OK, it's the dead of January and most of the big trades and/or free agent signings have already happened, so there's not much baseball to talk about for at least another month.  So what is everyone's favorite baseball flicks of all time?  I'll list my top 3 after the jump

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It sure looks like it.

What does everyone think about this?  There's a part of me that thinks its cosmic justice for the Toronto Blue Jays, who may finally make the playoffs like so many of their good teams over the last decade didn't.  As long as the 2nd wild card can come from the same division as the first, we won't have the embarrassing spectacle of an 84-win division winner making the playoffs while a 90-win 3rd place team goes home.

On the flip side, the baseball season is already stretched to its limit, weather-wise.  We had all that snow at the beginning of the season in Cleveland a few years ago.  I doubt the season can really start much earlier than it does.  Also, last year saw a playoff game in Denver snowed out.  We can't really stretch it much later.  This isn't football where bad weather in northern cities is just part of the game.  Players can get seriously hurt in the kind of weather November and March brings to Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and hell, even New York sometimes.

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/

Well, it isn't exactly surprising, but (with apologies to Eric, who runs a great blog) this was my favorite baseball site ever.  I'm sure it got way bigger than they guys who ran it could've possibly dreamed of. 

What was great about it was that those of us who think intelligently about baseball (and get shit for it from dumbass sports journalists) finally had a way to strike back and strike back with vicious humor.  Some journalists reacted by cleaning their acts up (remember HatGuy?), and some reacted with hostility (that prick Jon Heyman).  A few of the better journalists (Jeff Passan) mentioned the site with approval.  I'm sure the more prominent sabermetricians just sat back and smiled.

It got to the point where (I swear) Joe Morgan actually cleaned his act up a bit this year.  Someone must've told him that he was becoming a huge joke among younger baseball fans, or something.  You could see it in the JoeChats which were nothing but FJM fans baiting Joe.

So three cheers for what these guys accomplished.  They will be missed.

Last Friday's 3-0 loss to the Phillies was, barring the unlikely event that I, living on student loans, pay the going rate on Stubhub for Mets playoff tickets (if the Mets make it), my final game at Shea Stadium.  After the game, I started thinking about my favorite memories of Shea.  My top 5:

5. August 25, 1985: Mets 9, Padres 3 http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198508250.shtml

I remember next to nothing about this game, other than that Dwight Gooden pitched and that the Mets beat the Padres, that the crowd was energetic as could be, and that the jet airliners of yore were a lot louder than they are these days.  I was 5 years old, and it was the first game I ever attended.

4. July 2, 2004: Mets 11, Yankees 2 http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200407020.shtml

Kaz Matsui hit 2 HRs, and the Mets absolutely clobbered Mussina and the Yankees.  Back in the dark days of 2002-2004, humiliating the Yankees was all I really lived for as a Mets fan, so it was great to see it in my first trip to a Mets-Yankees game.  I got loaded on expensive Buds and heckled a lot of Yankees fans.

3. May 14, 1994: Mets 11, Braves 4 http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199405140.shtml

To me, this was the birth of the Mets-Braves rivalry.  With the new divisional alignments, they were now in the same division.  John Smoltz gave up a grand slam to Ryan Thompson and proceeded to bean John Cangelosi, who charged the mound, sparking a huge brawl that later made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

2. May 5, 2006: Mets 8, Braves 7 (14 innings) http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200605050.shtml

This was the game in which I knew that 2006 would be a special year, and that the Mets would finally defeat their arch-nemesis, Atlanta.  The Mets of past years would not have come back from being down 1-0, 2-1, 6-2, 7-6 (in the 11th) and finally win at the stroke of midnight on a 2-out double over Andruw Jones' head by David Wright, scoring Beltran.  I was there for all 14 innings, and never actually saw Beltran score the winning run, as I was jumping around once Wright's shot hit the warning track.

1. August 22, 2006: Mets 8, Cardinals 7 http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200608220.shtml

Before the game, I told the friend I went with that I had never seen a walk-off HR in person.  It seemed unlikely that such a thing would happen, as Albert Pujols crushed a 3-run shot and a grand slam to give St. Louis a 7-1 led in the 5th.  I was almost ready to leave, but decided to see what the Mets could do in the bottom of the 5th.  Carlos Delgado crushed his own grand slam, and we had a game again.  In the bottom of the 9th, with the score 7-6, Paul LoDuca hit a one-out single, and Carlos Beltran followed with a laser shot into the Mets bullpen for the stunning come-from-behind win.  I finally saw my walk-off HR

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/mets/Klapisch_.html

This is one of the few articles on the Randolph firing that isn't nonsense, and that anecdote at the beginning is telling.  I first thought it might be Wagner, since he's obviously the most mercurial personality on the team, and is a "veteran", but Wagner has been great this year (the last few appearances notwithstanding).  It was probably Delgado.

Now Carlos obviously isn't the most outgoing, fun guy in the world, but he's never been known as a notorious asshole in the Sheffield or Kent mold, so it got me wondering who the hell ever thought Randolph was capable of managing a MLB frachise.  He lost everyone on the team save David Wright (who would probably be happy to play for Kim Jong-Il) and never showed an ounce of sense as a tactician.  My best guess is that the Mets hired him for his "winning intangibles" and his "New York" personality or some shit like that without once considering if he had the personality to handle the egos of major league players.

Look, the way the Randolph situation was handled was piss-poor, but the guy should never have been managing in the first place.  It all comes back to a front office that has no idea what it's doing.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/02/25/monday.scoop/index.html

If you want a healthy debate on whether Rollins or Wright deserved the MVP, that's fine.  I personally didn't think Rollins was the MVP of his own team, but whatever.

But of course, Heyman needs to continue battling his bete noire, VORP, so he does do again in his usual moronic way.  My favorite part was this at the end:

"To the stat guys, walking is more thrilling and much more valuable than actually winning the pennant."

Um, gee, didn't Jimmy Rollins' team get swept out of the division series and not win the pennant?  Also, Ryan Howard walked 107 times.  Pat Burrell walked 114 times.  I think they might have had something to do with Philadelphia's best-in-NL offense last year.

(promoted from diaries --eric)

Baseball Prospectus' projected standings for 2008 are out (based on PECOTA).  The NL East looks like this:

New York 96-66
Atlanta 86-76
Philadelphia 84-78
Florida 76-86
Washington 72-90

So BP expects the Mets to have the best record in the NL and the biggest margin of victory in the NL.  For those of you that care, Atlanta wouldn't even win the wild card under the BP standings scenario, as the Cubs are expected to win 89 games, and the Brewers 87.

This just makes me more excited for the season to begin.

Since this is the dead of January, and there's not much baseball to talk about, let's talk about where you've seen games.

Me:

Shea Stadium, more times than I can count
Yankee Stadium, 6 times
Camden Yards, 4 times (first ballgame I had a beer after turning 21 was here)
Fenway Park, 3 times
Veterans Stadium, 3 times (haven't been to CBP yet)
Olympic Stadium, 2 times (RIP, Montreal Expos)
Skydome, 1 time
Turner Field, 1 time
Wrigley Field, 1 time
Candlestick Park, 1 time
Oakland Coliseum, 1 time
Dodger Stadium, 1 time

As for the minor leagues, I've seen the Norfolk Tides, Binghamton Mets, Hudson Valley Renegades, New Jersey Cardinals, and Brooklyn Cyclones all play at their home ballparks.

My favorite ballpark is Wrigley, and my least favorite is the Vet (good riddance).  Most overrated is Fenway (tiny cramped seats and drunken Massholes all around you), and most underrated is Dodger Stadium (perfect weather, and instead of the Van Wyck and the auto salvage yards in the background, you get a view of the hills of Elysian Park and the San Gabriel Mountains).

(moved from diaries. --eric)

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/11/17/2007-11-17_mets_eye_david_eckstein-2.html

I know the Mets are just talking now, but after the Torrealba signing, shit like this terrifies me.  If Minaya lets Castillo go in order to spend 36 MILLION FUCKING DOLLARS on David Eckstein, I may disown the Mets.

And not Victor, mind you.

My first reaction to the 5-year, $91 million deal is that Carlos is a lot more likely to earn that deal than Barry Zito is likely to earn his.

My second reaction is that there's going to be a race for Johan Santana like we've never seen before.  I obviously want the Mets to be in the race, and I hope that the appeal of pitching in the NL and the Latino makeup of the Mets will give them an edge over you-know-who on the other side of the Triboro Bridge.

The Yankees could help the Mets out if they sign A-Rod to a $30 million extension and then do something stupid like overspend for Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada because of their True Yankee status.  Even the Yankees have spending constraints, and that could be enough to keep them out of the Santana race.

So while nothing would please me more than seeing A-Rod playing in SoCal (or Boston, or....Shea) next season, if his re-signing gives the Mets the inside track on Santana, I wouldn't be too upset.

Last night was the last straw with LoDuca for me.  I haven't been too pleased with him since his childish tantrum in that game against Oakland, and last night, he just killed them with the bat in key situations.

I started yelling "play Castro" when LoDuca came to bat, and the people around me in the upper deck were mostly chuckling.  Nobody gave me any shit for it, so I suspect that many other Mets fans are tired of him playing 6 nights a week.

Meanwhile, Castro and his .538 SLG sits on the bench (A Small Sample Size Alert does come into play there, but Ramon has hit 17 HRs in a bit over 400 ABs in a Mets uniform.  Not bad at all.)  You know how many Mets have better than a .538 SLG this season?  One: Ruben Gotay (in another small sample size).

Gotay is playing and Milledge is playing and I'm very happy about that, but enough is enough with HeartandsouloftheteamPaulLoDuca.  Get Castro in there at least 3 games a week. Now!

/end rant

I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose jaw dropped when he first looked at the Mets schedule back in the winter and saw that the Mets had 5 interleague series scheduled with the 4 AL playoff participants last season, but they came out of that wringer in decent shape (and yes, the Yankees, Twins, and A's aren't playing at the same level they were last season, but still).  With the sweep of Oakland, the Mets ended up 8-7 in interleague play, which isn't too shabby.

What HAS been shabby is the play against NL teams this month: 1-8 against Arizona, Philadelphia, and LA.  I hope the Mets take out their frustrations on the Fightin' Ecksteins this week.  I'd love nothing more than to sweep the season from that wretched bunch.

(moved from diaries. we all need to vent some. --eric)

Ok, let me start by saying that by no means am I giving up on this season.

That being said, I've had it with the way this team is playing, because for the 7th time this season (including Saturday at Yankee Stadium) I went out to the ballpark to see the Mets.  And for the 5th time, they've lost, and for the 4th time, they've lost a game in which they had the lead, and I'm tired of it.

I'm tired of losing games started by scrubs like Adam Eaton, Tyler Clippard, and Scott Baker.  I'm tired of watching big clutch hits by Jimmy Rollins, Derek Jeter, and (now) Torii Hunter.  I'm tired of a bullpen that lets the lead get bigger and bigger.  I'm tired of looking for positives in an otherwise ugly loss (hey, at least Beltran had 3 hits).

It just isn't fun to watch this team right now.  It isn't fun knowing that they're just going to roll over and die after Hunter hits a 2-out, 2-strike HR to give Minnesota the lead.

I watched last year's team come from behind 4 times in one game against the Braves and win in 14 innings (and I was there for all 14).  I watched last year's team come back from a 7-1 deficit to St. Louis.  It was fun and exciting to go to Shea last year, and it just hasn't been that way of late.

I just needed to blow off some steam that's been building all month.  Anyone else who needs to blow off steam can do it right here.