Nationals next week.  The only team we seem to be capable of beating.