213 Miles From Shea

I know this isn't new. I know this is highly reported.

Bill Jone's Gumball Helmet Collection is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in sports. To be frank, I think I'm at the level of obssessed with it. Jones has been creating Gumball Helmets for a while, and while a lot of the story has been documented here, the article has fallen to a terrible epidemic on the internet: link rot. Since the article was written a long time ago, a lot of the links have disappeared. What is so incredible about his work is that it merges the old time collectible of the Gumball Helmet with the era of a zillion minor league teams and baseball gimicks.

After discovering that, I decided to look on the internet for more Jones work. His peices of art (and I really mean art) are frequently featured on Uni Watch Blog, and after a lot of searcing, I believe I found his flckr stream.

Anyway here are some links to some of the gem's in his collection:

Just a Portion his massive Minor League Baseball Helmet Collection. Around the middle of the page are the three Cyclone hats.

Yeah, this guy has ever gimick covered. I mean every gimick.

Yes, these are Gumball Helmets for the newly formed Austrailian Baseball League.

Look, its all really impressive so check it out. Also, if you know any other collections you think I should highlight, let me know!

Well fans, we are essentially about to be in the full swing of Mets Manager Interviews as they have just started to go underway and more interviews are being set up for next week. Here is a recap, with information mostly collected from Mets Blog, of the people who have had confirmed interviews to become the Mets skipper –

Ken Oberkfell – Oberkfell is currently the manager for the Bisons and has a fairly impressive non-Major League managing resume. He is the manager right now for a team in the Dominican (the same team that he led to the championship last season) and in 2005 he was the Minor League Manager of the year. As a player he has one World Series Ring and an additional pennant. What hurts him is that he does not have any major league experience as a Manager.

Bob Melvin – Already Interviewed. I am slowly warming up to the idea of having Melvin as a manager. He has experience on all sides and is considered to be smart. I guess what disappoints me with Melvin is that he isn't Mazzilli, but I wouldn't complain if Melvin was hired.

David Jauss – Also Already Interviewed.

Wally Backman – To Be Interviewed this weekend.

Chip Hale – To Be Interviewed this weekend. Ownership has been vocal that they want him involved on the management team no matter who the next manager is

Terry Collins – To Be Interviewed this weekend.

Don Wakamatsu – No Interview confirmed yet. But I have a strong feeling he will end up being slotted soon (unless someone else on this list blows Sandy away).

As for other people, if a planned interview isn't decided by the end of the next week, then they probably will not be considered for the position. In other words, I think the Mets will try to wrap up the first round of interviews as quickly as possible.

Other Management/Front Office News:

In addition to Hale, ownership apparently also wants to keep Warthen on for next season. As much as I like Hale, and as indifferent as I am to Dan, I really feel that ownership should not be doing this. The coaching staff should be the responsibility of the new manager or Sandy.

Sandy is making progress in trying to get DePodesta as he has now been granted permission from the Padres to talk to him. I would love for him, Riccardi and Sandy to all have a chance to fill in the gaps on the roster for next season. It would be a great set of brains to try to find affordable talent to give this team some nice surprises for next season.

The Giants won the World Series and really all I have to say is put this one in the book of pitching. The argument which is overwhelming one-sided (because one side has all of the statistical support) is in the end Good Pitching will beat Good Hitting. This World Series was literally that as one of the best pitching teams in the game, the Giants, beat one of the best hitting teams in the league, the Rangers. Of course, the series wasn't always like that as the first game was a surprise to everyone as both teams struggled on the mound. Since I really don't care too much about either team, I don't have much to say but I'm glad the Giants won.

Now for the beginning of our next season.

The Hot Stove officially starts now, although it feels like we have been on it for the last month with the hiring of Sandy as the new GM of the team. What we have to look forward to in the short run is the hiring of a new manager, a new coaching staff, and a new front office staff. Also Takahashi fits in somewhere in that short time line.

After that, its who knows? The Mets have a lot of money on the books and Rome was not built over night so it would be crazy to think we can splash money around and just cut many of our losses free without thinking about assets. I have faith in Sandy that he will get the groundwork done to make this team into a champion, but I know it will take some time.

I do look forward though to an off-season with some creative moves and some good scouting.

Lets Go Mets!

SNY produced a list possible Mets Managers who maybe, or already have been contacted/remove themselves from the list, for next season:

Wally Backman

Terry Collins

John Gibbons

Chip Hale

Clint Hurdle

Lee Mazzilli

Bob Melvin

Ken Oberkfell

Joe Torre

Bobby Valentine

Don Wakamatsu

Thats a pretty good list of people. On that list we can already cross out one as the former Met John Gibbons who has declined interest in the role. For that matter, I think we can cross out Joe Torre. I just don't see him coming back to Queens (and of course now that I said that, he will probably be our manager next season).

Of course if you know me, then you know that I am still holding out hope for Lee Mazzilli.

Earlier this week we discussed the new addition to the Seattle Mariners rotation, and it looks like something is brewing with a team closer to home, the Washington Nationals. According to Let Teddy Win, a Washington Nationals Blog, there will be a VIP event on November 6th where it speculated the Nationals will announced some new uni's for next season.

What will they look like? Well the main criticism for the team has been that current Nationals jersey, not only looks ridiculous, but does not honor the history of teams in the district. They recently made some positive changes by changing the away uniforms by changing the front script to look more similar to the Senators, but they kept the back numbers in the stupid block, red and gold format.

Well here's a positive rumor.

It was posted yesterday at Uni Watch Blog, where Lukas admits that he doesn't know if it is legit or not. I hope it is.

With all of the coverage of the Giants in the National media right now, like how they are a group of misfits, and just an overall lovable team, has made me question something about the Mets I have never questioned before.

Are the Mets lovable?

My initial thought was, “when did that go up for grabs?”

Before I explain, or attempt to explain, this topic, I really should set some context to my Mets fandom. I am 21 years old, product of the last year in the 80's. I grew up in Baltimore during the apex of the Cal Ripken years, starting grade school during the last two seasons the Orioles actually made the playoffs. I remember the Orioles games on in my house, really more because it was a baseball house, but I was told to like the Mets, which was easy, I mean I was like 6 or 7. You could probably tell me back then to like a piece of grass and I would do it without question.

As I became conscious of my surroundings and older, the Mets became better. Cue the 1999 and 2000 Mets, especially the 2000 Mets who appeared during the my middle school years when I shared a locker with a Yankee fan (great World Series for that). Of course we all know the Mets sorta fell apart after that, but I was still attatched them (Piazza has that effect). Then came High School, which brought at the end the 2005 and 2006 teams. College has been a great time in my life, but baseball wise not so much as my Fall's in college have had the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 teams.

But I have never seen the Mets as not lovable. Maybe its because when I became aware of these players as people, it was during the days when Wright and Reyes were just coming up. Reyes was full of hope, and it was still a possibility that he could take Ricky Henderson's stolen base record (remeber I was still in middle school, so to have those high “never going to happen” hopes was completely natural). Wright had to carry Cliff Floyd (my favorite player from middle school to high school) luggage everywhere with hillarious outcomes. These are the Mets I know, and these are the Mets I see when I look at the team today. I do not see the Perez issue, the negatives with the budget, and the other problems. I would argue that most fans do not see this either when they think about their personal relationship with the team, which can influence how we percieve about how others percieve the New York Mets.

I would argue when most Mets fans look at the team, they see the team that they remember from their formidable years. The team that first taught them about hope and disapointment. This relationship in some ways is the definition of lovable.

But with the last four years, the Mets have taken on the role of league laughing stock. It doesn't matter that other teams have nearly historic collapses (2009 Tigers) or teams that have led their division for an entire season. but didn't make the playoffs (2010 Padres), the punchline is always on the Mets. There used to be a time where this would be “lovable”. But If the Mets made the World Series this past season, would they be described as lovable? I doubt it. The team has become some clouded with controversies from fighting minor league coaches to fights in the family waiting room, that the average person or the average baseball fan wouldn't dare call us lovable.

I'm not entirely sure what my point is here. I think it is just that kid in me that still wishes that everyone could see the Mets as I see them; as this ambigous microcosm for life. Haters gonna hate I guess.

Usually I'm on top of uniform/logo/color changes, but I've also been “away” for the last two weeks, so I missed a “change”.

The Mariners apparently announced earlier this month that they will be wearing their teal throwbacks as an alternative uniform next season up to twice a week at home:

(via MLB.com, example of the color)

Overall, I'm for this. When you think about it, once the Devil Rays became the Rays, the amount of green, or similar to green colors worn by Major League teams really dropped. Outside of the green trims for the Mariners, and the Oakland Athletics, I'm pretty sure no other team has green as a major color in their uniform design (not including the Padre camo look).

This green/blue/teal/something is also unique. When baseball teams wear odd colors, it is at least refreshing for the eyes. Uni Watch blog is saying that this uniform change will move the Mariners navy blue alternates to the road.

EDIT: I'm an idiot. I forgot the one team in our division that “wears” green: the Marlins. Thank you mysterious commenter for pointing that out.

Wrestling with my opinions about Luis Castillo has not been an easy task. His numbers have been bad. But at the same time his numbers have been good. When he came to the Mets in 2007, he finished off the season batting .296 with 20 RBI's, in about 50 games where he had 18 RBI's in his previous 80 games. Then in 2008 he hit a low where he batted only .245. At that point it seemed perfectly fine to be agrivated with Luis. He would then respond in 2009 being one of the more consistent players on the team batting .302 with 40 RBI's and playing in 142 games, which was no small feet with the 2009 club. In limited time in 2010, his 2008 self showed in his .235 batting average.

There are a lot of reasons for his last decline, but this article isn't about that. That topic is covered in many other articles over many great blogs. Also, you can probably ask anyone on the train, and they will give you a fairly good opinion about why Castillo has been on a decline.

What I want to know is why do I not like him as a baseball player. I am generally a nice person and a very understading person. What is it about Luis Castillo that gets me angry? How has he been connected in my Mets memory to become such a villian, when in reality he is not a villian at all. Castillo generally plays with grit and usually runs hard. These are aspects of play that I usually praise, and are my favorite in baseball.

After deep reflection for about a month (seriously), I think I know why I'm upset with Castillo. Through years of repressing the 2007 collapse, I think I somehow correlated his addition to the 2007 Mets as part of their collapse. At some point in my personal history of being a Mets fan, I must have felt that although he played well in 2007, when he came aboard the Mets really started to fall apart. Castillo harbors some form of that 2007 collapse unfairly, which is probably why I judge him so harshly. So Luis, I apoligze about that.

That revelation isn't my complete Castillo story. From 2009 and forward, Castillo has been another mental focus. I believe that I seem him as a full representation of the old, overpaid portion of the Mets. This disdain is not Luis' fault but rather my feelings about upper management. As I alluded to before, I like baseball teams that have grit. I like teams that are built around young talent because when they lose, its not so bad, and when the win it feels like an achievement. Somewhere again in my psychosis I have set Castillo = Bay, Beltran, Krod, Bonilla, etc.

In short, my negative feelings about Luis Castillo are not about his play, persay, but are rooted in a deeper reflection of this team in the latter half of this past decade. He has this ambiguous, intangible connection to the 2007 collapse and he, by being a part of the overpaid, overage component of the team, has unfairily made him the poster boy for what feels wrong about the 2009 and 2010 team. His play alone has been poor, but it also has been good. The reception he gets, at least for me, is a representation of why the Mets need a clean house of sorts, to start anew and on a clean page.

After seeing the last out in game 6 of the 2010 NLCS, I feel compelled to compare that at-bat to an infamous AB in Mets history. For those who missed it, the Phillies were down by one run in the bottom of the ninth in a must win game 6. They were able to get runners on the corners and at the plate is one of the most well-known Phillies for the bat, Ryan Howard. Fast-foward the story, he struck out looking.

Carlos Beltran was at the plate in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, down by two runs with the bases loaded and struck out looking at an Adam Wainright curveball.

Now, there are a lot of differences. Beltan was game 7, Howard was game 6 (mentally completely different, even though they are both elimination games). Beltran was down two runs, Howard down one run. Howard was on a team that just won two straight pennants including a World Series, Beltran was not.

Differences aside, on the fan perspective, the feeling of “hope” was almost identical. At their respective given times, victory felt more than possible because of the players at the plate. That fleeting feeling of hope, I argue, should be the same between last night and 4 seasons ago (wow that was a long time ago, but feels like yesterday).

Well, just a thought.

You know what's insulting? Go to any MLB site. Any of them?

Did you?

Good.

Notice anything?

Every single MLB site is advertising the NLCS and World Series on each side of the web page superimposed on top of teams normal backgrounds. For the Mets that means these logos age over Citi Field, the Mariners (an AL team), these logos are over Safeco field. It is just a painful reminder that we are not in the playoffs.

Thank you MLB-Capalisitic-Advetising-Money-Grabbing-Machine.