A Year to Forget for the New York Mets
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
The New York Mets are not the worst team in baseball.
They are not even the most incompetently run franchise in their own division. Yet, their campaign this 2009 MLB baseball season may have forever redefined the concept of losing.
Nothing has gone right for the poor New York Mets in this calendar year. From the ownership down to the bat boys, the entire organization has been beset by financial issues, management missteps, injuries, errors, poor timing, and just plain bad luck. Every week seemed to bring a new crisis or terrible disaster and through it all, they constantly found inventive and entertaining ways to squander victory. And there’s still a month left!
Let’s take a look at this disgruntled franchise on what has gone wrong this year. Actually, it started in the offseason when the Mets first gave Francisco Rodriguez a three year, $37 million contract. This was the biggest buyers market in years and no other big market teams were in the mix for a closer, and yet they still gave him premium money. Frankie finishes 55 games in 2010, 100 games between 2010 and 2011, and is deemed healthy after the 2011 season, his fourth year option vests for $17.5 million. The bad news is, Frankie has been declining the past four seasons and the decline has continued this season.
Then the injuries.
The first set of injuries came within a few days of each other in May. Carlos Delgado got injured in a game against the Pirates on May 10th, yet doesn’t go on the disabled list until May 16th, despite requiring hip surgery. Jose Reyes injures his calf in a game against the Braves on May 13th but was placed on the disabled list on the 26th, almost two weeks after the initial injury. Reyes has not been seen since, and apparently everybody thinks he’s a wuss for making sure he is completely healthy before returning to the field.
The Mets lost their last remaining star when…
Betting on the 2009 MLB All-Star Game
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
The Midsummer Classic is here.
That’s right, the 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set this Tuesday as the players fans voted in to play will hope they can make an even bigger name for themselves and increase their dollars.
So who made the cut? Let’s start with the 2009 MLB National League All-Star starters. The NL team consists of catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, and top vote-getter Albert Pujols at first base.
And since Pujols was the leading vote-getter in balloting for the Midsummer Classic, he became the very first Cardinal to start an All-Star game in his home ballpark. ‘’It feels great to be there and represent the organization and the city you play in,’’ Albert Pujols said.
Albert Pujols is well on his way to another amazing year, leading the majors with 31 homers and 82 RBIs. He collected 5,397,374 votes to finish with the second-highest total in Major League history, trailing only Ken Griffey Jr.’s six million votes in 1994. Pujols has made the NL team eight times in nine seasons and will be making his sixth start.
The rest of the National League all star infield consists of Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, and Mets third baseman David Wright. Manning the outfield would be Brewers Ryan Braun, Mets Carlos Beltran, and Phillie’s Raul Ibanez.
The injury-riddled Mets lead the NL with…
How good will the National League be in the 2008 MLB Season?
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
The National League has always played second fiddle to the stronger American League.
That’s the way things have been the last couple of years, and in this 2008 MLB baseball season, nothing has changed. Why? Probably has something to do with the way this team from the AL East defeated the National League’s representative during last season’s World Series.
In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies lead the East, the Chicago Cubs lead the Central and the Arizona Diamondbacks lead the West. And although they may be regarded as the ‘’weaker conference’’ in baseball, don’t expect that to stop them from proving why people should start thinking otherwise.
The Philadelphia Phillies lead the Eastern division with a 41-29 record, also having the best road record in the National conference with 20-16. Against the St. Louis Cardinals, we all saw how impressive this Phillies team can be after the Phillies won with a whopping 20-2 blast. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and the Phillies added nine runs in the fourth to win the opener of a three-game series Friday at Busch Stadium.
In the Central, division leader Chicago Cubs got a slight bump to end their four game winning streak with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite that setback, the Cubs are still holding a record of 44-25 win-loss mark, still enough to hold the top spot of the group.
Lastly, the Arizona Diamondbacks won their third consecutive extra-inning game, earning a franchise record with a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals to further solidify their spot in the NL West. Chad Tracy hit his first career walk-of home run. His homer was his third of the season and made a winner of reliever…
MLB season early MVP performers
Friday, April 6th, 2007
The 2007 MLB season is less then a week old, but already there are a few players putting up some solid numbers. Here are three pitchers and three hitters that have started off the year in midseason form.
Ben Sheets – The Brewers’ ace showed what’s ahead for Milwaukee baseball fans as long as he [...]
Asian fever hits 2007 MLB season opener
Monday, April 2nd, 2007
The Asian armada has arrived in MLB.Â
As the 2007 MLB baseball season begins, no change in the game is so stark, no trend so significant than the Asian invasion of the major leagues. Almost every team has at least one Asian player, and the most talented among them are no longer [...]
