What the Hell world is this? Number 19?
They say time heals all wounds, but no amount will ever heal this one.
Category Archives: New York Mets
30 for 30: Darryl & Doc
Well, that was awesome.
I already knew a lot of the stories because I read The Bad Guys Won and Straw: Finding my Way, but it was still a good film by Jud Apatow.
Obviously, I remain awestruck by these guys talents. The best of them both was gone by the time I was old enough to realize they were stars. I wish I could have been of age in the early 80’s to watch them, because without a doubt I would be recapping what they did on a nightly basis like I do the young stars of current.
It was just a much different time and place back then; the world and the game of baseball. Social media didn’t announce every moment and every presence.
It’s been said many times before that Strawberry and Gooden flamed out well before their times and well short of what they should have been. But what it must have been like to watch them when they were within their greatness and at their height.
The game will never see another like these two as long as it goes on.
Here’s Bryce Harper’s first ever home run in which we owned him nowhere in Fantasy Baseball
Bryce Harper got former teammate, lefty, and Ohioan Jerry Blevins pretty good the other night in a 5-0 Nationals win in Washington. It was Harper’s 16th home run of the season.
And since we dealt Bryce Harper in a deal for Clayton Kershaw, this is the first time in his young career that we have never owned at least a share of Harper somewhere. Making this one the first in his 113 career home runs that it didn’t just help a little. We’ll probably never own him again either. So yeah, this one smarts a little to type up.
Bryce Harper kills the Mets, too.
Is Noah Syndergaard headed for Tommy John Surgery?
It was weird, today at work I had this premonition that I needed to go watch Noah Syndergaard’s start. I began my day pretty early today so I gave myself a free pass and knocked off at about 2:00 so I could come home and see a bit of this flamethrower.
I don’t really like pitchers. I can count on two hands over the last 15 years the guys who I liked enough to actually make sure I’m around a television to see them pitch. Hitters, sure. But a pitcher has to bring something special.
Thor was beginning to give me that feeling of Pedro in 1999 or 2000 almost. I liked him that much. But it was weird that I was sitting at my desk when I had this urge to go see him throw.
So I did it. And sure enough, Syndergaard had the elbow issue today during his start and he’s not going to see a doctor. With the way things go with pitchers; and moreover, pitchers that I like, Syndergaard is going to follow this up with a visit to Dr. James Andrews and he’ll have Tommy John Surgery. We won’t see him for like 18 months.
This absolutely sucks. I think I’m going to be sick. I am sick. I can’t move.
ESPN will do a 30 for 30 on Darryl Strawberry & Doc Gooden
Everyone is talking about 30 for 30: O.J. Simpson, Made in America. The one I can’t wait for is Darryl & Doc, premiering July 14th at 9:00 PM.
I’ve long been a sucker for anything about the 80’s New York Mets, especially Darryl Strawberry stuff since he was my first favorite player. As they always do, I expect ESPN to knock this out of the park. It’s the only item that makes turning on the Worldwide Leader worthwhile anymore.
Then there’s this, which just wreaks of classic:
That was following this game, where Doc Gooden won his 20th game for the first time at Shea Stadium against Steve Garvey, Kevin McReynolds and the Padres.
The Best Moments of Darryl Strawberry’s Career
While watching the Mets on Friday night, I noticed they were wearing their 1986 World Championship uniforms. And any time I think of those 1986 Mets, I think of Darryl Strawberry.
Man, this guy was fun to watch. Look at those home runs that just look like loopy fly balls. Loopy fly balls that traveled 430 feet.
I just felt like this had to go on the blog.
Dusty Baker puts what Matt Harvey is going through pretty well
Matt Harvey was really bad again tonight and the Mets lost in Washington. This probably isn’t a 2016 fix at this point. But it doesn’t mean we can’t sit back and enjoy the New York media pressure cooker that ensues after it. It might not reach a higher point.
In part of this good old-fashioned New York evisceration, Dusty Baker gets asked about Harvey’s struggles. Baker has been around the game as long as anyone, so like the writer states; he just knows.
“It’s not my job to straighten Harvey out,” Nats manager Dusty Baker quipped before the game. But he’s also a guy who has been around the sport forever, who has seen and experienced everything. He knows. More than anybody possibly can, he knows how things work.
“But from a player’s perspective, you don’t feel loved. You don’t think you have any friends. It’s a lonely place to be. People walk by you, they hold their head down. They don’t know what to say to you. You don’t look at the newspaper, you don’t look at TV. It’s a very lonely place to be.”
You look at the pitcher who opposed Harvey tonight in DC and struck out 11 hitters – Stephen Strasburg is the name – and you realize there’s still some hope. But again, there’s too much toothpaste out of the tube at this point to be able to keep it in the bathroom.
Thor is finally mine; come to Papa, Thor.
In my favorite league – the keeper league that I run – I entered the year needing to rebuild. It was time for me to finally pay the piper for so many draft pick trades, too many overpays, too many bad decisions to hold a veteran over adding a youngster off the wire, and too many floundered ideas gone bad.
The first mistake I made was trying to invest in pitching at all. My failed experiments in that league over the past three years just off the top of my head: 2014 Justin Verlander, 2015 Stephen Strasburg (I waited two years on him), and then keeping Michael Pineda, drafting Zach Greinke early, keeping Marcus Stroman, drafting Jake Odorizzi, and trading for Yordano Ventura (who had failed me the previous two seasons after trading to get him).
I can count on one hand the pitchers in the big leagues I like and trust. There are ones you can trust who I don’t even like; but Noah Syndergaard is one of those guys. Since I’m having a bust of a season, I went all in to finally get him in a league:
I’m likely to regret this on the Urias and Mazara front, but it was worth it to me to get some stock in Syndergaard somewhere. I’ve always felt that his ceiling was the highest of any of the four Mets pitchers, and then it came to fruition this season.
Moving forward, I’ve got broken Matt Harvey, somewhat broken Justin Verlander, lotto chip Rubby De La Rosa, cinderella Rich Hill, and Syndergaard to go along with one of the few others I like and trust in Lance McCullers. That’s about as good as a pitching staff will ever be when I’m in control.
As Fangraphs said, what’s more compelling than watching Syndergaard pitch? Not much. And I wasn’t fully able to enjoy it until now because I didn’t own him anywhere. There’s talk about him being the best pitcher in baseball. I know Kershaw is not human right now, but I don’t know if I take him over Thor if given the choice.
And this is how even in a losing fantasy season you can give yourself a little fun. Just go acquire the guys you like to watch and start from scratch next season with a few of those guys. That’s probably the only New Years resolution I’m still following at the moment, to make more trades this season.
Doc Gooden: I never thought I would live this long
Any time there’s Dwight Gooden run in a major news outlet, it’s worth a read. Gooden has been sober for five years now (good on him!) and his doctor says he has the liver of a late twenty-something! Man, I just wish I had been a little older when Gooden was cutting through the mid-80’s hitters like a hot knife through butter. [NY Daily News]
Thor & Cespedes’ Strange High-Five
This followed up Noah Syndergaard’s home run deep into the right center stands off Kenta Maeda at Dodger Stadium tonight, Thor’s second home run of his career. Even Vin Scully gave this a little chuckle. Vin knows about left handed cigarettes.
And I was just thinking tonight about how Syndergaard looks like Mitch from Dazed and Confused with that hair. The shoe fits.
The season has ended, before it did Bryce Harper dealt one more fatal blow to the Mets
Saturday was a special day for the Nationals, even if it were in futility. Bryce Harper connected with his 42nd and final home run of 2015, a game winning titanic blast to right field that won the Nationals the game 3-1. He ended the season on 99 RBI, 42 home runs, and a .330 batting average.
Of course, in the nightcap Max Scherzer had one of the most dominating pitching performances ever in getting his second no-hitter of the year.
But for me, the moment of the day was a limping Bryce Harper (he took a Noah Syndergaard 96 mph fastball off the shin earlier in this game) getting off the mat to take an MVP hack and win his team one more ballgame.
Bryce Harper hits homers 35 and 36 on Washington’s Rest in Paradise night
Alright, so we’re a little late on this one. The Nationals ironically received huge performances from both Stephen Strasburg, and got a Bryce Harper home run to kick off scoring, and to close their scoring; and they were still swept by the team from Queens.
Home Run #35
Home Run #36
So, first time we’ve had a delay in getting one of these Harper home run posts up. Pardon us, it was a busy several days and the Nats basically being unofficially eliminated from the playoffs was depressing.
Bryce Harper homered all weekend long
The Nationals didn’t need this home run to win yesterday or anything, but number 34 for Bryce Harper came off Manny Banuelos, and it was impressive because it was a finesse swing off a slider. The Nationals swept the Braves out of town with an 8-4 win, and moved within four games of the Mets in the NL East.
As we were saying, he homered all weekend.
As for the home runs, Harper has three in his past three games, with each one seemingly more impressive than the one before. On Friday, he clubbed a 453-foot shot to dead center off Julio Teheran that was the longest of his career. On Saturday, he got behind 0-2 on righty Shelby Miller, then proceeded to foul off four pitches before going deep to left-center. The at-bat lasted 10 pitches and resulted in Harper’s 500th career hit. Then on Sunday, leading off the third inning, he hit another opposite-field shot, this one coming on an 0-2 slider from southpaw Manny Banuelos. Said Washington manager Matt Williams: “His stroke is under control.”
Bryce Harper is heating up at the right time, and he’s got an outside shot at 40 home runs if he stays this hot. It’s going to be more fun to watch the pennant race in this division though starting with today’s game.
Good Sunday Night Baseball Game this week
Real good ballgame going on tonight on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.
Noah Syndergaard opposes Jordan Zimmerman down at animalistic Citi Field that is sounding and feeling more like old Shea Stadium by the night this summer. The Mets are going for the sweep, and are just a game back of the Nationals. The first two games have been nail-biters. This should be a great one. Or it could be 7-2. Gut feeling, Bryce Harper hits home run number 30 before leaving the big apple. He likes hitting there.