When the Mets Win I Win

Alright, finally the Mets take 3 of 4 to make their first series win extra meaningful! All thanks to this man who deservingly got the win:


I was worried because Gorzelanny looked better than Santana in the early innings, but the offense finally came through with a big enough spurt to win the game (with the help of some shoddy Cub defense).

Hopefully the Mets can build on this effort.

I decided to celebrate the Mets' win by opening my second place winnings from the NCAA bracket contest over at Cards on Cards. I am just thankful that I spent a summer several years ago in North Carolina working with a student from Duke. While I did not see any college sports while I was there, I did catch minor league games at about seven different ballparks and drive down to Atlanta to see a game at Turner Field. All in all, it was a productive summer during which I bought lots of baseball cards and has now helped me win some more.

First, I have to say that the package was incredibly generous. I can only imagine what I would have gotten had I come in first! In fact, all the cards in the post were part of the package which also included a bunch of packs and cards to add to my player collections. I plan on posting two of the packs over at A Pack to Be Named Later, so check there in the coming days. The great thing was that even the packs contained a bunch more Mets than I am used to finding in the packs I break. Nice work selecting them Madding.


Included in the pack were the Mets from the 2002 Donruss Super Estrellas that I had set my sights on after seeing the packs detailed here, including the above Mike Piazza poster.

However, my eyes lit up the brightest when I saw this card:
Thank you, thank you, thank you! In addition to adding the card to my collection, I was able to find out from the back that Mr. Met is one of only three MLB mascots to be inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Well deserved in my view. The Fanatic has nothing on you Mr. Met, and it is nice to know that the Mets have a clear historical advantage over the Yankees in at least this one respect.

Hopefully, the good Karma Mr. Met brings can help the team continue the positivity over the last four games for the entire homestand. Let's Go Mets!

It's Too Early to Get Crazy Rant: Depicted In Baseball Cards

Unfortunately for the Mets, the rest of the week after opening day was not so great. Their record now stands at 2-4 and they occupy the cellar of the NL East. Yet, the doom and gloom I've been reading is just crazy.



It is the first six games of the season! I am actually encouraged to some extent that the starting pitching has not gotten bombed, it has been good enough to keep them in games. Additionally, the bullpen has been relatively solid. This lineup is too good not to hit well eventually, and Reyes is already back. Mike Jacobs might not cut it, but first base is not a difficult position to fill. There are two other candidates in the Mets' organization itself: Ike Davis and the current DL resident Daniel Murphy.




Also, Francoeur is on fire with the bat right now and his approach at the plate is great. I think he is going to have a big year, and can make the Mets lineup incredible if and when Beltran returns. No one gives Omar credit when he makes a good trade, they only bash him for the bad moves. Now, Omar has made some insanely bad moves (that Castillo deal is mind boggling), but he has made some really good ones too.



Finally, not to bash the Braves, but they have only one more win than the Mets and have looked much worse. They already had their bullpen blow a couple games, Troy Glaus looks horrible when hitting, Jurrjens got lit up today worse than any Mets pitcher so far, and Lowe does not look like he will rebound this season (in my opinion he is a worse signing than Oliver Perez right now, yet I have heard few criticisms of the Braves' GM who also traded away Vasquez for a song named Melky). While the Nationals are pretty bad, they have at least three legitimate proven hitters, the Padres have ONE. Yet I don't see articles on ESPN about how much Tim Hudson must wish he had signed with a different team or how Bobby Cox might not have the hitting OR the pitching to lead the team to the playoffs in his last year managing.



Again, I think the Braves will be better this season too, but I am making a point about how quick both Mets fans and non-Mets fans are to get down on the Mets and how unreasonably non-Braves fans are willing to over look that team's flaws.

If after a month the Mets are 5-15, then we can start sounding the warning signals, but right now let's give this team just the slightest bit of leeway. For now I am distributing some propaganda to get the Mets fans out there back in a better frame of mind.


PS: Cole Hamels has been no better than the Mets' non-Santana starters either.

PPS: If anyone has any Ike Davis cards for trade, send me an email.