The Morning After - Citifield

Not yet halfway into the season, we have learned a few things about the 2009 Mets. They have lots of injuries. Their fundamentals are not always very good. The manager makes questionable moves. They find unique ways to lose games. The 2009 version of the Mets will probably continue to play at or near .500 baseball and stay at least in the wild card race through the middle of September. As Fred Wilpon wished several seasons ago, the Mets will play meaningful games in September. Of course, we all know how that turned out.

Now, what have we learned about Citifield? Unless you go to the suites - which are very nice - and special entertainment floors, you would never know that this stadium was the home of the Mets once you enter inside. We also know that the best concessions are bunched together behind the scoreboard in center field, making for an unbalanced crowd control situation. Okay, these are not game or record impacting factors and can be easily corrected.

What about the dimensions of the field? In particular, how do we feel about the distance from home plate to the fences and the height of the fences? It seems that those two factors are impacting the Mets offense and the outcome of games. David Wright and Carlos Beltran used to hit home runs at Shea. They really can't do too much at Citifield. Did they suddenly lose their power. Unlikely. It really is more about Wright and Beltran being excellent batters who hit home runs as opposed to the only legitimate home run hitter on the team, Delgado, who is a sure fire power hitter. With Delgado on the disabled list, the team doesn't have any legitimate power.

It seems that Wright and Beltran and perhaps other Met players have altered their swings in general so that even on the road we are not seeing the usual home runs. The huge number of strikeouts from Wright are another sign that he has altered his swing to try to hit homers. Not a great strategy from Wright despite his average. Beltran's strategy seems to be that he is trying to stay within himself. In both cases, the results are high averages coupled with low home run totals.

The opposition seems to be able to use their power though when needed. The reason is simply that they have legitimate power hitters whereas the Mets do not. With the exception of the July 9th game against the Phillies when both teams were crushing home runs, the other teams seem to have the upper hand at Citifield. Our pitchers are more fly ball pitchers too. Against legitimate home run hitters, they suffer more damage.

Last year, Wright and a few other players tested the field and the proposed fence distances and height at Citifield as construction was winding down. The players and Wright especially came away singing its praises. They are the ones who now are having the greatest challenges.

The pitchers and Santana, in particular, are giving up the homers at Citified because they can throw a legitimate fastball to legitimate power hitters. When legitimate fastball pitches are made to a Mets hitter, they rarely go over the wall. The current active Mets players are just not legitimate home run hitters. They can reach the wall and hit it for doubles and long singles, but not too much for round trippers.

So, let's ask the Wilpons and other Mets management a question. How could you have not built Citifield with these outfield dimensions and fence height? You could have had the fences closer and lower and still had the Ebbett's field look to it. I am thinking that just like the lack of Mets memorabilia throughout most of Citifield, it appears that the owners forgot that this is about the Mets. It is not about the Dodgers of old and the home run power they would have displayed here.

Please bring in the fences! Let those "meaningful" September games have some excitement of the home town home run and not be as boring as the games we are seeing now.

Morning After Thoughts - Dodgers 3 Mets 2 in 11

It didn't take long for the Amazins to fall out of 1st even if by just a few percentage points.... "Early in the season" is a cliche. It's not too early. Ask the 2007 and 2008 Mets teams. Ask Willie Randolph..... After winning the first 3 of this challenging 10 game road trip, it would not be acceptable to go anything less than 6 and 4. How many fans think that the Mets are now going to go 3 and 2 in the remaining games against the Dodgers and the Sox?....

When did hip impingement become all the rage? Now Carlos D is going for the surgery following on a growing list of players, such as Arod. It may be that Tommy John surgery is going to get a run for its money with Arod surgery? We need to name it after someone else though, don't you think?

Speaking of Delgado, maybe now Minaya understands why he should have been seeking some depth at first base. Someone who could actually hit a home run. Did you notice that Omar tends to put together a decent team but one with insufficient depth. Nick Johnson is starting to look good. Not sure we have anyone we would be willing to trade or that the Nats would want.

Last night's loss reminds us about Pagan. He can hit some. He is not a great outfielder. And our replacement first baseman shouldn't be at first base. Until we find someone else, put Tatis there and keep him there.

Let's also stick with a plan about the outfield. For now, the starting outfield should be Sheffield in left, Beltran in center and Church in right. And stop juggling Church. He needs to play full time. In the past few weeks, Manuel has managed to take Church from being a very good player to a poor one. (Maybe mismanaged is a better term for what Jerry has done.) There is, of course, no excuse for missing third in the 11th inning. Church's comments following the game lead one to believe that he knew he missed the bag.

And 5 errors! That reminds us old timers of the pre 1969 Mets all over again. Hopefully for this one night only. We did get good pitching. Redding did a decent job. The team came back. The offense although not timely continued to have hits in it. So, let's move on. Perhaps Jose will be back tonight and we can take this one. A ounce back would be nice.

Inaugural Message

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The primary purpose of this blog is to render reasoned opinions and thoughts about all things related to the New York Mets. We will follow the characters of the team, its events in and outside of the game itself, its history and the pennant race into the Amazin's future.

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As a Mets fan, it's always a good day, whether or not we acknowledge it. Like last night. Some of us are disappointed by the opportunities wasted by Jerry and his crew in San Fran. Jerry didn't lose this game by himself. He didn't help matters. That's for sure. Taking 3 of 4 from the Giants was a feat and a hopeful sign of things to come. On the other hand, it's a time and again flaw of the Mets teams of recent years to not be able to bring down the hammer when the opportunity is there. Let's see what tonight brings in LA with the Mannyless Dodgers and the Mr Redding. Hopefully, Jose will be back. Leading off with a triple would be fun.