213 Miles From Shea

My friend Kim posted an all true statement about being a Mets fan on my facebook page the other day. It was written on a homemade postcard that she found on Post Secret (thanks Kim for the find!):

Isn't that the truth? Probably worth it. Probably. Yeah, I think so. Ok, yes, its worth it.

There are probably a large group of you right now that are scratching your heads going, “What's Post Secret”? Post Secret is a project by Frank Warren where people send in their secrets, anonymously, on a home made post card. These post card entries range from deep dark secrets all the way to warm fuzzy feelings. We will never know which one of us posted this on Post Secret, but its a feeling we have all probably had at least once in our lives (or more recently, 2006 Game 7 NLCS 2 Outs Bases Loaded Beltran at the plate 3-2 count, September 2007, September 2008, all of 2009…etc.)

Last night the 31st annual National Sports Collectors Convention started in Baltimore. This convention is unlike really any of its type as people fly in from across the world to attend this convention. As the website says “If you can't find what you're looking for at National, it probably doesn't exist!” I have read a few articles about National here and here, both from writers who I respect greatly and what I have learned from them is that first, don't expect to see many women (that's a shame), second be prepared to see all of the major people who collect as a drug, and third, be prepared to see anything, and try to keep moving to see everything.

Since I live outside of DC, and was raised outside of Baltimore, I'm planning to stop at National a few times over the weekend. It is probably a good opportunity to add to my eccentric collection, and take some photos for a few photo albums. I decided that since it seems to be extremely massive (the entire floor of the Baltimore Convention Center, which is huge), I decided to make a target list, to stay focused:

The Mets and Braves find themselves at the rubber game tonight with Mike Pelfrey vs Kris Medlen. The Mets lied down in the first game of series but last night they clawed and scratched the entire way and thanks to a few former Bravers, they were able to come out on top. This is an importnat game for Pelf, especially after his last start which was hampered by the smallest strikezone ever. On the season he is now 10-5 with a 4.10 ERA. Against the Braves this season he is 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA over 16.2 innings. The Braves have the following numbers on Big Pelf:

The Mets bats, which did better last night, but are still not swinging in true form, will get a chance to try to crack Medlen. He has had a good season so far with a 6-2 record and a 3.66 ERA. He has had a pretty terrible last two starts though allowing 8 ER over 11 innings but he enjoys pitching against the Mets as he has allowed only 2 ER in 8.1 innings of work this season. The Mets have these numbers on Kris:

Lets Go Mets!

Its August! That means two things!

2010 and 2011 will be a new year for the legendary Favre.

A day after starting a rumor about his own retirement, Brett Favre has decided to come out of retirement as he has signed a 3 year, 36 million dollar contract to join the New York Mets Bullpen. Omar Minaya and the Wilpons have been under some serious pressure from the New York fanbase to spend some serious money on a serious player while making some history while they could. When asked why Favre, Omar replied, “Well Favre is a real stand up type guy and we really like his veteran presence. We think he will be a key guy in the pen to keep Ollie company. As you know we care deeply about the psychological needs of our players and Ollie needed another bad contract, worse than Castillo's to keep him company out there. We are really glad to bring one of the best in Sports to Citi. He's like Sheffield but better, right?”

Favre later released a statement saying it was a hard choice. He had a one year contract offer from the Vikings, the Jets, and the Miami Heat. “I woke up this morning and I finally made up my mind,” a decisive Favre stated, “I called up my close family and I said, look, I made my decision and while I would want a shot at history in South Beach, I'm gonna take a page from Ron Artest and realize that Success is a Nuisance so I'm going with mediocrity, overpaid veterans, and the New York Mets.”

We tried to call up some Mets fans about this, but they were still too busy booing Castillo, Manuel and Ollie to notice.

In a game where the Mets needed to win, they were able to “Put It In The Books!”

The Mets beat the Braves tonight by the score of 3-2. It was a night of come backs as first the Braves scored, then the Mets tied it, then the Braves scored, and then the Mets tied it. Acosta had to come on in the 7th inning in a tight situation with the game tied runners on first and second and only one out, and he was able to get the double play ball to end the inning. He then pitched a scoreless 8th which led to the top of the 9th.

On the mound for the Braves, former enemy, then friend, now I guess frenemy – Billy Wagner. At the plate, the beat down Francoeur where websites everywhere, including this one, have been talking about the need to get rid of him. Well he takes a Wagner pitch the other way and deposits it several rows back in right field as the Mets get that crucial go ahead run before K-rod pitches a, get this, clean 1-2-3 inning for the save.

It was actually a really nice moment tonight when Francoeur hit the winning homer as when he got back to the dugout, the team basically treated it like a walk off. For a team that has looked dead for the last couple of weeks, it was nice to see this life in them, and their support for their teamate. Francoeur, the former Brave was the hero tonight as the winning pitcher and other hero, Acosta, is also a former Brave.

Dickey also performed well tongiht goign 6 innings and allowing only 2 ER. Carter also deserves some recognition with his pinch hit, RBI, which tied the game at 2.

Next up for the Amazins is another game agianst the Braves as Pelfrey tries to win the rubber game. Lets Go Mets!

The Mets try to put last night behind them as they play game two of this crucial road series. Last night the Braves took advantage of the Mets early, and the bats could never climb back. Tonight R.A. Dickey looks to continue to be the hero of this team while the Mets try to figure out their bat problems while they face Lowe.

Dickey has been fantastic this season as he boasts a 7-4 record with a 2.32 ERA. He made six starts in July pitching 41.2 innings with a 1-5 record, however he had a 1.51 ERA (in other words he was a victim of the Mets quiet bats). His only “bad” start was one against the Braves where he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned in 6.2 innings of work. The Braves have these numbers on Robert Allen:

Earlier today I posted the video of the Ron Artest Mets raps, this is my attempt to try to jot down the lyrics:

MetropoliTONS of FUN – Ron Artest

Intro
You already know what it is man
We the Mets from Queens
We Lose a Lot
But right now we gonna try to win
See what happens
Just Go

Song
I'm Ron Artest
Getting Crazy As it Gets
Flying around in jets
Rappin about the Mets
Born in Queens
Raised In Shea
Grab A Shake Shack
With my man Jason Bay
Win some lose some
The Mets aren't done
We just tell ourselves
Success in a nuisance
I got a ring
No need to be cranky
The Mets need 25 more
To tie the los los yankees
Loungin in the Pepsi porch
Sippin moets
Lookin to my left
Its my man Mr. Met
We – the metropolitans of fun
We – the metropolitans of fun
No matter how many games we won
We we the metropolitans of fun

Outro
Big ups to Keith Hernandez, Kevin Alster
Affordable bleacher seats
World series champs 2087
Ice cream in little helmets son
Mike Piazza bobbleheads
I gotta go call jason bay we supposed to meet for ice cream at 1:30
1986, 1969, dot dot dot, come on yall lets step it up

If I made any mistakes please let me know.