He may not be on a team this season, but Mike Piazza, the greatest offensive catcher in the history of baseball, announced his retirement today. Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 amateur draft, Piazza spent time with the Dodgers, Marlins, Padres, A's and eight seasons with the New York Mets. The 39-year-old Piazza retired with a .308 career average, 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs. In a statement released through his agent......

We've heard all the names from baseball's Mitchell Report, now let's look at some facts. Roger Clemens, who vehemently denies the accusations against him, is the biggest name revealed in the report. His lawyer says, "Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive. There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today." In the report,......

For the first time ever, the MLB First-Year Player Draft was televised. ESPN2 covered the first round and while they gave it the same treatment that the NFL and NBA drafts get, it is hard to get excited about a bunch of players from high school and college that you have never seen in your life. When all was said and done, 1,453 players were picked and can now all say they were drafted. The......

If you were a 17-year old looking to meet Mike Piazza, your childhood idol and favorite baseball player, what would you do? If you're Ryan Leli, you make some fake press credentials, sneak into Shea Stadium, participate in some Q&A with Piazza, and then pose for pictures. That's what Leli, from Head of the Harbor, did last August when Piazza was visiting with the San Diego Padres. Padres officials became suspicious of Leli when he......

Youthful chutzpah, laminating arrogance, or plain stupid? The Queens DA's office has pressed charges against an 18 year old who used fake credentials to gain access to the NY Mets during home games. Ryan Leli made a fake NBC Universal employee ID card on his computer, and managed to get into the August 10 game between the Mets and the San Diego Padres. Mets officials seemed to be tipped off that something was wrong because,......

-Yankees 7, White Sox 6: Randy Johnson threw six no-hit innings, and the Yankees didn't blow a six-run lead to take the second game from Chicago. Bobby Abreu hit a homer, and, besides Kyle Farnsworth's allowing four runs, Johnny Damon's leaving the game with a groin injury was the Yankees' only bad news. Boston lost again to Kansas City, so the Yanks are up by three over the Red Sox. If they can carry that......

-Mets 3 Padres 2: It was the perfect homecoming for Mike Piazza and Mets’ fans. After giving a huge ovation to the former face of the franchise, the Shea faithful got to watch the new face of the franchise, David Wright, collect two RBI’s and propel New York to victory. As if there was any doubt left that a new era has arrived at Shea, Billy Wagner came in and preserved the one-run victory. -White......

- People are insane and our justice system is screwy as well, as New York Hack details an incident that boggles the mind - The NYCLU is expanding their lawsuit against the city about photography rights - The FDNY is trying to recruit more minorities and has removed the old requirement of needing some college credit to join - Bike messengers want to know about crappy buildings to deliver to - And we thought......

Well, it could have been worse for Victor Zambrano in yesterday's 7-4 Mets loss to the Padres, but Zambrano was only in the game for 4 innings. During those innings, Zambrano pitched poorly again and allowed 5 runs. Josh Barfield started the scoring action in the 1st inning with a solo home run and Brian Giles finished Zambrano in the 4th inning with a grand slam. The Mets made the game more interesting in the......

Sunday, Mike Piazza agreed to a $2 million contract to return to the state where he began his Major League career, signing a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres. Staying in the National League, the 37-year old, joins the defending NL West champs and, according to his agent, was told that he could "catch as much as he wanted to." How much might that be? Reportedly about 90-100 games behind the plate as well......

- Curbed looks at Fultonhaus, which makes us think of the Conan O'Brien bit "Stackenblocken" - Mayor Bloomberg revealed the city's plan to "fix" the Administration for Children's Services - City Council Speaker wants to pass a bill that makes sure speakers can't just veto proposals they don't like - A woman tried to drown her baby in the bathtub - Mike Piazza probably won't sign with the Yankees - You Can't Make It......

Major League Baseball announced the 60-man US World Baseball Classic roster yesterday with several players on the Mets and Yankees named as possible team members. The US list includes Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Al Leiter, and Alex Rodriguez. The Mets have Paul Lo Duca, Billy Wagner and David Wright on the US players listed. While the 60-person list is a list of players that can play in the tournament, the eventual roster must be trimmed......

If the ceremonies at the end of the season and the trade for Paul Lo Duca didn't make it clear enough, it's now official. The Mets will not be re-signing Mike Piazza (at least until May 1st) as they declined to offer salary arbitration, effectively ending his eight-year stint with the team. The 37 year-old Hall of Fame bound catcher hit only .251 with 19 home runs and 62 RBI last season. The .251 average......

Despite the fact that the Mets finished their 2005 season on Sunday afternoon with an 11-3 loss, one couldn't quite say that it was a season of disappointment. Finishing with an 83-79 record, their best record since the 2000 season, the Mets managed a 3rd place tie in the NL East. At points, the team showed that they were truly a "new" team, but at other points, the dreadful performances of the past few......

Sunday afternoon, the Mets were looking for a sweep of the Nationals to end their homestand, but things got off to a bad start. Kris Benson allowed six runs to start the game and exited after retiring only two batters in the shortest outing of his career. The six run hole was too much for the Mets to overcome as they lost, 7-4. In a day where there was little good news - the Mets......

Maybe the Mets needed Snake Plissken on their side Thursday night, because their lineup sure wasn’t getting it done. Twenty-two year old Zach Duke stifled the Mets for seven innings allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out five in the Pirates’ 5-0 victory. Carlos Beltran seems to have reinvented himself since his horrific collision. Thursday night, Beltran reached base three times, had two hits and stole a base. Perhaps a broken facial......

Less than a week from his collision with Mike Cameron, Carlos Beltran returned to the field for the Mets last night against the Pirates. He made his return without wearing a face mask or much special protection for his fractured cheek at all. The only adjustment was extra padding to the ear flap of his batting helmet. In the 5-1 Mets victory, Beltran was 1-2 with 2 walks and a stolen base. His lone hit......

While the trading deadline came and went without any movement from the Mets, last night was filled with action at Shea Stadium. The Mets returned home to Flushing to face the Brewers who got off to a hot start offensively. The Brew Crew hit four home runs in the first two innings off of Victor Zambrano who was charged with 6 earned runs. Zambrano lasted a short 1 1/3 inning, but hey, he's available for......

Could the Mets be playing their best baseball when they need it most? Or are they just fooling themselves into thinking they are contenders? With a week left before the non-waiver trade deadline, do they even need to improve? They probably do, but if they keep playing like they have recently, they might be good enough to make some noise. With a 6-0 victory over the Dodgers yesterday, the Mets finished their 10-game homestand with......

The Mets are never too far from the .500 mark, but they enjoyed a 3-1 win over San Diego at Shea on Tuesday. Chris Woodward hit a game-winning home run in the 11th inning, and the Mets took the first game of the three-game set. Given the Mets' almost perverse attraction to their .500 winning percentage, Gothamist wouldn't be surprised to see the Mets lose Wednesday and then split the remaining four games of their......

The excitement in the All-Star game came long after most fans had turned off their televisions. Gothamist can’t blame them as the American League jumped out to a 7-0 lead after six innings before some shaky relief pitching allowed the National League to claw back into the game. In the end, seven runs was too big a deficit to overcome and the AL hung on for a 7-5 victory. All five local players at the......

Mike Piazza's eleventh-inning RBI single gave the Mets a 3-2 win at Washington, and the Mets took a four-game series from the front-running Nationals. Despite Willie Randolph's best efforts to ruin the Mets' production with his increasingly-crazy lineups, his team has gotten enough runs to win of late. As good as the Mets' pitching has been of late (Kris Benson is living up to his contract, for now), their lineups might spell doom for them......

It's Yankee against Yankee in the last stages of Major League Baseball All-Star voting! Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui are vying for the final position on the American League's All Star team. Jeter and Matsui are up against Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox, Torii Hunter from the Minnesota Twins, and Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; MLB.com says Jeter is leading Podsednik after one day of voting. You can vote right......

In the final game of their 12 game homestand, the Mets lost to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-3 and finished the homestand 6-6. Coming out .500 isn't horrible for the Mets, but for a team that plays significantly better at record at home than on the road - 22-15 vs. 10-16 - not doing better is not acceptable. Yesterday's loss came after a thrilling victory on Saturday night which saw an inside the......

Usually when the Mets send Victor Zambrano to the mound, it's another loss for the team. In last night's 2-1 victory over the Diamondbacks, Zambrano had his best game ever as a Met. He went 8 innings, allowing only 5 hits and 3 walks. The one earned run Zambrano allowed came in the 9th inning after he was replaced by Braden Looper who picked up his 11th save in a row. The offense was supplied......

The Mets' disappointing losses have suddenly become much more. After a sloppy series against the Yankees, the Mets played even worse in a three-game sweep against Atlanta, capped by 3-0 loss against the Braves Wednesday. They didn’t even score a run in the last two games, though they faced two starters who were working on only three days’ rest. They even lost to Kyle Davies, who was making his second major league start. Woe is......

Going into a weekend with their crosstown rivals, the Mets need all the momentum they can get and the Cincinnati Reds, the sole occupants of the NL Central cellar, were just the team to provide it. In yesterday's 10-6 win, the Mets had 13 hits and were aided by 4 errors by the Reds. Tom Glavine won his second game in a row, pitching 6 innings while allowing 2 runs on 9 hits. The sweep......

In a game that ended almost five hours after it started, the Mets defeated the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series in Chicago. It was the first Mets win in Chicago since April 2002, and, for 2.4 million Time Warner customers in New York and New Jersey, the first opportunity to see the club on a weekday night. Thanks to rain in Chicago, most probably went to sleep before the game’s end. Doug......

In yesterday afternoon's 7-5 win against the Phillies, two Mets made their season debuts after coming off the disabled list. Kris Benson started his first game of the season and threw for 4.2 strong innings while allowing 5 hits and 2 runs. While he didn't pick up the victory, Benson's performance was encouraging after his recovery from a strained pectoral muscle. Mike Cameron, who also played his first game of the season, had a good......

Down in the Nation's Capital, the Mets took the final game of their three game series against the Nationals, winning 6-3. The win stops the 4-game losing streak and only came after the Mets scored three runs in the 9th. Miguel Cairo had a sac fly to score the first run and Carlos Beltran had a double to knock in the other two. Braden Looper had another heart stopping performance despite not giving up any......