July 12th, 2009
When any Met fan hears 1969 they think of one of the greatest, if not the greatest team to ever grace Shea stadium. As for non-baseball fans, wood-stock and the occasional acid flash back is all too familiar. With 1986 comes an undertone of luck, portrayed by the Buckner debacle sending the mets soaring into game 7. These two years are memorable for any sports fan, but are often overshadowed by the Yankees 26 rings, attained only a borough away from Flushing Queens.
The new Citi Field was set to distinguish the mets from their cross town foes as well as give them the confidence they seek. This confidence, however, has been erased by the string of injuries plaguing the mets. Beltran and Reyes, two key players up the middle have been missed dearly. Beltran’s 3 consecutive gold glove awards have set him apart from any other national league center-fielder. His cannon from center, causes base runners to think twice before taking that extra base. On the offensive side, Beltran has averaged 113 RBI’s as well as 34 HR’s from 2006-2008. His presence has been greatly missed in 2009, with the Met’s current starting lineup boasting a measly 27 Hr’s – 5 less than St. Louis’s Albert Pujols. To be fair to the Mets, Pujols is a monster and must be slipping under the roidar.
As far as Delgado goes, a loss of comparable stats to Beltran in the past three seasons can only be seen as detrimental to the Mets. The loss of Beltran and Delgado, coupled with the absence of defense, speed, hitting presence and base running skills seen in Reyes has the Mets looking like the Mets of Fall.
On a positive note, with the current setbacks comes a sense of hope and avengment. While the Mets have been struggling as of late, one cannot say that any other team in the NL East has truly excelled. The first place Phillies have only three pitchers on the 15-day DL. Add Howard, Rollins and Victorino to that list and the team might be looking more like the Nationals. This is exactly what gives the Mets hope; the ability to stay only 6.5 games back with an injured starting cast means the team can turn it around in the second half. If this is the case, Met fans can only hope the team wont blow it once Fall rolls around.
Tags: Builder
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July 8th, 2009
At age 35, Derek Jeter’s bat is looking like it took a dip in the fountain of youth. The face of the franchise has consistently put up Hall of Fame numbers as he elbowed his way through the black-clouded steroid era without an umbrella, needle or pill. Our generation’s Yankee legend is once again putting up Jeter like numbers as the captain finds his team just one game back in the hardest division in baseball – take that Trevor Hoffman.
It’s no question that the league and its fans have begun to realize the importance of the on base percentage. In the meantime, baseball archaeologists are looking to carbon-date the prehistoric ‘batting average’ that we have often gotten down on our knees for over the years. With that being said, going into the All-Star break Jeter’s OBP is a team leading .393, which is decent enough to be boasted higher than his performance as a member of the classic ’98 squad we all seem to reminisce about.
And its not just Jeter we should be happy about, although he is always a great starting point for any Yankee fan. The truth is; no one is having a breakout season. Everyone is playing their part and pulling their own weight. It seems like every Yankee and his grandmother is batting south of .300, and Yankee stranger Andy Pettitte, along with our two recently acquired “aces” on the mound have 8, 8 and 7 wins respectively. So how has this club just a game back in the rowdy AL East, and winners of 11 of their last 13? Mostly routine pop fly walk off’s, “Damon’s Deck,” beers that will cost you your nuts for resale, some more timely hitting, and team chemistry; something we haven’t seen since the better half of the 90’s. Teixeira’s slugging percentage and overall desire to win a ball game, mixed with characters like Nick Swisher who seems to always be packing a fat bomb are just two of the many invaluable assets to this year’s gang. This combination of players undoubtedly feed off of one another’s energy, which has led to a total of 25 come from behind wins, 8 of which were in walk-off fashion. The 1998 Yankees finished with a total of 50 comeback wins, a pace that this year’s club is headed straight for. Of those 50 wins, 7 walk offs. The numbers speak for themselves as Yankee fans can only hope for similar trends to come.
As for the Mets, typical. Some would argue the team is full of future stars – they’re just too young at this point, and that injuries have swept the Mets like the swine flu. Although anytime your team is given its own “Not So Top 10” on SportsCenter, it makes people like me wonder if these are all just excuses. In my eyes Jerry Manuel is about as exciting as toast, your ace is having a questionable (at best) first half, and David Wright and City Field are just about the only thing to smile about. Might as well wait for the leaves to change when you bet the pot on rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, no pressure.
Tags: Ayo
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