SU tuned in to the Met game last night to see 3 homeruns in about 5 minutes from a team that just a few days ago could not hit. The fans were on their feet and Citifield was truly rocking. SU expects the gloom and doom fans who call in to WFAN to be few and far between now as ownership made the moves that needed to be made. The acquisition of Cespedes as a rental player is just the kind of move that the big boys do year-after-year. If he can get hot, that adds a lot to the line up. SU is on record that if the Mets get in the playoff hunt, they will steal the backpage of the tabloids from the Yankees. I maintain my position and let’s see now what happens. Of course, they need to play on the road like they play at home (check the splits – really different). But when you can throw out a stud pitcher every night, the fans get excited.
Meanwhile, the Yankees surprisingly keep chugging along and have no more games outside of the Eastern time zone for the rest of the season. The offense from the bottom of the order has come alive and even Stephen Drew is showing signs of having a pulse. SU is excited to see how Severino does this week in his Major League debut. Long-time subscriber A. Grossman, who seems shy about posting on the blog, sent these comments SU’s way this morning:
“The Yankees don’t get to high or too low in their mind set as they approach each game. No egos…. just business at hand. With our underachieving 2nd baseman batting a crisp 370 BA in the month of July might be the last piece in our lineup which we can almost say is not formidable from top to bottom… almost. We are not a flashy team and does not rely on one or two players anymore. These past 2 weeks the bottom 3 in our lineup has definitely participated in our wins. To keep this steady karma going should help us not getting into a slump… I hope. I don’t think we are going to run away with the division. As long as we win more series than losses we may be able to climb to about 17- 19 over 500… which would put us at a surprising 90-72…. 7 games ahead of Las Vegas prediction. PS We can’t trade Nova as he is fresh and just getting back in the swing of things. Who else will step up now from our Starters?”
SU is cautiously optimistic now (a big change for me from earlier in the year) but 12 games left with Toronto will likely tell the story.
Met fans: are you legitimately excited? Or have your hearts been broken one too many times? Time to stop the moaning and groaning?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Great series for the Mets. The 3 home runs last night all happened within 3 minutes and 28 seconds. The fans were still cheering for the previous home run when the next one was hit which upped the bar on the pandemonium at Citi Field. Exciting baseball! People don’t like Sandy Alderson because is appears aloof. Dartmouth, Harvard, US Marines… he is the smartest guy in the room and has produced a highly competitive team with a below average team salary (less than half the salary as the Yankees). He’s made great trades in the past few years to build the team with great young talent; and recently made shrewd trades before the deadline to get more run support for their rotation with 3 aces.
The biggest challenge will be how to manage Harvey’s and Syndergaard’s innings limits if they make it to the playoffs.
Clearly Sandy Alderson is now posting on SU under the name “Evan.” Sandy: cut that out. Seriously, the callers on the FAN are not so complimentary to the job that Alderson has done as they are egged on by the Imperious One, Mike Francesa.
Good point about the innings limits which may come into play. Luckily, there apparently is not a hard and fast number being thrown out there to the public at least. They will need to go back to the 6-man rotation with Matz in there.
Yankee fans will smirk that one of those “shrewd trades” was to acquire Kelly Johnson.
That being said, let’s go Mets!
Kelly Johnson has been productive in the National League so I am willing to give him a pass for his time with the Yankees. Clearly he must have had the same locker that Stephen Drew now has which saps all offensive talent from the body. Uribe is a gamer and provides some spark and life. I think that was the bigger pick up of those two.
Take your pick, both were huge upgrades. Amazing that these guys will have a bigger impact that Tulowitzki in Toronto. It’s all about addressing weaknesses. The Mets had many big weaknesses which made improvement that much easier but still credit to Alderson.
Like the Jets those Met’s can grab the back page… or most of it. Class organizations like the Giants (4 Super Bowls) and Yankees (27 Rings) would prefer to stay under the radar and continue the less glamorous steady pace toward reaching the top of Mt. Everest.
Let’s hope these Met’s are not like a thunderstorm which maycome on quite strong and look all ye powerful…. but can not sustain its power for a long period of time. Lets hope this is not the case with “The Amazins.”
It is nice to see the energy at the “new” Shea. Corporate “Pinstripe” Stadium I wish was not so dam vast and did not cater so much toward seats with that Hob Snob appeal right behind home plate…. which appear half empty every time a pitch is thrown while those seats which are filled seem to have fans half the time interested and half the time on Face Book,Twitter or whatever…. George would not be happy at the lack of passion shown from the view of the camera behind the pitcher.
Yes, there is always the danger of peaking too early as in early August. But apparently the Mets have a very favorable schedule coming up with lots of dates with the Phillies and Marlins. I agree that the new Yankee Stadium is dead and that it no longer sparks fear in the opposition as the stands do not hang over the field. But…. I do like the extra legroom and the ability to eat a pre-game hot dog on the concourse without having to put it on the ground. It’s the little things…
It is going to take me until the postseason to figure out how the clause in Cespedes’ contract works that prevents him from resigning with his current team until May 15th save for the 5 days after the conclusion of the World Series. Now that I know such a clause exists, I’m praying that Melo also has a release me clause in his contract 😉
Back on the Mets though – I like their chances. They had been hanging around due to their pitching. Now that they have upgraded their hitting, they should have a lot more staying power. Their record in games where they score 4 runs or more is 38-6 or so. They should be hitting that magic 4 run threshold a little easier these days.
I think the Knicks and Melo would both be happy with that “release me” clause today. He wants no part of rebuilding (which I do not blame him for) and the Knicks could use his salary to sign about 17 other players.
The Melky Man… a scrawny slap hitter while with the Yanks moved on to greener pastures these years with a much thicker body…. and a stronger hitter… one might suggest Steroids Strong. Hmmm.
The Melk Man is a long-time SU fave. He was busted with the SF Giants and took his suspension. Supposedly clean since then. He started very slowly with the White Sox this year but has been coming on as of late. I will always root for Melky. And I hope he’s clean.
Not relevant but have to comment about Sheldon Richardson who checked just about every box on the list of things not to have in your car when speeding along at 143 mph.
Yes, I don’t think the NFL will even need to rule on his case until well into the season as he will have his hands full with the law up until then.
KARMA… with a capital K
After watching a Met’s regularly scheduled game for the first time since Jerry Grote was behind the plate I was curious what Cespedes would offer this club in terms of his own offensive skills and possibly rubbing off on others. Watching this “weak” hitting team explode for 15 hits, including 3 doubles by the new center-fielder… after a 3 game sweep of Washington I wondered if that Karma “thing” would have its effect on these new Sultan of Swats in blue and orange. The short term answer appears to be YES. The key now will be if Terry Collins can control this new energy and stretch it out as long as possible…. steady as she goes. He will have a tougher time maintaining this new felling in the clubhouse than their pinstripe neighbors since all of them haven’t experienced this first place thing in a looong time. Management too will need to stay focused and controlled.
Karma will not show up in the stats, however it is as important as anything for any team in any sport to have working for them. Have you noticed the decibal level at the Stadiumj? Wow… Let’s see if they can maintain this over the next 2 months as i’d like to dust off my Subway Series cap from the last year of the 20th century….
I think it comes down to how they play on the road the rest of the way. As of today, they are 18-32 for the season. That ain’t going to cut it. 38-18 at home. I know you are a big karma guy. I think they have enough veterans now that they should be able to ride out any dips that may be out there down the stretch. I also think the National are over-rated and that is a team that may go into panic mode as they have fallen short the last few years come October. The Mets need to focus on the division as the Wild Card is a much more crowded field with better teams in the mix. If nothing else, it will be nice to have meaningful games in NY in August and September for a change.