213 Miles From Shea

“Bizarre Uniform Tuesday” Past Entries:

Blue Claws Become The Bruce Claws
Fresno Grizzlies Price Is Right
Tampa Bay Rays  become the Tampa
The Richmond Flying Squirrels

Past Memorabilia Monday Entries:

1967 “Match The Mets”
2008 Shea Stadium Budweiser Bottle
Interesting Fitted Hat
Kaz Matsui T-Shirt
Marty Markowitz
Mets Family Stickers
Mets Toaster
MLB Playmakers David Wright
Ollie Box by Joe Petruccio
Shea Stadium Cuff Links
Shea Stadium Cup Holder

Mets Quote Wednesday Entries:

In 2008 the Mets had the first opportunity in a while to flex their PR/marketing muscle, and they did a pretty good job with it. The final season at Shea logo was fantastic. It blended the old with the new, had a semi-original shape to it, and was rich in detail, but it wasn't cluttered. The Mets were then set to make their inaugural season logo, and just like the inaugural season at Citi Field – it was too awful to forget. The logo was not inspiring, not creative, and just dull. So how will the Mets handle the 2013 All-Star game logo? Well my basic prediction is that it will not be a simple design. The Mets got slammed by the national media for their failure to create a stellar patch so it will be this time around.

Well, what will be on the 2013 All-Star patch? My fear is that it will be the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Don't get me wrong, I love the rotunda, but it looks too much like Ebbits field and this is our first All-Star game since 1964. One of the most iconic images for the Mets is the home run apple, and I feel that should be the patch. Also, that won't happen, unless they compromise. A good compromise is if the model the patch after the front of the stadium with the Shea apple in the foreground and the rotunda in the background.

Next up is the BP jersey's. Probably the color spectrum will be Orange and Blue. Sadly, it will probably look a like the current BP Jersey and one from a few years ago:

(Baseball-fever and nyny.com)

Of course, the underarms on the orange one will probably look more like the blue one and the script ont he blue one, If I had to guess, will probably be orange (so they are inverses). Now the Mets could keep it really dull and have American and National written in Mets Script, or they can try do something else, like the arch in the Cards jersey, the bridge in the San Fran one, or the halo in the Angels one.

Well I guess time will tell.

The Mets suffered a tough loss last night as the offense couldn't get going and couldn't back up the pitching which only allowed 2 runs. Anyway they will try to wash last night away with a win tonight as they take on Barry Zitio and the Giants for game 2 of this series.

Before the All-Star break, Niese had a good start, but picked up the loss as the Mets offense couldn't back him ( 3 ER over 7.2 IP). On the season Niese is 6-3 with a 3.61 ERA. In his last three games pitched he has logged 20.2 innings with a 1.74 ERA. In his short career as a pitcher, he has not faced the Giants yet and in fact, has only faced one player on the Giants, Sanchez, who is 0-3 against Jon. If the Mets are going to make a run in the second half, they will need Jon to keep doing what he was doing late in the first half (ie using his cutter and curveball to keep the opposition from scoring).

Zito has been having a great year for the Giants as he a 3.76 ERA with a 7-4 record. He has no decisions in his last three starts in which he has a 5.63 ERA (mainly due to one bad start surrounded two above average starts). While hasn't faced the Mets yet this season, but last season he picked up the loss in one game as the Mets tagged him for three runs over 5 innings of work. Over the years, the Mets have posted these numbers on Barry:

Lets Go Mets! (Also, programming note, I'll be alway from a computer for the rest of the weekend, so I'll resume game previews on Monday. However, make sure to still visit 213 Miles From Shea, as some articles will be posting on their own this weekend).

Going on this theme from last week of love him or hate him, its time to spotlight the facial hair of one of the more polarizing figures in New York. At two points this season this manager was dangerously close to being fired and before the first series against the Yankees, this manager had people rooting for the Mets to lose so that Manuel would be shipped out. He also was the helm while the Mets went on an incredible run to put the Mets in a winning set of ways. All the time while doing this, he has just a list of quirky quotes. Anyway, Jerry Manuel:

(The 217.com)

Ah yes look at the beard. Is it gray because he manages a team that goes on losing streaks? Gray because the team stops hitting? Gray because K-rod is our closer and he doesn't make things 1-2-3? Gray because Keith Hernandez still hasn't given him Just For Men?

Only Jerry knows…..maybe.

The second half of the season kicks off tonight as the Mets kick off a long road trip in San Francisco against the Giants. The story of tonight though belongs to Carlos Beltran. In case you don't remember, Beltran, pretty much right before Spring Training, elected to have surgery. The original plan was that Beltran would be back with the Mets by the end of May. As the season started, it became more clear that the timeline for Beltran's return would 4-6 weeks after starting baseball activities. However, baseball activities kept getting pushed back. It then looked like the end of June. Finally, we were able to get a clear answer with Beltran returning to the lineup after the All-Star Break. Beltran gets to face a great pitcher on his way back as he will have to deal with Lincecum, but more on that later.

Dickey looks to continue where he left off as he starts tonight game. He was great in his last outing, except for the last two batters who hit back to back solo jacks as Dickey allowed 4 ER in 6.2 innings pitched. Dickey is 6-2 on the season with a 2.77 ERA. Dickey has never actually faced the Giants so because of that, there are very few Giants who have AB's against Dickey, and those who have had AB's have very few against him:

On the other side of the mound will be Tim Lincecum who has already faced the Mets once this season where he got a no decision in 6 innings of work while allowing 2 ER. Tim on the season is 9-4 with a 3.16 ERA and in his last three games he is 1-2 over 16.0 innings with a 5.06 ERA. The Mets have these career numbers on the Freak:

Lets Go Mets!

Before I get on a soap box and take a baseball bat to the idea of the ESPY's, my problems with the concept, and the set up of the majority of award shows in our (subliminally or not) corporate dominated public discourse, I wanted to start with a compliment. At least ESPN thought of something to show on the slowest day of American Sports (aka, the day after the All-Star game).

I had ESPN on last night as I was cooking dinner and thus had the ESPY Red Carpet show. That was painful, but probably for different reasons than one would think. There are two things that really get my blood boiled in sports, when it comes to debates. The first is large, corporate markets, and the shockwaves they create in the general public about opinions about best players, teams, etc. The second is comparing apples to oranges. Sadly, while a Sports Award show seems like a good idea, it has to be something that is done by the experts and only the experts, and very carefully.

Before I rip it apart, a good example of comparing “apples to oranges” in Sports is the Sportsman of the Year award from Sports Illustrated. On average, that award is very well thought out, has a fantastic arguement, and pages of support. It balances athleticism, achievement, public impact, and legacy.

The ESPY's can't do that because they attempt to do this too many times. How do you answer the question of who is coach of the year? That is such a loaded question and there are so many specific elements of differnet sports that need to be considered. Given enough time, I believe that the people at ESPN would be able to get an answer. However, when then allow the public to decide, well now we have the same problem with the All-Star game voting. The media markets push and publicize the more profitable teams, players etc, and I'm not saying that's wrong (despite what my opinion about it is, the raising of profitable icons in sports, at this point in American culture, is inevitable). The result is that winners on the whole are predictable. I guess what I am specifically thinking of here is Phil Jackson winning coach of the year over coach Geno of the UConn Women's Basketball Team.

I will admit, after I heard the coach of the year verdict, I turned off the award show, because I figured this would turn into me just being angry on a couch watching an award show that I wouldn't actually like, and I wouldn't be doing anything productive for society. I guess for me this just goes into a deeper disdain for the majority of award shows. The example I generally use with my friends and family is the Grammy's. When an artist wins best rapper, well that person isn't actually the best rapper. They are an above average, to good artist that was picked up by a major record label and deemed marketable. These people have a certain amount of talent, but there are other rappers out there that are more talented. That is the problem with the ESPY's. The talented and marketable win, but maybe the losers could be more talented in their respective sports, but then we get back to the apples and oranges arguement.

Or another way to look at this, I'll just be happy tonight when baseball is back on, and I don't need to think of things like this.

Some quick hits to go with your Thursday morning Burger King Crossian'wich: