Ike Davis: Man-Crushing Balls Out of the Park

Generation K, Alex Escobar, Matt Peterson, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez.  Aside from the families and friends of these guys, there is only one group of people who will recognize their names - agonized and disappointed Mets fans.  While the book is still out on FMart and I guess you can say we are getting something out of Izzy at this point, there is a strong memory of can't miss prospects that were complete misses.  Emerging from behind this list though is my favorite Met, Ike Davis, who not only consistently answered every question that scouts put up about his abilities, but is now name that fans (and pitchers for that matter) across the league have come to know.

Davis came up April of last year, and unless you're a person scouring the Mets minor league reports, he's a guy you hadn't heard much about.  He hit pretty well in the minors working his way from Brooklyn, to St. Lucie, to Binghamton.  While he had a pretty good spring in 2010, the Mets believed he'd be better suited with another season in the minors and chose a platoon approach of some veterans to start at first last season.  There was no scouts saying, "Wait until this guy gets to the show," and no one was even thinking of calling this guy the next Keith Hernandez.  It was more, well, he can hit good hard line drives and play a pretty good first base.  We're not sure on the power and this guy has the potential to be good.  As I said earlier, this doesn't invoke too much confidence on the fan who is reading this limited scouting report seeing as we have a great past of seeing our top prospects, who have been highly touted, not amount to much - at least for the Mets.  Here is a quote from Scout.com from February of last year:

Davis would benefit from another full year in the minors. However, a promotion before or after September 1 cannot be ruled out if a roster spot opens up or he simply hits the cover off the ball in Triple-A. By late summer, a strong season from Davis should entice the Mets to get a peek at Davis’ ability in the big league setting.

Ike hit pretty well in the minors and extended spring training and by the end of April, he had secured a spot as the starting first basemen for the major club.  Since then, you could argue that Ike Davis has been the Mets' most consistent player - and this is a 24 year old on a team with veteran superstars like Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran and superstars in their prime like David Wright and Jose Reyes.

It's pretty easy to talk up a young guy who's on a 10-game hit streak (and 5-game multi-hit streak) and is leading the team in RBIs, but I think that Ike Davis is going to be one of the most important players on the Mets for many years to come.  In a 2011 season that looks like it could be up and down again riding the wave of streaks, it's Davis's consistency and attitude that I believe will be the most important to this team.

We want Jose Reyes to be the spark plug to start our rallies, and he can be, when healthy and with his head in the game.  David Wright is supposed to be the team leader and superstar, and he has been, but he's also struck out a lot and been a part of teams that have had late season collapses at a time when the best player on the team should be able to put the team on his shoulders.  Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran are superstars in their own right, but we've seen instances from both that playing in New York makes them a little uneasy compared to past homes where they've seen greater successes.  Johan Santana is our crown jewel, but he's getting older and is on the shelf right now.  Mike Pelfrey can be a head case.  Jon Niese is not there yet and doesn't have the raw skill to be a superstar.  

Then you have Ike Davis. When questions were asked when he first came up if he was being rushed, he responded by hitting 19 homers and 71 RBIs in his first season (which wasn't even a full season).  He filled in as the cleanup hitter in a New York lineup for much of the season.  He played a stellar first base getting great consideration for the NL Gold Glove.  He came in 7th in the Rookie of the Year voting for the NL.  And in such a great class of rookies last year with the likes of Buster Posey and Jason Heyward and in a league that's constantly adjusting to promising rookies resulting in sophomore slumps, look who seems to be the best 2nd year player in the league right now.

At the end of such a great string of wins that coincidentally came right in the middle of Ike's hitting streak, I think it's time we all tipped our cap to Ike Davis.  Call it Kool-Aid, call it a man-crush, call it what you will - I'm excited to watch Ike Davis crush balls onto the Pepsi Porch in 2011 and for many years to come.  Drink it up.

What a Win!

For five straight games, the Mets were a good baseball team. For one night, they were Amazin' again.

Tonight's game was one of the most thrilling Mets wins in recent memory. Making it even better was the fact that it had all the makings of so many of the excruciating losses we have seen.

Be honest: when the offense wasted a solid pitching performance by doing virtually nothing for 7 innings, you muttered "same old Mets" under your breath. When Reyes' triple was overturned by that horrible call, you remembered that the baseball Gods are surely not Mets fans. When the Nats quickly squashed the joy that Murphy's game-tying home run produced, you thought about going to bed.

And nobody would blame you if you did. After all, when was the last time the Mets came back in both the 8th AND 9th innings to win a game?

But instead of following the same tired script, the team pulled out a gutty victory that Mets fans always hope for but never expect. The best part was that almost everyone on the team was involved in the victory, from afterthoughts Turner and Hu, to former whipping boys Bay and Murphy, to youngsters Davis and Thole.

It was the type of win that makes April feel like October. It had me excitedly calling or texting every Mets fan I know. And instead of my usual corny sarcastic texts like "Who sucks? Hu sucks" that follow Mets losses, I could finally send a corny exuberant text like "Who's the man? Hu's the man".

So tonight, forget about massive debts and Ponzi schemes. It's a rare opportunity to be proud to be a Mets fan.

Drink it up!

What's Plaguing the Mets?

Why is this night different from all other nights? For Mets fans it certainly isn't, as our team staggered to yet another loss. Yes, you may have been reclining and eating unleavened bread during the game, but in the end the result was more of the same.

With the Mets having already lost more games (12) than plagues (10) by the second night of Passover (the annual day of regretting passing over Orlando Hudson to play second base), it seems like an appropriate time to analyze what exactly has been plaguing the Mets.

1) Water turned to blood - We thought we were getting the equivalent of Perrier in Jason Bay. Instead Bay has turned to blood (injuries), soiling the flowing river of offense that could have been.

2) Frogs - Frogs are green, which is one color the Mets are lacking as their owner remains the target of a $1 billion lawsuit and ticket sales dwindle.

3) Lice - Also known as gnats, which is fitting considering that even the lowly Nats have tortured the Mets already this season.

4) Wild beasts - The biggest beast of them all, Troy Tulowitski, feasted on Mets pitchers last week.

5) Disease on livestock - From Bay to Reyes to Santana to Beltran, our most productive livestock has been hit with disease (injuries) way to often the past few years. They haven't produced a glass of milk or a golden egg in a long time.

6) Boils - The Mets look good from afar. But then you look closer and see all the blemishes. Whether its an all star who can't hit in the clutch, a five tool player with no baseball IQ, or a talented pitcher who is a complete headcase, the Mets are full of "boils".

7) Hail - What's worse than watching the Mets lose in person? Watching them lose in person while sitting in horrible weather. That's been the case way to often this April.

8) Locusts - Just as locusts destroy farms, most of our best crops have failed to grow to their potential. From Generation K to Alex Escobar to Lastings Milledge to Fernando Martinez, our farm has produced too many rotten products.

9) Darkness - It's been a period of darkness for Mets fans ever since Adam Wainwright turned out the lights in Game 6. And if you've ever driven past Citi Field in October, you can see just how dark that place can be.

10) Death of the first born - Johan Santana, our #1 starter who we all love like our own son, sits on the DL.

And that, kids, is the story of the Mets struggles. But now that these ten plagues have been delivered, the Mets can finally be freed from the contract of Oliver Perez and the chains of losing baseball.

After what has felt like forty years of wandering in the bottom of the standings, Sandy Alderson is finally here to hopefully lead the Mets to the promised land (a.k.a the playoffs).

Terry's Tonic: The Fight is Still There, But Maybe We've Got to Go Old School

Another night, another tough loss based on mistakes, bad bullpen play, and a glint of fight in the Mets offense. When the Kool-aid is hard to come by we go once again for a mixer of Terry's Tonic to help explain what went wrong last night.  Let's see what he said

“Everybody is as frustrated in this room as I am, but we’ve been in every single game but one” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “The fight is still there, but we’ve got to stop making mistakes.”

 Again, Terry takes a turn from the Jerry's Juice we were used to tasting so often last year and holds the team accountable as he should.  He's right.  It's bad pitching and mistakes that have caused the Mets to allow teams to come back and eventually win.  It's pretty much been the issue all season. 

With that said, there was one bright spot in last night's game and that was the return of Jason Isringhausen back to the Mets.  Izzy made his Mets re-debut last night coming in with two on and one out in the seventh and throwing a perfect 2/3 with the game tied.  It seems Generation K is finally ready to make its mark.  Isringhausen is best remembered as the one truly successful member of the highly touted trio of Mets pitching prospects who the Mets traded away before being given a full chance.  Izzy went on to be a very successful closer for the Cardinals, and the Mets were left with another mistake in letting him go.

So what do you do when you make moves, hold your players accountable, and still see there's no one left that's not making mistakes?  Maybe you go back to some of the old mistakes we've made and correct them just like we did with Izzy.  No one good to play second base?  Maybe we should go back and give Jeff Kent a call.  Need a good fill in for Beltran on his one in every three off days?  We're already paying Bobby Bonilla still, why not give him a ring.  Who can play for Jason Bay as he inches his way back after injury?  Why, who would fit better than, well, former Mets farmhand Jason Bay.

Of course I kid here, but something's going to have to give.  It's too early in the season to get too far down, but you never want to be fighting from behind like this.  The problems seem to be apparent.  Starters need to go deeper, relievers need to stop giving it away, and everyone needs to think and perform a bit better in the field.  We saw the accountability with the move to send down Boyer and Duda like we discussed yesterday, but I'm not sure how that will help if you bring up Igarashi and he throws away a double play ball that lead to a 2-run single by Carlos Gonzalez.

The Kool-aid is that it's still early, some things are going well, and I trust the new front office enough to think that they will make the right moves to keep us competitive.  At this point, all I can do is sit back, drink my Kool-aid and hope for the best.

Can't Pitch, Hit, or Field? Goodbye!

Last season we could always count on Mets employees to put a positive spin on their losses. When Oliver Perez got shelled we were told he was in great shape and making good progress. When David Wright struck out four times, we were told that he was putting great swings on the ball and was about to break out. It was a skill that helped inspire this very blog, and led to a recurring segment called "Jerry's Juice".

This season we have renamed that segment "Terry's Tonic", but the Mets manager and his colleagues are making it hard for us to find material. That's because for the first time in a while, the Mets are holding themselves accountable for their poor play.

After today's frustrating loss to the Nationals, I looked for and expected to find the koolaid-rich quotes that were so common last season. Instead, I found the following:

"This is the big leagues, and you've got to be able to make some pitches." - Terry Collins

"It's [the bullpen] been inconsistent. Probably as positive an adjective as I can use. But it's unfortunate." - Sandy Alderson

“It’s an utter letdown. You just feel disgusted with yourself. He pitched one heck of a game, and I hate that I blew it for him.” - Blaine Boyer, who lost the game.

“The ball just beat me. I made a terrible play. It probably cost us the game.” - Lucas Duda, who misplayed a ball that led helped the Nats come back.

"It’s horrible, man" - DJ Carrasco, who gave up the tying runs.

These are all harsh words for game 9, and I must say I like it. Don't get me wrong - I love a good glass of blue and orange koolaid, and there will be plenty of it poured later on in the season. But for now it's good to see that the Mets are not taking losses and poor play lightly.

While Omar and Jerry would have publicly chalked up this loss to early season jitters or a bad pre-game meal, Sandy walked the walk by demoting Boyer and Duda to the minors. When was the last time the Mets took such strong action on an under-performing player so quickly?

The Mets have talent, and we have already seen this season that they are capable of playing well in all facets of the game. But when they don't, it's good to finally see that the players will take responsibility for their mistakes and the front office will take the necessary actions to improve.

After all, accountability breeds success. I don't know if that's a saying, but it should be.

Forget this...I'm Going Home!

After a great start to the second series of the year, the Mets have now dropped their last two games and sit at .500.  Is it time to panic?  Is Mike Pelfrey done already?  Who's the real Jon Niese?  Is this a team that's going to commit bonehead plays in the field and not allow themselves to stay in games?  Just like we said "Stay Calm and Carry On" when we won that Phillies game, we need to do the same when we've lost the last two.

The Phillies are the favorite in the National League.  Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay are two of the best pitchers in the NL.  In our other loss, the team showed some fight on the road and came back after a big lead was given up early in the game.  More importantly, we've played all 6 games on the road.  I'm not ready to panic yet.

Home field advantage.  Welcome home.  Home is where the heart is.  Home sweet home. Home run.  Root, root, root for the home team.  Well, there's a lot of little positive quotes and sayings referring to how great home is.  There's a reason for that.

Last season, the Mets were 47-34 at Citi Field and just 32-49 on the road.  Now, I'm not saying I want a repeat of last year, but if this team can play .500 baseball on the road and keep a nice winning record at home, we're going to be in it at the end.  I think the Mets can bounce back nicely this early in the season playing the Nats this weekend opening up Citi Field for 2011. 

There's going to be energy.  There's going to be excitement.  There's going to be..."everybody clap your hands!" (I know you just got the urge to clap your hands).  If you're going out to the ballpark today or at any point this weekend, have a safe, fun, and positive time.  Cheer on our boys and save the boos for later in the season when we hopefully won't need them.  We'll be back on Monday hopefully pouring you some more Koolaid on how the Mets being 6-3 means they are destined for the playoffs.  For now, DRINK IT UP!

That Was Phun

4 games into the year and the Koolaid is flowing pretty easily.  There are a lot of things to be happy with -David Wright and Ike Davis seem to be hitting just as we need them to, Carlos Beltran seems to be easing his way back into non-injured play fairly nicely, 3 great pitching performances including one by newcomer Chris Young.  We could talk about all of these things, but what everyone needs today is how to answer the comments of Phillies fans for tomorrow because it's going to sound pretty familiar.

They'll say, "We're still 3 and 1."  You say, "You're right." and smile.

They'll say, "It's 4 games into the season, talk to me in August when your season is over." You say, "I hope we do talk in August, September even."

They'll say, "Wait til Utley comes back.  You weren't even playing our real team."  You say, "You don't have to tell me buddy, we know better than anyone how tough injuries can be."

Then they'll probably throw beer on you or vomit on you if they're a real Phillies fan, but you shouldn't do that my friends.  You should do like our good friends over at 27 Up 27 Down T-shirts, "Stay Calm and Carry On."  The fact of the matter is it is only 4 games in.  There's still a lot of baseball left.  I can tell you one thing though, if there are a lot more games this season like the last 3 the Mets have played, then this season is going to be fun. 

I could throw a lot of analysis back at you on the reasons for all the great things that have happened this season, but now I feel like I'll jinx it or realize how stupid I sound.  Instead, I sit back here enjoying the fact that baseball is back, there's already been some excitement, and there's a lot of baseball to play.  So you sit back too, take a sip of the Koolaid, because tonight, it tastes very sweet.  DRINK IT UP.

Mets 1, Yankees 0

The 2011 Mets season started with a bang. Despite experts basically predicting them to go 0-162 this year, the Mets took two of their first three at a division rival's home stadium. Beltran and Reyes made it through an entire weekend without getting hurt. Newcomer Willie Harris started molding his statue outside Citi Field.

But even more gratifying than the Mets two wins was their victory over the Yankees off the field.

In case you haven't heard, Yankees GM Brian Cashman complained that the Mets "abused" new Yankee pitcher Pedro Feliciano. Cashman is 100 percent correct. The Mets used Feliciano so much that it's amazing he still even has a left arm. Even Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen admitted as much, saying "That was part of the reason we decided to not re-sign - because we knew we had used him 270-some times in the last three years."

But Cashman being right is not the point. The point is that Cashman should have known what he was getting in Feliciano instead of whining about it afterwards. Does he not get the SNY channel at home? Does he not have a computer on which to check baseball stats? I know the economy is bad, but I'm sure the Yankees could have at least afforded an unpaid intern to look up Feliciano's Wikipedia page.

The Yankees may beat the Mets in the Subway Series, and will probably win more games overall this year. But the Yankees have one "abused" pitcher, while the Mets don't have any now. Chalk up a victory for the New York Mets.

Game 1: Mets vs. Marlins - LIVE BLOG!

7:03pm - Pregame:
Well here we are folks, the time we've all been waiting for, Opening Day.  Low Expectations and high hopes.  Thanks for joining us as we watch the first game of the season.  Since it's Friday night and happy hour here on the east coast, we'll be pouring you at least one shot of Mets Kool-Aid every half inning.  Please feel free to comment along below.  We'll check back in after the top of the first.  Drink it up and Let's Go Mets!!!!

7:25pm - Mid 1st:
No hits or runs in the first, but you gotta like how the first two Met hitters worked the count.  Didn't see much of that last year.

7:39pm - End 1st:
Well, one more Mets game without a no-no.  A few too many pitches by Pelf, but the game is decided on runs, not hits or base runners.  How do I see it?  One inning down in the 2011 season, and no runs surrendered.  Let's see what the return of Carlos Beltran gives us - my guess is something awesome.

7:49pm - Top 2nd:
Ike Davis, first base runner of the season!  An Emaus RBI would have been nice, but hey, at least he's not Luis Castillo.

7:56pm - End 2nd:
The end of the second welcomes the first comment to the comments section.  It seems TKL Research will be this season's Giuseppe Franco.  I wonder if the TKL Research money goes right to the Wilpon defense fund.  Either way, we got a 1-2-3 inning for the first time in 2011.  Let's get a run here.  I'm going to take a shot if we get a run and I encourage you to do the same. What do you guys think of Josh Thole? Let's Go Mets.

8:09pm - End 3rd:
Sorry about that, we missed a half inning to go post our URL everywhere.  We're almost to 100 visits for today, so tell your friends.  Johan Pelfrey seems to be on the mound throwing up 0's like an ace should.  I love it.  Headed into the middle part of the lineup.  Did you know David Wright has multiple opening day homers in his career?  Let's Go Mets.

8:18pm - Mid 3rd:
I will go out on a limb and say that if the Mets get no hit today, they will win the World Series

Also, Dan Warthen looks like an old Big Bird

8:31pm - First Run of the Year Given Up - Bottom 4:
Oh yeah, I forgot about this.  Wouldn't it be weird if after giving up a grand slam that Mike Pelfrey looked into the camera at 3rd base and made a weird Jim Halpert look?  4 runs isn't impossible to overcome.  What if we come back?  Ya Gotta Believe?

8:38pm - Mid 5th:
Ummm.  Only 3 hits have been given up here.  That's not too bad.  Is it possible the outcome of this game is causing the pizza we just ate to taste bad?  Something good needs to happen here.  Let's Go Mets.

8:47 - Bot 5th:
This call to the bullpen is brought to you by....the Fred Wilpon Help Me Afford a Baseball Team Foundation.

9:06pm - End 6th:
Pedro Beato with the 1-2-3 inning.  And you don't talk about a no hitter if you're superstitious, so guess what, Johnson is throwing a no hitter here.

And it worked.

Carlos Beltran, standing on second.  His knee is still between 2nd and 3rd.  Big RBI double!!!!!

9:23pm - Mid 7th:
Great inning there.  First runs of the year.  Not sure how I feel about one of our top bench players having a .170 avg as a pinch hitter.  But we saw RBIs from Beltran and Ike there.  If the Mets are going to win this year, that's going to have to happen a lot more.  That last at bat would have tied the game with a homer.  This is not impossible.  And remember, we're not going to be facing Josh Johnson everyday.

9:37pm - Top 8th:
Boyer and Beato looked pretty good.  If they can bridge the gap to K-Rod and our starters don't give up grand slams, the Mets will be alright.

9:56pm - End 8th
I kid you not, someone just put on Rock and Roll Pt 2 here.  I just switched to a rally cap.  3 more outs to go.  Or a whole season.

10:04pm - Game
This is why they play 162 games.  Remember, the last 5 years, the Mets have won on Opening Day.  And the last 5 years, we've been disappointed.  Takeaways include Willie Harris having a good game, Beltran hopefully making a nice comeback, and there's always tomorrow.  Thanks to everyone who followed along.  We'll have to do this again.  See you soon.

From the Makers of Jerry's Juice Comes Terry's Tonic!

One of our favorite features on the site last season was Jerry's Juice.  Every loss, we'd look over Jerry Manuel's reasoning behind the team's shortcomings in that game and make sure you tasted a bit of Kool-Aid with it.  Well, just because we have a new manager doesn't mean we shouldn't stop finding the positives in everything our manager has to say.  Terry Collins is already stirring the Kool-Aid with an email he sent to Mets fans- here's a little piece to get you excited for tonight:



With our 2011 opener tonight in Florida, I want to make this pledge to Mets fans: our team will play the game the right way. We will always hustle on the bases, run balls down in the outfield and never take anything for granted, no matter the score of the game. We had a great Spring Training. From day one my message has been look ahead, not backward, and not to worry about what the people outside the clubhouse are saying. If we pitch and play defense like I know we can, we will surprise a lot of people, a lot of people.

Clap...clap...clap...Let's Go Mets!....oh man am I excited!

This is what we've been asking for right?  We want to win, but even if we don't we want the team to have some fire, not just say they care but actually show it, and hustle.  If this is the case, I think all Mets fans will be happier and the wins will come.  So I guess there's just one thing to do....play ball!

Have a great season everyone and enjoy tonights' game.

PS: Stay tuned as we're planning to announce this afternoon that we will be live blogging all through the game tonight. 

DRINK IT UP!