CTRefJay snapped this photo from Section 330, Row 8, Seat 5 during Tuesday night's game between the Mets and the Phillies at Citi Field:

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BobbyV_Incognito took this one from Section 333, Row 10, a nearly identical spot to CTRefJay's:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

This Saturday, the fine folks at Baseball Prospectus are hosting an exclusive event at Citi Field which includes a lot of sweet stuff for a very reasonable price:

• A question and answer session with Mets GM Sandy Alderson
• A seat in the Big Apple section to watch the Mets take on the Cardinals. R.A. Dickey is scheduled to oppose Adam Wainwright. Carlos Beltran will be there, too.
• Admittance to a private "meet and greet" with special guests and Baseball Prospectus personalities 2 hours prior to game time (including Jason Parks, Jay Jaffe, Ben Lindbergh, Derek Carty, Dan Turkenkopf, John Perrotto, Steven Goldman, Joe Hamrahi, Jonathan Bernhardt, John Viola, Bill Skelton, and MLB.com's Cory Schwartz).
• A $15 coupon to be used toward a new Baseball Prospectus Premium subscription or your next Premium renewal.

Tickets cost $45, which is a great deal any way you slice it. I'm told there's a very small number of tickets remaining, so head over and buy yours now. This may be your only chance to ask Sandy Alderson about vampires or something, who he's going to traid (or traid for) in July, or how many World Series titles his spreadsheets have won.

What's more, we've hooked up with Baseball Prospectus to offer two lucky winners a ticket to Saturday's event. It's pretty simple:

1. Play Pick 6 today with Amazin' Avenue as your website.
2. Get your entry in by 12:05pm today, the time of the first game (Royals vs. Indians).
3. Have one of the top two single-day scores today after all MLB games have completed and Pick 6 points have been tallied.

That's it! Again, the first game of the day is at 12:05pm EDT, so go make your picks now before you miss the cutoff. If you miss the cutoff or don't finish in one of the top two spots, you can still buy a ticket anyway.

All entries are subject to the official rules, found here.

GiantsFaninPA snapped this photo from Section 125, Row 11, Seat 8 during Monday afternoon's game between the Mets and the Phillies at Citi Field:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

Dan Hahn snapped this sweet panoramic photo from Section 326, Row 5, Seat 11 during this afternoon's game between the Mets and the Padres at Citi Field:

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Crazy Nyce Dave took this one from Section 18, Row 19, Seat 4:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

R.A. Dickey allowed just three hits and one walk over 7.1 innings, striking out ten Padres and keeping San Diego off the scoreboard altogether. His only bit of trouble came in the eighth, when he hit Nick Hundley and walked Chris Denorfia to put the tying runs on base with just one out. Terry Collins relieved Dickey with everyday Tim Byrdak, who got pinch-hitter Alexi Amarista to line out to center and then struck out Will Venable to end the inning. Frank Francisco set the Padres down in order to lock up the victory, throwing nary a chair in the process.

The Mets scored their first run in the first frame on an RBI single by Daniel Murphy which plated David Wright; their second run came in the fifth when Mike Baxter, who had doubled and advanced to third on an Edinson Volequez wild pitch, scored on a passed ball by Hundley. They didn't get much more offense to speak of, but those runs coupled with a fine pitching performance and a lousy Padres lineup were enough to give the Mets their second straight shutout.

We knew it was over when...

Dickey arrived at the ballpark. He had no-hit stuff today.

What else?

• Wright went 0-for-3 with a walk and his average plummeted to .382. Embarrassing.
• Justin Turner went 2-for-3, raising his on-base percentage to .310. Uh huh.
• Francisco is now tied for second in the NL with thirteen saves. Saves are meaningless piffle, of course, but if the Mets fall out of the race there are surely some credulous general managers out there who'd love to have a Proven Closer™ for the playoff push.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by CTRefJay; that effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

BlueChill snapped this photo from Section 123, Row 8, Seat 7 during this afternoon's game between the Mets and the Padres at Citi Field:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

Donovan Rice snapped this photo from Section 124, Row 3, Seat 6 during last night's game between the Mets and the Padres at Citi Field:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

As the tarp was unfurled following the second inning of last night's game between the Mets and the Padres at Citi Field, Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson (SA) made his way to the SNY booth for a 15+ minute interview with Gary Cohen (GC) and Ron Darling (RD). What follows is the full transcript of that interview, during which Alderson touches on:

• The decision to keep Ike Davis with the big league team instead of demoting him to Triple-A.
• The performance of Kirk Nieuwenhuis.
• The outfield and first base picture once Jason Bay returns.
• Of course, my friend Mike Baxter here.
• Jon Niese's contract extension.
• The Mets' pitching prospects: Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jeurys Familia, and Jenrry Mejia.
• The team's surprisingly cromulent first quarter of the season.

GC: The number one topic of conversation this last week has been about Ike Davis and the decision made today not to send him down. Take us through what the factors were, both for and against sending him down.

SA: This has been an ongoing issue for probably a couple of weeks, heightened by the fact that some other clubs had sent prominent players down. Lind with Toronto, Gaby Sanchez with Miami, so it was coming to a head. Ike was being asked about it on a daily basis, Terry was being asked about it, there was speculation in the media, so we felt coming off the road trip, and to some extent we created this ourselves because we had talked about giving him some more time, let's see what happens on the road trip with some of the pitching that we were going to see, a lot of right-handed starting pitching. So in some sense this situation had been created by ourselves, but we felt it was necessary to resolve it one way or the other, and of course we had two choices: send him down or keep him here.

Continue reading this post »

Stephen Shepard snapped this photo from Section 115, Row L, Seat 19 during last night's game between the Mets and the Pirates at PNC Park:

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Rob Lally took this one from Section 205, Row B, Seat 4:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

Following up on his embarrassingly bad outing against the Blue Jays over the weekend, Jon Niese settled in today and held a terrible Pirates offense — owners of a .218 team batting average and a .268 team on-base percentage — in check. Neise struck out five and walked two, but he left the tying runs on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, turning the ball over to Bobby Parnell. An Ike Davis error on a pick-off throw from catcher Rob Johnson moved the runners to second and third, but Parnell whiffed Andrew McCutchen on a perfectly placed pitch, low and on the outside corner of the plate, to end the threat. Frank Francisco tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap up the game and the series for the Mets.

The Mets got at least one hit from seven of their eight starting position players — Daniel Murphy went 0-for-4 — and got RBIs from Kirk Nieuwenhuis, David Wright, and Lucas Duda. Wright went 1-for-4 and saw his average drop to a traid-able .397. Davis went 1-for-4, raising his on-base percentage to .213, which is still a tick below Niese's .214.

We knew it was over when...

Parnell whiffed McCutchen, the Pirates' only good hitter, to retire the side in the eighth.

What else?

Mike Baxter hit leadoff for the second straight game and was in the starting lineup for the fourth time in five games.

Francisco hasn't allowed a run in four straight appearances.

Wright's on-base percentage dropped below .500 again. What are we going to do with this guy?

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by TKFJ; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Stephen Shepard snapped this photo from Section 7, Row M, Seat 2 at my personal favorite ballpark, PNC Park, during last night's game between the Mets and the Pirates:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

On May 22, 1998, the Mets traded three minor leaguers — outfielder Preston Wilson, the 70th best prospect in baseball; pitcher Geoff Geotz, the 96th best prospect in baseball; and pitcher Ed Yarnall — to the Florida Marlins for 29-year-old journeyman catcher Mike Piazza. New York was Piazza's third stop in a two-week span, having arrived in Florida from Los Angeles just eight days earlier. While Piazza was a colossal disappointment with the Mets, I'll never forget his first game back in New York, playing for the Padres, when he hit two home runs at Shea Stadium.

Never forget.

On May 22, 1988, Dodgers third baseman Pedro Guerrero hurled his bat moundward after being hit by a David Cone offering. Guerrero began walking toward the mound but was stopped by Mets catcher Barry Lyons. The benches emptied and Guerrero was ejected, and was eventually handed a four-game suspension by NL President Bart Giamatti. The previous day, the teams exchanged bean balls as Dwight Gooden hit Alfredo Griffin in the right hand, fracturing it, and Dodgers pitcher Brian Holton hit Howard Johnson in the right leg.

Birthdays

No player born on May 22 has ever appeared in a game with the Mets. However, Tommy John was born on this day in 1943, and his surgical namesake has been performed on John Franco, Billy Wagner, Jason Isringhausen, Phil Humber, and many others.

Game Of Note

On May 22, 1962, Mets starter Jay Hook allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth and the Mets lost 3-2 to their fellow expansion Houston Colt .45's. It was their second loss in a row; they'd drop their next fifteen games, too, before finally picking up a victory.

MLB Network will air an exclusive interview with Mets third baseman David Wright on its "MLB Tonight" program at 6:00pm EDT this evening. Among the topics he discusses are his future with the Mets, the incredible 2006 team, playing in New York, and Gary Carter. Some excerpts:

Wright on if he will be with the Mets two years from now:

"That’s a great question. I hope…I’d love to get this thing turned around and headed in the right direction and I think we’ve done that, taking that first step. Hopefully, I’m a big part of that."

David Wright on being the longest-tenured Met:

"Well, it’s funny because we have team pictures in the clubhouse and you gotta go year from year and we were looking back on the 2006 team that won the NL East and we were searching, searching, searching and there was a lot of faces that aren’t here anymore."

Wright on if his Postseason experience from 2006 drives him to want to get back there:

"It’s addicting. The atmosphere here was incredible … Running out on the field for the first time, looking up in the upper deck at Shea and literally seeing it rock, I was like, ‘Man, this is [it], doesn’t get any better than this.’ I kind of took it for granted. But it continues to push you and motivate you and drive you."

Wright on playing in New York:

"New York wants winners. I see how these fans react to Gary Carter when he would come to Shea. That’s what I want my legacy to be is this guy was a winning player, he did everything he could to help his team win."

Wright on his relationship with Gary Carter:

"It’s incredible. From day one when I was drafted, I was an 18-year old high school kid coming into the Spring Training complex and before you know it, you’re shaking the hands of Gary Carter and you’re almost in awe, you’re star struck. You have a Hall of Famer and a World Series champion that’s helping an 18-year old, teach[ing] him out to be a leader."

"Up until he passed, he would call once-a-month, twice-a-month and just want to talk baseball. I’d ask him how he was feeling and he [would say], ‘Enough about me, how’s the team doing? What’s it like in the clubhouse? How these young guys doing?’ Just the energy in his voice, talking about the game will be my lasting memory."

Rob Castellano snapped this photo from the CN Tower, high above the Rogers Centre during Sunday afternoon's game between the Mets and the Blue Jays:

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He also snapped this comparatively banal one from Section 529, Row 9, Seat 1 of the actual ballpark:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THE PICK 6 T-SHIRT CONTEST!!

As I alluded to last week, Pick 6 is steadily growing in popularity, and I encouraged everyone to begin honing their skills in advance of a forthcoming Pick 6 contest (possible slogan: This Time It Counts™). Well, Your Season Has Come™, because this week we're giving away a couple of free Pick 6 shirts to two winners from Amazin' Avenue.

1. The person with the most cumulative points this week (Monday, May 14 through Sunday, May 20) will be Winner #1.

2. The person with the highest single-game score this week will be Winner #2.

For a shot at #1 you're probably going to want to get your picks in every day. However, if you miss a game or two you'll still be able to win #2 since you only need one entry to possibly get the highest score of the week (though picking your 6 every day will certainly increase your chances of winning).

Here is yesterday's leaderboard:

feslenraster eked out a victory last night, finishing just a couple points ahead of AA-er Matthew Artus. Here's the cumulative weekly leaderboard:

Matthew Artus takes over the weekly lead; you guys aren't going to let an admin beat you, right? Here are the top single-game scores of the week:

Entries for a given day are locked down as soon as the first game starts. The first game today is 1:05pm so go pick your 6 now or you'll miss out on today's scoring! Once you've done so, post your 6 in the comments.

All entries are subject to the official rules, found here.

As I alluded to last week, Pick 6 is steadily growing in popularity, and I encouraged everyone to begin honing their skills in advance of a forthcoming Pick 6 contest (possible slogan: This Time It Counts™). Well, Your Season Has Come™, because this week we're giving away a couple of free Pick 6 shirts to two winners from Amazin' Avenue.

1. The person with the most cumulative points this week (Monday, May 14 through Sunday, May 20) will be Winner #1.

2. The person with the highest single-game score this week will be Winner #2.

For a shot at #1 you're probably going to want to get your picks in every day. However, if you miss a game or two you'll still be able to win #2 since you only need one entry to possibly get the highest score of the week (though picking your 6 every day will certainly increase your chances of winning).

Here is yesterday's leaderboard:

Ndmets3 not only dominated last night's action but he also now owns the highest score of the week and the highest total score. Here's the cumulative weekly leaderboard:

Ndmets3 is cleaning up here. One day can make a huge difference, people! Here are the top single-game scores of the week:

Entries for a given day are locked down as soon as the first game starts. The first game today is 1:05pm so go pick your 6 now or you'll miss out on today's scoring! Once you've done so, post your 6 in the comments.

All entries are subject to the official rules, found here.

As I alluded to last week, Pick 6 is steadily growing in popularity, and I encouraged everyone to begin honing their skills in advance of a forthcoming Pick 6 contest (possible slogan: This Time It Counts™). Well, Your Season Has Come™, because this week we're giving away a couple of free Pick 6 shirts to two winners from Amazin' Avenue.

1. The person with the most cumulative points this week (Monday, May 14 through Sunday, May 20) will be Winner #1.

2. The person with the highest single-game score this week will be Winner #2.

For a shot at #1 you're probably going to want to get your picks in every day. However, if you miss a game or two you'll still be able to win #2 since you only need one entry to possibly get the highest score of the week (though picking your 6 every day will certainly increase your chances of winning).

Here is yesterday's leaderboard:

James Ubriaco ran away with the nightly crown. Here's the cumulative weekly leaderboard:

On the strength of his performance yesterday, James Ubriaco is now the overall weekly leader. Here are the top single-game scores of the week:

Entries for a given day are locked down as soon as the first game starts. The first game today is 2:20pm so go pick your 6 now or you'll miss out on today's scoring! Once you've done so, post your 6 in the comments.

All entries are subject to the official rules, found here.

We have 322 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports smart in no time fast!

Baseball

-- Baseball Nation checks in with our new bee overlords, now conquering Denver.

-- Bluebird Banter plays everyone's favorite follicle-based picture identification game: name that back-of-the-head player.

-- Camden Chat remembers the last good year the Orioles had. You know, before this year.

-- Royals Review has the latest Royals injury report.

Continue reading this post »

Joe Schaefer, to whom we gave two free field-level tickets for his David Wright surnacronym, took this one from Section 106, Row 19, Seat 10:

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sokojoe snapped this photo from his ivory tower Suite 234 during Thursday afternoon's game between the Mets and the Reds at Citi Field:

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Continue reading this post »

We have 322 fantastic sports blogs in SB Nation, so in case you didn't have a chance to read them all we've collected the best stuff right here. Get sports smart in no time fast!

Basketball

-- The questions facing the recently eliminated Memphis Grizzlies.

-- Illuminating words from published emails between the Maloofs and the NBA regarding the Sacramento arena deal.

-- A case for the Clippers' Neil Oshey for Executive of the Year.

Continue reading this post »

Albert Araneo snapped this photo from Section 410, Row 1, Seat 2 during Wednesday night's game between the Mets and the Reds at Citi Field:

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Send the view from your seat to amazinavenue@gmail.com and if it's good we'll post it on the site. Include date of game and your section/row/seat (or location) from when the photo was taken.