I really hope that if enough people complain about the bp policy, they will eventually change it. At least we still have Spring Training to get to see the players up close. We go down to Port St. Lucie every year for spring training, and I recommend it to everyone. My kids and I have such great memories from all of these trips, especially the time I planted myself in front of the golf cart that was taking Piazza back to the clubhouse after workouts b/c I had promised my son, then 5 and a die-hard Piazza fan, that I would somehow make sure he met Piazza and got his autograph (and he did!).

As for this team, I also keep wondering who cursed them. Yet I do find it so exciting when they do pull it together and manage to win. I love watching the kids (Evans, Murphy, FMart, etc) come up and play well. In a lot of ways, it’s almost as if they’re playing w/ house money. No one expects them to be able to hang on, so if they don’t, who could blame them under the circumstances, and if they do, it would just be incredible. As Tug would say, Ya Gotta Believe….

my general response when asked about Citi Field (if you can picture a TV camera interviewing someone) is “my mother always told me that if you don’t have anything nice to say (about someone/something), don’t curse about it on TV”.

I’m going alone with my daughter for the first time and I’m purposely stalling so that we get down there a little later than we normally do so that I don’t have to deal with her anguish when we get there and they don’t let us into the area behind the dugout because our ticket isn’t expensive enough. Going to batting practice and seeing David Wright and Daniel Murphy, etc. close up was always one of her favorite parts about going to a game. I can’t believe how they callously and thoughtlessly took that away from nearly all of us, as if it was a simple policy decision they had a right to make. I still seethe when I think about it. When my book is out in August and I do the interview circuit and they ask me about Citi Field, I’m going to mention this every chance I get.

I’ve been there 4 times, and I’m not at home yet. Haven’t sat in a seat that I liked and I lost the last good part of going early for BP (i mean touching the dugout, the interactivity with players went away a few years ago).

Yes, there is no Koosman or Matlack after Santana. But I believe that Pelfrey is capable of getting to that level. And Maine and Perez, who have still not reached their potential in terms of consistency, can be superb pitchers. And when you consider how mysteriously good Hernandez, Nieve, and Redding have been, and how much of a better lineup the 2009 Mets have than the 1973 Mets if everyone or even almost everyone is healthy, I do think that the 2009 Mets can pull off something comparable to what the 1973 Mets did. Once again, we will also have to depend on the kindness of strangers.

I too have all kinds of questions about how things ended up this way. But what I am thinking right now is that in a strange way, this season is promising to be even more interesting than anything I ever expected.

However, Rose also commented that at present, after Johan, Mets ain’t got anyone who can properly compare with Koosman and Matlack. In addition, once the reserve clause ended, its very difficult to make comparisons with the pre Curt Flood era. The economics of the game are massively different now.

I agree with you that its fun to see the reserves scrap it out and keep the ship afloat. But big picture that is not likely to play out well – there is a reason why Alex Cora hasn”t been an everyday player most of his career. He’s a terrific bench addition. Baseball is a long season, and water usually settles to its level.

I don’t agree with Francessa or his ilk’s claim that Mets’ fans should feel cheated, because baseball should be a zen-like experience. If you catch a great game you always have it regardless of what happens tomorrow. Case in point was game 161 last year, which remains magnificent notwithstanding the fart that was game 162.

However, I think it is reasonable to express disappointment and disatisfaction with how the FO has handled things during the off season and now. Some of these injuries were not forseeable, some were. Baseball has some parallels to trial work – there will always be shocking developments and things you can’t predict, but you still prepare and plan to the max and always remain focused on doing what it takes to win. It may not go your way, but you can have confidence that you did as much as you could do to control and hedge things. Sometimes cutting corners works in the short term, but long term the chickens are gonna come home to roost (especially in sports with long seasons that usually expose reality pretty robustly).

My last comment is that there are times I think the FO rides on the “Miracle Mets” legacy to excuse poor decision making. Abraham Lincoln became President with no national experience. He was a good President, but one should not draw from that the conclusion that every candidate who lacks national experience will be a terrific President. (*cough cough Jimmy Carter cough cough**). I do prefer rooting for an underdog team, but (like I’ve written before) I prefer underdogs patterned after the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s more so than the Atlanta Braves of the 1980s….

If we’re within 5 by the time we get to the all-star break, it should be considered a big victory. And who knows, we could be better than that. Hell, we could be in first at the all-star break. It’s baseball, after all.

Let’s Go Mets!