213 Miles From Shea

If you told me the leader of the Mets in homers at the end of April would Rod Barajas, I would have laughed. Here are some back pages:

(NY Daily News)

(NY Post)

Some quick hits to go with your Saturday morning onion bagel:

The Mets won their 8th straight game tonight as they took the opener from the Phillies and it was a good game all the way around. In terms of pitching, Niese was on tonight. He was making pitchers, retiring batters and fooling the Phils by mixing his pitches. His only bad inning was the second inning where he allowed 1 run, but thanks to some great defense by Francoeur and Bay, he was able to get out of the inning. He built on that help by then keeping the Phils scoreless through 7 innings where then Mejia got a chance followed by Manny.

When you win a game 9-1, the bats had to be something special, and they were. This game saw Wright, Francoeur, and Barajas (twice) all go deep. Pagan also showed signs of life as he had a 2 RBI triple, a double and a single. The Mets offense has now scored 26 runs over their last three games and what was a weakness at the start of this streak is now back to being a strength.

There was a moment in the game where Francoeur got drilled in his forearm by Baez. (He has an elbow bruise). Mejia got out there in the 8th and plunked Utley. It is unclear whether that was intentional or not but I'm just gonna say this: that was the second consecutive inside pitch he threw. The Mets are playing as a team, and part of that is retaliating after players get HBP.

Tomorrow's game should be a good one as Pelfrey gets to take on the Doctor. Lets Go Mets!

The Mets start their first series against Philly this season in Philly as the first place team in the National League East. The game is already starting to catch some press in New York as both the News and Post featured this game on their back pages this morning. The Mets will be sending out Niese to the mound to face Kendrick in tonight's opener.

Niese is 0-1 on the season with a 3.68 ERA over 22.0 innings pitched. This is will be an interesting game for Niese as he has never faced the Phillies in his career. Not only has he never faced the Phillies, he has never faced any batters on the Phillies. Looking back through the teams on the road he has played over his career, it looks like has not played in a hostile environment either (but lets be honest, as hostile environments go, very few places compare the Philly).

The Mets will try to contend with Kendrick tonight who has no decisions on the season yet over 4 games with a 7.71 ERA. In his four starts this year, he had one gem where he went 8.0 innings and allowed 0 runs (against Atlanta) but he didn't build off of that start as in his next start he allowed 5 ER over 5 innings pitched. In 2009 he faced the Mets once and picked up the win in 7 innings of work allowing only 2 runs. Anyway the Mets have these stats against Kendrick over his career:

Lets Go Mets! Beat the Phils!

Last week Jayson Stark wrote this article where he talks about teams that were off to cold starts (and some off to hot starts). At the time the Mets were 6-9 and last in the NL East. He mentions a scout in the article who states that baseball needs the Mets to be good so that rivalry against the Phillies mean something. Well about week later the Mets are in first place and are facing Philly in a series that will determine first place in the division (as much as a series at the start of May can do that).

The scout brings up some points but I want to flip one of the points. Stark talks about how the only people that are talking about the Mets being good are the Mets. I am so glad to hear that. This relays right back to that chemistry on the team. Looking back on this past homestand the Mets have played like they believed they were meant to win all of those games. The results have been great. A champion style attitude really reflects on how a team puts together a game plan and how that team implements it over all 9 innings. The starters have all turned it around and although they haven't really gone too deep in games yet, they are starting to keep the Mets in games.

Although as fans we would probably perfer the bats to score early and often, the fact that they keep surfacing late in games shows fight. This was true during the losing part of the season as well. the Mets were keeping games close with offense that would kick, scratch and fight back trying to get on top. In the last few games, the bats have started to a little earlier while taking advantage of opponents miscues. These small demoralizing actions against opponents leads to the current winning streak.

At this point of the season the Mets haven't proved themselves yet as good. But they also have shown that they aren't bad either (which is what the media was saying before this week). They have potential to go either way. At the end of the day, they are an exciting team to watch because of their attitude and chemistry. They look like they are having fun out there and at the same time, they look like they are doing their business, just going to work. This weekend will be important for the Mets, but in no way will it be the end all be all conclusion of what type of team the Mets are.*

* This point is important to make,but not to Mets fans. Mets fans, and probably most fans for the most part understand how long Baseball is, and how to April/May in perspective. The National Media coverage tends to gravitate to extremes, saying how starts show a team is really good or terrible. Which makes sense, its the media and that is their job, right?

You know things are changing in Metsville when the back pages focus on Mets to feature games that haven't been played yet. The Mets even got the famous NY Daily News cartoon treatment this morning.

(NY Post)

(NY Daily News)

Get excited folks.

Some quick hits to go with your Friday morning glazed doughnut:

(NY Post)

(NY Daily News)

While you are reading this, you have no idea how lucky you are. We live in the time of not one, but two chosen ones. Yes the saviors of our sport will be arriving within one year of each other at both sides of the plate.

Actually, lets widen the scope. We live in the time of the chosen one in basketball and in hockey.

I was talking to a friend the other day about over used buzzwords in sports and the “The Chosen One” might as well be the chosen one. It has become one of those words that is starting to lose its meaning. Their are defining players in every generations of sports, but very, very few players transcend the entire sport. With the example of Basketball, the only chosen one in my mind is Jordan. He is the only player that completely transcends the sports. LeBron is also still young. He can't be the chosen until his career is over.

An example of this argument is Ken Griffy Jr. There were times throughout his career it seemed that he could be the chosen one, especially with his fast start. However, we know through injuries and what actually transpired.  Griffy will go down as one of the greatest players, however he is not “The Chosen One”.

This plead to end the talks of “The Chosen One”, especially for Harper* who has yet to be drafted yet, are futile. The media is in a love affair with that expression and it isn't leaving anytime soon. The phrase though is used so often that it basically means “Number 1 Prospect”.

Please Media, let “The Chosen One” not be saved in your final edits for reviewing prospects.

* I realize by writing this article, I am basically guaranteeing that Harper will be Baseball's Chosen One, in order for the Universe to make me look like an Idiot, but whatever. 

Some quick hits to go with your Thursday morning Captain Crunch: